Dec. 3, 2025

From Midwest to Africa: Unlocking Untapped Talent with Valerie Bowden

From Midwest to Africa: Unlocking Untapped Talent with Valerie Bowden

What happens when you cross continents, risk comfort, and build a business that bridges worlds? This week, we talk with Valerie Bowden, founder of CRDLE, leadership consultant, and pioneer of remote talent sourcing in Africa. We talk about navigating...

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What happens when you cross continents, risk comfort, and build a business that bridges worlds?

This week, we talk with Valerie Bowden, founder of CRDLE, leadership consultant, and pioneer of remote talent sourcing in Africa. We talk about navigating risk, leadership lessons from global experiences, and creating thriving teams across borders.

Valerie shares:

  • How solo backpacking across 13 African countries transformed her worldview and leadership
  • The powerful “Figure It Out” mindset that fuels resilience and entrepreneurial success
  • Why remote teams are not only possible but a strategic advantage when built with trust and culture
  • Insights into matching talent with businesses to create win-win opportunities
  • Practical tips on balancing work, life, and scaling a global operation
  • Unseen talents of Africa and why now is the moment to tap into this market
Whether you’re a startup founder or leader navigating change, this episode delivers fresh perspectives and actionable strategies to lead boldly and embrace global opportunity.

Resources Mentioned: 

CRDLE: https://crdle.com/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeriebowden
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valeriegbowden/?hl=en
WEBVTT

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This podcast is a proud member of the Teach Better

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podcast network, Better Today, Better Tomorrow, and the podcast to

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get you there.

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You can find out.

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More at teefbetter dot com slash podcast.

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For business leaders out there, follow your guts and then

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when it gets scary, it's a good sign that you're

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going to grow. There's no great timing to do anything

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in business. There's there's always a hang up somewhere. But again,

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like that's the benefit of making sure you have like

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great team members who are affordable and offshore. Because I

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was able to do my business while having two small

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kids because I had the support that I needed.

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Do you want to be a leader in a constantly

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changing world? Our emerging leaders look different, come from various

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backgrounds and from all different age groups.

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Leadership is changing and it's hard to keep up. What

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the good news? You can be a leader too.

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You can be an emerging leader. Welcome to the Limitless

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Leadership Lounch, a try generational conversation for emerging leaders. Come

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spend some time with us to discuss LEADLeadership from three angles.

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The coach Jim Johnson, the professor, doctor Renuma Kareem, the

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host John Gering. A monthly guest, and you get in

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on the conversation on Facebook and Instagram and be sure

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to follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Speaker. So

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come on in and make yourself comfortable.

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Another try generational conversation for you the emerging leader.

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This is the Limitless Leadership Lounge.

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And Today, as Coach likes to say, two out of

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three and bad Doctor Kareem is traveling back to.

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Banglades, so we'll have her back next week.

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I'm John Garing, founder of Story Trust Media and excited

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to bring along Valerie today and Coach is connected with Valerie. Coach,

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go ahead and introduce Valerie and let's dive into a

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really fun conversation.

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Yeah, a unique opportunity to talk to Valerie. Varie was

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introduced by one of our former guests, Marcus Hagnen. So

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I just want to read a little bit about Arrye.

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She has quite a journey here. So Very Bowden helps

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businesses finding top tier remote talent and optimize their sale

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operation by tapping in the talent market across many African countries,

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an area that is underrepresented and vastly underestimated and talent

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pricing and revaliability. It all started when she left home

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in the Midwest to solo backpack across Africa by God

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bless you. During her time, she stumbled into outsourcing and

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it became a famous, fabulous win win that could be

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done correctly. She has now spent years working with businesses

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across all industries to level up their sales and rise

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above the competition with one simple action choose. Africa is

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possibly the most underestimated continent in our world. Numerous countries

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in Africa are home to some of the best remote

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talent with prices that can't be beaten anywhere else on

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the planet. Through her company Cradle, although she doesn't have

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an A in it, so it's CRDLL, she helps matched

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companies with type of talent they need to hire onboard,

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trained them all the fraction of the cost of outsourcing

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to any other country without further ado. Let's welcome Valrie

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Bowden to the Limitless Leadership Lounge.

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Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to

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be here today.

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Great to have you in Veillerie. We don't do this

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too often, but I've got to ask you because I

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did get a chance to talk to you before we

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came on in another talk and we you shared somebody,

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You've got to tell us about your journey through Africa.

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So I'd love to. Yeah.

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So, back when I was twenty five, I had just

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finished grad school and I was thinking I really want

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to travel before I settled down with my career, and

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Africa was always on my bucket list to visit. And

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that was before I knew how big the continent was

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and how different the countries were. So I was a

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little bit naive, and I was also very broke. So

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hence I decided to backpack. And I just had a

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backpack and a tent, and I went to Cape Town,

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South Africa, and I spent the next seven months and

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nine days backpacking by myself across the entire length of

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the continent until I reached Egypt, which is at the

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very top, and I went through thirteen African countries and

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I had an amazing time.

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I have no scary stories.

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I only have like positive stories of how fun and

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amazing that trip was.

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I get to ask you, though, is so, how did

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you as far as the back paddy? You know people

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and tell us a little bit about that.

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Yes, yeah, it was.

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It's a hard trip to plan because there's not as

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much information online, and so I would just show up

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in one bus stop and I would say I'm trying

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to get here, and they would just tell me how

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to get to the next city. And it was literally

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just like taking everything day by day. But I had

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so many fun like adventures along the way. I grilla trecked,

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I did shark water like diving, I fed a hyena

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raw meat out of my mouth like a wild hyena.

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Just visiting like the markets and different islands and different cultures.

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And every time I got lost, which was like daily

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really to somebody local would help me.

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And it was just like an amazing time.

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If you ask you one more question, I know Jazz

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got a lot, but I'm curious soon because I actually

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had a former player that was originally from Nigeria. I

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don't really have any bearings on air for college. Is

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there much challenge as far as a language barrier?

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Great question.

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There are tons of different languages spoken on the continent,

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but I would say I always found someone who spoke

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English along the way, like there was always, especially in

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the capital cities. English is really prevalent, and even though

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every country was really different, English English is everywhere these days,

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so that made it easier.

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Okay, Cape Town to Cairo.

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That's an unbelievable journey, and Valerie, I know I can

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assume tell me if I'm wrong. But there were probably

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some people maybe back at home, maybe along your journey,

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who were a little bit hesitant about you going to Africa,

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saying is this really a good idea of Valerie? Are

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you sure you got your head screwed on? And this

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is such an important leadership lesson because how valuable it's

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been for you and for the journeys that you've inspired

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through your journey, tell us a little bit about what

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you say to those people who may not quite understand

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why you're doing what you're doing exactly. So no one

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was supportive of my trip. I would say everybody was

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like quite afraid.

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The movie Taken was like really popular at that time,

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so everybody was that's gonna happen to you. But it

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was one of those things like, deep down, I really

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just felt like something was calling me to travel there.

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And it's a really good lesson for business leaders, So

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just follow that kind of inner guidance on what you

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feel prompted to do.

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And then, of course I was so.

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Excited planning the trip, but then right before I left,

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I got really scared, Like I remember thinking, like what

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am I doing? Everybody's right, but just that belief that

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life begins outside your comfort zone and so pushing through

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that fear. And then the first few weeks I was traveling,

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it was really scary. I didn't know how to do

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public transportation, I didn't know how to get around. And

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then eventually I figured it out and I had an

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amazing trip. And now all of the people who were

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so against it are saying, oh, I wish I would

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have done something like that as well in my twenties.

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And so it's really just like for business leaders out there,

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follow your guts and then when it gets scary, it's

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a good sign that you're going to grow.

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That's powerful right there, Well in your twenties.

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That's because I'm in my twenties right now, and I

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wish I haven't backpacked across Africa. I am fortunate that

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I've been able to do some pretty cool things, just

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not that cool, but pretty cool.

