"Don't charge by the hour, charge by package or project fee, because people aren't paying for that time. They're paying for the value of what you bring to the table and for you to solve whatever problem they have." - LaTresse Snead

Building your dream team with LaTresse Snead

Get yourself prepared for an awe-inspiring conversation in this episode of the Confessions Podcast as we sit down with LaTresse Snead, founder of Bonsai Leadership Group. She runs a boutique consulting firm that helps nonprofit organizations in the environmental sector with executive coaching, recruiting, and consulting services. LaTresse reveals how she added a personal brand to her business and how she prices her services based on the value she brings to her clients. She also shared how she built her dream team by finding coaches and experts to supplement her own skills and the undeniable significance of having a coach in your corner. So, grab your trusty pen and paper, because LaTresse is about to unleash a mind-blowing knowledge storm.

Highlights:

• Finding right people to work with 

• How to cultivate a strong referral network  

• Relationships as fundamental business strength 

• The importance of delegating tasks

• Mentorship and coaching 

• Business Memoir: When Black Women Rise

Connect with LaTresse Snead:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/latressesnead

Website: https://www.bonsaileadershipgroup.com/

Book: https://www.latressesnead.com/about-book

Find Us Online:  https://www.confessionswithjessandcindy.com/

Connect with Cindy:

Cindy Wagman Coaching https://cindywagman.com/

The Good Partnership https://www.thegoodpartnership.com/

Connect with Jess: 

Out In the Boons: https://www.outintheboons.me

Transcript:

00:00:00 Cindy: Welcome to the Confessions podcast. I'm Cindy Wagman.

00:00:03 Jess: And I'm Jess Campbell. We’re two former in house non profit pros turn coaches and consultants to purpose driven organizations.

00:00:11 Cindy: After years of building up our separate six figure businesses from scratch, we've thrown a lot of spaghetti at the wall and have lived to see what sticks.

00:00:20 Jess: We're on a mission to help other nonprofit coaches and consultants looking to start or scale their own businesses past the six figure mark by pulling back the curtain.

00:00:30 Cindy: Whether you're still working inside a nonprofit and thinking of one day going out on your own or you've been running your consulting business for years, you understand that working with nonprofits is just different. We're giving you access to the business leaders who serve nonprofits as their clients. You know, the people who truly get it.

00:00:52 Jess: No more gatekeeping, no more secrets. This podcast is going to give you an inside look at what running a successful nonprofit coaching and consulting business looks like. Basically, we're asking people how much money they make, how they get paid, and what has and hasn't worked in their businesses.

00:01:11 Cindy: Listen in as these leaders share their insights, their numbers, and the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to building a nonprofit coaching or consulting business. We're going to empower you to make the power moves that give you the income and freedom you set out to create from day one.

00:01:28 Jess: You ready? Let's go.

00:01:32 Cindy: Okay, LaTresse, tell me. We've had lots of conversations in My Little Mastermind about your personal brand versus a more corporate brand, and none of us seem to have a great answer on how those two coexist. So before we hit record, you were mentioning that you are adding a personal brand to your business. Tell us a little bit about what you're doing and why you made that decision.

00:02:01 LaTresse: Well, I am also trying to figure it out, so I do not have all of the answers, and I probably wouldn't have created a separate brand if I didn't have a specific reason. So I created, Bonsai Leadership Group first. That's my business, and so it has its own brand. But throughout my time creating my business, I decided that I wanted to write a book. So the book led to needing to have a site to promote the book because the book was more personal. It wasn't about the business. So I worked with a couple of other folks, and in my mind, we were just going to promote it on the business website, and they said, no, it has to have a separate brand. It has to have a separate look and feel. And so that's where I'm at with two separate brands.

00:02:53 Cindy: That is super helpful. I think that it's such an interesting growth that people go through where you're starting to look at your thought leadership as an individual outside of the company. So oh, my goodness. I'm so excited to dive in. For those of you tuning in, welcome to the podcast. Our guest today is LaTresse Snead, and her business, as you heard, is Bonsai Leadership Group, but also has a personal brand coming out and a book. So before we dive into the conversation, LaTresse, tell us a little bit more about what you do, what your business is, and how you get paid.

00:03:33 LaTresse: Sure. So Bonsai Leadership Group is a boutique consulting firm focused on providing executive coaching, recruiting, and also consulting services to nonprofit organizations, primarily in the environmental sector. So that is how I get paid. And I primarily work with organizations directly, not necessarily individuals. So it might be an organization that comes and says, we have a team or individual within our organization that we would like to help provide them some support.

