Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to Create Wealth Through Franchising. I'm your host, Kim Daly.
Whether you're a CEO, a military vet, a real estate investor, or simply in career transition and ready to take ownership of your future, with each episode, you're going to learn valuable insights and hear inspiring stories from within the franchise industry.
On that note, my guest stories are their own. And as a franchise consultant, I do not make personal brand endorsements or earnings claims, but I do educate, motivate and inspire dreams.
Now onto the show.
[00:00:44] Speaker B: Welcome back to Create Wealth Through Franchising podcast and Kim Daly tv. In my studio today, a beautiful new guest. Her name is Issy Otese from Austin, Texas, and she's a focal point coach franchisee. EC welcome to the studio of Kim Daly tv.
[00:01:02] Speaker C: What an honor, Kim, it's great to be here.
[00:01:05] Speaker B: Oh, I think the honor is all mine with that beautiful face and smile of yours. So, EC why don't you open up the conversation today by sharing with my listeners your journey of going from corporate America to investing in the focal point coaching franchise. So for those who follow me, you know that I love to share the inspiring stories in franchising. And let's be real, franchisees tell the most inspiring stories, right? You don't hear it when the franchise war says it. You definitely don't hear it when Kim Daly says it. But you do hear it when other people who stood right where you are right now, if you're standing on the sideline trying to figure out if franchising is for you. When people share their story of how they were able to make that leap into franchise ownership, that's what helps people really lean in. And so we're going to start with her story of where she came from in a W2 and how she landed on focal point coaching.
[00:02:04] Speaker C: Wow. Keen. So the journey actually started way, way, way, way before I even started my career, meaning the oldest of six kids. And with that comes that responsibility of guiding each of them and helping them achieve their dreams. So coming to the US I had an undergrad in microbiology, but I decided to pivot into it and that started my corporate career in it. And number of years into that career, probably almost two decades in that I started to really know myself. I said grew up in corporate America. I knew and I knew and I knew that there was something out there for me. I had this entrepreneurial spirit the entire time I had done real estate on the side, involved myself in a lot of leadership developmental programs in corporate America. I was leading cross functional teams, helping with strategy and operations. So Lots to do with change management, serving several business leaders in helping their teams in their learning and development. So I come with a huge expertise in coaching. And I started to look at the end inside to look back and say, you know, what to be on my dying bed. What would life look like? Would I be truly happy and excited? You know, and I tested, but I say, you know, I could make a bigger impact. I could make a difference. And so I started to explore, what would that look like? I wrote a business plan. Of course it was coaching and brand new of cousin of mine who had actually employed a franchise consultant, you know, worked with a franchise consultant. And I reached out to him and said, hey, you know what? I'm looking to start my own business and I want to explore franchising as an option maybe to fuel my coaching career or opportunity or business initiative. And so he connected me with somebody and we worked together for a year. I'd gone through the an assessment to really understand what my strengths were, what would be a good fit for me. I was holding back a little bit because the draw of corporate world was so strong. You know, I was speaking with a few friends who had done something similar. They'd taken the leap as well, and they were saying, well, we out of the corporate jail. That's how they put it. Well, you know, I had an exciting career in corporate America, truly, and was looking for much more. Well, I looked at brick and mortar, I looked at several other options and eventually, because I actually didn't think coaching was a franchise option and actually didn't think so, so I didn't broach that subject with him. I was just looking for something I could do to give me the revenue I needed to fuel my coaching passion. Right? But eventually, as we explored and explored together, he was very gracious and eventually we got to the point and I said, you know what? I think I want to be in a B2B space. And I also, coaching is just my passion and I don't see myself doing anything different at this point in time. The world opened up more for me with coaching as a franchise option. And that's how I got into coaching, into the franchise space.
