Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:22] Speaker B: Hi, welcome to Biz Talk. I'm your host, Emily Galindo. We are here talking to business owners all day so that you can learn and grow and become a better professional and business owner yourself. We're excited to have our first guest with us today, Hilary Bailey with Freedom Caregivers and Companions. We are excited to have you. Welcome, Hilary.
[00:00:39] Speaker C: Thank you. Glad to be here.
[00:00:41] Speaker B: Yes, thank you. I'm really excited about our particular talk today because we have not had an expert in your field yet, and I think it's a really important one in our society right now. So why don't you tell everybody a little bit about who you are and what you do and what your mission is, okay?
[00:00:56] Speaker C: Hi, guys. I'm Hilary Bailey. I am a physical therapist, assistant, and certified dementia practitioner by trade. And I own Freedom Caregivers and Companions.
I love taking care of people, especially our senior community, because they do deserve it so much. So the quality services that we're going to provide are we're going to come into the home, I'm going to do an in home assessment of your loved one and we're going to see how best we can help, whether that be providing showers, dressing, bathing, socialization, light housekeeping, some meal prep, maybe taking them to the doctor for you if you're running out of time and just help as much as we can them live the most independent they can in their home.
[00:01:34] Speaker B: And I think that's something that's really important. I know that as an adult child of an aging parent. Right. Like, I don't know if people ever really want to put their parents in a home.
And we want to keep them at home as long as possible.
So what, having your service in the home, like, how, what do you think is the longevity? How long does that extend the amount of time that they're able to, like, really stay at home?
[00:01:58] Speaker C: Well, depending upon their financial means, they can stay at home through hospice care and through their passing most of the time, especially, like with dementia clients. I do know when you move their, like if you move them from where they've been, you know, for 40 or 50 years in their home and you move them to a different facility or outside their norm, that cuts about two to three years off their life expectancy and it really causes their dementia to decline quite quickly. So, so it can keep them, I would say, with us, you know, four or five more years.
[00:02:28] Speaker B: Yeah. And I, I, I've actually heard that having a service like yours keeps them from falling. And falling is typically like, that's a, that's A five year sentence is my understanding.
[00:02:39] Speaker C: Yes. Especially if you break something, right? Absolutely.
[00:02:42] Speaker B: And so having somebody caring and coming into the house all the time, what is this is a. You know, our baby boomer generation is obviously retiring. They're getting much older. It's becoming a very large industry.
What are you seeing across the industry in general? That is something that we're not happy.
[00:03:01] Speaker C: With as far as client care.
[00:03:05] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:03:05] Speaker C: Oh. The quality of caregivers that are hired and what they feel like they should be doing in the homes, that is what I hear complaints about the most, is what the caregiver is actually doing in the home. They're staying on their phone. They're not doing what the client's asking them to do. They're not doing the simple basic task or going above and beyond to take care of the client and make sure they're getting everything that they need. That's why when I started my agency, I wanted to make sure that it was very different. So I like to call us a quality skilled agency. We hire caregivers that have experience.
It just makes them a little more in tune with what our clients need because they've been doing it for so long.
So I'm able to pay them pretty well for. For the experience that they have. And so my clients get continuity of care. And it's really important for us to provide the same caregiver for every client.
They have the same caregiver in their home all the time, so they get that trust, that love and that commitment from their caregiver that makes them feel safe.
[00:04:04] Speaker B: Yeah. No, I mean, so what I'm hearing you say is because I've heard this in the industry as well. Right. They are always on their phone.
They don't actually interact with the client. They basically just sit around and make sure that they. And watch TV with them or whatever. And it doesn't. The industry doesn't have a great look, I'm gonna be honest.
[00:04:27] Speaker C: Yeah, no, it doesn't. It absolutely doesn't.
They hold onto the horror stories. Right. That they hear from their friends. Well, somebody came in and stole from my clients. Or we were paying for this caregiver and she didn't do anything but sit on her phone all day.
My caregivers are very good at cultivating relationships with our clients, like I said earlier, being in tune with what they need and making sure that we help them live their best life.
[00:04:53] Speaker B: Right.
[00:04:53] Speaker C: Keep them living their best life.
[00:04:54] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:04:55] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:04:55] Speaker B: And how. What is it that you guys are doing that's attracting such quality caregivers.
[00:05:02] Speaker C: Well, I mean, probably the fact that we pay them what they're worth, we pay them way above the normal salary range for an in home caregiver, and we allow them autonomy with the clients that they take. We want to make sure that they feel comfortable with what that client needs. You know, not everybody feels comfortable with every aspect of caregiving. Just because I say I'm a caregiver, there may be some aspect of caregiving that I'm not comfortable with. Or I might have a caregiver who is not able to handle clients that might be total assist. Right. So we let them go. When we have clients, we always call and speak with them and say, hey, this is what's going on with this client. Is this something that you feel like you're comfortable with? Or if you need me to come out and train you, would you feel comfortable with that client? We want them to feel comfortable in their surroundings and what they're doing and feel supported by us. So I think the support from us, not only with pay, but just being there when they need us, is a huge plus.
