Unexpected Business Lessons: Behind the Scenes of Building eWomenNetwork

Sandra Yancey [00:00:00]:

So we ended up having our best membership day ever in 25 years. Yeah.

Briana Dai [00:00:04]:

And that really paid off.

Sandra Yancey [00:00:05]:

It was crazy.

Briana Dai [00:00:06]:

But that was, that was, I was, I was definitely nervous. I was definitely scared. But to your whole point, the lesson is really just when you just know, you just have to jump and just trust and just know, like, if it doesn't work out, the worst that's gonna happen is my dad is gonna say, I told you so.

Sandra Yancey [00:00:22]:

Yeah.

Kym Yancey [00:00:22]:

I have always come to realize No matter how fabulous someone is in the beginning, you got to give everybody space and time because time either does two things, right? It either promotes you or exposes you. Yep.

Briana Dai [00:00:38]:

What do you mean we can't go meet the elephants because they're sad?

Sandra Yancey [00:00:40]:

I was like, isn't there one elephant

Kym Yancey [00:00:43]:

that didn't like her?

Briana Dai [00:00:45]:

Someone's got to be celebrating this, you know? Someone's got to be happy. Welcome back to another episode of She Means Millions. So what are we talking about today?

Kym Yancey [00:01:12]:

I think unexpected lessons, unexpected surprise lessons.

Briana Dai [00:01:17]:

That's right. Yeah, yeah, they did just tell us that, didn't they?

Kym Yancey [00:01:21]:

What about you? Do you have some unexpected lessons?

Sandra Yancey [00:01:25]:

Well, um, I think one of them that comes to mind has kind double whammy unexpected. I remember being in one of our EGT meetings, Executive Growth Team meetings, with just the executive team. And we were all coming with ideas of, you know, how— what, what is it that we thought, based on everything that we've learned from our community, they wanted most from us. And we were looking for— we were looking towards our Platinum event. It was in December, I think. And the Platinum event that year was going to be in February. Um, and, uh, so we were coming with some ideas, and I remember, uh, sharing with the team that, um, one of the things that had— I, I noticed that I had been asked of frequently was had I ever thought about teaching how to do, um, retreats, because we had done a series of them and they wanted to kind of learn the ins and the outs. Because as you know, there are a lot of potentially fatal mistakes that you can make in um, how you name it, how you message it, how you market it, how you negotiate with the venues, how you, you know, put the whole thing together.

Sandra Yancey [00:02:44]:

And so I remember coming and proposing doing a retreat on retreats, and I said, why don't we teach them how to do a 5-star retreat while they experience one? And, uh, we'll do all our best planning, and then they'll inevitably be things that happen because there always is. And then we can always peel back the curtain and share with them kind of what's happened behind the scenes after the day was over, so that they could see that, you know, there are going to be things— no matter how much planning you do, there are going to be things that are unexpected that you have to pivot. And the, the group becomes clueless, but then you reveal at the very end. And so there were— it was a clear kind of curriculum of things to teach them over the course of 7 days. And, um, there was some pretty good energy around it. And then I said, and so why don't we do it in Thailand? Do you remember this?

Kym Yancey [00:03:45]:

Oh man, do I remember it. I remember thinking, Sandra, I mean, that sounded— that didn't sound big. That sounded gargantuan.

Sandra Yancey [00:03:55]:

Exactly.

Briana Dai [00:03:56]:

What?

Kym Yancey [00:03:57]:

I know, you know what I mean? Yeah, we're doing monthly events and stuff and— yeah, and now you're talking about Thailand.

Sandra Yancey [00:04:04]:

Yeah, and we're gonna fly them to different parts of Thailand. I mean, we're gonna go to Bangkok and then we're gonna fly them to Chiang Rai and then we're gonna bus them half a day to Chiang Mai and we're gonna like— I mean, really,

Kym Yancey [00:04:16]:

I was like, what?

Sandra Yancey [00:04:17]:

I know, everybody thought I was crazy.

Kym Yancey [00:04:20]:

Goodness gracious.

Sandra Yancey [00:04:21]:

Yeah, yeah, everybody did. You weren't the only one. Everyone felt like you did. And I really felt kind of surprised and, um, and a little alone. I mean, my feelings were a little hurt because I thought I had done such a good job preparing to present it to everyone, and it fell completely flat. And so I remember— you mean feel

Kym Yancey [00:04:42]:

completely flat in terms of before it happened?

Sandra Yancey [00:04:45]:

At the proposal stage?

Kym Yancey [00:04:46]:

At the proposal stage.

Sandra Yancey [00:04:47]:

Because we always propose to the whole team exactly what our ideas are, and, um, because we all have different touch points with our community. And so we always come together on what we think, uh, will be, uh, value-added. And so I remember just kind of like licking my wounds, you know, tucking my tail between my legs and just kind of like going throughout the day and thinking about it. And I remember that night processing it with you over dinner, and I just couldn't get it off my mind. And, um, I think I journaled about it that night. I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned and, uh, ended up coming back and saying,

Briana Dai [00:05:24]:

um, You

Sandra Yancey [00:05:24]:

know, I, I know I'm— I stand alone on this, but I, I really feel in my gut that this is something that will, that will take hold, that people will really like. And we always had a thing that we still do within our executive team that, you know, even if not everybody agrees, once we make a decision to move forward, everyone will support it. We walk out of the conference room unified, and no one ever knows the wiser once we've made a decision. And because we don't always all agree on everything, But I, I really felt like I was the only one in this one. So the stakes felt especially high for me. And, um, but we did it. And I remember the night having the presentation to present it to the Platinum Group, all ready. And the night before, um, I thought, you know what, maybe we'll get 3 or 4.

