 Hey GoveCon Giants family, today's episode podcast guest is Teresa Jacobson. Her organization has been helping and supporting Alaska Native tribes throughout the years from various areas in terms of accounting up to business development. She is the one that when your particular tribe or organization needs assistance in learning how to grow your business, develop your business, Teresa is the person to reach out to. In today's episode we discuss all of her experiences working with various tribal organizations and now her today in her new organization who's 8A certified and as an Alaska Native corporation what she's doing to further her own mission and grow her business also one of the things that's really really neat about Teresa is she started three nonprofit organizations that she co-founded and or was the creator of and we're going to talk about all those organizations today and how she has a heart of gold. Stay tuned for today's episode with Teresa Jacobson. My name is Teresa Jacobson and I'm the CEO and owner of JW Industries Group. Hey Teresa, how are you? Welcome. Thank you. So glad to be here. Yeah, no listen and by the way again like I said earlier thank you for rescheduling with us. I know how it is and we're all busy especially at the end of the fiscal year. Yes, yes it is. Yeah, so I know how important that is. How can I just want to kind of dive in since we are in the middle of this pandemic. What is it like and how is it affecting people up in your region? You are in Anchorage, correct? Yes, I'm in Anchorage, Alaska. Yes, it's you know we're so for for many of my clients who are a village corporation ANC's. It was a scary couple of months because of a lack of contact with the government the government folks on their side you know they were they you know they were as we all were doing you know now we have a home office we've got to wait for you know our internet to get up and all the security things so we had a period of time for several weeks where everything was you know it was everybody went dark and that was a little scary for some of our folks but you know it everybody is you know some of our folks some of our village corporation clients we have some people in the office some people working from home just depending on each you know how everybody is you know made that determination on you know what that's going to look like during this pandemic but it seems to me that everybody is doing doing well under the circumstances you know there's a bit more to anything they do now because of delays with communication or the fact that you know if they have to go on site somewhere to check a site let's say in Hawaii or Alabama you know you have to consider the fact that there's going to be some quarantine time because of that trip so decision yes more thought put into those required trips that's interesting I actually I was talking with a client of mine and he said the same thing we were discussing again we're in construction and they do the estimated by aris means book yes yes and he says well aris means doesn't affect Cal for COVID or quarantine or social distancing or if you're doing work in a 66 floor story how long is it taking to get up to 66 flights right yes I mean we were I mean those are things that are real right and when you're I know people that were starting contracts during the COVID because the government didn't shut down and they you know there's always new requirements that they didn't account for and that they didn't they didn't they did not factor into their estimates yep so let me ask you this when you say your your clients to subscribe to me your business the nature of your business and what you guys do you bet so I started the firm in 2011 after having been a CEO for a village corporation based in with offices based in Anchorage Alaska and prior to that I served as the business manager and contract administrator for one of the regional corporation subsidiaries one of the positions where I was responsible for making sure that we were doing our contracts the way we're supposed to you know because the government does like it when we when we follow the contract and it was about $200 million in federal contracts around the United States federal detention facilities food services janitorial aseptic janitorial construction and I took that experience and decided rather than renewing my contract with the ANC to go ahead and start my own company and my family they no longer do this but they started logistics services over a hundred years ago by dog sled get out of here my great-grandfather Jacobson from visby Sweden came up from visby and then Chicago and then up to Alaska as a US Marshall and that was part of his job was he delivered the mail and he was the town jailer and so he would deliver medicine and other things by dog team around the Yukon Cusco Queen region yeah so I took all of that and decided you know what I'd really love to be able to do this for to help village corporations and tribal entities around the state and so that's how we started the company and then in my second year I approached the 88 program because that was part of my job in my past was to get those 80 applications processed and keep the the you know the management of those of the program so that's you know it just seemed like a natural course for me to do the so we provide we have two divisions professional services and industrial services okay and you know we have that model based on you know what the you know based on being a federal contractor what does the government like to see you know what what areas can we work at that where there's a need and so you know we have construction logistics remediation and our professional services side some strategic support accounting and those types of professional services human resources but we also we have our own set of clients who are primarily village corporations and we help them with getting into the 88 program assessing whether or not they're ready for the 88 program what that can look like because a lot of folks you know they get scared about jumping into that application and you know we we help them work through that you know it's interesting I I never because I've worked with in my experiences so many ANC's Alaska Native corporations I just assumed that they all knew how to do this stuff no yeah so well you know and some of the ANC's have made a strategic decision at the present time not to go into the 88 program some of them do real estate my regional corporation cooking the region we did real estate and telecommunications for many many years and then jumped into the 88 program and we're doing very very well with our 88 family of companies very very well with the north wind group but there are some that have decided not to go that route and to you know invest in real estate do other things silent partnerships things like that and what we do is we work with emerging village corporations to help them determine whether or not you know now is the time and what industry you know that they have the experience in or want to be in and we help them with that so let me ask you something that you're just crazy thank you my mind because it sounds like the village corporations they like you said they go in real estate you want to telecommunications silent partners so are they all are they looking for things to get into yes and you know we get we get corporations that will contact us and we get business owners who contact us to see if I know a village corporation who may be