[00:00:00] Speaker A: Leadership isn't about titles. It's about vision, resilience, and growth. I'm Erica Butler, and on the Go Hire show, we talk about the tools and strategies that help you lead with impact, grow your business, and build teams that thrive. From real estate to cultural agility, from managing diverse teams to creating work life harmony, Go Higher helps you rise above challenges and step into your next level. Catch Go Higher. Every week on Now Media Television, we're streaming on Roku, Apple TV, Sirius XM, iHeartRadio and all other major platforms. Let's go Higher together.
[00:00:35] Speaker B: Hi and welcome back to Go Higher. I have a very special guest today. I'm sitting down with someone who really lives Go Higher in a way that is both personal but also very powerful.
My guest is Aurora Bernofsky. She's a senior HR business partner at our company, Higher International Human Resources, and she's the CEO and co founder of Give Back Lehigh Valley, which is an incredible nonprofit she and her husband launched over 10 years ago. And it's just been amazing the growth and the movement that she's been able to create in our community. And the lives changed. So that is a big reason why I wanted her to be on the show, to share with the audience. How do you even do that? And how do you take an idea and grow it year after year after year? So welcome to the show, Aurora. I am so, so happy to have you here today.
[00:01:21] Speaker C: Thank you so much, Erica. I'm honored to be here on Go Higher and to just be on this journey with you. It's wonderful. Thank you for having me.
[00:01:31] Speaker B: Well, we have so much to talk about, so we'll dive in here. So, Aurora, I wanted you to share your backstory a bit. So tell them a bit who you are and what you stand for.
[00:01:41] Speaker C: Thank you. So, as Erica said, I'm Aurora Brunowski and I've had the honor of being Erica's friend for a very long time.
I think we're nearing 15 years almost at this point, and we got to know each other from working together, but then our lives have continued to fold together, together.
So Erica and I met working in hr. So a large part of who I am is my work in hr, my passion for working in different companies in that capacity.
But I'm also on the non work side. I'm a mom, I'm a wife, I have a new, pretty new baby.
So very much in the motherfold right now.
And my family just means everything to me. So having the home life that I've always dreamed of as well as this Career in hr. Very much a dream come true. And then alongside of that, we have Give Back Lehigh Valley, which was a passion project. I know we'll talk more about this. Started as a passion project and over 13 years later, at this point, we've raised almost $200,000 for our community.
[00:02:52] Speaker B: Community.
[00:02:52] Speaker C: Every dime we raise has gone back into the Lehigh Valley and beyond where we live here in Pennsylvania, and just fills my heart. So between my HR work, my family, and also being able to give back, I feel like it's. It's been a dream. It's really. It's really been a lot of fun the last few years.
[00:03:11] Speaker B: Something I tell Aurora often is I honestly don't know how you do it. I think she is very much of a superstar when it comes to just building a beautiful life of impact and being there for her family, building an incredible career, and just really been neat to watch and see how she does it so well without missing a deadline, ever without missing a beat. And she does it with such amazing attitude. Whenever you're meeting with Aurora, as you could tell, you leave being uplifted. And I think that's part of the secret sauce. But we're going to dive more into that. So what would you say are the earliest memory you have or earliest moments of you knew you could be a change maker, you knew you saw gaps and you wanted to be part of the solutions. Like, tell me about that.
[00:03:55] Speaker C: Yeah.
So I have a background through education in counseling, large psychology background, as well as my master's in counseling.
And the reason I went that route at that time of school was because I loved being that person that can be there in the moment with people when it was their toughest or to help them strategize to get to where they're trying to go this easily. So to answer your question, school age. So 18, 19.
I knew I wanted to do something that helped people.
And so the way that meshed through my work in hr when I met you, I was shocked to see how I could do human resources and that would allow me to help people in the workplace. Maybe not a typical therapy. You know, there's no couch, there's no comfy pillows and tissues. There were plenty of tissues.
[00:04:57] Speaker B: We might need it. We need it. There is no couch.
[00:05:01] Speaker C: Yes. The unofficial hat of therapist is one that many HR professionals wear.