[00:05:55] Speaker B: Absolutely. I mean, and the autonomy over your schedule as well.
[00:05:58] Speaker C: Yes, absolutely.
[00:05:59] Speaker B: Mention that as well.
[00:06:01] Speaker C: We don't just. I never just assign a caregiver or a client. They always get a phone call from me or Erica, the scheduling coordinator, saying, hey, this is. The client wants these hours. This is what's going on. Do you want them or not? Okay.
[00:06:12] Speaker B: And then, I mean, obviously that's how they build their. Their payroll, if you will. Right. How many hours they're willing to work with, however many clients they're willing to take on.
Are you in need of caregivers? Absolutely.
I'm like. Because you're making it sound really good. And this might actually, you might have some applications.
[00:06:29] Speaker C: So just for example, we needed to hire a couple caregivers for a 247 client that we might be getting in a week or two. And that takes about five caregivers off of my, you know, payroll. Well, not off my payroll, but, you know, off the schedule because they have to be with this client. So I interviewed, with the help of Erica, 30 caregivers.
[00:06:47] Speaker B: Holy cow.
[00:06:48] Speaker C: Yeah. And there was about three of them that we actually thought we can move forward with you. I mean, our standards are very, very high. You may have the experience, but you may not interview well or what? We're finding a lot of people don't have driver's licenses. If you can.
[00:07:04] Speaker B: Really?
[00:07:05] Speaker C: Really.
[00:07:06] Speaker B: People don't have driver's license or don't have transportation.
[00:07:08] Speaker C: They don't have driver's licenses.
[00:07:10] Speaker B: Interesting.
[00:07:10] Speaker C: Yes. So our standards are extremely high. So it can.
[00:07:15] Speaker B: You have to be able to get a driver's license.
[00:07:17] Speaker C: You have to get a driver's license, guys. You have to be able to drive to your clients.
So our standards are pretty high. So it can take us a while to find somebody that we're comfortable with sending out to someone's home.
[00:07:25] Speaker B: Okay, and what are, are there any limitations?
Like if there's somebody watching that might have a senior in their life that they're considering doing this for? Are there any limitations that you're like, that's. We can't do that.
[00:07:39] Speaker C: The only thing I would say is probably somebody that's on a ventilator at home or anyone under 18. But because of the RN that I have on my staff, we're able to take.
[00:07:48] Speaker D: My mom was diagnosed with a higher.
[00:07:50] Speaker C: Acuity level of care.
[00:07:52] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:07:52] Speaker C: So if they have a peg tube or they've got need, they need suction or anything like that, we're able to provide that care because of the RN I have on my staff.
[00:08:00] Speaker B: That's very interesting. Which I know it's not normal to. Or it's not traditional. Not. I mean, that's not normally the standard in your industry.
[00:08:08] Speaker C: Right.
[00:08:09] Speaker B: I love that you guys are raising the bar because I. We have talked about this on the podcast and before, but that, that standards where we. And I believe it to be bare minimum, like this is how we should care for people in their aging times, that this is not the normal standard. And is there anything that we can do as a society to potentially change this?
[00:08:35] Speaker C: Well, I think you talked about it earlier on the podcast. Just going back to, you know, all the families living together and on one big compound. You know, I have seen that a couple of times in my work is there'll be a big plot of land and, you know, the parents will live here, they'll have a child over here, a child over here, and. And they're usually able, you know, to make that work is, you know, if someone doesn't need a lot of physical help, it's when they need the physical help where it becomes demanding, like help with showers or if they become bed bound for whatever reason and need help, you know, with pericare and changing and urinary care and things like that. But yeah, yeah, the family dynamic.
[00:09:11] Speaker B: The family dynamic has to change.
[00:09:13] Speaker C: It has to change.
[00:09:13] Speaker B: We have to go back to a nuclear family. But you can, because of the kind of. Because I know you and I know who you are. I feel like you become an extension of the family is really kind of how your caregivers, your company feels to me about how they treat the clients that you guys work with.
[00:09:31] Speaker C: That's exactly what we want. We want them to be an extension of the family. We want them to feel comfortable enough with them that they can ask us to help them with anything that might make them feel uncomfortable, to maybe ask their son or their daughter to do for them.