interested in buying their company that's what I was that's where I was headed Teresa yes yes you know I actually have one of my podcast guests she has a really large corporation but she's spitting off another division and I actually suggested her why not partner with an A and C because I thought it made a fit because she's already in the federal arena and the thing that she's doing are telecommunications wise and it just made sense like he said they have so many advantages as an A and C that as a partner and investor like that would be a great relationship and she knows she never thought of that yes so many and and I will let me rephrase that before I make a blanket statement but about many of people that I know of see the A and C's as competition sure and I totally dispel that I said no the A and C's man I've had nothing but success working with them I've seen them come to the table and want to work together with with small businesses I to me some of them are bigger small business advocates than some of the federal agencies yes just my thoughts you can share your thoughts on that matter I think you know what and I appreciate you saying that because you know and for me you know here I am this little 8a company in Alaska in a sea of A and C's and all there's some subsidiary companies you know how do I stand a chance well you know what it's about relationship building it really is oh I know this person there and I've met with them several times and then they come to you and say you know what I'm interested in working with you and I have two of my clients right now that have approached me and said you know we'd really like to work with you you know they can't check that box off anymore that says woman owned small business because you know over half of their shareholders are women they don't get to do that anymore so you know it's an opportunity for them and it's an opportunity for my little 8a company so there are ways that you can make that work and you know as a small you know business owner getting into the 8a program and you know there are things that can be very daunting and you you know you have those times in your you know as a company owner where you're like you know why do I think I can do this I don't have a big parent company to back me up I don't have this gigantic line of credit and this you know this yard full of equipment you know how am I going to make that work and you know what I tell my folks who are clients who are who are new to it is you know it really is about relationships it's about who you can work with that joint venture partnership where you can build that experience and put it on your own list of of a past performance so you you know saying that regarding the antsies there are so many opportunities working with them really let me ask you this so since okay I know people are approaching you what um if someone was listening to this and they said hey you know I have a I don't know two three hundred billion dollar company that I can't obviously I'm not a small business but you as an A and C our small business we would be interested in a joint venture is that something that is that a reason to call Theresa sure okay you know we want to keep all the doors open either and you know it it might be that it isn't immediate or you know you know my clients you know I have a client that might be interested in the future but I would say you know what reach out send a capability statement ask for a capability statement really just you know build those relationships and that's what I've done over the course of of of these many years is to build relationships and sometimes and I know you get this sometimes it feels like I spent half a day sending emails out with my capability statements to companies I've identified and truly want to work with and then you don't hear anything back so you're telling me you've been there done it oh yeah no come on yes and you know don't give up keep you know keep your keep keep your eyes on the prize where you want to be visualize that if you can hold it in your head you can hold it in your if you can see it in your head you can hold it in your hand and you know keep that you know keep your your your goal list where you can see it every day more than just a little bit you know put it on your put it on your desktop and you know it'll be it's amazing what your subconscious will do to bring what you need to you now places and things I love that I love that in fact when I was looking at your LinkedIn profile I saw you had a lot of people on it that I recognize their names that gave out a lot of great ideas like James Altucher and Richard Branson quotes and things like that so that's those are the types of things that feeds your brain that feeds your energy the spirit I could see it I could hear it yes yes you know we're all connected and and it's you know one of the things that I really love and I do have one of my nonprofits is called the Alaska women's leadership forum I have another one called the Alaska travel administrators association and I've been approached by the CEO of one of the village corporations to get a a chapter underneath the Alaska women's leadership form for women in federal contracting and when she and I get together and talk about this we could go on for days I'm like you know we're federal contracting nerds we're we're SBA 8a nerds you know we can't help it and why not have a support for that because you know when you're talking with somebody who who does this and gets it it's just it's really neat and you know you you get you do get energy from that don't you no I do absolutely in fact I tell people all the time it's when people listen to me that you know if you're not in my space you probably think I'm boring I'm just then right that's just the case I mean if someone else on the outside is listening to you therefore like this guy I don't know what this guy right I get it I get it thank you Teresa I'm glad you get it I'm glad so tell me now how did you get started in all this stuff um well I'm going to say that it was years ago when I was living in Seattle I worked as a contract paralegal and I worked with several law firms in in the downtown and Ballard area of Seattle and I did a lot of I did a lot of a corporate corporate compliance and setting up new companies and you know back when the you know I can say one of our clients was a coffee company and you know we I think we have some of their coffee pods in our our kitchen uh uh but you know I remembered on a typewriter typing shares of stock for this coffee company and I thought I love the way that this I love the structure of business I love to see the growth um I like when people can share a product or a service um and and it's it's it's needed and it's well received I think that in itself is is an art form and I I told one of my employees the other day I said you know we have got to constantly be evolving and growing and needing demands and especially right now all the things that are going on how how do we make remain a a viable company you know how do we have to adapt what new technologies do we have to you know embrace because you know and I I have a lot of clients that will say you know this is the way we've always done it well maybe that's why you're still stuck there we have to you know so I love that I loved and I love creating things like with the nonprofits I like to create them and then put them out in the world and so it really is a passion of mine to to be able to to do you know to