The Foureva Podcast
Welcome to The Foureva Podcast, where we break barriers and redefine success!
Join host Jamar Jones, a dynamic entrepreneur, national speaker, and author of "Change Your Circle, Change Your Life," as he takes you on an extraordinary journey of inspiration and motivation.
In each episode, we bring you an impressive lineup of star-studded guests, each with a unique voice and a wealth of insights to share. From industry leaders to renowned experts, we uncover their secrets to success in personal, business, and marketing domains. Prepare to be captivated by their stories, strategies, and experiences that will empower you to reach new heights.
Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a marketing professional, or simply seeking fresh perspectives on life and business, The Foureva Podcast is your ultimate destination. Discover the transformative power of changing your circle and unlocking your full potential. With each episode, we delve into the minds of the most influential voices in the industry, providing you with the tools and inspiration you need to overcome obstacles and achieve greatness.
Don't miss out on this dynamic podcast that will fuel your ambition, challenge your limits, and propel you toward success. Tune in to The Foureva Podcast and join a community of driven individuals who are ready to make an impact. Get ready to be inspired, motivated, and 'foureva' transformed!
The Foureva Podcast
The Truth About Running a Business (Most Won't Tell You) w/ Theresa Cantley
Most entrepreneurs hustle to grow their business but end up stuck in the daily grind. Theresa Cantley knows the key to breaking free—shifting from operator to CEO, building strong systems, and leading with vision.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
✅ The #1 mistake entrepreneurs make when scaling (and how to fix it)
✅ How to transition from a business operator to a true CEO
✅ The key to creating a vision that drives long-term success
✅ How to document and optimize business processes to streamline operations
✅ Why most business owners struggle with hiring (and how to build a high-performing team)
✅ The best tools and systems to organize your business and maximize efficiency
✅ Theresa's powerful story of overcoming a life-changing health crisis and using systems to rebuild her career
🚀 If you’re an entrepreneur, coach, consultant, or business owner looking to scale, systemize, and lead with confidence, this episode is packed with actionable insights.
🔔 Don’t forget to LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and turn on notifications for more expert interviews on business growth, leadership, and personal development!
You need to understand why you want to build this business.
Speaker 2:You need to understand.
Speaker 1:I always say your vision is that difference that you want to make with what you do outside of the product or the service or any of that, because that all is kind of like the vehicle to make it happen.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But you need to understand that future that you want to create and get super clear on that, or at least because a vision is a living and breathing thing. It's not going to stay static, it'll keep growing what's going on?
Speaker 3:welcome to the forever podcast. What's going on? Nothing much, nothing much. Forever Podcast what's going on?
Speaker 1:Nothing much, nothing much. I'm a little windblown, but nothing much.
Speaker 3:So we're live in Times Square at Podstream Studios we are. So how was the experience for the billboard?
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, it was well. It was funny, because where we were first, everybody's like there's only like two billboards. This isn't Times Square. I'm like this isn't Times Square, we're in the wrong spot, we need to walk down a little bit, but it was. I mean, it's incredible. Like everybody, when you come to New York City and you see all of those billboards in Times Square and all of the lights and everything you know, you're always like wow, wouldn't it be cool?
Speaker 1:to have like my picture up there. Um, so to actually like see it?
Speaker 3:I mean, that was that was pretty wild. Yeah, that was pretty wild. Sometimes seeing is believing sometimes sometimes, but when you get to actually see it you're like wow, now I even believe in myself a little bit more.
Speaker 1:Well, it makes you realize, um and I think this is something that I've always that I struggle with, I know I'm not the only one you don't realize how far you've come.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Like with all of the experiences, all of the failures, all of the things that you've been through, you don't realize just how far you've come.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, until it kind of smacks you in the face like that, You're like, oh dang, did I do that?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, it's, um. That's why I love creating experiences like that, just it's. You get that reflection moment, but also you get a little bit more of that belief and confidence in yourself. And when we're talking about personal branding, like it's just so important for people to see themselves into who they're becoming, or maybe who they've already became, but they just don't. They've never, like, recognized it before of where they're at. So we have a lot of people on this podcast that are building their personal brand, building their business, um, and they're, they're looking for ways to grow.
