Laurie Seymour & Curtis Williams: Getting Stronger in Business and Life with EOS

Curtis Williams  00:00

Biggest challenge has to be the systems. That's what EOS really helped me with, was giving me an opportunity to start laying that foundation.

Laurie Seymour  00:09

When you're hiring and firing people, you're trying to explain why this good person isn't working, and that's just a fallacy. It's not true. It just means that they're not the right fit for what you're looking how to do. Rolling out EOS is hard work. It's really hard work. You've got to have a level of stick to it, ness to say, All right, I'm going to give it a commitment, a mental commitment, but if you don't have the stick to witness, it's probably going to be a lot harder than it needs to be.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  00:53

Hello and welcome to another episode of Better Business, Better Life. I'm your host, Debra Chantry-Taylor, and I'm passionate about helping entrepreneurs lead their ideal life by creating better businesses. Today's show is an interesting one. I have actually got two people on the show today, and so I have Laurie, who is an EOS implementer, and Curtis, who is one of her clients. And so Curtis has been on this EOS journey for around about 18 months. He was Laurie's first client. Curtis actually runs a gym that specialises in helping busy people get control of their health and fitness. And Laurie had moved recently to becoming an EOS implementer after running several businesses herself and being involved in helping other businesses. Today, they're going to share with us that journey they've been on together so that you'll see there's a real symbiotic relationship here. In terms of Curtis has helped Laurie with their health and fitness, and Laurie has helped Curtis with his business. He's got big plans for the future, and they're going to share how they've worked together, what they've gained from that relationship, and the tips and tools around the Eos, tools and model that they've used to actually help create that so without any further ado. So welcome to the show. Laurie and Curtis, thank you for joining me on a Sunday evening over in the US while I'm here on Monday morning in Melbourne.

Laurie Seymour  02:10

Welcome. Yes. Thank you so much for having us

Debra Chantry-Taylor  02:15

Absolute pleasure. I'm looking forward to sharing both of your stories, because they're both quite interesting. And so we're going to start by introducing Laurie, if we may. So Laurie, you are an EOS implementer, but you haven't always been, so I'd love you to share the story of how you got to where you are now, and why an EOS implementer.

Laurie Seymour  02:34

Absolutely So, as you mentioned, I wasn't always an EOS implementer, and I actually have been an entrepreneur for about 21 years, and I came about being an entrepreneur by accident. I had worked through the corporate life for a while, and I grew up in competitive intelligence, strategic marketing, all kinds of fun things. Previous client had come, well, colleague actually had come to me and said he needed a problem solved, so I hung out a shingle and started solving problems. And fast forward a couple of decades, and I was still helping teams figure out how to get through dysfunction, how to work through difficult times, really solving problems, and I was trying to grow my own practice. That is when I found traction. And it was super exciting for me, because all of a sudden, all the tools I was trying to pull together on my own are right there already well designed by Gino. And so I got super excited, and I started trying to do it to myself, and it didn't work very well, as many self implementers know. And at some point along the line, a friend of mine, who is also a pilot, became an implementer. I had no idea that was a thing. So in watching his journey, I realised that this almost felt like the natural, the most natural extension of what I had been doing all this time. So at that point in time, I went to boot camp and I learned why I was doing all the things wrong in my own self implementation. And so at that point, I realised this really is just the most fun and the best time, and everything that I've been doing in my life seems to have rolled into EOS. And I'm just happy as a bug with all my clients doing EOS as much as I can.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  04:16

That's fantastic. It is interesting how we all come on this journey, isn't it? And so Curtis is actually one of your clients. Is that right?

Laurie Seymour  04:23

He is, and he has been on the Eos journey with me from day one, because Curtis is responsible for pulling me out of a really difficult time in my life and helping me get super healthy, which is what his business is. All About, helping folks get really healthy and really strong, and we've just been what coaches, coaching coaches, right?

Debra Chantry-Taylor  04:46

And so, okay, so Curtis came along. He helped you get back onto the pathway of health and fitness. So Curtis, let's introduce you. Tell us a little about yourself. Tell us what your business is and how you got into doing what you're doing.

Curtis Williams 04:58

Yeah. So, so long. Curtis Williams, and I'm the owner of, like, text personal training studio, and it's at the centre of Wayland, Massachusetts, and it's my first ever brick and mortar, which is really exciting and nerve wracking all at the same time. But I have to say, so far, it's been an awesome journey. So what we do there is, it is a personal training business. So when people think gyms, they think big box. They can just go and work out at any time. But in our studio, it's actually appointment based only, so they only work with a coach if they're gonna be there, otherwise they're not showing up. So no open gym status. We do one on one personal training, which is what Laurie and I have done together. We do two on one, which is more of like a semi private model. And then we do a small group training as well, which is up to six people per group. Nice.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  05:45

Okay, and so obviously you helped out Laurie, and then she suggested that maybe you might like to introduce EOC into your business. Is that how it worked?