And so when I started, I had an internship at Target when I was in college for my psychology degree. It was focused around industrial organization psychology. So being in the workplace and I just remember thinking, this is cool, I Get to do the thing. I'm passionate about helping people, but I get to be in this business environment, which I also love. It's just challenging. It's dynamic. Who doesn't love Target Shout Out? I loved being in that environment, but then also helping people. It was the perfect marriage. So I would say my late teens is when it first started for me.
[00:05:46] Speaker B: Well, awesome. I remember the first day I met you. And you really do live it every day. I know. You see, how can we make it better? How can I help people?
That's why I think you've been so successful as well.
Yes. So one of the things I wanted to talk to you about, I think you're particularly good at this. I think there's confusion in the workplace with leaders sometimes about, you know, we need to hold this person accountable. But I don't want to hurt their feelings. I don't. I want to be nice. I want to be kind. But you and I know that kind and telling the truth. And actually, accountability is kind, clear as kind. So how do you personally balance empathy with accountability?
[00:06:22] Speaker C: Great question.
And accountability is something I know you and I talk about a lot in our business, where it's always a roadblock for a lot of leaders because they are afraid. I don't want to be mean. I don't want them to not like me. And our highest of executives still feel that as powerful as they are, as powerful as their role is, they're still afraid.
And the way that I know I explain it to leaders is holding your team accountable is caring about them.
It's caring about the people around them that may be their poor performance or whatever that issue is that's not being addressed. The team feels that it. Obviously it comes up in surveys all the time. Oh, my gosh. Because that's when people feel the most safe to share that maybe in an anonymous survey.
We always see that they're not seeing their peers who they know are underperforming, held to the standard the company is saying is the standard. And so that affects. So that that one isolated thing can spread. Because you're not addressing it. And I know you have. I have said this dozens of times through the years. By not trying to impact this one piece, man, that spreads out and it makes more of an effect than what you're bargaining for.
[00:07:53] Speaker B: I think it's really easy to kick the can down the road and because it's uncomfortable, push it back. But then you struggle for years when you could have, I hear it called 36 Hours of Pain. It's painful and it's difficult, but in 36 hours, likely most of it can be resolved. And now you don't carry that pain for years for yourself and the rest of the team.
And a lot of times these individuals, when there is a challenge, they're off to doing something that's a better fit with their values, better fit for them. So really ends up being almost always win, win all around.
That's what I've experienced.
[00:08:24] Speaker C: And so let's talk.
[00:08:25] Speaker B: Sorry, go ahead.
[00:08:25] Speaker C: Yes, go ahead. No, that's okay. A saying that. That stands strong for me, and I've shared this with leaders.
A role model of mine, Tim Hoover through Hoover Karate Academy, where I grew up going through, he would always say, listen to the whispers before you're forced to hear the screams.
And what that means. You can apply that to any issue in life, but in the workplace, you have to address the small things. You talked about kicking the can down the road.
Why not grab the snowball while it fits in our hand when it's a whisper and address it rather than it continuing to roll? It's the giant base of the snowman. Now we can't lift it up and it's this giant problem. It comes out. The scream comes out in a way that's, wow. If we had just addressed this and a lot of time as the HR person, because we're consulting, right? We're not always making the decisions.
We're saying, I don't want to say I told you so, but, oh, we didn't have to be here. Had we not kicked the can down the road, we could have saved ourselves some pain for sure.
[00:09:37] Speaker B: And in most places that are running well, if a leader is not holding their team accountable and building them and growing them, that person probably shouldn't be a leader. Of course, after much training and support and, you know, making sure they have the tools, but. But then that person's probably not a fit to lead when that. When they're not doing that and when they're kicking the can down the road. So just some red flags to look for. And that goes into our next question around cultural patterns. You know, if you're new to a client, is there something you notice when you're like, we need to fix this one thing fast? Are there patterns you see that you can spot to, like, be red flags? And what are those?
[00:10:11] Speaker C: Sure. So I know we're beating the accountability drum pretty hard here, but that is the number one flag that stands out to me quickly.
You start sharing, or our client would start sharing problems. Why did they Contact us at hire. Why do they want HR consulting? Typically, something has started to erupt. Whether it's a problem or maybe they were hit with some issues that they had in terms of like legal things. You know, there was something that buzzed that said, you should probably some pain.