00:04:07 Jess: Amazing. And walk us through your different products, or how do you work with people? Is it retainer? Is it project based? Is it done for you services? What does that look like?

00:04:18 LaTresse: Yeah, it's different for each one. So for executive coaching, I do packages. So typically it's either a six month or one year package. If it's a first time working with someone on executive coaching, I usually say, let's just do six months to see how you like it and if you're getting what you need out of the experience. I do not do one on one, one hour coaching times because it takes a lot of time, number one, to build up that trust with each other and allow space for people to really open up. I have found that when people come to me for coaching, the first thing that they say they really want is not really what they want. It's usually something else. And so that gives us time to really hone in on their true coaching goal throughout our time together.

00:05:06 LaTresse: So I always do packages, and that package includes more than just time with me. It includes support in between coaching calls, it includes an assessment that I use called the Birkman Assessment that really highlights your needs, your motivations, your interests. And we use that throughout the coaching process. So it's more than just the time. And you'll hear me say this over and over, because I tell people, like, don't charge by the hour, charge by package or project fee, because people aren't paying for that time. They're paying for the value of what you bring to the table and for you to solve whatever problem they have. Right. Same thing with the executive recruiting. Executive recruiting, I charge a fee based on the salary of the position that we're hiring. And then finally, for consulting, it's a project fee. So it depends on what that entails, what kind of value it would provide, but everything is a project fee or package fee.

00:06:15 Jess: Interesting. And I'm curious, just because of your unique sets of offers, do your clients often hire you for all three or like, a combination of two out of the three? For example, maybe you're doing a [routine in] package, and then they're like, but actually we need to hire someone, so maybe you can help us with that.

00:06:35 LaTresse: It has happened like that. So, in fact, that's how I got into recruiting. I was providing coaching to a CEO of another organization, and we were talking about someone that she was potentially hiring. And so I'm asking her questions about the hire, and at some point, she said, you know what? I just realized the solution to this. And this is the great thing about coaching. Everybody already has the answer inside of them. It's just the act of asking the right questions so that they can decide what the next course of action is. And so she's like, I don't have the time, I don't have the resources, and I don't have the skill to really hire this position. And then she's like, I know this is not a coaching question, but can you hire this person for me? And I said, we're not a recruiting firm.

00:07:26 LaTresse: And she says, but LaTresse, you have over 20 years experience of leadership and hiring people on creating teams. I know you can find the right team for me. You know so much about me, the organization, and what we need. And I said, okay, as long as you understand, I am not a recruiter. But what that led to was creating this whole recruiting line of business that I developed with the help of another consultant that came to the table to help me build out that side of the business. So the executive coaching sometimes leads to recruiting, but also recruiting. Sometimes we'll hire on staff, and the company will say, can you coach them for the first six months just to make sure that they have a smooth transition, that they feel comfortable and have a safe person that they can speak to when they're feeling that imposter syndrome creep in, so it can come up then as well.

00:08:22 LaTresse: And then even during recruiting, I had this one client right now that I'm working with on hiring an executive leader for their organization, and they're really trying to figure out just the structure of the team overall in order to support the program. Now, I have a background in program development, and so I think that's the reason why they're kind of sneaking those questions in. And so I have to simply say, this is really getting into consulting territory. If you would like me to help you think about the structure of this program and what kind of benefits it could have, that's a whole separate conversation. I'd be happy to develop a contract for you. So, yes, there's lots of overlap.

00:09:04 Jess: Okay, amazing. Okay, so you have these internal, kind of referrals as one way of you getting new business. What are the other kind of channels or ways that clients find you, you go out and prospect, you get business?

00:09:20 LaTresse: I've been in business since the fall of 2021 and have not had to prospect yet. So I use LinkedIn a lot, and I don't use LinkedIn to say, hey, here are my services. Come and sign up with me, or anything like that. I'm just telling my stories, and I'll have people that'll reach out to me via DMs or on our website and say, I read a LinkedIn post. I want to figure out how we can work together. Or I read a LinkedIn post about something that you said, we need this type of support in our organization. So primarily, I would say about 70% of our business comes just primarily from people reading something that they saw on LinkedIn. Another large group comes from referrals and then starting to get more that are just going, finding the website organically and reaching out to them. But I have not had to hit the payment and source business yet.

