1 00:00:51,774 --> 00:00:56,064 Annette Tabor, welcome to the Advisory Board Insider Podcast. 2 00:00:56,064 --> 00:00:56,514 I'm glad you're 3 00:00:56,514 --> 00:00:56,964 here. 4 00:00:57,170 --> 00:00:57,710 my gosh. 5 00:00:57,710 --> 00:00:59,600 Tom, thank you so much for inviting me. 6 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:01,180 I'm so looking forward to. 7 00:01:01,974 --> 00:01:03,594 Yes, it's, it's great to have you. 8 00:01:03,594 --> 00:01:07,194 So the first question is where, what are your geographic coordinates today? 9 00:01:07,194 --> 00:01:08,484 Where are you located? 10 00:01:08,705 --> 00:01:13,535 Well, I am a native of Florida and I am located between St. 11 00:01:13,535 --> 00:01:17,765 Petersburg and Clearwater in a little town called Seminole, 12 00:01:17,765 --> 00:01:19,836 right off the the beach area. 13 00:01:20,124 --> 00:01:20,814 Nice. 14 00:01:20,844 --> 00:01:21,444 Nice. 15 00:01:21,504 --> 00:01:27,304 So, as, as you're sitting there in uh, seminal Florida what's 16 00:01:27,304 --> 00:01:29,014 your morning drink of choice? 17 00:01:29,014 --> 00:01:31,054 When you start the day, what's your, your 18 00:01:31,365 --> 00:01:32,145 Oh my goodness. 19 00:01:32,145 --> 00:01:33,855 I have to, I have to have my coffee 20 00:01:34,125 --> 00:01:34,545 and 21 00:01:34,899 --> 00:01:35,404 so, so 22 00:01:35,404 --> 00:01:36,484 coffee but 23 00:01:36,645 --> 00:01:39,195 with, with coconut milk. 24 00:01:39,285 --> 00:01:39,945 Creamer. 25 00:01:40,294 --> 00:01:41,434 Coconut milk creamer. 26 00:01:41,434 --> 00:01:44,224 Is there a special brand of coffee and coconut 27 00:01:44,224 --> 00:01:44,794 creamer. 28 00:01:44,985 --> 00:01:46,732 just uh, vanilla. 29 00:01:47,272 --> 00:01:49,552 I know, so I forget the name of it, but 30 00:01:49,552 --> 00:01:52,012 it's, it comes in a carton and I just 31 00:01:52,012 --> 00:01:54,382 love it because it's got less sugar in it. 32 00:01:54,832 --> 00:01:57,322 And sugar, sugar is my downfall. 33 00:01:57,745 --> 00:01:58,135 Right. 34 00:01:58,195 --> 00:02:00,475 And I, I'm a hundred percent on board with you there. 35 00:02:00,655 --> 00:02:01,435 And coffee. 36 00:02:01,435 --> 00:02:05,115 Are you snobby about coffee or is it just drip coffee? 37 00:02:05,115 --> 00:02:05,325 Do you 38 00:02:05,401 --> 00:02:09,461 it's my Keurig, it's my Keurig coffee and it's organic. 39 00:02:09,545 --> 00:02:11,027 So I do use the organic. 40 00:02:11,048 --> 00:02:12,278 And it's deep roast. 41 00:02:12,278 --> 00:02:14,198 It's, it's a, it's, it's a deep 42 00:02:14,198 --> 00:02:14,468 roast. 43 00:02:14,528 --> 00:02:15,218 I like it. 44 00:02:15,218 --> 00:02:15,728 I like it. 45 00:02:15,728 --> 00:02:16,268 Hardy. 46 00:02:16,658 --> 00:02:17,108 Yeah. 47 00:02:17,456 --> 00:02:17,606 it. 48 00:02:17,666 --> 00:02:18,386 All right. 49 00:02:18,746 --> 00:02:23,426 So, before coffee, give me a sense of how you start your day. 50 00:02:23,431 --> 00:02:25,166 Like, when's the alarm go off? 51 00:02:25,166 --> 00:02:28,046 What's your d what's the morning look like before you have your first 52 00:02:28,327 --> 00:02:30,757 Well, I am an early riser, 53 00:02:31,357 --> 00:02:36,417 so I usually get up between five 30 and 6:00 AM every morning. 54 00:02:37,093 --> 00:02:38,503 I stumble out. 55 00:02:38,508 --> 00:02:44,383 I, the first thing I do is get my coffee and then I have to feed my cats. 56 00:02:44,683 --> 00:02:49,963 So while the coffee's brewing, I start getting the two cats fed. 57 00:02:50,653 --> 00:02:56,653 And then after I get my cup of coffee, I go in and I start getting my face 58 00:02:56,653 --> 00:02:59,503 on while I'm listening to my podcast. 59 00:02:59,863 --> 00:03:04,813 Then I come into my office and I'm usually in here by seven 30. 60 00:03:05,336 --> 00:03:10,315 Roughly and I just, I start my day and then I work till about four o'clock. 61 00:03:10,555 --> 00:03:11,005 So 62 00:03:11,005 --> 00:03:15,296 I try not to work too late into the evening which is a, which is a challenge 63 00:03:15,296 --> 00:03:19,736 for my colleagues and, and business partners on the West Coast like yourself. 64 00:03:20,130 --> 00:03:20,370 Yeah. 65 00:03:20,610 --> 00:03:21,390 Right, right. 66 00:03:21,643 --> 00:03:26,289 so you you've got your day unfolding, you've got your coffee in hand. 67 00:03:26,381 --> 00:03:28,991 And, and do the cats join you with that? 68 00:03:28,991 --> 00:03:29,951 Like are the cats 69 00:03:29,956 --> 00:03:30,731 generally with 70 00:03:30,818 --> 00:03:33,518 I have to tell you a little story about my cats. 71 00:03:33,523 --> 00:03:33,998 I, 72 00:03:34,059 --> 00:03:38,199 I got, I have two ballies cats, and 73 00:03:38,199 --> 00:03:40,359 they're, they're absolutely beautiful. 74 00:03:40,389 --> 00:03:40,959 They're about 75 00:03:40,989 --> 00:03:42,369 $1,500 each. 76 00:03:43,464 --> 00:03:51,246 The first one I got was a little lilac named, uh, well, Jasmine all white 77 00:03:51,426 --> 00:03:56,316 with a little bit of gray touches on her, and she's very prissy and very 78 00:03:56,316 --> 00:03:59,057 female and very, feminine, I would say. 79 00:03:59,057 --> 00:04:01,697 She doesn't like to be petted a lot. 80 00:04:01,697 --> 00:04:05,447 If you're a stranger, then enter jet. 81 00:04:06,088 --> 00:04:15,868 Who is another ESE, but he is Alyx and Jet is full of energy 82 00:04:16,318 --> 00:04:19,078 and he, that's why he's named Jet, j 83 00:04:19,078 --> 00:04:25,378 e t t, and he doesn't understand that Jasmine is not prey. 84 00:04:26,458 --> 00:04:29,338 And so he continues to attack her. 85 00:04:29,548 --> 00:04:34,078 So I'm in this process of trying to get the two of 'em to like each other. 86 00:04:34,083 --> 00:04:35,608 And they're getting better. 87 00:04:35,848 --> 00:04:41,578 They're getting better, but I have had some massive broken home furnishings 88 00:04:42,298 --> 00:04:45,528 through the process, but we're getting better. 89 00:04:46,592 --> 00:04:47,102 God. 90 00:04:47,282 --> 00:04:47,942 Wow. 91 00:04:47,972 --> 00:04:48,422 Well, 92 00:04:48,538 --> 00:04:49,348 what I'm dealing with. 93 00:04:49,622 --> 00:04:50,732 Jet and Jasmine. 94 00:04:51,198 --> 00:04:51,808 That's. 95 00:04:52,412 --> 00:04:53,222 Jet and Jasmine. 96 00:04:53,642 --> 00:04:54,152 All right. 97 00:04:54,152 --> 00:04:57,243 So, thank you for giving us a little glimpse into your life, the 98 00:04:57,243 --> 00:04:59,638 cats, the coffee early mornings. 99 00:04:59,664 --> 00:05:02,526 So let's, let's go back into your own history. 100 00:05:02,576 --> 00:05:04,466 Let's go back a actually to St. 101 00:05:04,466 --> 00:05:08,606 Petersburg College, if you're open to that and into the fashion marketing program. 102 00:05:08,711 --> 00:05:12,551 So tell me what's happening in your life back then. 103 00:05:12,551 --> 00:05:13,571 What are you thinking about? 104 00:05:13,571 --> 00:05:14,951 What's your future look like? 105 00:05:14,956 --> 00:05:16,391 What are you dreaming about? 106 00:05:16,391 --> 00:05:17,321 Why there, why 107 00:05:17,326 --> 00:05:17,771 fashion 108 00:05:17,782 --> 00:05:19,642 how funny that is. 109 00:05:19,647 --> 00:05:20,032 Great. 110 00:05:20,082 --> 00:05:24,791 So, when I was in high school, you know, I live here on the beaches. 111 00:05:24,796 --> 00:05:28,461 Clearwater Beach was like our big beach that we would go to as kids. 112 00:05:29,486 --> 00:05:34,042 And I was on the beach one day and this girl came up to me and asked me 113 00:05:34,042 --> 00:05:36,232 if I would model swimwear for her. 114 00:05:36,712 --> 00:05:42,172 And her name was Monica Wise, and she's now hugely successful in California 115 00:05:42,172 --> 00:05:45,052 with a company called El Space Swimwear. 116 00:05:45,502 --> 00:05:46,772 So this is where it all began. 117 00:05:47,332 --> 00:05:52,692 So I decided I started working for her, not only just modeling for her, I 118 00:05:52,692 --> 00:05:54,732 was actually working in the business. 119 00:05:54,732 --> 00:05:56,382 She was designing swimwear. 120 00:05:56,622 --> 00:06:00,912 So I decided I was gonna go into the fashion industry and I wanted to get my 121 00:06:00,912 --> 00:06:03,372 fashion merchandising degree, which I did. 122 00:06:03,372 --> 00:06:04,992 It was an associate's degree. 123 00:06:05,562 --> 00:06:09,792 And I thought, you know, maybe I would either continue working with her or start 124 00:06:09,792 --> 00:06:12,222 my own boutique, but I would love fashion. 