Gresham Harkless, Jr.: From childhood newspaper to founding two companies and becoming a media expert

When Gresh was a kid, his military dad worked overseas for a year and this English major/entrepreneur started a family newspaper to keep his whole family up to date on what was going on. His first business was born!

This week on the Finding Fertile Ground podcast, I interview Gresham Harkless, Jr., founder of CEO Blog Nation and Blue 16 Media, and host of the I AM CEO Podcast + CEO Chat Podcast. Gresh graduated from Howard University and Georgetown and has interviewed more than 1,000 CEOs, entrepreneurs, and business owners, including me!

Life hasn’t always been easy for him, though. He graduated in 2009 during the economic crisis and felt like he did all the things he was supposed to do to position himself for success. But he had to learn it all on his own, because each of the companies he went to, he lacked mentors. With layoffs and tearing his achilles tendon, he felt like a ship lost at sea. 

Gresh is a wonderful, warm human being and I enjoyed hearing about his life journey and how he ended up building two successful businesses at such a young age.

Listeners, did this episode inspire you? I’d love to hear from you. If you have any questions or have an idea for a guest or topic I should cover, drop me a line at marie@fertilegroundcommunications.com. 

I help professional services firms avoid BORING and boost employee engagement, productivity, and readership. I translate technical, complex, and lackluster language into accessible, dynamic, story-driven text. Get known in your industry through outstanding thought leadership content. Walk your talk through outstanding, effective communications with your employees and clients.

As a podcaster for justice, I stand with my sisters from the Women of Color Podcasters Community. We are podcasters united to condemn the tragic murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and many others at the hands of police. 

Fertile Ground Communications LLC is a certified women-owned business enterprise, disadvantaged business enterprise, and emerging small business.

fertilegroundcommunications.com

Transcript

Gresh

[00:00:00] Hello listeners. Welcome to the Finding Fertile Ground podcast, where I discover stories of grit, resilience, and connection. I'm your host Marie Gettel-Gilmartin. And this podcast is brought to you by Fertile Ground Communications. I help professional services firms avoid boring and boost employee engagement, productivity, and leadership.

[00:00:18] I translate technical complex and lackluster language into accessible dynamic, story-driven text. 

[00:00:24] Get known in your industry through outstanding thought leadership content, walk your talk through vibrant, effective communications with your employees and clients. I alternate this Finding Fertile Ground podcast with my other podcast Companies That Care, which is about business leaders making a difference in the world.

[00:00:40] On both of my podcasts, I strive to highlight historically excluded voices. The people who don't always get a platform, check out my website for more details. This week on the Finding Fertile Ground podcast I interviewed Gresham Harkless Jr., founder of CEO Blog Nation and Blue 16 Media and host of the I Am CEO podcast and CEO Chat podcast.

[00:01:02] Gresh graduated from Howard University and Georgetown, and has interviewed more than 2,000 CEOs, entrepreneurs, and business owners, including me! Life hasn't always been easy for him though. He graduated in 2009 during the economic crisis and it felt like he did all the things he was supposed to do to position himself for success, but he had to learn it all on his own because each of the companies he went to he lacked mentors. With layoffs and tearing his Achilles tendon, he felt like a ship lost at sea. 

Gresh has a wonderful, warm human being. I really enjoyed hearing about his life journey and how he ended up building two successful businesses at such a young age. Let's meet Gresh. 

[00:01:48] Marie Gettel-Gilmartin: Hello Gresh. Thank you so much for joining me on Finding Fertile Ground.

[00:01:52] Gresh Harkless: Marie. I'm super excited to be here. Thank you so much for having me. 

[00:01:55] Marie Gettel-Gilmartin: Yeah. I really enjoyed being on your podcast. So I'm looking forward to this one as well. 

[00:02:00] So let's start at the very beginning, which I usually like to do. Could you tell us a little bit about your childhood, where you grew up and what your family experiences were like?

[00:02:10] Gresh Harkless: I'm an only child of my mom and my dad. So I grew up in Northern Virginia about 45 minutes or so outside of Washington, DC. I'm a military brat as well, too. We didn’t have to move as much as most military brats do. But I started out in Kansas. Don't remember much of that.

[00:02:28] I went to preschool in Vegas. All I remember is lights and that's about it there. I do remember Circus Circus, which was one of my favorite places. I was actually just talking to my parents about getting the opportunity to ride an elephant. 

[00:02:46] I pretty much have been in the Northern Virginia area since I was about five or so. So I'm an only child…an active person. I used to read a lot and I used to always like to kind of create little things and got to explore a lot. 