[00:10:49] Speaker B: They're feeling some pain.
[00:10:50] Speaker C: There's some pain. That's why we're there.
And so at that point, if they're going through what the pain was was, that's typically one of the first things we see is lack of accountability. Whether it's holding the team accountable, whether it's not withholding or holding the standard the company has set. What are the expectations?
Oh, we're letting this person do this. That's not in line with the company goals and values. This person's doing this, maybe the leader's doing it. The accountability piece is always the number one thing that stands out to me. And it doesn't have to be just problematic behavior. It's are we holding ourselves to the standard of what we're expecting our company to deliver on? And that typically comes out and usually the reason we're there to begin with.
[00:11:40] Speaker B: So true. All right, I'm going to give you a little experiment here. So if I gave you 30 days inside a company with turnover and unclear expectations, to your point, and low trust, what are the first three moves you would make right away to stay stabilize that culture fast?
[00:11:53] Speaker C: Yeah, so I. The very first thing I would want to do is talk to the team because we. A lot of the time we're coming in the door and we're getting the word of a leader. Some leaders, we have to know what's happening with and among the team. Why are they leaving? You know, who's going to tell us, the people that are. That are possibly going to leave. So we're doing some hard and fast chat sessions.
We're getting down to the nitty gritty, asking the hard questions.
Well, some of the nice questions. What do you like here and what don't you like here? Your friends who have left, what have they told you? Why are they leaving? What would be a reason today that you would walk out this door and not come back?
And we have to hear those hard and fast truths. They need to be translated to leadership, obviously, keeping things anonymous because we know how uncomfortable that can be for individuals to come forward. But we're sharing.
[00:12:48] Speaker A: Anonymous.
[00:12:48] Speaker B: Anonymous. Huge point you just made there.
[00:12:50] Speaker C: Yes, huge. You want to talk about building trust with a team? We cannot say. Sally just told me she really doesn't like her schedule because we don't want Sally to feel on the chomping block. So the first thing I would do is talk with the team. You have to come up with themes, need to understand why is it they're leaving, going back to leadership and saying how are we going to fill these things gaps and how are we going to communicate back to the team that they were heard that we know there has to be change and this is our commitment, this is our timeline, this is the structure we're looking at to making that change.
And then after we put those things in motion and we can do that quickly. There's a lot of times I've worked places where they say I hate that the employee smoking area is right outside that door. Let's move the smoking area that day.
Literally that day. Like that's. And that's trust building.
There are small, there is low hanging fruit. There are small things we can grab immediately to show we're committed. And then the things that are gonna take longer, we have to be honest about that or there's gonna be things we can't change.
But we also have to communicate that as well. People want transparency. Yes, they want transparency.
So the follow up to all of that is then the check in. We aren't just going to make these changes and never talk about them again or we can't deliver on a change. And then we're going to talk about it or communicate it. We're going to circle back, we're going to do another check in, maybe in a month just to get a quick pulse on how are things going and then we're going to do it again later. Maybe it's quarterly at that point, maybe eventually it's annual.
But if there are alarms going off and we don't want to lose any more great employees, we have to figure out why they're leaving and what we can do to keep them here.
[00:14:50] Speaker B: Absolutely. Well, that was amazing. And I'm so excited for our next segment because we're going to hear more about the story of Give Back Lehigh Valley. How it started and how it stayed alive and has grown over a decade, 13 years. And then how leaders can take that information to help build missions that last. Thanks, Aurora.
[00:15:07] Speaker C: Thank you, Erica.
[00:15:08] Speaker A: We'll be right back with more stories, lessons and practical tools to help you rise in leadership, business and life. This is Go Higher on NOW Media Television.
And we're back. I'm Erica Butler and you're watching Go Higher on NOW Media Television.
Let's continue the conversation that helps you lead live and love with purpose.
[00:15:30] Speaker B: Welcome back to Go Higher. Stay connected to this show and every NOW Media TV favorite live or on demand, anytime you like. You can download the Free Now Media TV app on Roku or iOS and you can unlock non stop bilingual programming in both English and Spanish, which I love. Are you on the move? You can actually catch the podcast
[email protected] yes. Welcome again back to Go Higher with Erica Butler. I am here with Aurora Bonofsky and now I want to talk with her about how she can take the I care. I know I can make a change into actual steps that have made big change, have raised big funds, have made movement and impacted communities with a ton of people involved now. So let's dive into that Aurora.