Curtis Williams 05:53

Yeah, exactly. So I was always really good at being inserted into a structure and a system, and I thrived most places. I worked as a coach. And then when the pandemic hit, I essentially was echo like literally everybody else, and I just don't know how to sit still. So I started actually offering some free zoom classes for everybody, and people started showing up to those. And then eventually, when people got comfortable, we started actually going to parks. And next thing, I was doing things on my own and starting to get a little bit of financial security by myself, rather than being tied to another location. And so when my job was back on the table, I didn't go back. But to tie that all in, I was really good in the system when I was at the other gyms. And then when I was on my own, I realised, oh man, like this is the part that I'm not good at. I'm great with people. I'm good with communicating, but I'm not that great at, like building the systems from scratch, and so EOS kind of put that together for me, helped me get a little bit more structure, helped me find my footing a little bit so I could walk in a well, I almost had a straight path, but we all know it's not completely straight. Walked in the direction that was gonna put me in a better position.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  07:05

Okay, fantastic. And so tell me a little bit on that journey. A little bit. Tell me how it started and what you got out of those sort of first few sessions with Laurie. Yeah.

Curtis Williams 07:15

So it all started mainly because Laurie came in one day and she was like, Hey, I'm doing this thing. I think it'd be really cool. And we've talked about you needing a little bit of structure and whatnot before, and I feel like I can help bring that to the table for you. And so me trusting Lori as much as I do, I was like, Yeah, let's give it a shot, and we'll see how it goes. So we sat in on our first couple sessions, and right away I knew that the organisation piece is what I needed, and seeing how everything was really kind of laid out. We had structure. We had the guidance and direction I needed, I knew it was going to be the right transition for me, someone keeping me accountable and someone holding me to the goals and the things that I want to accomplish, but in a way that's going to make sure that we keep moving the needle forward. So those first couple sessions were me not knowing what to expect exactly, but getting my feet wet. And then once we started getting some traction and seeing that kind of snowball effect, I really just I bought all the way in. Lori will tell you some of these appointments. I'm it's they're long appointments, and I do not sit still well. So I might be sitting on your couch or sitting upside down, I don't know, doing all these funny things, but the organisation of what we're doing is really like, brought me under control a little bit to to do the right things for the business and keep moving the needle forward.

Laurie Seymour  08:33

Yeah, I have pictures of Curtis spinning around in the chair in the conference room. I have him strut. We did that. We did his annual in my upstairs library at my home, and he was on the couch, on the floor, just all over the library. And I think you said you want all the sessions in the library. Now, is that what you Is that what you want most comfortable place for me, I'd say so he does not sit still. That is a true fact.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  09:00

So I want to ask a question, because a personal training business, I would have thought that people would say, oh, but that's not a normal business, and EOS won't work in that kind of business. I often hear that from people who are thinking about EOS as I Yeah, but it's not our type of business. What's your experience in terms of Eos in the personal training business?

Curtis Williams 09:18

Well, I think it's great. So far, I'll go out on the limb and say the level 10 meetings have been a game changer. Right? Those are just ha again, having a schedule, knowing how long we're supposed to stick to, the subject moving on to the next thing, creating that schedule has made our meetings far more efficient. It's given my coach an opportunity to gain a little bit of a little bit of confidence, a little like she, she's growing in this field as well. She's new in this field, but she's much more organised than me. She's She, I would like to say type A, and so it actually are. It complements us really well, but it gives her an opportunity to step into, I don't want to say authoritative, because that sounds almost negative, but more of a role of authority in giving her the power to lead that meeting and keeping me. On track, so we stay focused in the direction that we need to go. But the level 10s have been awesome. We, I would argue, since we implemented those, we have cruised through our issues list, and we've just checked things off faster than we've ever done before.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  10:14

I mean, they really are a game changer. And I was always really funny, because when you say it's the same agenda as the same day, same time, etc. People are gonna go, how can it be the same agenda when one person's running a personal training business, other person's running a metal recycling business, next person's running an IT or an advertising agency. But yet it is, it is just a framework at the end of the day, and so it is designed to just give you some boundaries, so we don't get distracted and go off on different tangents, right?

Curtis Williams 10:40

100% and that's literally my Achilles heel. So having that those borders for me is perfect, because then I can really get hone in on the task at hand and actually tackle those things when the opportunity arises in the meeting itself. And I don't spend the first 30 minutes talking about who knows what.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  11:00

Yeah, perfect. And it sounds like you've had a very strong vision for the business pretty much since you started. What are the tools within EOS that has helped you bring that to life? Do you think? Yeah.