125 00:06:12,252 --> 00:06:13,392 I just loved it. 126 00:06:13,452 --> 00:06:13,842 And. 127 00:06:14,982 --> 00:06:19,752 I did that for many years and I was a professional model for a period of time. 128 00:06:19,752 --> 00:06:24,942 And then I got to the point where it was like, look, I just really, I 129 00:06:24,942 --> 00:06:27,312 just really wanna do something more. 130 00:06:27,672 --> 00:06:32,844 And there was a company, a little company called Tech Data Corporation 131 00:06:32,849 --> 00:06:36,974 here in Clearwater, and they had an open. 132 00:06:37,464 --> 00:06:41,575 Cattle call is what we would say for new salespeople. 133 00:06:41,995 --> 00:06:43,825 And I thought, you know what? 134 00:06:43,825 --> 00:06:46,825 I need to get some structure in my life. 135 00:06:46,825 --> 00:06:50,335 I want a career, not just a j o b. 136 00:06:50,935 --> 00:06:57,355 And so I, I applied for the job and I got a sales rep position at this 137 00:06:57,355 --> 00:07:00,625 company, and that was in 91, I think. 138 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:03,125 And I was in this sales environment. 139 00:07:03,215 --> 00:07:08,345 And honestly, Tom, I mean I was in a call center 140 00:07:08,615 --> 00:07:12,005 and you know, these calls were coming through and, and these were 141 00:07:12,005 --> 00:07:18,065 people buying technology and they were asking me for scuzzy adapters, 142 00:07:18,070 --> 00:07:22,525 and I had this catalog, like this thick, I'd have to like go through to 143 00:07:22,525 --> 00:07:22,975 find 144 00:07:22,979 --> 00:07:24,419 It was a book at that point. 145 00:07:24,419 --> 00:07:27,299 I remember the, I remember the tech data catalog. 146 00:07:27,329 --> 00:07:27,839 I remember 147 00:07:27,839 --> 00:07:28,109 seeing 148 00:07:28,195 --> 00:07:29,005 Oh my gosh. 149 00:07:29,005 --> 00:07:33,565 And here I am, like trying to figure out, okay, a scuzzy adapter. 150 00:07:33,565 --> 00:07:36,655 Like, okay, like which one does it, you know? 151 00:07:36,955 --> 00:07:39,055 And, and they would be so particular. 152 00:07:39,055 --> 00:07:40,315 And I, I hated it. 153 00:07:40,345 --> 00:07:41,995 I absolutely hated my job. 154 00:07:42,175 --> 00:07:46,345 So I, I left sales and I went, I took a demotion to get out of 155 00:07:46,345 --> 00:07:48,385 sales and I went into operations. 156 00:07:48,385 --> 00:07:51,955 And then from operations, I kind of moved my way up the 157 00:07:51,955 --> 00:07:54,415 food chain and became an execut. 158 00:07:55,169 --> 00:08:01,401 I ended up in multiple different jobs at Tech Data, both sales, product 159 00:08:01,401 --> 00:08:04,191 management, marketing communities. 160 00:08:04,191 --> 00:08:08,841 I even ran the systems engineering department for a period of time, 161 00:08:08,841 --> 00:08:11,271 so I punched all the tickets. 162 00:08:11,661 --> 00:08:13,041 I learned a lot. 163 00:08:13,041 --> 00:08:14,181 I was there 15. 164 00:08:14,806 --> 00:08:15,151 Okay. 165 00:08:15,331 --> 00:08:20,334 So, so coming from a sales department into operations department, and then you 166 00:08:20,358 --> 00:08:24,302 you know, your LinkedIn profile shows like this massive amount of things that 167 00:08:24,302 --> 00:08:29,683 you did at Tech Data as you're making those moves in the corporation and it 168 00:08:29,683 --> 00:08:34,243 looks like every couple of years you're making a move in that, that organization, 169 00:08:34,243 --> 00:08:37,003 you said 14 years there, what were some. 170 00:08:37,453 --> 00:08:40,673 Insights that you gained from the moves you were making. 171 00:08:40,716 --> 00:08:45,353 Because a lot of times you see people who spend seven, 10 years in the 172 00:08:45,358 --> 00:08:49,763 same job doing the same task, but you had this ability, it appeared to me 173 00:08:50,003 --> 00:08:54,692 that you're making these jumps and moves and up the, like the ladder is 174 00:08:54,692 --> 00:08:58,502 something that is talked about in a corporate environment, but you seem 175 00:08:58,502 --> 00:09:00,152 to understand how to leverage that. 176 00:09:01,033 --> 00:09:01,643 Well, I. 177 00:09:03,358 --> 00:09:04,858 Probably it was more boredom. 178 00:09:05,248 --> 00:09:05,908 After I 179 00:09:05,908 --> 00:09:09,118 would be in a job for a period of time, I would get 180 00:09:09,388 --> 00:09:11,068 kind of bored with it and 181 00:09:11,068 --> 00:09:12,838 I'd want more of a challenge. 182 00:09:12,838 --> 00:09:13,288 And so 183 00:09:13,288 --> 00:09:15,748 I'd always kind of look for the next thing. 184 00:09:15,748 --> 00:09:21,513 But I always wanted to make sure that I, I, I know this may, may or may not 185 00:09:21,513 --> 00:09:26,403 come across the right way, but I always looked for the right person to work. 186 00:09:27,562 --> 00:09:28,492 Mm. 187 00:09:28,788 --> 00:09:35,778 in corporate America, you can really harm yourself if you, if you're 188 00:09:35,778 --> 00:09:39,978 working for someone that doesn't have the same value system that you have. 189 00:09:40,049 --> 00:09:43,449 And so there was that part of it as well. 190 00:09:43,449 --> 00:09:43,714 Got it. 191 00:09:43,774 --> 00:09:44,224 Okay. 192 00:09:44,494 --> 00:09:51,628 So, as you got into those more senior roles you then I look at your resume and 193 00:09:51,628 --> 00:09:56,758 then at a certain point, 14 years later, you've, you've stopped there and you moved 194 00:09:56,758 --> 00:10:01,138 to Global Convergence, and then a few years later you moved to Network Dynamics. 195 00:10:01,138 --> 00:10:04,663 Tell me about, What was happening through that period of time? 196 00:10:04,813 --> 00:10:07,903 And what were some of the lessons you were learning after you moved? 197 00:10:07,903 --> 00:10:10,003 Because once you're in a corporate environment for a while, you 198 00:10:10,003 --> 00:10:13,723 learn that, that way of thinking, that way of being in the world. 199 00:10:13,993 --> 00:10:16,057 But now you move to two other companies. 200 00:10:16,057 --> 00:10:18,966 Tell me a little bit about the move and what you learned through that, those 201 00:10:18,966 --> 00:10:21,920 moves and those particular career options 202 00:10:21,925 --> 00:10:22,020 that 203 00:10:22,031 --> 00:10:29,236 So well, when I left Tech Data I decided that I wanted to try 204 00:10:29,236 --> 00:10:30,946 to work for a smaller company. 205 00:10:30,976 --> 00:10:34,846 TechData was a Fortune 100 company at the time, and now 206 00:10:34,936 --> 00:10:37,126 they're like 56 billion as 207 00:10:37,131 --> 00:10:39,046 they've merged with TD Cynics. 208 00:10:39,051 --> 00:10:42,356 But I wanted to try to work for a smaller company, so I actually 209 00:10:42,356 --> 00:10:46,526 went to work for a company called Interlinked Communication Systems, and 210 00:10:46,526 --> 00:10:49,406 they were basically a telecom agency. 211 00:10:50,261 --> 00:10:53,921 And I was there for a period of time. 212 00:10:53,921 --> 00:10:58,241 It was a very small family owned business, and I'll be honest with 213 00:10:58,241 --> 00:11:01,971 you, I came in, it makes me laugh. 214 00:11:02,028 --> 00:11:05,418 I came in and made some major changes for them. 215 00:11:05,418 --> 00:11:06,828 Let me just put it that way. 216 00:11:06,828 --> 00:11:08,388 And they loved it. 217 00:11:08,388 --> 00:11:10,038 The salespeople loved it. 218 00:11:10,038 --> 00:11:11,238 We were growing. 219 00:11:11,243 --> 00:11:15,618 We ended up getting acquired by network dynamics. 220 00:11:15,978 --> 00:11:19,938 And Network Dynamics was a very large global M S P. 221 00:11:19,938 --> 00:11:21,498 They were a service provider. 222 00:11:21,498 --> 00:11:25,698 They did very little product, but at the time, they were a Cisco Gold partner. 223 00:11:25,698 --> 00:11:29,358 So you can imagine how much product they had to buy to get that. 224 00:11:30,453 --> 00:11:31,743 Designation, but 225 00:11:32,013 --> 00:11:34,893 even product was very, very limited for them. 226 00:11:34,893 --> 00:11:36,543 They were a service company. 227 00:11:37,173 --> 00:11:43,083 And so I went out on the road and I learned how to sell services 228 00:11:43,173 --> 00:11:46,143 and I was pretty good at it. 229 00:11:46,148 --> 00:11:51,003 I mean, I, I landed a, a couple of pretty big clients and then next thing you know, 230 00:11:51,003 --> 00:11:57,006 they Rebranded as Global Convergence once they brought those two companies together. 231 00:11:57,216 --> 00:12:00,336 And it was about that time that I was asked to be on the 232 00:12:00,341 --> 00:12:02,766 board of directors at CompTIA. 233 00:12:03,516 --> 00:12:03,726 And 234 00:12:03,726 --> 00:12:08,466 so that's, I was still working at Global Convergence, but I was sitting on the 235 00:12:08,466 --> 00:12:14,346 board of directors for CompTIA and at that point we were investigating, bringing in 236 00:12:14,346 --> 00:12:18,426 the very first outside CEO to Comp Tia. 237 00:12:18,486 --> 00:12:25,144 And re and replacing the founder who was obviously, you know, brought all this to 238 00:12:25,144 --> 00:12:27,754 fruition with the certification business. 