[00:16:17] Speaker C: Fantastic.
[00:16:19] Speaker B: So take me back to 2013 when it was only just a dream, which all of these things start as an idea, a dream. But what was the first problem you saw in the community that you said, I'm not waiting for someone else to do this. I want to step up and I want to make some movement here.
[00:16:35] Speaker C: Sure.
So back in 2013, I was nominated by the Cystic Fibrosis foundation, the Northeast PA chapter to I was being named the finest under 40.
And in that it was first of all a huge honor. But I had done a lot of work in the community post college life.
I volunteered with the United Way. I was constantly just starting small teams for this breast cancer walk for this nonprofit group because I was looking for where I fit after college and after just putting feelers out there and getting a small following of people that were like, I'll volunteer with you, Aurora. I'll wear a pink tutu and a pink cape and fight, you know, name in the fight of breast cancer and be a face in that fight.
And it, it started following it was cool. It was a small following of people wanting to give back and I think also looking for things to do in the community. Right. We all moved back home after college and didn't know where we fit exactly.
So I was named finest under 40 and with that was a commitment of trying to raise as much awareness and financial contributions as possible.
At this time I started dating Joe, my now husband and we hadn't really connected on the giving back to not that we didn't talk about it or anything. He would come to events that I was doing but I didn't know that we had this commonality that we like doing stuff like this. We like getting people excited and whereas I'm the outward yeah, let's rah rah. Who wants to join? He's behind the scenes, like how can we make this work? Okay. Aurora said a lot of crazy ideas and I'm going to have to help them function.
You and I are very, very aligned like that very big picture excitement. I will get the people there, but what are the inner workings?
And so Joe said, why don't we throw a softball tournament?
And I said, I think I played T ball. I don't know anything about a softball tournament. And so we put one together in a week and a half times and the goal was fifteen hundred dollars. And that day we raised about two thousand.
And I just caught the bug after that. It was so much so did like
[00:19:05] Speaker B: hundreds of people at this point.
[00:19:07] Speaker C: It was amazing.
The goal is 1500. I ended up raising over 10,000 in that campaign for Finest Under 40 and was named the Finest. Like I, I was the top person to raise money which was so obviously so cool, such an honor. But it also motivated my peers in that group to also hit the ground running. So we were one of the biggest fundraising groups at that time and it was cool to be a part of that. So that's where it all by the
[00:19:40] Speaker B: way, as you and I know, this is the crazy thing, cystic fibrosis. I mean people can live full lives now. And that wasn't the case when you started doing this. When you actually see, oh my gosh, this, this work is paying off. These people's lives are being changed, they're getting married, they're having children. I mean it is really so beautiful.
[00:19:58] Speaker C: It's incredible. The is so cool to see cystic fibrosis where it is now.
People are living longer lives. And the goal, one of the mottos of people I admire so much in the CF community that work for the foundation is until it's finished, until I don't have a job. And I just got chills. These people are actively working. We are actively working to not have to fundraise for it anymore. And there's such a possibility that in our lifetime that will happen. So really cool to have been a part of that and to stay still champion the cause of cystic fibrosis.
[00:20:39] Speaker B: And so it really was spurred you on what's possible when you set some goals and run towards it. And then I remember this just fun fact, just this iconic picture of you and Joe when he proposed at one of these softball events. I mean it was one of the big events you had. I mean that's just like iconic. So it is beautiful, like this theme of like how your personal life and passions weave into the impact you have with your family, with your career, with your community involvement. Like you, I think you live open handedly and you share your life with people and that. And people just trust you and want to work with you because they trust you and you lead with vulnerability and it really works and it's beautiful.
[00:21:17] Speaker C: Thank you, Erica. And that has been the pillar, one of the pillars that I know has made Give Back Lehigh Valley what it is.
I do feel that trust. I feel trust from our businesses. I feel trust from our community.
[00:21:31] Speaker A: Community.
[00:21:31] Speaker C: I also trust everyone right back because everyone, it's a two way street.
There's a call out from Give Back for support and everyone returns it.
