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Leading with Empathy at Scale with Jeffrey Marks
5 Plays1 day ago
Jeffrey Marks’s career has taken him from the high-stakes world of M&A law to building restaurants on the Las Vegas Strip and ultimately to founding Lollipop, a workplace well-being platform that’s changing how companies support their people. In this episode, Jeffrey and Curtis explore how small, authentic gestures can have a massive impact on retention, engagement, and workplace culture. Jeffrey shares candid stories from his early legal career, his experience co-founding Titan Brands, and the personal turning points that shaped Lollipop’s mission. He explains how the platform gives managers real-time insight into employee well-being and equips them with practical tools to respond with empathy. For leaders looking to boost connection in meaningful, scalable ways, Jeffrey’s journey is both inspiring and actionable.
About Jeffrrey Marks:
Jeffrey Marks is a former M&A and securities attorney at a top global law firm, and the co-founder of Titan Brands, a Las Vegas-based hospitality group with four restaurants — two located inside Mandalay Bay and two off the Strip. Today, they’re the founder of Lollipop, a workplace well-being platform helping companies lead with empathy, not guesswork. Their work is rooted in the belief that small, authentic gestures can have a massive impact — and that emotional intelligence should be as actionable as any business tool.
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Transcript
Introduction to Mustard Hub and Guest
00:00:05
Speaker
Hello again, everyone. Welcome back for another installment of Mustard Hub Voices Behind the Build. In these episodes, I speak with the people building, backing, and running better workplaces. I'm your host, Curtis Forbes.
00:00:18
Speaker
Welcome to today's fireside chat with today's guest, Jeffrey Marks. former M&A securities attorney at a top global law firm and the co-founder of Titan Brands, a Las Vegas-based hospitality group with four restaurants, two located inside Mandalay Bay and two off the Strip.
Introducing Lollipop: A Workplace Well-being Platform
00:00:37
Speaker
Today, the founder of Lollipop, a workplace well-being platform helping companies lead with empathy, not guesswork. Their work is rooted in the belief that small, authentic gestures can have a massive impact and that emotional intelligence should be as actionable as any business tool.
00:00:58
Speaker
Welcome to Voices Behind the Bill, Jeff. Curtis, thanks for having me. Been ah super excited for this chat. I love what you guys do. So you're the founder of Lollipop.
00:01:10
Speaker
And it's a company that... in terms of mission a bit in common with mustard hub, right? Reducing turnover, boosting engagement, increasing connection among, among colleagues. Right. So before we go any further, yes let's talk about why lollipop exists, right?
00:01:28
Speaker
um Talking about why it exists it is at the heart of our conversation. And I think really the foundation of what I hope the audience will take away from the episode. So could you share the story behind a lollipop and its creation?
00:01:41
Speaker
I graduated from from law school in 1995, and I'm a person ah kind of grew up in a very emotionally unsafe environment.
00:01:52
Speaker
And had daddy issues. And, um ah you know, I always had some confidence issues and And the first job that I get out of law school, I got set up with, as i was I started as a litigator at ah at a regional law firm and in Orange County.
00:02:13
Speaker
And I got set up with probably the one person that ah somebody with daddy issues doesn't want to get set up with as far as their mentor and and their partner. And um life was pretty miserable both on and off the job.
00:02:30
Speaker
Yeah. ah You know, I never got thank yous. I never got nice job. I never got how are you doing today? And ah very high stress environment as a first and second year lawyer working, you know, 12 hours a day.
00:02:47
Speaker
And um not only was my life miserable and dreadful during the day at work, it was couldn't sleep at night. I was stressed out on the weekends.
00:02:58
Speaker
And um And and and i realized ah later after I started, after I began Lollipop and started my own business that, that a couple of little words from, from, from, from the partner that I was working for, like a nice job once in a while, or a, how are you doing?
Origin Story: From Struggles to Solutions
00:03:18
Speaker
Would not only have made my life better at work, I would have been sleeping at night. I would have been happier. it the impacts of, of work radiated throughout my life. Right.
