The Visionary-Integrator Dance | Staci Gray

#022: Staci Gray is a highly experienced business translator, specializing in facilitating the alignment of visionary goals with operational implementation. With a strong background in scaling multimillion-dollar enterprises, Staci has honed her expertise in developing effective systems, team structures, and strategic planning. Her method involves meticulously architecting clear blueprints and implementing streamlined processes, empowering leaders to achieve sustainable growth while prioritizing work-life equilibrium. Staci's pragmatic approach and deep industry knowledge position her as a sought-after resource for entrepreneurs aiming to optimize their business strategies and drive long-term success.

00:00:01 - Staci's Role in Business
00:00:47 - Catalyst for Change
00:04:09 - Three-Step Process
00:07:45 - Visionary and Integrator Dynamics
00:12:50 - Finding the Right Integrator
00:14:00 - Family Business and Personal Development
00:15:50 - Starting a New Business
00:17:25 - Visionary-Integrator Relationship
00:21:10 - Integrating Visionary Ideas
00:25:33 - Recognizing Valuable Skill Sets
00:27:36 - Importance of Building Trust and Bonding
00:29:21 - Strategic Consulting and Business Integration
00:30:31 - Business Building Process
00:35:00 - Lessons on Leadership and Self-Reflection
00:41:53 - The Gift of Self-Reflection
00:42:21 - Embracing Challenges
00:43:10 - Getting Real with Yourself
00:43:56 - Where to Find Staci

Staci Grays Link:
IG: staci_gray

Dylan's Links:

• 🎙️Podcast: BusinessConfessionsPod
• 📽️YouTube: @BizConfessions
• 📷Instagram: DylanWillx
• Linked-In: /dylan-williams

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Past Guests: Chandler Saine, Daniel Martinez, Stratton Brown, Lee Maasen, Nico Lagan, Daniel Roman,Tim Branyan, David Van Beekum, Nick Hutchison, Deirdre Tshein, Sanchez Zehcnas, Christina Lopez, Keigan Carthy, Hemant Varshney, Taniela Fiefia, Jennifer Blake, Nicki Sciberras, John Chan

Transcript

Track 1: 0:01

Stacey, what do you do?

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 0:03

I speak visionary and I speak integrator. That's what I do. I'm a translator in business.

Track 1: 0:10

Yeah,

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 0:11

So visions can become a reality and we can stay rooted and passionate in the things that we love doing and not create jobs for ourselves in business. And that's basically what I do for people.

Track 1: 0:23

I love that. That's a really good elevator pitch. You don't hear that side of it. I feel

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 0:27

Yeah. I started this because my mom got cancer and had built several multi million dollar businesses and were trapped in it. And we didn't have the right operational systems, we didn't have the right people in the right seats, we didn't have the right scorecards, we didn't have the right structures. And then when my mom was diagnosed, it was like, immediately, fire alarm going off. We've got to do something different. I really think every business leader I know comes to a point in their life where something like that happens where it's enough is enough. I cannot keep operating like this. I've got to do something different. And it could be, a family crisis, like my mom getting cancer. Or it could be a personal health crisis, or you could burn out, or you could have a deal go sideways, or you could have a client, completely leave a bad review, and it wipes out something like there's so many things that can happen that can really dysregulate us as leaders. if we don't have the right structures in place, not just. Operational structures, but psychological structures and social structures in place. It's really hard to navigate that storm. And so what we did was figured out how to do it for ourselves. And then organically, people are like, help me do it. Do for us what you did for your own businesses. And that's what I do now.

Track 1: 1:49

I love it. Yeah, I can totally relate to that. We actually even, I think it was two years. Yeah. About two years ago, I actually shut down two seven figure companies because I would just so over it and like you get to a certain point to and at the time, luckily I had some other stuff built up and in real estate as well. So luckily I had other things going for me. Yeah. And I just got to a point where we had, so with the shift in the market, so we were in residential real estate and we had a rehabbing company and then we had an assignment company and there was a shift in the market back in 2022, around September, October ish, and the market was changing and we had to change with the times. For that change, we had some employees that were didn't really want to go with that change. I understood that part of it and it, we had to. We had to make a choice of changing, completely changing or going a different route. And at the time I was just like, you know what this, I was, we were dealing with, lawsuits from other stuff and a bunch of other stuff. And I was still a lot in the day to day. And at the time I'd been for this one company, one of the larger company that I was working in, we were, it was six months straight where we were trying to hire on a, COO. Somebody just operations and everything, because I was still in that role also to managing our managers and everything. So I was just so burnt out. And we were trying to get that role field, but we went through a bad hire. Once we had, we tried somebody else and just didn't work out and. It was one, I was hiring for people that I like that resonated with me, which is not what we need because I need the opposite of that. I need somebody that can integrate, somebody that can oversee things, somebody that can see, smooth line operation. And, that's something too I've learned after the fact too, but, and then long story short though, I'm not going to go on a rant here, but yes, I can relate to that because. It's so true. Burnout is so prevalent nowadays with anything. And it's very important to have somebody like yourself to go through that. So I'm going to give it back to you though. I'm going to ask, tell me exactly though, what you do for your company.

