Retreat Reflection - The Ripple Effect

Speaker A: Going to something, learning information, um, just for you to use it or to hold it close to your heart is kind of a selfish thing. Just going to be honest. But it's selfless if you choose to take that and pour it into others. Welcome back to the Elite Business Advice Podcast. My name is Chris Moore, the founder of Elite Business Advisors and the host of the podcast here. Holy cow, my heart is full, y'. All. Um, last week was incredible. Uh, two weeks ago, by the time this comes out, um, man, our retreat, the 2026 Elite Business Retreat was everything I hoped it was gonna be and so much more. Uh, it was by far the best one we've had so far. Um, the group that we had was the best group that I think we've had so far. Uh, just the culture and the benchmarking and the camaraderie. And it was a lot of people's first retreat. Um, it was a few of our clients, like, first time even being, um, at anything. They hadn't been to a PCA event or anything like that before. And so it was really eye opening and just overwhelming in a good way for them to see. Uh, and I appreciate that they trusted me pushing them to be here so diligently for it. But, man, that was an awesome week. If you were here. Thank you. Thank you for showing up. Thank you for playing the role you did in that event. I, I said it from stage Thursday as we were wrapping up, but, man, like, this event is a reflection of the, the people that are at it. Like, I mean, we had the best speaking lineup I think we've had so far. Um, I think every, all the content flowed really well. I think there was a lot of great, great points in there, and I think a lot of people needed to hear a lot of what was shared. Um, and so I feel like we really kind of crushed it. I'm, uh, very humble, I promise, but, uh, I feel like we nailed it on that. But, man, like, we can put the best educators in the world up there, but if, if you don't have the right culture, people at an event like that to share and to learn from and to talk. And, um, it was just really cool to see that. And so my heart was full. Uh, I jokingly said that about three weeks before. I was like, man, I don't know if we're gonna do this again next year. Like, I'm just exhausted. It's so much to do. Such, uh, a distraction for me. And then like an hour into it on Wednesday, I was quickly reminded why we do this every year. So, uh, so we will do it again next year. Um, you can be sure that, uh, I am not even gonna think about the retreat for about six to eight weeks. I always take some good time to, uh, I'll do a quick debrief. Uh, we decided to cap it at 10 minutes next Monday with my business coach. Um, we'll do a little bit on our next team meeting. Probably 10 or 15 minutes. And outside of that, and that's just while it's fresh outside. Um, of that, I'm not even going to think about this event for, like, six to eight weeks. And then we'll start looking at some dates and planning for next year. So, uh, so I will let you know as soon as we have some info for next year because you don't want to miss it. Man, it was awesome. You guys are gonna start seeing a lot of promo videos on our social. And people text me that weren't here at the event. They're like, I don't know what you're like, St. Louis is blowing up social media right now. And I was like, good, good. Said, no, there's a lot of FOMO being created. And I told you you'd be mad you didn't come. And when you continue to see more and more of it, you will be mad you are not there. But that's okay. You've. All you can do is move on and look forward. So, um, I titled this episode Retreat Reflection, the Ripple Effect. There's a lot of Rs in there. I'd actually, I'm very happy I didn't just, you know, screw that up after we record that seven times. Retreat Reflection, the Ripple Effect. Because as I've been reflecting on it. Okay, um, I thought about the ripple effect from last week and how it applies to us, but really more so how it applies to everybody that was in that room. Uh, and even those. You guys listening to this podcast that maybe you weren't here last week. Um, just how the ripple effect, you know, can. Can happen for you and what the goal of this should be. Right? Um, showing up to events, I mean, really isn't just a selfish thing. Right? A lot of people go to things for themselves, which is great. Um, but it becomes kind of a giving thing for many of the people that were. That were here last week. And I'm just going to use last week as an example. Uh, but more so just understand what I say. Last week, it's. Any of you guys listen to this, that go to things, attend things, go do anything to Better yourself reading books. Um, because there's just something about sharing best practices, sharing encouragement, sharing the struggles. Um, it starts to create a ripple effect. Both in the room we were in last week, um, but honestly, beyond that room, with everybody that's now transplanted back into, uh, their home city where they're located at, there's a big ripple effect, uh, that happens