Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Fresh Leap
272 Plays2 years ago
You've taken the leap from golden handcuffs to working for yourself. It's day one, what do you do? If you're Kristi Krayneski, you make a list of all the folks you think you can help, maybe panic for a moment, then get to work.
This week we're talking with Kristi, Business Strategy Consultant and Coach with Envision Success, about the transition from the C-Suite to coaching. We'll discuss the key things that encouraged her as she made the leap, how teaming up with someone can help you hit the ground running, and the importance of a supportive spouse. Plus, the value of continued coaching and how Kristi's experience and passion can help you move from strategy to execution.
To learn more visit https://www.envisionsuccessinc.com/
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Uncommon Life Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Everyone dreams of living an uncommon life and the best asset you have to achieve your dreams is you. Welcome to the Uncommon Wealth Podcast. We're going to introduce you to people who are living uncommonly. We're also going to give you some tools and strategies for building wealth and for pursuing an uncommon path that is uniquely right for you.
Meet the Hosts: Philip Ramsey and Aaron Kramer
00:00:27
Speaker
Hello, everybody. Welcome to another episode of the Uncomfortable Podcast, where I'm your host, Philip Ramsey. And I am Aaron Kramer. Thanks for tuning in. We have an amazing guest for you today. I'm grateful that you guys are taking the time.
Guest Introduction: Christi Kranowski
00:00:38
Speaker
Thanks for taking the time to listen to this crazy episode, crazy podcast about us trying to encourage people to take this wild leap of faith.
00:00:48
Speaker
And jump in and believe in themselves, invest in themselves. We have Christi Kranowski today.
Christi's Career Shift to Consulting
00:00:55
Speaker
She has just jumped off this proverbial bridge. She is at the point where she was at this job for 16 years and she decided, you know what, I'm going to bet on myself. So that's why I wanted to get her on. Let me give you a quick bio. So Christi is a business strategy consultant.
00:01:11
Speaker
with years of experience as a chief operating officer in financial services. She has helped many high performance companies achieve high performance results. Welcome to the show, Kristi. Welcome. Thanks, Philip. Yeah. Okay. So Kristi and I have known each other for quite some time.
00:01:28
Speaker
I've always enjoyed my experience with her. I kind of had her past life. That's how we got connected in her financial services past. That's how we got connected, but I always was impressed. I think everybody interacts with Christie. You are always impressed. So how did you get to this business?
00:01:47
Speaker
consulting, like how did you get to where you're at today? So let's just talk about what you do on a day to day level. And then kind of like rewind of like, how did you get to this point? Because I have a feeling a lot of your experiences have kind of led you to this point, but let's just first talk about what is it that you do.
00:02:04
Speaker
Sure, as a chief operating officer, you tend to be someone who has a wide breadth of knowledge, a little bit of HR, a little bit of finance, how to help business processes get better. So sometimes when you're kind of in that executive level, you have a deep knowledge like in finance or one particular area.
00:02:28
Speaker
But normally, operating officers tend to kind of ebb and flow across the organization, different types of projects. You know, that's how we ran into each other, Phillip. And so really trying to take 15 years of what I would say is
00:02:46
Speaker
experience in a lot of different areas and then really trying to capitalize on what is I'm really great at and execution, implementation, motivating people through change, really trying to help an organization achieve something they really didn't even know if they had the right skill sets to get started.
Motivations and Core Values
00:03:10
Speaker
And you have no idea how many people need what you are now going to do and help with. And I'm sure you felt like that when you were in your financial services area, right? And I think that you were doing that more for the company that you were working with, but you always had this kind of feeling, and I felt this too, just in our business, you always had this consultative approach where you were like, well, yeah, like let's
00:03:33
Speaker
Talk through that again, or what about this would work. So I could tell that you were always leaning in and out to other people, but I felt like the company that you were in were like, but no, we need you to do that here. So what a fun thing now to do this every day.
00:03:48
Speaker
Right. Yeah. And being able to help different types of businesses. Again, I haven't always been in the financial services industry, have some background with trades and construction. And so really trying to take
00:04:05
Speaker
25 years of a career and really kind of set it on a different course and have some autonomy of what types of projects to choose, where do I feel like it aligns with the strengths that I can bring to the table for a company.
00:04:24
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it was a hard choice. You know, anytime you decide to reevaluate like, you know, 15 and a half, 16 years at a specific place, that took a lot of self reflection. Oh, yeah.
00:04:41
Speaker
relationships are a big deal for me. Um, you know, and I had a lot of them, um, not just internally, but with external partners and different people that I worked with in that company. So it was not an easy, um, decision at all. Right. So like through this long timeframe, they said it helped build you.