00:03:29
Speaker
And it, and and it was just a ah few simple things that could have been done that, that, that, that would have made my whole life better.
00:03:38
Speaker
And that's ah so fast forward, um, to 2005. Um, I later left that firm and went on to ah a larger firm, became a corporate lawyer, had a very good experience. And, and, um,
00:03:54
Speaker
Fast forward to 2005, I found myself ah with some legal clients in Las Vegas, really goes back to 2001. And I started building up a legal practice in Las Vegas.
00:04:07
Speaker
And even though I live in Newport Beach and um um so So really what happened was is I got hired out of out of Paul Hastings, my big law firm, is by one of my clients, became general counsel for a large technology publicly traded company.
00:04:24
Speaker
They went out of business in 2001, and I decided to go out and hang hang up my own shingle and um um started business. doing business and getting customers in Vegas. And, and i you know, in Vegas, I started to meet a lot of people and I met ah my my my current restaurant business partner who was in the nightlife space.
00:04:45
Speaker
And um we started a ah restaurant company ah ah called Titan Brands. And it took us a while. We went we we could be because we went up and down the strip. It took us a while to to to to meet the the right people in the hotels and and find brands that they wanted.
00:05:03
Speaker
And we finally landed on our first deal. um we We took a very famous brand legendary bar from Mexico called Husong's Cantina, which is which is the place where the margarita was invented.
00:05:15
Speaker
And the Mandalay, you know, we licensed it, the Mandalay bought off on it and we started negotiating a lease. And this was in 2009 for our first restaurant.
00:05:27
Speaker
And about a month before we were ready to sign it, my my partner, Scott, I got a call and, um he was in motorcycle accident and rendered paraplegic. And I went visited him the hospital and and and Scott said, you know, get we're going to build this company. I'm going to get through this, sign the lease, raise the money, and and we're going to do this. and and And while Scott is still, he's a six foot seven guy and he's still wheelchair bound.
00:05:54
Speaker
um he is he He can walk, you know, with a walker. And a year later after the accident, he actually walked across the threshold
Transformative Impact at Titan Brands
00:06:02
Speaker
at our a grand opening. And um so we opened up Who Songs and in 2010.
00:06:08
Speaker
And then a few years later, we opened up our second venue at the Mandalay Bay. And soon after that, I went into a two and a half year battle with depression.
00:06:21
Speaker
And it was the best and the worst thing that ever happened to me. um And I got through that, but the point being, that because of our personal struggles at Titan, we really prioritize creating a family environment.
00:06:39
Speaker
And we prioritize employee well-being, which which led my partner to implement a manual check-in process with our employees that was so transformational for us that I digitized it, put it on steroids, and and that became Lollipop.
00:06:57
Speaker
i love I love that. I mean, I think some of the best software, some of the best founder stories, right, are all built out of, you know, your your your personal journey. um Human connection and and empathy, I think, are really important in the workplace. And so many employees obviously want to need more support for their mental health and and their overall well-being. And Olipop's a solution for employers who want to meet that vital need.
00:07:21
Speaker
So tell me, Tell me about what is Lollipop. How does it work? What is Lollipop? So the typical ways that companies monitor how employees are doing these days is through engagement surveys. And and and for the most part, they're anonymous. And for the most part, they're focused on knowledge workers.
00:07:42
Speaker
and not frontline workers. And and um let me step back. um Turnover and lack of engagement are just massive problems across the world, across all industries.
00:07:54
Speaker
so yeah It's according to Gallup, $8.8 trillion dollar annual problem, which which is results from people leaving and people being disengaged.
00:08:07
Speaker
And um there's a lot of hidden costs in turnover and take it down to a frontline worker in a restaurant. My average, if I lost a line cook, we lose a line cook at a restaurant.
00:08:20
Speaker
Our average cost of turnover is $6,500. And most of that, that's, that's interviewing, onboarding and training. Most of it goes to training. We've got a have somebody shadow them for a month and train them.