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 4:07

You want details? You want the how to. Okay. You got it. So you'll appreciate this'cause you're in real estate. So the whole structure of what I do is very similar to how you would do a ground up development deal. And so step, it's a three step process. Step one is architect and we spend three days. Planning out, architecting the business blueprint, what it is, what are you building and what do you want it to do for you? And I think oftentimes as entrepreneurs, especially visionary leaders who Run purely off of passion and optimism. We get ourselves in situations that are like, it's all going to work out. We'll figure it out as we go. We'll jump out of the airplane and build a parachute on the way down. And Oh crap, we're going to hit the ground. It's going to hurt abort. that happens all the time. And the good thing about that profile is you have proof of concept. that you have the courage to go start something, you can get clients. And that has to happen in order to operationalize anything. If you don't have a sale, you don't have a business. And so you have to do that. But then after you get that going, you really have to figure out what are we building? What do I want it to do for me personally? What do I want it to do financially? What do I want it to do in the communities that it's impacting? What do I want it to do for my team? What do I want it to do for my freedom? sometimes we don't. think through all of these things when we're starting a business. We're just like, Oh, this is a great idea. People will like it. It'll make money. Let's go. And we don't pause. So part of what I do is help people just pause. Not saying you can't do it all. Not say you can't do everything you want, but there's scope and sequence and there's pathways to make it happen that don't sacrifice your freedom. In pursuit of your freedom. And I use freedom interchangeably, but most people set out to build businesses to create some type of freedom, but end up trapped in the very businesses designed to create the freedom. And most of the freedom we pursue is eyes open freedom. I want time freedom. I want money freedom. I want location freedom. But what we sacrifice in that pursuit is what I call eyes closed freedoms. where you have love, peace, connection, joy. We sacrifice all of those for the eyes open freedoms and then we abort because it's not worth it. There's no amount of money that is worth it if you forfeit the internal freedom. So my process is step one architect blueprint. What are we building and what do we want it to do? Because if we don't think this through, we're going to end up with a seven, eight figure business we're not happy with. And this is talking to visionary leaders. There's some people out there who are like, I didn't even know my ideas any weight. We'll go test it first. And then once you've tested it and you've made six figures or you've got some proof of concept, then blueprint it. what are we building? Day one is vision building. Day two is process mapping and day three is action planning. So every visionary leader has a vision in their head. They just maybe haven't been able to articulate it in a way. I like to think of the visionary as the person who can see the front of the puzzle box. And then you dump out all the pieces and the visionary is I'm out. Nope. Somebody else has got to come put the pieces together.

Track 1: 7:25

Yeah. Okay.

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 7:27

process mapping. And that's, I don't know if you're, are you familiar with process mapping or workflowing? Yeah. Okay. every business has seven to 10 core functions. And so we process map exactly what that is. And then day three is action planning, where we take the big, hairy, audacious goal of whatever it is that this person wants to achieve. We work with a lot of capital raisers. So say, 10 years, they wanna have a billion dollars raised. Then what do you have to do in the next 90 days to make that happen? that's a pipe dream to, you have little yellow feet to execute. So we put little yellow feet to, to execute into a 90 day plan. And I like to say we, building a business is like running a marathon, but we run it in sprints. So we run it in 90 day sprints, but it's a long horizon. So that's what we do to help people organize to scale their businesses. And then step two, the step one is architect the blueprint and that's done in the three day strategic planning session. Step two is build where you got to lay your foundation. You got to put the frameworks in play. You need a general contractor, AKA integrator, to build the structure for what it is that you're building. And then step three is operate. And that's where you would plug a property manager. And, or a tenant in to run the day to day, what so many people do. And we have done numerous times is skipped architect. We skipped build and we're like, let's operate. We need a website. We need social media. We need a deal. And we just go start throwing people and money at process and thinking problems. If we had just paused and thought in a three day and built the infrastructure, we could be off to the races without these, short circuiting ourselves. So that's really what I help tactically people do.

Track 1: 9:21

Have you always been process driven?