We, our caregivers. I'm going to tell you, I've been extremely blessed as a business owner to have the caregivers that I have. I think I have 22 now. And I'm just telling you, each and every one of them, when they go, they don't just go to collect a paycheck and go for a job. It is, they love what they do. When we have our staff meetings, you know, we'll, we'll talk about our clients and they just are so upbeat and loving the way that they talk about their clients and how they like to take care of them. And it's just they, they communicate well with each other.
They're just amazing. I'm so, I am very, very blessed that I have the caregivers that I have.
[00:10:25] Speaker B: It sounds amazing. And so if somebody like just if somebody needed some help, what would that look like right now for me, for them, as far as like, if I'm an adult caregiver of my parents and like describe kind of a little bit what they would be experiencing right now and need to call you.
[00:10:43] Speaker C: Oh, so they would need to be exhausted.
So what we find is the kids between like my age 45 to 65, because, you know, people are living a long time. So some of the clients I have have 70 year old children that are still trying to take care of their 95 year old parents.
But they still, you know, over here they've either got like, for my age, you know, we've got kids still in high school, kids in college, and then you've got, you know, 55 and 60 who have grandkids. And so they still want to be a part of this part of their life, but they're also having to care for their aging parents and they can't do both successfully. So, you know, let us take, you know, this part and you live your life over here and then just be a daughter to your mom and not a caregiver.
[00:11:26] Speaker B: Very good. Well, if you are exhausted and going through that and need somebody who will actually care about your loved one, please give Hilary a call. Her contact information is on our website. We are so excited. Thank you so much for caring about our seniors. It's been a blessing to have you in the industry.
We'll be right back with our next with our next business owner. Thanks, Keith. Stick around.
[00:12:03] Speaker E: Hey, folks, welcome back to Biz Talk. Thank you for staying tuned in. And in case you are just now tuning in, my name is Rick Gutierrez. I'm your host and your business advocate. Up next, we've got a great friend of ours who happens to be an expert in immigration law. He has been practicing immigration for a very long time and we're happy to have him back on the show. My good friend Ish, welcome back to the show, sir.
[00:12:27] Speaker D: Hey, Rick, thank you for having me.
[00:12:28] Speaker E: Absolutely. Thank you for being here. We are happy to have you back on the show. You bring tons of experience when it comes to immigration law and they call you Mr.
Extraordinaire when it comes to immigration law. So we want to pick your brain a little bit. We want to help you get your name out and recognition and all that good stuff. So I want to turn the platform over to you so you can kind of let our audience know in case they're catching you for the first time who you are and what you do.
[00:12:59] Speaker D: Yeah, sure, Rick. My name is, I provide immigration services across the board, but I mainly specialize in employment based immigration cases.
So I handle a lot of extraordinary ability cases. I handle a lot of national interest waivers. I do a lot of E2 treaty investor visas. I do L1 company, intra company transferees, H1BS, you know, which is the specialty occupation visas. Kind of just running this Alphabet soup of working with both individuals and institutions in terms of working towards their immigration goals in a cohesive manner.
[00:13:34] Speaker E: Absolutely. Thank you for introducing yourself and allowing our first viewers to know who you are. I think that is important.
We want to make sure that everyone knows exactly what we're going to be talking about and the conversation moving forward.
I believe that there is an opportunity for a lot of people to get some education. Education from you or maybe just some guidance and things like that. Ish. Because there is a lot of immigrants who are coming into this world looking for those dreams to become a reality. And one of those dreams is to start a business, right?
[00:14:08] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:14:09] Speaker E: So you're the expert in this field. So we're just going to pick your brain a little bit to see what, what you think could potentially be successful, some of those things that they can prepare for and maybe some challenges and things like that. So one of the first few questions that I have for you is what are the biggest legal challenges immigrants face when starting a business in the U.S.
sure.
[00:14:34] Speaker D: So, I mean, there's tons of challenges, right? One is you want to make sure that your business is properly incorporated. You want to make sure that your corporate documents are well. You want to make sure you're able to secure financing.
Right. You want to make sure that you're able to fill out, like, lease agreements and everything else like that properly. There's so many components to running a business. Right. That everything with payroll is proper.
So all of these challenges are often even more difficult for immigrants to navigate because certain institutions require Social Security numbers or they require, you know, like certain presence obligations in particular states for opening up a business or setting an enterprise up there. So, you know, immigrants have to not only only navigate the same weeds that other business owners do, but they also have specific restrictions in terms of kind of working through these parameters that are necessary to start and successfully operate a business.
[00:15:36] Speaker E: Yeah, absolutely. I think some of those challenges that business owners could potentially have are one of the things that I always tell folks. You realize that you're not alone. Right. There are resources out there.
As long as people know that they have someone to talk to and have those resources, it's highly important. But the only way that they would know that is by asking questions. And one person will lead them to another person to another person that will eventually lead them to the resource. So it could potentially be in the first conversation and that one person may know the proper person. And so it's highly important and I think you can agree to, for those that are looking to start a business in the US and make those dreams a reality is just to ask the right questions. Right.