Sandra Yancey [00:06:13]:

So I had, I had 4, there's room for 4, and then, you know, we would be going. And so there would be 7 of us. And I thought like that was a nice manageable size. And then that morning I felt so ready. I my iterations. I had practiced and practiced and practiced, anticipated objections, questions, all the things you do when you present something. And I just felt so good about it that really at the last minute before I went downstairs, I changed the PowerPoint and I said, "12, we have opening of 12." And, and, uh, took it downstairs and gave the file to the guy that, you know, puts it up on the screen at the event. And, um, went out there and did it and couldn't believe it.

Sandra Yancey [00:06:58]:

I don't think none of us could believe it. It was a really happy surprise. We had 14 people that went to the back of the room to buy that. And, um, and then there was like, oh my God, how do we do this? Because now I'm thinking about renting buses and all, you know, all this kind

Kym Yancey [00:07:13]:

of— it's a high-ticket offer. I don't even remember what the price was.

Sandra Yancey [00:07:15]:

Yeah, it was pretty expensive. I can't remember either. Yeah, you know, uh, clearly 5 figures, you know. And, um, but we did it. And it was the launch of so many things. We leveraged those lessons, that learning.

Kym Yancey [00:07:31]:

What is it— what is it about it, now that you think about it, now it's over, that made them— I mean, it was, yes, immediate engagement, immediate pickup.

Sandra Yancey [00:07:40]:

Surprisingly, like, I was like, people were jumping up and running to the back of the room, right? And I remember, I'm not even done yet, and, um, and I think the clincher was I said something, and I said, how much do you think something like this would be? And people gave outrageous prices. And that were so high that when I, when I revealed the price, it was like, that's it. And the next thing you know, people were in the back of the room. And I remember them like, we're gonna have to take numbers and see if we've even got space to add some of these people, you know.

Kym Yancey [00:08:07]:

Yeah.

Sandra Yancey [00:08:08]:

And I think what did it was, um, I mean, honestly, I think it was a— I think it was a pretty good presentation.

Briana Dai [00:08:16]:

Oh yeah.

Sandra Yancey [00:08:16]:

Um, but it was the curriculum. So, you know, I talked about, here are the 6 things that you're going to learn, and you're going to learn it in a luxury environment, just 5 diamond all the way. And, uh, once you land in Bangkok, you don't have to think of a thing. We're gonna— we will get you when you get off the plane and you are in our possession. You don't have to think of a thing. And I think that sounded really good. And it— and we also talked about how much of kind of the, um, what do you call it, the free time we're going to have just to hang together and, you know, become girlfriends and get really connected. And I— there are people that were on that trip that are dear friends of mine to this day.

Sandra Yancey [00:08:58]:

I mean, it really did cement that, because when you spend time with people and you really are away, and, you know, I mean, I— we did a training class I'll never forget, um, in, uh, Shanghai in an elephant sanctuary. Remember this? And they, they put out a stage that was lifted about 18 inches off the ground in a rice paddy with elephants roaming around us with white tablecloths and chandeliers— not chandeliers, but candelabras. And we had training, you know, we had a training packet for every module. And, uh, and it was just like, is this happening? I mean, this is the most amazing experience. And then people told people about it, and before you knew it, every time we did something, it was like gone.

Kym Yancey [00:09:47]:

You know, you saying this really brings home for me the fact that we're gonna have to add a section on our website about eWomenNetwork unique one-of-a-lifetime experiences.

Sandra Yancey [00:10:00]:

Yeah, because we never do the same thing again, right?

Kym Yancey [00:10:02]:

Because the pictures are unbelievable for this. But you know, Sandra, I can say what I really learned from that was that, um, you were offering an experience, yeah, that other people had maybe dreamed of one day. I'll— you know, that whole thing about one of these days.

Sandra Yancey [00:10:21]:

Yes.

Kym Yancey [00:10:21]:

And all of a sudden it was presented to you in a format that also made it a write-off. It was a business— it was a business trip with an experience. It, it was actually phenomenal what you put together. It was a business trip that, that required experience, right? And And the rooms and the venues and all the places that were selected for it was just unbelievable, right?

Sandra Yancey [00:10:46]:

I mean, and that's a lifetime. And remember, Briana, you had gone to bed because it was really late. We were up in the bar, we'd been done, and we were hanging out. We were in the bar and I told everybody, you have to be there, you have to be downstairs at 6:30 in the morning. We're going to this elephant— this place where we were going to, uh, do mud baths with elephants and, uh, go meet the elephants. Yeah, we really get to meet them

Briana Dai [00:11:10]:

and touch them, right? Experience.

Sandra Yancey [00:11:12]:

Yeah, and spread mud on them and the whole bed and then wash it all off and have this most amazing experience. Remember? Yeah, you, you went to bed because you often did leave the ladies alone and went to bed. And I came back to my room and the light was flashing on the phone, and I picked up the phone and they said that the guy that

Briana Dai [00:11:30]:

was, uh, the guy from the elephant sanctuary needed to talk to us.