And every year with one of our main drives is the Holiday Hope Chess campaign.
We build shoeboxes filled with necessities and fun things for local kids that maybe won't get a holiday gift.
And we, we put them in the hands of these children. And I started building them a few years back because I know people just don't have the time.
And our number is always 400. It's our goal. We try to hit it every year.
And this past year I said, I just don't know if we're going to hit it. The economy is suffering, people don't have it.
And putting that out there. People were like, here, here, here. I was waking up in the morning to our Give Back Lehigh Valley Venmo account hundreds. I would go to sleep with zero and wake up and have $800. I'm like, someone saw something on social media somewhere and we hit it.
We hit it over 400 again. And so it's reciprocal. I, I need them to trust me, but I'm trusting our community right back. And they always deliver. Deliver. It's, it's a beautiful thing.
[00:22:51] Speaker B: What has this meant for your almost kindergartener to watch and be part of? Because I know she's a big part of it now you have another baby. But like what has this meant for your family even?
[00:23:02] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm obviously I just beam when you bring them up.
Oakley. My daughter, she.
So you remember the iconic picture of Joe proposing to me at one of our future events.
A photo that stands out in my mind is Oakley. She was about two and a half and she's holding the microphone at one of our events and the wind is blowing her crazy blonde hair everywhere. And it is something that I will always cherish and remember because I looked at her and I said, I saw two things.
This is who we're doing it for. This is the future.
We are actively doing things in our community to make it better for Oakley and everyone to come and oh my gosh, how cool would it be if Give Back Lehigh Valley is run by her one day? It. It's everything.
[00:23:57] Speaker B: She has the sparkle, so I can totally see it. She has the sparkle like you.
[00:24:02] Speaker C: Amazing copy paste that girl.
[00:24:05] Speaker B: I love the example you said because it's, it's. I think there's this, this misconception out there that to me, be successful. When you found a nonprofit or have a successful career, you have to sacrifice that. And of course there's, there's trade offs and challenges. But, but you, you show so well how you can integrate it. And I think it's really amazing because she is growing and learning and you're showing her what's possible in her life, in her dreams and her goals that she can run after. Like you've done. Pretty cool.
[00:24:31] Speaker C: Thank you. It's awesome. Thank you so much.
[00:24:35] Speaker B: So, so back to Give Back. Can you tell me, we talked about the stickiness of trust, but is there anything else you want to share that made it sticky, that makes it keeping sticky for people? And also, even if you want to share a challenge or two that you've overcome anything, I'd love to hear about either of those.
[00:24:50] Speaker C: Absolutely. Part of the mission at Give Back Lehigh Valley is people want to get involved and they don't know how.
So we give realistic. I'm going to say easy because we. Everyone's pulled in 100 directions. Especially if you have a family or a challenging job or any other thing in your life, that takes a lot of time. Right. We don't have hours a day to spend trying to find an opportunity, trying to figure out how to get involved, how to be comfortable. Give Back is an opportunity for anyone. Come as you are. I've had people randomly message me on Facebook, through our email, through the website, on Instagram and say, I just want to get involved. How can we do that? Whether it's been a business or a person that says, I'm shy, I'm new to the community, I don't know where I'm gonna fit. Ooh, that is like my person. Come and you will have five friends.
Yes, you will have five friends. When you leave. I know what it's like to be that person.
So at Give Back, we make it so it's an easy way for you to itch or scratch that itch of wanting to do something, but you don't know where to start. And your involvement level can be whatever you want.
If you're supporting a holiday hope chest. It's $25 and you want to send that to me and you can say, I feel good.
Aurora's posting every day about how my number is contributing to the bigger picture.
I get to see the video of the kids getting the boxes and I know I was a part of that. Or they're corralling their co workers and they're getting them to do 50 boxes.
Or their business is donating $500 in product so we can build. It's just really cool.
We give you the opportunity to come however you want and I will find something for you if that's what you're looking for.
[00:26:52] Speaker B: Well, the overflow of all that, it's not just the people receiving. It's those that get to be part of this beautiful mission. It just like changes their lives too. It brings a lot of joy to their life and purpose. That's really neat. So where you said, you know, the email, the website, where can people find Give Back? Where can people get involved and you as well.