I used to play a basketball actually, when I was probably about eight or nine years old, I kinda fell into that. That was one of my loves.

[00:03:11] Marie Gettel-Gilmartin: I've got a 15 year old son who's obsessed with basketball. 

[00:03:14] Gresh Harkless: It's a phenomenal game. And I still miss it. And I'm sure we'll talk about a little bit later why I don't miss it all the way, but I do miss it a little bit and just the competition and the art of it.

[00:03:27] Marie Gettel-Gilmartin: I guess it's probably a good thing that you didn't move around very much as an only child. I think about a lot of people who grew up in the military and the kids have to be uprooted so frequently. And if you didn't have siblings to kind of rely on that could have been really hard for you. 

[00:03:42] Gresh Harkless: Yeah, it definitely could have been. Funny enough, I feel like I have this kind of competitive streak and I don't know where that came from, but I think a lot of it was probably from my dad honestly and my parents are both uber competitive and just playing family games now. Yeah. Yeah. We're kind of going back and forth about cars at taboo or whatever it might be. But I think the thing that I remember the most is that I would go outside and shoot basketball out front. Once my family moved, I was able to kind of go outside and shoot. And my dad would always come out and challenge me, so a one-on-one game. And he was nice enough to where I won some and I lost some. So I had that balance of knowing what it's like to win, but at the same time losing and the frustration of losing and all of that.

[00:04:30] But I really think my competitive streak came from there because I didn't have any siblings. So there was no sibling rivalry. Speak, but they definitely , made me experienced what it's like, that's a win and lose and everything that kind of comes about from that. 

[00:04:44] Marie Gettel-Gilmartin: Well, I've often found that people who are only children often grow up much more quickly than kids who have siblings. I think because they're being treated like adults, maybe by their parents a little bit more. What do you think?

[00:04:56] Gresh Harkless: I would definitely agree with that. It's funny enough, because I'm fairly independent even now. And I think a lot of that came because, you have to do a lot more.

[00:05:06] Like even my girlfriend, she's the baby in her family. One of the things that I noticed is that like, pretty much cooking, cleaning, making sure that you do all the things that you do, all of that kind of fell on me to do.

[00:05:22] There was no older sibling or younger sibling. So it's kind of like that balance beam of just taking on, I think more responsibility, which I think probably laid a lot of the foundation to everything that I'm working on. 

[00:05:33] Marie Gettel-Gilmartin: Yeah, I'm sure. I'm an oldest child of three and I have three as well.

[00:05:37] And often the oldest child ends up having a lot more responsibility and there's a lot higher expectations. And as the birth order goes down, the youngest child gets away with everything. But as an only child, not only are you the oldest child, but you have the extra burden being the only.

When I look at your LinkedIn and see how much you've accomplished, that makes total sense that you're an only child you've really done a lot in your life. And you're not that old. That's why I like to ask about people's childhood. So you then majored in English at Howard before going on to get your master's at Georgetown. Can you tell us about your experience at Howard? 

[00:06:16] Gresh Harkless: I loved my experience at Howard and it wasn't, I wanted to go to an HBCU. I wanted to potentially be close to home because I'm still a home body.

[00:06:25] And it was actually tough in the very beginning because even though I was close to home. I still missed home a lot.

[00:06:31] And I think that first maybe four to six months or so, I just was trying to find my way and my place. Like I actually came in as an undecided major. So I had no idea what I wanted to be and just trying to figure out like what I was going to do and all of those things and missing What was my norm, like working, going to school, just all those things I did, that was all kind of different and had that transition moment where, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do and, it was, it was definitely difficult, but I think I settled down kind of gradually over the years and, and I found my place. I found my way. I ended up becoming an English major at that time. I actually minored in administration. And I thought that I was going to go to law school. But didn't decide to go. I took the LSAT and all those things, but it was definitely like a really phenomenal experience just overall, just thinking from the very first time I set foot on campus before I said I was gonna go to Howard and made the decision to graduating and being on that same yard where they have literally everything there's so much energy there.

[00:07:37] It was one of those experiences that it's really hard to put into words, but it was really awesome to see especially people of color that were moving and shaking and doing so many phenomenal things. So I definitely hold that dear to my heart and I would definitely tell everybody who's even thinking about it that is definitely a phenomenal place to be. And it's such a great energy and really accomplished people that have come from. 

[00:08:01] Marie Gettel-Gilmartin: I would think that being a Black person, going to an HBCU and then leaving the HBCU, that would be kind of hard. You're in this environment where Black excellence and Black experiences are being celebrated and then to leave that. Was that a hard transition?