Sandra Yancey [00:11:34]:

Yeah. And I'm thinking they're just confirming everything, right?

Briana Dai [00:11:37]:

No, not the case. They were like, so the matriarch of the elephant sanctuary has passed away, and they all— all of our elephants go into mourning.

Sandra Yancey [00:11:48]:

And so we can't do the— we can't do it.

Briana Dai [00:11:50]:

We can't do the excursion because they're all really sad.

Sandra Yancey [00:11:53]:

Yeah. And this is not a happy moment for me.

Briana Dai [00:11:56]:

I'm— we're like, we just sold— this was a huge selling point. This was a huge selling point for our ladies. They were all so excited. So like, what do you mean we can't go meet the elephants because they're sad?

Sandra Yancey [00:12:05]:

I was like, isn't there one elephant that didn't like her?

Briana Dai [00:12:10]:

Someone's got to be celebrating this, you know. Someone's got to be happy. It's just like, like, figure it out. Get us the one happy elephant in the bunch.

Sandra Yancey [00:12:20]:

Find us a happy elephant. Go get you a loner, borrow an elephant from someplace else, but we're showing up and there better be an elephant to scrub.

Briana Dai [00:12:30]:

Yeah, yeah, that was quite the phone call.

Sandra Yancey [00:12:35]:

Briana and I are by— you're sleeping on the bed.

Kym Yancey [00:12:39]:

Oh, it, it woke me up.

Sandra Yancey [00:12:40]:

Yeah, no, but we were, we were like, what are we gonna do? And by this time I'm thinking, so—

Briana Dai [00:12:45]:

and then I think what we have to do— so yeah, so then they said, okay, I guess if we had to change location, and then in order to do that they had to change the time. So it was already communicated to them to be downstairs bright and early, but I think it got moved to later in the day so that we can see a different tribe of elephants, right, is what it was. And then we're calling all of the rooms at like 11 o'clock, like, hey, Great news, you get to sleep in a little bit in the morning.

Sandra Yancey [00:13:09]:

We were able to move the time. Yeah, yay! Because they were kind of like, gosh, it's so late. We'd been in the bar and everything. Oh my God, it's going to be hard to get up. And we leveraged that and we went through the entire thing without anybody knowing. Yeah. And then at dinner that night, we did the big reveal. Yeah, like, here's how you manage through it.

Briana Dai [00:13:28]:

Yeah. And all the ladies were super relieved because we had been traveling that day. We had like a long bus ride to get to that, that location, I think.

Sandra Yancey [00:13:35]:

Yeah.

Briana Dai [00:13:36]:

And so, hey, just wanted you to know you can sleep in a little bit tomorrow. Every single one of those 15 or 16 ladies had to get a phone call.

Sandra Yancey [00:13:44]:

Yeah.

Briana Dai [00:13:44]:

And then we did— they pulled it off. They found us some happy elephants.

Sandra Yancey [00:13:50]:

They did find us some happy elephants. Oh my God.

Briana Dai [00:13:52]:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Sandra Yancey [00:13:56]:

All the things that you go through. But it had a lot of lessons, didn't it? And then the outcome of that was, oh, we can do these most amazing trips. The next thing you know, we planned one for Singapore and Bali, and the next thing you know, we're going to Cape Town and we're doing a South African, uh, safari. And the next thing you know, we're doing a French Riviera cruise on the Mediterranean, you know, with everybody that has this beautiful suite experience.

Briana Dai [00:14:21]:

That's what it is, people buy experiences.

Sandra Yancey [00:14:23]:

Yeah, you know, that they can also learn from.

Kym Yancey [00:14:26]:

Yeah, yeah. You know, it, it was— it really speaks to though you know, you're pre-framing. Yeah, you know what I mean? You know, when you brought up the aoat notion, we're going to go to Thailand, framing-wise it was so out of like, what? You know, it, it felt just so big.

Sandra Yancey [00:14:42]:

Yes.

Kym Yancey [00:14:42]:

And now, yeah, I realize just how incredibly special it is because of the other things that we do now, right, where we include experiences. And, you know, learning to do a retreat or learning anything— as it relates to your business and surrounding it with an out-of-box, thought-out experience.

Briana Dai [00:15:04]:

Right.

Sandra Yancey [00:15:04]:

Do you feel like you're drowning in your business? Like you're doing everything and something has to give, but you're afraid it might be you? What if I told you there's a network of over 500,000 women entrepreneurs all dedicated to supporting each other? A network of women helping women. I'm Sandra Yancy, founder of eWomenNetwork, and I'm inviting you to join us and become a member.

Briana Dai [00:15:30]:

eWomennetwork.com.

Sandra Yancey [00:15:31]:

We can't wait to meet you. And I think— and what they tell us now is they just know that they're going to be so taken care of at such a, you know, the minute— all the little minute details, and they just have to show up and we've got them.

Kym Yancey [00:15:47]:

On that Thailand trip, I also remember a bus that they had pick us up. Oh yeah, it was the first bus. This is, this is back to how you, you have to advocate for what you expect. But I mean, we just told them, uh, that bus is totally not acceptable.

Sandra Yancey [00:16:01]:

I said nothing to the attendees. Yeah, they were— it was the bus they picked us up from the hotel to take us to the first venue we were staying. And while I'm in that bus, I'm just taking little pictures, you know, that nobody can see me taking pictures, and I am sending them in and saying This is unacceptable, and tomorrow I need a beautiful bus.