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 9:24

I don't know if always, so I graduated high school at 16 and my first job was answering phones, taking registrations, for a real estate seminar company. And father had started it with his business partner, and maybe six months in, I'm like, I don't want to answer phones anymore. Can I do something else? And they handed me a copy of E Myth by Michael Gerber, basically said that you don't have to answer the phones, but the only way to get out of it is you have to hire and train your replacement. And so I read E Myth, I put a I handbooked together, I put an ad online, and then, this was 20 plus years ago. It was Craigslist. So I would just go on Craigslist. That's where you put job postings, not, or newspaper. I, it makes me feel old saying this now. but I would do that. And then I realized I had to manage these people and leadership became my next skill set that I had to develop. And I feel like that part of it has been a continual lesson and journey for me because the bigger your team goes, the Grows the more complicated communication gets, and then the more complicated communication gets, the more clear the leader has to be in their communication and structures. And so it's a continual journey.

Track 1: 10:46

yeah, for sure. I just had to ask that. it's not a common trait. I feel like I see so much. I'm just, I resonate very well with the visionary and the big picture stuff. So it's nice for change to talk to somebody who is down in the weeds, who understands, Hey, let's create a process for this. let's create a roadmap and let's actually execute on this versus talking about it. So

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 11:07

Yes. Yeah, and I can relate to your integrator story about having two people come in and just COO, false starts and what I have learned along that journey of placing a lot of integrators, having different integrators in my business, but also being different integrator to different visionaries. I'm, I score very high on both. Visionary and integrator. I'm over 85 on both of them. trust was something I didn't really realize how critical it was because you think, can they do the job? Sure. They can do the job, but the re what gets them to be able to do the job is that you trust them. It's like a quarterback and a wide receiver. yeah, the wide receiver can catch the ball, but if the quarterback and the wide receiver don't have a. Synergy and they don't trust each other. And there's not like that just factor. It's really hard for that relationship to Excel, like a Jerry Rice and Joe Montana type of thing. that comes with synergy and energy that is, is really based on trust. That is hard to script in process and workflow.

Track 1: 12:12

yeah, that's very true. I didn't think of it like that as well. What would you say to, to bank on that a little bit? a question just came to mind for typically I'm sure you work with, of course you work with businesses that are already established and then you're placing or finding the integrator role. What would you say to somebody who is. Thinking of looking for an integrator before they start a business venture.

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 12:37

I'm pausing because sometimes starting a business venture teaches you a lot about yourself. And finding a really good integrator means that the visionary needs some level of self awareness. So if you have not yet started it, think back to a time that you worked with somebody and had a really good dynamic with that person. That person, and you got work done. It's not like you sat there and you shot the shit, and I don't know if you can say that on here, but,

Track 1: 13:08

You're good.

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 13:08

it's like you could have a drink with somebody and brainstorm and be all excited and then nothing happens. But if you can think of the person that's Wow, we are productive together. We have a vision and a plan and we have fun. that is the person. That is counterpart to you that is not just fun and enjoyable, but it's productive. And that, it can be a really beautiful blend because need to get stuff done. You can't win if you don't execute. If all you do is talk about an idea, you won't move anywhere. So if you have somebody in your life like that, think through what those character traits are. What that, what they give you. not just what they do, but what they give you energetically, because that's really what you're getting from them that makes you do what you do well and not micromanage them.

Track 1: 13:59

That's good.

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 14:01

Are

Track 1: 14:01

I was

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 14:02

about somebody you know specifically? EOS,

Track 1: 14:05

were explaining that in a couple things came to mind too. And I'm thinking I have actually one of my cousins is. we have family gatherings and we always talk about business. We always talk about, what we're working on, what we're doing, personal development, everything goes along with that. And I always said, I'd love to start a business with him. And I was thinking, you explaining that we have a great dynamic. we, work well together, but I was thinking you speak about like scoring on, What's the test called, that you're referring to?

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 14:40

it has on their website, it's called Visionary Integrator Assessment. I think something like that.

Track 1: 14:44

There's also, what's the, there's another one that, that's really popular. I can't think of it right now, but, another personality test. I was thinking, what would he score? We probably need to do, I need to have him take that. We need to do it together, actually, because I haven't taken it in probably two or three years.

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 15:01

Yes.