there. Right, Right. Uh, to me, building a community of people, of like minded people, of growth minded people, uh, honestly has been one of my favorite things that we've ever done. Uh, you know, when people ask us like, oh, what do you guys do? Um, you know, I mean, the easiest obvious, like, kind of answer is like, oh, you know, we're a business coach for painting contractors, um, business advisors, if you will. Uh, uh, but like, honestly, I think at the end of the day, like, really, we, we kind of are community builders. Right. Everything that we do intentionally here with our clients is all around building community around each other. Yeah, we do a lot of coaching and that's still always going to be the, the bread and butter of, you know, what we do and, you know, how we can help guide people along on their journey and help solve their problems and help look ahead for them six months down the road. I mean, that's always going to be a massive part of it. Um, but what I really stop and think about when we talk a lot as a team about, like, what are we really doing here? Um, it's building community, it's building support, it's building that we're not in this alone for our people. And I think last week was, there was really a few eyes open last week we've had some clients that, um, speaking transparently, they never showed up to one of our masterminds or maybe once in the year. Plus they've been here three years in some cases, never, um, showed up to one of our masterminds. No matter how much we tell them about it, how much it's on their calendar, just, they've never showed up to it. Um, they aren't active in our Slack workspace that we have for everybody. Right. Um, and then their last week, and they're like, holy cow, I'm not on an island. And I was like, do you see why we do this? And they're like, yep, I'm never gonna miss one of those now. So, um, that being said, I promise I've got kind of a point to this. I'm not just reflecting on last week, although that's the title of the episode. Um, but I want you guys to honestly think about the community that you're building around you, uh, and how you can use the ripple effect not just for yourself, um, but to be a blessing to those all around you. So I hope it helps. Thanks for plugging in. This is the elite business advice podcast. All right, so our purpose in mission here at eba, I shared this on an episode earlier this year about, like, our. Why I started getting really passionate. I started getting a little bit emotional, honestly. Uh, so we're gonna just shoot. Do not let that happen again today. Um, but I wanted to share this. And again, I think this, this concept is really easy to look at from our point of view, but I want to push this, you know, know, kind of down, over, off, whatever to you guys. And sound down sounded really wrong. Like, I'm way above you guys. Don't mean it that way. Um, just looking at it from a leadership organization hierarchy, I guess. Um, our mission is to influence positive change on communities all over the country. I. I could argue the world, uh, as we've had clients in Canada over the years, we currently have a client over in Iceland still shout out to you, Carl. Um, you know, but we want to influence positive change. And I know that's kind of a vague thing, but, like, what we realized, what I realized many, many years ago was the ripple effect we could create, um, that if we could influence business owners, right? And people specific here in the painting, contracting space, you know, we will help influence the labor pool in their market and their families and their kids and everything that comes with that. Right? So whether it's W2 in house employees or. Or even subcontractors that partner with the business owners we work with, um, we knew that we could help influence that. Um, but we also knew that we could help influence the homeowners in these communities. Uh, for a lot of people that come to us, they want some level of growth, whatever that is for them. Uh, and so if we can help them grow and provide a good, positive customer first experience, um, through the growth, we will, you know, give homeowners the. The experience they deserve with a painting contractor. Right. Um, and then I would argue, you know, that is we can help business owners, um, you know, and I always believe good people do good money, good people do good things with money, that if we can increase that, that it will increase, you know, the blessings in the communities around them, their quality of life again, their kids, their family, all this stuff. Right. And so it's kind of a broad why and mission, but, like, really, it kind of, uh, you know, focuses around that. And as I said earlier, the how is, you know, through. Through coaching and strategy and, and providing this community of support and everything else. And so, like, it's really easy for us to sit here and like, kind of see how we can have this ripple effect. Right? And as I've been reflecting on last week and seeing that, um, you know, we can see that ripple