Nicole Grinnell, a seasoned entrepreneur with a rich background in executive assistance, shares her journey of launching Bosun, a boutique remote staffing firm, and MikeD Up Booking, a service that helps get people booked on podcasts. With a strong entrepreneurial spirit inherited from a family of business owners, Nicole leveraged her expertise to address a critical gap in skills and availability for business owners, transitioning from being a virtual assistant to connecting talent with business needs.

Nicole's ventures reflect innovative solutions to modern challenges, emphasizing the importance of adaptability, service-oriented leadership, and the power of podcasting in building authority and community. Nicole's story is a testament to the impact of visionary leadership and the transformative potential of entrepreneurship in the digital age.

Want to learn more about Nicole's work? Check out their website at https://www.bosunsolutions.com/.

Connect with Nicole on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-grinnell-b6190515/.

Key Points:

• 00:01:49-00:02:50: Nicole introduces her entrepreneurial background and the inception of Bosun and MikeD Up Booking.
• 00:11:05-00:11:33: Discussion on identifying and filling the skill gap for businesses through remote staffing solutions.
• 00:12:21-00:14:08: Nicole explains the origin and mission of MikeD Up Booking, highlighting the unique challenges business owners face in marketing and sales.
• 00:19:50-00:20:20: Emphasizes the role of podcasting in building business authority and credibility.
• 00:24:19-00:25:44: Nicole shares insights on managing a remote team, stressing communication and setting clear expectations.
• 00:29:28-00:29:50: Contact information for Nicole Grinnell and her companies, encouraging listeners to reach out for collaboration.

Transcript

00;00;51;10 - 00;01;20;27
Craig Andrews
Today I'm excited to welcome Nicole Grinnell. We. Nicole and I have known each other for a little bit. We're in the podcast industry. I have a podcast. She helps people find, get booked on podcasts. And so that's kind of how we met. But Nicole comes from a long line of entrepreneurs and small business owners with childhood memories of Christmas resembling episodes of Shark Tank, of all things, for most of her years.

00;01;21;00 - 00;01;49;10
Craig Andrews
she served as a executive assistant in the corporate world. And, and excelled at and eventually took that and launched her own company, Bosun, which is also a part of MikeD Up booking. And it's a boatswain's, a boutique remote staffing firm. MikeD Up booking gets people booked on podcast. So she's Nicole has her hands in a lot of different things.

00;01;49;10 - 00;01;53;01
Craig Andrews
And I'm excited to have Nicole on the show today. Welcome.

00;01;53;03 - 00;01;55;28
Nicole Grinnell
Thanks, Craig. Glad to be here. It's good to see you again.

00;01;56;01 - 00;02;13;10
Craig Andrews
It's good to see you. Now, when we first talked, you said, oh, I've got an uncle that lives in Austin. Maybe you know him and, like, well, Austin's a big city. And turns out I did know him.

00;02;13;12 - 00;02;15;12
Nicole Grinnell
as a lot of people do in that area.

00;02;15;14 - 00;02;22;23
Craig Andrews
Yeah. So, I mean, well, tell me, tell everybody a little bit about your uncle because he's it's advised presidents.

00;02;22;26 - 00;02;50;01
Nicole Grinnell
Yeah. At least in the fitness department. I'm not sure on, national affairs, but. Yeah. I mean, like you said in your intro, you know, we are a long line of entrepreneurs. I actually can't think too far back of many people in our family that have worked for someone. They all have kind of had their own ventures. And so, my Uncle Paul actually moved out there probably was like late 80s, early 90s and opened up a, running store, run tech.

00;02;50;02 - 00;03;08;15
Nicole Grinnell
Some people may know it and kind of overlapped with. And I'll be fuzzy on the details because I was still a kid, but overlapped with George W being governor, I guess, and so was involved in that and put on many races. And so, he's definitely known, especially in the fitness community in Austin.