Track 1: 15:02

love to see where I'm at now, what I would score on that and what it would say. But no, that, that's a concern I would have is he a visionary as well? Or is he, Cause somebody in that role, definitely that's some criteria. So I try to retire a little backstory to, I say retire. I tried to retire back, when I turned 30, two years ago now. and it didn't work out too well. I ended up, I have a podcast now. I traveled for a year and, just got really bored and it just wasn't fulfilling to me. I noticed I needed to be doing something in my hands, in my mind. And, so here we are with the podcast and I said, I'm going to start another business or either buy another business. Just to occupy my time. and that's where I'm at with that now. So a lot of these podcasts too, it's a lot of selfish endeavors as well with questioning and everything. but anyways, yeah, I said, I'd never start another company with a laid down foundation of what I want it to look like. It's not. It's not about money anymore. all the other businesses, everybody starts a business because it's about the money, of course, and that's money should come first, honestly, with that. Because if you don't have profit, you don't have a company, you don't have a business, but, now looking at this now, I have some new parameters. I want to build with friends or somebody I enjoy. that's a lot where these, a lot of these questions are coming from too. And, something that, I can enjoy doing, so that's where a lot of that kind of came from. And I went on there too.

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 16:26

it's true because you can't really know what would be a great integrator for you unless, you,

Track 1: 16:31

No, that's so true. That's so true. Do you guys, are you guys testing, for that as well?

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 16:36

yes, we have, we do the disc profile

Track 1: 16:39

That's the, this profile is what I was trying to think of.

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 16:42

okay. Yes. So we have people take the visionary integrator assessment and the disc profile, and that really can show a lot about. What the dynamics is going to be like what the roadblocks are going to be. And just because you don't have the perfect profiling doesn't mean a visionary and integrator relationship can't work. It just means that there is going to be different types of conversations that need to be had, and some people need to have. Own the assertiveness and making sure things aren't brushed under the rug that, you don't take how somebody says it. Like somebody who's a high C, they're way more analytical. So a visionary comes and says, I got this idea guys, we're going to do this. And they're like, but how about this? And what about this? And I don't know, can you really do that? And the visionary just feels like you're popping my balloon, dude. is not I need you to rally with me. And I coach the integrators, I say, okay, when the visionary comes and they're super excited, your first reaction is be super excited. Whatever they're saying is amazing and say, oh my gosh, this is awesome. We could do this. We could do this. We could do this. Like ideas stuck with them. And then once you get them believing that you get them and really get them, don't pretend, but really get them. Then say. Okay, can I ask you a couple of clarifying questions because I want to make this a reality for us. And then they're like, yeah, whatever questions you've got. And they sit down and they're quiet. And then you can get out a piece of paper and ask them all the questions you want. And they're actually participating with you now versus being like, you don't think it can happen. You're poo pooing my dream. And then that's why people have a revolving door of integrators is because they just, they got to get over the communication hurdle, which is why I said, I speak visionary. I speak integrator. They could communicate. They usually want the same thing. They just, their angle at coming at it is so different.

Track 1: 18:43

That's good. I can relate to both those. I am very good at coming up with ideas and I'm very good at shooting my ideas down as well, like being, like it just being so literal, about thinking and logical on things, but that idea though, what traits are you looking for? What traits, are you looking for?

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 19:01

that's going to be visionary dependent. So knowing your visionary profile versus integrator, but I will talk in stereotypes versus But a visionary tends to be a person, like I said, who can see above the weeds, the big picture, the vision. I want an integrator that can also see that, but doesn't live there. Because if they can't see my vision, then they can't create my vision. So they've got to be able to be above Elevate 10, 000 feet with me and then zoom back in. And then an integrator that operates more on logic typically is a better dynamic because there'll be more pragmatic about P and L decisions, about employee decisions, about workflow decisions, assembly line. They're going to be a little bit more objective where a visionary tends to be like, just make it work, or if they're not having fun, change it like a little bit more in our decision making. Whereas integrators, a lot more. Logical in their decision making, which is needed. You need a logical integrator. And then for peering, visionaries tend to be very high energy. And go like hard charging, go, let's do this. And when they're paired with an integrator that is really slow, it's draining. So there has to be an energy match where they, the integrator hang with the visionary. They don't have to be like the visionary, but they can like pace and. Then also where the visionary integrator have respect for each other. So if the integrator needs to be like, Hey, can run with you, but right now we need to run 80 percent slower than the visionary and be like, okay, I can practice patience right now because typically you do run with me. And that's what you want. you're want somebody who can stride with you. I'm not trying to pull a ball and chain. And basically a visionary integrator is like that. Let's stride together. And cause it's more fun and you'll win more. I

Track 1: 21:06

at, two years ago when I was trying to hire an operator for all of this?

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 21:11

know it's we've got so wrong so many times. Yeah,

21:17

Guys, real clear. Think about this. Share this episode with someone. It could create an ideal and you'd be responsible for that. You never know what opportunities that could create. All right, guys, I'll let y'all get back to it. Thank you.

Track 1: 21:38

I'm like cringing honestly with a lot of things you say. Like I'm thinking of man, I would hate to do that. Oh, I'm just, I just, I'm such a visionary and I probably use this as a cop out to, to not do the work that needs to be done sometimes, but I'm just, I'm very high level. And when people start talking about, getting in the weeds of things, I'm just like, I'm out, I'm good on this conversation, tell me how it goes. And I'll tell you, I'll come back with my next idea.