00:08:35
Speaker
And so efficiency to sometimes, right? Some institutional knowledge, efficiency, all of these things for a period of time get lost. Yes. Yes. And you take that up to other industries, um, where where there's knowledge of workers, you know, the cost of turnover, depending on the level of worker could be 50% of their salary. Yeah.
00:08:56
Speaker
yeah The cost of disengagement, disengagement is a huge issue. Um, The cost of employees just not being engaged in their work is estimated to be 18% of their annual salary. So if you've got a $70,000 restaurant manager that's disengaged, the cost is, do the math, I can't do it in my head right now, but 18% of that is what,
00:09:18
Speaker
but is what Our company is losing because of their disengagement. you know through So that's the first thing, the cost of disengagement and and and the cost of turnover, these these hidden costs a lot of people don't know about.
00:09:30
Speaker
And um the way to continue with what I was talking about, the way that most companies monitor how their employees are doing is largely through anonymous surveys. So they get good data and they can tweak things.
00:09:43
Speaker
But the problem is, is they can't undo the ah lack of engagement and the turnover that's occurred since the last survey, whether it be a year ago or six months ago. And the second thing is, is the surveys are anonymous.
00:09:55
Speaker
So you don't know if individual employees are struggling and if they're on the brink of leaving or they're having issues. And um our platform is based on one fundamental principle, which is employees are human beings.
00:10:11
Speaker
All human beings have a fundamental need to feel seen, heard, and understood. Employees that um feel do do not feel cared about are much more likely they're eight times more likely to leave to go across the street for a larger check.
00:10:25
Speaker
And so so what we do at Lollipop is is really simple. um we Instead of doing anonymous surveys once a year, we which are were which are often long and which have very low engagement rates,
00:10:39
Speaker
We pull survey employees without an app. We send them a text or an email once or twice a week and they click on the link and they really answer one simple question. How are you feeling today?
00:10:50
Speaker
So the employees click one of five emojis. Then there's nine pre-populated emojis. emotional reasons why I might be feeling that way, such as I'm just sad, I'm feeling disrespected, I'm feeling overwhelmed, I'm tired.
00:11:06
Speaker
And they can click one or more of those and they can leave a comment if they want. They don't have to. And they click submit. So in five to 10 seconds, once or twice a week, employees, you know, indicate how they're feeling.
00:11:19
Speaker
And if an employee checks in low, It triggers an automatic alert that goes out to a manager or they can skip their manager if they're uncomfortable with their manager getting it. And it explains how the employee check in and prompts that person to connect with the employee.
00:11:34
Speaker
And it's not rocket science. um it's It's just about knowing how to sit down with employees and and and how to actively listen.
00:11:44
Speaker
right it's It's about putting your phone down and looking them in the eyes and letting them talk and not interrupting. and not trying to solve the problem, asking questions, right? It's all those little things that make a big difference.
00:11:56
Speaker
And um um so so it's not rocket science. And what we've done is is we've we we have an advisory board and we've got a Harvard Medical School psychology professor. We've got an organizational culture change specialist that have helped us create very, very short training videos for for managers that train them on the basics of how to approach and connect with the employee.
00:12:21
Speaker
And then we've developed very, very simple tools ah where and um where where a manager can can can can go into our tool set and click on an emotion of how the employee checked in, or they can click on and you know what the employee is going through, whether it's a divorce or whether they're just overwhelmed to whether they're having a conflict at work.
00:12:42
Speaker
And they can click that and very, very bite-sized conversations. Here's how you can open up the conversation an empathetic way. Here's small authentic gestures that you can use, very simple things that have a big impact. And and we can talk about the the the whole small authentic gesture thing in a minute, but the whole thing is meant to be very simple and bite-sized and not to take up a lot of time at simplicity. But what we're finding is, is a lot of our customers are showing 20% decreases in turnover, since the involuntary turnover since they implemented the platform.