00:10:22 Cindy: And it's possible you never will have to, right. When you do all the other things right, that should continue, which I love. I kind of want to talk, you mentioned very briefly, and there's more information on your website, but it's not just you, right, that you have collaborated with other people with skill sets to complement yours. And I think that that's something a lot of people struggle with as they get busy. They're like, how do I grow this thing? How do I make sure that I'm meeting client needs and saying yes when I want to say yes? So tell me a little bit about how you went about finding people to work with. How did you know it was right? How is it even structured legally? Like, are they subcontractors? I feel like this is such an important conversation.

00:11:13 LaTresse: Yeah. So what I started to find in growing my business, so first of all, this is the first time I've ever had a business of my own. So I am learning every day and reading and trying to figure things out. And I make mistakes all the time. But one of the things that I've learned throughout this journey at first, it was, this will be my own business. I'll be a consultant. But as more and more business came through, I found that there were things that people were coming to me for that I knew other people could do in the space and were also seeking additional work. So these were people in my network. And so instead of just saying, hey, just go talk to this person and referring them on, I wanted to have more of a trusted base of people around me that I knew would deliver high quality work to the people I was referring to them and that also shared some of the same values.

00:12:13 LaTresse: So after sharing and sending a couple of referrals out, I finally said, hey, what if we set up some sort of benefit? You're getting a lot of business because they're coming through me. What if I get a percentage of each contract based on the referrals? So people were like, great. So some people that are affiliated with Bonsai are what we call affiliates. Others are contractors or 1099 that actually work on a regular basis on various projects. Those are mostly my recruiters. And then I do have some people who are employees that are actually on payroll. But for the most part, I've just looked at my network to say, who have I trusted over the years?

00:12:56 LaTresse: Again, I've been in the nonprofit space for 20 years. I've hired some of the people that work with me now and worked with them for many years. I love them dearly as professionals, but also as friends. So I think part of it is just finding people that you truly trust, that can deliver on the work that align with you and that align with your work. So one example, I had a really good friend. I believe in her tremendously, but she's focused on philanthropy. And she was like, hey, add me to your team. I could take all of the philanthropy work. And I said, but I'm focused on executive coaching, recruiting, and consulting. She's like, throw me in the consulting package.

00:13:39 LaTresse: And I said, but I'm not a philanthropist. And what happens is that when clients come to me, they still want me to be in the mix, some kind of way. Maybe something goes wrong. Maybe they want to get a different perspective or advice. And if I don't have that background, I don't know that I can provide them with that value. I also don't want to spread myself too thin. I want to be really specific about my knowledge in certain areas. So in that case, I had to say, this won't work. But if people ask me about philanthropy, I'm happy to still refer them to you, but it just wouldn't be in alignment with what I'm trying to do at Bonsai.

00:14:21 Jess: Okay, I've got a lot of questions. And there's two directions I want to go, and I think I want to come back to this bit about saying no so that you can say yes. But first, I want to talk to you about this referral program, because what I see a lot out there is this shoulder to shoulder, like, let's be referral partners, but there's no exchange of referral fee. And you could have totally gone that way, right? You could have just been like, I throw you business, you throw me business. In my experience, it has only led to me passing referrals and never getting anything back. And so I, too, was like you, where I was like, this is not working out very well, so I'm going to charge a referral fee. And then now I have this real intentionality, I can't pronounce that word, about who I pass business to, is it going to be a reciprocal relationship? And I just want to talk through that a little bit more because I feel like it's this leftover BS baggage from the nonprofit world of, like, we've got to do all this stuff for free, when really it's labor that you're doing and matchmaking and making these recommendations and being in the mix and all this stuff. So I love that you do this, and I just want to talk through your thought process of how you just decided from, maybe the get go that you were going to charge a referral fee. And what is the actual outcome of that? Is that 5% of your business? Is that 10% of your revenue? Talk us through that. Clearly, I'm passionate about this.

00:16:11 LaTresse: I started out, like I said, not knowing what to do. Like you, Jess, I kind of felt like I'm just sharing a lot of business, and the people are coming to me because of me, and they're saying, wow, this turned out great. I did this event with that partner. Thank you. But it does take time and it takes work. You're having a conversation with someone, and then you realize 20 minutes into the conversation that maybe it's not the right fit for you, but you say, hey, there's this great person. So now, I've done this favor for the organization. Now I've also done a favor for this person, right? Then I've got to send the email to connect them together, and then they follow up sometimes and ask, well, how do you know them, and what should I ask for? And so there's all this stuff that goes along with it.