00:05:03
Speaker
the 25 years, what are like the top three things that you feel like really helped mold you to like take this leap? Oh, good. Aaron Kramer, everyone. Look at that.
00:05:16
Speaker
Well, I'll say there's one thing I watched. My dad was a really dynamic guy. He worked for one company for 49 years, but he always had the desire to be self-employed and he never took the leap. He always felt like he was putting too much at risk. Some of his ideas were kind of in the retail space, so it would have taken a lot of capital to get into that.
00:05:45
Speaker
So, I really didn't want to have a regret that I hadn't felt like I could do this have a lot of background that you know I was going to bring to the table so that was one thing. The other is.
00:06:01
Speaker
I really liked the idea of choices, like the types of projects, the types of people you get to work with. And when you work for one place, you don't, I mean, there was lots of work and I was blessed to be able to work on a wide variety of things, but I think I was getting to the point where it's like, I'd like to pick and choose some of the things
00:06:29
Speaker
I can influence and provide growth too. And that kind of leads me to the third one, which is a core value of mine. I was blessed with a lot of leadership training and they poured a lot of resources into me in my 15 years, but one core value I go back to is I love to cultivate growth.
Collaborations and Consulting Strategies
00:06:51
Speaker
And whether that's through people or watching a business achieve the next level of like revenue production, like that's always kind of been an underlying driver for what motivates me, what kind of inspires me to do great work. So yeah.
00:07:09
Speaker
How do I bring all of that together and kind of go out on my own? So Envision Success is the company that you are now started or created or like partnered with? Like how did that work? I'm partnered with. Heather Legg has been in business doing executive coaching and training for 16, 17 years.
00:07:34
Speaker
I really didn't necessarily have a desire to create like the website infrastructure.
00:07:44
Speaker
I really wanted to focus more on really kind of being able to partner and come alongside some of the businesses that had approached me right out of the gate. So it made sense. And so I'm thankful she has a really great reputation. She's welcomed me. We've got some ideas of different ways we can kind of utilize both our skill sets. So kind of excited to see where that leads. Don't have a lot of
00:08:13
Speaker
Um, in that world yet, but yeah, it's always, it's always easier when you can tag along and kind of follow a process that's already been proven, especially when you're ready to take this leap off of, and for those avid listeners, I know we have so many, they probably just heard the golden handcuffs.
00:08:31
Speaker
podcast that we just did with Steven. And so you have to have some either challenge or obstacle that you're like, I just can't overcome. And these things in your past, like you talked about are just so overwhelming that drumbeat inside of you is starting to get like, I gotta do this. But it's such a scary thing. And sometimes you get lost.
00:08:50
Speaker
And just like the admin of like, well, how would I do my website? How would you do? And you never do anything. So to be able to attach yourself to Heather in this example and envision and success gave you this like, okay, like now I just have to go focus on the relationships that I know I already have. And I can follow in the process that we know that already works. And so what a great idea. So let me ask you this because, um,
00:09:14
Speaker
Pricing. Pricing is always the scary part. Maybe you just did Heather's or maybe you didn't. Like, how did you come to your own like pricing with this going on? Yeah.
00:09:25
Speaker
Yeah, that's a great question. She definitely had some suggestions and with her years of experience, weighed in on it. Although we do a little bit of a different type of work. I also have a great network. I mean, and so I know people who are self employed and who are in the consulting. Yeah.
00:09:47
Speaker
and who have even tried it and gone back to maybe a corporate job so i would say you know the first few weeks i spend a lot of time coffee people were very generous and sharing even some of their fee schedules and then talking me through
00:10:05
Speaker
like early on their value, some of the obstacles they had. And I would say the other thing, I got a lot of advice on like, this can be lonely. So figure out ways to like, have
00:10:20
Speaker
collaborative timeframes with others. And, you know, yes, the autonomy is great, but you're going to want to make sure that you have like these professional collaborative groups, or you probably will go a little bit insane. When you're on the canoe and you're in the middle of the ocean, you can go crazy quick. Yeah. Very good advice.
00:10:46
Speaker
Yeah, so I was fortunate in the fee space to have some people who have already kind of forged the path, share their knowledge, their insights. And then, of course, they're like, but it's always up to you.