239 00:12:27,754 --> 00:12:35,500 So it was, it was bringing in a new, you know, c e o and then after my two 240 00:12:35,530 --> 00:12:41,662 year stint on the board I approached that c e o Todd Tido, who I just 241 00:12:41,662 --> 00:12:46,642 absolutely admire, and I said I would love to come and work for the company. 242 00:12:46,642 --> 00:12:49,372 You know, he had made some radical changes. 243 00:12:49,372 --> 00:12:55,133 He really came in and really re refitted CompTIA for the future, 244 00:12:55,133 --> 00:13:00,353 and I was so excited and so I asked him if I could come to work for him. 245 00:13:01,028 --> 00:13:05,468 We decided initially because I had so many vendor contacts through tech 246 00:13:05,468 --> 00:13:12,488 Data that I would help drive the vendor membership for the association. 247 00:13:12,668 --> 00:13:15,128 And so that's what I did for the first couple of years. 248 00:13:15,451 --> 00:13:15,961 Wow. 249 00:13:15,961 --> 00:13:21,008 So you moved out of the industry side of it, into the association side of it. 250 00:13:21,008 --> 00:13:26,482 But Compt is a massive organization as I understand it, and and really, 251 00:13:26,522 --> 00:13:32,149 really serve to bring on new members in the vendor side of the equation. 252 00:13:32,149 --> 00:13:33,079 So really doing. 253 00:13:33,359 --> 00:13:38,219 Outreach to connect dots for, for those part, those kind of, I, what 254 00:13:38,219 --> 00:13:39,589 are they called in comp TIA vendors 255 00:13:39,589 --> 00:13:39,909 or, 256 00:13:40,026 --> 00:13:41,346 Well, they're called vendors. 257 00:13:41,346 --> 00:13:42,246 So the vendors 258 00:13:42,246 --> 00:13:47,226 are gonna be your Microsofts, your hps, your Intels, you know, 259 00:13:47,226 --> 00:13:51,046 the vendor community, and then you have the solution provider 260 00:13:51,051 --> 00:13:53,586 community, which are the MSPs and the 261 00:13:53,586 --> 00:13:55,766 bars and the systems integrators. 262 00:13:56,166 --> 00:14:02,266 And then, You have the associate category, which would be your media companies, 263 00:14:02,266 --> 00:14:06,946 your consulting firms, your other trade associations, things like that. 264 00:14:06,946 --> 00:14:10,486 So they kind of bucket into three categories. 265 00:14:11,524 --> 00:14:11,974 Got it. 266 00:14:12,034 --> 00:14:12,544 All right. 267 00:14:12,784 --> 00:14:17,282 So, in that role, tell me about a little bit of the growth of that role and then 268 00:14:17,346 --> 00:14:23,634 I, I notice on your your resume and, and LinkedIn profile this connection now 269 00:14:23,664 --> 00:14:27,005 into council advisory council members. 270 00:14:27,010 --> 00:14:31,305 So gimme a sense of, of the move towards that and what that all entailed. 271 00:14:31,355 --> 00:14:35,645 Well, there was a point where I was beginning to get bored again 272 00:14:35,723 --> 00:14:40,403 you know, saying the same pitch and doing the same thing every day. 273 00:14:40,403 --> 00:14:43,313 And so I went to Todd and I said, Hey. 274 00:14:43,833 --> 00:14:48,573 You know, I really think we should have industry advisory boards because, 275 00:14:48,573 --> 00:14:52,554 you know, I used to run advisory an advisory board for Tech Data when 276 00:14:52,554 --> 00:14:54,864 I ran their tech select community. 277 00:14:55,014 --> 00:14:56,304 And I loved it. 278 00:14:56,304 --> 00:14:57,294 I just loved 279 00:14:57,299 --> 00:14:57,414 it. 280 00:14:57,474 --> 00:15:01,397 And so, I said to him, I said, you know, I really think we should develop 281 00:15:01,997 --> 00:15:04,197 industry advisory boards and then. 282 00:15:04,962 --> 00:15:08,652 You know, we started out with those that were associated with our membership. 283 00:15:08,652 --> 00:15:12,701 We had a vendor advisory board, a distributor and an As a solution 284 00:15:12,706 --> 00:15:17,111 provider, so vendor distributor, solution provider that made up the IT channel. 285 00:15:17,471 --> 00:15:22,241 So I had three different boards, and what I found is, I'd go into one meeting and 286 00:15:22,246 --> 00:15:26,891 their vendors are talking about how, you know, the distribution isn't doing this. 287 00:15:26,891 --> 00:15:29,531 And then I'd go into the distribution meeting and they were 288 00:15:29,531 --> 00:15:33,371 upset with the solution providers not understanding that and. 289 00:15:34,076 --> 00:15:35,966 They were all pointing fingers at each other. 290 00:15:35,966 --> 00:15:36,896 So I said, you know what? 291 00:15:36,896 --> 00:15:37,886 This is ridiculous. 292 00:15:37,916 --> 00:15:43,316 I just put them all together on one board and I said, we gotta figure this out. 293 00:15:43,346 --> 00:15:45,266 We gotta solve these problems. 294 00:15:45,266 --> 00:15:48,836 And the only way we could do it is if we are in the same room together 295 00:15:48,836 --> 00:15:50,786 and we are working together. 296 00:15:50,791 --> 00:15:56,390 So we created the it's you know, it, it was more of a kind of 297 00:15:56,390 --> 00:15:59,330 channel development advisory board. 298 00:15:59,810 --> 00:16:05,540 So it was, how do we help people enter the channel? 299 00:16:05,570 --> 00:16:06,530 How did they learn? 300 00:16:06,530 --> 00:16:09,980 Especially if they're emerging technology company and they 301 00:16:09,980 --> 00:16:13,430 don't, and they're selling direct and they don't have a channel. 302 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:17,630 Many of them have no idea what's involved in playing in 303 00:16:17,635 --> 00:16:19,550 the big, big leagues with some 304 00:16:19,550 --> 00:16:21,890 of the big distributors and things like that. 305 00:16:21,890 --> 00:16:24,380 So we started that group. 306 00:16:24,427 --> 00:16:29,479 And then shortly thereafter we added business applications, which was 307 00:16:29,479 --> 00:16:31,699 software, software as a service. 308 00:16:31,742 --> 00:16:37,352 Then we went into internet of things and then at that point it was like, 309 00:16:37,357 --> 00:16:44,522 you know, Todd, we really might wanna consider bringing emerging technologies. 310 00:16:45,377 --> 00:16:50,327 Realm because now we can expand Comp T's, reach and relevance into 311 00:16:50,327 --> 00:16:53,417 these new SEC sectors of technology. 312 00:16:53,957 --> 00:16:59,327 Even though our members themselves were not quite ready for things like 313 00:16:59,357 --> 00:17:05,327 AI and blockchain and drones and things like that, we felt it was important 314 00:17:05,327 --> 00:17:07,937 as the trade association to be you. 315 00:17:08,897 --> 00:17:14,927 Forward thinking and helping to drive the, a adoption of these emerging 316 00:17:14,927 --> 00:17:17,537 technologies into mainstream business. 317 00:17:17,537 --> 00:17:23,117 And so considering that most of our customers or members were s were 318 00:17:23,117 --> 00:17:28,316 servicing you know, small medium to enterprise businesses across the 319 00:17:28,316 --> 00:17:34,676 United States, it just made sense for us to start educating them on 320 00:17:34,676 --> 00:17:35,906 these technologies. 321 00:17:36,134 --> 00:17:36,614 Right. 322 00:17:36,824 --> 00:17:41,024 So, so part of, part of it and then, then I'm gonna go ask the question 323 00:17:41,024 --> 00:17:42,074 from a different perspective. 324 00:17:42,079 --> 00:17:47,324 So part of it was you were building these councils or advisory boards of 325 00:17:47,324 --> 00:17:53,534 sorts fr based on members in the various categories for the purpose of serving 326 00:17:53,564 --> 00:17:55,784 other members within other categories. 327 00:17:55,784 --> 00:17:56,234 That's how I'm 328 00:17:56,570 --> 00:18:01,810 Well, what's interesting is when I started to recruit the emerging tech 329 00:18:02,020 --> 00:18:06,325 companies, We didn't have them as members. 330 00:18:06,685 --> 00:18:13,015 So what I would do, and personally I wasn't an expert in AI or 331 00:18:13,045 --> 00:18:16,975 blockchain enough to have, you know, deep, intelligent, technical 332 00:18:16,975 --> 00:18:18,985 conversations with these people. 333 00:18:19,405 --> 00:18:23,577 So what I did is I I decided to start going to industry events 334 00:18:23,577 --> 00:18:28,077 where these people were, and I would go through the agenda. 335 00:18:28,077 --> 00:18:30,567 I would highlight the people I was interested in. 336 00:18:30,567 --> 00:18:32,127 I would look them up on LinkedIn. 337 00:18:32,127 --> 00:18:33,547 I would do all the research. 338 00:18:33,552 --> 00:18:36,717 I would go to their sessions, and literally when they were done with 339 00:18:36,722 --> 00:18:40,377 their keynote, I would rush the stage. 