Curtis Williams 11:13

I mean, so far, I will say, again, the level 10 has been the big thing. But I will say, every time we do our quarterlies, the bigger meetings that are going to take one to two days that our company is a little bit smaller, so it doesn't usually take as long as I think that they're supposed to take. But I will say, every time we do those bigger meetings, and we bring the vision to life, and we really dive into all the nooks and crannies of where we might have holes in the bucket in the business, and how we could plug those holes. Who was responsible for what role those things are really helping us move the needle forward in a very big way. For example, we started this year no paid marketing, no advertising or anything like that, but just very specific action items in things to tackle. And we were able to add just in q2 19 new clients based off referral and word of mouth, directly related to strategic strategies that we came up with in our meetings, what we were going to tackle and what things were most important in I will say that those meetings are also bringing other things to light that I wouldn't have thought about, like joining the Chamber of Commerce wasn't on, like my radar, but that's something that I am doing, and currently, I just connected with the gentleman last week, and we're getting that ball rolling, which is awesome, because we had big goals for our grand opening, and they're going to help us with that, essentially, being able to line those things up and really know, okay, what is the most important? What takes priority, what things can be pushed off a little bit like, yes, they're important, they're on the list, but they're something we can tackle in the quarter. Doesn't have to be next week. Those things have really helped us stay focused on what's important today right now.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  12:49

Love it. And Laurie, tell me a little about your journey as the EOS implementer working with Curtis. How do you keep somebody who is obviously very physically active and maybe not quite so good at sitting still, shall we say? How have you managed to work with that? And what would be some tips and things for other people listening and it kind of going, Oh my goodness. The thought of spending an entire day in a session room, it just does my head.

Laurie Seymour  13:11

Yeah, it can be hard. Not everybody can sit still for long periods of time. So for me, what's been important is always letting people move when I'm thinking, I need to move right when I'm really thinking hard. I need to walk sometimes I pace, letting people know that's okay in a session room, right? If you're gonna spend all day together and you need to sit upside down in a chair to have a thought like sit upside down in a chair, as long as you maintain a little bit of decorum, right? But what is important is that you are able to think, you're able to dialogue, you're able to engage in the conversation. You're able to really focus on digging into the meaty issues, digging into some of the tension that sometimes is in the room between team members. You want to make sure that you're able to give that your best. And if that means you got to get up and have a stretch and get a soda, or get a water, like Curtis, and I don't drink soda, so it's not a soda, right? Get a water. Get a tea, right? Get something that you know helps you not just like feel stuck that's so very important for the session to be very successful.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  14:23

Yeah, I like that. So any clients listening in, feel free to hang upside down on chairs in my session. That's what works for you. Because it is absolutely about what works, and it is important that we make the most out of that time together in those quarterly sessions.

Curtis Williams 14:36

Yeah, If I could interject for a second, I will say Lori's done a good job of meeting me where I am, but also holding me accountable and calling me on my BS when it's needed. Oh, it's been very good, yeah.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  14:50

And I think it comes back to the original conversation we were having offline or even online, self implementing. It's like the self implementation, don't get me wrong, it's fantastic, and I would much rather somebody did. That and did nothing, but at the same time as I mean, when I go I have a personal trainer as well, and the reason I do that is because I actually don't really like the gym, if I'm really honest. I love walking, I love hiking, I love cycling, I love being outdoors, but being in the gym, it's not really my cup of tea. And so the only way I could actually make sure that I turned up was to have a personal trainer and make sure that they were actually holding me accountable and all those things. And that's the same with the OS too, right? It's like you can self implement but there's a couple of things that could potentially happen. First of all, you may not use the tools in the right way. The amount of times I've seen self implementers completely negate the accountability chart and just focus on level 10s and things. Yep, or they're using the tool, and they think they're doing a level 10, but it's actually just their own version of a level 10. It doesn't have the same impact and whatnot. And so the idea of having a personal trainer or a Leos implementer is to actually have somebody who's there making sure that you're doing it right, challenging you. Because I can be such a wuss, it's like, oh, I don't want to do any more weights. Is like, come on, you can do some more. And that's the point of it, right?