00:13:16
Speaker
And their managers are are coming to them, not all of them, but their managers are coming to them and saying, wow, when I approach the employee in this manner and listen to them, the reaction on their face, right? The smile and the look of relief on their face made me want to do this. It's training managers to be more empathetic and it's decreasing turnover.
Lollipop's Industry Applications
00:13:36
Speaker
That's incredibly powerful. And it's so so easy, it's simple. it's this it's ah it's It's a targeted tool that can give, well simple, can give leaders big insights into how their workforce really doing. So that's right what what can leadership, and what are they gonna learn about their team from using Lollipop? And maybe more importantly, like what are they doing with the data?
00:14:01
Speaker
Um, obviously I understand they get an alert to check in with something. Are there things that they do with this, with this data? So we're, so, so, so we're providing them with with, with, um, with data on, you know, average moods, they can break it down by team and, and, um,
00:14:19
Speaker
that That can tell them, ah you know, if they're look if if they look and see that there are certain teams that are consistently lower, um you know, maybe they need to to to to to send that manager to more training.
00:14:33
Speaker
um You know, we're we're we're actually running um analyses of, um for for those employees that leave comments, what the comments showing? You know what percentage of people are um overworked? What percent the people have personal problems versus work related problems?
00:14:51
Speaker
And so, um you know, that is ah pretty valuable data for the employees to see what their employees are going through. And um so, you know, and ah and that and there's other ways that we never thought of that companies are using this data. For example, we've got one of our very early customers is a call center that uses the platform with our call center employees in the Philippines and in the United Kingdom.
00:15:18
Speaker
And, um, uh, they they the way their call centers work is they've got dedicated teams for their customers. They might have one customer that's got 10 Noon Dalton employees that are dedicated to that customer.
00:15:32
Speaker
So Noon Dalton noticed that one team, suddenly everybody declined within a couple of days. All their moves declined. And they looked at the data and that prompted them to go and talk to the team. And what they found out was is They had all been getting angry calls from the theyre theyre their customers' customers so indicating that their products hadn't been there were shit their their products weren't being timely delivered.
00:16:00
Speaker
They took that information and called their client. Their client didn't know what was going on. yeah And their client found out there was an issue with their supply chain. They were able to nip it in the bud and fix it.
00:16:12
Speaker
But their customer, their client, was... extremely happy that Noon Dalton was able to flag this with that data and um and and solve a problem for their customer, which when you know which which which was helped them potentially you know keep a customer for a long ah long period of time.
00:16:33
Speaker
Noon Dalton also uses this, the fact that they import Lollipop and and use them to be Lollipop um as a sales tool. you know they When they're doing sales pitches, they've got a Lollipop slide that says,
00:16:45
Speaker
We take care of our employees and because we take care of our employees, they take better care of you. And these are the kinds of things that happen. Right, right. That's awesome. that's um That's a really neat story. And I would imagine that was sort of an unintended um advantage or consequence, I mean, a positive consequence, right? But sort of unintended, right? We we obviously, we build this software, right? We want to help teams feel better.
00:17:11
Speaker
And then as it turns out, from being able to monitor these things so quickly and more in real time and not having to wait a year for these polls you know for those surveys on Teams, ah we were actually able to get actionable um you know information about a real problem that the business had that we could fix to to keep customers. I think that that's an awesome an awesome story. So what kind of customers...
00:17:35
Speaker
but Tell me a little bit about what kind of customers use Lollipop. We don't have to name specific names, but I'd love to hear a little bit about what the customer type looks like. Is it small business, mid-market, enterprise? are they Is it mostly international?
00:17:49
Speaker
no No, no. Well, just you know you know we're were we're we're pretty new. see And um um we we have launched with customers across different industries trying to figure out like what our target zone is. And so we've got companies ranging from a couple of restaurant groups, including mine, and including ah ah a fast casual concept that that's that' that's pretty large on the West Coast called Levinite Sandwiches to manufacturing companies um to we've got accounting firms that are using. We've got companies that are using this to keep in touch with remote workers, because even assuming that a manager a
00:18:34
Speaker
you know, a high emotional like IQ and can tell when somebody is not doing well, when you've got remote workers, that all goes out the window because you're not seeing them day to day. yeah And so a lot of our companies are having great success using these with remote workers. That's amazing.