Speaker 1:Sure.
Speaker 3:But unfortunately, a lot of us are growing and doing stuff and starting things, but we don't have any organization. We don't really know how to grow a team, we don't know how to position ourselves correctly to grow and scale our business the right way, and so I know, with your expertise in scaling and growing businesses and leadership, what are some of the most common mistakes that you see entrepreneurs make in the years that you've been doing this.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, I think and this is actually a mistake that I made Entrepreneurs like. I came from the corporate world. My first business was a retail store. We started with the business plan from like a structure standpoint. We got out of corporate America and just jumped right into it and the thing that we missed that I think a lot of people get so tripped up on and I don't know exactly what it is is you really need to start with vision. You need to understand why you want to build this business.
Speaker 3:You need to understand.
Speaker 1:I always say your vision is that difference that you want to make with what you do outside of the product or the service or any of that Cause, that all that all is kind of like the vehicle to make it happen. Um, but you need to understand that future that you want to create and get super clear on that, or at least because a vision is a living and breathing thing. It's not going to stay static.
Speaker 1:It'll keep growing, but at least to start with that, I think, when I first, when we first started our first business, the store, we started with a business plan but we didn't necessarily have the vision to say why are we like really, why are we building this?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And then start with that and kind of build around it. I think that's that's one mistake I've seen people make. I also see people who especially because I work with a lot of brick and mortar businesses yeah, and they business owners start out and they think like they are hustling.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And they think, okay, I'm the only one that can do this and I need to do everything. And they continue that mentality. They might add some employees in there as they go.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But they still think I'm the only one that can do this, and then they end up burning out. So they didn't necessarily start with the vision. They just said I want to open up this business, I want to have a restaurant, but didn't get super clear on the vision. And then, on top of it, they never pulled themselves out of being the operator.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that happens all the time and then they're like I'm burned out, I want to close. I don't know why I did this. This is torture, you know. So I think I think not getting super clear on the vision is one, and then I think number two is, you know, really looking at, okay, how do you want the business to run, and starting to figure out I mean when I say the word process like you need to have processes in your business.
Speaker 1:Everybody like they eye roll and they just have this. Oh, I don't want to develop that there's, but the truth is is that, as a business owner, as you're going through and you're building your business, you need to start documenting that stuff.
Speaker 3:Oh, for sure Because when you and understanding yeah, understanding how the business runs.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And then when you start adding people, that's how you start to train them so that you can pull yourself out of being an operator. Yeah, and then continue to drive that vision forward, as I, as I tell people that I work with, your role as the business owner, as the leader, as the CEO, is to really drive that vision and focus on the vision, like, be the GPS, manage cash, drive the vision you know and get people put you know, find people that really fill a role not just a position.
Speaker 1:So I think that's the big.
Speaker 3:Those are the two biggest things that I see and I see that a lot too, um, definitely in the the operator thing, as far as how do I position the business, where I can actually be a business owner and not just a business operator, where I'm still doing all the things, um to actually grow and scale the business. What are are as far as um, so we have a lot of people also that have service-based businesses, um, that listen to our, our podcast, sure how, what are some of the best systems, tools, like getting into like the nitty gritty of maybe the tech stack of what they need to communicate with their, for their teams, how do they organize all these documents and and processes? Um, what's best to organize their customer data? Or just like how they need to position their business.
Speaker 1:That's a big question it is. That's a big answer.
Speaker 3:It is. Well, I guess, do it in a way where, obviously, depending on the business, things may be different, right? Sure, sure, so let's just say professional services. They're providing professional services for companies or individuals. How do they organize themselves best so that way everything is documented? They have some process and procedures, but they also can scale it, sure.