Kym Yancey [00:16:21]:

A beautiful bus. Yeah, it was just a ragtag bus. It was, it was just beneath the experience. Yeah, you know what I mean?

Sandra Yancey [00:16:28]:

We said nothing, nobody said anything. And I think the next day when we got this beautiful bus, then I revealed the lesson. Yeah, so here's the thing that had to happen yesterday, you know, in order to have this bus today. So, and they— it was such— they were so— such powerful aha lessons outside of— I mean, you couldn't have planned some of those things. Yeah. To happen. Yeah. Right.

Sandra Yancey [00:16:49]:

To teach how you recover from it and never let them know. Yeah.

Kym Yancey [00:16:54]:

Yeah. Wow. That was big. Yeah. I think one of my big, um, as you, as you navigate to it, and it was because of COVID and we had to pivot, and we did our first virtual event, and You know, people don't realize, uh, we had— because we had never produced a big virtual event, the whole notion that we'd be successful with it was like, we have nothing telling us that we'll be successful with this. No, no sign, right? You know, and even doing, you know, small little local events, you know, with a virtual concept, it was tough. Yeah. To then go ahead and produce something

Sandra Yancey [00:17:34]:

that's multi-day virtual and a 6-figure price tag, production tag, to do it. So it wasn't a small risk, it was a major risk at a time in which revenue was shifting because the business model was shifting.

Kym Yancey [00:17:48]:

It's amazing too, it cost as much as a conference, the national conference. It did, but in a virtual format.

Sandra Yancey [00:17:56]:

We had to fly everybody. And, um, yeah, I think the first one we actually didn't fly people We had— that was actually done in Dallas, now that I think about it, the very first one. But we still had the hotel, right, you know, to set the whole thing up. It was, uh, and then we scaled it and scaled it and scaled it. How many did we do of those Success Reimagined?

Briana Dai [00:18:17]:

Or— I think that we did that first one in Dallas, um, at the hotel, first night, and then we did, um, North Carolina, and then I think we did two in the— yeah, South Carolina location, right?

Sandra Yancey [00:18:31]:

Where we had to fly the whole team. We got one big house that had, you know, 6 bedrooms, and we went shopping, got there the night before, so we had all of our snacks and everything, and everybody had their own bedroom and bathroom.

Briana Dai [00:18:44]:

And that event was a grind, but it was a fun grind. Yeah, I think that's the beauty of being able to work with people that you love.

Sandra Yancey [00:18:51]:

No question. Can you imagine being with people that you can't wait to be done with them? Yeah. And know that you have to live with them and Yeah, it was— it

Briana Dai [00:19:00]:

made it really special.

Sandra Yancey [00:19:01]:

You know, it was a lot of work though.

Kym Yancey [00:19:03]:

It was also an interesting period when I think back, because usually, Sandra, you and I, or three of us, what— will agree on something. And this was one where, honestly, I got to give you credit for, because I wasn't for it. No, you weren't. I wasn't. I, I just felt like— again, my words were, we have no proof, right, to even point to this being successful for us, right? And before we cover our expenses?

Sandra Yancey [00:19:30]:

I mean, how many tickets do we have to sell? Yeah, yeah. And in short order, we did it in 3 weeks. That's what was unique about it. You had just come back from— yeah, I remember.

Briana Dai [00:19:40]:

So, so COVID, the shutdown happened while I was on my, like, babymoon. Yes, I was pregnant. Yes. And then I had Tatiana, um, that following August, and my first day back from maternity leave was the first day of the challenge. And I remember being on maternity leave, being on calls, talking about what are we gonna do. Yeah.

Sandra Yancey [00:19:59]:

You know, I'm staying with you.

Briana Dai [00:20:00]:

You were staying with me, trying to

Sandra Yancey [00:20:02]:

take care of you and the baby, and then retreating to my room and working like crazy trying to learn what is a Facebook challenge, because people said

Briana Dai [00:20:10]:

that's how you fill it.

Sandra Yancey [00:20:11]:

Yeah, you know, you have to do a challenge. What's a challenge? So I'm like signed up for all these challenges to kind of watch. Yeah, find what were the threads that looked like they were the must-haves, and then how do I make it our own with our— and then build for that, and then turn around within— it was all done in 3 weeks.

Briana Dai [00:20:28]:

We did a Facebook challenge and sold the event, and a few weeks later we did the event, and then we sold a $10,000 offer that we had never done before.

Sandra Yancey [00:20:38]:

Almost 50 people bought

Briana Dai [00:20:41]:

it. Mhm. Yeah, crazy.

Kym Yancey [00:20:43]:

And, you know, kudos goes to also Sage, the, the virtual event company. Yes. Barry and Blue, you know, 'cause they

Sandra Yancey [00:20:50]:

really held our hands through it. They knew we had no idea what we were doing. No idea.

Kym Yancey [00:20:54]:

You know, yeah, they were, they were fabulous. But it was, you know, it was a turning point because, to your point, whether or not we agreed with it or not, once the decision was we're doing this, all right, everybody jump on board, including me.

Sandra Yancey [00:21:09]:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure, sure.

Kym Yancey [00:21:10]:

And you're working on the production to pull the, uh, to pull the thing off. And man, that was, you know, what does that say about risk and opportunity? You know, I mean, you know, the things that you, that you feel really strong and passionate about, you know what I mean?