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Tell us a little bit about why it's so important.

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Like your twenties, a lot of people play it's safe,

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a lot of people settle down to what they're supposed

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to do. Get the degree, get the education, go to work.

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Tell us why it was so fulfilling to you to

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not follow that conventional path.

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I tell everybody in their twenties, but this is the

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best time for you to travel.

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Travel is by far one of the most responsible things

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you can do because it really shows you a different

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side of the world. It changed my political views, It

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influenced many beliefs.

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I have.

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Anybody who can learn to go to a different country

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and navigate public transport in a different language, that gives

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you skills that will serve you for life, and if

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anything else, it makes see more I think empathetic towards

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maybe immigrants or people who are different than you, because

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you've been in the same spot they have been in

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for at least a moment in time.

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And now that I'm in.

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My thirties, I have a mortgage, I have two kids.

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Traveling is a lot harder these days. So definitely, when

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you're in your twenties, before you have those bigger commitments,

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travel as much as you can.

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Let's zero down just one more about your journey, your

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tripp Can you zero down to two or three leadership

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lessons that you can share with our audience about the

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seven months that you were in Africa.

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Yes, exactly.

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I think it's cheesy, but I would say it's really

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about the journey. I remember when I the whole time,

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I'm saying, I'm doing the Cape to Cairo, and as

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soon as I got to Cairo, I didn't feel any

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sense of accomplishment or really gratitude. I wanted to go

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back and do it all again, because it was the

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journey that was really the fun and rewarding part. And

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I think a lot of business leaders we create a

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business and we're like, I can't wait to sell this

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business and make money, But really it's like the journey

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of building it that is the most fulfilling part, and

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so just enjoy I think the journey along the way

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that's probably one leadership lesson, and I think the second

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one is really just the ability to take things day

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by day. When when I was traveling, I never knew

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how I was going to get to the next country

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until the day before. I really had to take it

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step by step. And now as a business leader, I

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find myself also thinking I have this big goal, I

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don't know how to get there, and I try to

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map it out and I kind of get overwhelmed, and

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sometimes it's you know what the next right step is this,

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and I'm just going to focus on doing this next

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right step correctly with full presence and awareness, and then

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that always leads me to the next step. You can't

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always see the whole journey, so take it little by

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little and just focus on where you are and do

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a good job there, and then the next step will

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will show itself to you.

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Yeah, and then those you mentioned those first few weeks

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being really hard, and that's probably what you're talking about there,

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thatking that next step. Did you know that you were

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in for a seven month plus journey and what do

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you do early on in a journey to keep your

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mindset focused on just the next step. When you got

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an entil your continent to traverse.

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No, I thought my trip would be four weeks long.

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I because I took a one way flight, really because

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I was actually afraid if I got into a bad situation.

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I wanted to be able to fly out wherever I was.

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It was more of a practical thing. And then as

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I was traveling, I was meeting other travelers who were

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doing the Cairo to Cape Town. It's the same route,

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but opposite and they're like, oh, no, you got to

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go the whole way, and I was like okay. So

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it wasn't really until a month one or two that

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I was like, oh, I'm going I'm going to do

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this route and so it was never part of the

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original trip at all. And one other I think takeaway

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is that those that first month I made so many mistakes.

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Everything I had packed was wrong.

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I lost out on like hundreds of dollars unpacking all

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this fancy gear that I did not need. I sold

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it or gave it away halfway through. I took the

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wrong bus, I stayed at the wrong places, I overspent money,

239
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I messed up the atm. It was mistake after mistake,

240
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and it was expensive. But that's also how you learn.

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And by month two or three I was a pro

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at backpacking and I started going to much more rural

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00:11:11.639 --> 00:11:14.240
places like I went to Sudan, which I think they

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got at least at the Pyramids. In Sudan they get

245
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one visitor a good day, Like it's very it's not

246
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very populated with tours, and so I would never have

247
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been able to do that at the beginning of the trip.

248
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So I started in easier countries learn the hard way

249
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and figured it out and that's like being an entrepreneur.

250
00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:32.679
Yeah, very cool. You got to tell us now, So

251
00:11:33.080 --> 00:11:36.200
how the transition to what you're doing now, because I

252
00:11:36.240 --> 00:11:38.840
know you do a lot of work with people in Africa.

253
00:11:38.919 --> 00:11:39.159
Yeah.

254
00:11:39.159 --> 00:11:41.639
So after I finished my trip, I was like, I

255
00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:43.960
can't go back to a normal nine to five if

256
00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:46.960
you just spent seven months having a wild adventure every

257
00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:50.200
single day, Like, you can't go back to Indiana and

258
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start and do that. So I told my parents I'm

259
00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:55.840
just going to stay in Ethiopia for six more months

260
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because that was my favorite country. I got a job

261
00:11:57.840 --> 00:11:59.840
offer when I was traveling, and I was like, mom,

262
00:12:00.200 --> 00:12:00.960
I promise.

263
00:12:00.879 --> 00:12:02.879
Six months and then I will finally come home.

264
00:12:03.480 --> 00:12:06.679
And then it was eight years later that I finally

265
00:12:06.720 --> 00:12:10.200
came home with a husband and a baby. But I

266
00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:13.519
just fell in love with Ethiopia especially, and my background

267
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was in social work, and the more I was around nonprofits,

268
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especially the American ones that are famous, I realized that

269
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many of them weren't doing the good that they said

270
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that they were doing on the ground. Not all of them,

271
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but many of them, And so I wanted nothing to

272
00:12:26.840 --> 00:12:29.039
do with the charity world anymore, and I decided to

273
00:12:29.039 --> 00:12:32.039
focus on job creation and that led me to working

274
00:12:32.080 --> 00:12:34.320
at an outsourcing company and it was there that I

275
00:12:34.360 --> 00:12:36.799
was like, wow, outsourcing is a win win. So now

276
00:12:36.840 --> 00:12:38.679
for the past six seven years I've been part of

277
00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:41.320
the outsourcing world in Africa and it's that's what influenced

278
00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:42.440
me to start what I'm doing now.

279
00:12:43.159 --> 00:12:45.039
And tell us a little bit about why that's so

280
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much of a win win.

281
00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:49.480
Yep, it's a win win because you know, you're creating

282
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jobs in Africa for the youth and that's ultimately how

283
00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:54.559
people get out of poverty. But at the same time,

284
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it's super sustainable because there are so many small and

285
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medium businesses in the US who need access to affordable

286
00:13:00.759 --> 00:13:02.759
talent and they don't have the money or resources to

287
00:13:02.840 --> 00:13:03.559
hire someone.

288
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Locally to do it.

289
00:13:04.399 --> 00:13:06.879
And so it becomes this win win where you're creating

290
00:13:06.919 --> 00:13:09.559
a great job that's well paid for someone who's in

291
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an emerging country. And at the same time, the American

292
00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:15.879
business is getting some much deserved support with sales marketing

293
00:13:16.039 --> 00:13:19.240
VA work and so same concept as hiring a VA

294
00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:21.279
from the Philippines, you can do the same thing out

295
00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:23.919
of an African country or hiring an offshore cold caller,

296
00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:26.399
and so it just becomes like the sustainable win win

297
00:13:26.440 --> 00:13:28.799
where everybody is thriving by partnering together.

298
00:13:29.120 --> 00:13:32.600
Got it because the idea being that the currencies are different,

299
00:13:32.759 --> 00:13:36.440
So in Africa might be a very lucrative opportunity in

300
00:13:36.480 --> 00:13:40.200
the US, it still is affordable despite being lucrative over there.

301
00:13:40.679 --> 00:13:40.879
Yes.

302
00:13:40.960 --> 00:13:43.320
Yeah, when I moved from Ethiopia back to the US,

303
00:13:43.480 --> 00:13:45.440
like all of my costs it is like ten times

304
00:13:45.480 --> 00:13:47.559
more because of the US is a higher cost of living.