Speaker 1:So I think it goes back to what I said is pulling yourself out of the operator position, and in order to do that, you need to understand how your business works right now and how you want it to work, based on where you want to take it, not just today, but in the future. Okay, and then what you do? Is you really identify for every problem in your business, the solution is you're going to have a process.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:For everything that you want to automate or delegate or educate, you're going to have a process. So I literally, when I work with people on developing that, like we literally step through it in a spreadsheet and I always tell people your process should take number one. It needs intention. So you need to understand why you're creating this.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:Number two you need to understand who it's for and where they start and where you need them to end up.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay. So in between there is that's when you create the transformation for your employees, for your vendors, for your customers, whoever the stakeholder is, and literally you walk through shortest amount of steps with getting the highest amount of impact, and that impact is they either learn something, they automate something, they simplify something, they optimize something.
Speaker 1:I always use the example Um one of my clients. We optimized literally the process for making French fries because it was so complex and the people who were making the French fries hated it. They hated the job and like everything kind of broke down from there. So really getting clear on why are you, why do you need to create this process, why do you need to do this, and then literally laying out the steps yeah.
Speaker 1:Shortest amount of steps. Greatest amount of impact. Okay, and along the way, as you're walking through the steps, you are giving people milestones to meet.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:So again you're creating an impact for them. Okay people, milestones to meet, so again you're creating an impact for them. Once you have your process set, then you can say how are we gonna implement this back into the business with the use of software?
Speaker 3:Ah, okay. So, you're more starting like we got to map this out because most people jump into software.
Speaker 1:Most people jump into software.
Speaker 3:They see something and they're like ooh, that's a cool feature, so-and-so told me, I need to get this app.
Speaker 1:It's the best. And then they get it and they don't use it.
Speaker 2:They don't use it.
Speaker 1:Same thing with software.
Speaker 3:One of the pieces of software that I use all over the place and have for years, is Asana for project management.
Speaker 1:I can't tell you how many people I've worked with and they're like oh yeah, we have Asana, but we don't know how to use it, so we just don't use it. So understanding again that's how you bring intention into your business is understanding what you need to do, like I said, that process of moving someone moving a project, moving whatever from point A to point B and then, once you have that laid out, you look at it and you say, okay, what do we need?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Like how can we align our systems?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:That's how you get rid of redundancy. Okay, that's how you get. That's how you look at a system and say, okay, what capabilities does this have? For example, once you lay out your process for making French fries, for example, okay, you can set, you can actually take that then and you can implement in the restaurant world. You could take that and you could implement it into a project management system.
Speaker 1:So, if the French fries need to be made on a monthly basis or weekly basis, or whatever, yeah somebody has the process built into that project management software that they can follow, um, or it can go into a recipe software in your pos system. So, for like, for instance, a law office yeah right, it could be a process for when someone signs an engagement agreement. Okay, you take it from consultation to signing an engagement agreement to actually getting things started again and I've actually done this with with many law firms is to lay out what. Who is the customer here?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, the customer is. Is the customer here? Well, the customer is the actual customer you could have. The customer could be an employee, but you're literally laying out and saying what kind of an experience do I want to create for them? And lay out the process and then back into it and say, okay, what software do we have? Well we have, well, we have law, pay okay. We have dropbox or box or whatever file storage you want to use.
Speaker 1:You can automate things in there to make sure that their contracts are in there. So it's really a lot of people want to start with the software. You want to start with the process. Yeah, because like, if you start with the software, you're doing it backwards and like you don't really even know why you're implementing it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know you're creating a lot of extra work for yourself a lot of extra work you're trying to fit within the tool instead of.
Speaker 3:I think that's just really good advice. Yeah, you know, like start it. It's funny because, like some people from um, it's like because a lot of times like Gen Z and like they just immediately want to use tools and tech and figure it out that way, but sometime, like, the best things are the tried and true. Sometimes, like sometimes I've even heard this was Barbara Corcoran from Shark Tank. She was like you know what I do? Forget all those tools. We get notepads and we just map out your whole business on the table, instead of like, yeah, forget all that other noise. Like map it all out on the table and we literally start and she's like I can fix your business in a couple hours.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, I do the same thing. I have those big giant sticky notes and we storyboard out whether it's a sales funnel or it's a marketing funnel or it's a process for again taking someone from consultation to actually being a customer we will map it out on those big giant sticky notes yeah storyboard it yeah then build it into the process, then it gets implemented into the business and we figure out what pieces of software you need along the way and really I mean all the apps and the software and it creates a huge distraction yeah, huge and people they get so focused on that that they forget about why you're doing it in the first place.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and really Back to the vision.