do business this way tell me now okay let's talk about the nonprofits the Alaskan Tribal Administrator Association what what what prompted you to found that organization and what is it about because of a client okay so in Alaska we have over 200 tribes in our state and those tribes are are headed their CEO if you will it's usually a tribal the title is usually tribal administrator or executive director or president and I noticed in working one of with one of my clients that this tribal administrator there wasn't the support there that was needed for this position because when you think about it the the heads of these tribes the tribal administrators you know they're responsible for being you know being experts in in federal funding sources of reporting program delivery and then some of our communities where we don't have let's say we don't have a police presence village public safety officer or city government the tribal administrator is everything you know they're the community's first responder you know if the utilities go down who do you go to the tribal administrator if there are roaming dogs in the village that need to be you know neutered or what that's yeah check with the tribal admin oh yeah check with the tribal administrator it just you know if an elder doesn't have food check with the tribal administrator yes so that seems like back in the days type stuff it's it's right here yeah it's right now doesn't it seem like yes and so and and people will ask me well what what is a tribal administrator you know I don't I don't understand how that works and I so what I what I joke you know in a in a in a half joking analogy is you know think of the mayor of Anchorage you know what he does you're doing the same thing in your community you're a tribal administrator but he's the mayor and think about all the support that he has several departments funding large staff etc and oftentimes for tribal administrators on a smaller scale it's really them and maybe a handful of folks you know doing the running the programs etc where we really need to have more support because my belief is if we have a supported tribal administrator we have a healthy and supported tribe which means we have a healthy and supported community which means we have a healthy and supported Alaska wow that's great how long have you been in Alaska I have I was born here and then I moved down to Portland with my family when gosh I was maybe six or seven my stepfather received a promotion he was one of the executives for the Indian Health Service up here and then he moved down to we moved on to Portland so he could take on the assistant area director position for the northwest and that's where I grew up so Portland in Seattle came back up to Alaska in 2000 and I've been up here ever since okay okay so that makes sense now tell me about the Alaska Women's Leadership Forum so the Alaska Women's Leadership Forum was born out of my all the well you know federal stuff a lot of travel and when I go to conferences and events whether I was speaking or I was there to listen to somebody speak trainings etc I noticed something that was going on in between in between during breaks and lunches and dinners I noticed that women would get together and start forming these impromptu little sessions and I thought every single time and I'm like I'm getting more out of this sidebar conversation than I am out of the conference but you know most conferences I attended you know they're all they're they're good stuff but I would get it was a little more in depth a little more personal and so I thought you know what let's do that for let's let's do that for the women in Alaska and and that's how the Alaska Women's Leadership Forum or AWLF was formed and then you can go to we we have websites for both Alaska Tribal Administrators Association and for AWLF you know if you're you're interested in seeing how we started and some of the things that we're doing but the idea is that ah yes yes the idea is for AWLF all women lead it's not this isn't a a nonprofit for women leaders it's a a nonprofit for all women because all women lead whether you're going to school whether you're running a home whether you're a federal contractor all women lead and and women should be supported that way and when I first started my career as a contra or as a paralegal in the building I'm now in today many many years ago I really felt unsupported and it hurt my feelings and I didn't I didn't like that feeling because I couldn't pick up the phone and call a mentor and say you know this attorney just hurt my feelings he's being short with me I didn't have that and I wanted that so we also you know that there's there's mentor mentee opportunities through that through the nonprofit as well so wow wow that's great wow no you look you stay busy yes yes and then you start your own foundation yes no that's that's pretty that's that's good that's good how do you manage it how do you manage to do all this stuff well as I have days where I'm like are you kidding me but it really isn't as you know I'm a really good steward of my own time and I make sure that I set those boundaries with clients right off the bat because when I first started my company I'd be getting texts at 11 o'clock at night hey the board meeting still going you need to call in things like that and I learned you know I learned that it's it's better for us and it's better for the client that we respect one another's boundaries we respect their time and pretty soon you know they get used to it it's like oh okay well I'm not going to be bothering Teresa 10 on a Sunday and so I'm a good steward of my time lots of lots of training and research and all the you know all the all the all the good the go-to people we when we talk about our time so that's how I do it but you know even with that you know good use of time do I lose sleep sometimes because of you know the company or the nonprofits sure I do you know and there's there's you know there isn't a a magic pill for that you just you know like I when I mentor clients I tell them you know keep a note pad by the side of your bed and instead of having that stuff swirling around in your noodle before you go to bed write it down your subconscious will go it's taken care of I'm going to sleep so little one of the things that's worked effectively for me oh yes sir yes I see your pad there oh yeah yes okay I keep a pad I and when you see me look to the right here like this I'm taking notes oh yeah so I'm not I'm not texting while we're on a call I'm actually taking notes I'm right yeah good old-fashioned notes I mean I don't know I think it just it works and I have notes on my screen but um while I'm talking I can jot down stuff and yeah so yeah that's good that's no that's great any other I hate to say the word hacks but any other things that you do that helps you become more productive throughout the day how do you tell me some any other things that we because I again like we said the beginning I like to offer people practical guidance you know your younger self what could you have told your younger self make decisions decisively and stick with them make them quickly um revisit your goals at least weekly don't be afraid to ask for support get a mentor get a mentor don't be afraid to ask that person if you see somebody that you think man I wish I could do what she or she was doing let them know that and ask them if they'll mentor you I think that would be you know especially starting a new business I wish