Laurie Seymour  16:01

Oh, yeah. Curtis is constantly telling me that I'm stronger than I think I am.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  16:06

Yes, yes. Actually, it would be interesting to explore that for a moment. So there's been a reciprocal relationship here, which is fantastic, and obviously Curtis has helped you come from what sound like a pretty bad space to where you are now. So would you like to shed a bit of that? Because I think there's some real synergies there between a personal trainer and an era trainer and an EOS implementer,

Laurie Seymour  16:24

absolutely. So when I met Curtis, and Curtis came as a referral through two friends that I know. I had, I had, I was at a tough part of my life, and I was just really not very happy. It's hard to say if I was depressed, like I don't really know if I was or not, but I didn't want to get off the couch, and I knew I was getting weaker and I wasn't getting any stronger, and it was a pretty I was pretty unhappy. So I knew that if I didn't find somebody that I could work with it, I do best when I'm showing up for somebody else that has always like, if I go to a group class, maybe I'll go, maybe I won't, but if I am, if I've made an appointment with another human being, I will, my butt will move so when I'm at Curtis, the wonderful thing about Curtis is that I am not somebody who likes to be yelled at, and anyone who knows me will just completely fall out of their chair when they hear me say that, and I'm would not do well with the type of personal trainer who just barks at you all the time, and much like Curtis says, I met him where he was, he met me where I was. And if all I could do that day is show up and talk to him and pick a few things up and put them down, he accepted that, and that was one of the most valuable things for where I was emotionally, where I was mentally. And over time, as I got better and stronger, and the things that were really bothering were bothering me physically were getting fixed. I'm now pushing, you know, a little bit stronger, a little bit further, and Curtis is teaching me how to do Olympic lifting and things that I never would have thought of doing on my own had it not been Curtis saying, Hey, you can do this. Hey, you're stronger than you think. Hey, you should pick up a little more. Hey, why don't you move a little faster, without any judgement or yelling or guilt, just all these, always, these wonderful, beautiful conversations that kept leading to better and stronger.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  18:28

I love it. And again, some synergies there. I can feel the love in the room. It's fantastic. And again, the synergies there between sort of, you know, being some EOS and having somebody help you with EOS and having somebody help you in the gym. It's like having a person who, who can, who is the right fit. I suppose it really is about having that right person that's going to go on that journey with you. Cool. So I want to explore a bit more of some of the EOS tools. So we've talked about the level 10 meeting, we've talked about the accountability chart. Briefly, the process component is one that I think a lot of visionaries think that they're going to struggle with, because we think as visionaries, that we're not really process driven. Actually, we are, because we created an entire business based on a process that made us a little bit unique. But can you tell me a little bit about how you've done with that process component of what, what difference that has made in the business?

Curtis Williams 19:16

I'd say for me, I definitely felt that way in the beginning, as far as, like, Yeah, is this really gonna work for us? Is it something that that I think I can do, just for the simple fact that, as I didn't even realise I was a visionary, to be completely honest, it was one of those things where I just, like, I did have a vision, I did have big goals, but I just didn't have the organisation and the structure that the process brings. And so for me, it took a little bit of getting in the flow to feel comfortable and feel like, okay, there's something here. There's something I can gain from this. And it was just a matter of, I like to push myself out of my comfort zone and try things, whether I think they're gonna work or not gonna work. At least I have the knowledge to say, well. Well, well, I tried it and it wasn't for me, or, Hey, there was a gem here, or something that I didn't see coming. So when I was able to step into the process, it, put it, made it so, like, I my vision had directions, if you will. So I was no longer just guessing week to week, like, what I think is going to work here, what's going to be the next step, or jumping from this thing to this thing is very much put me in a position where I could say, Okay, we've got a plan. This plan is going to last, you know, three months a quarter, whatever it's going to be. And as long as I execute on this plan, and I follow the process the way that we kind of laid out with obviously, taking the detour here and there, if, if something pops up and we see the need to do that, I made it a lot easier for me to again, see some success and see that, like I had mentioned, the clients we gained off of just referrals and no paid marketing was a perfect example of the process working the way that we anticipated it when We sat down and we laid everything up.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  21:02

Laurie, do you want to add to what you've seen with Curtis through this process?

Laurie Seymour  21:06

So in the process component, what Curtis has really been focusing on is really getting refined around his systems, internally and as a personal trainer, he both leverages Eos, but he also leverages some of the more industry custom processes and systems that can come already packaged for him. So EOS gives him really a framework, as we've used that word before, but gives him a framework to both use things that are more industry custom to him and bring them into what he's doing with Eos, and also has a place for all of the processes that he develops in himself, like by himself, with his team, right in order to ensure that those are all documented and followed the same way. And I know watching them develop their systems, they are extremely rigorous to make sure that they're doing the same thing every time and getting everything sort of checked off.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  22:04

Hopefully that helps. So Curtis, so tell me, from your employees point of view or your team's point of view, what would they say has been the biggest difference since you started using EOS?