Sandra Yancey [00:21:26]:

I think, I think that is you have to get really quiet, you know. It's an interesting thing. I, I, I've thought about mentioning this on other shows and I haven't, and, um, because it hasn't— it's, it's seemed like it fits but not as relevant as this moment does to me. And that is that, you know, one of the things that I know most people do is they take a shower every morning. You know, and I don't take morning showers, as you know. I take my showers at night. And, and that— and it— and I take my shower at night for a lot of reasons. Uh, one is I love getting in bed fresh.

Sandra Yancey [00:22:00]:

You know what I mean? I just love putting on my pajamas and being clean and just feeling like I'm getting into the bed fresh. I love that. But the truth is, it also helps me wash off the day. There's a mental cleansing of, okay, you know, all the worries, all the strife, all the frustrations, all the everything. I get to wash these away, kind of thing. And it also really relaxes me, you know, it really quiets everything down. I take a nice hot shower, you know, and, um, and I feel so— I feel ready. My muscles are just ready to just really, you know, soak into the the, the pillow, you know, and, and just fall asleep.

Sandra Yancey [00:22:48]:

Um, but for me, it has been a coping mechanism when I feel, um, alone or lonely or a little unsure. The power of a shower has always just been really good for me, one of those little self-care things that really helps me with my

Kym Yancey [00:23:11]:

stress. Yeah. What about you, Briana? What, what, uh, stands out to you in terms of, you know, lessons? Yeah, experience behind the scenes that you were feeling something and, um, the outcome became something else.

Briana Dai [00:23:27]:

Yeah, well, anytime I advocate for a new idea or something we haven't done before, I get really scared and really nervous about The first one that comes to mind is our 25th anniversary sale. I was like, yeah, we are gonna do this. We're gonna do a flash sale. So it was our 25th anniversary in September. And so I was like, on the 25th of September, we are gonna do a flash sale for our membership, which has always been a no-no. You have always been anti-membership sales or discounts, any discount for that matter of any kind. It's always, you know, you add value, you don't discount your service, you just add value to your service. And I was like, this is gonna be so different and it's gonna be huge.

Briana Dai [00:24:04]:

But when I knew— I knew that there was some kind of hesitation around, I don't think this is gonna really work. I don't think this is gonna pay off the way that you want it to. I was really scared, like, and I

Sandra Yancey [00:24:17]:

really wanted to— Did you think about who you were gonna tell first? Who else was important?

Briana Dai [00:24:21]:

Kym, tell me.

Sandra Yancey [00:24:21]:

Did you have any thought around that or?

Briana Dai [00:24:23]:

I think I called you.

Sandra Yancey [00:24:24]:

You did, I believe.

Briana Dai [00:24:25]:

Yeah, I did call you because I already knew how you felt about it. I already knew that he was gonna be like, no. And I knew that if I could get if I could sell you on it, then you could sell him.

Kym Yancey [00:24:34]:

That was my belief. And you, you, you mentioned it briefly there, but I, you know, we just have never discounted our members ever, ever.

Sandra Yancey [00:24:43]:

And Briana was saying, but that's the message. That's why, that's why we do it, because we've never done it. And it's, and it's our 25th anniversary,

Briana Dai [00:24:50]:

a one-time thing, and it'll never happen again.

Sandra Yancey [00:24:53]:

And you concocted this while we were on vacation.

Briana Dai [00:24:55]:

I did, I did.

Sandra Yancey [00:24:57]:

We were on a cruise, so she was like at the office, you know, putting all the components together. And we come back and you're like, okay. And it's like the 1st of September.

Briana Dai [00:25:10]:

Yeah, yeah. So, you know, and I was like, I, I needed the official buy-in, you know, which took a little while to get, admittedly. And I was like, originally I wanted to do it on our actual anniversary on the 18th, and I just couldn't get the buy-in fast enough to then turn around and pull off the ads campaign and the marketing materials and the emails and all of the things associated with really making it successful. And so I couldn't make it happen by the 18th. So waiting and doing it on the 25th actually almost worked out better.

Sandra Yancey [00:25:40]:

It did.

Briana Dai [00:25:40]:

And it worked out better not only because of the messaging, the 25th of September, 25% off our 25th anniversary, but it was also towards the end, end of the month. And when you have a company like ours where you have managing directors all over the country, hosting events all throughout the month to sell memberships. What we didn't wanna do was do some kind of a promotion that would take away from their success. And so what this ended up being was an end of the month push. Yeah. For them, because by that time most of their events were over. And so strategically it ended up being way better, not only for the company, but for everyone.

Kym Yancey [00:26:17]:

Sure.

Briana Dai [00:26:17]:

And all of the tentacles and everybody involved, because every managing director at this point had people that were prospects. That were thinking about membership but maybe

Sandra Yancey [00:26:25]:

hadn't pulled the trigger.

Briana Dai [00:26:26]:

Right. And they were able to close out the month really strong because of that.

Sandra Yancey [00:26:29]:

So it was— We ended up having our best membership day ever in 25 years.

Briana Dai [00:26:33]:

Yeah.

Sandra Yancey [00:26:33]:

And that really paid off. It was crazy.