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 22:00

I, what happens there is the visionary if, so you have a visionary integrator relationship, right? You're the visionary, you have an integrator, you have an idea and you come say, I'm your integrator. You come tell me your vision. And I'm like, okay, got it. We're going to have it done in 90 days. And then 30 days later, you come be like, I got a new vision. This is what we're doing now. like, whoa. I got 60 days left on this vision. And you're like, no, we got to start this one now. And so an integrator that cannot tell a visionary, no, cannot go that relationship will not go far because what will happen is you'll just zigzag your whole way and you won't get traction. the integrator has to be like, I love the idea. Do you want to pause the 60 days left we have here and start over a new 90 days for this vision? Or do we want to stabilize this, get some team in place, get this over the line, and then in 60 days start that one? Like, how do you want, how do you want this to go? Because we, unless you're going to throw more people and more money at this, going to stall out. then you're going to be frustrated with me and probably fire me. because I'm not doing what you want, but have to be able to have the courage to tell you no, and you have to have the courage to hear no.

Track 1: 23:11

that there's a lot of different dynamics I'm hearing here on that end. It sounds like one, you have the experience that you've gone through this before. Are you guys training them

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 23:23

Yes.

Track 1: 23:24

or is this just like you need to pick all these little bitty things in the testing that you did?

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 23:28

No.

Track 1: 23:29

Okay.

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 23:30

I first started Organize to Scale, I didn't know I was special as an integrator. I didn't realize it at all. just read EMATH at 16 in red. Jim Rohn and Zig Ziglar and Brian Tracy and, Simon was just, I was immersed in it. I didn't go to college. I graduated high school and I just have been working. So I didn't know that my real world experience had any value. I thought it, what didn't really have that much value at all. I thought, Oh, this is just how you build businesses. This is what you do. Then when my mom got cancer and I started doing it at 10 Xing my own level of doing it. Then I realized when people started coming to me saying, Hey, can you do this for us? It's okay, maybe there's something here. But I still, at that point thought it was logistics. I thought it was. I thought it was how I process mapped. I thought it was how I hired people. I didn't even understand the interpersonal side of it. then I built 30, I did 36 businesses in 36 months, which I do not recommend. It was a lot. I realized the thing that made it special was that I spoke visionary and I spoke integrator. That's what really made it special. And so then I started documenting all of the ways I spoke to visionaries. And then I started documenting all of the ways I spoke to integrators. And then I started in our boutique clients started coaching their integrators one on one. And. Then I would have integrators come to me. I'm going to quit. And I'm like, okay, you're not quitting because, and you just need to say this. You guys are saying the exact same thing, but if you would just say this, it you'll get over this hurdle. And then they'd go back. They'd say the thing, they'd get over the hurdle. And then the visionary would come tell me, this happened. And I'd be like, say it like this. And so it turned into. Training for boutique, and now I'm working on creating models where I can bring it more in a group setting so it's a little bit more scalable. But that part I didn't realize. That was, that's like a recent learning in the last couple of years that I'm like, wow, that's a skill set that is valuable that I did not realize was valuable.

Track 1: 25:46

Oh yeah, absolutely. There's not a lot of competition with what you're doing and there's not a lot of people doing what you're doing as well. it's a big need. It's a need. A lot of people don't even know they need,

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 25:57

Yes.

Track 1: 25:58

they don't know how to ask. They don't know where to look or how to. I didn't even I've gone through that three different times with three different businesses. Like something that I thought, I've hired business coaches. I've gone through that before, it depends on their personality type and what they've done in another business on what they're going to be coaching you as well. That's huge.

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 26:17

Yeah.

Track 1: 26:17

the vision with this? Is it because you just mentioned more of a scale. I even looked up when I was doing research on you before too, I was looking up like competitors and things. There's nothing really related to this.