Speaker 3:Back to the vision. Back to the vision.
Speaker 1:Exactly Everything has to your vision, your core values. They all have to be interwoven into your process, your systems, the culture. It's all that culture that you're building in your business. Yeah, I. The reason why I started all of this and really have focused heavily on the process is that back in 2011, I had a vertebral artery dissection, which is your entire artery is torn in your neck, and I had a clot in my brain. I was rushed to the hospital and you know, it was kind of like this emergent thing.
Speaker 1:oh, my god, which I was like so grateful, you know and they said I had a series of strokes, a series of mini strokes and everything, and at one point I could remember everything when that happened. They don't necessarily tell you. Like your memory suffers, your focus suffers. So at that time I wanted to get out of my corporate job and we had started our business during the recession of 2008. We had started our store and I wanted to get out of corporate.
Speaker 3:And when that happened.
Speaker 1:It set me back and I was like oh crap, like what am I going to do? I was like oh crap, like what am I going to do? And that was when I really learned about creating systematic processes just to get up and get going in the morning.
Speaker 1:So, my first process was okay, teresa, you need to get up, put your gym clothes on, put your sneakers on, brush your teeth, go downstairs, sit Cause. Like you can't read, you can't read, you can't like just reading because I would get headaches. So reading was hard and watching TV was hard. So it was literally okay, this is what you're going to do, because you're going to get through this. And I kind of created my own therapy and I have to give props to Chalene Johnson because she had been a mentor of mine from afar. She came out with her book that year and it was like okay, I'm going to figure this out, because I was determined to get back to normal and get out of my corporate job so.
Speaker 1:I could go into entrepreneurship and I did. It took me a little bit longer, it took me three, uh three years, but um, but it helped me and it also helped me to balance having the store and working full time as a director. I was a director of operations and marketing and, you know, while again recovering from a traumatic brain injury.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's just. And then how? How big was your business at that point?
Speaker 1:Um the retail store was we had started online.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And we were. And it was so weird because when I found, it was like a month after we found the dissection and we were sitting at a restaurant having something to eat, it was my husband and my business partner and her husband and this store front was for rent yeah and it was right across the street from this restaurant and she was like do you really think we could open up a store there?
Speaker 1:and I was like, and I looked at her and I said, why not, jesus? What the hell did I just get through? Right? I'm not staying at this corporate job forever.
Speaker 2:Of course we can and we started our first store.
Speaker 1:So we got it to the point yeah, we got it to the point where it was kind of like it's like that tipping point where you know you can jump. So I never tell. If people are starting a business and they still are working full time, I help them to kind of get it going and get it to the point, because if you start and you don't have that income coming in, it can just ruin the dream. So get it to the tipping point where you can then or do some things to put money away while you're still working so that you can then make the jump.
Speaker 3:For sure.
Speaker 1:And that's what we did. So we kept our online store. We had one store and then we actually changed locations because we needed a bigger store and, like I said, in 2014, we ended up leaving our corporate jobs Wow and I started my consulting business too. So my consulting business actually started in 2013 and I incorporated it in 2015.
Speaker 3:So the I think, for everybody that's listening and watching, it's don't, I think, with your story, if I may.
Speaker 3:So you know, don't wait for a catastrophe to happen you know, like the wake-up call could happen at any moment. Um, it actually reminds me because, uh, do you know Mary Beth? I don't know if you know Mary Beth, she has a business that's like contingency planning, but she's, she's so funny, she's awesome, but she's so funny because she uh like, yeah, most people they don't come to her when they're like kind of thinking about it. It's usually because, like something happened.
