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Hello. Hello gorgeous people. It's so fun to be back with you today. Welcome back to the Dream Life Club podcast. Today I'm going to talk to you about asking about the llamas. So stick with me, I'm going to explain what I mean. But if you are new here, let me introduce myself real quick. My name is Sumi Krishnan and I've been an entrepreneur since I was 19. I've grown multiple companies including most notably a multiple eight figure, 200 person consulting company in D.C. called K4 Solutions. And I'm creating this podcast to help other women entrepreneurs and creatives grow their businesses and make the impact in the world that you were meant to make. It's super exciting to be here and to talk about this stuff. In fact, I've been running a program called the Six where we've got some really cool entrepreneurs doing some really fun things and I'm helping them get their businesses off the ground to six figures in revenue. Because that is honestly like the starting point. When you hit hit six figures in revenue you can say like, okay, I can call myself a business owner right before that you kind of just have an expensive hobby. So I'm really passionate about helping you get to your six figures in revenue. And today I want to talk about this some. I'm kind of trying to reverse engineer some of the things that I've done to grow my companies that have been successful. Because a lot of you have been telling me that the most impactful episodes for you of this podcast so far have been when I've told stories. Stories about like, you know, what it was like when we won that first contract with CMS and the front of the room mindset and like all these, you know, the mindsets that I had to hold in my early mid and late 20s to actually compete in an industry that was completely male dominated where I was like half the age of everybody else and you know, a woman and a minority. And so it was an interesting thing to tackle. And I feel like that's proof that if I can do it there, I can do it anywhere. And that's what I want you guys to kind of hold the same mentality that I don't care what industry you're in, I don't care what kind of business or creative pursuit you want to build. It's so possible. So when I was thinking back to another story I could tell since that seems to be my most favorited episodes and when I tell stories about my previous business success, I was thinking that, okay, another huge, there are Many, many stories I could tell. And one of them I thought, oh, ask about the llamas, because that was a very interesting thing. So here I came up with this like four step thing that you can take away from this episode to go implement in your business. Because I'm not, look, I'm not an expert. All I can do is share my experience. And I've had a lot of experience, right? I've had a lot of failures, I've had a lot of wins. But I'm going through my own journey right now too. Like I'm starting a whole new thing, building my music career, building my coaching career. Like, I'm starting new things as well. And so I'm like in it with you guys, right? And I'm in it with you guys and also trying to implement, you know, the strategies from my history and from my past that worked and adapt them to what I need to do today. So I want you to take everything I say into your mind and then figure out how do you actually adapt them into what you're doing, how do you make them yours? And then also put, put it on your calendar. Like, you should not be listening to any one of these podcast episodes and then just like going on to the next thing. Like, if you do that, it's just a freaking big waste of time, right? Like, I'm happy to be your entertainment on a walk or something. But more than that, I want you to actually go implement something. So whatever aha moment you might have or whatever idea you might get, right, for something that you can actually do in your life and business, put it on your calendar. If it's not on your calendar, it's not going to happen. And today, like when I talk about asking about the llamas at the end of this episode, you'll get more a better understanding of what I mean by that. And I want you to figure out a way to go put asking your mouth the llamas on your own calendar in the next couple weeks. And especially at this time, it's like holiday season, right? You got a lot of chances to ask about the llamas. So let me explain what I mean. So I think one of the things that allowed me to be so successful in the past was I wasn't afraid to use the tools at my fingertips. And that's one of the things that I'm realizing I'm not doing as much of now. So. So a couple of the tools when I was, we were building a consulting company and a lot of our clients were government agencies and we had. We had. There were many programs to help support that. Every government agency has a small business office, so you can go and talk to the small business office. As a young minority woman, I also could apply and get into this program called the eight, A program which is basically for economically and socially disadvantaged business leaders, Right? And so many people I know, like my uncle, for example, he, like, he had a company and refused to go get that certification because he felt that that was like. It was like, he didn't want to. He didn't want to take advantage of that kind of tool. He wanted to win it on his own. Right? But the truth of the matter is, like, as a woman, first of all, and as a minority, and if you're listening and you relate, then you'll get what I mean, like, we. There are certain societies, systemic disadvantages that we face, right? Like, I mean, I was thinking about this, like, if I grew up, if I was in India right now, I would be at a whole different place in my career because my family would have had friends in high places, right? And when you're in a new country and you don't have, like, ancestors in high places or if you're just coming. And that's the cool thing about, like, the. A lot of these programs that you can take advantage of, you don't need to be a minority, right? There's so many programs out there just for, like, economically disadvantaged people or people in economically disadvantaged areas of the country that you can take advantage of to actually help. Be a stepping stone to get you where you are, to actually unleash your potential. That's why these programs are so worthwhile, because we each have so much to offer. It reminds me of, like, the statistic that, like, last year, like, undocumented immigrants paid $98 billion in taxes. Like what? Like. Like what? Like, did you know that undocumented immigrants paid taxes? Like, I kind of forgot or didn't really know if that was 100%, but yes. Right. And the. Anyways, I say that because, like, not that taxes are unleashing their potential, but it just reminded me that, like, undocumented immigrants add so much value. Whoa. There's some, like, major banging in my backyard. So much value into the economy and they. So much work that they do, right? And all of us, no matter who we are, have so much value to add to the world. And so why wouldn't you take advantage of every program out there that there is