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 26:29

Yeah, I, I didn't really mean to start another company. This is, this is almost like I'm building this business very different than I built other businesses because didn't think, oh, I'm gonna architect something.'cause I didn't even know speaking visionary and integrator was the language. Like a language school. Who knew? I did not know. So I think I, I am very curious about where this is gonna go, and I think I'm gonna have to. Put some more structure into this, but organized to scale was like, okay, we do three days. We build their infrastructure and we help plug people into run day to day. And all of that worked great, except for when you hit a ceiling. And then when you hit a ceiling, that's where Speaking Visionary, Speaking Integrator. Comes into play. And that was a hurdle that again, I recently discovered was a real hurdle that I had the skillset to overcome. So I thought maybe, doing my three days with visionaries and integrators together, whereas typically what happens is the visionary will come, but they won't bring their integrator or the visionary will come and they won't have an integrator. And so now I've started to say, okay, if you're going to come to one of our three days, bring your integrator. Or, if you don't have one, let's pair you with one so you can go through the journey together so that you can build that, forge that bond together. It's way better though, I have found, to your point, like a cousin. You have history, there's trust, you, it's really hard to scale trust, just like three people in a room, you have to bond overnight. It's, I'm working with some, like conscious leaders who have been doing that from more of a eyes closed perspective that I'm trying to integrate into the business side. And we did our first three day where she was a part of it with me. And it was really special. And we did like a 15 minute breath work meditation thing. And in, middle of doing a three day, which is all business and numbers and spreadsheets and process maps. So I'm trying to integrate that side of it.'cause I think that is part of me that helps me speak visionary and integrator. Because you could say I'm mad this didn't get done. And what you're really saying to me is, I am scared I'm gonna fail and if I fail, I am not gonna be okay with myself. And that's what you're really telling me. So then if I can come at you and say, look. get this is freaking me out too. I'm right there with you, but this is exactly what we're doing. It's most helpful to me if you could do this part right here and I got this part. And then it's okay, we're in it together versus you're down my throat and I'm working my butt up. I'm trying to do this for you. So it's getting below the line and I think I do that normally in my personal life. I just didn't ever bring it into my business life.

Track 1: 29:22

Funny how that works.

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 29:23

Yeah. Isn't that funny?

Track 1: 29:24

Yeah. So with the, which started first on your three or is this, so I'm imagining like the three day, like a coaching program, essentially. Like a coaching arm, and then you have your other side of your business. Am I saying this correct.

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 29:41

yes, so the 3 day is like consulting strategic consulting. we do 1 on 1 clients there. they 7 figure 8 figure businesses are ready that they're ready to. Go, then I have my group 3 days, which right now we only have it for the vertical of capital raiser. So if you're raising capital to do big investment projects, we do a group 3 day and that is taking the best of the best that I've seen under the hood behind the scenes of raising over 300 million. And laying it out for people and so whether they've raised a million or have not raised anything, it's great because they can go through the process. They can see it. It's black and white. It's the front of the puzzle box and the main core pieces of how to put it all together. So the that through the three day is. strategic consulting one on one or in the group. And then step two is building. So some people who are seven to eight, nine figures already, they got infrastructure, they have a CRM, they have a website, they have some type of sales funnel. Hey, it's rehabbing, it's patching it up, streamlining, it's making sure the checklist, the SOPs, right people, right seats is all dialed. And then if you're new, we have, like for capital raising, we have a. Program where they can get call a mini build, where you can get your pitch deck, your one pager, your deal webinar, your investor onboarding set up, because that's just what you need to get started. And then we have a relationship with an SEC attorney that takes care of, the entity and the PPM and all of that. And then in the operate side, that's where we help people find their integrators forge their integrator relationships. And we do that in a mastermind. So that is recruiting placement with mastermind support, if you will, on the back end. So I, yeah, I think I'm essentially building three businesses at one time. And it's just organically happening.

Track 1: 31:43

Is your entry level, your beginner side, is that strictly, syndication real estate?

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 31:51

It is right now. I have the playbooks to do a ground up development. Assisted living homes, real estate brokerages and property management businesses, but I haven't converted it into a three day. So a lot of the peripheral and a mortgage company, a lot of the peripheral business playbooks, but we haven't, I haven't converted everything yet into, I don't know if you've ever done a three day presentation, but it's a chore to get it all together.

Track 1: 32:23

I would not, I don't think I could do that. Honestly,

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 32:26

Yeah.

Track 1: 32:27

that's a lot. and I'm just thinking here too. if you could almost scale some of that back, not get so in the weeds of that and build some kind of model framework or template for business in general, how big that could be too.

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 32:42

I

Track 1: 32:43

That's probably the underlying, I know, but, here, my visionary brains,

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 32:46

you're not off. Cause actually the three day I just did in February, the end of February. was redoing the presentation trying to say, how could I do this? As if it could be for any business. And for the most part, it's one like day one vision building any business day to day three action planning any business hands down. only portion that is unique is the 7 to 10 core functions, I can mapping. But if I teach people how to process map. Like I'm teaching you how to fish. Now I'm teaching you how to organize your business. And so I did a whole mini presentation in the three day I just did with explaining process mapping, was people said, I've done process mapping and hands down the best part of the three day. So I think that I could, if I gave them the seven to 10 that they would need to map, I think they could probably do it, but coming up with them, people struggle.