[00:08:16] Gresh Harkless: Funny enough, I was kind of somewhat of the opposite because growing up, I actually was in a lot of advanced classes. I was quote unquote gifted. So I was in a gifted program. So honestly I wasn't actually around as many black people. And some of the classes I did play basketball.

[00:08:33] I did, of course. The PE those classes and things like that. But I think one of the things that kind of even going back to my childhood, that I remember my mom was always really adamant about I think painting a picture of that Black excellence before I even set foot on Howard's campus.

[00:08:49] And whether that be like reading biographies and stories from leaders that had accomplished things, I think that really submitted in me how important that was even years later, because I think sometimes. As narratives don't stories, don't get told as much now, of course, going to Howard, you get to see that you hear that a lot more.

[00:09:07] But I think the reality that I kind of grew up in was that, Hey, you can be excellent, no matter the color of your skin. And that doesn't really measure who you are, what you are. Some people might do that, and you have to kind of understand that. And the frustration of what that is and what that looks like has manifest itself and the things that we see today, but don't let that allow you to not be as excellent as you could be.

[00:09:29] So that was something planning within me. So when I went to Howard, I was really like, okay, this is a really great energy, but I think when I left Howard, I was already like, okay, well that's that experience where I felt like I got that opportunity to kind of grow, develop. I didn't have the spotlight on me, so to speak where I was the only Black person in a classroom or a Black person that had the answer.

[00:09:52] But I gained that confidence. I gained a little bit more clarity around who I wanted to be and who I was. And I think that helped me. Where I did have a little bit more of the spotlight on me and I had to kind of step more into that. 

[00:10:03] Marie Gettel-Gilmartin: Interesting. I remember reading Alicia keys book. So she wrote a really great book and I remember really vividly her talking about how she talked to her children about Black excellence. And basically she told her children that we are descended from kings and kings before she talked to them about racism.

[00:10:27] And I thought that was such a wonderful message. Like what your parents did for you. 

[00:10:31] Gresh Harkless: Yeah, I think it changed so much of like how people can look at you and how that becomes, how you look at yourself when you start to realize that there was a great history that doesn't always get told or get talked about.

[00:10:46] And I think once you start to just show the excellence, it's just about having, I think a holistic look at Black people's history or anybody's history at that, where you get that opportunity to see the maybe not so good, but also the really great things that were accomplished as well, too, so that you do understand like the holistic part.

[00:11:04] And often we don't get that whole holistic look. So it's on us to kind of make sure as parents, as leaders, as mentors, whatever that is, to make sure that we are adding to that narrative. So that it kind of have that both sides and all the sides of the story. 

[00:11:19] Marie Gettel-Gilmartin: Having this conversation is making me think of this book that I read last year called Black Magic: What black leaders Learn from Trauma and Triumph. Have you ever heard of that?

Gresh Harkless: I think I might have. I don't think I've read it though. 

Marie Gettel-Gilmartin: It's by Chad Sanders and I think he worked for Google or someplace like that and he basically interviewed a lot of friends and colleagues who are Black people, who've been very successful, mostly in business. I think you'd really like it. And they talk about how they have done that and how they've used our obstacles to succeed in business. And it seems right up your alley. It just reminds me a lot of you.

[00:11:54] So yeah. I highly recommend. So let's talk about your grit and resilience story. What obstacles have you overcome in your life?

[00:12:03] Gresh Harkless: Yeah. So for me I graduated in 2009 during the economic crisis. And like I mentioned, I didn't really know exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up.

[00:12:13] So when I transitioned through all of that I had a little bit more of awareness of what that was and what that would look like. But I always knew I was interested in reading or writing, so something along the lines there. When I was 10 years old, one of the things that I didn't mention is that my dad went to an entirely different country cause he was in the military.

[00:12:32] So he went TDY for an entire year. So I started a family newspaper at that time. And I would find out about all the things that were going on in the family. I would basically have Microsoft word, add some clip art in, add some headlines and titles and all of those things.

[00:12:51] And I would create a newspaper every single month and those were the seeds of my entrepreneurship journey because I sold the subscription so that my family members as well too. So yes. So that's what kind of led me to think about English and know that that was something that maybe was a story that was unique to me that a lot of people didn't share and fast forward, I was just trying to kind of find my way again, I've kind of felt like probably similar to how I was when I ended up on Howard's campus is just like, what should I do?

[00:13:25] What should I not do? And that led me to eventually get a position and I worked at a few different jobs. Getting late off from one of the jobs, the last job I had and one of the frustrating things for that time is, cause I felt like I quote unquote did everything right?