[00:16:23] Speaker D: Also to realize. To realize, Rick. Right. That like none of these, none of these business concerns operate in a vacuum. Right. Accounting concerns are connected to operations concerns which are connected to immigration concerns. Right now for, for business owners that are themselves immigrants or are trying to bring immigrants over in an employee capacity, those immigration concern are also really big component of the overall operation. Right. And their overall, like set, collect, set, collection of considerations.
So it's, it's really. I think, I think you said it really well, Rick. It's not only that they are alone, but it's not. It's, it's. It's also that the immigration concerns don't operate alone. Right. They're connected to all of these other facets of new business as well.
[00:17:12] Speaker E: Absolutely. So one of the first things a new business owner might want to take a look at is, you know, Hiring a business coach to help you navigate through the challenges of business and getting your business where it wants to go, asking the proper questions to that business coach could potentially link you to a cpa, a bookkeeper, immigration attorney, a business attorney, and all of those great things. It's just about staying connected and just asking the right questions. So, ish, what advice do you have for immigrant entrepreneurs who are struggling in the field of finding the right funding and, or the right type of banking industry to help them with that aspect of business?
[00:17:53] Speaker D: Yeah, so I mean, that, that depends on the respective financial institution, Rick. Right now, different financial institutions have different requirements. If a certain financial institution does require, for example, Social Security number to gain access to credit, then there's visa types that business owners can pursue, and they can also go ahead and increase their presence in the US through using those visa types as, as, as kind of, you know, keys for their opportunity. Now, these visa types don't necessarily create a presence obligation, but they create an increased presence opportunity and access to more aspects of the US market. Right. Over like a traditional and simple B1.
Right. Initial kind of your professional visitor visa, which is usually where people start off.
[00:18:46] Speaker E: Yeah, absolutely. I think it's one of those things to where, again, going back to asking the right questions, people will lead you to the right banking institution to help you with what you're trying to achieve.
It's just about having the right conversations and meeting with the right people.
There's another conversation, another question that's going to lead to another topic and another conversation. Ished. But there's tons of business owners out there, particularly, you know, immigrant business owners that are always looking to grow. Right. That's the end goal is to always continue to grow. But how can they protect themselves while at the same time. How can they protect themselves legally while at the same time continuing to grow their business?
[00:19:33] Speaker D: Yeah, of course. I mean, and protecting yourself legally, I guess that's, that's a, that's a broad statement, Rick. Right. Because you want financial protection protections, you want corporate protections, you want tax protections, you want immigration protections. Right. You kind of want protections on all of these different aspects of the law that touch your business as you grow, as you scale, as you expand. Right. So it's really about getting specialized counsel, I would say, in each of these different areas of your business as your business scales forward. Right. And then everyone's kind of a team. Right.
And, you know, you're able to then relay points of.
Or you could take, for example, tax advice from tax counsel and then make sure that that advice is heeded to. As you speak with immigration counsel. Make sure that advice is heeded to. As you speak with. With corporate counsel. Right. So it's really protecting every aspect of your business as you move forward.
[00:20:30] Speaker E: Yeah, absolutely. So there's what we know as the internal team, which is basically your employees, the staff that's helping you run the business. Then you have the external team that is basically everyone who you hire, and you delegate all of those things that, you know, we're not so great at. For example, bookkeeping or CPAs, or you hire a business coach, you can hire attorneys. That's the external team that everyone needs to have as well. And so there is a. There is an enormous need for education in this particular topic because there is tons of immigrants that are looking to make that dream come true and start a business. So for someone who's watching right now that's thinking about starting a business, or maybe they just started a business, but they're not completely set up just yet, what should they have ready to come and meet you for the very first time? What should they bring with them?
[00:21:28] Speaker D: Yeah, sure. So I think a great set of documents would be, for example, the. The basic corporate documents, right. So articles of incorporation, bylaws, what type of business structure are you? Right. Are you looking to bring employees in? Are you looking to bring executives or managers in? Right. That's another important question to ask. Right. And then are you a business owner? Are you looking to scale and expand? Are you looking to potentially bring another owner from the same country as you into the United States to help you guide operations?
So it's really about being able to articulate that business need. Right. And then trying to find the immigration solution to meet that business need rather than vice versa.
[00:22:12] Speaker E: And if this new business owner were to have questions for any other industry leaders like a CPA or things like that, is that someone that. Or do you have resources that you can introduce these new business owners to?
[00:22:27] Speaker D: Yeah, for sure. I mean, you know, like most attorneys, you know, I have a network of professionals that I. That I do work with and that I have worked with.