00;03;08;18 - 00;03;29;16
Craig Andrews
Yeah. And, you know, in run, Texas, used to have, you know, frame by it's been Austin. You have town that used to be called town. Like I still call it town like I think now they call it Lady Bird like, and there's a trail that goes around the lake, and your Uncle Paul set up kind of water stations on two ends of the trail.

00;03;29;16 - 00;03;39;24
Craig Andrews
So. And he just did that as a service to the community. And so if you're out running on running in the hot Texas heat and you're thirsty, he had water for you.

00;03;39;26 - 00;03;45;00
Nicole Grinnell
Yeah. We never missed a point. an opportunity to market ourselves, that's for sure. So.

00;03;45;03 - 00;03;59;15
Craig Andrews
Well, you know, what's really interesting was I, because I've, I've gotten water from his watering stations. I don't remember anywhere on there saying run, Tex. Yeah, it didn't I didn't think he was promoting it. I don't think he was just doing it because he felt like it was the right thing.

00;03;59;17 - 00;04;15;17
Nicole Grinnell
Yeah, I mean, he's his own brand of himself, you know? I mean, he is definitely known even far beyond just run Texas. but yeah, it's very cool what he's done for the community and giving back and, great business owner. And so, yeah, it's it's for sure in our blood.

00;04;15;19 - 00;04;35;06
Craig Andrews
Yeah. So and then he, Yeah. And he, he was part of President Bush's board of was it fitness border? council, something like that. But yeah, that was really cool. Well, so but you grew up, you're in Atlanta now, but you grew up in Northern California.

00;04;35;08 - 00;04;46;01
Nicole Grinnell
That's correct. Yeah. So outside of Lake Tahoe and then my family kind of post-college settled in Sacramento, Folsom area. So we are all California natives.

00;04;46;04 - 00;04;54;17
Craig Andrews
Cool. And so I was really intrigued by this whole thing of, you know, growing up was like living Shark Tank. What, what happened? What would that look like?

00;04;54;19 - 00;05;19;09
Nicole Grinnell
Yeah. So that and that's definitely more in kind of our later post-college years where we were all figuring out, you know, what we were going to do and different ideas. And, my parents, had a medical lab when I was younger. So we all worked, in that. And now I look back and I think it's funny that I was ten years old at the front desk of a medical lab, and no one seemed to mind that that was going on, but it really was kind of a all hands on deck.

00;05;19;11 - 00;05;37;19
Nicole Grinnell
but even during that, during high school, we lived, very close to Intel Corporation and Folsom. They have a huge presence there. And so I had a lot of RPG programs. So I was I was always exposed to a lot of corporate life and a lot of small business and entrepreneur life. And so I think it just kind of morphed into that.

00;05;37;19 - 00;06;00;04
Nicole Grinnell
So my parents have now attempted to retire twice. They've started nonprofits. They started a, bike product at one point. so we're always thinking, always thinking of different ideas and ways. And, we definitely have that entrepreneurial spirit. Not afraid to fail, love to try, and love to get people involved and find their talents and how we can really work together.

00;06;00;07 - 00;06;10;29
Craig Andrews
Yeah, yeah. When you were growing up in California, there was your tell me something about a story involving a kidnaping.

00;06;11;01 - 00;06;14;27
Nicole Grinnell
Yeah, yeah, yeah. My.

00;06;14;29 - 00;06;16;17
Craig Andrews
Did you.

00;06;16;19 - 00;06;37;08
Nicole Grinnell
Yeah. Well, it's actually funny because we lived in very rural, rural, Northern California. And at the time this was like, I think like 88, 89. So I was probably nine years old or so. And, there was a very well known kidnaping that happened. And it's kind of weird because nobody really thought anything about it. We still, you know, ran around unsupervised.

00;06;37;08 - 00;07;03;21
Nicole Grinnell
It was all crazy. And 20 something years later, they actually found the girl that was kidnaped. And when it came out, my best friend and I called each other because we were like, that's the people that tried to kidnap us. Like they were the ones that came by and tried to talk to us. And the only reason it stood out was because it was a husband and a wife and my friend and I remember being like, why would a woman ever kidnap a kid that felt so off brand of what we thought of Kidnapers, right.

