 Welcome back to geeks are sexy. We're here for our panel discussion Everyone's taking a little time to get themselves acquainted with each other now We didn't get to talk much before we came on the air with the first segment, but we brought Diana Ashley and Cynthia all back and what I like to do the panel discussion is it's great to talk about Our individual businesses the individual things that we're working on but I like to also try to find some themes between our guests and Figure out, you know figure out some some of those lessons that you all have To help our viewers be successful and to take those lessons and apply them in their own lives, so It can be difficult to find themes It wasn't too hard for you guys last month was a little harder trying to find themes between the between the guests But you're all really in the business of helping people with significant and complex events in their lives That requires helping people to set goals And that's not something people always want help with right so Diana, how do you help people? How do you help the young women the young mothers that you're helping with the foundation? How do you help them set goals? For me, it's really Meeting them and to follow through on them because that's really important You can just set all the goals you want, but if we're not gonna follow through it doesn't really matter, right? Yeah, I think for me it's meaning them where they're at as in their motherhood if they're Uncomfortable or say I guess for example if they Like my kid won't sleep, right? I will Introduce a whole bunch of options try this try this. I also introduce things. I've tried to like it and really Having them feel like what's what's comfortable with them because it's their kid and they're already also overwhelmed with everyone's You should try this Do this and I really just bring out the table before them and like let's you know Let's try this together. Yeah, the word the word should can be really dangerous It's a word. It's a word I'm trying to remove from my vocabulary and not always success with that But the word should and a lot of people a lot of our friends and family are really well-meaning, but the word should comes out a lot And then as for a follow-up I always keep a relationship with my moms, you know I send them to my group and sometimes they even Facebook, you know Friend requests me and we catch up on text message like they're they're part of my family now And if they ever feel like they're trapped somewhere they come to me and either come to my support group online Or they text me like, you know, I'm really struggling in this area. Can you help me? So really just making yourself available and giving them some options Letting them make choices is one of your approaches to helping them follow through on the very important goal of raising their children, right? So Ashley, how about you? How do you help your students? And how do you help the parents because I'm interested in that side of the equation as well So definitely goals need to be in like as a teacher like we would always have goals setting with students And so goals needs to be specific and they need to be measurable, especially when you're talking about your education You know, so we want to make sure that we have specific goals that they can then Achieve right so that they're and they're measurable in the sense that what does that mean that we've achieved that goal? So we want to sit down with the student and the parent together and make sure that their goals are aligned Because that's a really big thing like we had talked about in our segment That sometimes the student's goal for their life is a little different from what the parents Right and so we want to make sure that the goals are aligned because that will make for a much Easier progression to really move towards those goals and achieving those goals So really talking to them and getting on the same page And making sure that the student is aware of what steps are required because you can set all the goals in the world But you want to make sure that they're they're measurable in the sense that okay This is what I need you to achieve this year This is what I need to do next year This is what I need you throughout high school and this we need to be you know five years ten years down the road So making sure that we have all of that together is important that they're aligned is important. Okay, cool Cynthia, how do you help your clients your your world is a little bit different, right? But they still need to have goals as well, right? How do you approach that with one of your your bookkeeping our county clubs? Especially if you're doing that that virtual CFO kind of stuff sure well It depends on what the goal is in mind if it's accounting then I can I obviously can Lay out a plan for them to help them get in line with exactly where they need to be that's it's pretty basic You know as far as you know, you need a one-plus-one should equal to When it comes to Actually setting goals for the future for the expansion of their business, etc. I I Connect them with people Who can help them with their vision who can help them? Because I do accounting mm-hmm, so I I don't do the business planning I Don't do their business consulting so to speak So I connect them with people who have the expertise to help them I think one of the most dangerous things to do is to lead on or to pretend or to fool yourself into thinking that You are one man shown that you can do everything People can get hurt in the long run if you don't Look for other people with that different expertise Everybody needs a team around them. Even if it's just your your personal support network It's it's the very rare person. I found who can do it all themselves and there are some but That brings me to what you brought up is that you know, sometimes we're not in the right role To figure out what the goal should be for someone I as a business coach as a business consultant This is something I find I have to be really careful of is like I try not to lead the witness, right? Into what I think their goal should be and I think that's probably something that you actually probably see a lot Or probably have to be very careful when you get to know a student you see their potential How do you