On this episode of the Gross sales Hacker Podcast, now we have Alexandra Schrecengost, founding father of Tradition With Us, which brings DEI-based immersive experiences to hybrid workplaces. Be a part of us for an eye-opening dialog about delivering high-quality worker experiences.
Should you missed episode 219, test it out right here: A Holistic Strategy to Compensation Structuring with Scott Barton
What You’ll Study
- You don’t should be completely certified for each alternative
- The significance of getting began and having a plan
- Giving your self permission to achieve success
Present Agenda and Timestamps
- About Alexandra and Tradition With Us [02:48]
- Key insights from beginning and constructing an organization [12:58]
- Coping with Imposter Syndrome [15:10]
- How Digital With Us secured massive enterprise shoppers early and rapidly [16:46]
- Why enterprise leaders must do greater than “attempt laborious sufficient” [19:15]
- Hybrid vs. absolutely distant workplaces [25:05]
- Paying it ahead [28:33]
- Sam’s Nook [31:02]
Present Introduction [0:00]
Sam Jacobs: Welcome to the Gross sales Hacker podcast. At present we’ve bought an inspiring entrepreneur and CEO, Alexandra Schrecengost, from Tradition With Us, bringing DEI-based immersive experiences to hybrid workforces and activating worker engagement.
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About Alexandra and Tradition With Us [02:48]
Sam Jacobs: Alexandra Schrecengost based Digital With Us in 2020, and Tradition With Us in 2021, supporting firms by way of cultural programming, DEI initiatives, and meals and beverage leisure to enhance human connections. With greater than 18 years of expertise in wine, spirits, hospitality, and luxurious public relations, Alex focuses on group constructing through occasion advertising and marketing. She’s been featured in Wine Spectator, The At present Present, On-line Vogue, Ebony, and extra.
She lives in New Jersey together with her husband and their similar twin boys and enjoys touring, studying, and dancing.
We’ll begin along with your baseball card. In your phrases, what do these firms do?
Alex Schrecengost:
We’re a high-end inclusive hospitality service program, specializing in digital and hybrid occasion experiences, curated company presents for world organizations, workforce constructing, and worker retention.
I began in July of 2020 as the entire hospitality of us had been furloughed through the lockdown. My husband was struggling to take care of his contacts. I used to be making an attempt to determine an answer. How can hospitality of us do business from home?
We additionally noticed the cultural part. There’s a battle round range, fairness, inclusion, understanding what that’s, and being respectful of various cultures. We offer progressive programming round that. The enterprise began round that mannequin.
We worth foundational power, a ravishing meal, scrumptious wine, spirits, or espresso, and constructing these necessary relationships to drive enterprise and income.
Johnson and Johnson got here to us in 2020 and mentioned, “we love your mission and we’d like your assist.” That they had an initiative for ladies in management to have visitor audio system like Oprah and Serena Williams discuss their strengths and triumphs, points with regard to civil rights, re-imagining tradition, and being a girl in enterprise.
I didn’t understand how we had been going to transcend the US. We constructed our preliminary infrastructure round this Johnson and Johnson initiative. We had been in a position to join over 2,200 ladies in over 60 nations and produce them collectively as thought leaders to debate breaking that tumbler ceiling and understanding tradition authentically.
Bringing in a brand new technology of execs and brazenly talking about stresses at work, psychological well being, your loved ones, and development inside your group was real and impactful.
I like food and drinks, and the thought of bringing individuals collectively and attending to know one another. I went into hospitality, working with the French Culinary Institute, manufacturers like Stoli, Hendrix, and St. Michelle Wine Estates, and realized the again finish of entertaining shoppers in a restaurant. What goes into constructing out the mixology and cocktails? What’s the chef saying to their employees? How do you converse to individuals with regard to meals and initiatives for spirits and wine? How do you reimagine it?
I wished to drive hospitality in a brand new approach. I wished to work with firms as a substitute of going DTC. I noticed individuals in hospitality not having work, shut buddies of mine who I’ve labored with for a few years, and issues taking place throughout the {industry} concerning the civil rights motion.
It drove me to depart company America and launch this enterprise to construct a brand new kind of labor tradition to help globally distributed and numerous workforces, and reimagine it to make sure that everybody has a seat on the desk.
Key insights from Beginning and Constructing a Firm [12:58]
Sam Jacobs: What are among the key insights that you just’ve gleaned as you’ve constructed an organization from zero to the place it’s in the present day?
Alex Schrecengost: You need to have your imaginative and prescient, and it needs to be very clear. Study to adapt to any working surroundings. I launched through the pandemic, throughout world provide chain stress. There’s a conflict abroad, there’s a civil rights motion occurring. You need to be fluid and nimble.
Completely different dangers result in a wide range of paths and it’s a tough market proper now. The situations are madness. I’ve wanted to assume rapidly on my toes.
As a girl, there’s further strain inside a startup {industry}. You need to be extremely buttoned up. I’m a first-time CEO, a girl, and a mother; are they going to imagine that I can do it? You need to take these dangers regardless.
Coping with Imposter Syndrome [15:10]
Alex Schrecengost: I’ve fixed stress and all the time do the “simply breathe” second. My motto is ‘do all the things with a function, construct on that, and assume strategically.’