305
00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:49.879
So that's the benefit. You're still paying someone like.

306
00:13:49.840 --> 00:13:53.360
A fair competitive rate, but it is less than like

307
00:13:53.399 --> 00:13:55.720
what minimum wage is in the US. And so that's

308
00:13:55.720 --> 00:13:58.600
why it just becomes like a positive thing on both sides.

309
00:13:58.799 --> 00:13:59.120
Got it.

310
00:13:59.879 --> 00:14:04.759
Its very because in being an entrepreneur, in bringing in people,

311
00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:08.879
especially from a foreign continent. Tell us about your methods

312
00:14:08.919 --> 00:14:12.399
of being able to bring the famous Jim Jim Collins

313
00:14:12.480 --> 00:14:15.519
getting the right people on the bus. So how do

314
00:14:15.559 --> 00:14:19.759
you tell us your process of how you bring on

315
00:14:19.960 --> 00:14:22.559
your team members to be able to work with people

316
00:14:22.600 --> 00:14:23.679
from all over the world.

317
00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:24.960
That's a great question.

318
00:14:25.039 --> 00:14:28.919
Yeah, because people, especially in this business, people are everything.

319
00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:31.720
When I first started, it was very much like I'm

320
00:14:31.759 --> 00:14:36.240
connecting family, friends, neighbors, like people I knew personally to

321
00:14:36.879 --> 00:14:40.159
businesses in the US that I also knew personally, And

322
00:14:40.200 --> 00:14:42.879
then it just went so well that we expanded. So

323
00:14:42.919 --> 00:14:45.440
today we have over one hundred and twenty team members,

324
00:14:45.559 --> 00:14:48.120
and so it's gotten a little bit more sophisticated. We're

325
00:14:48.159 --> 00:14:51.159
actually now have like recruitment department. We put people through

326
00:14:51.200 --> 00:14:53.879
training and assessments, and we know them really well before

327
00:14:53.879 --> 00:14:56.440
we ever match them with a client. And I think

328
00:14:56.440 --> 00:14:58.399
the cool thing is that so many of our current

329
00:14:58.440 --> 00:15:01.399
team members recommend their family members to work for us.

330
00:15:01.559 --> 00:15:03.679
So today we have three sisters who work together, we

331
00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:05.120
have three cousins who work together. We have a lot

332
00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:08.360
of spouses, cousins, roommates, and so even though we're one

333
00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:11.519
hundred and twenty people, everybody knows everybody or is related

334
00:15:11.559 --> 00:15:14.039
to somebody else. We even did an interview once and

335
00:15:14.120 --> 00:15:16.480
two cousins popped up on the same interview. The client

336
00:15:16.519 --> 00:15:18.519
was hiring multiple people and they were like, Oh, hey,

337
00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:19.360
it's that's my cousin.

338
00:15:19.720 --> 00:15:21.639
You didn't even know. They didn't even know. So it's

339
00:15:21.759 --> 00:15:23.639
very we're very familiar with the people we place.

340
00:15:24.440 --> 00:15:26.639
Yeah, and as a leader, it's so important to have

341
00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:30.200
that familiarity and have that trust too. So building trust

342
00:15:30.200 --> 00:15:33.720
with your team and also trust with those clients. Tell

343
00:15:33.799 --> 00:15:36.200
us a little bit about how important it is and

344
00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:40.200
what you learned while in Africa about trust building, because

345
00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:42.440
I can imagine that you don't. You can't just backpack

346
00:15:42.480 --> 00:15:44.840
across Africa and immediately trust everybody.

347
00:15:45.360 --> 00:15:48.120
Yeah, trust is everything, especially in business, you have to trust.

348
00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:49.679
I think business owners have a lot of trust in

349
00:15:49.720 --> 00:15:51.840
me and in our team, and so that's what kind

350
00:15:51.840 --> 00:15:53.759
of gives them the ability to trust the people that

351
00:15:53.799 --> 00:15:55.919
we trust. But yeah, at the end of the day,

352
00:15:55.919 --> 00:15:58.440
we look for people with character. That's what matters most.

353
00:15:58.440 --> 00:16:00.919
Like skill you can always build upon or train, but

354
00:16:01.480 --> 00:16:03.320
you have to be a person of integrity and that's

355
00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:05.919
something that we really look for. And thankfully, especially when

356
00:16:05.960 --> 00:16:08.840
I was traveling, there was also like this. People were

357
00:16:08.840 --> 00:16:11.399
so kind to me as a foreigner, like as a tourist.

358
00:16:11.399 --> 00:16:13.559
They were just like extra kind and supportive and so

359
00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:15.799
grateful to see like a traveler in their country promoting

360
00:16:15.879 --> 00:16:18.200
kind of their country. And so yeah, the right people

361
00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:20.679
just were always there to support me. And now I

362
00:16:20.679 --> 00:16:22.960
feel like I'm giving back for all I was given

363
00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:24.480
to during my trip and time there.

364
00:16:25.320 --> 00:16:27.519
I got to ask you this because I'm a pretty

365
00:16:27.559 --> 00:16:30.080
positive and optimistic person, but I got to turn the

366
00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:34.240
table a little bit. How about when you manage someone

367
00:16:34.360 --> 00:16:37.240
that ends up being not a good fit for the client,

368
00:16:37.399 --> 00:16:38.399
how do you handle that?

369
00:16:38.399 --> 00:16:40.360
That's a great question, and that can happen, I think

370
00:16:40.399 --> 00:16:43.799
with a business hiring in America or hiring anywhere overseas. Right,

371
00:16:44.120 --> 00:16:48.000
So some of it's like having a great sop, like

372
00:16:48.039 --> 00:16:51.279
a standard operating procedure. So if you have your job

373
00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:54.399
already written out, and you already have this is exactly

374
00:16:54.399 --> 00:16:57.759
what you do, and you're recording those training sessions even

375
00:16:57.799 --> 00:17:00.879
if the person again American are offshore, Even if they

376
00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:03.080
don't work out and you have to replace them, when

377
00:17:03.159 --> 00:17:05.480
you bring that next person in, it's not as much

378
00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:08.640
of a training hassle to place them because you already

379
00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:10.799
have the guidebook to get them up to speed as

380
00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:11.680
fast as possible.

381
00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:13.200
Got it.

382
00:17:13.359 --> 00:17:16.599
And when it comes to this remote world, because here

383
00:17:16.599 --> 00:17:19.880
we are, this was already a thing back when your

384
00:17:19.960 --> 00:17:22.440
business started, but now it's just become even more of

385
00:17:22.440 --> 00:17:27.559
a thing. Has that actually been blessing in disguise this transition.

386
00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:30.319
From now we're more open to this remote work.

387
00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:32.839
Yes, I think that is definitely one of the blessings

388
00:17:32.839 --> 00:17:35.640
that came out of the pandemic is that the technology

389
00:17:35.720 --> 00:17:37.359
is there, the awareness and just.

390
00:17:37.400 --> 00:17:38.680
The acceptance of remote work.

391
00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:40.759
So many of our clients are also they have remote

392
00:17:40.759 --> 00:17:43.279
workers in the US, and so I'm like, you treat

393
00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:46.240
your offshore team members the same as your US remote

394
00:17:46.279 --> 00:17:48.480
people and they will do just as good.

395
00:17:48.319 --> 00:17:49.519
Of a job. And I see.

396
00:17:49.559 --> 00:17:51.119
I think that's yeah, one of the best things that's

397
00:17:51.160 --> 00:17:52.400
come out in a post COVID world.

398
00:17:52.839 --> 00:17:55.319
Very cool. One of the things you see a lot

399
00:17:55.480 --> 00:17:59.519
as an entrepreneur as their journey continues and they start

400
00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:01.599
to build a business is the fame is how do

401
00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:04.240
they scale it? And I know that's something that you

402
00:18:04.279 --> 00:18:09.519
know with your business, you help to share your ideas

403
00:18:09.559 --> 00:18:11.720
and helping entrepreneurs scale their business.