I would have done that I had to learn the very hard hard hard way um and had that little valley where it was like oh my you know we're out of that but had I had a mentor I wouldn't have gone through that but at the same time using the experiences that I've had in business as a small contractor federal contractor has helped me help my clients so you know you learn from that stuff that might not have worked the way you wanted to you learn from it and then you don't sit there and and keep looking backwards oh look what I did look what I did you keep moving forward and you know address issues immediately um don't let them sit there and marinate you know uh you know those those business decisions you make you know sometimes they work sometimes they don't but the another big one is higher slow and and fire quickly and when you bring people on board what you want to make sure of is do they believe in your mission and vision do they believe in what you're doing because that's really really important because when they do you have a community you have a family of people that believe in in what we're doing here um that's that that's also uh very very important you know for folks who are you know you've got maybe two people and you're looking to get bigger you land that one contract for boom now you have 20 people bear that in mind because just because they look good on paper doesn't mean that they're necessarily a good fit and believe in what you're doing it's critical I like that yeah I like that and let me ask you uh going back to yeah I I'm still going back to your grandfather with the dog sledding yeah right you know I try to how do I say you know I when I think and again I I did look up I've never been to Alaska um before so I did look it up and I mean it looks pretty industrialized I mean I don't see anything the need but you're saying that that the the tribes live in villages are they are they away from the downtown area of Anchorage are they outside and outskirts or how's that some are many of them are off the road system that's a big issue here in Alaska they're off the road system so some of the some of the villages you can only get to by plane or boat and when you know when the river's freeze up no more boat uh so it's plane or four-wheeler or snowmobile um it is an issue logistically you know it's it's an issue and we've got tribes up here that have received a good amount of a CARES Act funding and logistically you know if they're buying equipment to help um for let's say for a COVID testing site we have to remember that bar just stop coming up here after a certain period of time our window for that stuff is very very small here and um our internet and the rural communities it's not good it is and I have yeah so when ATAA does online learning sessions or what have you many of our folks don't get to do the audio um they can't download the documents we send them because the internet is that slow they just call in and then we send them um paper um paper documents so that they can follow us it's still it's like that up here yeah oh yes and now that's the tell us some other things that we don't know about Alaska I mean this is fascinating to me you know it's a unique state and I think we have this on our on our Alaska Women's Leadership Forum website it is a unique state and it's there's a lot of male dominated industry up here that's the other reason that AWOLF was formed um and uh but we have a lot lot more and more women running and leading these industries here in Alaska and you know including our politicians you're we're seeing more and more women are running for these positions which is which is quite fantastic um you know it's sometimes it feels isolated up here and other times it doesn't and sometimes people really appreciate being way up here in Alaska and sometimes it's difficult um but I think that a lot a lot of times what I hear from people who are visiting is that you're the folks here are really super friendly well we're we're smaller so we are you know you have that tendency to to you know want to have those connections and in our smaller communities I've lived in Bethel I've lived in Sitka um you know you know there might not be a lot that people are used to you know for what a town can can provide a person but those communities really make up for it in that human connection what are my small what's small to you small well you know the 7000 60 I think Bethel is 6500 okay okay yeah it's the it's the hub of the yk delta so it's I think it's the biggest city of that size in our state just a bustle of activity there um uh with uh a shipping and transportation to the outlying communities of the uh 56 villages wow wow I'm looking at a picture of the northern lights it says it says it can be seen in Fairbanks 243 days a year I haven't seen any in fair maybe you know maybe I have I drove up there a couple of winners ago um and they're they're wonderful I could see them in my backyard you see them in your backyard yeah it's and I uh several winners ago I went outside to to do something and it was winter and I looked up I I was taken away I mean it just it took my breath away uh how beautiful you never get used to it you're always in awe yeah no I I didn't even know can you describe it because again this is an audio podcast can you describe to folks what it is it's it's it's lights uh the the the whole sky it you know in in various colors green is a big one purple white and you'll stand there look up and watch them move it's just a beautiful thing and some you know when it's colder um to me it seems like they get a little longer you know a little wider and last longer but it's you know as long as I've been here you just never get used to seeing it you know and then being able to drive to Homer uh and and you know fish and just the the other beautiful things that living in Alaska you know affords you it's gorgeous you know having lived in Sitka for a number of years the beauty there it just it breathtaking so um you know it's a big it's a big draw for people who aren't from here when they come up and visit and end up moving yeah not many people have that skyline you have I'm looking at the pictures they don't have that skyline yeah that's it that's incredible so now tell me what are some of you know maybe some of the other misconceptions that people may have about A and C's I know we discussed a few um and your experiences again come people from them how do you refer to the people that live in the United States territory you lower 48 uh lower 48 okay lower there you go okay now because I had no house in Puerto Rico they said that uh they called us some I can't remember what it was but they the people in Puerto Rico they referred to as different than like Africa what they call us but like you're from the states or something to that effect okay so you can call us lower 48 yep all right so tell us tell us uh going back to the A and C's and federal contracting where does some of the misconceptions maybe that you can help clear up for them the people in the lower 48 regarding A and C's this is from my experience working for A and C's uh I many people who see an A and C are seeing um CEOs subsidiary CEOs and these great big org charts um but need to remember that those that parent company that Cook Inlet Region that Bristol Bay Native Corporation that ASRC are owned by its shareholders uh the the indigenous owners of of these um entities and the revenue provided is is for the well-being of those of the company