00:17:01 LaTresse: So there was one woman in particular who we were chatting about our businesses, and she mentioned that she really loved this one particular type of coaching. She loves career coaching. I hate career coaching. I just don't like it. That's not what fills my bucket. And I said, great. Anytime someone asks me about career coaching, I'm sending them to you, because I get that call at least twice a week. And she's like, you're kidding me. I said, no. No problem. I said, but let's work something out. So I created a contract, and so I get 15% of each of her coaching contracts that come through Bonsai just the first time. After that, if she wants to renew with that person, it's on her. So I started to use that model with other people, with other coaches that have come on to be affiliated with Bonsai.

00:18:00 LaTresse: So in terms of numbers, now here's a whole nother piece of the business that it's a learning process for me, ladies. I have an accountant to do all of those things, and when I get these questions, I'm like, that's a good question to ask. So I'm going to note after this call like, how much of business is coming from the affiliate program? What is their particular percentage? Because I have not checked that out right now. To me, it's almost still, like it's in this emphasis stage of just kind of putting into practice. But I have heard from some of the coaches. Well, in particular, there's one person on my team. He's also a speaker, and he's like, this is the same thing that they do with speaker bureaus all the time. A speaker bureau will find you business, and they take a percentage and you get the business. He was like, I see no problem with this. So, yes. So more consultants should do this model.

00:18:58 Cindy: I love that. And, yeah, we're all learning so that's every day, some days more than others.

00:19:09 Jess: Okay, LaTresse, we are back for another round of our rapid fire questions. You, ready to play?

00:19:15 LaTresse: I guess so.

00:19:18 Jess: I promise it won't be painful. If you weren't running Bonsai, what would you be doing professionally?

00:19:25 LaTresse: Professionally, I would be a professional beach reader or something like that, because, yeah, that's what I would do.

00:19:35 Jess: I love it. Which is actually a great lead into my next question as a writer now of books, I imagine that you were a reader. So what are one or two books that you really recommend? Fiction, nonfiction, whatever?

00:19:53 LaTresse: This is always a hard question because they're all my babies.

00:19:59 Jess: How about, like a summer beach read? Like something kind of light.

00:20:04 LaTresse: Oh, this is a hard question because I never remember any of the titles. Okay, so one book that I actually read every year is Untethered Soul by Michael Singer. And the first time I read that, that was just, like transformational. So that is one and then A Fun Summer–

00:20:25 Jess: That is not necessarily a beach read for the last.

00:20:29 LaTresse: It is definitely not a beach read at all. At all. Gosh, I can't think of the last summer beach read.

00:20:39 Jess: Might have to rectify that this summer.

00:20:40 LaTresse: Yeah.

00:20:41 Jess: Okay.

00:20:41 LaTresse: I’m going to rectify that. Yeah.

00:20:43 Jess: And then my last question is what are one or two things you do for your clients to give them a five star experience?

00:20:53 LaTresse: Customize when I can. Don't over customize. And then I also spend a little time just getting to know them.

00:21:03 Jess: I love that. Cool. Thanks for playing.

00:21:05 LaTresse: Okay, thank you.

00:21:09 Cindy: I want to ask you a little bit about, like both Jess and I do lots of referral based stuff, and sometimes I've found there to be a really great prospect where you're like, oh, my God, this is a shoe in. And then something happens and the contract falls through. And I'd love to hear from you what you do in terms of that process of referring business out to other people to try. Like you mentioned, it takes your time. There's value that you're providing in terms of connecting people and all that. So what have you found to be effective in passing off referrals in a way that's going to hopefully lead to actual business for people?

00:21:58 LaTresse: Usually talking. So usually when someone comes to me, it's because they either know me or like I said earlier, they've seen something on LinkedIn. So we've had a chance to get to know each other through a call. Some sort of conversation. And so you're starting to build up that trust if it's a new person. If it's someone you already know, you already have that trust. And so usually I share a lot of information about that person I'm referring. And most of the people who I refer to, I've worked with them before, so I can give the client real specific examples and they get excited about meeting this person and understanding how they can best leverage them for their work. So that's one. If there is an opportunity to do multiple services, I start to think about that as well. So this person may be good for a team coaching, but you also need recruiting. So how can this support both efforts? So talking about it from that perspective too, but primarily it's really knowing the person that you're referring to and talking them up.