Briana Dai [00:26:35]:

But that was, that was, I was, I was definitely nervous. I was definitely scared. But to your whole point, the lesson is really just when you just know, you just have to jump and just trust and just know, like, if it doesn't work out, the worst that's gonna happen is my dad is gonna say, I told you so. Yeah. You know what I mean?

Sandra Yancey [00:26:53]:

Which is pretty bad.

Briana Dai [00:26:53]:

Which is pretty bad. Which is the— what I can't stand that. I know. I can't stand being wrong.

Sandra Yancey [00:26:59]:

Yeah.

Briana Dai [00:26:59]:

You know, like that is one thing about me. I don't wanna be wrong. If I'm gonna, if I'm gonna gun for something, I gotta be— I wanna nail it.

Kym Yancey [00:27:05]:

I thought it was really important. I wanna give you kudos and congratulate you.

Briana Dai [00:27:08]:

You did, you did, you did. And I appreciate that.

Kym Yancey [00:27:11]:

You really made it happen, you know?

Briana Dai [00:27:13]:

Yeah. But you know the other big mistake though? What? That we haven't talked about. What? Which I think we should, because I know I'm not the only one that's done this, but I I think that my— I think I've learned I should not hire people.

Sandra Yancey [00:27:29]:

Oh yeah, you shouldn't.

Briana Dai [00:27:33]:

Yeah. Yeah. I have made some really bad hires, man. And I don't know, I'd like to think I've learned from my mistakes, but I just can't pick them, you know?

Kym Yancey [00:27:44]:

I don't go through that. I mean, that, that is, you know, between Sandra and I, we've hired really hundreds of people over our careers. You know, I think about the agency and you with— yeah, Nexus and— yeah, the Mead Corporation.

Sandra Yancey [00:27:56]:

What?

Kym Yancey [00:27:56]:

Yeah, they're— you know, but I, I will tell you, I have always come to realize no matter how fabulous someone is in the beginning, you got to give everybody space and time, because time either does two things, right? It either promotes you or exposes you. Yep. And you've got to be willing to, you know, like how they seem in that first week or whatever the case may be, you know. And you're so caring and giving that you want to see them have great success, as we

Sandra Yancey [00:28:31]:

do.

Kym Yancey [00:28:31]:

And in the past— I can't say this happens now— but in the past, you would like elevate them into areas that they're like, oh my God, you

Briana Dai [00:28:38]:

know what I mean?

Kym Yancey [00:28:39]:

Yeah, moving them, moving, moving.

Briana Dai [00:28:41]:

What I thought I was doing is I thought I was getting people excited and enrolled and being like growing with us, you know. But what I didn't realize that I was doing, the process of trying to get somebody, like, to see the vision of how you could grow with us, it was almost giving them a sense of expectation and maybe even a sense of entitlement. And that has always bit me in the butt, not only with W-2 employees but even with contractors, you know. Like, I have brought on contractors that, regardless of whether— because hiring friends is a whole other mistake that I will never do again— but regardless if it's a friend I've hired or not, I've had contractors that have come in to work with us who I love collaborating with them, who could help our members, who I have promoted into, you know, doing co-branded offers, who I have then said, oh, this was a really big hit, now let's get you onto the stage. And it just always ends horrifically. It, it ends horrifically. And so that's a whole other lesson too, is not working with friends, not getting people to, um, I— what— how do I want to say it? It's almost like you don't want to give people too much, um, exposure. That sounds harsh.

Briana Dai [00:29:57]:

It sounds like a negative thing to say.

Sandra Yancey [00:29:58]:

I think we set such expectations that they came in— they've come in feeling like they really don't have to perform because it's expected that I'm gonna go, you know, they already told me where I'm gonna go next. I don't really need to prove myself so much. There's an element in there of that or something.

Briana Dai [00:30:14]:

I, you No.

Sandra Yancey [00:30:16]:

Yeah.

Briana Dai [00:30:16]:

And I think when you do give people too, too much visibility, the entitlement does kick in a little bit, is what I've experienced when I have elevated contractors too much and given them too much— I don't know— visibility or kudos. It's almost like, oh, I don't have to work as hard.

Kym Yancey [00:30:36]:

Oh, it really goes to their head too. Yeah. I mean, in their mind they have now elevated themselves, you know, above your expertise.

Sandra Yancey [00:30:47]:

Yeah, it moves from collaboration where we both need each other to you need me.

Briana Dai [00:30:52]:

That's what it is. It's this energy shift.

Sandra Yancey [00:30:55]:

Yeah, it's an energy shift where it's all like, we're going to be so great together, we're such a great team, to now, what, wait a minute here.

Briana Dai [00:31:03]:

Yeah, you know.

Sandra Yancey [00:31:03]:

Yeah. And there's a weird— there has been a weird energy shift I've seen.

Briana Dai [00:31:07]:

And I so want to lift people up and give them that, like, you know, vision of what they could be and see the best in people. And I do still want to do that. But then there are times when it's bit me in the butt, you know? So I'm still trying to figure out that balance of how can you get people excited about the vision and the growth without over— I don't— what's the word I want to use? Without over— overextending?

Kym Yancey [00:31:37]:

Overextending.