00:11:01
Speaker
Yeah. And you never know, like there's some people who I would say, let me just use my own example. Like what I thought I was going to get in this financial services and managing people's money. I thought I have all these relationships. They're going to give me all their money. It's going to be super easy. Couldn't be further from the truth. And, and it's not that they wouldn't, and they ended up being clients and praise the Lord, but
00:11:21
Speaker
At first, like, I think everyone just like, Hey, this is awesome, Phillip, but you're just newer at this. Like, let's just see how this goes for a while. And so has that been your experience too, of like, as many relationships as you have, it's not like they're not ready to use you, but maybe they're just kind of like, it's maybe not the right time now, right?
The Entrepreneurial Leap: Challenges and Emotions
00:11:40
Speaker
Yeah, I would say it's been a little bit all over the board. I have one person who had worked with me pretty closely on a couple of projects over the last probably five, 10 years. I don't there. I didn't have to explain what I did. You know, it was like they've already seen it in action. So, yeah.
00:12:01
Speaker
And then I would say other people, because chief operating officers are not necessarily the public face. I mean, you're more known in the organization than outside the organization. So although great relationship, have a lot of experience, maybe networking together. The best probably piece of advice I got from someone like that was
00:12:28
Speaker
you need to start practicing your value proposition and get really great at it. Yeah, it's a hard one. Yeah. So what is it? What would you say your value proposition is after you've now worked on it and honed it? Give it to me, sister. Well, I think I'm still doing that. I'm not. I think my biggest hurdle is I don't like to talk about myself or brag about myself. Yes. Yes. So we're going to pull that out. Yeah.
00:12:57
Speaker
So if I had to off the top of my head, it's, you know, I help companies bring productivity and profitability through fractional COO projects, helping you generate revenue and productivity.
00:13:14
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's good. I think that's good. And also too, like I've never had that's they call that an elevator speech for those people who aren't in sales. And like, I get Tourette's when somebody's like, well, what's your elevator speech? I'm like, what? Like, and here's why. And I think you're the same person. You and I are like kindred spirits. Here we are. Uh,
00:13:32
Speaker
I feel like it just seems like so canned when you have to pull out something and you've said it 9,000 times. Like I know that person of like, oh yeah, you've rehearsed that so many times. It makes me sick to my stomach. And so what I always do, and I think this will be, you can adopt this and do what you want with it.
00:13:50
Speaker
I would say, well, here, let me just tell you what I did yesterday. Cause like to really describe what I do, I don't really know if we have enough time for 30 seconds, but yesterday I just helped two people start their own business and bet in them, bet in themselves, show them that they're the best asset and they had assets that they can use in order to go get their dreams and get excited about life. Huh?
00:14:11
Speaker
And that was yesterday. I haven't thought about that. I mean, I just literally just said that was yesterday. So there is something natural about that, that you're like, man, I want a little Christie in my life. Like I wanted what you're doing for other people. And also this whole COO thing to help people get efficient.
00:14:27
Speaker
and things like that. And there's this gray area in businesses where you're starting to grow and you kind of need a COO, but there's no way you'd be able to hire a COO. So it's a perfect niche for you to go in and help people scale that up. And then just to edify you, it just sucks to talk about yourself. So it's way easier to talk about other people and them getting traction. And then you're kind of the Yoda,
00:14:52
Speaker
Like don't be the Luke Skywalker because nobody really wants to hear that, but you can be the Yoda and you can tell the Luke Skywalkers that you just trained and kind of push the attention off to them. So I really, I'm, I'm totally get there. So you take this jump and this leap and climb. You're in 16 years, uh, financial services. You get up on this bridge, you know, that your parachutes packed, you look over the edge.
00:15:16
Speaker
And you lean forward and you take this jump. Okay. And this was like, what? A month ago? Like this hasn't been long. Just so our listeners understand. How long ago was that? No, not five weeks. Five weeks. Oh man, we're in that adrenaline thrill. Yeah, that adrenaline thrill where like the parachute hasn't opened yet.
00:15:33
Speaker
But you are the momentum is starting to go down, which is scary, right? And that's why you have to have a community. But what was your first day like, like your first day, not in financial services? What did you do? What did Christy do? Well, I started to write down everybody who I thought
00:15:57
Speaker
I might want to chat with, might want to talk with. I mean, you were one just kind of, here's what's happening. Here's the news. Um, I also really started to, I would say dream a little bit. Like, what could you be doing? Um, and then I'm not going to lie. The opposite side of that coin is, you know, I'm not in my head. I'm like, what did you just do? Yeah. Like,
00:16:24
Speaker
Walking out of those doors for the last time, you got to be like, I'm excited. I want a ball at the same time. Yeah. I do go from being like, Oh, that's exciting. I better do more work around that. And to, are you stupid? Oh, Christie, I love your attitude. And if it doesn't feel like that, then I, you know, I think it just shows that it has meaning. Like, yes. Keep saying it.