340 00:18:40,647 --> 00:18:43,677 I would wait to speak to them in line cuz there was a bunch of 341 00:18:43,677 --> 00:18:44,697 people that wanted to talk to. 342 00:18:45,507 --> 00:18:48,117 I would then say, look, I just need 30 minutes. 343 00:18:48,117 --> 00:18:50,037 I would like to set up a call with you. 344 00:18:50,037 --> 00:18:51,357 I'm with CompTIA. 345 00:18:51,387 --> 00:18:55,347 We would like to have your expertise on an industry advisory board. 346 00:18:55,557 --> 00:19:00,057 It's volunteer, but we are gonna give you a complimentary one year 347 00:19:00,057 --> 00:19:04,077 membership just so you can see what we're all about, what we're doing. 348 00:19:04,452 --> 00:19:09,762 But the term is for two years, and if you stay the second year, then you'll 349 00:19:09,762 --> 00:19:11,352 have to pay for your membership. 350 00:19:11,802 --> 00:19:18,432 And I had literally 84% of those members sign up for their second 351 00:19:18,432 --> 00:19:20,262 year and become members of CompTIA. 352 00:19:20,532 --> 00:19:27,222 So we recruited hundreds and hundreds of new vendors into Comp Tia, just 353 00:19:27,222 --> 00:19:29,881 through the advisory board program. 354 00:19:29,881 --> 00:19:32,971 But what's in, what's interesting there to me is not only were you 355 00:19:32,976 --> 00:19:38,461 recruiting people to be on the advisory boards, it's, it's a membership play 356 00:19:38,791 --> 00:19:41,071 as well to get them into membership. 357 00:19:41,191 --> 00:19:45,781 And yet the value proposition is they were delivering value to the 358 00:19:45,781 --> 00:19:50,071 organization and to others, presumably at the same time, they became members. 359 00:19:50,071 --> 00:19:51,476 Of the organization. 360 00:19:51,476 --> 00:19:54,199 So there was a lot of really lot of really cool 361 00:19:54,545 --> 00:19:57,755 Yeah, it was a, it was a very strategic play. 362 00:19:57,829 --> 00:20:04,107 And what my, my goal was, was to bring these subject matter experts in, and 363 00:20:04,107 --> 00:20:05,907 there were 20 of 'em on each council. 364 00:20:05,907 --> 00:20:12,087 So we had ai, blockchain, drones, iott, cybersecurity, business applications, 365 00:20:12,137 --> 00:20:14,959 telecom, and channel development. 366 00:20:15,469 --> 00:20:19,209 And over the course of time, and they were all running s. 367 00:20:20,284 --> 00:20:25,294 But over the course of time, you know, we needed to develop content to he help 368 00:20:25,294 --> 00:20:25,924 educate. 369 00:20:25,924 --> 00:20:29,704 So the idea was to get these subject matter experts and, and 370 00:20:29,704 --> 00:20:30,874 you know, they're sitting together. 371 00:20:30,934 --> 00:20:36,574 They're kind of like, it's almost like a peer group because you've got like 372 00:20:36,574 --> 00:20:42,394 the, the, the young lady that was the She developed the inter, she was part 373 00:20:42,394 --> 00:20:47,944 of the team at IBM M that developed the international languages for IBM M Watson. 374 00:20:48,304 --> 00:20:53,044 And here she was sitting across from the gentleman at Oracle, you know, and I mean, 375 00:20:53,044 --> 00:20:55,444 we had some big names on these boards. 376 00:20:55,444 --> 00:21:01,234 So these guys were loving the fact that they were engaging 377 00:21:01,234 --> 00:21:03,064 with each other on something. 378 00:21:03,969 --> 00:21:06,639 Outside of their personal realm, 379 00:21:06,909 --> 00:21:11,709 and that was giving goodness back to the industry and building educational 380 00:21:11,714 --> 00:21:18,009 content that would allow just general technology people to understand 381 00:21:18,009 --> 00:21:20,319 and adopt these techno technology. 382 00:21:20,324 --> 00:21:26,349 So once we would develop a piece of content, we'd put the CompTIA brand on it, 383 00:21:26,469 --> 00:21:31,659 and then CompTIA's, unbelievable marketing team would push that out to the industry. 384 00:21:32,194 --> 00:21:35,224 People would click on it, they'd have to give us their contact 385 00:21:35,224 --> 00:21:37,534 info, they would come back in. 386 00:21:37,534 --> 00:21:41,584 Now we're collecting thousands and thousands of names, so we 387 00:21:41,584 --> 00:21:45,064 didn't know where to put them because they weren't members. 388 00:21:45,724 --> 00:21:49,797 So we developed these virtual communities that we 389 00:21:50,007 --> 00:21:55,482 basically were, you know, Kind of called technology interest groups. 390 00:21:55,752 --> 00:22:01,122 And then we keep them warm by pushing content and having my advisory board 391 00:22:01,122 --> 00:22:05,592 members speak to them doing podcasts and webinars and educating them 392 00:22:05,937 --> 00:22:07,677 and, you know, things like that. 393 00:22:07,682 --> 00:22:10,197 And so it just got bigger and bigger. 394 00:22:10,467 --> 00:22:15,773 And so yeah, I mean, it was just the, it was the, the strategy worked. 395 00:22:15,773 --> 00:22:16,093 I mean, 396 00:22:16,093 --> 00:22:17,263 it really worked. 397 00:22:17,882 --> 00:22:18,932 Yeah, that's fascinating. 398 00:22:19,112 --> 00:22:23,882 So, let me jump then back behind the scenes cuz I, I like sort of figuring 399 00:22:23,882 --> 00:22:26,762 out how you make this operate. 400 00:22:26,762 --> 00:22:30,152 So I got the, I got the gist of what you were doing in the world through 401 00:22:30,152 --> 00:22:33,382 CompTIA in your specific role in it, but then how are you putting. 402 00:22:34,072 --> 00:22:38,062 When you had these board, these advisory boards, give me, gimme a sense of 403 00:22:38,062 --> 00:22:41,092 how they were working, how they were operating, how they were being led, 404 00:22:41,092 --> 00:22:44,872 what, what was the process, what was the actual nuts and bolts of what was 405 00:22:44,877 --> 00:22:46,492 happening once you had them in the 406 00:22:46,759 --> 00:22:47,299 Right. 407 00:22:47,809 --> 00:22:50,389 Well, I had to build everything from scratch 408 00:22:50,809 --> 00:22:55,367 because there was no industry advisory board program at CompTIA in, in Pryor. 409 00:22:55,667 --> 00:22:58,127 So I had to build the bylaws. 410 00:22:58,203 --> 00:22:58,353 I 411 00:22:58,353 --> 00:23:03,663 had to determine how I wanted to govern this to be governed, 412 00:23:03,693 --> 00:23:05,113 and I determined that. 413 00:23:06,013 --> 00:23:09,613 After having one or two of these boards, and then next thing you 414 00:23:09,613 --> 00:23:12,643 know, there's three and four, and now there's five and six and 415 00:23:12,643 --> 00:23:13,273 seven. 416 00:23:13,693 --> 00:23:19,573 I wasn't able to manage them and and facilitate them all myself, 417 00:23:19,933 --> 00:23:25,618 so what I decided to do was, Have them become self-governed. 418 00:23:26,068 --> 00:23:31,378 So we had the members elect their own leadership and we had 419 00:23:31,378 --> 00:23:33,718 two co-chairs and a vice-chair. 420 00:23:33,718 --> 00:23:38,458 And the reason we had two co-chairs and a vice-chair is because these are very busy 421 00:23:38,458 --> 00:23:41,488 executives at very, very large companies. 422 00:23:41,493 --> 00:23:47,878 And there were always conflict with a meeting or I can't be there 423 00:23:47,878 --> 00:23:48,238 or whatever. 424 00:23:48,238 --> 00:23:49,198 So we had to have that. 425 00:23:50,053 --> 00:23:54,763 So we had two co-chairs and a vice-chair, and they were staggered terms. 426 00:23:54,763 --> 00:23:55,123 So 427 00:23:55,123 --> 00:23:59,113 once that first co-chair stepped down, after his term, the 428 00:23:59,113 --> 00:24:03,622 vice-chair automatically moved up to co-chair with the other, with 429 00:24:03,622 --> 00:24:07,252 the other co-chair, and then we would elect a new vice-chair. 430 00:24:07,871 --> 00:24:11,291 And were they, were these meeting people meeting quarterly? 431 00:24:11,291 --> 00:24:12,791 Were they meeting monthly? 432 00:24:12,791 --> 00:24:14,101 What was the structure 433 00:24:14,151 --> 00:24:14,501 of 434 00:24:14,607 --> 00:24:20,672 we had well, I had 21, what I called you know, the executive, the, 435 00:24:20,702 --> 00:24:22,592 the leaders of all the councils. 436 00:24:22,592 --> 00:24:23,792 So there were seven councils. 437 00:24:23,797 --> 00:24:25,412 There were three on each, so there were 21. 438 00:24:26,162 --> 00:24:31,112 Of these people that I would meet with on a fairly regular basis, like once a month. 439 00:24:31,112 --> 00:24:34,052 And we would lay out, you know, what our goal was cuz they were 440 00:24:34,052 --> 00:24:36,152 all working on different projects. 441 00:24:36,632 --> 00:24:40,868 And then we would have meetings at least once a quarter. 442 00:24:40,873 --> 00:24:45,098 We had face-to-face meetings at CompTIA's Channel Con 443 00:24:45,098 --> 00:24:46,928 event, which was in the summer. 