404
00:18:12.119 --> 00:18:12.359
Yeah.

405
00:18:12.359 --> 00:18:15.279
That's what I love about what we do is that

406
00:18:15.720 --> 00:18:19.400
even when I brought on my first team member, I

407
00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:22.599
tripled our revenue in three months after I brought in

408
00:18:22.680 --> 00:18:26.960
one person. And it was because she had the opposite

409
00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:28.000
skill set as me.

410
00:18:28.200 --> 00:18:29.839
She could do all the things I didn't want to do.

411
00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:32.519
She did the admins and the ops, some of the payroll,

412
00:18:32.559 --> 00:18:34.079
the things that I didn't like to do, and I

413
00:18:34.119 --> 00:18:35.759
got to do more of the sales and marketing, which

414
00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:38.160
is where I really thrive, and so we tripled our business.

415
00:18:38.599 --> 00:18:41.039
And so that's why I love helping clients because I

416
00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:43.480
know that the more team members that they have that

417
00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:46.279
are used correctly, like, that's how they're going to scale

418
00:18:46.680 --> 00:18:49.519
out a way that they're still profitable. Because that's how

419
00:18:49.599 --> 00:18:52.119
I've grown my own company to be profitable is all

420
00:18:52.119 --> 00:18:54.240
of my team members are remote and they're all originally

421
00:18:54.279 --> 00:18:57.000
from Ethiopia, and so I really try and walk the

422
00:18:57.079 --> 00:18:59.480
walk as well and show my clients like what's possible

423
00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:00.599
for their own business too.

424
00:19:01.480 --> 00:19:05.039
Yeah, it's definitely transformed your business life, but then also

425
00:19:05.519 --> 00:19:08.920
your personal life as well. You recently said you came

426
00:19:09.000 --> 00:19:12.359
back to the United States with a husband and a child.

427
00:19:13.039 --> 00:19:15.480
Tell us a little bit about how that happened, because

428
00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:17.039
that's quite the change.

429
00:19:17.400 --> 00:19:17.839
Yeah.

430
00:19:17.960 --> 00:19:20.279
Yeah, I met my husband, who's originally from Ethiopia when

431
00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:22.599
I was living there. We had our first baby, and

432
00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:25.599
then during COVID it just made sense actually to move

433
00:19:25.640 --> 00:19:28.480
back to the US and then I launched Cradle a

434
00:19:28.519 --> 00:19:32.519
month before giving birth to my second baby. So timing wise, again,

435
00:19:33.160 --> 00:19:35.920
there's no great timing to do anything in business, there's ah,

436
00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:38.920
there's always a hang up somewhere. But again, like that's

437
00:19:39.000 --> 00:19:41.599
the benefit of making sure you have like great team

438
00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:44.440
members who are affordable and offshore. Because I was able

439
00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:47.359
to do my business while having two small kids because

440
00:19:47.400 --> 00:19:49.599
I had the support that I needed. And we work

441
00:19:49.640 --> 00:19:51.640
with so many clients and they're like, Okay, now I

442
00:19:51.640 --> 00:19:53.960
have a virtual assistant. You know, Now my daughter's graduating

443
00:19:53.960 --> 00:19:55.200
from high school and I can take her on that

444
00:19:55.200 --> 00:19:56.960
trip to Europe before she goes to college because I

445
00:19:57.039 --> 00:19:58.759
have someone who's going to like man that inbox while

446
00:19:58.759 --> 00:20:00.960
I'm gone. And so so it is like you can

447
00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:03.160
balance your work and your life when you have the

448
00:20:03.240 --> 00:20:04.160
right support.

449
00:20:04.319 --> 00:20:06.759
I got to ask you this because I know virtual

450
00:20:07.079 --> 00:20:10.519
workers is becoming bigger and bigger in all businesses around

451
00:20:10.519 --> 00:20:13.240
the world. But one of the questions, because I do

452
00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:17.039
a lot of presentations, I'm building great team culture. Okay,

453
00:20:17.400 --> 00:20:23.559
so give advice to business owners like yourself of how

454
00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:26.359
do you build that culture as far as because you're

455
00:20:26.400 --> 00:20:28.960
doing pretty much all remote, there are ways to do it.

456
00:20:29.079 --> 00:20:31.799
I'm looking for your advice to help these entrepreneurs.

457
00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:34.680
That's such a great question. Yeah, I've seen the best

458
00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:37.160
and the worst. With our clients and how they onboard

459
00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:37.880
our team members.

460
00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:39.440
You do have to.

461
00:20:39.720 --> 00:20:41.599
I always just say, fit them like any other team member,

462
00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:44.319
and they're going to do a great job. So know

463
00:20:44.400 --> 00:20:46.640
their name, know when their birthday is, do a daily

464
00:20:46.680 --> 00:20:48.960
stand up, bring them to your team meetings. We had

465
00:20:48.960 --> 00:20:51.519
a client and he spent one hour every day for

466
00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:53.079
six weeks training.

467
00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:55.240
His three sales reps. Within those six.

468
00:20:55.079 --> 00:20:58.200
Weeks, they generated one hundred thousand dollars of new revenue

469
00:20:58.279 --> 00:21:01.480
for him, and now they're doing triple that. Now that's

470
00:21:01.519 --> 00:21:04.359
seven months in, but that's because he had really invested

471
00:21:04.400 --> 00:21:06.920
and got to know them and supported them. We have

472
00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:09.680
other clients and they'll bring in a sales rep and

473
00:21:09.720 --> 00:21:12.640
on day two they're like, here's your list, start dialing,

474
00:21:13.079 --> 00:21:15.599
and the reps are like, wait, how do I pronounce

475
00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:16.680
your company's name again?

476
00:21:16.759 --> 00:21:17.799
And what do you really do?

477
00:21:17.960 --> 00:21:19.799
And they're really not equipped to do a great job.

478
00:21:19.839 --> 00:21:22.759
And I think for some reason, when we have American

479
00:21:22.759 --> 00:21:24.880
team members, we know we need to train and invest

480
00:21:24.880 --> 00:21:26.920
in them, but we forget to do that with our

481
00:21:26.920 --> 00:21:30.039
offshore team members, and that's when it can be really hard.

482
00:21:29.799 --> 00:21:31.359
To get them to be part of your team. Culture.

483
00:21:31.799 --> 00:21:34.359
And how about you as far as personally because you

484
00:21:34.400 --> 00:21:36.680
have one hundred and twenty, Yeah, how do you build

485
00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:37.640
your team culture?

486
00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:38.279
Yeah?

487
00:21:38.559 --> 00:21:41.279
So I have seven internal team members part of the

488
00:21:41.319 --> 00:21:44.920
Cradle team, and we do daily stand ups together Friday,

489
00:21:44.960 --> 00:21:47.839
we do longer brainstorming as a company, and then I

490
00:21:47.880 --> 00:21:49.880
also try and do one on ones at least every

491
00:21:49.880 --> 00:21:52.000
week or every other week with each of my team members.

492
00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:54.640
And then out of that, our account management team is

493
00:21:54.720 --> 00:21:56.920
meeting with those one hundred and twenty every single day

494
00:21:56.960 --> 00:21:58.839
before they even clock in with the clients to make

495
00:21:58.880 --> 00:22:01.160
sure are you there, are you set up? Are you

496
00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:03.400
ready for a great day? Like how can I support you?

497
00:22:03.440 --> 00:22:05.200
Just to make sure that everything's okay, And then we

498
00:22:05.240 --> 00:22:06.960
do an end of day report with them also to

499
00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:09.599
see especially for cold callers, like did you get your

500
00:22:09.599 --> 00:22:10.519
appointments scheduled?

501
00:22:10.559 --> 00:22:13.160
Did you do your call volume? If not, what happened?