Curtis Williams 22:14

I would have to I would have to say biggest difference this particular person I'm thinking about is not usually comfortable with change, likes status quo, likes doing things the way that we've historically done them. So getting into it was an uncomfortable process, right? So we had to build some trust there, if you will, right? And then once we got that rolling, I would say putting her in a position to feel like she has some say, that she has some processes and some systems to really keep track of and keep organised, and giving her more of a voice. I would say that. I would say that's probably the biggest thing that, if I were to put words in her mouth, I think that's what she would say. She has more of a voice. She feels more like comfortable and confident with her opinions, with her ideas, weighing in and then keeping everything structured and organised. We just brought on another team member, and we're looking to bring on a fourth. And with that being said, she is stepping into the role of truly being an integrator now, where people are reporting up to her. And I can see that building more confidence, I can see that building more resilience in helping her level up as a whole. So I think giving her that is probably been the most impactful thing that that we've seen come out of Eos so far.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  23:31

Yeah, and I think this is really important, isn't it, because whilst we always said that EOS generally is for sort of the larger businesses, if you're working with an implementer, the actual framework, the model, everything works even when it's only one of you, because it gives you. And what it does is it builds those beautiful foundations that as the business grows, or you're growing a business, that will be sustainable, will be scalable, will be I say scalable, and I don't mean in order to sell it, but it means that it's actually able to operate without relying on one person.

Curtis Williams 23:58

Absolutely. And that's one thing that I thought was very important. I tend to look pretty far ahead in I like to get in front of issues, and I think that's exactly what US is doing for us. It's giving us the tools to make sure that we get in front of most of the problems that we might run into had we not planned accordingly.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  24:16

I'm interested actually now in terms of scorecards. So in a gym environment. What are the things that you're actually measuring in your weekly level? 10 meetings?

Curtis Williams 24:26

Yeah. So scorecard is, it's mainly gonna be total number of clients is like one of our biggest. Total Revenue is definitely one of our biggest. But we're paying attention to the leads that are coming in, which leads are actually scheduling calls with us, which leads are converting into paid trials. So we do three, six or 12 month commitments long term but we'll start with a paid Trial Week. So you get one week where you can actually get a little bit more information so you can make an educated decision. So essentially, which leads will convert into that paid trial. Which paid trials are converting into actual long term clients. We're checking our churn. Things of that nature, but so far, I would say the scorecard structure has actually really helped with getting some more clarity on the numbers on a weekly and monthly basis.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  25:10

Yeah, it's one of those things, isn't it? Because it's difficult to get a scorecard working immediately, and it does take a bit of time to find the right numbers, but once you have them, they really do become, you know, the levers then to push and pull to get things working.

Curtis Williams 25:24

absolutely and I would say I definitely struggled with the scorecard at first, mainly because I didn't just update it right away. And then as soon as for the end of the week would come, I'd be trying to remember every single thing and what day someone did this. And the frustration of like, not being exact, if it's not exact for me, I don't, I don't want to do it. So the frustration of not being exact, like, threw me off. But then once I got in the flow and I was updating it on a consistent basis, I was like, Hey, this is gold. That's perfect, and it's really helped us with clarity.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  25:55

Yeah, I think Coyote. And also it just, it gets you really focused on things before they become issues. So you're not sort of suddenly in the shit hits the fan. It's like, oh shit. It's like, that you always saw that coming. So that's great. Okay. And so biggest challenge that you've had in starting up the business, getting it to where it is now. And how did you overcome that?

Curtis Williams 26:15

Biggest challenge has to be the systems. Has to be like, I could have done totally fine by myself. I could have set up something in my garage, put down some flooring, and called it a day, and not had to try to build a team. And between, arguably, building a team in systems, I would say go hand in hand, because building a team is easily one of my biggest challenges that I'm coming across. Luckily, I have one employee right now who's a gem, and then as we go forward, hopefully our newest employee in this potential hire are also gems, but the systems, I think, are the thing that gave me the biggest problem as I transitioned here, because I know how to do everything in my head. I know exactly what I plan to do, what my best practices are, but really bringing them to life and making sure that everybody is doing that everybody is following the system. And no matter what, at lifetex, we have a very specific structure, like organisation, to the structure of how things are accomplished. That was much harder for me, because I didn't even know necessarily where to start. And so that's what EOS really helped me with, was giving me an opportunity to start laying that foundation. And then, just like Laurie said, there's a few I've had a few opportunities within my industry to get connected with some people who are a little bit more like gym, personal training, studio specific. So I've been able to take the information they're giving, put it into our EOS structure and really make some magic happen. And it's that's been probably the biggest challenge, but also the biggest game changer, as we've cleaned that up a little bit.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  27:50

Lovely moment. Okay? And so if somebody's sitting in, sitting here listening to this right now, and they're a smallish kind of business owner who's got an idea what would be the kind of the three top tips or tools that you might give them to get them to help them on their journey.