[00:13:43] So I went to Howard then I went to Georgetown and get my master's in one year. So I felt like I had done everything that I was supposed to do, but during the economic crisis, it was just a really chaotic time. At each of the positions that I think I had, which was about three or four different positions, each of the managers that I thought was going to mentor me had left the position. So it was always just very, very chaotic to kind of understand, like where are you going to go, how you're going to develop what you're going to end up being and not even having anybody to kind of lean on to do that. I also tore my Achilles tendon sometime in between there.

[00:14:16] And I was just in a very frustrating place about what I wanted to do, where I wanted to go, well, if I was doing everything right, and it was just all that happened within probably about three to four years where it kind of led me to not the best spot and mental place that I want it to be.

[00:14:33] But needless to say, When I got laid off, from the position I took another position knowing that I would probably get laid off again and it probably wouldn't be able to stay in that position either. So that's where I started the business and everything that I did, but it was it was just crazy. I don't know any other ways to say it. I think the amount of things that happen in such a short period of time where it just leaves you kind of frustrated, unaware of what you're doing, how you're doing it, if you're doing anything right. Like where are you going to be like 20 years down the line?

[00:15:04] And it was just for lack of a better term, just being a ship lost at sea. That's how I kind of felt I drew out that entire time. 

[00:15:12] Marie Gettel-Gilmartin: Oh, yeah, that must have been hard. I know. After many, many years in the corporate world, and then I got laid off two years in a row, I can totally relate to that feeling like, oh my gosh, what's going on?

[00:15:22] Yeah. It's hard not to take it personally, too. Even if there are financial circumstances that lead to that 

[00:15:29] Gresh Harkless: Yeah, it is. Cause I think we forget about work being a strong part of like who we are and how much time we spend there. And a lot of times we, we wrap our identity up and the work that we do and to be kind of told that you're not going to have that position.

[00:15:45] You're not going to have that opportunity, even if it's kind of crazy economic wise as it was for me, it's just, it's still a frustrating and hard pill to swallow. 

[00:15:54] Marie Gettel-Gilmartin: Yeah, definitely. So tell us what you're doing now. How have you found your fertile ground? 

[00:16:00] Gresh Harkless: Yeah, so I mentioned that I started that family newspaper and actually when I tore my Achilles tendon, I started what eventually became the blog and which eventually became the podcast and all the things that I'm doing now.

[00:16:13] So I think one of the things I love about your podcast and of course having you on my podcast as well too, has been, the idea of that fertile ground. So many times we forget that when we're trying to find the fertile ground there, seeds of it that have been planted sometimes in our darkest moments and experiences and our lives.

[00:16:30] And I think one of the reasons I wanted to bring that up is because that's what kind of lay the foundation of everything that I'm doing now. So I have a digital marketing company under the umbrella of Blue 16 Marketing or Blue 16 media. And we primarily focus on web design. Website support for clients and entrepreneurs and business owners.

[00:16:49] And I also have like a slew of resources under the umbrella of CB Nation and that's podcasts, blogs, video content, all to help entrepreneurs and business owners to succeed. So those two things are definitely in tandem, but I try to remind myself, especially during the frustrating moments that often bad didn't come when the.

[00:17:09] , the light outside, it wasn't sunshine and rainbows. It actually came from those dark moments that sometimes you want to zoom past, but actually they are, might be really phenomenal things that come about from that. 

[00:17:19] Marie Gettel-Gilmartin: I love that perspective. I was on some podcast and she pointed out to me that something that I'd never thought about, which was that all of the things that I did in the corporate world-I reinvented myself over and over again through all my time in corporate--all of that laid a path for starting my own business.

[00:17:37] It's like, oh wow. Yes, totally never thought of it that way before that was really helpful for me to understand as starting a business is not right for everybody. But I feel like I had all the tools that I had developed in corporate that really helped me.

[00:17:51] So yeah. Like your seeds, all the seeds that were planted. 

[00:17:55] Gresh Harkless: Yeah, absolutely. We forget about all those things and, and I often feel like in life, and especially in marketing and advertising, you hear that a lot too is we're always get this feeling of lack of like, we don't have this or we don't have that, or we need this, or we need that.

[00:18:09] But often, if we really look at the experiences, the things we've overcome we have so much more than we think that we have to kind of get to where we ultimately want to be. 

[00:18:18] Marie Gettel-Gilmartin: I agree. So looking at your list of businesses and activities that you're doing, how do you do it all? I mean, you were doing up on blogs, podcasts just running a business.