00;07;03;21 - 00;07;22;15
Nicole Grinnell
And so it's kind of a weird things. And sometimes when people will mention, her name was Jaycee Dugard. I'm like, oh, yeah, that was actually up in my neck of the woods. And it was involved us and, you know, seven degrees of separation. But yeah, it was kind of a, a very, self maintained child.

00;07;22;18 - 00;07;32;07
Nicole Grinnell
I would say we were really free to, to go and do and, it was a good experience and you learn a lot. But yeah, there were some wild times in there for sure.

00;07;32;10 - 00;07;40;18
Craig Andrews
Wow. Yeah. Now was when the girl was eventually found. Was was she okay? Was she alive?

00;07;40;21 - 00;08;00;13
Nicole Grinnell
She was alive. but it was, I mean, a horrible situation. She'd been in, like, a shed. I think they found her in, like, Berkeley area and had had children. And, you know, since then, I think is is doing as better as you can, I guess. But yeah, she was physically okay. but I can't even imagine the emotional trauma.

00;08;00;15 - 00;08;04;14
Craig Andrews
You know, I don't know how you recover from that. I mean, obviously you have to, but that just.

00;08;04;14 - 00;08;05;09
Nicole Grinnell
Yeah.

00;08;05;12 - 00;08;07;28
Craig Andrews
So much to work through.

00;08;08;00 - 00;08;10;07
Nicole Grinnell
Oh, absolutely.

00;08;10;09 - 00;08;14;23
Craig Andrews
What was there once their motivation for that?

00;08;14;25 - 00;08;37;09
Nicole Grinnell
her motivation for kidnaping. Oh the woman it was I mean, deranged people, they were a husband and wife. And the husband decided that he wanted to kidnap some. I mean, how do you, you know, whatever is the motivation in that. But, it was a very bizarre situation. And the wife stayed with him. I mean, they were all together when they were when she was found.

00;08;37;11 - 00;08;57;08
Craig Andrews
Wow. Wow. Well, I'm so glad. And this is. I'm glad you're okay. But. What? Yeah. They they asked you to go out for ice cream or something. what do you think gave you the wits about you to to not get in the car with them?

00;08;57;11 - 00;09;19;12
Nicole Grinnell
well, one, there was no ice cream to be found where we live, so, it certainly was not a common request, and we didn't know them. It was a very, small community. we were a lot of just kind of free range kids, but yet there was still an element of protection around us. it was a very highly concentrated Mormon area.

00;09;19;12 - 00;09;41;03
Nicole Grinnell
So I had a lot of really good, faith based, awesome families and kids that we were around. And so it just I mean, we knew that that's not something we would ever do, you know, and we certainly didn't know these people. We knew everyone in that area, in that town. So it I really don't even think it was something we would have contemplated.

00;09;41;05 - 00;09;47;00
Craig Andrews
yeah. Well, well, I'm so thankful that you, that was avoided for you.

00;09;47;03 - 00;09;49;09
Nicole Grinnell
Yeah.

00;09;49;12 - 00;09;56;01
Craig Andrews
So how did we get from Folsom, California to Atlanta, Georgia?

00;09;56;03 - 00;10;20;00
Nicole Grinnell
Yeah. So, post high school, I actually moved to Florida and went to school there at a small Christian college. There. I met my husband. We moved to Tennessee area, went back to California for a time and then decided that we really wanted to get back to the South. my husband is from Tennessee, so Atlanta was just a gray area for, his industry that he was in, which is insurance.

00;10;20;02 - 00;10;34;16
Nicole Grinnell
really liked and knew some people in this space. And so we kind of, on a whim, decided to move. had two kids in tow. No job, just kind of was like, all right, we're going to make this work. And we did. And we really do love it.

00;10;34;19 - 00;10;42;29
Craig Andrews
you obviously have multiple businesses. What went what did you start? When did you start? How how how did you get in business?