00:18:47
Speaker
ah You know, I'm curious, what... I'm curious to hear a little bit about maybe what made these companies turn to a solution like Lollipop. In other words, what were the issues that they were trying to solve? Because like you were mentioning, sometimes we don't know there's things going on in people's lives. So I would imagine it had to be something else. Was it, is it the turnover? Was it general overall sentiment or, or a suspicion that it was low what were the issues that that they were trying to solve that that made them sort of turn to that, um to use Lollipop as a solution?
00:19:22
Speaker
Well, I mean, i think I think the main thing is is is is turnover, and which is what triggers them. A lot of people don't really understand the the hidden costs of turnover and certainly not disengagement.
00:19:36
Speaker
And so, you know, turnover is what um what what drives companies to us. um And, you turnover is what drives companies to us. And, And I think that, you know, again, and I use this term a lot, but it's it's it's not rocket science.
00:19:53
Speaker
It's little things, right, that have a big impact. um A friend of mine called me about 10 years ago and said, hey, Jeff, my wife's name is Evelyn. He said, hey, Jeff.
00:20:06
Speaker
try this, try calling Evelyn tomorrow, just call randomly in the middle of the day and just say something to the effect of, hey, honey, I was just thinking about you. Can't wait to see you tonight or I love you. um And I said, okay, I'll try it.
00:20:17
Speaker
And so I called her the next day and and and and i and I did that. And and it was a 60 second call, but you know guess what? My wife was on cloud nine for two days. It was a small, thoughtful gesture. Amazing how that just transforms relationships.
00:20:31
Speaker
That's right. And and when I saw how 60 seconds of my day could bring this much happiness to somebody, it made me want to do it. and and And that's what we're seeing. there's a lot I think there's a lot of companies that are out there that that do a good job and and take these engagement surveys and gather a lot of data.
00:20:51
Speaker
and And we do that, we gather a different kind of data. But where the other, companies leave off, we pick up and that's what the human connection piece. yeah And that's what keeps people. And, and, and um ah frontline workers are the face of the company. And if the frontline workers aren't happy, I know this in the restaurant business, right?
00:21:11
Speaker
If my, if my, if, if my host is not, it's not happy, that's going to radiate out to the customers. Right. And that's, that has an impact. And the same thing with our servers and,
00:21:22
Speaker
And the same thing with with with with frontline office workers. It's the same thing. and so it's but but But again, it's not little things. It's little things that make a difference. And and but it's bringing awareness to those things.
00:21:35
Speaker
and he Do you think that that the disconnection between leaders and work and their workforce, you know as as well as colleagues you know and in peers, is addressed well enough by employers? like Are they paying enough attention to these things, do you think, generally speaking?
00:21:53
Speaker
No. And there was an article that came out in the Harvard Business Review um about and and this author coined a a term, this Harvard professor called care washing.
00:22:04
Speaker
And care washing is a term that's used to describe companies that ah mental health and wellness is is is is is all the rage down. And you've got companies that are putting out these mental, these initiatives that but there's really not much behind them, right? It's care washing, they're putting this stuff out, but they're not putting their money where their mouth is, right? They're Band-Aids, right?
00:22:28
Speaker
And um um what we're trying to do is stop care washing and start caring, right? Which is human connection, right? It's, you know, wellness programs and all this stuff, they're good, you know, and and and they help, but but what really makes a difference is that human connection and and making people feel appreciated at work and and like they're cared about. and by the way and If somebody gets, if a manager gets ah an alert, it's not always a sit down 30 minute conversation, right?
00:22:57
Speaker
And we've actually got a function where if an um if an employee is going to trigger an alert, it asks them whether they want somebody to connect with them or not. Maybe they don't want to be bothered, right? But the manager still gets the alert in that case and it says don't connect with them. But it does say something to the effect of when we change out the messaging, but Even a, hey, I know you're having a a tough day or you're going through something, I'm here if you need me, right?