Sandra Yancey [00:31:37]:

You know, to the point, my, my advice is that whole thing, better to have love and lost than never to have loved at all. Yeah, you've had— you have such a great heart for people. Would hate for you to ever give that up, Briana, because there are those people out there that will get it, that will know, you know, we're great together. You know, it is in the togetherness. And, and, and, and it's better to have a little bit of something really big than 100% of nothing. So when we can come together, we'll build something really great. And there's enough people out there that at it sometimes. And to be honest, it could be— hate to say this, but I do feel could be a little bit of age, you know what I mean? When, when you've been around and you've had some real tough times and had some hard knocks, you appreciate when something kind of hits and really— and, and you understand that, boy, this is a really great kind of, uh, partnership.

Sandra Yancey [00:32:35]:

And when you haven't had that, it's easy— I think easier sometimes to say they need me. Yeah, kind of thing.

Briana Dai [00:32:42]:

Yeah, I— yeah, I've, I've experienced that now multiple times. It's been a hard lesson to learn, but I think this last time that it happened, most recently with one of my best friends, I never saw it coming. And that to me was the realization of like, wow. It was actually Travis who had to say to me, you know, you always do this with your friends, you always start working with friends. Because I do, I work with my family, so to me it's natural. Like, what do you mean you You can't just— you can't just communicate when something doesn't feel good anymore. You, you have to have a falling out or freak out or get weird about it. Like, why has it got to be weird? Why can't you just have a conversation and then just fix it and start over? Like, that's what we do with the family, right? But not friends.

Briana Dai [00:33:24]:

Aren't that way. Blood is thicker than water, you know, is what I've had to learn. And, um, Travis pointed out a handful of relationships with friends that I started doing work with or business with, and none of them end well. And so I have now learned that there is a boundary and a line that you have to keep, and you don't want to cross that. As much as it could be tempting, and as much as you want to, you can support your friend's business, but don't go into like hardcore collaborations with people because it doesn't— it just will not ever end well.

Kym Yancey [00:33:54]:

It just won't. Having a lesson in high school, I worked for a men's clothing store in Dayton, Ohio, and one of the guys, sales guys, was promoted to assistant manager. Manager, and we were good friends. And I remember one time he told me, he says, Kym, he says, he says, Kym, he says, listen, um, I know we're friends and all that, but I, you know, with where I'm going in the company, you know, I really can't hang out with you like I have in the past. Now, he handled that wrong. He didn't have to say it that way, um, but it, but, but it was his way of saying, you know, I'm an assistant manager, I'm going to go to manager, and I, you know, we just can't be buds, you know, where, where you you know, he was learning and, and didn't know the proper way to manage that with me. He could have easily just on his own just restricted or not had me, you know, go hang out with him like we used to hang out, you know. He could have done it without ever saying anything, just— yeah, you know.

Kym Yancey [00:34:50]:

But, um, it— the point of the matter is his manager is trying to tell him, man, you got to create a little bit of distance here so you don't lose respect. Well, he wasn't losing respect, but Maybe they thought that we were too playful as two guys working in the store, joking and, and that kind of thing. Yeah. Um, but I, I, I know in, in, in business it's just very important that you don't lose, um, the fact that you are the business owner, you are the leader. Yeah. And you know, like, and you've heard me say this at the company, I mean, uh, I love Michael Jackson. I refer to Sandra as— Sandra is our Michael Jackson, meaning that everything needs to evolve around supporting her. And as you move into your role, and, you know, and develop, everything will have to evolve around supporting you, supporting you, supporting the vision, supporting where it's going, supporting, you know, all the new initiatives and those kinds of things.

Kym Yancey [00:35:40]:

Not that other people can't contribute, and they do. Yeah, but it's, it's how it evolves.

Sandra Yancey [00:35:45]:

Yeah. Does that make sense? Yes. And I just want to say again, I think these were lessons that you needed to learn And I don't want you to not try, because I think there's some really great relationships out there that will get it, will understand it, and will be really valuable, you know. And, um, and, and you'll go into them with some shifts of things a little bit different too that will make it— sometimes you just got to keep trying versus giving up.

Briana Dai [00:36:12]:

Yeah, I would like to think that that's the case. It's interesting though, because I've even observed you, and I'm don't want to call you out here, but you got some walls.

Sandra Yancey [00:36:20]:

I have walls. You do? Okay. Yeah, that's probably true.

Briana Dai [00:36:24]:

Yeah, I mean, because there is— you can be friendly and have relationships and collaborate, but there is definitely— there aren't very many people that really get in. Yeah, you know, and I think that it's because you haven't burned so many times as well. And it's impossible, I think, when you've been burned in business by people that you're really close to that you think you have a great personal relationship with, that you've laughed with, you've cried with, you've been confided in. And then when they turn around and burn you, it's really hard to not let those scars turn into walls and create a barrier, you know. And it is, I think, a cost of being successful. Unfortunately, I think we're all going to get burned. And you just kind of learn the hard way that when it comes to business, it really does— unless it's family, you know, which even then Yeah, can be iffy. We have clients who have opted to try to work with family and it's ended horrifically for them too.

Briana Dai [00:37:21]:

Horrifically, yeah. And so it really is the exception and not the rule. And if you know that it's the exception that it's gonna work out and you go into it knowing that. Yeah. You know, you have to be willing to deal with the consequences of that. Yeah. You know.

Sandra Yancey [00:37:34]:

Fair enough.

Kym Yancey [00:37:35]:

Fair enough. Yeah, I, I think one of the dangerous signs for, for families working together is if you feel that a family member isn't pulling their weight. Yeah, like, I've never felt that with you. Like, I've never had that experience. I always— I know how dedicated you are and all that. I'm just saying. But I also know families, because they've talked to us about it. Yeah.