to help you unleash your potential so that you could add the value that you were meant to add into the world, right? So you gotta. You gotta. You gotta put your ego aside. And, like, that's my first tip. Here is like, my first step to this talk about the llamas thing is, like, go take advantage of every program that could help you. Like, for me, now there's so many, even, like, if they're paid, like, there's just communities that I can join, like women in music or, like the Taxi conference or, like, go to Durango Songwriters conference. Like, there are so many things, there are rooms and masterminds that I could join that I would have to pay to get into, but that would really unleash my next level. Like, so take advantage of whatever opportunity, whether it's a certain certification that you can get or a program that you can join or a community that can help you get to the next step. Take advantage of those things. Okay, next. So. So. So my point is, I got the certification called. It was called the 8A certification for my company. Then I was like, okay, so there were companies out there who had contracts through this 8A certification, but then they were graduating from the 8A program. They were no longer going to be able to be qualified, yet they had that current contract, and somebody, if not them, somebody else was going to need to get the contract. A new 8A company was going to need to get that contract. So we became very strategic. We built relationships with all of the other 8A companies close to graduating in the industry. And that led to the. The company that was. That held this contract that was worth $25 million over five years. $5 million a year of revenue, $25 million contract that we ended up winning because I had strategically built those relationships. Okay. I knew that their certification was soon to be expiring, and I wanted to then be their partner so that I could hold the certification and they could be a subcontractor for me, and we could together go and new contract. Does that make sense? So that was one of my main strategies, right? Like, why not do that? That's called being strategic and building relationship when it counts. Then how did I get in to this agency? How did I get my in? Because, like we always say, you got to know your ideal client so well. You got to know their biggest challenges. You got to know what keeps them up at night. You got to know where they struggle and where they want to be. And with. Without talking to them face to face, you're never going to know that. You can't just sit on the sidelines and, like, announce, you know, in my case would, like, write a proposal. Or in, like, B2C case, it would be, like, announce that you have some service that you're offering. If you don't know your ideal client, you've got to know them. But how do you get to know them? How do you get to talk to them? You got to put yourself in the rooms where they exist. So this client of mine, I was like, I found out that one of my friends from college actually worked at this agency. He got me in, and then I went up and just introduced myself. I signed in as a visitor, as a guest to go visit him. And then I found her office and went up and introduced myself, and I started to talk to her, and I asked her, oh, when's the vendor event? And she invited me to the thing. And then I got you there. And then I was in all the rooms, and I saw the competition, and I asked her more questions. And then through those talks, we really got to know what they wanted. And at the same time, I was building a relationship with the current person who held that contract, the current company, and getting his insight. And once he decided to team up with us because we had some value to bring, we weren't just, like, one of 6,000 companies with the certification that he could have picked. I had made the effort to also go talk to the customer. I had made the effort to also, you know, figure out what their hot buttons were, what their pain points were. And that's what I brought to the table, as well, as well as our capabilities and our organizational structure and the skill sets that we brought. We also brought an understanding of the current customer environment and what they wanted. What they wanted. And then together, we won the new contract. But then where do I. Why am I talking about talking and asking about the llamas? Right. Well, the woman who ran this contract for this agency, get this, you guys, she was obsessed with llamas. She had llamas in her backyard. And so I. Did I know anything about llamas? No. Did I care about llamas? No. But in order to understand her better, I realized I have to get to know what it means to have llamas and to be so passionate about them and enter them into contests and things like that. And so I, you know, went out to dinner with. After we won the contract, and because after you win the contract, you can't just, like, decide that all this relationship building is over. After you win the contract is actually the time where you gotta, like, continue to ramp it up and continue to build relationships and get closer to people. And, you know, relationship capital is. At the end of the day, it's everything. Relationship capital is all there is. Okay? And, and so, you know, I would take her out, we'd go out to dinner, and we would. I would ask her about the llamas and hear all of her stories about how grooming them and raising them and them competing in their best groomed, best walked competition went. And was I interested in that? Not really. But did it? Was it interesting? Yes. Was it interesting? Yes. Because once you ask about the llamas, your, your, your mind gets opened up to a whole bunch of new perspectives and you're like, oh, wow, I could totally actually now have questions. Wait, this is a whole, like, niche community that I never knew about. Okay, what is this about? And it's actually cool to expand your mind in areas that you're not exposed to at all. And that's one of the things I love about being in business, is that it exposes us to so many different kinds of people, so many different things, and the best thing we can do is get more exposure to different ideas, different types of people, different interests, different hobbies, different little niche things that otherwise we wouldn't know about. And so ask about the llamas is my cue to you to always remember to figure out, like, what it is that your ideal client is interested in. What are they passionate about and can you. And remember to ask about that. Know about it when you're going after the contract or going after the work or, or selling your services, and then follow up about it when they are your customer, when they are your client, when they're in your ecosphere. Make sure to follow up about it and ask about it and be interested. And that's the best piece of networking advice that there is. Figure out what they're passionate about and ask them about it. Be interested, ask good questions, and you will never lose. Okay, so that is my spiel for today. I really hope it helped you write down what you're going to take away from this episode, how you're going to ask about the llamas in your business, and we'll talk to you next week.