[00:18:31] How do you do it? Do you have a team or are you pretty much doing this all by. 

[00:18:35] Gresh Harkless: No, I definitely have a team. The biggest thing for me is really understanding and, my faith and, believing in God, I believe in, I've been given gifts and those gifts are to really make an impact on the world. So when I think about everything that I do is not something that's just going to happen for a day or for a week or for a year, I think really long-term on like what I'm going to do and why I'm trying to do that. So when I look at that and even people on my team, that's what I try to highlight.

[00:19:05] Those gifts, how can I help those gifts manifest themselves in the world and make an impact, and also have those people on the team that are able to believe in that, see that long-term focus and really execute that. But I definitely would not be able to do much of what I do without strong members of the team.

[00:19:22] Marie Gettel-Gilmartin: Can you tell us a little bit about your experience working as a Black man in the corporate world? Do you prefer working for yourself? Did you find that you had to code switch a lot or was that not really a challenge for you when you were in corporate?

[00:19:34] Gresh Harkless: I can't say that I was in corporate for maybe long enough to have felt as much of that. And that definitely doesn't mean that it didn't exist. I was very, very aware and a lot of that is why I wanted to kind of start my own business. I always knew that I wanted to do that.

[00:19:48] Didn't know exactly what I, what it was going to be, but I you hear stories all the time. I've even heard stories from people in my family, whether it be a Black man or Black woman, and just how you hit that glass ceiling or that glass wall or things, aren't really being. I guess equal as far as like how people are treated.

[00:20:05] So I was very aware of that. But I think one of the big things that I love about entrepreneurship love about business is I often saw, and I definitely saw this in the African-American history museum in DC, is that the phrase making a way out of no way.

[00:20:22] And that's what I've always felt like entrepreneurship was to me, I've always said, it felt like hope because a lot of times. if you don't see a path or you don't see by opportunity. Yes. You might have to work twice as hard to get half as far, but you're willing to roll up your sleeves and make that happen.

[00:20:36] And that was a choice that I made to some degree fairly early on where I decided that this is ultimately something that I want to do. I'm not going to be able to maybe do in the way that everybody else has done it, but it’s so important that is especially as a Black man, that I try to hopefully create paths and opportunities for myself, for my family, but also for hopefully future generations that I can make that impact as well, too.

[00:21:00] And just thinking from a legacy standpoint too. 

[00:21:02] Marie Gettel-Gilmartin: Yeah, that is so inspiring. I interviewed a woman named Nono Osuji. She's an immigrant. And she also is an actor and a writer and she calls it Tyler Perrying her way through the world because she says the opportunities were not existing for her, so she decided to create them.

[00:21:19] And I love that idea. It's awesome. Very inspiring. You spend a lot of your time talking to CEOs of small business owners? What are some of the lessons you've learned and having all these conversations with them that you might want to pass on to our listeners? 

[00:21:33] Gresh Harkless: Wow. So I I've done about 1200 or so episodes.

[00:21:37] And funny enough earlier today. Yes. I was literally just telling somebody that I have so much kind of content and information and people that I've interviewed, that there's so much knowledge and tools and tidbits that I want to start to, compile and figure out what are the nuances.

[00:21:55] But I think one of the things that has come up more than anything else is the importance of the morning routine. And I think that it's not so much that you wake up early or you go to sleep late or anything like that.

[00:22:12] I think so many times we get caught up in, like, I have to wake up at 4:00 AM to be successful or, oh go to sleep at 10. I think it's so important just to have those routines. So one of the consistent things that I've heard from people that are successful is they have their routines. They know what they are, and they try to lean more into those as much as possible.

[00:22:32] We were just talking before about the craziness of everything that's going on in the world, it's often those routines that you can lean on through. Most of the craziness that will allow you to kind of right the ship when things are, are happening. But I think that's one of the biggest things that have come up.

[00:22:49] Another big thing that I hear consistently on the show and on the podcast is that entrepreneurship is hard. And you just said it: it is not easy at all. Don't believe Instagram. Don't believe the magazines of not hearing the real path to success.

[00:23:06] Often I'll ask them, If you were to hop into a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self? And the biggest thing that I always say that I would tell my younger business self is that it's not all sunshine and rainbows. If you're going through difficulties, you're going through challenges.

[00:23:20] First of all, you're not alone. You feel like you're by yourself. You feel like you're the only one you feel like you don't have everything set up. You don't have everything you need. As I kind of talked about before, but in reality, it's part of the journey. And the journey is not always great. But it's something that you have to understand that those people that have reached the success that you want, the success that you're striving for have gone through those periods.