00:23:13 Cindy: That's awesome. Do you ever end up subcontracting any of that? It sounds like you also have people with it, so sometimes it's just passing that business away. But do you ever end up taking, like, having under your company where you have subcontractors as well? Or is it mostly just referrals?

00:23:34 LaTresse: So, on the recruiting side of my business, I have some 1099 contractors that work on a regular basis with Bonsai, and sometimes I forget their 1099 because we act so much like a team. We have team meetings and regular check-ins. We're cross pollinating on different projects to see how we may support each other. And that works really well. And one thing that I asked one of the recruiters one time, I said, you're so good at this, why don't you start your own business so that you can do this on your own? And it was kind of fascinating to me. She was just like, no, this whole business side and dealing with the client, I don't want to do. I don't ever want to do it. I really enjoy doing the work with the candidates and finding the candidates.

00:24:23 LaTresse: And so that really blew my mind. Not in a way that I was, like, shocked that she didn't want to do it. But there are some people that really thrive on having a business, building a business, and all the things that come with a business. And then there are people who just say, this is not worth it. And so all of my recruiters are kind of in that space. They're like, no, we love that you go out and get the business. We love it when there's a challenge or a problem, you come to the table and smooth everything out. We just love being part of this. So it's been fun to have them on the team.

00:25:01 Jess: LaTresse, you strike me as someone with extreme clarity and focus of vision. And is that just how you are? Or have you learned? What's your number one strength? Do you know StrengthsFinder?

00:25:18 LaTresse: Yeah. So relationships, relationships is my number one strength. So. Yes, I've done StrengthFinders and connecting is another one Maximizer, Strategic, and I can't think of the last one. So I've always, throughout my career, I've always put relationships first and gotten to know people no matter where they're at in the organization, doesn't matter what level. I'm always trying to relate to people and to understand people. Now, Jess, when you say clarity, I don't always have clarity at all. I think if anything, I'm more of a risk taker. I used to be really fearful about things and do the same thing that a lot of people tend to do. It's like, well, what would other people think? Or if that's not going to work, if that's going to fail, or that looks stupid.

00:26:08 LaTresse: But when I started the business, I said, okay, I'm not going to let any challenge really hold me back and I'm not going to slow down. If I fail, it's okay. It becomes a lesson learned. I don't care whether anybody thinks, we're just going to try and do it. So I even started the business, no business plan, still don't have a business plan, because I felt like it was going to slow me down and give me a reason to say, no, this won't work, instead of thinking about what could potentially go right. So I'm just trying to tap into where I was at that young teenager age where I feared nothing because I didn't know. And so I'm just trying to do that now with this business.

00:26:52 Jess: I love that. That being said, you seem like someone that's really good at staying in your zone of genius and then bringing in outside people to maybe do the things that either you don't want to do, you don't like doing, or maybe you would even say about yourself that you're not great at. What would you say to someone listening that's, like, out there trying to do all the things?

00:27:16 LaTresse: Yeah, don't do all the things at all. So when I first started the business, I was talking to someone else about a whole another topic, and I said, wait, can we set that aside and just tell me about how you've been running your business and what's your biggest lesson learned? And the first thing he said is, hire people to do those things that you don't want to do. He's like, I promise you, the money you save is not going to be worth it. Just do that. And so I kind of thought about it and I said, yeah, but I'm just starting out, and you start to have that scarcity mindset because I don't want to spend money on a QuickBooks professional. I can do QuickBooks myself.

00:28:04 LaTresse: Yeah, well, after one week of fighting with QuickBooks, I immediately called someone and gladly paid the $200 a month that was surely worth it for someone to do all the bookkeeping for my business. After that, and I realized how freeing that was, that was all I needed. And so the second person I hired after the accountant and bookkeeper was a project manager. So I really like the end result of seeing projects… timelines are created. Asana looks beautiful, but I don't like to create that, what that looks like. So I used to work with a woman who was like a project management whiz, and I asked her to join Bonsai, and she manages all of the different projects because I know I will lose track of things quickly.

00:29:03 LaTresse: And so again, it just brought so much value to me because then I wasn't stressed out. I was able to spend the time where I needed to spend time. I’m able to deliver on the commitments that I made to my clients, and it opens me up to making more money because I'm not spending my time doing those things that frustrate me or stress me out. And then overall, I'm delivering a better product or service at the end of the day. So, yeah. Don't take a moment's notice. Just take your time and go ahead and reach out to those people that can help you.