effect. Right? Again, just everything that was shared in that room that now we've got people back all over the country that can go off and, you know, share this information. Um, but let's talk about you. Okay? How can the ripple effect go to you and then create something much greater than yourself? Right. I think that's kind of in my personal definition of the ripple effect. It's like, how do we take this and how do we let this become something much larger than just ourselves? Okay. And so, you know, I think for starters, going to something, learning information that just for you to use it or to hold it close to your heart is kind of a selfish thing. Just going to be honest. Right? But it's selfless if you choose to take that and pour it into others. So my question is, when you learn something, is that just for you to use or is that for you to share and be a blessing to others? Okay. Um, for me, there was so many things shared last week, so many nuggets that apply to life, um, that apply. That you can share with your kids, with your spouse, with your friends, with other business owners and other industries, with people in your own industry. Right. If you're close with other painting contractors in your market, which you should be, especially if you believe in collaboration over competition. Um, there were so many things shared, right? And we looked at last week and we had a lot of really tactical things. We also had a lot of big picture things in there. Um, you know, Maggie Kuyper did a talk on, um, the avoider's guide to leadership. And, uh, I think there's a lot of principles in there. I'll wrap up today with a quote from that. Um, there was just great things about life. And yes, it applies very deeply as being a painting contractor, business owner, but, man, there's so many things when it comes to your friends, your spouse, your kids, um, that we can take away from that. Um, there's things from. We had a panel called, um, uh, who you are becoming impacts what you're building. And it was all around the things that we need to do to grow ourselves in order to grow and impact others. Uh, and Brad Ellison, Matt Kuyper. And Shane Fast did an amazing job of just sharing a lot of little things, perspectives, um, on just the journey that they're on and what they've learned over the years to build themselves. Right. Uh, and so I think I would center this thought around that. Right? Are we going to be selfish? Are we going to be selfless? And there's a lot of things that we can do. And again, it doesn't have to be into other business owners or penny contractors. Um, again, certain nuggets can go that direction. But, man, how do we take that and just let us be the middleman or the catalyst or whatever you want to call it, to disseminate this information to others. Uh, we talk a lot in the church world about being open handed. And this actually got brought up last week in that exact panel I just mentioned. Um, in the concept of being open handed, you hear about it in the nonprofit world more on a financial sense. But I think, like, let this serve as a reminder about being open handed with, um, information. Right? With the things that we learn, with the things that we get to, you know, be blessed with. Um, you know, I think there's a lot of ways that we can just reframe our mindset to make sure that we're being open handed with the information we have, with the thoughts that we learn. Right. I think anytime. Uh, again, and part of this is just my passion for, you know, wanting to elevate those around me. Not even just, you know, EBA's big mission, but, um, I've already shared countless things from last week with so many different people in the last 48 to 72 hours. Um, you know, I had a conversation with somebody at church yesterday and was able to bring something out of one of the talks last week and just relate it to what they're going through and, you know, all these different things. Right? And that's just kind of how I like to look at that, is, you know, I want to be open handed with every little thing. I always want to just take it and pass it along because you never know what's going to hit and what's going to stick with people. Um, we went Saturday night to the Forest Frank concert. He was here in St. Louis. Forest Frank's a Christian artist. If you haven't heard of him, he's really blown up the last few years. Um, and it was just really cool because there was a lot of little moments in there, um, throughout the concert and his songs and just things being shared that I was like, man, I know there's a lot of lives being changed in here tonight. Um, and, and just you never know when those little moments, what's going to land with people. Um, there's, I've very often said the most seemingly insignificant comment to somebody. Uh, and months later they'll come back and be like, I, that that was a game changer for, you know, XYZ thing in my life. Right. And I love that. That's why I want to be open handed and share this stuff. Um, you know, I think one other great principle here too is, and for anybody