[00:05:26] Speaker B: It's awesome. And you know what? So I just want to take a little moment for those listeners out there. So if you are working with a franchise consultant, don't be bashful to step up and say, this is my life's goal. Like, if money weren't a thing, this is what I would want to wake up and do. Because I feel like that's what you were saying, but not saying to him at the time. And so you probably wasted some time and went through some gyrations, which in the grand scheme may have been worth it for you to kind of get up the learning curve. But you got cut right to the chase when you kind of opened up your heart and said, well, this is what I'm really trying to do with my life. And then he was able to provide an option like Focal Point Coaching, because to your point, a lot of people don't know, like, the scope of franchise opportunities that are out there. It goes way beyond the Chick Fil A's and the Jersey Mikes.
[00:06:17] Speaker C: Right.
[00:06:18] Speaker B: So there's so many different opportunities out there that this is why you should use a franchise consultant, an experienced franchise consultant, hopefully Kim Daly. But also that you should feel like you could lay your cards on the table because we can only help you when we know exactly what you want to accomplish and who you see yourself being, sort of as a business owner in the community. So it's awesome. So you joined Focal Point Coaching when.
[00:06:46] Speaker C: This is March of 2023. That was last year, so about a.
[00:06:51] Speaker B: Year and a half into it. So since you are a coach, let's offer the listeners some coaching advice on becoming a B2B coach and making a transition from a jailbreak to the freedom of business ownership. What are some of the lessons you've picked up or some of the hindsight that you now have that if you would to go back and do it again, you might offer to yourself as advice?
[00:07:16] Speaker C: Wow. You know, so I have no regret choosing Focal Point as my franchise of choice because, honestly, it accelerated the journey for me, I believe, right at the onset. So went through certification right away, and through certification was able to understand, get my business running in no time and actually started acquiring clients right off the bat. So it's very, very fortunate at the very beginning where that started to happen. So seeing those results at the beginning really gave me that inspiration and affirmation that I'm in the right space. Right. Hindsight, though, I would say I would have leapt in sooner.
[00:08:02] Speaker B: I love that advice. Let's go back to imagine when you were writing your business plan to be a business coach right before you found out about Focal Point. Rewind the tape to that. Knowing what you know now about the franchise model in coaching, which some could easily say, well, what's the value in that? Like, why do I need a franchisor? So speak a little bit to that hindsight.
[00:08:27] Speaker C: Great things. For me, the first is community and the culture within the franchise, especially with focal point coaching, we have over 200 franchisees. And what drew me was the culture. The culture, just fabulous. People are willing to help. They had expertise in so many different areas of the business. The business world is multifaceted, and coming from corporate to the small business space, I myself was feeling the same struggles that any business owner would feel. But having the support there, having that support is incredible. So that's one. The second piece is you have a proven framework that you don't have to reinvent the wheel. They had a curriculum that was out there already that I didn't have to create myself. You know, so really, that turn key, right, where you can use something right off the bat to start serving your clients. And so you're making an impact very quickly. And then finally, I think being part of a franchise organization, it's a known brand. Brian Tracy started focal point 20 years ago, and I already knew of his work. It made sense to me to use that brand to foster the work. And so anywhere I go, when I speak about myself as a focal point coach and when I bring up the concept of eat that frog, everybody knows that. And so, you know, just having those three components together, it's just incredible to have that that puts you ahead of the game or ahead of the curve.
[00:10:08] Speaker B: It's really good. I mean, what she said about having that curriculum. So I know in some simple businesses, I'll often hear it like, why do I need a franchise for that? Couldn't I just go do that without paying fees? But to the point of the curriculum, creating a sales training program or a leadership program doesn't make you any money. It's the implementation of that program with clients that makes you money. And did you hear what the woman said? She said she was able to get clients almost from day one. So, I mean, let's just talk about that, how they helped you. Because I also think in coaching, there's a feeling of, like, do people actually pay for that? I mean, I would do coaching if it was results oriented. Let's talk a little bit about, like, how you were able to get those clients right away. Again, comparing it to if you had stayed as an entrepreneur in the business coaching space, how your approach might have been entirely different and maybe less effective.