Track 1: 33:44

Yeah. Yeah. I can see that for sure. I would totally do something like that. Even if it was the first two days of that, even,

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 33:51

Yeah.

Track 1: 33:52

I'd make sure I had somebody with me or wait, do I need to bring somebody to that or is that where you're,

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 33:57

I would bring your integrator. So if you brought your integrator. To process mapping the whole three days. Great. But they like having an integrator to help with process mapping. That would solve it. You know what I could do is I could probably do it where there's just breakout rooms. if you have a capital raising room, capital raising business going to this breakout room. This is how you process map that if you have a property management or. you're an influencer or a content creator, whatever it is, go into that room and then you get those maps. that could probably work.

Track 1: 34:28

yeah,

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 34:29

thought partner with me.

Track 1: 34:30

for sure. I have one more too. You could even a la carte some of that stuff and just Hey, I'll, here's an integrator. if you want to, if you need an integrator. Here it is, you can, scale that back or do dummy it down on any level and it'd be like, here's your steps for it and somebody could pay for that. Or it could be a done for you or a done with you thing as well. And you could do three different tiers of that or do it yourself kind of thing.

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 34:52

Exactly.

Track 1: 34:53

Yeah. There's

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 34:54

I love that sushi menu option. you, everybody gets this, we're all eating sushi, but pick your, pick which one you're doing. I

Track 1: 35:02

so many ideas.

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 35:02

If

Track 1: 35:05

What would you say is the most valuable lesson you've learned?

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 35:10

you had asked me this five years ago, I would have said overlooking the value of culture. But I think in the last five years, I've learned that every infinite leader has to find their eyes closed reasons for doing eyes open things. That has been the biggest lesson I've learned in the last five years. I think my mom dying was a big, it makes you question like if I only have 25 more years to live, this is what

Track 1: 35:41

Would you be doing

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 35:42

yeah, what do I want to be doing? Who do I want to be doing it with? Why do I want to be doing it? if I sacrifice everything and make a million dollars, but I don't wake up tomorrow, what is that worth? And So I was so consumed with business and I love business. I love organizing business. I love talking business. I like being a visionary, like being an integrator. I like rallying people. I like people getting able to communicate better and getting shit done. I love all of that. It energizes me. But at the end of the day, if that all goes away. If you're not finding the thing that really propels you and drives you that transcends space and time, it's really sacrificing the eyes closed freedoms for the eyes open freedoms.

Track 1: 36:34

that's good. So many people nowadays, I feel like preach the culture, cultural, everything's culture, but to attest what you just said, if you don't, if you're doing everything you don't like doing, or you don't have a business yet, it's just. You and a couple of employees, culture doesn't matter at that point. So much other stuff matter. And are you doing what you enjoy doing?

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 36:56

Yeah. but what you're, I guess what we're really saying though is the first culture that is most important is the culture in me. And I was viewing culture as an eyes open thing and it's not, it's an eyes closed thing. I'm a better leader. Now I solve all my problems with my eyes closed. If I'm frustrated, I'm sitting at my computer, I can't figure it out. And I'm asking chat GPT and I'm calling all my mentors and coaches and I'm going to my entrepreneur groups and I am not solving it. I'm doing it wrong. I need to just sit my butt in the meditation chair and close my darn eyes and calm my nervous system and I will have the answer. And that is what I've learned now, which I didn't learn the first time.

Track 1: 37:43

Who are you learning all this from?

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 37:45

My eyes closed. It's, there is, I, so I'm not, I was raised religious. But I'm not religious. I grew up going, I was Christian, going to church, all of that. And I do not subscribe to that because it created a lot of fun. It was, legalistic and it was really painful and I did not enjoy it. But, in a sense of a worldview, I believe that we're energy in form, And so there's an energy source that, communicates to us through our bodies. And feel it when I'm making decisions and my chest gets tight. And I'm like, Hey, this just, and I think we can all feel that. Like we know that I'm going to partner with this person, but it just isn't sitting with me. Or I'm going to accept this client, but it's just not sitting with me, but we betray it. And I have done that a ton of times, which is. Why I think I'm getting all of this from what the, what is my energy telling me? And sometimes I have to quiet all of the noise because I can't even read my own energy because I'm picking up on my coach's energy, my mentor's energy, which I love all of that. That has impacted me tremendously. But I've read of books, gone to hundreds of seminars, done all of those things. There's enough and the answers are already there. And so I feel like that thinking the answers are outside of them, it's, I have found in my life, and then also the people that I coach, it's almost a crutch. And I've never met a human being that didn't innately know, even if from a young age, what they wanted to do, what they wanted to be. And their parents, society, culture, us we couldn't. Or told us that it wasn't acceptable, or we weren't allowed to, or we were too much, or it was a grandiose thing. But then, right now, when all of these adult humans get back to the core, pure energy and passion and joy and love and drive. the best things get created from that space. The most beautiful things, the most authentic things get created from that space. don't get created just from asking somebody else. They get created from And then they're magnified when you do an energetic dance with somebody else, it's okay, now you're a visionary and I'm an integrator and you're a marketer and I'm an investor. And now we get to do it together. Like that. That's fine.