that was there last week, for sure, please do this. But you know, when you learn things and, and you have wins and victories because of it, um, share those back with the group. Right? I know we've got a Slack channel from the retreat last week. Um, you know, here inside our client Slack group, it's like, man, like if something good happens from something you learned last week or you, you put something into action, share that back with the group. Right? And a few people listen to this will probably follow through and do that. But if nothing else, share it with, you know, on social media, share it with, you know, local groups that you're a part of, you know, your BNI group, your community around you, um, other relationships within the industry. Right. Like, I think that's again, how good information gets shared. It's one thing to, you know, share, hey, this is great in theory, um, but it's really cool to share the wins when, you know, you have a hard conversation with somebody and it's from something you learned last week during Maggie's talk and then you get to share that with people, it reinforces, you know, those little things. Um, especially when you go to an event. I know we've got PCA Residential coming up here in Nashville this September. We've got the Women in Paint and Espanol event coming up in October for pca. Uh, we also have, um, the commercial one coming up in November. So like, there's a lot of things coming up that some of you guys are going to be at and you're going to take a lot of notes, you're gonna have a lot to leave with, you're gonna be overwhelmed, um, you know, arguably. And so sometimes just reinforcing these little things with the people you were around, um, the wins, if you will. It's a great way to remind people some of the more important things coming out of that event. So, um, I wanna kinda leave you with a couple last thoughts here. Um, number one, uh, understand there's a massive difference out there between growth minded individuals and fixed minded individuals. And I just share that to say, um, that maybe not everybody's gonna be like you and I. Right? If you're listening to this, I would argue you're growth minded. It's pretty hard to be fixed minded in listening to a podcast about growing yourself. And if you're still listening on this one, how do we have the ripple effect to impact others? Um, I would say if you've made it this far, you are a growth minded individual. Um, or you're just numb and not paying attention to anything I've said and that's okay too. I'll take, I'll take the listens however I can get them, I guess. But, um, but understand like who you pour into and I think this is a balance to walk. Um, but I would just say be careful who you pour your time and energy into. Okay. Um, there are people out there who are growth minded who, you know, if you're actively trying to grow and better yourself, I will, I will go out of my way and I will spend extra time to try to help you, to help grow you, to help develop, to share things, whatever. Okay? But there's people I know that will tell me all day long that they want XYZ and blah blah blah and blah blah blah. And their actions are completely the opposite of the words that they always say. And after like so many years, it's just kind of like, okay, what are we doing here? Right. Um, and so like, I'm just really guarded in that, in this sense of. And this is where I think there has to be a balance. Um, as I mentioned earlier, you never know what you're going to say to somebody that's going to finally click and change things. I, um, do believe that people always, you know, need to want it for themselves first before, you know, anything's really going to change. Um, but you just, you know, arguably never, never really know when, um, you know when something's going to be said that's going to help somebody. Right? And so I don't shun away from people. I'm just very careful in who I pour my energy into. Into. Right. Think about the employees you have in your business and which ones are growth minded and which ones are maybe a little bit more fixed minded, content with life. Not a bad thing, right? Sometimes they still make great employees. Um, you know, yeah, I'd love a team of nothing but growth minded individuals. Nine painters that are all really growth minded and like, that's awesome, right? You probably got nine future project managers and estimators coming if that's the case. Um, but, so it's okay, right? But just be careful who you really pour a lot of your time and energy into. Um, and try to focus on the ones that really do want it for themselves, but don't just completely forget about the others. Right. It's still good to be, you know, lead, lead by example. Um, lead from the front, pour into them when you can. Um, you know, include them on things. Because again, you just never know when that timing is going to change. I don't know when that switch really flipped for me growing up. Probably sometime in college, towards the end of college. I don't know. Um, you know, I guess to some degree I