owners which are the shareholders um and why those A and C's were formed you know so anybody can do their their homework on that you know is considered the great experiment uh you know when Nixon was in office and um you know rather than forming um reservations this is what they came up with you know uh and so there is there is history in these regional corporations uh whether you like them or not um and you know they have they have they have a goal and that's to provide um you know bring revenue into support uh support the shareholders so you know it it's more than just a big machine you know especially with the larger more successful ones it's like it's this big giant machine but you know I've I've gone to lunch with and and spent time with um the CEOs of these regional corporations and their their their values vision and mission they're they're intact you know they they want to do right for their shareholders and do good work and be a reliable contractor um and and you know so and and you know they're open to working with uh joint venture partners and not just other big entities you know it did reach out and ask um you know talk to the bd folks see what they're looking at um uh you know it's it's it's worth the connection right well thank you I like that now uh you said you participate in a bd mentor program where you okay as the mentee or the mentor um for the um uh when I was uh the business manager for one of the regional corporations subsidiaries it we were the mentee okay um yes we were the mentee and it was with a very large global company uh in the midwest and and at that time uh the uh it was during that period of time you might not remember this but it was during that period of time gosh how long goes out 13 years ago or so uh 10 years ago or so where they really stopped the mentor protege program because we had a senator that had an issue with ANCs and the 80 program and things like that so um they kind of they they weren't approving anymore and um uh when I when I started with the with this ANC subsidiary I said you know it looks like we have a a mentor protege package that was returned to us I think we should uh uh play with a little bit and give it another shot and sure enough it it went through and was approved um and you know you love those challenges it's like oh no I know we can do this I know we can let's do it let's do it you know because we want to make sure that when we're doing you know when you're submitting an application it isn't like remember what you said about um uh talking in admission statements oh right the the federal government the sba they don't want to see that they want to see what what what's going to come out of this what value is this bringing uh for our for our sba um participant um so uh uh it any time that I had to support a a client who's in the program um and we have one now that uh is in one with a very very large contractor very very large it's it's rewarding to see the benefit in fact they just they just landed a 20 million dollar contract no congratulations through that through that program oh yeah I mean I screamed when I got the email you know because it's they're my client I want them to be successful and um uh I I've seen I've seen good success with the program um and I know that when they were when they had put the the slow down on the approving of those up up here in Alaska um they didn't want to see little companies like mine we our little ANC's you know those corporations of small agencies they didn't want to see them getting taken advantage of and apparently that had been happening but the way that the application processes is now is you know they've tightened that up and I've seen that happen um I didn't know that about the ANC's that was a surprise they slowed down the the BD applications but I I have seen other small businesses taken advantage by the JV partners so I uh I I did come into this around 2007 2008 so I mean again I didn't have the same knowledge that I have today so yeah I was clueless to a lot of things happening around me okay because I was climbing up and learning about oh yeah the nuances of the program no one knows the stuff coming into it um from ground zero uh so it's great to have people like yourself out there but I did see that happening now are you still the what you're talking about now are you still doing the 8a BD program or are you doing the new all small mentor protege program when we go into our uh we're getting ready to uh begin the build on uh the uh mentor protege with 8a or with with a with a village corporation that's kind of we're keeping that quiet right now but um we haven't worked the kinks out or you know that whole the whole how are we going to make this work and what's going to be important to you and important to us and what are we going after kind of thing but it will be the 8a and then the client that just did the uh won that really wonderful award they're in the all small okay then all small okay yep okay no that's great i i actually um i just did a talk about the all small about two weeks ago nice yeah i did i i do what's called master my monday some mondays at the youtube live chat and i did talk about joint ventures in the all small program and how it works so um but i nice tell us since you mentioned that can you bring up to to the audience listening where are some of those kinks that people should be looking for it needs to get worked out when to considering someone for the all small mentor protege or 8abd program where are some of the things that we should be looking for either as the mentee or as the mentor what kind of things that you think based on your experiences that you could share that maybe would help some people out there i appreciate that um do your homework if you're looking for a mentor do your homework make sure they haven't previously been disbarred um we ran into that with a client really um but the time had already passed um uh so they they were able to get back into the into contracting um but just check on that um you know uh uh are they going to be responsive do you do you believe that there's going to be really a mentor mentee relationship where they the uh the mentor is going to gain from gain from from the relationship not just the the contracts right um you know hey can you i have a new estimator can you can one of your folks teach him how to use your your software and can you buy that software for us hey can we can we do you have bonding access that us as a man a mentee can we that we can utilize what about a line of credit um so when you're when you're when you're negotiating what that's going to look like uh set it to paper and make sure before the that you sign off and and submit that they're really truly going to do what they say they're going to and they're not going to bulk when you say hey it's time for us now to to utilize the line of credit as is outlined in our agreement you know we need to use them now because we've landed you know contract a um you know it's important um and that they um you know they want to take the time everybody is busy we get that but if you schedule that schedule it in your in your application we're going to spend you know two hours a week not just bombard people with you know your mentor with a phone call every time you you get a knot in your stomach that's not going to work but really I love that I'm a mentor to to several people so you know I I'm saying that out of experience right now I can see that we get those calls just so you know