00:16:54
Speaker
What, did you have a defining moment where you're like, yes, this is what I love doing. Cause you know, you, you bring a lot of value to people and help them and seeing people succeed in the way you can bring it brings a lot of happiness. Cause if not, then you want to be doing this. You know, you look helping people. What was that moment where you're like, okay, I'm doing it. I'm doing it. Well, you know, uh,
00:17:18
Speaker
I really love to see somebody learn something new or actually achieve something like when we started three months before they're like, no way we're doing that. And I'm like, yeah, I think we can do it. Yeah. You know, I think this is possible.
00:17:35
Speaker
It's that moment of like, it's between like the leadership part of it, the tactical like application of just moving forward, like the, you know, the more you take the steps forward, something starts to happen, the energy starts to change.
00:17:53
Speaker
You know, I, I often joke to people I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up, because I have a wide, like I said, a wide breadth of experience knowledge, different industries, different things. But at the end of it, it's I love to see people achieve something that
00:18:14
Speaker
they were dreaming about but they honestly thought no way we're going to be able to do that and I was fortunate to work for a company that allowed me to work on projects that were really kind of changing the landscape of the
Consultative Approach and Emotional Intelligence
00:18:27
Speaker
company from the inside and so I hope in this journey that I get to be able to have that same kind of impact for different types of businesses and the the clients that I can work with so
00:18:41
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. And that's, it's funny that you said, cause I think my definition of mentorship is a little bit what you said. It's like when I, or somebody's pouring into me, they see more potential in me than I see myself and they're willing to prove it to me. Like, is that what I said? It's like, that's kind of what you are. There's your elevator speech a little bit, but, but like, and here's another thing I want to take kind of two steps back.
00:19:03
Speaker
And like, just tell this is the kind of person Christie is like in a character perspective. Like her first day, she started writing down names of people that she could maybe go reach out to. It wasn't like, well, I had this list for four months because I was already checked out of my old gig. Like you finished strong. I can only know. I mean, I know your character. So you finished strong and then you started like, let's go day one.
00:19:27
Speaker
which is really cool. A lot of people would not do that, especially when they're going to do a big scary thing like you were going to do, but not Christie, you know, like you stayed in it, you finished strong. So I just, that's, that's a huge deal. And I think it says a lot about your character.
00:19:42
Speaker
Yeah, I appreciate that. Yeah, totally. Switching gears, what is your process when you meet a client or like what do you take them through to kind of like give this consultative approach, but also get enough insight to say like, Hey, this is I think a couple things.
00:19:57
Speaker
And like you said, like the financial services company that you were with was really an innovator. And it's kind of in your DNA to like, let's, let's just scrap it all. Like, I think there could be a better way. And I love that DNA of yours. Like that is your true, I think underlying core value of like, Hey, things don't have to always be the same, but what's your process to try to like understand the client so much that you can start giving them advice?
00:20:21
Speaker
A lot of times you got to start. Most people will kind of give you the high level of like we were trying to do this we've maybe six months 12 months, we just can't seem to get it.
00:20:36
Speaker
executed, or, you know, maybe we don't have the right people doing the right things. It goes back to kind of some of those simple sales principles. I think you have to be asking a lot of questions. And I think you have to be listening. And I think one of the things that I don't know if it's my gift or just an innate strength, but being able to like connect dots when people are
00:21:03
Speaker
You know, talking about the problem, like they may say something and then a few minutes later they say this and it's like, well, those two things might actually go together and you haven't really thought about that. And I know, Phillip, in working with you, you have a similar quality in
00:21:20
Speaker
I think when you worked in trust and wealth management and you know you're talking about people's legacies and their life and right you have to be really great at listening and then also being able to either explain it in a way they've never thought
00:21:38
Speaker
or connect dots that they've not been able to connect because they're emotionally connected to it or, you know, there's lots of things. So that wealth management background and trust background, I mean, I've seen the best sides of families and I've seen some of the worst sides of families and 15 years of trust work. And I think just walking into the conversation, knowing that I need to be learning,
00:22:07
Speaker
I, a lot of times I don't have the solutions out of the gate because you do have to get to know the situation, the people. Um, you know, there's a wide grouping of things that come together to achieve like a strategic goal. Um, you know, emotional components start to play much like the wealth management.
00:22:30
Speaker
Yeah. And like kudos to Heather because like you really can't teach that. Like those are the two right answers to that. It's, it's ask questions and listen, like it's not just ask questions and then push them into a corner. Cause this is what you're going to do. It's listen. And then I would say not only is it, and I think you're great at connecting the dots, but it's also sometimes to show people like the dots that you thought were connecting are completely opposite of what they are.