444 00:24:47,288 --> 00:24:50,964 And then we had the spring C C F event, which was the 445 00:24:50,969 --> 00:24:52,734 Communities and Councils forum. 446 00:24:53,154 --> 00:24:55,254 Those were the two face-to-face meetings. 447 00:24:55,254 --> 00:24:58,884 But then I'd also have one-off face-to-face 448 00:24:58,914 --> 00:25:03,654 meetings that were at some airport hotel, right? 449 00:25:03,714 --> 00:25:07,751 Because they wanted to get in and get out and we would, it was no frills, you 450 00:25:07,751 --> 00:25:13,011 know, it's a conference room and we would have them working on their projects. 451 00:25:13,021 --> 00:25:13,371 So 452 00:25:13,376 --> 00:25:16,331 we would literally lay out an agenda. 453 00:25:16,846 --> 00:25:19,301 That said, okay, we need to do this. 454 00:25:19,310 --> 00:25:23,137 You know, this matrix for determining whether blockchain 455 00:25:23,137 --> 00:25:24,937 makes sense for this company. 456 00:25:25,207 --> 00:25:29,317 We wanted to have, you know, if you say yes, then it goes this direction. 457 00:25:29,317 --> 00:25:31,087 If you say no, it goes this direction. 458 00:25:31,092 --> 00:25:31,567 So we would 459 00:25:31,572 --> 00:25:33,637 build these products and it 460 00:25:33,637 --> 00:25:37,526 was all different and they would have to get it done. 461 00:25:37,616 --> 00:25:42,656 Like, you know how hard it is to get 20 people in a room to agree on 462 00:25:43,086 --> 00:25:43,326 anything. 463 00:25:43,976 --> 00:25:46,586 Well, and then they were taking it offline. 464 00:25:46,586 --> 00:25:48,476 They started working independently. 465 00:25:48,626 --> 00:25:53,156 And then next thing you know, I, I thought we need to do something together. 466 00:25:53,336 --> 00:25:56,021 So we built it was awesome. 467 00:25:56,231 --> 00:26:03,101 We actually had the i o T drone Blockchain and AI councils come 468 00:26:03,101 --> 00:26:06,081 together and develop a video. 469 00:26:06,111 --> 00:26:09,351 Solving and, and we wanted, it was called tech together. 470 00:26:09,351 --> 00:26:13,071 You could find it out there, but it was on solving a societal 471 00:26:13,101 --> 00:26:15,201 problem, and in this case it 472 00:26:15,201 --> 00:26:17,271 was food contamination. 473 00:26:18,471 --> 00:26:22,371 And we developed this amazing video that used all the different 474 00:26:22,371 --> 00:26:29,031 technologies to, to help prevent food contamination from out in the field. 475 00:26:29,571 --> 00:26:34,086 With the drones to the refrigerated trucks and the sensors to 476 00:26:34,416 --> 00:26:36,186 it was just unbelievable. 477 00:26:36,486 --> 00:26:36,996 So, 478 00:26:37,063 --> 00:26:41,094 That's, that's so interesting because, you know, we, we think about boards 479 00:26:41,099 --> 00:26:45,414 as a, as a way of advising each other. 480 00:26:45,504 --> 00:26:48,354 But what was real, what's really cool here, what you're talking about is you 481 00:26:48,354 --> 00:26:51,714 were using boards to actually create. 482 00:26:52,104 --> 00:26:57,054 Output to create content that now has a residual value in 483 00:26:57,054 --> 00:26:57,144 the 484 00:26:57,175 --> 00:26:57,625 Right. 485 00:26:57,625 --> 00:26:59,875 And they were project-based boards, but you 486 00:26:59,875 --> 00:27:04,735 know, we, we, I do also do business focused boards too, which I 487 00:27:04,735 --> 00:27:07,885 happen to have a, a, a, new client right now that I'm working with. 488 00:27:08,395 --> 00:27:13,376 But yeah, it's, it was, it was probably the funnest job I've ever had. 489 00:27:13,396 --> 00:27:13,736 I, I 490 00:27:13,736 --> 00:27:14,816 I have to say, 491 00:27:15,105 --> 00:27:15,375 Yeah. 492 00:27:15,375 --> 00:27:16,215 That's really interesting. 493 00:27:16,215 --> 00:27:21,495 Well, you kind of hinted at it there, but recently you left CompTIA, as I understand 494 00:27:21,495 --> 00:27:24,555 it, and have started a new company and. 495 00:27:25,455 --> 00:27:28,803 But before we get into what you're doing, cause I want to ask you about that. 496 00:27:28,852 --> 00:27:33,892 Why the switch and what were you seeing in the world that caused you to go, there's, 497 00:27:33,922 --> 00:27:38,542 there's a place, there's more opportunity for me to do this out in the world. 498 00:27:38,542 --> 00:27:42,832 There's more opportunity for me to, to engage this kind of environment. 499 00:27:42,832 --> 00:27:46,129 So before we talk about what you're doing what were you seeing, what 500 00:27:46,129 --> 00:27:49,459 was your unique insight, your perspective of the landscape, your 501 00:27:49,459 --> 00:27:51,379 radar showing you essentially? 502 00:27:51,465 --> 00:27:56,655 Well, I would say really I wanted more. 503 00:27:56,805 --> 00:27:57,015 I 504 00:27:57,015 --> 00:27:58,035 wanted to 505 00:27:58,185 --> 00:27:58,465 have 506 00:27:58,549 --> 00:27:59,989 you get bored easily, I 507 00:28:00,130 --> 00:28:00,680 I do. 508 00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:05,848 And I, I wanted, I wanted to have more flexibility to, to do things 509 00:28:05,878 --> 00:28:07,408 kind of the way I wanted to do them. 510 00:28:07,818 --> 00:28:11,598 And you know, I had spent 14 years at CompTIA with my time on 511 00:28:11,598 --> 00:28:15,075 the board and you know, it was time, it was time to move on and. 512 00:28:15,715 --> 00:28:20,395 One thing I did notice too is the industry is aging. 513 00:28:20,695 --> 00:28:26,173 You know, a lot of people that were on my boards were very senior 514 00:28:26,173 --> 00:28:28,303 executives at their companies. 515 00:28:28,357 --> 00:28:33,491 A lot of them retiring now some of them looking for, you 516 00:28:33,491 --> 00:28:35,171 know, what's next, but they 517 00:28:35,171 --> 00:28:38,681 don't wanna sign back up for that corporate environment. 518 00:28:38,686 --> 00:28:39,161 And that was 519 00:28:39,681 --> 00:28:40,421 honestly how I felt. 520 00:28:41,125 --> 00:28:41,695 Mm. 521 00:28:42,191 --> 00:28:48,759 so one thing that I want to do as part of my new business uh, once we 522 00:28:48,759 --> 00:28:53,529 get into that conversation is give back to all those people that gave 523 00:28:53,534 --> 00:28:55,839 so much to the industry at 524 00:28:56,289 --> 00:28:57,189 no charge. 525 00:28:57,194 --> 00:29:00,279 I mean, like, they were volunteering their time. 526 00:29:00,609 --> 00:29:08,829 They were very, very busy people and I wanna have a way to give back to them too. 527 00:29:09,009 --> 00:29:10,449 So part of what my. 528 00:29:11,589 --> 00:29:17,499 Role is going to be with Board Swap, is to give them a venue to do that. 529 00:29:17,888 --> 00:29:19,448 God, really interesting. 530 00:29:20,534 --> 00:29:26,547 So what, as, as you think about where you're going, give, give me a a a sense 531 00:29:26,547 --> 00:29:29,781 of you sort of touched on it there, but a sense of what you're trying to 532 00:29:29,781 --> 00:29:31,551 do with board swap your new company. 533 00:29:31,551 --> 00:29:35,481 What are, what are some of the tools and, and approaches and services 534 00:29:35,486 --> 00:29:39,601 you plan on offering related to this new entity that you've, you've, 535 00:29:39,637 --> 00:29:40,190 Right. 536 00:29:40,697 --> 00:29:43,946 well, first and foremost as a certified chair through the 537 00:29:43,946 --> 00:29:45,746 advisory Board Center, which I. 538 00:29:46,376 --> 00:29:48,956 Of that organization, and I know you do too. 539 00:29:49,026 --> 00:29:50,766 I love the structure. 540 00:29:50,886 --> 00:29:51,366 I love 541 00:29:51,366 --> 00:29:59,577 the formality and I wanted to take that knowledge that I learned and put it to 542 00:29:59,582 --> 00:30:02,097 practice with my previous background. 543 00:30:02,134 --> 00:30:07,654 And so I wanted to get more into business focused advisory boards. 544 00:30:07,721 --> 00:30:09,058 I have a business degree. 545 00:30:09,689 --> 00:30:16,769 And I wanted to take all the experience that I had personally in my career as 546 00:30:16,769 --> 00:30:21,449 well as all the knowledge I learned from all these amazing executives 547 00:30:21,449 --> 00:30:27,329 through the tech industry and build something that would be unique. 548 00:30:27,699 --> 00:30:33,029 And there are a lot of companies that do advisory boards, a lot of 549 00:30:33,029 --> 00:30:37,319 companies that do customer advisory boards and things like that in the tech industry. 550 00:30:38,819 --> 00:30:43,589 I didn't see anyone doing the formalized advisory boards, and there's 551 00:30:43,829 --> 00:30:44,909 a big difference there. 552 00:30:45,045 --> 00:30:45,779 so. 553 00:30:46,214 --> 00:30:50,954 When I decided to build board swap, there were several key elements. 