Teresa we get those as and all we do is we teach online content right we still get those calls oh yeah we're like we're not I'm not you're not paying me we're just I'm just a youtuber and they're going I have a bit too and I they're not paying us we're not on the wife's favorite right I'm not too consulted I'm just a youtuber and we so we get those calls so I I agree yeah I'm sorry put those put put those schedule your communication schedule those meetings you know if it's once a week um but make sure they're scheduled um and that they have the time for you and remember when you you you go into this um agreement you guys are going to be working together as well is this the the the company that you're going to be able to work with is this the personality that you're going to be able to work with because just because they own this billion dollar company doesn't mean they have the right personality to work with you you've got to you've got to factor that in because when you start working together it's going to be pressure time it's going to be putting it getting the bed out it's going to be phasing in the contract phase out this issue it's going to be a more intense version of their personality so that's something to bear in mind how how would you know that about them do your homework you know hey you could why why can't you ask them for a reference some references hey where do you work for work with before would you mind if I reached out just to see how that you know you might say no that would be a red flag but you know why not do your do your due diligence don't feel the right don't feel the pressure that you have to accept working with these people exactly and are like oh i'm not worthy i better take him regardless of you know what that looks like you're worth it you're worth having a good mentor you're worth being a good mentor um and uh you know especially for the you know the the individuals who own an a company like i do we you know we we have to have that mindset we're we're worthy of of good mentorship we're worthy of good clients we're worthy of good partners um and and and we deserve to have you know they don't have to be toxic clients we can have good healthy client base and partnerships and relationships and that we bring all that personal stuff you know people don't want to talk about the kumbaya stuff but we bring ourselves to our company so when you're going through stuff in your company where it's like why is this happening it's probably you and what do you need to do take a look at you know what did i do that i that i i can be doing differently it's me blocking my own success kind of thing and and i speak on that because i've been there i i get that and i you know when i did those decision making that affected the company i would i i shared with my staff this is the decision that i made this is the outcome this is how we're going to correct that and we're going to move on and we did that's how you do it that was great thank you no it was it was uh you know one of the things that i say is i treat i tell people and this is my analogy i go well i treat teeming like dating and joint venture like marriage thank you that's what i say i go yes it's it's when you get to the joint venture it's a marriage and the care you know the same in your personal life you put care into those decisions right right uh let's put care into what we're doing you know i had a i had a supervisor years ago who told me i i mean i was banging proposals out and they were just late you know just put together very quickly because we didn't get we just got noticed inside we're going to go after it but you know and and i was told just keep doing it until something sticks and it's like that's not a good way to approach business development right take care with it just like you would entering into a joint venture just like you would um uh in a mentor relationship in a teeming relationship take care take good care and make be decisive um do your homework and um you know the more you do that and the more you're you're making decisions not based on oh my gosh i got it i have to hurry up and get a contract i'm new in the 8a program i need a contract i need i need an 8a contract uh you have to stop thinking like that and really plan take your time um do your homework and you know when you come when you approach a potential partner or a potential mentor uh with that they can smell it on you know these folks mean business they're going to be responsive i'm going to enjoy working with them it's not going going to be a drag to have this relationship um and you know you can sense that you you can and that would be my you know if i can go back you know nine years and and tell myself um that that's what i would say wow man that's uh you're a good speaker thank you you're a good speaker uh that's that's really you know i'd like to talk to the audience let's let's change the topic a little bit um and i have to say this have you bought anything off amazon recently yes okay okay what's your most recent favorite purchase um i bought a butter dish with a gift card a butter dish a but you know the cover your butter a butter yeah okay and that's your favorite purchase recently yeah that is my most recent favorite purchase tell me why because i i needed it and um i just you know i was really watching what i would you know you know in your company sometimes you have the ebb and flow and it was you know we're gonna we're gonna scale back and we're gonna you know be very careful on what we're purchasing but i had this gift card and i'm like oh goody and it wasn't a big gift card but the reason that it means so much to me is because i appreciated it like i in the good times when you know a little purchase like that wouldn't really mean anything right this one did and it almost brought a tear to my eye that it brought me such joy to have this little butter dish show up at my door and it's like you know all that hard work really what's it about it really is about moments like this you know where where you appreciate small things that's i think that that's uh it's hard for a lot of people to imagine that yeah um how do we help people imagine that because i say i again like i said we have the same energy i say that those things i just finished a call and i and i describe the feeling as well um and they said they we they just don't see it from my perspective how do you help people see that because you know i mean let's let's just premise it remember a lot of folks are small businesses mom and pops one or two companies right and so for them everything is drive sales revenue get in the door how do you help that person realize some of the smaller things to take you bet i appreciate that you know i you know when i was having you know when we had to really um uh constrict um we had a like a two-year period uh i was having a hard time you know even getting up in the morning it's like i have to i have to i still have to write these proposals i still have to deal with maybe a a less than fun client who's very demanding and um i had to remind myself remember girl you formed this company not anybody else start your own company they said it'd be fun they said you started this and you started it because you felt that there was a need out there i want you to remember that and uh remove that energy of franticness and oh my god i need a contract and you know there has to be joy in what you're doing always remember why you formed it if you have to put your your your mission