[00:27:11] Speaker C: Absolutely. So Give Back. Lehigh Valley on Facebook, Instagram, you can google us. Give backlv.com is our website.
Aurora Brunowski.
If you Google me, you can find me anywhere. Anywhere. Same. My, my socials are sparkle with Aurora. I have a blog, the weekly Sparkle.com and that's kind of where publicly I was just starting to spread some positivity and goodness and it rolled and intertwined with Give Back and the rest of my online presence. So sparkle with Aurora on Instagram, Aurora Branowski on Facebook, anywhere you can find higher. You'll see me there as well.
[00:27:56] Speaker B: Yes. And I can't say enough of just getting to be part of because of our new Aurora. So personally, which is amazing. It lives it and I really recommend you reach out for getting involved positivity and it's nuggets of life that actually are impactful. So she just gives nuggets that you can put into your own life and your life will be better. That's the magic that you have. So we're shifting now to the story of higher and going higher together.
I think my first phone call, that's my memory of like we're doing this and you know, we're crying on the phone together, all excited. She believed from the beginning was part from the beginning. And yeah, I'm so excited to share how that came seven, eight years ago that call was. And you know, I would love you to share your perspective of the story as well. So thank you. And we'll be back in a moment to talk about our Go Higher story and vision and mission.
[00:28:45] Speaker A: We'll be right back with more stories, lessons and practical tools to help you rise in leadership, business and life. This is Go Higher on NOW Media Television.
And we're back. I'm Erica Butler and you're watching Go Higher on NOW Media Television. Let's continue the conversation that helps you lead live and love with purpose.
[00:29:06] Speaker B: Welcome back to Go Higher. I'm back with Aurora Banofsky. And now we're going into what I believe leaders are hungry for. How do you scale and scale well without losing that culture that started? Maybe that spark in the beginning got people excited in the beginning, as Aurora's been talking about. But how do you build that into scale proactively and systematically? So we want to talk about this and we're going to share some of our own personal experiences for Go Higher because at one point we were just also an idea, a dream, a vision. And we, Rohrer and I, from day one, really were able to work together and take steps to make it a reality of what it is today. And we have a team, there's 10 of us, and we are rowing in the same direction. And we're going to share a bit about that and what we're doing and how it's going. And hopefully you can really get some nuggets from that that you can apply into your life and your vision of what's possible. So, Aurora, do you want to share anything, just starting with your experience, those early days of hire, and just any takeaways or thoughts of what worked well?
[00:30:13] Speaker C: Absolutely. So I remember the day you called me. I remember where I was sitting. I remember the wall where I was, what I was wearing, because. And we laughed because you said, I have something to tell you. And I was like, are you having another baby?
[00:30:32] Speaker B: Kind of. No, not really. But it's like a third child.
[00:30:35] Speaker C: Yes, absolutely.
Absolutely. And this child is now eight? No.
Yes, exactly. So, so I was not expecting this, but I did know that you were in a role that you were. You, oh, man, you were. You've thrived in every role you've ever been in. But I knew that there was a possibility of wanting something different.
I didn't know that it would be this.
So while I was surprised to get the phone call, I wasn't surprised to hear this direction you were interested in going. And I was flattered, honored, grateful that you would ask me to come along for the ride.
And so those early days, I remember us all feeling like all you, me, Travis, your husband, and maybe like we were building the Plane as it was starting to fly.
And that was okay because what you always said, you said it almost from the beginning of when we start. Started this. Do it scared.
It's okay to not have all the pieces. It's okay to have the vision and see it. You. You can see it there. I'm not sure if the track is completely built and how I'm going to get to the end, but I'm going.
And I've taken that nugget from you for all these years. And I've thought this several times with taking the leap on things. Do it scared. If you have the vision, if you. You have the drive, go.
And so I do think there were points we were building the plane as it was taking off, but I wouldn't have changed a thing because I look at where we are now, which is incredible.
Eight years, multiple clients, all the folks we've helped, the teams we've helped. It's remarkable. And so while I feel the stability and strength structure of where we are now is incredible. And we didn't have that in the beginning.
I wouldn't change it for anything.
[00:32:39] Speaker B: I love that you focused on that. And I still tell myself that often because as you grow, your goals change and your goals grow and you see, wow, this is possible.