502
00:22:13.200 --> 00:22:15.480
If so, what's working well that we can help other

503
00:22:15.519 --> 00:22:17.960
team members do as well. So, yeah, some of you

504
00:22:17.960 --> 00:22:19.519
have to invest the time, like you have to meet

505
00:22:19.559 --> 00:22:21.319
with them daily and have that face to face time

506
00:22:21.359 --> 00:22:22.519
and you can do that on Zoom.

507
00:22:22.960 --> 00:22:23.200
Yeah.

508
00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:26.640
Yeah, And this is where I'm gonna just play the

509
00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:29.640
devil's advocate, right. The pushback, which I'm sure you've heard,

510
00:22:29.720 --> 00:22:34.000
is remote teams. There may be concerns with monitoring productivity,

511
00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:37.079
all these kinds of questions that come up. You give

512
00:22:37.119 --> 00:22:39.079
them a task and you just let them go, but

513
00:22:39.559 --> 00:22:42.119
you don't really know what they're doing while they're at home.

514
00:22:42.160 --> 00:22:44.400
But if they came back into the office, and if

515
00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:46.480
we had a physical office, then we would get to

516
00:22:46.599 --> 00:22:49.160
lead so much more effectively. What do you say to

517
00:22:49.400 --> 00:22:51.920
those kinds of arguments, because it certainly sounds like you

518
00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:55.519
have found a way to be a very effective leader

519
00:22:55.880 --> 00:22:59.200
without having that in person, face to face interaction.

520
00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:01.720
Yeah, I go back to like when I was in

521
00:23:01.759 --> 00:23:03.559
the office, and I would say that I know so

522
00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:06.480
many people were not effective in the office. So it's

523
00:23:07.240 --> 00:23:09.119
there's something else, Like that's not the only thing that

524
00:23:09.119 --> 00:23:11.440
makes people effective or not. And do you really want

525
00:23:11.480 --> 00:23:13.240
the kind of team members where you have to micro

526
00:23:13.319 --> 00:23:16.200
manage them to the point to know if they're impactful? No,

527
00:23:16.319 --> 00:23:17.920
Like you need a better setup if that's what you're

528
00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:21.039
relying on. And so some of it is like clear KPIs.

529
00:23:21.119 --> 00:23:23.200
So let's say you're hiring a cold person cold caller,

530
00:23:23.480 --> 00:23:24.960
you need to know like how many people are they

531
00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:27.759
supposed to call per day, and how many appointments are

532
00:23:27.799 --> 00:23:28.240
they setting?

533
00:23:28.279 --> 00:23:29.920
What is their talk time? Was the pickup rate?

534
00:23:29.960 --> 00:23:33.960
So really having insight and transparency helps again doing the

535
00:23:34.079 --> 00:23:36.480
daily stand ups. And then some of it also goes

536
00:23:36.640 --> 00:23:39.000
to how much are you paying them? To be honest,

537
00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:42.799
In the outsourcing world, there's a lot of gray things

538
00:23:42.799 --> 00:23:45.039
that happen, and there's a lot of middleman and so

539
00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:50.000
sometimes outsourcing companies, you're they're outsourcing to another outsourcing company,

540
00:23:50.039 --> 00:23:52.400
so by the time that person is actually doing the job,

541
00:23:52.480 --> 00:23:55.279
they're not getting very much and so obviously their performance

542
00:23:55.319 --> 00:23:57.799
isn't going to be as good. So it's really important

543
00:23:57.839 --> 00:24:00.480
to pick a company that is working with them directly

544
00:24:00.519 --> 00:24:02.400
so that you know that they're getting the pay that

545
00:24:02.440 --> 00:24:03.359
they deserve.

546
00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:04.640
And also doing commissions.

547
00:24:04.680 --> 00:24:07.480
I think it's a big thing like salespeople or salespeople

548
00:24:07.480 --> 00:24:09.880
are everywhere, and like why not pay your coal callers

549
00:24:09.880 --> 00:24:12.839
who are offshore like a small bonus for every lead

550
00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:15.160
that converts. You would do that for your in house members,

551
00:24:15.200 --> 00:24:16.759
So why aren't you doing it for them as well?

552
00:24:16.960 --> 00:24:18.640
So I think like little things like that make people

553
00:24:18.680 --> 00:24:19.319
more productive.

554
00:24:19.920 --> 00:24:22.359
I got to ask you the famous crystal ball question.

555
00:24:22.480 --> 00:24:26.720
So Bil right, so five years from now, you said

556
00:24:26.759 --> 00:24:29.160
you have about practimately one hundred and twenty team member

557
00:24:29.240 --> 00:24:33.440
If I heard you correctly, they're all from Ethiopia. Where

558
00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:36.200
is it going to be? Do you envision going bigger

559
00:24:36.279 --> 00:24:38.960
and do you go Do you have vision using people

560
00:24:39.000 --> 00:24:41.880
from other countries in airfric besides Ethiopia.

561
00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:45.720
Yeah, we do, so that's a that's an amazing question.

562
00:24:45.759 --> 00:24:47.960
So we are hiring outside ethpy As. We do have

563
00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:50.000
a few others, but I would love to do more.

564
00:24:50.240 --> 00:24:52.559
Just because of my experience backpacking, I know that again,

565
00:24:52.680 --> 00:24:55.559
talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not. So we'd love

566
00:24:55.599 --> 00:24:59.400
to scale more outside of Ethpia as well. And our

567
00:24:59.480 --> 00:25:02.279
vision is to create over ten thousand jobs in Africa

568
00:25:02.640 --> 00:25:04.079
and to do a few more verticals.

569
00:25:04.079 --> 00:25:06.200
So we're testing launching developers as well.

570
00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:08.359
My husband's a developer who also used to work for

571
00:25:08.359 --> 00:25:11.119
an outsourcing company, so we start providing developers. There's just

572
00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:14.480
millions of talented professionals in Africa who don't have the

573
00:25:14.519 --> 00:25:17.319
opportunity for a great job, and that's what I love

574
00:25:17.319 --> 00:25:20.079
about outsourcing and I love being up support American businesses

575
00:25:20.119 --> 00:25:22.279
at the same time, So Yeah, I really liked me up.

576
00:25:22.279 --> 00:25:24.559
So more people, more worlds, more impact is what we're

577
00:25:24.599 --> 00:25:25.000
going for.

578
00:25:25.480 --> 00:25:27.960
Yeah, and athletes is another we talked briefly because if

579
00:25:27.960 --> 00:25:30.279
that's how we got in touch through Marcus Ogden another

580
00:25:30.559 --> 00:25:33.559
great previous guests here on the Limitless Leadership Lounge. Athletes

581
00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:36.599
another area. It's some of these people you don't realize

582
00:25:36.599 --> 00:25:40.759
that these industries require or could benefit from outsourcing.

583
00:25:40.839 --> 00:25:43.599
How shocking has that been to you as well?

584
00:25:43.640 --> 00:25:46.359
Oh, it's been so amazing to see who reaches out

585
00:25:46.359 --> 00:25:48.920
to us, even like we have Harvard professors who hire

586
00:25:48.920 --> 00:25:52.480
from us, we have tech companies, startups, established companies, we

587
00:25:52.519 --> 00:25:55.240
have a very famous musician, we have public figures that

588
00:25:55.359 --> 00:25:57.720
we're not even allowed to release their name. So it's

589
00:25:57.759 --> 00:26:01.559
really cool to see who is interested in hiring overseas

590
00:26:01.680 --> 00:26:04.319
because I think some people have this misconception that the

591
00:26:04.400 --> 00:26:06.559
quality is not as good or the talent's not as good.

592
00:26:06.839 --> 00:26:08.839
And it's really your setup, and so if you look

593
00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:11.559
at all these famous people and successful companies doing it,

594
00:26:11.920 --> 00:26:14.000
you can do it right if you set it up correctly.