[00:23:45] And the difference between those and other people is that they just have kept going. They get creative and they start to learn exactly how to get to where they want to be. If there's maybe one more I can mention is that as we're experiencing during this time, it's a very chaotic time.

[00:24:03] There's lots of changes. There's lots of things that are not quote unquote normal. And it's so important that you are flexible. You kind of understand why you do what you're doing, what you're doing, you understand your mission, your vision, and all of those things, but you don't get as attached to that.

[00:24:20] Because I think that if we're talking about going to networking events, for example, that has completely changed. If you're like I have to go face to face to meet with somebody and talk with somebody eye to eye, that's not the way that many things have changed and adjusted. So if you're set in your ways about.

[00:24:37] You're not really understanding that your mission can still be impactful for many people and the people that you want to, if you adjust the how so I think that's the biggest thing that kind of comes to mind about people that I've had on the show and people that I've interviewed is those three things are very, very foundational.

[00:24:55] Of course, there's lots and lots more, but those are things that have really resonated with me more than anybody else. And I think a lot of audience too. 

[00:25:02] Marie Gettel-Gilmartin: Yeah, I like the way you said about the morning routine that you don't have to get up early because I'm not a morning person at all. So my husband is; he gets up at six every day and he has a morning routine and I've really been trying this year to implement one, a very simple one.

[00:25:18] I mean, all I do is, and of course I didn't do it this morning. I realized. But also trying not to be too hard on myself when I'm not able to do it or doing it later in the day. So I have been consistent if I don't do it first thing in the morning, I do it later in the day. And that is to write for 10 minutes.

[00:25:35] And then just write about what happened yesterday, what's going on in my head. And then the other thing is just plotting out what I'm going to do in the day. Like I have each hour worked out and this is a new thing for me. It helps me be more productive when I do that.

[00:25:49] So yeah, so far it's going pretty well. And I've tried to narrow my focus on what I really love doing most, which is writing and communications strategy and ghost writing and research and things like that.

[00:26:18] And then the other thing is that I have set a ritual this year to discard at least one thing a day as part of my word of the year. So I usually write my journal about what I've disbarred. And so the other thing that you said that really resonated with me as well, entrepreneurial life is not for everybody.

[00:26:37] It definitely has its challenges. I think it's really interesting when I look at your LinkedIn, you are obviously a natural born leader. I have always as well, been called to leadership. Of those types that if I, if I put on a small group and nobody really is taking charge that I stepped in and I take charge.

[00:26:55] I can tell that you're that way too. So what advice do you have for someone who's not naturally drawn to leadership, but wants to become a leader? Do you have anything that you like to share with those types of things? 

[00:27:07] Gresh Harkless: I appreciate you so much. You're definitely very kind. I think that one of the things that we forget about with leadership is that you can be a leader in so many different ways.

[00:27:18] And when we often feel that we're not being a leader, or we don't know how to be a leader, we can usually look at experiences that we've had in our life in our work at home and have shown those leadership skills that we actually are seeking. And it kind of goes back to what I talked about is like, we often are told that we're in lack that we need something or we don't have everything we need, but in reality, we've done and experienced a lot and we can do those things.

[00:27:48] But the biggest lesson that I constantly kind of remind myself of is really making sure to like, I like to say, run your own race. And then you can't lose. And all that basically means is that when you lead, according to how you lead it's not to say that you can't always get better at communication because that's obviously a big part of leadership is not saying that you can organize a little bit better so that the people on your team understand like where you're going.

[00:28:16] But I think it's so important. Just like we talked about the morning routines that you figure out what works for you and you lean into that. And really the people that truly innovate and really do things and a way that kind of changes the world changes their home. It just really reverberates in so many different ways are those people who don't copy what everybody else does, who kind of stay in their lane and right. To do that. So that's one of the biggest things that I would say is that first of all, think about the times that you have led, but to really lean into leadership, according to how you will lead, because there is not one set way to lead at the end of the day.

[00:28:55] Usually you just want to get to whatever your goal is and know that there's many different ways to get there. Just as we kind of learned with entrepreneurship. 

[00:29:03] Marie Gettel-Gilmartin: Yeah, that's a really important message. I remember having a conversation with my oldest son, during the start of the pandemic, he was working at Whole Foods and he had applied for a promotion.

[00:29:13] It was a supervisory position and he didn't get it. And I was talking to him about it and I said, is that really what you want to do? I can't see him doing that. I mean, in a retail environment, being a supervisor and he's like, no, I just applied for it cause I wanted a raise.