and your vision statement somewhere on your wall in your office i started my company on this table that i'm sitting at right now in my in my uh dining room it you have to bear that in mind you know on those days where it's challenging or you feel like you frantically have to be driving and driving and do it and do that's it's you know i i i'm a driver i bring things across the finish line but we also need to have peace in what we're doing and remember that you know if you've set out to do it it's going to happen write those goals down keep them realistic and you don't need to have a laundry list be extremely focused on what it is that you're you're bringing to the table because if you're going to do it in a way that sets you apart like how do you compete with all the a and c's do something that sets you apart be unique you know bring a unique solution um and and stand by it eat sleep and breathe it but it but you can do it in a way that it's still joyous you still have a healthy working environment you want to get up and come to work uh hey i've got we have this going on this is exciting and keep that um keep that emotion going you know you want to have your vibration up there and not in the areas of fear and doubt and and shame and things like that again for us bringing our emotion to to the business that we created what are some of the things that you do to to not have those emotions and not let them overtake you thank you um i meditate regularly and i usually start my morning out doing that it's about 20 minutes every morning um if i'm feeling exceptionally spongy because i had a rough day i'll do it at night as well because you don't want your brain marinating in that stuff because i dreamt the other day i was watching a board meeting at a at a shopping mall i'm like hi wonder symbolically what that meant um so you know go for a walk when you're walking look at the horizon um breathe i know some people i don't meditate that's corny um whatever it is that you call meditation if it's walking if it's petting your cat if it's reading a book being still and just staying grounded and and you know remembering that you're doing you're doing good work um uh and when you when you get those moments of of doubt find somebody that you can communicate that to you know hey i'm feeling i'm feeling this way i have many many women friends who own their own businesses and we always reach out to each other not the stuff we're going to put on facebook not the stuff we're going to put in an email but we'll call each other and say you know what we need to have a lunch because i'm i just burst into tears in my office this is too rough this is too hard for me today reach out and stay connected and don't isolate yourself because you think oh i'm going to fail because guess what if you fail at least you tried at least you tried and you're doing it so uh and all that from my own experience but that's what i do you know i i surround myself with supportive people the meditation for me is a big one where can we find um we talked about some of the women's groups where could where could other women listening to this find some of those groups that is there any ones that come to mind obviously we have your group but assume we're not alaska we're in the lower 48 there are you know what you can actually uh you know do a search for women's support groups um i have another one and it's not um let me see here it's a um it's a it's a an association um that has as a woman anyway at the u.s women's chamber of commerce oh yes oh my word the resources oh my these guys are good marco marco torfman she was on my podcast uh a few weeks ago she is she is but we actually uh so maria who's coordinate the call between us yeah we actually sponsored their last event we were we bought a sponsorship package for them i love everything that they do and right oh my gosh they are like she is a she's fierce yeah yeah she's fierce i mean anyone that sues the sba that's why yeah that's why kind of lady yeah yeah yeah yeah okay no that's a good one yeah that's a good one i guess i guess um i didn't think about them being able to be also support where you can pick up the phone and talk to folks i i think that's so important i really do i think that's so critical and um thank you for bringing that out again because i was part of entrepreneurs organization and when i had some really dark times so they called me and we spoke to them and i remember i didn't i remember like you said not wanting to get out of bed being afraid to check my email i was so terrified right i'm like i can't take one more bad email today yep you know i can't take another phone i was like i just can't not not i just not one more yes so you've been there you've been there oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah that's like how much more this can i do right i just you know i was right i was going up my driveway one day and i said you know that's when i said you know what nobody started this company you did and you can do this you you know as you and as you get older um it's not that things get easier you just get stronger because you've learned from it right any of the great people that own these companies the horror stories behind them um i didn't know the the the the CEO of starbucks had that horrible thing happen and they had to really rethink what they were doing i just took his master's master class okay but uh we all it it's it's uh uh we go through that it's it's part of of business ownership you're gonna have those failures but the the difference is how well how do you look at them i look at them as tools big time because i can i can help my clients with the mistakes that i've made or the situations that that that have occurred where i i i bounced back from that and learned from that i like it man you're pretty you're pretty good you're pretty good i appreciate that do you do public speaking i do uh that's where it comes from what topics seemed trained yeah i'm not trained but i but i do you know i i don't uh a lot of people have a fear of public speaking i can just jump up and do it um if you know if it's something that i'm passionate about i get that from my mother um but uh you know it's something that i i enjoy speaking about i i talk about you know um uh women in business federal contracting um uh uh uh i talk about overcoming um childhood trauma um uh you know just a just a a range of of uh things based on my experience um you know when i and i have a lot you know a lot of different experiences uh varied uh you know i've done a lot of things so um you know what what's worked for me and what what hasn't but but that you know at the end of the day the the what i hope that people get uh from um hearing me speak is that they're encouraged and that they understand that who they are is a blessing and you know that they're they're they're perfectly created it's you know you're you're you're you and and and and uh it's a wonderful thing and somebody had said i i don't know who i was uh uh which training i was taking but you know you're getting paid to be you and when i heard that now when i'm watching entrepreneurs i'm like they are getting paid to be them as quirky as they are look at leslie jordan on facebook now the little actor he's as cute as a button and he's getting paid because he's him he's getting paid to be you're getting paid to be you that's a very i've never heard that before yes when you think and now you're going to see things differently oh she is getting paid