00:29:42 Cindy: I love this conversation. It feels like we're talking kind of how you build your dream team, right? So we've talked about the subcontractors and referral networks and other tasks within your business that you should not be spending time doing. The other piece of your dream team I see around that is sort of like your own coaching, right? All coaches have coaches. So tell us a little bit about where you go to round out that dream team and really get someone who can help you in your thought strategy partnership and just taking your business to the next level.

00:30:23 LaTresse: So there's actually three people that I've kind of consulted. So the first is my executive coach, Sheila Carmichael. So I've had Sheila for, gosh, eight years now. Eight, nine years. So she was with me at a former employer. I saw other people with coaches, and I wanted a coach, so I didn't even know what coaching was at the time. Again, I just wanted it because I saw that other people had it. So she helped me through so many different situations where I would feel uncomfortable in either sharing or acknowledging maybe a problem that I was dealing with or a specific goal. And she helped me throughout my process of being promoted at that particular employer and then helped me through the process of transitioning to a different employer in a different position and then transitioning into my own business. And I remember her saying, well, what do you want to do now, LaTresse? And I said, I kind of want to do what you're doing. I want to help people, but specifically those in the nonprofit space. And I want to really focus in on the environmental space, and in particular women of color in that space. So she has been very helpful in making sure that she's a mentor coach. And so how do I be the best coach for my coaches along the way? And she has also helped in terms of business as well.

00:31:56 LaTresse: But along the way, I was introduced to someone named Nate, and he runs a company called Kite and Dart. And so I started talking to him just to see what he was about. Again, not knowing anything about the business, I'm willing to talk to anybody, see what their perspective is. And he really helped me hone into the values, my niche, really helping me figure out, do I want to be in the business or do I want to lead the business? Right? And so thinking about that, but also thinking about how I make even my products more equitable and accessible to people. And he asked me a question one day that just kind of knocked me off my feet. He said, what happens when someone comes to you and they can't afford coaching? I said, well, it's unfortunate, but I can't work with them. And he's like, yeah, that is because that's the person that probably needs your services the most. So how do you create different products that they have access to and can still get the knowledge even if they can't afford to work with you one on one? So he really challenges me to think in that way about my business.

00:33:08 LaTresse: And then the other coach that I've engaged is someone named Jermaine Davis. So Jermaine is a speaker, but he's also a thought leader, and he really helps you to share your story and so doing a lot of storytelling. And so how do you take what you're doing and inspire other people? And so it was interesting just to talk to him because he was one of the other people in addition to Nate that said, you should write a book, and this is what you should do in order to share your story. When people need to hear or learn from you a little bit more, you can't spread yourself thin. What are you going to do to share your story?

00:33:51 Cindy: Okay, you just literally set up the perfect segue, because Jess and I were going to ask about your book next. So tell us about your book.

00:34:00 LaTresse: So my book is called When Black Women Rise. And it really is. I call it a business memoir. So it's my life as a black woman from childhood all the way through, all of my experiences as a nonprofit leader, and all of the leadership lessons that I've learned along the way.

00:34:20 Jess: Oh, my gosh. Okay, tell us more. Like, how was the writing process? When does it come out? How are you getting it out to the world? What's the whole journey been like?

00:34:31 LaTresse: The journey was interesting. So, in fact, you asked about who I also lean on as coaches. So one of the other coaches that I reached out to was Isabella Masucci, and she's a writing coach. Okay, everybody can write right, well, but can you write a book? I think that's different. Like, I'm good at writing tweets and LinkedIn messages and emails, but I've never written a book. And I think that's very different than, kind of just the general everyday writing. Also have never published a book or any of that. I was introduced to Isabella and she was just awesome. So she was like my partner over the last year, helping me to identify specific stories that may resonate with people, the themes. I could not have written this book without her partnership. She asked all of the right questions and there were things or stories that we talked about that I would have never thought would appeal to anyone. And she's like, absolutely, that must go into the book and this is how you tell that story. So she was very helpful in that process as well.

00:35:51 LaTresse: The book comes out on June 24. You can get it on www.latressesnead.com/book. So I'm really excited about it and I can't wait for people to see how it resonates with them. While it's titled When Black Women Rise, I've had a lot of other friends who are not black who have said, this speaks to me in so many different ways because I've let them see just kind of little snippets of it and they have really been excited about. So I just hope it's a tool that people can use. It has a lot of resources in there, coaching questions, and it really is a way to help, not only resonate with some of the things that I have dealt with as a nonprofit leader, but also answer some questions to kind of identify your own path and solutions.