00:23:24
Speaker
Even just that goes a long way and has a big impact. It just, it so it went and done when done authentically, it just shows shows that you care and it has an impact on the employee and how they feel and how they feel, ah whether they feel supported and which has an impact on whether they walk down the street to another job.
00:23:42
Speaker
there's a Here's kind of a question from a little bit of a different angle. you know, I, All of this makes so much sense. You know, I obviously with with what we do, i see you know, everything that you're saying is is we align with 100%.
00:23:58
Speaker
I'm kind of curious from your mind, you know, What do you see as some of the causes of that disconnection and the lack of empathy when it comes to the world of work, right? I mean, we can we can we can discover when folks are disconnected. We can ah understand and get data that can show us whether there might be some negative sentiment, right? But what do you see as some of the causes, right? And and how are you seeing these you know changing or evolving over time?
00:24:28
Speaker
Well, I'll start with the the leader of the company. Right. yeah So you've got a leader that doesn't care. um That's going to radiate downwards. Right. and And and and and we're probably not interested in working with a company that's got a leader that doesn't really care. And it's just implementing a platform to check a box.
00:24:46
Speaker
I care washing, even though when you have a leader that cares, you know, well once your company starts growing, that leader can't be, you know, everywhere at once.
00:24:58
Speaker
And so you've got to delegate and you've got to separate, yeah you know, teams by managers who are now responsible for their employees. And so while the leader may be empathetic and may be a YPO member or might've been through Franklin Covey and just might have the empathetic bone in his body um or, or she, um the managers might not have been through a training. and they They just might not know.
00:25:26
Speaker
how to how to work with employees and how to be empathetic. And so, you know, most companies can't go and bring in and, ah you know, send their managers to three-day trainings on how to be empathetic and and how to be more caring leaders, a lot of which is theoretical, right?
00:25:44
Speaker
This, and I think that's why, that that's where the disconnect is. And and i also, I think the newer workforce is, um you know, the younger generation is more attuned to this stuff, right? When I was, when I came out of law school, for example, it was, you're going to grind, you're going to work 80 hours a week and, um and you're getting paid a lot of money to do it and you're going to do it.
00:26:07
Speaker
And the whole mentality has changed, right? and People, younger people place a higher value on being in ah an environment where, where, where they're being in more of a caring environment.
00:26:21
Speaker
not that they didn't before, but I think it's just become more prevalent. Yeah. ah What do you feel like are some of the other areas where leaders could be doing better, you know, by their people, but particularly in terms of their overall wellbeing? Like, are there places where organizations just continue to fall short for the most part? Do you feel like they have blind spots when it comes to supporting people who work for them? And if so, I mean, is it,
00:26:50
Speaker
Is it generational? Is it demographic? i mean, what do you what do you see and where are those areas that they can improve?
Understanding the Costs of Turnover
00:26:59
Speaker
um I think that um you know leaders, are as their company grows, um there's it seems like right they've got to be focusing on the bottom line and on money and on other things.
00:27:17
Speaker
And a lot of people forget that the heart part heart of your business is is your employees. and um And again, i I'll say it again, that that um a lot of people don't really understand the hidden cost of turnover, which is you know beyond the dollars, as you you know indicated, is is the um um you know the fact that somebody is leaving a team, right? The discontent that that caused.
00:27:45
Speaker
The extra burden. right. That comes on the other people while they're trying to fill that gap and bring other people up to speed. And, um, you know, when good people leave companies, it's, it, it just often causes, you know, people to start thinking, right. Like what's going on here. And, and, um, so I don't like that answer, but,
00:28:10
Speaker
So what, what's the, what's the first step, right? For those who want to do it right, you know, what do they, where do they start? You know, cause a lot of them, lot of organizations recognize that the problem exists.