00:23:00
Speaker
Does that make sense? Sometimes people come to me and it's like, hey, I want to retire. I'm 55. Perfect. Where's your money going? My 401k. Well, you realize it's not really easy to get that out before 59 and a half. So what you're saying and what you're doing are kind of different. Let's just talk through that. And so sometimes those questions are to show them a little mirror of, hey, help me understand how this works. And a lot of times they'll like, oh.
00:23:29
Speaker
Interesting. I never really put the two together. I just thought I was supposed to do this. Right. And I think that's what you guys do and have always done in what kind of that trust background, it's like you are really trying to solve some pretty complex problems that have a lot of really good answers.
Quantifying Consulting Value and Relationship Building
00:23:48
Speaker
Like, yes, it's there's not a one size fits all. Unfortunately, for retirement planning, there's a million ways to get there. Yeah, right.
00:23:57
Speaker
Right. So, yeah, I mean, I've never really felt like you could you could solve a problem for somebody without really listening to what they've done, how they've tried to solve it themselves. Yeah. What they're actually hoping to achieve. Yeah. And my hope is that I give them that whole like a different perspective on how to solve the problem. Yes. Here's three different alternative solutions. Have you tried any of these?
00:24:28
Speaker
Oh, so good. And then I'm going to let Aaron talk cause I'm just like totally kai blowing. Sorry. Just love you, Christie. Um, so not only is it solving problems for companies like I want to, and you probably do this. So if I'm going to cast a vision for you, I think it's important that they also quantify the problem in dollars. If we solve this problem, how much would it mean for your company?
00:24:54
Speaker
Does that make sense? And I feel like I do a very poor job of monetizing the value that we bring in a service aspect or you could bring. And so I think that's something that is, if I was sitting where you were at,
00:25:10
Speaker
I would need somebody like me to say, hey, see a lot of me and you, like have them quantify what the problem means in dollars. Like, gosh, if we could solve this, it would probably mean that like, huh, okay, then this is a pretty big deal. You know, like, and now we just have something that we're all looking at, like, all right, let's solve this thing. And then it's like, I'm going to do this however I have to, because it's so worth it, right? You're going to say something. Well, it's funny you say that because when I first started, like, if I go down this path,
00:25:39
Speaker
And I think when you're not necessarily motivated to do something by money, that becomes the hard thing to quantify. I mean, um, but I really thought, what if you paid me like a monthly fee and then a percentage of whatever that, Oh, see, you're amazing.
00:26:01
Speaker
But it is hard to quantify and always has been for like business process improvements or, you know, staff culture, you know, when people start to align and you have, it takes away so many problems for a business owner. Like you don't have the meetings after the meetings. You don't have, you know, 26 people who run into your office a week to talk about, you know, whatever that week's problem is.
00:26:27
Speaker
So those are hard to quantify. They're valuable and they happen when you're really, you know, when you get the right mix of change management, process improvement, strategic planning implementation. But it's always been a little bit of the hard thing in an operations world to quantify with a dollar amount. Like I can quantify sales revenue all day long for you. I can tell you how the process generates better money,
00:26:57
Speaker
Um, I can't always tell you because we saved 15 minutes here and the staff's no longer like hanging me three times a day. It's valuable. Yeah, that's totally valid. And like, even like thinking of our presence, like, well, how much business has your podcast brought you? I don't know. Like, how would you even measure it? You know, like you,
00:27:16
Speaker
unless you're like, you need to use the code word this, you know, like, which we're not doing. So I just keep podcasting. Anyway, what are your questions, buddy? I don't know if I have any questions, but I do want to like bring out the fact that we're sitting here listening to you and I know you guys have a relationship. So it's you guys are like hitting it off and I'm like catching up here. But I think it's for our listeners to like really realize the fact that like you've made a comment about your CEO, you're not the face when you're always in the background.
00:27:43
Speaker
And the fact that you are okay with being in the background and rocking it there, and you're not the one jumping out and being like, look at me, I'm amazing. Really shows me and sees how amazing you are and what you wanna do and how much joy you really get out of just helping somebody else be the star. And I think that's amazing. I think people need to realize that's an amazing quality and it really shows how great of a coach you are.
00:28:12
Speaker
Well, I appreciate that. Yeah, I get a lot of joy in coming alongside others and being able to figure out what motivates them, being able to figure out what can make you like,
00:28:27
Speaker
Elevate to the next level, like whether that's the business or the person. I have spent a lot of years, I don't even know if you know this Philip, but I was a softball pitcher. I can see it now. I can see it as you said. And I think like the years of practicing, being coached,
00:28:49
Speaker
I mean, I went from what I would say is like a B team person in middle school to, you know, all city softball played a
Mentorship and Professional Growth
00:28:59
Speaker
little bit in college, like, I know what when you have the right people coaching you and developing you to Phillips point.