[00:11:09] Speaker C: Absolutely. It would have taken me eons to figure out that process. Right. Of client acquisition. And that's something you thought right off the bat as well. The idea is, everybody sells. Whether you like it or not, you're in sales, and how do you communicate the value that you're bringing to your clients enough for them to raise their hand and say, yes, I want that. Right? First is understanding the pain, the problem that you're trying to solve for them. And that's what Focal Point does really well. It helps you to really gain clarity on what the pain points are that our clients actually are experiencing. And when we speak to that pain point, it's easier for them to identify that and say yes. They raise their hand and say, I definitely want that service. Right? Because I experience it. I feel the dread of owning, wearing all the hats in the business. I feel the challenge of scaling my business from one to the other level. Like I hit assessment peak and now going to the next peak. It takes a different set of skills to get there. And so it's truly, truly spending that time understanding your client, the pain points really, and then knowing that what you offer helps that problem.
[00:12:30] Speaker A: Hey, Daily Coach fans, if you're loving this episode, please do me a quick favor and leave me a five star rating and a short review. Your feedback fuels my growth and rankings and shows others that this podcast is valuable. Now back to the show.
[00:12:48] Speaker B: This is what I love. I'm a big advocate of coaching, just like I was in the gym. Because if you go to the gym, right, because you want to lose weight and you want to get in shape, but you have zero experience with the machines, how to put together a progressive, resistant training program that's going to help your muscles to grow and your body to change. You literally walk into the gym, you flounder about, you move some things around, you jump on the treadmill, you do a little bit of that and then you leave. Okay, that was a workout. And I guess if you did nothing and then you did a little bit of something, you'll get some result, but you're going to plateau at that pretty quickly. But how much better to walk into the gym and hire the trainer who knows biomechanics and knows how to help you put together a program that's going to be effective and an efficient use of your time for that 30 or 60 minutes, you're in the gym three days a week so you can actually reach your goals. So it's the same thing when you own a business. A lot of times in franchising, people think, but I'm buying a franchise. Why should I have to consider having a business coach? I see it as two different things, right? The franchise system is helping you mitigate the startup risks and buys you systems and tools to execute with, but the business coach helps you implement those Systems and tools for an optimum result. Would you agree with that?
[00:14:10] Speaker C: E.C. very spot on. So look at the sports industry, right? Those athletes, they have coaches just like what you said, going to the gym, right? Any successful person out there has a coach. You don't even have to be floundering to have a coach. And that because a coach sees what you don't see, the blind spots, they help you perfect the skill. Exactly. What you said, Kim, is the same process. We see things that the business owner, because they're so buried head deep into the work in the business that the coach helps them take their eyes off of that. Anytime they work with a coach, they're working on the business, doing the things that will allow the business grow. Whether it's your marketing system, your financial systems, leadership, all of that, everything that you need to get to scale and grow the business. Otherwise business can be tough. And if we can get in with the day to day distractions of working.
[00:15:15] Speaker B: In it, it's so true. And most business owners will come back and say, you know, I bought this business for time freedom. But I never realized that time freedom and herein lies probably why, right? Because they didn't seek counsel of a coach. Right. Who could help challenge them to create a way out. That's what you do. I'm curious, so what type of clients? I know this is highly variable because we've met so many focal point coaches here on my podcast. I love, love, love your franchise system. In fact, I've set it a time or two. If I didn't love franchoice and what I do so much on this side, a hundred percent, I would be a focal point franchisee. So the business coaching me can't handle it. So I love and respect your entire system. Like I can only imagine what your annual conventions are like. Like to taste the energy of these high performing people all in one room. I have to imagine it's much like what I experience at my franchoice conventions because it's the same kind of environment. But so inspiring to call these people your colleagues, right?
[00:16:22] Speaker C: Absolutely. Kim, we would love to have you at focal point.
[00:16:25] Speaker B: I love it. I'm just curious, in your particular practice in Austin, do you focus on a particular client or client avatar?