I could also be fully mistaken, and have to alter issues in a day, every week, a month, a 12 months, however that is the route I’m going to go. It’s having confidence with the concern. That was one thing I needed to work on. You need to be okay along with your choices.
How Digital With Us secured massive enterprise shoppers early and rapidly [16:46]
Sam Jacobs: Your consumer checklist is spectacular, notably for a younger firm. How did you handle these relationships? How did you shut these offers?
Alex Schrecengost: Actually realizing the individuals throughout the group, and having a imaginative and prescient for what they may do.
Many of those orgs had been within the technique of including DEI to their programming. We positioned ourselves because the leaders of tradition and inclusivity. Constructing confidence and displaying them what we might do.
We had challenges. Nevertheless it was persistence and zeal that continued to get us enterprise. We’ve strategically marketed and constructed our model by way of quite a lot of publications like Quick Firm, INC., and Fortune. That is how we’re charging ahead.
Why enterprise leaders must do greater than “attempt laborious sufficient” [19:15]
Alex Schrecengost: Folks really feel in the event you construct it, enterprise will simply occur. That’s not true. There’s a number of work, technique, gross sales, and operational construction that goes behind it.
You need to construct a technique for development. There’s solely to this point you possibly can go along with not taking no for a solution.
You must all the time trust however just remember to have tactical breakdowns of the way you’re rising your enterprise, and what it appears to be like like in 2-5 years. These bigger firms, B2B, HR, range and inclusion leaders, chief income, gross sales, and discipline advertising and marketing, are our consumers. How is their enterprise impacted? You possibly can’t simply go and say, “I’m not going to take no for a solution. I’ve constructed this and I’m going to proceed making an attempt. So persons are simply going to come back.”
Sam Jacobs: How have you ever adjusted your strategic plan as you push forward?
Alex Schrecengost: I wished to point out sustainability and development trajectory. The hybrid mannequin is right here to remain, because it permits organizations to achieve extra individuals to drive their gross sales and income, it’s bringing that in-person and digital part collectively. I noticed that 30% of organizations worldwide are doing hybrid and it’s projected to develop. It is a $14b market, they usually’re nonetheless using Zoom, what does that seem like for us?
We’re trying to increase our world footprint. We proceed to construct out this hybrid construction for organizations and groups. It’s about serving to them with their flexibility. How do be certain that tradition is essential when not everybody’s within the workplace? You construct it.
We’ll have a know-how platform to permit groups to attach all around the world. We’re persevering with to have a look at the ecosystem, and we’re evolving. How can we turn out to be relatable and reliable on an ongoing foundation? How can we encourage engagement?
Hybrid vs. absolutely distant workplaces [25:05]
Alex Schrecengost: Should you take a look at of us who’re simply coming into the workforce, they want visibility in entrance of senior administration, they want skilled development and improvement, steerage, and mentorship. If you’re a latest faculty graduate, constructing that community the place you don’t have a community in any respect, you want to have the ability to set up that.
On the opposite facet, it permits for flexibility to have a work-life stability. There’s a number of confusion. Of us had been saying, are available any three days, however you then’re on Zoom or Groups anyway as a result of nobody truly coordinated. When you’ve got distinct scheduling, there’s a possibility to offer that stability the place you possibly can work from anyplace.
There’s nice flexibility within the hybrid mannequin. Even previous to the pandemic, we had been going to a hybrid mannequin ultimately. The pandemic compelled everybody to be digital, after which it compelled everybody to rethink how we are able to do that.
Paying it ahead [28:33]
Sam Jacobs: We prefer to pay it ahead: books, mentors, those who had a big effect on you. What are the concepts and folks that you just assume we should always find out about?
Alex Schrecengost: My mentor who’s been with me since I graduated faculty, Amy Wilkins, the senior VP after which chief income chief for Martha Stewart. She helped me with constructing my self-strategy and taught me the significance of collaboration and lifelong studying. I like her work ethic. She’s now the CRO on the Smithsonian.
She’s been such a beautiful mentor for me and helped me all through my skilled development.
Sam Jacobs: What’s the easiest way to achieve you?
Alex Schrecengost: Alex@VirtualWithUs.com. I’m open to collaborating, chatting by way of methods, and increasing my community. I’m glad to introduce you to our gross sales workforce and showcase our capabilities.
Sam’s Nook [31:02]
Sam Jacobs: Liked that dialog. I’ve interviewed a number of individuals from numerous backgrounds, and the factor that they battle with shouldn’t be imposter syndrome, which all of us battle with. It’s saying, ‘I might not be certified for this, however I’m simply going to do it and I’ll determine it out as I am going.’ That’s high quality to have.
Begin one thing and have a plan. You continue to want expertise and knowledge. Be in search of the second whenever you lastly can say, I’m as certified as anyone else. I’ve each proper to success.
Wherever you might be, no matter you seem like, that doesn’t matter. What issues is believing in your self. Increase your hand for that job that you just assume you might not be certified for. Take an opportunity on your self and provides your self permission to be nice.
If you wish to attain me, you possibly can electronic mail me at sam@joinpavilion.com, and pre-order my ebook, Variety Of us End First, The Thoughtful Path to Success in Enterprise in Life.
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