00:36:49 Jess: It's so good and I just want to, for everyone listening, I really hope that you're hearing that. LaTresse, again and again and again in her business finds and hires people to supplement or fill the gap of an area that she might not be an expert. Like you just heard her say, she's never written a book before and so did she waste five years trying to piecemeal it together and figure it out? No, she went and found an expert. Before we get to our last confessions question, I am curious to where you are finding these experts and coaches. Is it from your network of people you’re leaning on? Is it on LinkedIn and are you just doing a Google search? How are you finding these wonderful folks that you're working with?

00:37:35 LaTresse: All except for one person I've worked with in the past. And so over the course of my career, like I said, I love to build relationships with people. So I've built relationships. I kept in contact with people. They may have been people that were on my team, they might have been other consultants that I hired when I was leading programs. And whenever I've had a challenge, I've just said, who was good at this, that I worked with and I will call them up. And for a lot of people, they have either transitioned and they're doing freelancing now, or they have their own businesses, consulting business. Some people are doing things on the side while they work full time as well.

00:38:23 LaTresse: But even I had one person, my social media person. She runs my LinkedIn business page. She and I worked at the same organization, but never met at all. We never met. She was leaving, as I came on, and she reached out to me on LinkedIn and she said, hey, we never got a chance to meet, but one day, I would really love to talk. I was inspired by you joining the organization. And she's like, I launched my own company as well. Would be interesting to talk. So, again, I have no idea what to do with LinkedIn business. And I'm like, should I have a LinkedIn page? And she's like, absolutely. I can do this for you. And I said, okay, send me a proposal.

00:39:06 LaTresse: And I wasn't even looking to pay for anything like this. But she was just so great in terms of what she had to offer. I must have had, like, two followers. And then now I think I have over 3500 followers on my LinkedIn business page. She is amazing. So all of that value, like I said, comes from, in my business, comes from LinkedIn, and it's because of this person who I've committed to paying and investing in for my business.

00:39:41 Jess: So good. All right. Question from Cindy. You can close us out with confession.

00:39:46 Cindy: Yeah. So you know what's coming. We want to hear your confession. What's something about your business or about running your own business that you haven't told anyone else?

00:39:59 LaTresse: Well, sometimes people ask me if they can meet me on a certain day or time, and I tell them that I'm not available. I'm with a client on that day. But I give them options for another day, because either I'm not working, I'm doing something else. Maybe I'm going to the gym. Maybe I just don't want to talk to them on that day. And I just know the kind of energy I'm going to need to have, and I just need more time and space to prepare for them. But typically, if I say I'm not available, I probably am, but I'm not.

00:40:35 Cindy: Love it.

00:40:36 Jess: Me, too. As someone that guards my calendar with a mighty force, I love that. So good. LaTresse, you have been such a pleasure to get to know on this episode. For anyone that does want to connect with you on LinkedIn or go to your website or get your book, what's the best way for them to do that?

00:40:55 LaTresse: Yes, they can follow me on LinkedIn at LaTresse Snead, or they can go to my website, latressesnead.com. My business website is bonsaileadershipgroup.com.

00:41:07 Cindy: Amazing.

00:41:07 Jess: Thank you for being here.

00:41:08 Cindy: Thank you.

00:41:09 LaTresse: Thank you, Cindy. Thank you, Jess. It was wonderful to be here.

00:41:15 Cindy: Thank you again for listening to the Confessions podcast for nonprofit coaches and consultants. If you enjoyed today's episode, which I sure hope you did, you can show your support in one of three ways.

00:41:27 Jess: Number one, post a screenshot of this episode to your Instagram stories or LinkedIn profile and tag Cindy and I so we can repost you.

00:41:35 Cindy: Number two, share this podcast with a fellow nonprofit coach or consultant.

00:41:39 Jess: And number three, leave a positive review on Apple podcasts so we can continue to grow and reach new listeners.

00:41:46 Cindy: And, of course, make sure you subscribe so you can get the latest and greatest interviews as they drop every Thursday.

00:41:52 Jess: And to our fellow nonprofit coaching and consulting friends, remember, we're an open book and here to answer your burning biz questions.

00:42:00 Cindy: See you next time.