00;10;43;01 - 00;11;05;29
Nicole Grinnell
Yeah. so, I actually transitioned into working as an E again, and worked for an amazing individual in an amazing company. He retired and this was like circa 2017. Virtual assistants were the big buzzword at that point. And so, I thought, well, I'll be a virtual assistant. And within really 1 to 2 weeks I had more business and I could even handle.

00;11;05;29 - 00;11;33;04
Nicole Grinnell
And so that was kind of where the light bulb went on and realizing, okay, there what I believed to be true, which is business owners were suffering from a gap of skills and ability to hire, both from budget, just knowing how, you know, having the resources and really an untapped workforce of people that either lifestyle, stay at home moms, empty nesters, didn't necessarily want to climb the career ladder, but still had skills to give.

00;11;33;06 - 00;11;52;18
Nicole Grinnell
And so I kind of flipped the model, got out of being a virtual assistant, and really became a bridge to both of those connections. And understanding what business owners needed and going out and being able to recruit the talent to do so. So that was all like 2017. I really was only a VA for a couple months. Maybe, and then flipped that.

00;11;52;20 - 00;12;03;05
Nicole Grinnell
and along the way, that's kind of where some of the other companies have spurred out of is just seeing other needs that business owners had and finding a way to fulfill them.

00;12;03;08 - 00;12;21;21
Craig Andrews
Very neat. Well, and I've I mean, and full disclosure for the audience, I've worked with, why were your companies miked up booking. I've had a couple guests from miked up booking. tell us about that. What's what's that? What was what was the thought that sparked that.

00;12;21;23 - 00;12;46;10
Nicole Grinnell
Absolutely. So Mike, that was just a fun company. I, I really do love it. It's just a really great environment. The team over there is amazing. But the way that it really came about was, you know, as we were going along Boston, we were also seeing that business owners were struggling with common things sales pipelines, marketing budgets or marketing efforts, and they couldn't figure out a way to really get what they did out into print media.

00;12;46;10 - 00;13;07;12
Nicole Grinnell
They couldn't figure it out. And and I myself struggled with it. I felt like if I could sit down with a potential client, it was a very easy close. I could understand what they needed, but trying to find a Google ad that would convey that it just it was very hard and very expensive. And so we kind of stumbled into and I say we kind of grew up with the podcast community because this was seven, eight years ago.

00;13;07;17 - 00;13;29;02
Nicole Grinnell
And realizing that, you know, most hosts in the in podcast are at a stage of wanting to give back. They're wanting to connect, they're wanting to learn, they're wanting to get people together that they feel like are going to be able to do things and serve each other. And so that was one avenue. And then they were providing all of the marketing content, obviously, the active listeners.

00;13;29;02 - 00;13;52;02
Nicole Grinnell
And so we kind of saw that podcasting and became this one stop shop for a lot of things that business owners were experiencing and pain points. And so we were doing it along the way and where we would have our own staffing client saying, man, I just I struggle with connecting. I don't know, to get pipelines. We'd be like, we kind of have this service and it's really good, and it's only 399, you know, would you want to do it?

00;13;52;02 - 00;14;08;15
Nicole Grinnell
And so I was actually listening to a podcast about two years ago. and it was just talking about making sure that your messaging is clear so people understand. And I realize like this podcast service does not belong in staffing. It doesn't make sense. People are like, why do you even do this? I thought, I thought I went to you for talent.

00;14;08;17 - 00;14;26;21
Nicole Grinnell
And so that's where we launched MikeD Up and really kind of gave it its own legs. And it's just been amazing because now it's really kind of serving as a full PR company. I mean, everything from social media helping host with their own shows, making sure your digital presence is good. We do LinkedIn lists, Google Business Post.

00;14;26;21 - 00;14;37;00
Nicole Grinnell
So it's really kind of a whole one stop PR digital presence shop for business owners. And we've just seen it to be a really, really great solution.