595
00:26:14.799 --> 00:26:19.359
How will tell us your strategy? How are you finding

596
00:26:19.599 --> 00:26:23.359
your clients? So you're marketing your sales I'm very curious.

597
00:26:24.079 --> 00:26:26.119
Yeah, we do a lot, a lot of it's word

598
00:26:26.119 --> 00:26:26.519
of mouth.

599
00:26:26.680 --> 00:26:29.359
We have an amazing referral program so people can make

600
00:26:29.359 --> 00:26:33.119
affiliate commissions. LinkedIn has been great for us, guests, podcasting,

601
00:26:33.799 --> 00:26:37.039
just even cold outreach, and so it again, like I

602
00:26:37.079 --> 00:26:39.319
love walking the walk, and so clients will come to

603
00:26:39.400 --> 00:26:42.599
us wanting support and we can give them someone who

604
00:26:42.640 --> 00:26:46.119
follows my same LinkedIn approach gets them on guests podcasts,

605
00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:48.000
does the same kind of cold emails that we do,

606
00:26:48.200 --> 00:26:50.240
and like, we know it works because it's working for us,

607
00:26:50.240 --> 00:26:53.039
and that's how we're growing so fast while like completely

608
00:26:53.079 --> 00:26:55.880
bootstrapping without outside investment money. And yeah, it's really fun

609
00:26:55.920 --> 00:26:57.200
to see like us grow and then be able to

610
00:26:57.200 --> 00:26:58.880
share those strategies with our clients as well.

611
00:26:59.400 --> 00:27:03.279
Hellos is a success story of a client you worked

612
00:27:03.279 --> 00:27:06.839
with It's maybe just hurted one person and then they

613
00:27:07.039 --> 00:27:10.960
ended up hiring multiple in how that really enhanced their business.

614
00:27:11.359 --> 00:27:11.759
Yeah.

615
00:27:11.839 --> 00:27:13.359
I think a lot of people start with just a

616
00:27:13.400 --> 00:27:15.880
couple people and then they build entire teams around us.

617
00:27:16.240 --> 00:27:19.720
But we had, for example, like one one company started

618
00:27:19.759 --> 00:27:21.519
with three reps and now I think we're going to

619
00:27:21.559 --> 00:27:24.359
get up to ten to twenty in the next couple months, and.

620
00:27:24.279 --> 00:27:26.720
It's just because they had such great results.

621
00:27:26.759 --> 00:27:29.079
So then they started whitelybelling us, and so their clients

622
00:27:29.119 --> 00:27:31.680
are now hiring through him to get to us. And

623
00:27:31.720 --> 00:27:33.720
it's just like our team members are doing a great job,

624
00:27:33.920 --> 00:27:36.359
and the initial coal caller he hired is now like

625
00:27:36.400 --> 00:27:38.839
the team manager, and so even for the client, it's

626
00:27:38.880 --> 00:27:41.160
like less of an overhead to get the next reps

627
00:27:41.160 --> 00:27:44.319
started because he's invested so much in these initial three

628
00:27:44.319 --> 00:27:46.960
that those three are now helping manage the new ones.

629
00:27:47.759 --> 00:27:53.440
Very cool. Leadership in life is sometimes a misconception because

630
00:27:53.839 --> 00:27:56.160
we look at you and you're the leader because you

631
00:27:56.279 --> 00:27:59.920
have this huge team that works for you and with you. Yes,

632
00:28:00.079 --> 00:28:02.960
so many of our audience members are still leaders in

633
00:28:03.000 --> 00:28:05.920
their own way. Maybe leaders in their family, leaders in

634
00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:09.519
their community. Tell us a little bit about how your

635
00:28:09.640 --> 00:28:11.839
roles as a leader, because you have more than one

636
00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:15.119
role as a leader, right, how they intersect and support

637
00:28:15.119 --> 00:28:15.519
each other.

638
00:28:15.799 --> 00:28:18.160
Oh yeah, definitely, Like in our I'm a mom, so

639
00:28:18.200 --> 00:28:20.359
I'm a leader in the family, leader in work, leader

640
00:28:20.359 --> 00:28:22.000
in community, leader.

641
00:28:22.079 --> 00:28:23.440
On different continents.

642
00:28:23.799 --> 00:28:26.119
I think it all comes back to being like a

643
00:28:26.160 --> 00:28:28.680
person of integrity. If you have integrity in one area,

644
00:28:28.839 --> 00:28:30.759
and you're going to have it in the other area.

645
00:28:30.839 --> 00:28:32.119
And so at the end of the day, I always say,

646
00:28:32.319 --> 00:28:34.480
just be a good person, no matter what that looks like,

647
00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:35.880
just doing the right thing.

648
00:28:36.559 --> 00:28:38.359
It always comes back for you.

649
00:28:38.480 --> 00:28:40.319
So yeah, just do the right thing is my motto

650
00:28:40.359 --> 00:28:42.759
in life and it's served me well. And just one

651
00:28:42.759 --> 00:28:45.160
more example of leadership since we're talking about it, is

652
00:28:45.200 --> 00:28:47.440
I think sometimes we don't realize that like these offshore

653
00:28:47.680 --> 00:28:50.559
vas can grow to become leaders inside our company.

654
00:28:50.880 --> 00:28:51.680
So we had a.

655
00:28:51.640 --> 00:28:55.279
Client who owns his own accounting firm and he hired

656
00:28:55.319 --> 00:28:58.799
a virtual assistant actually through US in Uganda, and within

657
00:28:58.880 --> 00:29:02.880
three years she became came the operations manager over some

658
00:29:02.920 --> 00:29:05.359
of the in house employees because she was doing such

659
00:29:05.359 --> 00:29:07.720
a great job, so much so that he actually gave

660
00:29:07.720 --> 00:29:09.640
her shares in the company. Like it was just it's

661
00:29:09.640 --> 00:29:12.200
like an ultimate successful our story for us. But it's

662
00:29:12.240 --> 00:29:15.039
again like a virtual assistant. They might come in at

663
00:29:15.039 --> 00:29:17.240
that tier one, that entry level place, but again if

664
00:29:17.279 --> 00:29:19.160
you train and invest in them, they will grow within

665
00:29:19.200 --> 00:29:21.640
your company and they can be your next leaders of

666
00:29:21.680 --> 00:29:24.039
your company. Doesn't matter where they're located anymore.

667
00:29:24.799 --> 00:29:29.000
That's great. The famous life work balance or life work integration,

668
00:29:29.200 --> 00:29:32.920
whatever word. I'm just really fascinated. Can you tell us

669
00:29:33.200 --> 00:29:36.240
some of the things you do consistently on a daily

670
00:29:36.279 --> 00:29:39.400
basis to balance all the things you're doing running a

671
00:29:39.440 --> 00:29:42.720
pretty good sized business, having a family of two young children.

672
00:29:43.759 --> 00:29:45.920
You know, people I know are looking up to you,

673
00:29:46.279 --> 00:29:48.279
So give them some of your magic of what you

674
00:29:48.400 --> 00:29:51.200
do to a balance in how you work each day.

675
00:29:51.799 --> 00:29:52.559
Yeah.

676
00:29:52.640 --> 00:29:54.880
I am a big believer, especially with two small kids

677
00:29:54.920 --> 00:29:56.640
like I, I do want a balance. I have a

678
00:29:56.640 --> 00:29:59.039
firm rule that I'm off by three point thirty or

679
00:29:59.039 --> 00:30:00.400
four every single a day.

680
00:30:00.680 --> 00:30:02.319
I don't work nights. I don't work.