554 00:30:50,954 --> 00:30:54,674 I wanted to do formalized advisory boards for not only the business 555 00:30:54,679 --> 00:30:56,894 sector, but I wanted project based. 556 00:30:57,494 --> 00:31:01,361 And I also wanted to do peer groups, which again, are different. 557 00:31:01,366 --> 00:31:01,661 They're 558 00:31:01,661 --> 00:31:06,701 more of six to eight executives from non-competing companies that kind of 559 00:31:06,701 --> 00:31:10,381 come together and use each other as their own personal board of director. 560 00:31:11,170 --> 00:31:11,560 Right. 561 00:31:11,841 --> 00:31:14,861 then I wanted to give back, as I mentioned, to all these people that 562 00:31:14,861 --> 00:31:18,851 I had worked with over the year, and I would say there's three to 400 of 563 00:31:18,851 --> 00:31:20,801 'em out there that I've worked with. 564 00:31:21,341 --> 00:31:25,301 And so I wanted to create an advisor concierge service. 565 00:31:25,377 --> 00:31:29,692 So that when my customers came to me and said, Hey, you know, we would like 566 00:31:29,692 --> 00:31:34,582 to create an advisory board that I had a place to point them to, to say, 567 00:31:34,582 --> 00:31:38,702 well, here, you can look for advisors if they fit the need for your board. 568 00:31:38,752 --> 00:31:40,172 So there was that part. 569 00:31:40,215 --> 00:31:44,205 And then there's the board swapping idea, which is the name of the company. 570 00:31:44,205 --> 00:31:50,505 And the board swap idea is that as businesses evolve, things change very 571 00:31:50,505 --> 00:31:51,165 rapidly. 572 00:31:51,495 --> 00:31:57,525 And when you create a board charter for your board, you 573 00:31:57,525 --> 00:31:59,535 have a specific thing in mind. 574 00:31:59,535 --> 00:32:03,405 So whether we're doing assessments in advance to figure out what that board 575 00:32:03,410 --> 00:32:05,775 charter needs to be, which is what we do. 576 00:32:06,623 --> 00:32:11,768 Or they just have a, a need that they don't need assessments and they just 577 00:32:11,768 --> 00:32:15,638 know, Hey, we need to put this together because we have to solve this problem. 578 00:32:15,696 --> 00:32:22,736 You, you want to be able to bring structure and discipline. 579 00:32:23,381 --> 00:32:24,641 To that process. 580 00:32:24,641 --> 00:32:30,011 And what I've found is so many people fail at advisory boards 581 00:32:30,011 --> 00:32:31,451 because they don't have that. 582 00:32:31,451 --> 00:32:35,666 And you know, in these big companies, They'll have, oh, well, the 583 00:32:35,666 --> 00:32:39,206 advisory board's sitting under the marketing department and then, you 584 00:32:39,206 --> 00:32:43,786 know, they start managing it and then, you know, they all have full-time jobs 585 00:32:43,786 --> 00:32:47,416 and then they, they realize, well, so-and-so isn't showing up to meetings 586 00:32:47,421 --> 00:32:49,486 and this person stopped coming and 587 00:32:49,846 --> 00:32:53,866 you know, next thing you know, oh yeah, we forgot to have our Q2 meeting. 588 00:32:53,866 --> 00:32:57,106 And it's like not even serious, you know? 589 00:32:57,525 --> 00:32:57,885 Yeah. 590 00:32:57,946 --> 00:33:05,266 By outsourcing your advisory board to a certified chair who has a very 591 00:33:05,826 --> 00:33:12,676 structured and disciplined approach to managing and facilitating these types of 592 00:33:12,681 --> 00:33:20,262 things, it just makes more sense because it's cheaper, it's got more focus and 593 00:33:20,322 --> 00:33:22,972 the fact that it's independent allows. 594 00:33:24,357 --> 00:33:30,049 Outside com you know, chair, to really see the bigger picture of what's going on 595 00:33:30,049 --> 00:33:33,139 between the company and their advisors. 596 00:33:33,169 --> 00:33:38,981 And so, I really wanted to enact that type of a program. 597 00:33:38,986 --> 00:33:41,321 And so that's, that's exactly what I've done. 598 00:33:41,644 --> 00:33:42,094 Got it. 599 00:33:42,094 --> 00:33:46,967 So you're, you're essentially bringing bringing a number of approaches to bear 600 00:33:46,988 --> 00:33:52,208 using advisory boards, your, your history, your experience using and leveraging, 601 00:33:52,238 --> 00:33:56,768 obviously what you said with the advisory board center, some of the, the framework 602 00:33:56,798 --> 00:33:59,228 and the, and the process pieces from that. 603 00:33:59,408 --> 00:34:02,048 To, to come at it from a number of different ways. 604 00:34:02,048 --> 00:34:04,688 It sounds like it's, it's not like you're taking one approach. 605 00:34:04,688 --> 00:34:07,298 It's not like you're taking the old compt approach. 606 00:34:07,298 --> 00:34:12,331 Only you're using that as history and, and you know, and perspective and insight, but 607 00:34:12,331 --> 00:34:14,911 you're doing a whole bunch of different things, which sounds really kind of 608 00:34:15,247 --> 00:34:19,705 Well, and, and what's so funny is you know, you, you, you go through your 609 00:34:19,705 --> 00:34:23,875 training, you get your certification and you have this mentality of, 610 00:34:23,875 --> 00:34:26,425 okay, this is how the process works. 611 00:34:26,725 --> 00:34:30,325 And then you go out into the real world and you go to try to implement 612 00:34:30,330 --> 00:34:33,355 that, and you find that it doesn't work like that. 613 00:34:33,910 --> 00:34:34,225 right. 614 00:34:34,225 --> 00:34:37,705 like you have to listen to the needs of your client. 615 00:34:38,185 --> 00:34:41,755 And so I was fortunate enough before I launched to be 616 00:34:42,145 --> 00:34:44,327 introduced to a telecom carrier. 617 00:34:44,327 --> 00:34:50,878 Out on the west coast, and I went in with this thought that I'm gonna kind 618 00:34:50,878 --> 00:34:53,818 of try this methodology that I learned. 619 00:34:54,268 --> 00:34:59,628 And it was so funny because they were like, yeah, no, we already have 14 people 620 00:34:59,628 --> 00:35:04,578 on our advisory board and we really just want a customer advisory board, 621 00:35:04,578 --> 00:35:09,348 and we're not interested in having all those assessments done on our company. 622 00:35:09,953 --> 00:35:14,531 We already know we have a problem and we had a little breakdown in 623 00:35:14,531 --> 00:35:18,971 our service level, and some of our customers were pretty upset about it 624 00:35:18,971 --> 00:35:20,951 because they had their name on it. 625 00:35:20,951 --> 00:35:24,161 And you know what we'd really like you to do, Annette, 626 00:35:24,791 --> 00:35:31,421 is we'd really like you to interview all five of our senior executives that run 627 00:35:31,421 --> 00:35:34,571 our ops department sales and marketing. 628 00:35:34,615 --> 00:35:38,785 You know, product management, customer service and tech support. 629 00:35:39,055 --> 00:35:44,605 We, we really want you to interview these executives and then we want you 630 00:35:44,605 --> 00:35:50,035 to interview each of our board members, and we want you to facilitate a meeting 631 00:35:50,035 --> 00:35:57,565 in June that is going to help us solve the problem that we had last fall. 632 00:35:58,135 --> 00:36:00,685 And I'm like, okay, let's do it. 633 00:36:01,135 --> 00:36:02,365 And so that's, that's 634 00:36:02,365 --> 00:36:03,685 what we're in the process of doing. 635 00:36:03,685 --> 00:36:05,845 So it's a completely different 636 00:36:06,655 --> 00:36:07,615 methodology. 637 00:36:07,615 --> 00:36:08,035 And, and 638 00:36:08,035 --> 00:36:14,575 part of what we did is we actually took and asked each of these executives to 639 00:36:14,580 --> 00:36:16,795 come up with questions for a survey. 640 00:36:17,215 --> 00:36:21,145 And now we're presenting that survey to the board members so that before 641 00:36:21,145 --> 00:36:25,915 we even get to the meeting, I have enough information on what's going 642 00:36:25,915 --> 00:36:31,045 on in the dynamics and the people and to be able to facilitate this 643 00:36:31,045 --> 00:36:36,775 very interesting meeting that's gonna happen in June as it relates to, you 644 00:36:36,775 --> 00:36:39,715 know, a crisis situation basically. 645 00:36:40,639 --> 00:36:42,579 So, so interesting and so cool. 646 00:36:42,729 --> 00:36:46,040 So, one thing that that interests me always is what's 647 00:36:46,280 --> 00:36:47,720 the superpower that you bring? 648 00:36:47,720 --> 00:36:51,735 So, like you've told your story and you've, you've told how you how 649 00:36:51,740 --> 00:36:55,275 you're coming at things, how your new business is, is well, the services 650 00:36:55,275 --> 00:36:56,355 you're planning on delivering. 