00:29:10
Speaker
you can, people will do amazing things that they didn't even think they were possible. And so that part of it's always been, I think that's why I like, I've coached youth sports, you know, I loved probably one of the things I'm going to miss is the people. I mean, I led a lot of people. I, you know, when I left the bank, I had 14 direct reports at the longest who were also running departments. So like,
00:29:41
Speaker
That's a piece I'm going to have to.
00:29:44
Speaker
Find a new space and how to feed it. I don't think you need direct authority to be a leader with somebody or a mentor or a coach. So just finding a new avenue for that. Yeah. You really touched on something that's interesting as we're, when we're just growing up, like we'll always seek out coaches. Like when I want to learn how to do this, get a coach, get a coach, get a coach. But then when it like matters the most business, for example, it's like, well, let's just try it. You know, like we don't,
00:30:12
Speaker
keep that going and I feel like that's such a miss because like I've said this before but like the cheat code of life is mentorship or getting a coach right because they can even help you guide through even when you're in the trenches hey this is what you need to do this is what
00:30:27
Speaker
It hasn't gone well for me. Maybe you should do something different here, but it's interesting. We just don't seek that out. And what I want all the people who are listening now is like, seek this out, whether it's Christie, whether it's us, whether I, but do it because there is so much wisdom in having somebody pour into your situation that you want no like and respect. And then take their advice because they will take ownership if it doesn't work.
00:30:54
Speaker
So that's powerful, right? Like, all right, I'm going to try it. And then it's Aaron's fault. If it doesn't work, not really, but you know, like, at least I have somebody to process through like, Hey, I tried this and it didn't work. Let's work through this. Good for you. Yeah. I, you know, I was really fortunate, um, in the company I worked for. They, they did, they gave you a lot of opportunities to have
00:31:19
Speaker
different leadership training, different opportunities to kind of expand your skill set. You know, I think, you know, a lot of times, like, if you're only looking at a dollar value,
00:31:30
Speaker
you know, would you ever do anything? Um, so, um, and again, it's being able to really articulate the intangibles, like personal development and growth. People are happier. They stay longer. They can expand skill sets. You know, I actually started with my company. I took the job to get benefits because we have a construction company. So
00:31:54
Speaker
You know health insurance benefit rules all right and then it was close to my kids school because they were little. And so like I didn't make this big leap to a 16 year career.
00:32:11
Speaker
those were my two motivating reasons. So, um, but I was really a benefactor of a lot of really great training, great people. Um, I walked out of there way different than I walked in there.
00:32:29
Speaker
I was just going to say, like, you know, you brought up the golden handcuffs and I'm sitting here listening. So you just walked into a job because it was really convenient for you and your family at the time 16 years ago. And so it's probably not like you just walked into this golden handcuff job where you're making a lot of money. But I'm just thinking, CEO, like not a small position. So worked your way up. Yeah, you worked your way up. So kudos to you. That means that really shows you your your talent, what you have and your patient. Yeah.
00:32:58
Speaker
But then to walk away from a COO job, like you talk about snapping the golden handcuffs and be like, screw this, I can do it better in my environment. Yes. Yeah. I can go help. I think the motivating factor for you though is like, you can go help people in a different way. Right. Right. Yeah.
00:33:15
Speaker
Yeah, and I, you know, there is this entrepreneurial side, you know, I took a leap when I was 22 and bought a company with absolutely no experience, like, but I didn't even know what I was risking. So to be honest, and you know, won that with my ex-husband for
00:33:36
Speaker
about 15 years. And he still runs that business, but I got out of it and kind of focused my energy on building a career, having the stability, you know, all of those things my life really dictated and needed, given my circumstances.
Christi's Diverse Career Journey and Continuous Learning
00:33:54
Speaker
And you're right, I started at a very entry level job, I've never actually worked at a bank, I had some investment experience. So I started with the Trust Department, but I was
00:34:06
Speaker
and doing all the day-to-day paperwork, all of that type of stuff. And I just have always found, and even if I were to start at a different company, I know I can't turn this part of my brain off, which is like, hey, I know I could make that better.
00:34:26
Speaker
Are you okay with me jumping in? Are you okay with me like, you know, figuring out how to make this like work faster, better. And so again, very fortunate that, um, the company I worked for, they were, they were always willing. I mean, I was always in the investment and trust world, but I played BSA officer for three or four years. So I have a lot of experience in that. I've run compliance exams. I've, you know, all that fun.