681
00:30:02.200 --> 00:30:04.920
Weekends because when my kids come home from daycare, like

682
00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:06.880
I want to see them right. And when it gets

683
00:30:06.880 --> 00:30:08.759
to the point where I'm like, whoa, I have more

684
00:30:08.799 --> 00:30:10.759
work than I can get done, I just hired. I

685
00:30:10.799 --> 00:30:12.480
just hired someone to help me with my Instagram. I

686
00:30:12.519 --> 00:30:14.960
just hired like a new business development rep again all

687
00:30:14.960 --> 00:30:17.519
based on Ethiopia. Very affordable. But that allows me to

688
00:30:17.559 --> 00:30:20.119
take off at four pm as well. And I think

689
00:30:20.400 --> 00:30:24.039
one other thing I've done that's been magical is Friday afternoons,

690
00:30:24.079 --> 00:30:26.680
I take off and it's just for me, So I

691
00:30:26.759 --> 00:30:28.720
don't work and it's before my kids get home from

692
00:30:28.759 --> 00:30:30.599
daycare and I have three or four hours where I

693
00:30:30.680 --> 00:30:34.640
am hiking or kayaking or doing something that really helps

694
00:30:34.759 --> 00:30:37.559
prevent me from burning out. And that has been the

695
00:30:37.559 --> 00:30:39.119
biggest thing for me as a leader, is that I

696
00:30:39.160 --> 00:30:41.039
don't burn out anymore because I have that time for

697
00:30:41.119 --> 00:30:42.279
myself every single week.

698
00:30:42.799 --> 00:30:43.119
Yeah.

699
00:30:43.200 --> 00:30:45.680
Yeah, And that's so important in leadership. We think we

700
00:30:45.759 --> 00:30:48.200
have to be everything to everyone and to be there

701
00:30:48.599 --> 00:30:51.519
all the time on twenty four to seven, but the

702
00:30:51.519 --> 00:30:55.319
potential burnout is so huge there and I'm definitely guilty

703
00:30:55.400 --> 00:30:58.119
of that. I'm envious of being done at three thirty

704
00:30:58.200 --> 00:31:00.400
or four. But that's a choice that we make. That's

705
00:31:00.440 --> 00:31:03.720
not a privilege necessarily that you have. It's a choice

706
00:31:03.720 --> 00:31:06.440
that you've made, But it takes a lot of courage

707
00:31:06.480 --> 00:31:09.480
to make that choice because of the pressures in business.

708
00:31:09.759 --> 00:31:13.119
Tell us where you found that courage to make that

709
00:31:13.240 --> 00:31:15.680
choice to prioritize your own well being as well.

710
00:31:16.359 --> 00:31:18.519
I think it's because there's nothing worse than like you're

711
00:31:18.920 --> 00:31:20.759
especially as a parent, there's nothing worse than like your

712
00:31:20.799 --> 00:31:22.799
two year old coming home and saying mom, and you're

713
00:31:22.799 --> 00:31:24.559
in a meeting and you can't get out like that

714
00:31:24.640 --> 00:31:27.000
kind of broke my heart and I was like, it

715
00:31:27.039 --> 00:31:29.160
doesn't matter to me if this is so successful if

716
00:31:29.200 --> 00:31:32.240
my kids don't see their mom every single day. And

717
00:31:32.640 --> 00:31:34.400
I think in this day and age, especially if you

718
00:31:34.440 --> 00:31:37.119
do work from home, you always like the laundry list

719
00:31:37.160 --> 00:31:40.079
of things you should do is massive, right, and so

720
00:31:40.480 --> 00:31:42.279
you're never going to get all done in a day.

721
00:31:42.440 --> 00:31:44.680
And so it's just this is these are my priorities,

722
00:31:44.720 --> 00:31:46.359
and this is what I'm going to get done every day,

723
00:31:46.400 --> 00:31:48.440
and I will stop at three thirty every single day.

724
00:31:48.519 --> 00:31:51.519
And despite that, we continue to grow. And so it's

725
00:31:51.559 --> 00:31:54.119
just like putting your boundaries in I think it's really important.

726
00:31:54.640 --> 00:31:57.240
That's a great point. So very in rapping up, I

727
00:31:57.279 --> 00:31:59.640
have one final question. I know John will ask you

728
00:31:59.640 --> 00:32:02.000
how people can reach out, and I'm sure he has

729
00:32:02.319 --> 00:32:04.839
maybe one final question, but I'm curious since we're on

730
00:32:04.880 --> 00:32:07.079
a podcast. I know you do a podcast, can you

731
00:32:07.079 --> 00:32:08.359
tell us a little bit about yours?

732
00:32:09.039 --> 00:32:11.960
Yeah, we we have a podcast called Choose Africa.

733
00:32:12.039 --> 00:32:15.119
We also have a YouTube channel and I just love

734
00:32:15.119 --> 00:32:17.920
putting information out there. Again, I'm so passionate about hiring

735
00:32:17.960 --> 00:32:19.640
from Africa that I always said, you don't have to

736
00:32:19.640 --> 00:32:20.079
do it for me.

737
00:32:20.200 --> 00:32:20.480
Do it.

738
00:32:20.599 --> 00:32:22.240
If you know somebody else is doing it, do it.

739
00:32:22.279 --> 00:32:24.160
We just want you to create great jobs on the

740
00:32:24.160 --> 00:32:25.559
continent and get the support you need.

741
00:32:25.799 --> 00:32:27.839
So yeah, for anybody who I'm still not so sure,

742
00:32:27.880 --> 00:32:29.559
like even go to our YouTube channel, you'll see the

743
00:32:29.559 --> 00:32:33.000
podcast episode, You'll see shorts on just like little tidbits

744
00:32:33.000 --> 00:32:34.839
on how do you onboard someone, how do you set

745
00:32:34.880 --> 00:32:37.519
up those KPIs, how do you do anything related to

746
00:32:37.519 --> 00:32:39.359
making your offshore team members as success?

747
00:32:39.480 --> 00:32:41.119
So we love sharing like free information.

748
00:32:41.519 --> 00:32:43.960
Yeah, so why don't you make that your next listen

749
00:32:44.039 --> 00:32:48.720
here after the limitless leadership worth it and interesting niched topic.

750
00:32:48.839 --> 00:32:51.559
That's so cool too, That's what we love about that. Yeah.

751
00:32:52.240 --> 00:32:55.359
Yeah, a lot of our clients because I think when

752
00:32:55.400 --> 00:32:58.319
you think about outsourcing, you think of like huge call centers,

753
00:32:58.359 --> 00:33:00.799
and you're like, that's not me, that's that's not my company.

754
00:33:00.839 --> 00:33:02.799
And then you listen to our clients and you're like, oh,

755
00:33:02.799 --> 00:33:05.759
this is a bookkeeping business, or this is a medtech company,

756
00:33:05.920 --> 00:33:08.119
or this is like a keynote speaker, and you can

757
00:33:08.119 --> 00:33:10.920
start to see how so many different industries are using

758
00:33:10.920 --> 00:33:13.920
offshore team members in their own way and making it work.

759
00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:17.519
Valerie, as we wrap up here, I'd love to take

760
00:33:17.519 --> 00:33:20.519
it full circle because we've talked so much about your journey,

761
00:33:20.559 --> 00:33:22.559
and now we've talked a lot about your business, which

762
00:33:22.559 --> 00:33:26.039
really comes from your journey. And this is why this

763
00:33:26.119 --> 00:33:29.200
is so important to do things like travel in your

764
00:33:29.240 --> 00:33:31.640
twenty because it isn't just an experience that's one and

765
00:33:31.720 --> 00:33:34.680
done for you. It's been a whole lifestyles that you've

766
00:33:34.720 --> 00:33:38.559
created and the impact that you've left. You also mentioned

767
00:33:38.559 --> 00:33:42.720
that Africa and traveling in general changed some things from

768
00:33:42.720 --> 00:33:45.599
somebody who grew up in the Midwest to now you

769
00:33:45.640 --> 00:33:49.000
have different political beliefs, maybe you have different beliefs and

770
00:33:49.119 --> 00:33:52.559
different views of the world as a whole. Tell us

771
00:33:52.599 --> 00:33:55.559
a little bit about how that has transformed your life

772
00:33:55.599 --> 00:33:58.839
and why you think that's so valuable for anyone to

773
00:33:59.759 --> 00:34:03.880
get out of their own shell that they've been growing

774
00:34:04.000 --> 00:34:04.240
up in.