[00:32:48] Speaker C: A lot more is possible.
[00:32:50] Speaker B: And, you know, I think you have to be comfortable being uncomfortable doing. Comfortable being uncomfortable.
[00:32:56] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:32:56] Speaker B: You know, and the doing it scare motto, like, really carries me. And I tell any, like, new business owners, new founders, like, what? You did that too. So thanks for focusing on that. That's like a driving force. I have it in my closet, actually. From Chris. You're right. I have it, like, in my closet. I look at it regularly. Don't wait because. Also, don't wait because fear is not a reason to not do the thing you want to do. I'm so glad you and I did what we did because like you said, all the impact, all the. We would have missed out on all of that. So. So I'm just so grateful we didn't let fear win. And I was terrified. Like, terrified. I think I had no business doing this, but I'm like, but we can. But we can. And we still take on things that are stretches and we always get to other side of it because we are problem solvers. If you know you're a problem solver, you believe in yourself enough to figure it out and you have the right people around you, anything's possible.
[00:33:40] Speaker A: Right?
[00:33:41] Speaker C: 100%. And you just have to believe in yourself to start.
That is the thing I would love for someone to take one person to take from this conversation. Yeah. What is the thing? What's the thing? What is your thing? What's. Where do you want to go? What do you want to do? What do you want to change?
Do it.
Do it. One of my favorite sayings. You're not a tree. Move.
You don't have to stay where you are. What's the thing you want? Go for it. And you. And hire from the start. Start the inception.
Live that. Which is incredible.
[00:34:18] Speaker B: You know, you made me think of something else. I actually think. I wish someone told me this. Expect to fail at times. And that is normal. And that is okay. And that is part of the process because you learn so much in that and then you literally fix it. And then you're like, wow. So it's like, part of it. And why are we so scared to fail? Why are we so scared about that part? It's trial and error. And then you learn what works and you keep doing more of that. And that is how you get really good at running a business and running a, you know, nonprofit.
[00:34:44] Speaker C: Absolutely. Every single time you fail, you learn. Every time you fail, you do.
[00:34:49] Speaker B: You just get up. The big thing is getting up. If you know you're going to get up, you gotta go and try and see, you know, and be free to be a beginner. Like, give yourself freedom to be a beginner at certain things. And if you have good people in your corner, like Aurora, that helps too. That's a big.
What would you say that is working extremely well for us right now as we scale? And why is it working? What stands out to you?
[00:35:14] Speaker C: Yeah. So the first thing I will say, and all of us on our team say, this is Erica having you as the queen of the castle, the captain of the ship. Your excitement and enthusiasm, it pulls our clients in.
And the handoff is always easy when they've had you to start with. It is remarkable just the way that you are able to communicate to anyone. And you have this excited personality. And you're so friendly and bubbly and outgoing, and it still resonates. And you still know how to cater your communication to the person in front of you.
And that is what I think has made us the most successful, especially. Especially currently, because you're on the front lines getting our leads. They talk to you, and you are able to breathe such life into not only what we do, but how our work can really help their company, no matter what it is that we're doing for them. You understand hr? You're an expert in HR and so you're able to communicate our offerings and mold it to their business and what they need. I think that excitement, it's unstoppable and I think we've seen that lately just how powerful it is.
[00:36:35] Speaker B: Well, thank you for nailing the script I gave you this morning. Just kidding.
[00:36:39] Speaker C: I'm expecting that raise now.
[00:36:41] Speaker B: No, I had no idea you were gonna say that. I thought like process. I don't even know because, you know, we've been working a lot on processes. Well, that coming from you, that means a lot.
And I guess I'll speak to that since you brought that up. You know what, and you live this too, Aurora. But I guess when you believe in something so much and you know you can help and make an impact, I guess no's aren't going to stop me anymore. And they might have years ago, but I don't care anymore. I know I'm not giving up. I know that, like, I just know what we can do. And you know, at that point, it's like I'm just going to go and be me and love people the best we can. Even if they laugh in your face, that's fine.