00:34:56
Speaker
regulatory stuff that we all love and enjoy. And then at the end of it, I also got to do some of our mergers and acquisitions and wow, what a learning experience. I mean, talk about everything from people to system change to emotions, emotion. Yeah, they run high. Um, so they, I mean,
00:35:19
Speaker
But I think I always gravitate. I find that once I master something, it's time to go learn something new. Somebody else who's probably better at it can take it, love it long term, make it better. I just really like the challenge.
00:35:37
Speaker
And couldn't wait if I'm wrong, but I hope for our listeners to know this, cause like, you're helping to insult people, but for you to build your way up from an entry level all the way up to where you did, that means that you're truly like working on yourself. You've taken on you, like you've had your own mentors. Um, and like, so you're, you're doing like, you even preach like for yourself, you know, it's good.
00:36:01
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's a great question. I have. I don't have one mentor. I've always sought out people who tend to have a better skill set than I do in something and I admire it. You know, I would say that, you know, Philip's been very complimentary of me, but
00:36:21
Speaker
What I've always appreciated in him is his ability to relate, connect, you know, have a really meaningful conversation in a really short period of time like he can pick up cues and have so
00:36:37
Speaker
You know, I have certain really lifelong friends that I'm a little blunt, plain speaking. I grew up in a family where you just said what was on your mind and you forgot about kind of the, you know, soften the edges. So that's not always the best kind of leader to have. So, you know, if I had one of those moments where, you know, maybe my very frank and blunt side came out, I had two or three people that
00:37:06
Speaker
I really liked their approach, but I knew that they would come at it with a softer, probably more people oriented side of it. So I've always really valued finding two or three skillsets in somebody that I know I need to improve on and then have them.
Support Systems and Risk-Taking
00:37:25
Speaker
And I think that's really what I started with on that list that I told Philip, like who are the people that I know do business development really well?
00:37:34
Speaker
I want to go figure out from them what I should be doing because they're successful and I like how they do it. I also met with people who had been in the industry but had way different lenses of banking and financial services.
00:37:52
Speaker
Tell me if somebody talked to me about, you know, debit card payments and all of that structure. What are the main things I should be really focused on? Can I rely on you to be a resource for me?
00:38:05
Speaker
I think anybody who thinks they can go it alone, and I think back to what Philip said earlier, like, at a certain point as we get to be adults, we think we have to, like, we don't need the feedback anymore. We don't need the coaching. There's a lot of things that I'm really strong at. There's a lot of things that I know there's people that I know are way better than I am at it.
00:38:27
Speaker
Yeah. And then add to that, it's like the fact that as we get older, we think that we can see our own holes, like our own mishaps. It's like it's crazy like that. We get that confident. It's like, no, you can't see your gaps. And that's why having a consultant or a coach is great because you just can't see what you can't see, but they can see it. Right. Well, and.
00:38:50
Speaker
I really like, I firmly believe like, be you. Like, yeah, you know, I can't be Phillip. Like, I can't sit there and story tell. But I can come in and I can play a compliment to that type of environment. And maybe that's age, maybe that's experience, like,
00:39:16
Speaker
I think being able to embrace what your strengths are and then always focus and build your weaknesses. Like, you know, but, um, I don't, I think if you surround yourself with really great people who are stronger in different areas than you are, it's almost like having your own like leadership team. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, talk about your spouse, your husband. Okay.
00:39:43
Speaker
How instrumental has he been in this pursuit for you to go after envisioned success? Yeah. Um, I would say he believes more in me than I probably believe in myself. Um, he is not a risk taker. So I would say when we've first started contemplating like, Hey, I'm not going to have the corporate job,
00:40:10
Speaker
Um, I really felt like he'd, he'd have a lot of like questions, you know, things we were going to have to work through. And he's like, no, I think I'd bet on you. He goes, I'd rather bet on you. Heck yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. Um, he's really, I, like I said, like if I'm in the moment where like,
00:40:35
Speaker
What did I just do? What did I just do, right? He's like, gosh, you're a month in. And every day he's like, you need to tell me two things, good that happened. I can tend to be more of a realist, like, oh my gosh, when's the day like if I don't have any money generated that I have to go to work for somebody else. Yeah, for sure. And he's like, why do you want to do that?
00:41:05
Speaker
We're fine. We're fine. Yeah. Right. Yeah. I think you're right. Like you got to be true to yourself, Christy. Like you knew there was something inside of you. They're like, ah, I got it. I got to do this. You know, like I've been, this has been the cultivation of everything in my life. Now I just need to go and pursue it.