Now, a lot of my network is in Florida. Right. Because I'm based here in Miami versus, you know, you guys over in Houston. Right. So if someone needs those resources and they're in Florida, I can certainly equip them with those resources a bit more comfortably than I can in other areas of the country because, you know, of my location here in my network here. Now, unlike immigration, a lot of other areas of law or a lot of Other areas of financial practice are state specific. Right. Immigration is federal, so that's, you know, I'm able to, to, to advise clients on that across the nation, but certain other aspects of their business may have state specific questions.
[00:23:19] Speaker E: Yep. Okay. I absolutely appreciate all the knowledge that you bring to the table and, you know, everything that you do to help all these new business owners, you know, get things going in the right way and everything that you do for everyone that's coming to the US and looking to have that American dream. So I appreciate you and appreciate your team for everything that you do. We've come to the end of this particular segment, but Ishtar, we want to keep you around because we want to have a continued conversation once we come back from this commercial break. So let's, let's take this commercial break and we'll continue that conversation, folks. Enjoy the commercials. We'll be right back.
Hey, folks, welcome back to Biz Talk. My name is Rick Gutierrez. I am your host and your business advocate. We are happy that you are sticking with us. And for those that you are just now tuning in, we are having a great conversation with our Amazing immigration attorney, Mr. Ish, who is, you know, tuning in from Miami, Florida. And we're having a great conversation about, you know, certain particular points in the business, immigration laws that are coming up and they're trending and they're doing some really great things for a lot of folks that are thinking about making those dreams come true and building a business in America. So Isht, you're the expert in this. Tell us about this topic.
[00:24:54] Speaker D: Yeah, sure. So two very frequently used visas for entrepreneurs are the E2 treaty investor visa and then the L1A, you know, intra company transferee for executives. Right.
So one visa type, which is the E2.
Those are only open to nationals. Right. Or individuals who are citizens of a certain list of countries. Right. I know that a large percentage of the NOW media audience is, you know, has Latin roots or may even currently reside in Latin America. So I do want to list out the countries from that region that are E2 eligible and they include Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Paraguay. Right. So these countries are treaty investor individuals from these countries are treaty investor visa eligible. Right. And this visa type requires the professional to invest in the US Place the investment at risk. Right. And make sure that the, the investment is a substantial investment amount for the, the business that they invest in. Right. Now, Rick, the, the substantial investment amount is variable. Right. A lot of it depends on fixed costs in any specific Industry. A lot of it also depends on kind of your employee needs and how you're going to scale that up over time. Right. And those are con professionals to have with immigration lawyers. But these are good visa types as tools to start and operate a business here in the US because they're renewable into perpetuity.
The professional spouse. Right. Can also gain employment authorization. That's broad based.
So it's a really solid tool for individuals that are looking to start businesses here, operate them. And it's really the health of the business and the continued health and operation of the business that's going to be central in terms of the, the professional's ability to renew that visa as well, which again could go into perpetuity, assuming all continues to go well with the business.
[00:27:18] Speaker E: That is an amazing tool. That is something that I'm guaranteeing you right now that a lot of people did not know was available to that great list of countries that are eligible for that.
But I know for a fact that one of the questions that many are going to have, including myself, is when you say that, you know, the investment is variable, what, what makes it variable? I mean, is it the size of the business or is it the industry? What, what are we talking about?
[00:27:45] Speaker D: Yeah, many things. Right. The size of the business, the industry, the location. Right. It's, it's cheaper to operate a business in Cheyenne, Wyoming, for example, than it is in Miami, Florida or Houston. Right. So location is a big consideration.
The amount of manpower you'll need. Right, That's a, that's a big consideration.
Now, you know, the US Government does like to ambitious, optimistic projections of growth for business moving forward. Right.
So those are considerations that professionals should kind of take into account as well as they, as they consider this visa type.
[00:28:19] Speaker E: Yeah, I figured it had something to do with, you know, how many jobs are you going to make available in America to, to, to bring to the table. Right. How many people are you willing? Right.
[00:28:30] Speaker D: I mean, it's always. And even if they're not internally within the organization, Rick, you know, you could have individuals that are independently contracted. Right. As you were one of our previous conversations, internal, external, Everyone has a team. Every business has a team.
So if you're not going to be able to add too many individuals internally in the U.S. if you're, if you're at least externally contributing to employing the US workforce, that would work really well for this visa type as well.
[00:28:56] Speaker E: Yeah, absolutely. And so for those countries that you mentioned on the list, I mean, when they contact you right off the bat, what are the Some of the most important, certain questions that you feel they should be asking you so that they get better understanding or better information from you.