The mission becomes so important, you're willing to sacrifice and be embarrassed, but in doing that, when you let go of that, that's when I really could run because that took me a couple years. It really did. A couple years. I'm like, and I'm like, you know what, we got this, guys. And I think you have to come to that point and just run that. And the passion just shines through like you have too, Aurora. That's why people follow you and work with you. And, you know, we got some, I think going for us.
[00:37:47] Speaker C: We do, but I think you hit something on the head there. It also, we didn't get here overnight.
[00:37:54] Speaker A: Right.
[00:37:54] Speaker C: So it took you and all of us being comfortable with being uncomfortable pushing past comfort zones and being okay with not like having that like uncomfortable feeling of putting your voice out there. And that is something that I think you. That I feel is important with Give Back just as you've done with Higher. We're not afraid to use our voice because we know our voice is powerful. It can help cause positive change.
And we've seen the benefits of using our voice and putting it forward.
And we wouldn't have that without the nose or the fear or whatever time has gotten us here. And I think it helps. It helps in being able to say, I just don't care if someone says no. We're Lots in my face. And they're just not our people. And that's not.
It's okay.
[00:38:53] Speaker B: And you wish me the best too. I really do. I'm like, okay, well, you know, if we can help in any way, we wish you the true best. I'll connect you to someone like all that it's all about, how can you help them in a tangible way, even if it's not going with our company, you know, or. Yeah, that's so good. You know what I just thought of? We only have a minute or two left here, but do you remember when we like covet, hit and like we lost pretty much all of our clients except two. And we're like, okay, you, me and Jen, we just cut all non billable hours. We cut everything except a meeting. An hour a week, or was it 30 minutes a week that we can make. We're like, we're still in business. We have two clients, we're still in business. And we literally just got as. What did we. And we just did it week by week by week. And we, we could have given up. We really could have. We moved to Europe. And like, I think having people like you guys by my side, that I wasn't alone in that because I felt like giving up. I'm like, how is this going to be possible? It's like even in those hard moments, you just, you just keep going. Even when it's hard and feels like it's not going to happen. Because that was what, five years ago now? And we would have missed out on all this.
[00:39:55] Speaker C: So I just think we've all been there.
[00:39:57] Speaker B: People you think are successful, I'm telling you, they've been crying about something. I guarantee it.
[00:40:02] Speaker C: But they all, absolutely. And being able to pivot and at that time, Covid, everyone had to pivot. You, you did the pivot or you lost your footing and a lot of companies did.
Luckily we didn't. We were able to rebuild from that same thing with Give Back. We had to pivot what we couldn't do in person events. So thank God we did though, because here we are. And all the people we've been able to help Give Back hire, how we've been able to make an impact by still being around.
I wouldn't change a thing.
[00:40:36] Speaker B: Is there any, in just a few words, is there anything you want to close with with the audience? Any last parting recommendations, thoughts to send them off with the sparkle that you bring to everything you do?
[00:40:47] Speaker C: Yeah, I think a big theme of what you and I are talking about is I know I've said this a little bit, but go, do it. Do it scared. There's that burning thing in you that you know the world would benefit from seeing or you would benefit, your family would benefit. Do it and do it scared. And know you can fail because failure builds experience, which then builds success.
And so if there's any lesson, I would want someone to hear that and maybe hit the play button or take the one step forward.
I would love that. Do the thing that is burning inside you that you're not sure if you should. Do it. Do it.
Do it. What's the worst that could happen?
[00:41:38] Speaker B: You know, it's scary.
[00:41:39] Speaker A: You're right. And it's scary.
[00:41:40] Speaker B: Scarier not doing it. Think of yourself in 10 years. It's scarier not doing it. The regret that you would have.
[00:41:45] Speaker C: Regret.
[00:41:46] Speaker B: If you. It's scary or not, you might as well just go for it. Just like do the first step, the next little hard thing, the next little hard thing. Baby steps. Time, time, time.
[00:41:55] Speaker C: The one feeling worse, one feeling worse than fear is regret. You got that?
[00:42:00] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Yeah, totally. This was. You just loved this conversation.
Thank you for everything. And guys, reach out to Aurora and she is incredible and she. She'd love you to be part of Give Back and it's continues to grow and you can help a lot of people through the organization.
Thank you and have a wonderful day, everyone.
[00:42:17] Speaker C: Go higher.