00;14;37;02 - 00;15;02;20
Craig Andrews
You know, one of the things you said there that I think it's important to stress, you said that most hosts are at a point where they're willing to give back. and, you know, the one thing I've learned in the, you know, podcasting world, whether you're a guest or a host, the people who do best have a heart of service, they're looking to serve more than they're looking to take.

00;15;02;22 - 00;15;26;29
Nicole Grinnell
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And that's what I mean. I find that's true just in business in general. But when you are, you know, and I use this comparison a lot because sometimes people will even say, well, I thought about starting my own podcast, and I don't think every business owner is at that stage both in bandwidth and time and ability, you know, and you want to be at that place that you are able to give back.

00;15;26;29 - 00;15;45;26
Nicole Grinnell
You don't want to be starting a show to hope to get something for you. Right? That's that's never going to be successful. But I use this, you know, analogy a lot is, you know, what's easier? Is it easier to come to someone's home for dinner and have it be about you, and you're served and you're able to talk about yourself, and it's the whole night is about you, right?

00;15;46;03 - 00;16;06;02
Nicole Grinnell
Or is it easier to be the one that's serving? You're making the dinner you're cleaning up, you're handling the invites, you're making sure everyone is taken care of. That's really the difference in being a host and being a guest on the show, both equally important, but it you really need to evaluate where you are in your stage of business and what your needs are before you take on one or the other.

00;16;06;05 - 00;16;24;11
Craig Andrews
Yeah. You know, one of the guys that runs with your Uncle Paul, there's a fellow named Jud Sampson, and, Jud and I have had lunch a number of times. And I remember one time we were we were having lunch, and I was reaching for the check, and he was like, no, no, no, no, I got it.

00;16;24;11 - 00;16;39;17
Craig Andrews
You know, we go through the fight about that. And Jud said, you know, my dad taught me something. My dad taught me that if you always buy lunch, you will never go hungry.

00;16;39;20 - 00;16;41;10
Nicole Grinnell
Yeah.

00;16;41;12 - 00;17;07;20
Craig Andrews
Let's and I think that's I think that's, I think that's the case with, with podcasting. It's and as you said it's even broader in life. But you know I have guests come on and they, there's some they're just very clearly there to take. They may go through some of the steps that make it look like they're giving, but they're really there, to take.

00;17;07;20 - 00;17;43;21
Craig Andrews
And I have one episode so far. I've had one episode that I decided not to not to produce and publish. It was because they came on. They did a 20 minute infomercial. And it's like, no, this isn't why people are coming on the podcast. They're, you know, they're they're here to, you know, they're coming to learn something and to get some perspective, you know, and you know, the community that we're building here at Layers and Legacy is legacies is business owners, business owners, you know, not you know, we're not fortune, you know, 100 CEOs.

00;17;43;21 - 00;18;07;00
Craig Andrews
Those are not our guests. you know, we have occasionally we'll have a big header come in just because it's like, you know, that that would be. You know, I think it's ultimately good to hear from some of these outside voices, but we're really looking for people like you that, you and your clients, we've had a couple of your clients on as guests.

00;18;07;02 - 00;18;28;24
Craig Andrews
And the common thread is business owners of small or midsize businesses, you know, just out in the world and, you know, making it happen, you know, stepping on the break every now and then and learning from that. And coming back. And it's those type of lessons that, that I think really make, you know, a dynamic community.

00;18;28;27 - 00;18;48;20
Nicole Grinnell
Absolutely. And I loved what you said there because we tell this a lot, and we've had to shy away from clients who we can tell they're trying to just go on and make this a commercial. And one thing we say as a team is podcasting is a connection. It is not a commercial. So you are there to connect with host with your audience, let them know who you are.

00;18;48;23 - 00;19;04;24
Nicole Grinnell
It's not a 999 buy now commercial. That's not what it is. And you're you're going to be unfulfilled as the as our client. if you feel like you're not getting that ROI and you really need to see it as a bigger picture. And so we also kind of have to vet that as well, because we can sense it.