[00:29:13] Speaker D: Yeah, so that, that, that's a great question, Rick. I think, I think, you know, individuals should look at their respective country's requirements, Right. And then really dive deep into those requirements and ask me about those requirements specifically. Right. Costa Rica has separate requirements, for example, than Mexico. Right. So it really comes down to kind of sitting down, looking at those requirements, brainstorming them, kind of cross referencing them with your business idea, with how you want to operate that business, and then approaching your attorney to ask, you know, specific questions that are more pointed that would make it a more productive consultation for all parties.
[00:29:53] Speaker E: Yeah, that's, I mean, I'm very big of doing a little bit of homework and then preparing as much as you possibly can so that you can have a more constructive and more well thought out consultation. And obviously that's going to lead you to a better bang for your buck during your consultation because you're going to be able to get and extract more information from the consultation.
[00:30:13] Speaker D: Absolutely.
[00:30:13] Speaker E: So anything that you would advise these companies, you know, when they're coming in to hit the ground running and not see so many hurdles to get their business up and running.
[00:30:28] Speaker D: Yeah, it's almost counterintuitive, right. Because you know, the more you invest, the more you place at risk, the higher your chance of success. But of course, the higher the risk, right, because you're investing more and you're placing more capital risk. But a lot of individuals are hesitant, right. They'll kind of pull back, they'll retract on their, their capital contributions and they'll say, oh, you know, we're a bit nervous, we don't want to put that much capital risk. Well, that fear then creates a, a negative domino spiral. Right. And then suddenly you don't have as much capital that's ready to be, to be, to be operationalized. Right. And you, you're, you're, you're going to face a tougher interview because you don't have that many pieces in play. Right. This isn't just about having a large amount of money in a business checking account. This is about having a website, having a sales team, a marketing team, an operations team, you know, like details of the product. Right. I've worked with engineers, for example, that have patented a product. Right. So it's okay is this, is, are all these product details and are we kind of working with, with, with, with people to manufacture the product? Right. Really taking a step back kind of creating a 10, 10 numbered list, right? On, on, on what's important for your business to get up and running and kind of come, you know, to that E2 visa interview prepared, letting the consular officer know, hey, listen, my business is ready to go. Right? We're going to hit the ground running from day one because we put in all of those pieces, you know, financial, personal investment and otherwise into, into, into, into moving this forward.
[00:32:04] Speaker E: I think it's basically in layman's terms, what we call skin in the game, right? You want to, you want to be able to, you need to invest and have skin in the game in order to achieve the success that you want to have to ensure that you are going to follow through and do what you need to do because you've got so much investment in this particular project.
So when we are thinking about opening a business, whether it's, you know, coming from a foreign country or in this country, there is a lot of work to be done on the front end, there is tons from just creating your entity, your llc, your S corp, your C corp or whatever you're going to build. And then just from product and services alone, you have to know who they're going to serve and what they're going to serve. You're going to have to have your mission, your vision statement and all of that good stuff, which is something that should already be in place by the time that you come and talk to the extraordinary attorney, immigration attorney. So I think it's highly important to be highly prepared and to do as much due diligence as possible.
And that way you can hit the ground running much quicker, much easier.
Ish. Is there anything, any other advice that you could potentially provide to some new business owners or that are starting to put their business together and, or for those that are watching in other countries, thinking about starting a business in the U.S.
yeah.
[00:33:31] Speaker D: Document, document, Document. Right. Like whatever you do, even if it's an email exchange with an interested party, even if it ultimately leads to a financial deal, maybe sometimes it doesn't. You can show the US Government that you've taken these steps that you're trying to actualize, right. This business and you're trying to get it moving, you're trying to get it started. Right. So, you know, a lot of the times deals happen on WhatsApp. Right. And I'll ask a client and I'll say, hey, listen, you know, can you get me proof of this? They'll say, oh, it's. It's WhatsApp. Log messages, sure. Then just take pictures of your WhatsApp log, at least create the jpegs so you could send that over to your immigration attorney team as further evidence. Right. You can send it over to business plan professionals because, you know, the E2 does require business plan. Some of these visa types require business plans. You can send these to your outside help when, when, when. When the time comes and you're pursuing these visas, you kind of have the evidence at hand. So record, record, record, document, document, document.
[00:34:31] Speaker E: Perfect.
I kind of knew that myself, but I wanted the audience to hear it from you because you're the expert in this field and just wanted to make sure that they get the right answers. Now, one last question before we go. I know there's a lot of people watching from different countries and whatnot, and if they see you and they see that you are the expert in these fields, can you help everyone from even different countries, or are you on only focus on US Folks?
[00:35:01] Speaker D: No, I can, I can. And I have worked with professionals across Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia, I guess. You know, I haven't had any clients from Antarctica yet, but, you know, basically all the other continents, Australia included. You know, there's. There's a long list of countries, you know, professionals from a long list of countries that I've worked with. Right.