[00:29:28] And so I said what I would really recommend is that you find a new work environment where you can advance your career without having to necessarily jump to supervise. You could be a leader in other ways, in a larger company, you can get promoted without having to supervise the entire team, 

[00:29:48] and so he ended up getting a job at a credit union. And he’s much happier and he can advance without having to run the whole show. So yeah, I liked that. Run your own race. That's really wise. So a fun question for you.

[00:30:02] Have you read or watched anything recently that has inspired you? 

[00:30:08] Gresh Harkless: That is a really great question. I'm a really big sports guy. But one of the things that I've always tried to do, and we're kind of led me into like looking at an entrepreneurship as I started to really like study success, study what success looks like and try to consume as much as possible people that are successful in how they became successful, whether it's in business or in life or anything in between and all around. So I constantly do that. 

One of the things that I want to watch and it's on my list to watch, I'm trying to watch them all together because I'm not a big fan of having to wait a week or two weeks for something to come out. Tom Brady and his success that goes through each of his Superbowl wins. So that's one of the things that's just kind of coming to mind of something that I want to watch just to kind of, again seep in like what makes this person successful and how you can learn some of those things along the same lines, like that was a long time ago is the Last Dance.

[00:31:06] My girlfriend gets on me cause I watch it all the time. Because again, it's just like understanding the things that make people successful and I'm a big sports junkie, so how can I implement some of those things? 

[00:31:17] Marie Gettel-Gilmartin: There are so many sports movies out there the rags to riches sorts of, ? Yeah. Those can be really inspiring. Did you ever see the one called Million Dollar arm.

[00:31:27] Gresh Harkless: Oh no, I don't think so. 

[00:31:29] Marie Gettel-Gilmartin: There was a guy, Jon Hamm. I remember he was like a sports agent or something, and he was trying to recruit baseball players if he decided to go to India and recruit cricket players.

[00:31:39] So he brought these, these young men to the US to play baseball. 

[00:31:44] Gresh Harkless: Yeah, I definitely want to check it out and see you cause I'm always trying to learn as much as possible.

[00:31:49] And I think that's one of the beautiful things around all of this media and opportunity. We get to listen to people and podcasts and everything in between and all around is you get to get different perspectives and learn from different cultures. 

[00:32:00] Marie Gettel-Gilmartin: And the cool thing about that movie is it's the creativity and thinking like, well, how can you make that shift from cricket to baseball?

[00:32:07] It's a creative solution. I know that you're interested in that. So is there a story of grit and resilience that has been an inspiration for you and your life? 

[00:32:16] Gresh Harkless: My parents don't talk about it as much but I think when you start to kind of realize, like you're a part of my parents' dreams and their aspiration and their goals and, and knowing that I grew up middle-class so I didn't have the struggles or the frustrations that a lot of people are experiencing.

[00:32:36] And I think that once I started to get older, you start to realize a little bit more about that. To answer your question. I mean, it's definitely just hearing more about my parents and how they grew up and how they didn't necessarily have all the things that they have, but I was a product of them wanting to make sure that I had a better life.

[00:32:53] Like one of the things I did mention, like when I was graduating high school, I wasn't really sure. I didn't really want to college necessarily. I was lucky enough to where I had that option, where I actually did have the grades and everything to be able to get into school. But I wasn't sure that that was something that I wanted to do, but my parents were really on me.

[00:33:13] Like you're going to school and probably especially cause I'm an only child too. There was like, no other, you'd say my siblings to go and I wouldn't go, but I, I just think a lot of that came from. The life that they had. And I think too, like, especially my dad went straight into the military. I went to see a military recruiter and my dad said, of course you can go to the military.

[00:33:34] But I think one of the things that you should do is you should come in as an officer, so go to school and then you can go into the military if that's what you decide. And the reason I bring all that up is because I think so many times we can get in silos about our life and the decisions that we make or that we don't make.

[00:33:48] But we often forget about the loved ones, the people that care for us. My family, my parents that really had lived life and I had the opportunity to kind of learn from the things that they learned. And I think that's probably been the most inspirational thing for me is like, what can I do to try to make my impact so that one, I can hopefully make them proud, but two, hopefully I can help them as much as they helped me as well too.

[00:34:12] And that's something that I always kind of lean on, as far as like remembering everything, remembering why and remembering all the things that you have, that you can kind of do to help others as well. 

[00:34:25] Marie Gettel-Gilmartin: That's really a nice story. Yeah. I think that so often when young people graduate from high school and they don't know what they want to do with their lives, I can totally understand where you are at.