Curtis Williams 28:05

Okay, so the first thing is, if you're thinking about it, you should do it. I personally think you should take action. Because the one thing I will say is, I took a long time to take action on this plan, and nothing good came from me taking longer, other than I will say, obviously, I had more experience, more years of experience as a trainer, right? So I was close to a decade of training before I actually pulled the trigger. That obviously is helpful, makes me more personable, makes me have the skillset that I need to really be able to function and operate at a high level within my business. So that was important, but everything else is like, the waiting is just going to slow you down. It's going to shoot you in the foot. So the reason I say to take the action is simply because you don't know what you don't know until you're in it. I had no idea the thing, the problems I was going to run into, the challenges I was going to face, and I wouldn't have been able to figure out how to overcome them and how to become a better studio owner without actually facing these problems. So that's why I think taking the step is one of the most important things, because that's how you're going to learn and that's how you're going to grow. I would also say, of course, think it through, be careful, come up with a decent plan. Don't just like jump in with nothing. But I do think action is important, because if the more I sit on things and the longer I take, it doesn't do anything good for me. Number two, the other thing that I would probably say is anticipate more challenges than you would expect, right? So if you think, Okay, this is going to be hard. I would double that or quadruple that, right? Like, would say, Okay, this is, this is i So, just to give you a little bit more background, tiny bit more, we open the gym on September 1 of 2023 we bought my house in the same town on September 1. Of 2023 and we had a baby on November 20 of 2020 so I always told myself, if I can get through this and get through anything, doesn't really feel like I've gotten through yet, because as we continue to grow, there's more and more challenges. So that's why I say plan for more hardships than you can than you think, because if you plan ahead for then when it does come in, uncha Right, like you'll be ready to take a couple and stay on your feet and keep going.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  30:29

I think that's actually a very realistic way of looking at things, too. I think they always say that you should always have Plan Bs. It doesn't mean you're necessarily going to do it, but if you know what the worst looks like, then you're more prepared to deal with it than if it suddenly hits you out of the blue. And I think the whole checking back in every 90 days is absolutely key in terms of, when you're growing a business and it's growing fast, you need to continuously refine what the next thing is and learn from that previous 90 days. And often, when people are trying to set up a business and they're trying to grow it, they're so engrossed in the doing in the in, inside the business that they're not taking the time out to go right? What do we need to do to make this move forward? You're laughing. Laurie, tell you, obviously got some stories behind that. Tell us about that.

Laurie Seymour  31:11

I think just about every quarter I get the do we have to Yes, you do after the quarter. Wow, that was great. We needed to do that. Yes, I know almost every single time.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  31:22

Yes, I have it the same. I've got clients. Yeah, I've got clients who are exactly the same. And I think it's sort of their because within the within that break of that 90 days when they're away, they are they're very much working in the business, trying to get things done, and they see the stuff happening, but they don't appreciate that, how important it is to take a step back. I mean, we talk about clarity breaks, which we recommend doing regularly. But even that, taking that one day out every 90 days has huge impact on the way that the business moves forward.

Curtis Williams 31:51

Absolutely, what I have one more. I think I was actually thinking about it because this I was going back and forth between a couple, but I would argue this third one would be exactly what you mentioned about working in the business versus on the business, really understanding I'm someone who definitely does both. I work in the business quite a lot, to the point where it slows me down working on the business sometimes, and I'm in the process of really balancing that out a bit. And what I would say for anybody looking to if it's my field, then this is a little bit more directly related, maybe a different field, slightly different, but ultimately, make sure that balance is there. And more than anything, as an owner, it's really your responsibility to pay attention to working on the business as much as possible, because in the business really doesn't move the needle and it doesn't help anybody that you're looking to bring with you and help grow a big part of why I opened this gym was because I wanted to take care of coach other coaches, as well as build something special in my community. But I spent a lot of years not making enough money to really survive the way I wanted to. And so once I figured it out and I cracked the code a little bit, I wanted other coaches to experience the same but if I stay working in the business, I don't have the opportunity to really do that. I can't really grow my team, because I just don't have the bandwidth and the time to really execute on the things that need to be done. So we can see the needle move and we can get everyone where they need to be.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  33:14

Yeah, no, I love that, and that's really key. Yeah, you have to work on the business. But also, what was interesting then was you spoke about the fact that you got quite a strong niche in terms of you're very clear about that ideal client that you want to work with. So that's obviously part of the VTO. It's part of the defining who we are. Can I'm going to just take you a step backwards. So tell me a little bit about how did you decide where you wanted to be working and how did you come up with that ideal client?