00:28:23
Speaker
Yep. So, you know, if you were going to be coaching one of these leaders, what do you tell them that first step is? Well, the first step is to, uh, is to so subscribe for lollipop.
00:28:34
Speaker
Of course. Of course. But yeah you know, it's, it's really just, um, um, I would, the first step is is first to leadership, educate them themselves and really dig into what is turnover and lack of engagement costing them. Right.
00:28:51
Speaker
Because leaders look at the dollars and um you know, a lot of HR, you know, HR who, who make the decisions don't have budgets, don't have big budgets. And, and but, you know, but the first step is for, for leaders to realize what the ah ROI is if,
00:29:09
Speaker
their engagement goes up and their turnover goes down because I think there lot of leaders that really don't understand the hitting cost of turnover. and And once, you know, and so the the's the financial impact, right?
00:29:22
Speaker
and um and And then yeah to just to start understanding how a little bit goes a long way with people. and And it's got to be authentic, don't get me wrong.
00:29:33
Speaker
it's got, there's gotta be authenticity there because people can read on authenticity care washing, um, you know, a mile away. Right. But it's, it's doing those little things that just show you really, really care. And,
00:29:47
Speaker
you know sentencees and there's some there's small examples um i can give you some small examples of you know for example or if somebody's and and all and all and all this stuff comes up in our tools uh you know it's you know how you start the conversations it's for example um you've got a worker that has been working hard and has you know done a project really well um you know if their manager took two minutes and sent a note to the CEO of the company complimenting how the worker did and copy that worker, man, I mean, it's like the appreciation, right? Just those little things can have a huge impact. We had a, we had a, a customer that um a line worker in a manufacturing company checked in, checked in low a couple of months ago and and they responded to her and they started having a conversation and,
00:30:43
Speaker
And they found out that um just by talking, just by that one question, how are you feeling today? That she'd been living without water and power for like a week because she's got roommates. Her roommates weren't contributing. They weren't paying utility bills.
00:30:58
Speaker
And the last couple of days she hadn't showered. She hadn't slept. And so the company went and put up a few hundred bucks, put her up in a hotel for a couple of nights. She was so happy.
The Power of 'Lollipop Moments'
00:31:10
Speaker
Right. yeah They've got a loyal employee for life because of that, because of um knowing, because of having awareness of what she was going through and making a small little gesture. So $300, they put her up on a hotel, assuming it would have cost for a line worker, you know, based on averages. And we we're very familiar with those $4,500 to replace that worker.
00:31:31
Speaker
Yeah. $300. And they've got a happier employee. They've made a different life. And we call these things lollipop moments. And which are these moments of human connection that have been created through lollipop that wouldn't have been created otherwise.
00:31:46
Speaker
ah We call them lollipop moments. and And so when I first launched this product, I was, I'm a member of this global organization called Young Presidents Organization, which is wonderful organization, which, you know, connects me with people around the world and,
00:32:04
Speaker
when I first launched this, I was talking to the CEO of a conglomerate, uh, manufacturing conglomerate. They've got like eight different divisions and they're, they're based in, in Africa.
00:32:16
Speaker
Okay. And, um, um, and I was telling about, ah about what we're doing and and he said, you know, it's, it's really interesting. He said, um last week I was out having,
00:32:27
Speaker
you know, dinner with my family and a woman came up to me and said, Hey, I used to work for you. She was, you know, and in the administration about 10 years ago. And, and he said, Oh, well, it's wonderful wonderful to see you. what What did you like about working for us?
00:32:42
Speaker
And she said, you know what? I, I remember i like I like working for you. i don't, I don't remember much, but there's one thing that I remember. And she said, my father passed away and you personally made a call to me and took,
00:32:56
Speaker
three minutes out of your day. ah wow. Called to me and say, hey, i want I want to tell you heard about your father. I'm really really sorry. and and and and and and And you sent like a basket to my house.
00:33:07
Speaker
And she said, that's what I remember about working for your company. And it's those little things, right? That's amazing. Those little things, right? Little things like that.