was always, I've always been growth minded, maybe just not quite to the degree I am now. But, um, you know, again, enough people, enough different points, enough different points of influence, um, people can change. So, um, here's what I want to leave you with. Uh, I want to leave you with a quote that Maggie shared during that talk. And I don't usually share a ton of stuff coming out of our retreat. Um, there's a reason we don't record it and sell it. There's a reason why we don't, you know, turn certain talks into podcast episodes. As much as Chris would love to be lazy and just do that, um, I try to keep a lot of those things pretty exclusive to people that showed up to be there. Right. Um, and so, but when there's really good things, I'll, I'll randomly share some stuff here in the coming weeks and months that came out of this event. Um, but Maggie made a comment about having hard conversations with people and she talked a little bit about basically kind of using this line of I, uh, respect you too much not to say this to you or I love you too much if it's the right context to not say this to you. Um, whatever it is. Sometimes starting a hard conversation with simple line like that to remind them that your best interest, you have their best interest in mind. Um, and so starting out with I respect you too much not to say this to you or I love you too much not to say this to you, if it's a spouse or kid or whatever kind of, you know, reaffirms where you're coming from, you're not attacking them. It's kind of a, hey, I see a gap. And I want to point this out because I love you or I respect you, um, too much. Um, but I would just say this. I think some of the most impactful lessons and things that's happened to me in my life, um, is because I had somebody that said the hard thing to me that I needed to hear, even if I didn't really want to. Right. Um, honestly, EBA would have never really started and took off if my mentor at the time, Mark Warren, didn't call me out on it. I'll never forget, we were having lunch one day, October 2018. Eva had been started for six months and was trying to just kind of figure it out and was kind of just, you know, doing a little bit with it here and there, but wasn't really, like, putting a ton of time and energy into it, um, which it needed to go through that discovery phase, don't get me wrong. But Mark told me, he was like, you know, where do you want to be at in like, three, five years? And I was like, oh, Mark, I'd love to not have a painting company. I'd love to be coaching and mentoring business owners full time. And, uh, I said, you know, that's what I'd really like. And he was like, okay. He was like, what's the date? I was like, what do you mean, what's the date? I don't know. Hopefully within three years, we're there. And he was like, can I just tell you something again? Kind of asking for permission. I was like, yeah. And he goes, if you don't set a date five years from now, you're still gonna have a painting company and wish you were doing this coaching thing. I went home that night and I shared that with Christina, and I was like, all right, end of 2019, like, we're done with painting. Like, I'm giving myself a 14 month Runway here. Oh, let's go. Let's buckle up, buttercup. Like, this is gonna happen. And I stuck to it. I mean, I'd be lying if I said I didn't still do some painting jobs, you know, a little bit throughout 2020, um, and even a little bit into early 21. But at that point, you know, it. My focus flipped. Um, and EBA became my full time job, and painting became kind of the secondary. Like, if I have some time or, you know, have a chance to make some extra money, great. Uh, and so I just share that. To say, some of the hardest things, some of the most impactful moments came from something that may have seemed insignificant to Mark that day. But you talk about a ripple effect. Mr. Mark Warren, thank you for that. Because everybody listening to this is better because you said the hard thing to me that I probably didn't want to hear that day, but arguably needed to hear. And I'll say thank you as well. Thanks for plugging into this week's episode. Episode. Uh, I hope you're able to take a few nuggets away from it to implement into your business. Remember, knowledge without implementation is useless. If you're curious about what we do and how we help painting contractors all over North America, schedule a free business analysis meeting with us at www.elitebusinessadvisors.com. our entire team of advisors have ran and managed painting companies just like myself and are here to help support you on your journey. We have packages available for contractors at every stage of business, from flying solo and just starting out all the way to multi million dollar businesses. And lastly, if you love this episode, please leave us a rating and a review. It helps others on the platform find our podcast and it could be the best blessing that's ever happened to them. Thanks to you. Thanks for plugging in and we'll see you back for next week's episode.