Curtis Williams 33:38

I would say, a lot of trial and error, mainly like I've always worked with general population, so I've been with everyone from then, my youngest client, I'm not even kidding, was like six years old, yeah. And then my oldest client was 81 and so I've worked with a large number of people, different personalities and so on. And what helped me narrow it down was simply who I felt like needed the most help and who we connected best with. And so that's how we figured out, like, Okay, I think in this environment where we are, these are the people who are really looking to take their health back, to take to gain some to regain some confidence, to to be able to lead from the front in their families, and really not just take care of their family, but take care of themselves at the same time. So we really focus on busy parents, working professionals. It's become our niche, mainly for a lot of different reasons, but because of just how, just where we've ended up this whole time, right the path we've went on, we figured out that those are the people we connect with the best, and we have the most opportunity to make a really big difference for them in their lives.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  34:48

Yeah, and I think it's Jim Collins that says that you you'll never die of starvation. There's always plenty of opportunities out there, and the clearer you can get about who it is that you actually want to target, the better the entire business becomes. Because. Because you are very focused on that ideal client and how to look after that absolutely cool. Laurie, I'm going to ask you the same question because I think it's beautiful to get tips and pointers. You're not just an EOS implementer. Obviously, you've run your own businesses. You do a whole range of things. What'll be your three top tips or tools for somebody listening in based on having worked with Curtis and the work you've done with him, I suppose

Laurie Seymour  35:19

It's hard not to want to bump that l 10 up to the top. But really what's in that l 10, to me, is what the magic is, which is the issue solving track, right when you get really good at the root cause analysis in that issue solving. Track, to me, that's a big piece of why that l 10 is so different from so many other meeting agendas, you get really good at figuring out not just what's really at the root cause of the issue to make it go away forever, but more importantly, you're clumping, blocking all of your issues together, and so you're not spending Time scattered, focusing on whatever comes up in the moment, you're collecting them together, and then you're prioritising them important in the most important ones on top, so that you're spending all of your time on the most critical issues. And for my own business, when I shifted over to running my business on EOS as well, that was getting really good at solving issues. Was to use a pun. It was rocket fuel. It was really pouring gasoline on the fire, getting us getting all of that figured out. And now that my team has is also trained in it, we can bang out 1520, issues in 45 minutes, right? We all set them up, we knock them out, we get them done. It's just astonishing. So my first tip would be, get really good at knowing what your issues are, knowing how to find the true root cause that'll make it go away forever. And also get very good at prioritising which ones you should be spending time on and not on putting the others to a side or killing them all together.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  37:04

Yeah, it is interesting. Is it? Because as humans, we I've seen it even with people who've been trained or had to the level 10, and they get their issues and they still go for the top one. It's like the top one may not be the most important thing. It's really important you spend the time to prioritise. And as you said, some issues just disappear over time because they they really weren't that important. So yeah, the issue solving track is definitely a tool that can help with that. And it is really important. When you get that nailed, it does make a significant difference.

Laurie Seymour  37:29

Yep. And then you said sub three, so number two, number two for me would be vision building, where the core values piece of the vision building. And namely, because my first mistake when I tried to self implement was I went right after the people analyzer. I had made some poor hiring choices. They weren't bad people, but they weren't the right fit, and I didn't have language for that, and I didn't know how to fix that, and I struggled with it. So I'm going through and I'm like, oh, people analyzer, perfect. And I would grab it and I'm like, well, now what? Well, I know that they're not doing but how do I do that? And I had no idea how to run a core values exercise right when I was trying to figure it out on my own. And if you can really dig in, and you can take the time and read the articles and go through everything that EOS provides, if you're doing this on your own, if you're not working with an implementer, you can do that value exercise and figure out what those are, because if you don't have that, then trying to figure out who you want to hire is just a finger in the wind. Am I going to get it right? I don't know, spaghetti against the wall. Like, pick your metaphor, and for me, that, like really getting clear on my values was what kind of helped untangle a lot of the problems that I was struggling with.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  38:49

And I think you make a really valid point. It's like you've got, if you've got the core values, you can obviously make decisions about who you employ, and just because somebody doesn't share your core values does not mean they're not a good person. It just means they're not the right fit for your organisation, but you need to have an understanding of, again, what those boundaries are and what you want to what you need for you to make that decision about whether or not they're the right person.