Conclusion and Encouragement to Pursue Dreams
00:41:21
Speaker
And so like your dad, I think this is really interesting that he never took a step off.
00:41:27
Speaker
You know, like he always would contemplate getting up on that ledge and jumping off with his parachute. He just never did. And like, you got to do it. Like at the end of the day, you don't want any regrets. And I've seen so many people and their journey. No one has ever wished that they were like, I wish I was back on that bridge. Like you can always land on another bridge. Like, but the experience that you'll have, if you don't like keep going, like it's,
00:41:54
Speaker
It's priceless. It is priceless. And the fact that you're taking the journey, you're taking the step, you're having this leap of faith, you're feeling the air between you, like through your hair as you're falling. And like, that is why the support system is so powerful. And that's why I wanted to give you a little bit of time for your spouse, because I already know the answer every time I ask that question on every one of our podcasts. I know the answer, but it's, it's powerful just to be able to give them time and kind of
00:42:21
Speaker
edify the sacrifices and the encouragement that they are for us. Right. Because it is important. Yeah. And honestly, I probably I don't know that I would have done it without. I mean, if he'd have been adamantly against it, as you would have made that journey, right. And times harder. Right. Right. Right. OK, so how do our listeners hear more about you and what you're doing and then hire you? You know, things like that.
00:42:47
Speaker
Sure. So, the websites, EnvisionSuccess, my background profiles on the website. I would say LinkedIn, you can look up Kristi Kraneski.
00:43:04
Speaker
We are kind of contemplating some new ways to utilize kind of the executive coaching and then kind of my strategic background and goal and implementation pieces. So look forward to maybe having some of that, you know, figured out and in motion in the next two or three months. So yeah.
00:43:25
Speaker
Good. Okay. I want to say this kind of to wrap this whole thing up, kind of land the plane here. Like I know that you've been only doing this, you know, quote unquote for five weeks, but that is such a lie. Like you've been doing this your whole life. And if you think about it, like from the beginning of this podcast, you were saying that, Hey, I saw my father.
00:43:45
Speaker
having all these aspirations and just never taking the leap, right? So like, even from as young as you were, like this started in you early, and then you always enjoyed flexibility, right? And you knew that the only way that you can do this is by doing something on your own. And then you've always loved cultivating growth with other people. So you tell me when that started, it's a lot sooner than five weeks ago, I'll tell you that. And everything has been, you know, it's kind of like that,
00:44:14
Speaker
Silly story where somebody's in the coffee shop and see somebody drawing on a napkin and it's a beautiful drawing and the guy comes up just like hey I'd love to have that drawing guys like it's ten thousand dollars and he's like what like it's just on a piece of napkin and the guy's like well this is taking me years to perfect this.
00:44:31
Speaker
And the guy's like, I don't know how to pay $10,000 for a napkin. And he walks and he's like, well, that's okay, that's fine. And then the guy gets up and just throws it away. But here's the point. The point is that he has spent hours and hours perfecting his craft and you have to, and that's valuable because you have so many things and experiences that you can help people specifically get out of a crunch, that crunch that is valuable to their business. So you've been doing this way longer than five weeks. Now you just get the opportunity to
00:45:00
Speaker
to serve other people and that's exciting. So kudos for you for taking the leap. I love your story. I love to be an encouragement. I love your husband. Good for him. But if you ever need any encouragement, I'm right here to help you. And I know our listeners too will be encouraged by this story because a lot of times we'll get through this and they, well, I took this jump seven years ago and then they're flying and it's like, well, it's almost unattainable a little bit, but there's some of our listeners who are like, where are you at?
00:45:30
Speaker
maybe, you know, three months ago of like, Hey, I think I might do this, you know, like, and how do you start thinking through this? And so it's just really encouraging to hear your story and you just took this leap and it's exciting. It's scary. All the feelings I'm sure, but you're going to be such a success.
00:45:49
Speaker
Thank you. I appreciate that. Yeah. I will call you if I need any, uh, pep ups. Yeah, absolutely. So thank you. You've been listening to uncommon wealth podcast. I'm your host, Philip Ramsey. And I'm Eric Kramer. Until next time, go get on the bridge. Jump off, jump off your parachute open. Thanks for listening. Goodbye.
00:46:07
Speaker
That's all for this episode brought to you by Uncommon Wealth Partners. Be sure to visit uncommonwealth.com to learn more about our services. Don't miss an episode as we introduce you to inspiring people who are actively pursuing an uncommon life.