651 00:36:56,685 --> 00:37:00,015 But what's intriguing to me in listening to you is you've got all 652 00:37:00,015 --> 00:37:03,405 these story parts and pieces that. 653 00:37:04,145 --> 00:37:08,181 Make me believe that you have this, this really interesting superpower that 654 00:37:08,181 --> 00:37:11,489 a lot of times a superpower to me is something that you just do naturally 655 00:37:11,489 --> 00:37:15,059 and efficiently and, and you, you don't think it's that hard, but everybody else 656 00:37:15,064 --> 00:37:16,829 around you goes, wow, that's amazing. 657 00:37:17,099 --> 00:37:22,229 So what, what superpower do you bring to like a facilitation, a sitting in a 658 00:37:22,259 --> 00:37:26,134 board, if you're a, an advisory board member just being in the room, what's 659 00:37:26,384 --> 00:37:29,504 the thing that you are always thinking about that nobody else is thinking about? 660 00:37:29,734 --> 00:37:31,624 What's the perspective that you're taking? 661 00:37:31,629 --> 00:37:32,044 A lot of the. 662 00:37:32,897 --> 00:37:39,137 you know, I think as women sometimes we, we want everybody to get along, 663 00:37:39,647 --> 00:37:45,214 you know, when we're young and we're growing up, you know, we always. 664 00:37:46,309 --> 00:37:47,779 Want everybody to get along. 665 00:37:47,959 --> 00:37:48,409 You know, the 666 00:37:48,409 --> 00:37:51,679 girls always kind of get together and they're always, you know, 667 00:37:51,919 --> 00:37:56,135 they're always sweet and friendly and I think what it is, it's being 668 00:37:56,135 --> 00:37:59,585 a galvanizer galvanizer of people. 669 00:37:59,705 --> 00:37:59,855 You 670 00:37:59,855 --> 00:38:00,305 know? 671 00:38:00,484 --> 00:38:01,324 do you mean by that? 672 00:38:01,324 --> 00:38:01,684 What's a 673 00:38:01,684 --> 00:38:02,524 galvanizer? 674 00:38:02,584 --> 00:38:02,674 It's 675 00:38:02,920 --> 00:38:03,335 is 676 00:38:03,402 --> 00:38:09,392 trying to make everyone feel part of something that we can all identify. 677 00:38:10,187 --> 00:38:10,697 You know, 678 00:38:10,727 --> 00:38:16,517 making sure that everyone feels comfortable that, that there's 679 00:38:17,057 --> 00:38:25,094 proper expectations that are set you know, that you motivate and energize 680 00:38:25,094 --> 00:38:28,124 people to do what needs to be done 681 00:38:28,664 --> 00:38:32,594 and execute on what you say you're gonna do. 682 00:38:32,638 --> 00:38:38,548 And by doing that, you know, People trust you. 683 00:38:38,698 --> 00:38:39,178 You know, 684 00:38:39,178 --> 00:38:44,363 when, when they start to see that, when you say something and you do it there's, 685 00:38:44,393 --> 00:38:49,673 there's a lot to be said for that, you know, and I think listening is so key. 686 00:38:49,883 --> 00:38:54,466 You know, I, I, I just was appointed to an advisory board for the University 687 00:38:54,471 --> 00:38:59,154 of South Florida, and it's regarding their digital marketing program. 688 00:38:59,784 --> 00:39:03,084 And I told the girl, I said, let me just say this right up front. 689 00:39:03,114 --> 00:39:05,574 I am not a digital marketing person, okay? 690 00:39:05,574 --> 00:39:07,734 I actually had to hire somebody to build my 691 00:39:07,734 --> 00:39:10,344 website and do all this stuff for me cuz I don't know this. 692 00:39:10,344 --> 00:39:13,374 I said, but I bring knowledge from business. 693 00:39:13,374 --> 00:39:15,894 And she goes, that's exactly why we wanted you in that 694 00:39:16,524 --> 00:39:18,204 we don't care about you. 695 00:39:18,474 --> 00:39:21,144 So I have to listen to learn. 696 00:39:21,504 --> 00:39:25,674 And I would say I'm probably one of the people that speaks last. 697 00:39:25,914 --> 00:39:26,394 I like to 698 00:39:26,454 --> 00:39:28,434 hear what everyone else has to say. 699 00:39:29,174 --> 00:39:30,384 And then develop my own. 700 00:39:31,750 --> 00:39:32,320 That's great. 701 00:39:32,710 --> 00:39:38,461 So a let, let's assume, and because you are a, you have this rich tech 702 00:39:38,461 --> 00:39:43,236 background let's say a tech, c e o a, young tech, c e o, comes to you and says, 703 00:39:43,236 --> 00:39:45,226 I'm, I'm interested in advisory board. 704 00:39:45,271 --> 00:39:48,511 What's the first three pieces of advice you're gonna give them? 705 00:39:48,541 --> 00:39:52,501 They're, they're interested in it, they're uncertain, they're kind of on the fence. 706 00:39:52,531 --> 00:39:55,674 But you've, you've, you've got a chance to give. 707 00:39:56,149 --> 00:39:58,189 Real clear, crisp advice. 708 00:39:58,189 --> 00:39:58,429 What? 709 00:39:58,429 --> 00:40:00,289 What's the first few things you're gonna tell them? 710 00:40:00,289 --> 00:40:00,469 them? 711 00:40:00,765 --> 00:40:03,795 Well, I would probably tell them that we're gonna need to spend a 712 00:40:03,795 --> 00:40:08,865 little time together so that I could understand what's going on in their 713 00:40:08,865 --> 00:40:13,905 business, because sometimes it doesn't make sense to have an advisory board. 714 00:40:14,115 --> 00:40:14,265 You 715 00:40:14,265 --> 00:40:15,235 know, like if they're. 716 00:40:15,960 --> 00:40:19,740 Having an issue with cash flow or something like that, as many 717 00:40:19,770 --> 00:40:24,000 brand new startups do, that's not the time to go invest money in 718 00:40:24,000 --> 00:40:25,680 having an advisory board, Right. 719 00:40:26,010 --> 00:40:28,590 So I would need to spend some time with them. 720 00:40:28,590 --> 00:40:32,910 I would need to understand what's going on, and then we 721 00:40:32,915 --> 00:40:34,650 would have to identify priority, 722 00:40:35,220 --> 00:40:36,750 you know, what is the priority? 723 00:40:36,900 --> 00:40:41,280 You know, because so many things are happening, and if you don't target 724 00:40:41,280 --> 00:40:43,080 in on something, then you don't. 725 00:40:43,815 --> 00:40:44,865 Clarity of scope, 726 00:40:45,135 --> 00:40:45,585 right. 727 00:40:46,035 --> 00:40:49,965 And when you don't have clarity of scope and you start an advisory 728 00:40:49,965 --> 00:40:54,375 board, it goes all over the place and you don't accomplish anything. 729 00:40:54,495 --> 00:40:55,245 So if 730 00:40:55,575 --> 00:41:00,311 you have to have clarity of scope and and you have to have discipline, you 731 00:41:00,316 --> 00:41:02,681 have to have structure and discipline. 732 00:41:02,741 --> 00:41:06,911 And so I would say, you know, spending time understanding what 733 00:41:06,911 --> 00:41:10,991 their needs are, identifying their priorities, and developing clarity of. 734 00:41:11,906 --> 00:41:14,486 Or probably before you even have an advisory, 735 00:41:15,146 --> 00:41:16,706 before you even have an advisory board. 736 00:41:17,036 --> 00:41:20,276 Those are the first three things that you really have to do to 737 00:41:20,276 --> 00:41:21,716 assess if it even makes sense. 738 00:41:23,256 --> 00:41:24,211 Yeah, that's beautiful. 739 00:41:24,451 --> 00:41:29,971 And, and from there and, and I think that leads back into maybe mistakes that people 740 00:41:29,971 --> 00:41:36,212 make, that you've seen is is failure to do that upfront work, like you said. 741 00:41:36,214 --> 00:41:40,409 And this is, I I see it a lot in terms of advisory boards that 742 00:41:40,439 --> 00:41:44,699 are put together without that discipline that you're speaking of. 743 00:41:44,759 --> 00:41:50,619 And what, what starts happening is, They, they put the people on the board before 744 00:41:50,619 --> 00:41:52,329 they understand where they're going. 745 00:41:52,509 --> 00:41:53,049 Is that, is 746 00:41:53,049 --> 00:41:53,259 that 747 00:41:53,495 --> 00:41:54,185 yes. 748 00:41:54,725 --> 00:41:59,435 I mean, because once you determine what the scope is, then you have 749 00:41:59,435 --> 00:42:04,295 to assess the company's current executive team and say, you know, 750 00:42:04,355 --> 00:42:06,485 do we have the skillset needed to 751 00:42:06,485 --> 00:42:07,595 achieve this scope? 752 00:42:07,685 --> 00:42:08,075 Right? 753 00:42:08,255 --> 00:42:10,475 And nine times outta 10 they don't, which is why they're 754 00:42:10,635 --> 00:42:11,795 in the situation they're in. 755 00:42:12,065 --> 00:42:17,165 So then you have to go find the right advisors that are fit for purpose. 756 00:42:17,540 --> 00:42:19,790 To, to achieve that scope. 757 00:42:20,090 --> 00:42:23,388 And that's when it all kind of comes together. 758 00:42:23,394 --> 00:42:29,934 You know, I just feel like there are so many things that can go wrong when 759 00:42:29,934 --> 00:42:33,534 you don't do the homework upfront, 760 00:42:33,894 --> 00:42:40,014 and part of that is ensuring that you've got the right people involved 761 00:42:40,014 --> 00:42:43,044 and you know, as a certified chair. 