775
00:34:04.359 --> 00:34:04.599
Right.

776
00:34:05.400 --> 00:34:08.719
Yeah, no, you And for me, the medium was travel.

777
00:34:08.760 --> 00:34:11.000
That's literally what got me out of the Midwest. I

778
00:34:11.039 --> 00:34:13.920
know other people who pursue different hobbies. I know someone

779
00:34:13.920 --> 00:34:16.840
who pursues like aquaponics, right, Like he's grown aquaponics like

780
00:34:16.880 --> 00:34:17.880
farms in his basement.

781
00:34:17.960 --> 00:34:18.119
Right.

782
00:34:18.280 --> 00:34:20.519
So it doesn't have to be travel. If you cannot travel,

783
00:34:20.519 --> 00:34:22.280
if you have kids and this is not the time.

784
00:34:22.320 --> 00:34:24.320
But do something that really gets you outside of your

785
00:34:24.360 --> 00:34:27.039
comfort zone. Maybe it's even volunteering, Like, it doesn't matter

786
00:34:27.079 --> 00:34:30.280
what it is. You will only grow as big as

787
00:34:30.320 --> 00:34:31.320
like your environment is.

788
00:34:31.400 --> 00:34:34.199
And for me, coming from small town Indiana, I.

789
00:34:34.159 --> 00:34:36.360
Had to put myself into bigger cities in different countries

790
00:34:36.400 --> 00:34:38.840
to really see what was out there. And I think

791
00:34:38.840 --> 00:34:40.719
as an American, we don't always hear like the best

792
00:34:40.800 --> 00:34:42.880
about other countries around the world. You only hear the

793
00:34:42.920 --> 00:34:45.559
bad things, especially when it comes to Africa or emerging markets,

794
00:34:45.559 --> 00:34:47.920
and so you almost really have to travel there and

795
00:34:47.960 --> 00:34:50.639
then you discover all the good things along the way. Yeah,

796
00:34:50.639 --> 00:34:53.280
for whoever's listening that, I would say, whatever step you feel,

797
00:34:53.719 --> 00:34:57.320
you're being led to do it, and you won't regret

798
00:34:57.360 --> 00:34:59.239
it and push through any fear that comes up along

799
00:34:59.280 --> 00:34:59.559
the way.

800
00:35:00.639 --> 00:35:03.639
Valerie about and over on LinkedIn, I know you can connect.

801
00:35:03.760 --> 00:35:05.960
You also have it Instagram. Tell us a little bit

802
00:35:06.360 --> 00:35:08.559
about the best ways to get in touch and to

803
00:35:08.679 --> 00:35:09.880
learn more about what you do.

804
00:35:10.360 --> 00:35:12.239
Yeah, for anybody who is like I own a business

805
00:35:12.280 --> 00:35:14.360
and I need some extra support, you can always hop

806
00:35:14.360 --> 00:35:16.239
on a discovery call with someone on my team. We

807
00:35:16.239 --> 00:35:19.000
can go to our website Cradle dot com and there's

808
00:35:19.320 --> 00:35:22.519
Discovery book links there. But if you're like, okay, I'm

809
00:35:22.519 --> 00:35:24.320
not quite ready, but I'd love to see more information,

810
00:35:24.400 --> 00:35:26.079
you can just follow me on LinkedIn. Every day I

811
00:35:26.119 --> 00:35:28.519
post something that this is how you hire offshore, and

812
00:35:28.559 --> 00:35:29.840
this is why you do it, and this is the

813
00:35:29.920 --> 00:35:31.519
rules that you can do it. So you can follow

814
00:35:31.559 --> 00:35:33.159
me on LinkedIn just to get free tips or a

815
00:35:33.159 --> 00:35:34.679
get heead to our YouTube channel and you get more

816
00:35:34.679 --> 00:35:35.440
tips there as well.

817
00:35:35.840 --> 00:35:37.239
Valeriebout and on LinkedIn.

818
00:35:37.400 --> 00:35:40.159
Also see our dl e We got that down in

819
00:35:40.199 --> 00:35:42.679
the show notes for you and the YouTube down there

820
00:35:42.719 --> 00:35:45.000
as well, so you can check out more of Valerie

821
00:35:45.039 --> 00:35:48.400
and then finally Valerie, if somebody wants any tips and

822
00:35:48.480 --> 00:35:52.360
tricks backpacking across Africa, doing Cape Town to Cairo or

823
00:35:52.400 --> 00:35:54.400
the opposite, can they also reach out to you for that?

824
00:35:55.079 --> 00:35:58.320
Yes, I tell everybody I will plan anybody a free

825
00:35:58.320 --> 00:36:00.800
trip at Africa, like I will give you Tenuary. We

826
00:36:00.880 --> 00:36:03.599
have vas in multiple countries like we haven't set up

827
00:36:03.639 --> 00:36:06.960
and nobody has ever taken advantage of it. So if

828
00:36:06.960 --> 00:36:09.599
you want travel advice, if you have or maybe I have

829
00:36:09.559 --> 00:36:11.679
a kid who's going whatever it is reach out to me.

830
00:36:12.119 --> 00:36:14.159
We will have a va meet them at the airport.

831
00:36:14.199 --> 00:36:16.960
We have all guys of support and re sources, so

832
00:36:17.000 --> 00:36:19.239
I would love to help more people travel to Africa

833
00:36:19.280 --> 00:36:19.880
if possible.

834
00:36:20.199 --> 00:36:22.559
Now that is a bargain. Come on, that is an

835
00:36:22.559 --> 00:36:24.199
irresistible opportunity.

836
00:36:24.440 --> 00:36:25.480
I'm going to get you guys there.

837
00:36:25.519 --> 00:36:27.239
First, we'll do we'll do a trip you guys need

838
00:36:27.280 --> 00:36:29.199
to record there, and then I'll find a way to

839
00:36:29.199 --> 00:36:29.760
get you guys there.

840
00:36:31.599 --> 00:36:34.679
Former players, I told you grew up or moved the

841
00:36:34.760 --> 00:36:37.559
US when he was in sixth grade. He's actually has

842
00:36:37.599 --> 00:36:40.320
a big job for Google and actually he's moving back

843
00:36:40.320 --> 00:36:42.599
to Africa. So maybe I may take you off on that.

844
00:36:42.800 --> 00:36:44.800
You're sign sign Valerie.

845
00:36:44.840 --> 00:36:46.960
We can't thank you enough for all the insights that

846
00:36:47.000 --> 00:36:50.480
you shared here on developing your business and stepping outside

847
00:36:50.480 --> 00:36:52.360
of your comfort zone. We look up to what you

848
00:36:52.440 --> 00:36:54.679
do and we're excited to stay in touch with you.

849
00:36:54.760 --> 00:36:56.400
So thank you so much for your time today.

850
00:36:56.800 --> 00:36:58.280
Thank you guys, it was wonderful.

851
00:36:58.559 --> 00:37:01.039
Thank you for joining us this week at the Limitless

852
00:37:01.119 --> 00:37:04.119
Leadership Lounge. To listen to this episode again and to

853
00:37:04.159 --> 00:37:08.119
find previous episodes, check us out on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,

854
00:37:08.280 --> 00:37:10.679
and Spreaker. You can also get in on the conversation.

855
00:37:10.920 --> 00:37:13.639
Find us on Facebook and Instagram, then tell three of

856
00:37:13.679 --> 00:37:16.920
your friends to join in as well. Coach Numa and John.

857
00:37:16.960 --> 00:37:19.920
We'll be back again next week for another try generational

858
00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:23.360
leadership discussion. We'll talk to you then on the Limitless

859
00:37:23.480 --> 00:37:26.000
Leadership Lounge