00;19;04;24 - 00;19;21;03
Nicole Grinnell
Right. We can sense where it's like, hey, air to show why didn't I just close $10,000? And it's like, that is not what this relationship is about. And so, I appreciate you saying that because we can sense it as well and try to shy away because ultimately they're not going to be happy either.

00;19;21;06 - 00;19;50;19
Craig Andrews
Yeah. Well, there's, you know, something I learned from Ryan Dice, who's, you know, founder of digital, co-founder of Digital Marketer. And he drew three circles on board and the circles were and it was a Venn diagram. The circles were authority, acquisition and automation. And he said, when you're operating in the intersection of these three circles, you have a sustainably scalable business.

00;19;50;21 - 00;19;58;20
Craig Andrews
And so one thing that I think everybody should be working on in their business is building their authority, and podcasting is a great way to do it.

00;19;58;22 - 00;20;20;24
Nicole Grinnell
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's giving you credibility, validity. It's allowing people to I can't tell you how many people come through, boatswain, by saying, you know, I heard your story and I know that you are going to be able to help us because I love that you came from small business, you know, and I love that you know what it's like.

00;20;20;24 - 00;20;37;06
Nicole Grinnell
I love that you're still in that, right. I still am a small business. And so, it's really being able to provide that credibility, let people know who you are outside of anything that an Instagram reel, a website, anything is going to be able to do for you.

00;20;37;09 - 00;20;58;05
Craig Andrews
Yeah. So as you've been, you know, whether it's person or whether it's miked up booking, what are some of the lessons that you've learned in running your business? What are some things that, you know, maybe things that didn't go particularly well that you're able to learn and say, hey, you know what, here's avoid this mistake. Here's why I ran into.

00;20;58;07 - 00;21;18;11
Nicole Grinnell
Yeah. Oh, I mean, I feel like we all could write a book on things like that, right? But I think overall, you know, I'm I'm definitely not afraid to make mistakes. not that we aim for that by any means, but I feel like every mistake is a learning lesson. And so we kind of have to evaluate it as a team, as an individual, you know, where do we go wrong?

00;21;18;19 - 00;21;35;18
Nicole Grinnell
What can we have done better? Where did we miss the mark? in fact, Scott Beebe, if you don't know him, I need to connect you with him. He's amazing. But he is a coach down in South Carolina, and he talks about, you know, going over with your team on a monthly basis of like, where did we show who we were and where did we miss who we were?

00;21;35;19 - 00;21;53;21
Nicole Grinnell
You know? And so a lot of that can be found in mistakes. whether it's, you know, we took on a client, we really shouldn't have. We knew they were against our, you know, value service, whatever that was. and then just is there anything that we can implement to make sure this doesn't happen again? Sometimes mistakes are just mistakes, right?

00;21;53;21 - 00;22;14;29
Nicole Grinnell
There's nothing wrong with your process, but you just went off of it, or you made a mistake. But always kind of looking at every opportunity, whether it involves people, whether it was clients, whether it was, processes and just really making sure that you are aligned and can learn from those. But heavens, there's a million mistakes I could, I could tell you about.

00;22;15;02 - 00;22;31;24
Nicole Grinnell
but I think overall is I would just say as a business owners, you've got to had a really thick skin and you got to be really humble. if anybody thinks they're going into this with an ego and that they're going to be their own boss, either life is going to humble you or you're going to self eject from running a business.

00;22;31;24 - 00;22;46;15
Nicole Grinnell
So I think if you can kind of keep that perspective, then those mistakes are easier to roll with. And you can show your team that it's okay to make mistakes. We just need to learn from them, and be able to give grace all around because I need it more than anybody.

00;22;46;18 - 00;22;55;18
Craig Andrews
Yeah. You know, and back when I worked for someone else, when my customers was Siemens.

00;22;55;20 - 00;22;56;18
Nicole Grinnell
yeah.