Kym Yancey [00:37:58]:

Who feel like their, you know, son or daughter or whatever it might be is not pulling their weight, or it's

Sandra Yancey [00:38:04]:

coasting, or taking it for granted, making assumptions that they're different and You know?

Kym Yancey [00:38:12]:

Yeah. And you already know that wouldn't work here.

Briana Dai [00:38:15]:

No, for sure. Been there, done that. High school, getting fired.

Sandra Yancey [00:38:20]:

You know?

Briana Dai [00:38:21]:

So yeah, no, I think it's— yeah, having defined roles and knowing what you have to contribute isn't critical. Um, you know, and the minute that it starts to not feel good, it needs to be communicated. I think that's the thing that I have found with my past relationships. And thankfully, I was able to mend one of them. But I did say to her, I said, you know, this isn't the first time I've been here, you know. I've, I've experienced these kinds of relationship fallouts before from work, personal work, work relationships that have fallen apart. And then we lose everything. We lose the business relationship and the personal relationship because there's just no mending it because it gets too muddled.

Briana Dai [00:39:04]:

And— but that's not been the case with my family because we're able to communicate. And so what is it about me that you didn't feel like you could communicate this to me before it boiled over into this? Like, why did you not say something sooner before it had to get to this boiling point where now it's— you know, what is it about me? I, I want to know for my own personal development. And she couldn't answer the question.

Sandra Yancey [00:39:31]:

I think we— this is an ism, but I think women sometimes, uh, generally speaking, certainly there are exceptions, but generally speaking, I think conflict is a real issue for women. And we, we don't know how to hug and make up and move on,

Kym Yancey [00:39:50]:

right?

Sandra Yancey [00:39:51]:

Uh, in large measure. I mean, it's just been something that I think is a learning edge for

Kym Yancey [00:39:59]:

us.

Sandra Yancey [00:39:59]:

Um, you know, and of course, people— when it comes to conflict, people come to the table with all kinds of their own, you know, tapes and stories and things about how that works. And so avoiding it is often a way they think they're handling it, and then it's— as you know, it just kind of becomes a, a powder keg. So, um, you know, relationships are tough and But we gotta, you know, we gotta continue to hang in there. It's worth the struggle.

Briana Dai [00:40:28]:

It is.

Kym Yancey [00:40:29]:

Well, there's no doubt too, at the cornerstone of every relationship is communication. I mean, communication, communication will take you down. I tell people all the time, 50% of marriages end in divorce, you know, 50% of them. And they profess their love to God and state, right? And so we, you know, in business and friends that we've— you know, uh, and our loved ones, if you have to communicate. Yeah, I, I would say as a male, male in the eWomenNetwork, that one of the things that I see is the very thing you're talking about, is authentic, real communication, what you're really feeling. Yeah, really going on, talking about it, you know.— and, um, expressing your, your, your realness, especially in male-female relationships, you know.

Sandra Yancey [00:41:24]:

I mean, it could be— oh, but it's female to female.

Briana Dai [00:41:26]:

Yeah, I was gonna say female to

Kym Yancey [00:41:28]:

female is almost worse. Relationship with couples of any sort.

Sandra Yancey [00:41:31]:

Yeah, you know, one— I think one of the best practices we've put in place to help overcome this is what we call progress and pinches meetings, because the progress and pinches meetings allows us to come together and first talk about what What are our wins? What's gone really well? It's always good to start a meeting out with, you know, focusing on the things that we are accomplishing. And then calling them, instead of just problems, pinches. Here's where I'm feeling the pinch. This pinch is just starting to ache a little bit. This one really hurts, kind of thing. And if you can just frame— have a framework around talking about it, it— and you do it consistently, like we do every single week, particularly in one of our departments where we've got a new person coming in. And so we add a new person and it kind of upsets the apple cart a little bit. It's really allowed for that conversation to happen before it really, you know, bubbles up.

Sandra Yancey [00:42:28]:

And, you know, it's a process I like to spread the word about because it just— it's— I think we've— we can see now how great it has really helped.

Briana Dai [00:42:38]:

Yeah. No, it's so good. So good. Okay.

Kym Yancey [00:42:43]:

Awesome.

Briana Dai [00:42:43]:

Well, hey. A lot of lessons, a lot of, a lot of takeaways here. I think that, um, we should call

Kym Yancey [00:42:49]:

this one a wrap. Okay. You know, wouldn't it be great if we had cocktails and people and we're all just sitting having our little cocktail, whether it's a— or mocktail. This is one of those kind of conversations where they can really go deep,

Briana Dai [00:43:01]:

you know what I'm saying? Yeah, I think that's what I love about the format of this show. You know, I, I, we've never been able to just sit down and have conversations like this. Yeah, so hopefully you as the listener are feeling like you're here with us and just having a real conversation that we can't really have on a stage or in a format. Yeah, any other format.

Sandra Yancey [00:43:24]:

So I love it, I love it,

Briana Dai [00:43:25]:

I love you guys, I love

Sandra Yancey [00:43:30]:

you so much. This is good stuff because, you know, you know, to make it you have to work through these things, you and we know that our audience, you know, she doesn't just mean business. She means millions.

Briana Dai [00:43:44]:

Millions. Millions, billions, billions.