It's. It's really about, you know, kind of understanding your own country's requirements, especially as they relate to the E2 and then heading into that consultation so it could be informed. So it's never. There aren't really countries that I turn away. Right. It's just if the individual doesn't have documentation or evidence to kind of meet that specific country's requirements, that would be difficult for me or any immigration attorney to really work with that person because it's really about doing a good job and making sure these requirements are fulfilled.
[00:35:56] Speaker E: Absolutely. Okay. I'm glad that they heard that from you. I wanted to all of our audience to hear that from you, that you can help just about anybody that wants to come into the US and, you know, start a business. You are more than welcome to provide your services to them. So just real quick, before we go, how can they get in touch with you? What's the best way?
[00:36:15] Speaker D: Sure. So the easiest way to contact me is by email. Please send an email to infoimmigration.com that's infoimmigration.com or you could click Schedule a consultation on my website. That's eoimmigration.com awesome.
[00:36:29] Speaker E: Ish. It's been a pleasure having you on the show once again. We definitely thank you for taking the time. I know that you stay super busy, but you've taken the times and we really appreciate it. So thank you for being here.
[00:36:39] Speaker D: Likewise. Thank you, Rick.
[00:36:41] Speaker E: Absolutely. All right, folks, we have come to the end of this segment. We're going to take a quick commercial break, so stay right there. We'll be right back.
[00:37:02] Speaker B: Hi, and welcome back to Biz Talk. If you're just joining us, my name is Emily Galindo and I'm your host. And we are here to talk about all things business. And we are excited to welcome back our last guest, Leslie Everett, who is the CEO and founder of Walking Tall. She's our executive branding professional, and she's here to talk to us about how to stand out and is struggling in a crowded space. Welcome, Leslie, back to the show. We love having you.
[00:37:26] Speaker A: Thank you, Emily. Glad to be here again.
[00:37:28] Speaker B: Good, good. I want to jump right in because I know that this is a really important topic to our viewers, which is struggling to stand out. We all want to stand out in our perspective spaces. Right. And so what is it that you think is the biggest mistake that people make when they're trying to build a personal brand and make that. That make that impression?
[00:37:49] Speaker A: I think that the first thing is people don't realize just how powerful and how important it is to have a brand that we've worked on proactively and consciously because our brand is out there already, whether we've consciously developed it or not. And it's the way we make people feel. So we often just leave it to chance and people will give us a little bit of good feedback and we just forget to kind of tweak it every day. So I think the number one mistake is leaving it to chance and not realizing just how powerful it is if we have a strategy and a system to put in place to build our brand. And it does take effort, and it's something that needs to be done strategically, not just ad hoc or with a fire hose approach. And when I say that, what I mean is a lot of people think their personal brand is being present on social media, several posts a day, right across the board, on several platforms, so that I'm visible and I'm present and I have a profile and people can see me all the time. That's not necessarily the best way to build a personal brand. It's, yeah, you might be visible, but people don't really know perhaps who you are and what your expertise is. And in a professional sense, knowing clearly what our differentiator is and our Level of expertise and our area of expertise and what it is the end client gets from us when they work with us is so, so important. And I think one of the biggest mistakes is, is people are not consistent with that brand and not having a strategy.
[00:39:17] Speaker B: I think that is a wonderful piece of advice. I mean, it sounds like what you're saying is you got to be intentional about building that brand, right? Absolutely, yes. And so how do.
What do you think can be. How can business owners actually do that? Intentionality, but have it represent who they are and not just what they think think. You know, I see like the Tick Tock Dancers and they're like, I don't really want to be doing this. So how do we actually build a brand that represents who we are?
[00:39:44] Speaker A: Yeah, that's. And it's not easy. Of course it's not easy. And we have to set aside time to really delve into, well, who am I at this point in my career? What is my business about? That also I reinforce authentically with who I am. What are my true motivators and drivers and purpose and talents and strengths and beliefs that really drive me now in this point in my career? And what is my backstory when I work with executives, it's really important to uncover who you are, what you stand for from the backstory that you have. And developing that and really thinking about what are the golden threads that run through me and always have done that I can really build on, because that's me. So it's authenticity is. Is something that we need to discover first of all. And then I think the feedback we can get from other people is so important. It really is important to get that. But we don't want to start with that. We want to do some really serious deep thinking about what is it that makes me who I am. Get some feedback from others in terms of, well, tell me, what is it you think I stand for? Or what do you think it is I'm really good at? Or tell me what you think it is that I actually do. That's an enlightening one. It's. I can guarantee you it's not totally in alignment with what you do do or what you think you do. And then map that feedback over what you see yourself, and then you can get some really clear action areas to keep developing the brand. And the feedback is so important as we move forward. But based on that, then coming up with what your differentiator is, what is it that I do so well that really makes me great at what I do and gives the Client, end user, whoever it is, what they need and what they think they're looking for in terms of solving their problem.