Laurie Seymour  39:08

Yeah, it was, it was truly empowering for me when I started, like when I went to boot camp, and as I began teaching EOS to really be able to embrace the language that they're just not a right fit. It doesn't make them a bad person. And even though I don't know why you would ever think that, when you're hiring and firing people, you're trying to explain why this good person isn't working, and your brain wants to say, well, they're not working. There must be something wrong with them, and that's just a fallacy. It's not true. It just means that they're not the right fit for what you're looking how to do. And by releasing them to go find something else, you're giving them the opportunity to find a fit that that they're better for right, that where they will thrive, instead of the two of you striving. Struggling with one another.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  40:00

I've had so many examples of companies where they've let somebody go, and at the time, it's really hard, right? Because letting anybody go is always hard, but then the person has come back to them years later and said that was like the best thing that ever happened, because if you're feeling like they're not a fit, if they're fitting like a square peg in a round hole, then they're also fitting like a square peg in the round hole. And so for them to suddenly go and find a square hole, they're suddenly in their element and loving what they're doing.

Laurie Seymour  40:26

And in some cases, just going through the process of Eos, I've seen in some of my other clients that as EOS gets rolled out, the individuals suddenly realise that they're not a fit and they actually have more knowledge about what fit means to them, and so oftentimes that it does create, sometimes a little unexpected turnover in a company, because suddenly just the process of learning more about what right seat means, what right fit means, then they said, it's sun. People suddenly have epiphanies that is like, oh my gosh, I want to go do this over here. I'm sorry. I love you guys, but, like, this is not a good fit, right? And I've seen that happen with other I haven't seen that with Curtis, actually, because his folks have stuck around. But I haven't seen it with other clients. Yeah, they're awesome, brilliant.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  41:17

Okay, third and final tip from you, Laurie.

Laurie Seymour  41:21

Third and final tip, this is about stick to it. Ness, I think what you need to do is make a decision and stay after it. Right? It's the discipline and the accountability piece. We talk about accountability in EOS. We talk about account, the accountability chart, which enables us to drive discipline. But what we often don't talk about, we do a little bit at the beginning, when we do the 90 minute meeting, but rolling out EOS is hard work. It's really hard work. You're asking your people to think differently. You're asking them to learn new skills. If you try it on for six months, it's not going to work. You've got to have a level of stick to it ness to say, All right, I'm going to give it a commitment, a mental commitment, right? As we say, of 24 months, and I'm going to commit to learning, I'm going to commit to trying to do different things. I'm going to commit to trusting the process and trying to figure it out. But if you say all of that, and you don't have the stick to it Ness, it's probably gonna be a lot harder than it needs to be. So that would be tip number three is just stick with it and ride it out

Debra Chantry-Taylor  42:33

And look, let's be fair, you can often see results within three to six months. It's not as if nothing happens in that time. I mean, usually after the first 90 days, things happen, but you're right. It's not I would say it's simple, but it's not easy. EOS is definitely simple, but it's not easy. I'd love to hear it so Curtis, from your point of view, I mean, you're going through this, what would you say to that?

Curtis Williams 42:56

I hundreds and agree it is not easy at all. Given one, given, being someone who bounces around a lot, being able to stick to it for lack of a better yeah, I'm the squirrel. Exactly right. Being able to stick to it for lack of a better phrase is exactly right. And when you do it though, it is a it's a game changer. It does allow for some really awesome magic to happen. Fantastic.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  43:22

And like I see, Magic's been happening in your business hotels to finish off, where are you going to be in 10 years time?

Curtis Williams  43:29

Well, the first immediate plan is to open a studio in Florida, and then open another one in our hometown, and then, ideally, we'll have a couple more shortly after that. I feel like, once we get the playbook really written out, and we know exactly how we're going to approach each one, we really just have to hit a certain revenue level in this one for three to six months to then be then to say, hey, we can go replicate this in the next location. So, and I have some other big plans, but I won't go on too much of a tangent, since she she pulled out the squirrel on the aisle.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  44:04

Oh, that sounds really great. Look, I'm really honoured to have been able to speak to you and learn about your journey. I'm really excited for what is coming up. I love the fact that EOS just gives you that, that clarity and then the confidence to actually achieve that. So I wish you all the best on that journey. Laurie, it's been an absolute pleasure having you on the show too. I can see you're doing great work with Curtis and with other clients. We're going to make sure that all of the information for Laurie and Curtis are in the show notes. So if you want to speak to Laurie about EOS implementation, or even just gets a sense of self implementing versus you need an implementer, you can absolutely get in contact with her. And if you are a person who is requiring some help with your personal fitness and really getting things back on track, it sounds like Curtis is a man to talk to. Thank you both. Talk to. Thank you both for your time.

Laurie Seymour  44:44

I really appreciate it. Thank you, Debra, yes, it's been awesome, and we really appreciate the invitation.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  44:50

I second that. My pleasure. Thank you. Thank you.