Speaker 3:And like it's a mad panic, you know, and it's like crisis, it's more crisis management, but she's like I'm really trying to do this to prevent you know from that from happening, but people feel like they don't need it.
Speaker 3:You know and so, but I think to your point. What you're talking about is you're saying like, just get all the bases covered of your business. The process is like, don't we understand? You got to work in the business and you know you got to keep the engine going, but it's about documenting that and building it so that way you don't always have to be the person. And if you absolutely had something happen to you, maybe, maybe you got to go somewhere, maybe you know, something happens in your life where there's a life change and it's like, hey, I can't be doing this every day. Well, now you're actually set up to pass it off.
Speaker 1:Exactly.
Speaker 3:You know, to somebody else.
Speaker 1:Exactly.
Speaker 3:And all the documents, the processes, the how to, it's all there.
Speaker 3:And then also, if you can really paint that vision for the company of, like, this is what I, the values, the morals, this is the vision of the company, this is what I'm trying to get it to, and as long as that's a clear picture of how to get there, then at least you have the chance of passing that off and having other people do it and freeing up some of your time, cause you're not going to be there all the time and people think that they're just like in it and then they get burnt out or you know something like that happens.
Speaker 3:So I think that story is super, super impactful. What, um, as far as a last question, I want to ask you is so, let's say, you get all this stuff together, where the processes like everything is there, um, and you're feeling pretty good and you're ready. Let's say, you have a couple of people working for you, but you want to get a couple more because you're you're feeling like, hey, there's some areas of the business that I want to expand in. What are some do's and don'ts when it comes to just building a team, because we kind of talked a little bit today about that, but are there some things that people could be thinking about as they're looking into their next hires for their business Sure?
Speaker 1:I always like to look at it as structure and flow.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:So structure is the processes. So you get the structure set up, then you can find the right people to add substance to the structure For sure. So I always the other thing I say to people is you can't just throw a body at a problem and you can't just like put a person into a position. You really need to understand what your accountability chart is in your current business or what you want it to look like. Okay, so you have all that structure created and going back to the vision, where are you looking to go? That's why your vision is constantly growing it does not stay static yeah.
Speaker 2:So, it evolves.
Speaker 1:And that's why you need to drive it, so you consistently move the vision forward and you can get clearer on. Okay, what are the roles? Do I need in this business?
Speaker 1:Not just a position, not just a person, but a role. So a lot of people want to. Just they say, oh, I want to grow, so I want to hire these like I need to hire three people and they don't get super clear and it goes back to intention. They don't get super clear on who it is in that role. Not just I need this person to have these skills, it's who do I need? Who do I need that person to be? Are they detail oriented? Are they a team player? Are they like, what are those human skills? And that's how you can then look at it. And look at that person and say what is their uniqueness, what is their unique greatness and their zone of genius? And how does that align with where I want to take the business and the role that I need? So you can match the two together. That person grows and succeeds and is happy and fulfilled and you also are fulfilling that need for the business. So they're achieving, the business is achieving. So the collective Versus.
Speaker 1:People just think, oh, I want to grow my revenue, so I need more people to just do things. What are they doing? Yeah, and you end up putting and I've seen this happen a lot when you have an employee who's a really good like salespeople, you have a salesperson who's a really good like salespeople you have an.
Speaker 1:You have a salesperson who's a really good salesperson, so a lot of people think, well, I'll just promote them to a manager and they don't give them any training and they might that might not be a position that they want. They want to continue in sales. So you have a mismatched role yeah you know. So I think you know. One of the biggest things is again to get super clear on where you're going, who you need, because when you have the right person, the structure and the flow are in sync.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And then that's how you can really scale. Scaling is, I mean really, when you're scaling a business, it's all about right people, right processes, right priorities. So really evaluating and saying, okay, this is where we want to take the business, this is our vision. Let's get super clear on what we want to do and eliminate all of the distractions.
Speaker 3:Yeah, All the noise.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Cause like people think oh well, if I just add like 10 more products or I add like 10 more offers.
Speaker 2:Don't do it Great.