help them set a goal without leading the witness? It's such a like a careful balance to because you know fortunately We have scientific objective data that we can base on like hey This is stuff that you know you're interested in but you're also really good at this, right? This is something to think about but yeah It's definitely difficult because if I see and as a teacher to like when I see potential I really try to encourage that potential But it may not necessarily be something that the student really wants to do right may not be something They're passionate about so yeah, it's trying to be objective and trying to ask questions Where I'm trying to remain as objective as possible, right? So what makes you interested in that? What do you where you see yourself, right? How are you gonna make that happen and then why like what is your major why question and that's one of the things That I'm constantly talking to my clients about with their supplemental essays their common app essay For colleges is what's your why like why why are why do you want to do this? Why do you care? Why is this your passion? Why are you interested in this and what's your why is how does how does that why translate into a Purpose I bet that's something you have to work with the parents a lot too Except that the parents are doing a lot of leading the witness with the kid Well, yeah, because and here's the thing in parents and this is absolutely important But they're most of the parents I talked to are concerned about salaries That's their main goal students are completely not because they've always you know up to that point They've been taken care of by their parents their parents have paid the bills bought the groceries bought the clothes, right? And so that has been the parents concerned about money is my student gonna make money with this degree, right? Because the student has to take care of the parents eventually. It's a very real concern Yeah, it is It's a concern for the parent because they want their their student to be able to lead their best life And ultimately money is what makes the world go round And so they want to make sure that their student is gonna be well taken care of and that they you know They can eat and that they're not gonna be you know, housing them at 35 and so Looking at you Millennials And I can tell you like I was very big on like making sure I moved out of my parents house, but some aren't you know Actually really a really fascinating article in Forbes today about Millennials and now that a lot of the data is in millennial behavior does not appear to be that much different in the workplace or You know off by a couple of percentage points with the Gen X's and the baby boomers, but really not a lot of difference So so send your send your cards and letters to WCOBM about how I'm wrong about that Before we go I'd like we are at the end of the year What is something that each of you want to accomplish coming up in 2019? And what have you already done to get started on it because I think that's really important I for me is to come out as a motivational speaker and You know talk more about my story share my story out and what I've done before the year started is brought back my podcast It's been quiet for about a year because motherhood and entrepreneurship But I really just I felt like my voice has been You're kind of hiding and coming out there more and just sharing and Sharing in a way of how I healed because I've been afraid to do that All right, well if you have an organization you're looking for an inspirational speaker an inspirational story contact So how about you Ashley? So I think my goal this year I'm sorry work with at-risk use as well So I don't just work with you know parents and students that that want you know the service for their child But I also work with students that they really need help that need our service and they really don't even know What opportunities are out there for them? And so my goal is to really reach out to our businesses and try to get sponsorship for these students So awesome Cynthia something you want to do in 2019 and what have you done to get started? Well, I mean my business is so green. I have so many goals I Want to obviously expand my clientele want to I Would like to finish My CPA license. I'm already halfway there as far as taking the exam So and I know you've been doing a ton of studying for that. I have I have it's been ridiculous But when I get a passing score, I get I can't believe it. So So I'd like to finish my CPA. I think I'm on track for finishing that this year And then other than that just growing my clientele. All right, great But we are out of time so before we go I'd like each of you to tell the audience one more time and you for the first time So we'll start with you so I don't forget how they can reach you I think the best way to reach me if you go to my website cjnetter accounting calm You can reach me there either directly through the website You can get my phone number there or you can get my email you can find the link to my my gmail You can find the link to my Facebook Basically, that's a one-stop shop for any way to get a hold of me. So cjnetter account So my education connections calm it has all of my social media links as well as my email and Phone number to get a hold of me as well. All right So you can always find me at always with me org for the nonprofit things And then if you're looking for a podcast podcast manager, it's Collins media production calm and your podcast Oh, yes, it's on it's on Spotify iTunes and Stitcher and you can search just search always with me Okay, so it's in all the normal podcast places you guys are smart. You'll figure it out So thank you for being here today. Thank you. Thank you for being here and joining us I know it's the holidays and you probably are recovering from all the Christmas food and whatever no matter what holiday You celebrate a recovering from the holidays. So thank you for being here with us today I'm Jason the Duke join us for the fourth Friday of January. I never know what the date is I really should look at a calendar before I come in here, but join us in about a month We're gonna have a whole new set of guests and have a great panel discussion as well We will see you and happy New Year