00:33:18
Speaker
Those lollipop moments. Yeah, the lollipop moments. oh Curiously. I mean, tell me, tell me what, what do you see upcoming? You think there's going to be more or less human connection as AI becomes even more present?
AI's Role in Enhancing Human Connection
00:33:34
Speaker
How do you see that playing a role? You know, look, we're incorporating AI into our platform. you know, uh, another story when somebody first, uh, when I first started talking about this and first started onboarding customers, uh, I was talking to a customer on the phone and she said, um, you know,
00:33:54
Speaker
our time clock provider is coming out with this facial recognition thing that can tell how somebody's mood is. So when they check in, so like what's gonna happen with your platform? And I said, oh, that's great. But first first of all, besides the fact that it's intrusive, right?
00:34:11
Speaker
And beside the fact that somebody could have spilled their coffee on their pants a minute before, right? um The fact is, is that AI at least not for the very foreseeable future is going to replace human connection.
00:34:25
Speaker
Right. And so we're using AI to ah implementing AI to help provide suggestions. and And by the way, we, we do not counsel. We just support counseling is for therapists.
00:34:38
Speaker
But AI is not going to replace human connection, not for the foreseeable future. So AI is supplements what we do, but it doesn't replace the human connection piece. Right.
00:34:49
Speaker
And, um, yeah. So one of the, um, one of the things that I always like to like to ask, and as we wrap up, I'm really curious to hear what your advice might be for that next generation of business leaders. I mean, what do you, what do you tell them to do better as a leader, right? When it comes to supporting the wellness of the people that they work with, building that community, leading with empathy, right? Empathy,
00:35:19
Speaker
You're ah you're on you're on an elevator up to the top floor and right before it rings and they walk out the door, what's that one thing that you tell them so that they can get it right from the start? it's It's care, authentic care.
00:35:34
Speaker
And it doesn't have to take up a lot of time or cost a lot of money,
The Importance of Genuine Care in Leadership
00:35:40
Speaker
right? It's showing people that they matter. ah is what's going to keep people.
00:35:46
Speaker
And um you know the the mental health numbers are are are off the charts, right? Mental health issues are at an all time high. And a little care goes a long way. And um it goes a long way.
00:36:04
Speaker
And Lollipop can can help you do those things. There is one more thing I wanted to add if please yeah, um, which is um There's something, you're you're familiar with EAP's employee assistance programs.
00:36:19
Speaker
Indeed. Yes. And so um for any of, of ah most of your audience probably knows what they are, but they're insurance policies that companies buy that provide kind of added wellness and benefits to their employees, like mental health counseling, alcohol and drug counseling.
00:36:36
Speaker
The thing is, is these platforms are grossly underused. These companies pay for them, but they're grossly underused because people, either don't know they exist because they're a lunchroom with any other legal notices. Or if you're like me and you live in California, there might be a couple hundred, a couple hundred legal notices.
00:36:56
Speaker
That's my California joke. Um, a lot of people just don't want to go and ask for help. And, um, So what we're doing is in our ah recent le release, we're launching awareness to EAP programs. So every time an employee checks in, thank you screen pops up and there's a resources button.
00:37:16
Speaker
And that resources button has things like hotline numbers and things, but it also has ah direct links to any employee resource information.
00:37:28
Speaker
<unk>s That's amazing. The resource EAPs that the company has. So you if you need mental health counseling, click here, you can get it for free here.
00:37:39
Speaker
And so we're driving awareness and use of those EAPs, which is also helping employees as well. I didn't realize that. That's actually a really, really cool angle. Thank you.
00:37:50
Speaker
yeah appreciate you I appreciate you mentioning that. and ah And thank you to all of you catching the episode of Mustard Hub Voices Behind the Build. Like and share this episode. Please subscribe.
00:38:02
Speaker
Take a moment to visit mustardhub.com to learn about how we help companies become destinations for workplace happiness and turn culture into a competitive edge. And while you're there, be sure to sign up and get started with Mustard Hub for free. Until next time, thanks again.