Track 1: 40:18

That's fun. How are you knowing that you need to look within and do that? The busy world we live in nowadays, how are you setting aside time for that, that self reflection?

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 40:31

I call it sacred time. And. it's a joke in our household that I need a lot of it. And so sometimes I'll just say, I'm, I need some eyes closed time. And I will go put myself in the room or this morning we live, on the green belt and we live in Austin I went and hiked the green belt and I could have hiked it with somebody. And I said, I need to go alone. Like I need my time alone in nature. And so I prioritize it. And. I think when people are around me when I don't prioritize it, they encourage me prioritizing it. Because I'm a better human.

Track 1: 41:09

Yeah, absolutely. We need that time.

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 41:11

Yeah.

Track 1: 41:13

I had a realization, after I so called retired, I don't even like using that word. I don't know after I, streamlined a business and then another two, I had a lot of time on my hands and for the first time in years that I was not used to. And a lot of good things came from that because I had the time. I self reflected, I gave myself the time. I'd literally sit in my office, lock the door, turn the computer off and just sit at my desk and write. And figure out what was in me. What did I want? What was, what would fulfill me? that is so important. And now I live every day. Like I live a dream. Like I literally live a dream. I get to do anything I want. And I wouldn't have known that if I didn't self reflect and look within and see what I needed, what I want

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 41:58

Yeah. And then the courage to give yourself that gift. I think sometimes we close our eyes, we find the answer, and then we're scared to do it. But you're doing it. It's beautiful.

Track 1: 42:10

and I hate, I feel almost sorry for people that haven't gone through this yet, haven't had that chance to give themselves that time. so if you're listening, give yourself the time, self reflect, do that, it's so important.

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 42:23

And I will say, I'm not great at it all the time. Sometimes I am so caught up in the noise of my world that I suck at it. we joke that, you know what, if you got off it, you gotta go be a shitty meditator for a week. before it feels good again. So if your audience hasn't started or they are afraid to start or they're off their cycle of doing it, it's okay to do hard things. Hard things builds character. And that's what you're looking for. And that's actually what's needed in building and scaling businesses is character. So if it's hard to meditate, go do it because the better you get at doing hard things, the better leader you're going to be.

Track 1: 43:03

Yep. I've learned, part of the thing is it's usually the thing that you need to lean into and get better

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 43:09

And one of the questions I ask in my journaling sessions a lot is what am I avoiding? Yeah,

Track 1: 43:17

I have get real with myself. sessions, I guess I would say, I try to have at least once a year, but it's, that is one question. What am I avoiding? What am I scared of? What am I putting off? That's a powerful question.

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 43:28

yeah, it's gonna haunt you in 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 5 years, 10 years if you don't address it. Yeah,

Track 1: 43:37

Stacy, I really appreciate you coming on today. Where can people go to learn more about you and see what you're building and learn?

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 43:45

Yeah. I am all over social media, Stacey Gray, S T A C I, Stacey with an I, and G R A Y. And then, if your audience wants to send an email to scale, S K A L E, at organizedtoscale. com, where they can get access to, I have a couple podcasts. One's called Rooted Founder. Which talks about how do we stay rooted as leaders as we build and scale our businesses. And then my other one is get shit done. Cause, the dreamer and the doer have to meet. So people can find me on social media or send an email.

Track 1: 44:17

And I'll link all that stuff down in the description below. Stacy,

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 44:20

Yeah.

Track 1: 44:20

I really appreciate you coming on.

staci-gray_1_03-19-2024_143505: 44:22

Yeah. Thank you for having me. Good to connect with you and I'll be cheering for you online and maybe

44:29

Hey, if you're still listening, hopefully you got some value out of this or amusement. Either way, I really appreciate you for listening. My goal with this podcast is to build something of value while also showing others that it's possible to do the same. And what I mean by that is, I'm not perfect at this. I fumble, I stutter, and I just want to show that it's okay. If you've been putting something off, This is me telling you to go for it. So I need your help in growing this and there's two main ways a podcast grows. One is through ratings and reviews and two is through word of mouth. So I can only do it with your help. If you can leave me a five star rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify as well as post this to your social and it doesn't grow without you. Thank you. Talk to you all next week.