00;22;56;21 - 00;23;06;05
Craig Andrews
you know, in Germany and, you know, the Germans. Very exacting, very demanding. Siemens, of course, in a major brand, you know, one of the big, you know.

00;23;06;08 - 00;23;08;04
Nicole Grinnell
Possibly they got here too. Yeah.

00;23;08;06 - 00;23;30;20
Craig Andrews
Yeah. And we made a lot of mistakes. And it was my job to go to Siemens and communicate the mistakes. And one of the things I had to remember, and it actually taught me in the process, there is no such thing as a perfect company. We all make mistakes. Yeah. Where you differentiate yourself is responding to those mistakes.

00;23;30;22 - 00;23;50;27
Nicole Grinnell
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's you know, I always joke that I have a long fuze until I don't. So it takes a lot to get me to that place. But it's really because I want to make sure along that way we're evaluating it. What can we do better. Are we repeating mistakes? You know, it's I mean, there's so many steps in that.

00;23;50;27 - 00;24;10;18
Nicole Grinnell
But, I think every mistake is definitely a lesson to be learned. You just don't want to keep repeating them. That's that's the biggest thing as a business owner, right? Is it can't just be a free for all mistakes. We need to evaluate why this is happening. But, you are going to make mistakes. And a lot of that.

00;24;10;20 - 00;24;17;02
Craig Andrews
Now, the other thing you do is you have a I believe a lot of your team is remote.

00;24;17;04 - 00;24;19;20
Nicole Grinnell
Yeah. Actually everyone is. Yeah.

00;24;19;22 - 00;24;29;06
Craig Andrews
And so for somebody who's managing a remote team what advice would you have for them. What's the biggest thing that you've learned that's been successful for you.

00;24;29;08 - 00;24;46;29
Nicole Grinnell
So I would just say like a lot I mean obviously communication that seems like a no brainer. Right. But then, you know, this is something that we really have to do with our clients is when you're remote, there's so many things intrinsically that get missed when you're working in an office, how someone likes to communicate what's going on with them at that moment.

00;24;46;29 - 00;25;04;03
Nicole Grinnell
Right. Like you're not going to walk in and you see your boss stressed out door shut and just barge in and say, hey, did you want me to go ahead and do you know? So there's little things that get missed. And so from the leader standpoint, you have to kind of go above and beyond to make sure expectations, communication is there.

00;25;04;05 - 00;25;23;00
Nicole Grinnell
because you're going to ultimately be frustrated as well. And the person that's working for you is going to feel like they're just in the dark. Right? And so, it's hard for business owners to delegate. And I get that. But I think, you know, beginning that trust, having those communication in those conversations and then just setting expectations.

00;25;23;00 - 00;25;44;11
Nicole Grinnell
So, you know, you can't get mad at someone when you have thrown over something on their lap and communicated no timeline how you like things done, what this should look like, maybe an example and then be like, I can't believe you just brought me this mess. Well, you haven't laid out expectations, and especially in a remote environment that's even more challenging because they are kind of on their own.

00;25;44;11 - 00;26;03;17
Nicole Grinnell
So, that's kind of from our own client side. Interpersonal for both. In one thing we did realize and we know from business owners is they don't have the time to give the lovey warm and fuzzy feelings to all these, these remote team members. And, you know, they they've got their own head down in what they're trying to build.

00;26;03;17 - 00;26;24;10
Nicole Grinnell
And and I respect that. I mean, I, I feel that feeling. And so one thing that was really important to us is for us to be able to provide that. So for all of our team internal and our contractors that work with our clients, we are doing monthly birthday parties, giveaways. We have Facebook groups going, we have IT support, we have relationship managers with them.

00;26;24;17 - 00;26;37;05
Nicole Grinnell
So we can kind of feel like that co-working presence for them, that they have resources to go to, that they have coworkers with their boss and team members, and that burden is not put on that business owner.