Speaker 1:So it's more like narrow narrow and deep, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:Well, that seems like the common theme of this is like reflection, like really just look at what you got going on, take a step back, and you really got to map this stuff out and get like almost surgical with it of how your business is being ran.
Speaker 1:Well, and here's the other thing, you also here's a bigger thing that I I missed and I'm just going to tell you now, um, is that you also need to look at yourself and say am I growing as the business owner, as the leader, as the business owner, as the leader as the CEO and I think a lot of times, as you are in business and you start your business, you're hustling all this stuff and along the way, you lose the connection to yourself, and what happens then is you lose your focus and then you're trying to do all these things.
Speaker 1:So you have to get connected to yourself again and you know, really, look at it and say the business is growing, but I'm not as a leader, you're going to have friction. Or I'm growing in the businesses and you're going to have friction. So you need to go back and look at yourself as the leader first and say what do I need to do to be a better leader? Who do I need to be in this moment Because we get so stuck in? Well, this is what I've always done, so why not just keep doing it? Well, it's not going to work. I and how I refer to it is you have to build from the inside out. You can't build from the outside in.
Speaker 3:So, oh, it's so good, so good. Well, where can people find you? How can they get connected to you?
Speaker 1:Sure, my website is TeresaCantleycom and I hang out primarily on LinkedIn.
Speaker 3:It's a good place to be.
Speaker 1:Primarily, I mean, I'm on all the socials, but primarily I'm on LinkedIn. You can find me at theresa cantley, and I also have a podcast that is called the c-suite mentor. So check it out any place you can watch a podcast.
Speaker 2:Listen to a podcast how many episodes have you done?
Speaker 1:um. We are on 260.
Speaker 3:all right, real quick, just like your top thing of like, just that you've been doing in the podcast, like, since you've been doing so many episodes.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:What's one like top learning lesson that you can give everybody as far as like how to grow a podcast.
Speaker 1:Be yourself, be yourself, be authentic. And I think the biggest thing is you need to believe in the message that you're delivering when you are delivering it on your podcast and then, like you need to get it out into the world. You don't be afraid and I think this was one of the things is, when I was connecting with people, for some reason, I was like afraid to share the episode, like, hey, I just recorded this episode on XYZ, which is so silly, it's so dumb. So I think I think the first thing is I mean, consistency is important. I can give you all of the clinical stuff.
Speaker 1:Like you have to be consistent. You have to but I think beyond that, I think the biggest thing is is you know, just get super clear on the message that you want to share with people. Everybody's got a story. Um, you know, and, and that's what makes this world go around, and you have your, like your insights, your own truth. Don't be afraid to share it, you know, and, um, let it out, just be authentic, just be, be uniquely you yeah as still as like trait as that sounds.
Speaker 3:It's so true it's true, but a lot of people don't tap into that. But once you do, a lot of magic can happen.
Speaker 1:They don't. You've got to shed all of those layers that aren't you and just reveal who you are, because when someone's listening to a podcast or they're watching it, it's a deeper message and they're connected to you even more. When I do my podcast episodes, I'm normally having a cup of coffee.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:You know so. So, yeah, just don't be afraid to be who you are. I mean, sometimes I'll even you know if I read a book. I'll talk about the book and my own insights from the book just to share with listeners or, I'll you know, share just my own experiences running businesses. Yeah, so yeah, just be yourself.
Speaker 3:Awesome. Well, thank you so much for being on the podcast.
Speaker 1:Thank you for having me this is awesome Times Square. I know Times Square, windblown hair. We had the. We had the. The naked female cowboy yeah, out there.
Speaker 3:You'll get everything in New York especially Times Square.
Speaker 1:I know, I know which is the beauty of it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you got to love it all. So thank you so much to everybody listening and watching. Please like, comment and subscribe to the podcast and we'll catch everybody else. And don't forget if you can change your circle, you can change your life. We're out Peace. Don't forget to like, comment and subscribe. And don't forget to hit that notification bell for more amazing content that we're going to be putting out. And don't forget you can change your circle to change your life. You.