[00:16:35] Speaker C: When I started my vision was to support women owned businesses. That was my focus initially, creating community. Because women have a unique set of skills that they bring to the table. They are very collaborative, their leadership style is very unique and different. I think the struggle that women face is they serve both at home and in the business. And sometimes they're running the business like they're running their home. And there's also a lack of support for the woman business owner. And so providing that safe space for business women to come together and have that nurturing support and scale their businesses, that's been my vision. I'm working my model towards that. I've worked with businesses in different industries, whether it's in healthcare, I see in the trades as well. So it spans different industries. However, I'm putting my focus now more towards just women entrepreneurs and providing a community like space using mastermind group coaching and within the community having one on one coaching as well so they can grow and find that place of place where they can be vulnerable.
[00:17:56] Speaker B: It's really good. If I had to summarize, what we've learned here from you today is that all business owners are salespeople. Business ownership is a personal development journey. Look, I mean we spent about a half an hour talking about, you know, coaching to the business owner. And as you see as we dive into this mindset, it's who you are. It's letting go of like your old self image and building a new self image. It's identifying where you may feel unworthy for success because that's going to block you from ever being able to be successful. It's understanding your weaknesses and micromanaging or over controlling and setting up systems and then hiring people to support you. Like it's success in business ownership is a personal development journey. If it's anything.
[00:18:42] Speaker C: Amen, sister. Yes, amen it is. It's looking yourself in a mirror, I would say just getting rid of the pains that are not serving you and growing into the person that you're meant to be. It's the greatest adventure ever, I would say.
[00:18:59] Speaker B: Amazing. What an amazing way to end this conversation. And there is support for you in franchising, not just in focal point as a franchisee, but in all franchises. But then a whole nother level of support that I want to make all of my listeners aware of is business coaching. You don't have to just stay stuck in your franchise thinking that there's no support out there for you if your franchisor is letting you down or you just don't feel like you're getting what you need. Reach outside to people like EC or other focal point coaches or a local coach. Find somebody that you personally connect with. Going back to my gym analogy, who can take you from that person floundering about to someone who walks into the gym with authority. You have a program. Your time is Efficient, and it's productive. So when you leave, your body gets in shape, and when you wake up one day, you're actually living the dream as a business owner that you thought you were saying yes to the day that you signed your franchise agreement. That's what Kim Daly wants for every single franchisee around the world, for you to wake up and really be realizing the dream. You know why I'm going to share with this? This is my tagline. The best dreams are those we live Now, I wrote that tagline. Nobody's ever said that I need to trademark it. And I wrote that tagline one day when I woke up making a YouTube video and really felt like this is where I was always meant to be in business ownership. And I literally was having this spiritual experience inside of myself. I was so, like, giddy with, like, happiness. And I was like, we always joke, oh, you're living the dream. I was literally living a dream because it was a dream in my mind. And here I was living smack dab in the middle of living that dream, and I thought to myself, what a great tagline for Kim Daily tv, because Kim Daly TV is allowing me to realize this dream of sharing my voice and my knowledge with people all around the world. So, anyway, Issa, you're amazing. So inspiring. I'm so happy to meet you today. Thank you for sharing your journey with my listeners here today on Kim Daly tv.
[00:21:21] Speaker C: What a joy. Thank you, Kim.
[00:21:23] Speaker B: God bless you. Well, for those who are inspired, like I'm inspired, if you're on the sideline, you heard the woman. She said she wished she did it sooner. Today's the day. No more delaying. Reach out to Kim Daly right now. There's a link in the description below. I want you to follow that. And for those who are just my everyday followers, God bless you. Thank you so much. And please never forget that my name is Kim Daly, and I want to be your daily coach.
[00:21:53] Speaker A: You can find more content just like this on my YouTube channel at KimDaily TV. And if you're inspired to take the next step to explore franchises matched to you, please email me right now at. Inquire at KimDaily TV. That's inquire at KimDaily TV.