to be her you are getting paid you bring this unique thing to the world and that's what you're doing and we can do that and i mean is some people might think what we do as as contractors is dry it isn't because you're still bringing you and so my tagline for my company is you know except exceptional people extraordinary results because that's what we want to be we we want our our clients to get extraordinary results from us and not be a worry oh well if jw industries is doing it you know it's it's handled so that it's a it's a good experience for them and we operate at a at that you know uh at that level where everybody here is responsible all the employees here are responsible for for for their work and we want to do exceptional work for our clients what what are um some things that that you could use that um you know that you use help with or assistance with um from someone i i need a mentor you want to mentor i'd love a yes i want a mentor describe them what they look like what does that mean this mentor um well this mentor um is a would be a kind understanding person who has come through um building their company up with little to no support okay um and um uh you know is interested in working with somebody who's very passionate about um growth and support um i don't have shareholders i'm a single member um s corporation um a day company but i have employees and my employees are my first clients they are they're the ones that are going to go home at the end of the day and talk to their family over dinner about you know what it's like working here and i i'd love to be able to have a mentor who has that same mindset of of how are uh are the people that work in the company how critical they are to us providing good service any particular industries that you that they want the mentor to come from like do that they have like type of similar type of experiences backgrounds do you want them professional services okay um construction um we need more we need more um women construction companies that's part of my background also um i i would i'd love to do that and i have a client who's interested in working with us on that as well but i i really need a larger mentor to help me with that um yeah with the women with the women construction company yes okay women own small business now what size tell me what size you know i i haven't even thought it through it well you know i don't want to close the door okay bigger than bigger you know bigger than me okay let's say all right how about this bigger than 10 million yes okay okay all right so five to ten five to ten you know it's okay if they're not you know a big global no i want i want a hands-on i want them to have time um uh you know and and i just think you know if if that's where they're at but they're they're they've got it dialed in right um why not right sure you know what a blessing yeah why not no no no hey look i can i i said i i mean we have to speak to this right so yes um i want to put it out there in the air for everyone out there you go i appreciate it i appreciate it any other favorite quotes or sayings that you carry around with you i know you have a lot i do i i mean i saw your profile you're like me you probably have a whole roll of decks of things that you draw i do i do and now that you've put me on the spot i can't think of a one of them uh i'm surprised you didn't find any on my i did i found a bunch on your stuff i mean okay you want me to read off one that i saw sure sure i may see which which one do i have in front of me um you had on there on your linkedin profile richard branson says train people well enough so they can leave treat them well enough so they don't want to that's right i just said that conversation with an employee yesterday it's important that we do that that we take the time to uh to invest in our in our in our folks i love that by the way that was that one was really important yeah to me yeah that we you know we need to be investing in our we need to be investing in our people uh start work stop worrying and start living that's a good one i wasn't living when i was having those periods of time in the company where it was so challenging i spent the whole time worrying and i wasn't living oh no i'm not going to go camping oh no i'm not going to do this because i have to sit on my couch and worry about my company don't don't stop worrying and start living that's great that's a good one yeah right that yeah yeah stop where i don't start living i like that yep and and and and you know watch watch that self you know where we're um watch what we're saying to ourselves if you wouldn't say what you're saying to yourself to a friend you shouldn't be saying it to you you know good stuff all right good stuff wait are you a a morning person or a night person when are you working morning morning yeah okay um like five in the morning morning or seven uh well i got up at 5 30 this morning um it for me yeah i'm just teasing you know i i do i do work well in the morning but i do get really creative ideas um at night and i jot them down and then i address them in the morning i look at them in the morning but my brain you know and but best ideas come to me in the shower oh okay there you go yep there you go it's a good idea i like that okay there you go uh an odd place that you work before a job that you've had that maybe no one would ever guess i um did two episodes of northern exposure what's that the it's a tv show from uh oh gosh uh 1997 i think i don't remember when that northern exposure it was a it was a it was a series about alaska with rob morrow janine turner i did two episodes of the last season you can you can look those up um and i also um when i was in high school i worked as a waitress in a chinese restaurant and nobody called me tressa they all called me little girl little girl that was my name it's little girl the owners that's what they called me mr and mrs little girl yep maureen i actually uh i helped her write a proposal to do a podcast series um in alaska oh so it's for it's it's capturing the experiences of the the tribes uh and putting into a podcast format so we actually put something together on that good we'll see what happens for you yeah oh gosh i'm excited let us know because we'll we'll blast that out to our to our ata family well i mean um i mean i'm already podcasting right i'm already capturing these stories and experiences so it just it made sense as a natural fit oh yeah let's uh you know i've obviously we're close to time i don't want to keep you why don't you give us some parting words and since you are such a great and wonderful speaker and i could put you on stage why don't you leave the audience with some parting words today i would say you know if you're listening to this you you're you have a company um uh don't doubt what you're doing because there's somebody there's a company that's that's uh maybe doing uh what you want uh what you want to be doing just uh and i said this earlier um you know you're you're bringing your unique qualities and your your unique services you know you're putting it out there in the world trust in that and you know build those connections you know the glue of life is loving support it truly is and you know you can even have that conversation in business it's that support and connection that's so critical to to to to growing i like it i like it therese thank you so much thank you i appreciate you uh uh taking the time to talk with me i appreciate it thank you talk to you soon