[00:34:34] It's like, well, do I don't know if I want to go to college? And if you don't have a parent, who's kind of pushing you, in that direction, you may not make that choice. But I think it's definitely good to have somebody to kind of push you because it's a missed opportunity.

[00:34:49] It's harder to go to college when you're older. My oldest son was a little bit like that too. It's like, I don't know if I want to go and oh like, I just would recommend to young people.

[00:35:01] If I were you, I would go and see if you like it. And if you don't, you can always stop. And go later or something like, go give it a try, see whether it works. So, yeah, because it's just harder. Everything's harder when you get older. 

[00:35:16] Gresh Harkless: You have more responsibilities and it becomes a lot more difficult.

[00:35:20] And I think even too with my business, when I was kind of frustrated cause I'd just been laid off. I was going to get laid off again, but I think part of me-and it helped of course that I was staying at home with my family-that I kind of felt like I had less to lose than I would have if I started something later on.

[00:35:40] I've read a lot of things and there are a lot of statistics that say people that start really successful businesses who would after they all of those things, but I think if we go back, so, what you said so well, is that nothing that you do is not going to add up to where you are later on in life.

[00:35:59] So even if you decide to start a business, when you are 19 or 25 or 35 or 45, whatever the number it might be, that's going to add up. And so what you experienced later on. You're only going to be better as a result of it. And I think we often say, okay, I want to build a business as six or seven figures, but we often forget like sometimes the biggest benefit of running a business is actually the benefit of growing yourself.

[00:36:21] And you learn so much more about yourself and what you could do, whether it goes the way you want it to go the way it doesn't, because I definitely had some duds as well. 

[00:36:28] Marie Gettel-Gilmartin: Yeah, I've definitely learned in the last few years of what kind of clients I don't want to work with. Again, I've had a number of them that I was like, okay, I'm done with that client. If you have that many clients like that as well in your marketing business. 

[00:36:43] Gresh Harkless: Yes, I have, we could probably do a whole episode on that!

[00:36:47] Marie Gettel-Gilmartin: I’d love to talk more about that. Cause I've really learned a lot that you never quite know how it's going to work out. You can start it. Right. So, yeah. Very interesting. So yeah, we'll have to have another conversation about that question.

[00:37:01] How can people contact you if they want to get ahold of you. 

[00:37:05] Gresh Harkless: Yes. So everything I do, I have linked to my personal site, which is I am gresh.com that's. I am G R E S h.com. If you want to check out a lot of links to the other things that I mentioned, the podcast, the digital marketing, all of the things you can find that at @blue16media.com.

[00:37:27] Marie Gettel-Gilmartin: Great. Thank you so much. Is there anything else you'd like to share with our listeners before we close? 

[00:37:32] Gresh Harkless: No Marie. I truly appreciate you for giving me the opportunity to talk with you again and just be a part of the show and everything that you're doing. I think it's so important. I love the name of the show because I think we're all trying to find our fertile ground, or I try to find that opportunity where we can flourish and we can shine.

[00:37:49] But I think we often forget that it's a journey to get to that and we can often get in the mode of like, I want it now and I want it here. If we could get into the mindset of understanding that it's always part of like what we're doing, what we're experiencing that journey. Then I think we can have a little bit more peace than everything and even the craziness that might be happening.

[00:38:06] So I appreciate you for having me on and doing this. 

[00:38:09] Marie Gettel-Gilmartin: Awesome. Thank you so much. And I think I will have some sort of executive round table about difficult clients. So I will be in touch. I think that would be really interesting topic to discuss. Maybe we can all help each other out to be able to see the red flags in advance.

[00:38:25] Gresh Harkless: Exactly. Yeah. What grit we need for that too. 

[00:38:28] Marie Gettel-Gilmartin: Exactly. Thank you so much for your time Gresh, it's been a great conversation and I will be in touch. 

[00:38:33] Gresh Harkless: Thank you. I appreciate you. 

[00:38:35] I still love that story about how Greg started up a family newspaper as his first business. The power of being an English major!

[00:38:42] I love it. You can see photos and learn more about Gresh at www.fertilegroundcommunications.com. Look for the Finding Fertile Ground podcast tab. Listeners, did this episode inspire you? I'd love to hear from you. If you have any questions or have an idea for a guest or topic I should cover. Drop me a line at marie@fertilegroundcommunications.com.

[00:39:03] Thanks for listening to the Finding Fertile Ground podcast. If you liked today's episode, please subscribe and leave a review.