762 00:42:43,649 --> 00:42:49,209 You know, we try to distance ourselves from selection of advisory board 763 00:42:49,209 --> 00:42:53,259 members because it's their advisory board and they have to be the ones 764 00:42:53,259 --> 00:42:56,349 to select who the advisors are. 765 00:42:56,679 --> 00:43:00,729 You know, I don't have any problem helping to interview or provide a 766 00:43:00,734 --> 00:43:04,809 data point as to, you know, where, which direction they wanna go. 767 00:43:04,809 --> 00:43:09,849 But ultimately, the client has to decide who the advisors. 768 00:43:11,073 --> 00:43:11,373 Right. 769 00:43:11,613 --> 00:43:15,783 That, that fit them, that feel like they, they work with them and, and 770 00:43:15,903 --> 00:43:17,523 there's a, a level of alignment. 771 00:43:17,523 --> 00:43:17,733 Yeah. 772 00:43:17,733 --> 00:43:18,543 That's really good. 773 00:43:18,599 --> 00:43:21,899 this has been really, really helpful and I feel like it, it 774 00:43:21,899 --> 00:43:26,339 gives a lot of perspective on, on your role, what you're doing, how 775 00:43:26,339 --> 00:43:27,809 you think about it, your history. 776 00:43:28,414 --> 00:43:29,434 So much perspective. 777 00:43:29,434 --> 00:43:31,324 So I really appreciate you sharing all that. 778 00:43:31,324 --> 00:43:34,024 So, you've told us a little bit about board swap tell. 779 00:43:34,054 --> 00:43:36,964 Is there anything more you wanna say about Board Swap before we 780 00:43:36,969 --> 00:43:38,674 bring this conversation to a close? 781 00:43:39,044 --> 00:43:39,994 Anything more you're doing? 782 00:43:39,994 --> 00:43:43,264 Anything you more you wanna say about how you can help people? 783 00:43:43,279 --> 00:43:44,670 Just, just, this is 784 00:43:44,670 --> 00:43:44,790 your 785 00:43:44,811 --> 00:43:45,441 yes. 786 00:43:45,441 --> 00:43:54,999 So, I would just say if you really want to move your organization forward and you 787 00:43:54,999 --> 00:44:01,654 really want to prepare for the future, Advisory boards, in my opinion, 788 00:44:01,774 --> 00:44:05,074 provide so much insight and guidance. 789 00:44:05,824 --> 00:44:12,184 And if you do go forward with an advisory board, it's critical that 790 00:44:12,184 --> 00:44:17,914 you engage with organizations that know what they're doing and that can 791 00:44:18,274 --> 00:44:20,404 assist you throughout the process. 792 00:44:20,404 --> 00:44:23,514 So check us out@boardswap.com. 793 00:44:24,149 --> 00:44:25,035 Give us a call. 794 00:44:25,035 --> 00:44:27,915 Let's just, you know, we could set up a call just to have 795 00:44:27,915 --> 00:44:29,415 an exploratory discussion. 796 00:44:29,505 --> 00:44:33,405 You know, we don't have to move forward, but let's just talk about it 797 00:44:33,405 --> 00:44:34,935 and see if it makes sense, you know? 798 00:44:36,014 --> 00:44:36,634 Wonderful. 799 00:44:37,234 --> 00:44:41,014 I always like to end our conversation with some sort of rapid fire questions 800 00:44:41,019 --> 00:44:44,054 just to get to know you a little bit more, cuz you know, anytime we work 801 00:44:44,284 --> 00:44:45,544 together with people, it's always 802 00:44:45,549 --> 00:44:49,234 fun to, you know you know where, where you live in the world, what coffee you 803 00:44:49,234 --> 00:44:51,034 drink, and what your morning looks like. 804 00:44:51,034 --> 00:44:52,984 But these are just some rapid fire questions. 805 00:44:52,984 --> 00:44:58,504 So I'm gonna throw them at you quickly and you just answer at will Mac or pc. 806 00:44:58,616 --> 00:44:59,396 Pc. 807 00:45:00,107 --> 00:45:00,802 Is there a reason for 808 00:45:01,003 --> 00:45:02,963 I haven't learned anything else. 809 00:45:04,162 --> 00:45:04,582 Got it. 810 00:45:05,132 --> 00:45:07,523 Best book you've read in the last six months. 811 00:45:07,523 --> 00:45:09,517 I'm not reading anything right now. 812 00:45:09,517 --> 00:45:11,347 I have, I have several books. 813 00:45:11,932 --> 00:45:13,486 On my Kindle. 814 00:45:13,533 --> 00:45:15,393 But I'm not reading anything right now. 815 00:45:15,393 --> 00:45:17,313 I'm more into podcasts right now, 816 00:45:17,403 --> 00:45:17,763 and 817 00:45:18,151 --> 00:45:20,546 So best co podcast you're listening to right now. 818 00:45:20,546 --> 00:45:21,926 What's the best, besides this 819 00:45:21,926 --> 00:45:22,076 one, 820 00:45:22,083 --> 00:45:23,823 yes, yes, yes, No. 821 00:45:23,835 --> 00:45:25,900 Well, it's, it's probably better. 822 00:45:25,900 --> 00:45:27,970 I don't go there because it's political. 823 00:45:28,909 --> 00:45:29,659 Oh dear. 824 00:45:29,659 --> 00:45:31,069 Okay, we'll stay outta that one. 825 00:45:31,069 --> 00:45:31,279 Then. 826 00:45:32,570 --> 00:45:37,480 Favorite web or phone app that gives you the best ROI right now? 827 00:45:37,480 --> 00:45:41,020 Like I, is there a phone app or a web app that you use that just 828 00:45:41,050 --> 00:45:42,928 gives you incredibly good roi? 829 00:45:42,928 --> 00:45:45,948 Well, I gotta be honest with you, I love Calendly. 830 00:45:46,398 --> 00:45:51,928 I love being able to shoot somebody a link and have them book with me when it's, 831 00:45:51,958 --> 00:45:54,148 it's going back and forth all the time. 832 00:45:54,148 --> 00:45:54,928 Was a nightmare. 833 00:45:54,928 --> 00:45:56,083 I love that app. 834 00:45:56,083 --> 00:45:58,682 I also, you know, I love Zoom. 835 00:45:58,682 --> 00:46:01,652 I use that enormously. 836 00:46:01,673 --> 00:46:06,513 And you know, personally I love apps that make my life easier. 837 00:46:06,513 --> 00:46:10,173 So like, my pool is all on my phone. 838 00:46:10,173 --> 00:46:15,663 You know, my, I have all these apps that run all my, my it in my house, 839 00:46:16,218 --> 00:46:16,293 so, 840 00:46:17,007 --> 00:46:18,027 Sort of the internet of 841 00:46:18,027 --> 00:46:19,287 things kind of app. 842 00:46:19,707 --> 00:46:20,007 Right. 843 00:46:20,127 --> 00:46:20,547 Okay. 844 00:46:21,027 --> 00:46:21,447 Okay. 845 00:46:21,532 --> 00:46:23,392 What was the first question you asked? 846 00:46:23,392 --> 00:46:24,442 Chat, g p t. 847 00:46:24,447 --> 00:46:24,622 Do you 848 00:46:24,748 --> 00:46:27,133 I have not asked chat, g p t, anything. 849 00:46:27,133 --> 00:46:28,003 However, 850 00:46:28,633 --> 00:46:34,033 I have a colleague of mine who has a, a torn meniscus and I asked 851 00:46:34,033 --> 00:46:35,653 her, I said, what the heck is that? 852 00:46:35,658 --> 00:46:40,363 And she goes, well, I asked the chat G P T, and this is what it said. 853 00:46:40,363 --> 00:46:45,133 And she sent me the text of what it was, and I was like, wow, that's amazing. 854 00:46:45,763 --> 00:46:47,923 It was like in normal layman's terms. 855 00:46:48,427 --> 00:46:49,297 Yes, I know. 856 00:46:49,927 --> 00:46:53,707 If you could have coffee with a famous historical figure who's 857 00:46:53,707 --> 00:46:55,587 no longer alive, who would it be? 858 00:46:56,248 --> 00:46:56,998 Hmm. 859 00:46:59,458 --> 00:47:00,508 Andrew Jackson 860 00:47:01,777 --> 00:47:02,797 Why Andrew Jackson. 861 00:47:03,788 --> 00:47:10,768 because I feel he really galvanized the American people to 862 00:47:11,378 --> 00:47:14,818 overcome adversity in his career. 863 00:47:16,402 --> 00:47:17,782 Wow, that's really cool. 864 00:47:18,232 --> 00:47:23,342 And then how would your closest family members describe what it is you do? 865 00:47:23,392 --> 00:47:26,842 Well, I have two boys 26 and 29. 866 00:47:27,477 --> 00:47:31,728 And they would probably just say she's on the phone all the time. 867 00:47:31,788 --> 00:47:37,218 I know she's in technology, but I don't know that I really understand exactly 868 00:47:37,218 --> 00:47:42,960 what she does, but she talks to a lot of different people all day and that, 869 00:47:42,990 --> 00:47:44,670 that'd probably be about all they'd know. 870 00:47:45,698 --> 00:47:46,434 Right, right. 871 00:47:46,620 --> 00:47:48,210 Uh, That's, that's delightful. 872 00:47:48,510 --> 00:47:51,442 Annette, it's been an absolute joy to talk to you. 873 00:47:51,468 --> 00:47:55,996 I am wishing you great success because I know you have the chops to do really 874 00:47:56,001 --> 00:47:57,796 cool things with other companies. 875 00:47:58,126 --> 00:48:02,500 You've, you've had a great experience in life and, and I, I wish you well in 876 00:48:02,500 --> 00:48:06,161 your new board swap role your new board swap company, and all the cool things 877 00:48:06,161 --> 00:48:07,931 that are gonna ha come from that role. 878 00:48:08,346 --> 00:48:12,032 And I really appreciate you being here and uh, look forward to seeing all 879 00:48:12,032 --> 00:48:13,442 the cool things that'll happen going 880 00:48:13,878 --> 00:48:14,718 Well, thank you, Tom. 881 00:48:14,718 --> 00:48:15,618 It's been a pleasure. 882 00:48:15,623 --> 00:48:17,088 I've really enjoyed the time with you.