00;26;37;07 - 00;27;28;20
Craig Andrews
Yeah. Oh that's awesome. Well, I do hope people will reach out to you, especially for miked up booking. I just, you know, full disclosure with the audience. You know, I've had a couple of your clients on the thing that I really liked is you're the only booking agency, and there's a lot of booking agencies out there. You're the only one that, you know, kind reached out to me to say, hey, let's, you know, I understand what you're looking for and, who who you're looking for and, you know, for those are trying to get on podcasts, you know, most podcast hosts get tons of applications, you know, and, you know, right now,

00;27;28;22 - 00;27;57;06
Craig Andrews
out of ten applications, I'm turning down eight, 8 or 9. And so, you know, the challenge is to be that 1 or 2 out of ten that actually get invited on the show. And and so my, my advice to the, you know, anybody listening is I would call Nicole because one you're Nicole, your team is great.

00;27;57;09 - 00;28;08;16
Craig Andrews
And two, you know I've found that work really hard to to make sure to find matches. between hosts and guests that really make sense.

00;28;08;19 - 00;28;24;10
Nicole Grinnell
Yeah. You know, it's funny because even when I'm talking with potential clients, I. And about miked up in there, I'm like, listen, we want to know who you want to be in front of. And equally, we want to have the right audience for our hosts. I mean, you got the host. The host is what keeps us in business.

00;28;24;10 - 00;28;41;17
Nicole Grinnell
We want to make sure our hosts are happy. They've got guests that are showing up on time. They've got guests that are relevant to their demographic and their audience. And so it's equally that, you know, it's funny because in a lot of ways, it's like what I do with Boston, right? We've got a client that has a need and we have an individual who wants to work.

00;28;41;17 - 00;29;05;02
Nicole Grinnell
And so we are really making sure to hone in the right skill sets, personality, demographic experience and matching those. And so we don't want to do the spray and pray of podcasting, which is very I mean, I've done that. People have put me on shows where I'm on like golden retrievers monthly, and I have no idea what I'm doing here, and I'm trying to find an angle to somehow get an get involved with this audience.

00;29;05;05 - 00;29;21;05
Nicole Grinnell
And so we do we want to make sure that that's very custom and people walk away. And I can't tell you how many of our clients and I know from my own experience, they get off and wind up doing business with the host because it is that targeted. And they understand, you know, the audience that they're hoping to reach.

00;29;21;05 - 00;29;25;05
Nicole Grinnell
So I appreciate you saying that because the team over there is really amazing at that.

00;29;25;07 - 00;29;27;29
Craig Andrews
Yeah. Well, how did people reach you?

00;29;28;02 - 00;29;50;06
Nicole Grinnell
Yeah. So if you want to go to our website, it's just miked up Booking.com. So in my seed up and you can fill out information there or feel free to email me directly. It's Nicole and I c O'Reilly at Boston solutions.com Boston. And we would love to get to know more about you and always never shy away from a conversation.

00;29;50;09 - 00;29;52;24
Craig Andrews
Nicole, thanks for coming on Leaders and Legacies.

00;29;52;26 - 00;29;57;03
Nicole Grinnell
Absolutely. Thanks, Greg. Appreciate it.

00;29;57;03 - 00;30;25;29
Unknown
This is Craig Andrews. I want to thank you for listening to the Leaders and Legacies podcast. We're looking for leaders to share how they're making the impact beyond themselves. If that's you, please go to Alize for me.com/guest and sign up there. If you got something out of this interview, we would love you to share this episode on social media.

00;30;26;01 - 00;30;49;11
Unknown
Just do a quick screenshot with your phone and text it to a friend, or posted on the socials. If you know someone who would be a great guest, tag them on social media and let them know about the show, including the hashtag leaders and legacies. I love seeing your posts and suggestions. We are regularly putting out new episodes and content to make sure you don't miss anything.

00;30;49;13 - 00;32;59;27
Unknown
Please go ahead and subscribe your thumbs up! Ratings and reviews go a long way to help promote the show. It means a lot to me. It means a lot to my team. If you want to know more, please go to Alize for me.com. or follow me on LinkedIn. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time.