[00:41:37] Speaker B: That is really being authentic has become I think a forefront in marketing and executive branding. We're seeing that a lot more. It's becoming very popular.
How do you think?
But does that really require me to cry on camera? Does that really require me to open up about my personal life? What are some things that we can do that aren't quite that vulnerable but still create a lasting impression of authenticity?
[00:42:01] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. I think vulnerability is really important for a leader, any leader. It's humility, vulnerability, being able to share stories of I didn't just get here through a lot of luck and hard work and everything went really well for me. This is where I messed up, this is what I did about it. Or I had this situation 10 years ago that I didn't handle well and I learned these lessons from it and this is what I now have in place to do that as only from a leadership perspective. So it's, it's being vulnerable, being humble about things as, as well, but also being that inspirational leader that says, you know, these things will happen to you, these things do go wrong, we need to admit it, we need to learn from it and if we're not making mistakes, we're not progressing.
So I do think vulnerability and hum is really important. I remember speaking at a conference once for a large bank in Poland and they had a panel session with their leaders that I wasn't anything to do with, but I was involved in the planning and they were being asked these questions about their careers and how they got to where they are and not once did they talk about anything that they'd, they'd messed up with or they had to, would have done differently. And I said, I really strongly suggest you have a question in there of something that you didn't handle well, that didn't go well for you, that you took a wrong decision on looking back and what you did about it and they really didn't want to do that. And I think it was an opportunity missed for authenticity to come through by being humble and vulnerable.
[00:43:29] Speaker B: That absolutely. Leaders I think lead much stronger from the front by being able to say so those things that you just, that you just mentioned. And so with that being said, do you feel like there should be a separation between the person and the, and the executive brand or do you believe that they're kind of one and the same?
[00:43:49] Speaker A: They're one and the same and unfortunately that's not always seen that way. With the executive, they're scared to sometimes show who they really are. And with my experience over what, 20 odd years now of working with a lot of executives, I've seen the ones that are most effective and take people with them are the ones that are transparent with their values and what they, they stand for. But it's, it's, it's not easy, it's not something we can do on our own. Hence why, you know, the coaching's there, because you can't easily see the label from inside the bottle. As I often say, you know, the true value of that person is visible to other people on the outside rather than you yourself. So it's a matter sometimes of bringing that out. A key part of what I do when I'm coaching people is it might come through in presentations, it might be in just general leadership, but is the back story of where you've come from and what are the learning points that you've had throughout your life that you can bring into the way that you lead, the way that you present messages, the little stories, the anecdotes, examples that we can reinforce a business point with that tells people a lot about you as a person and it helps you to bring the, to bridge the gap between the business presentation, as it were, and how you show up and the backstory of who you are as a person. So those kind of things are really important.
[00:45:11] Speaker B: So, Leslie, who are some of the people, what are they going through? Some of your clients that you work with, what would they be going through right now? Or maybe questions they would be asking themselves that might lead them in a direction to maybe want to work with you on creating a better or more polished, more aligned executive brand for their company.
[00:45:30] Speaker A: Yeah, the most frequent questions I get asked are I'm wanting to move into an executive role, or I'm in a new executive role, or I've been an executive for a while and I need to build up my executive presence. And they don't really know what executive presence means some of the time, but maybe they've been told you need more gravitas, you need more impact, and I need more presence.
I don't really know how to do that because I'm so busy. And this is one of the problems that they're so busy with their day job that they really don't think about how they show up, how they present themselves, how they managing a meeting, whatever, managing up and down across.
So one of the things is that they don't, they really don't have the time and they're asking me, well, how do I build my executive presence without putting in a ton of time that I don't have? How do I have a strategy to do that? And that's what we work on most. A lot of what I get asked, it links back to presentations, and I call it presentational brand. How do you present a message, whether it's big, formal audience, to the media or to your team? How do you present with impact, with a compelling, succinct message? Often I'll get asked for coaching when there's a critical presentation cropping up next week, and I really don't want to mess this one up and wing it. Obviously, it's a little late then to do your best job, but we can work on that. So presenting being true to who I am, being able to build my executive presence and visibility and not knowing how to do it, and often leading teams that full of managers and leaders themselves that don't actually have the leadership skills, haven't been given those, but have been elevated to a position where they're not leading effectively. So working with an executive leader, giving them greater presence means working with their team as well, often.
[00:47:21] Speaker B: So if their team wanted to be able to contact you to maybe help them with that presentation or to be able to get that promotion that they're hopeful to get, how would. What's the most effective way to get in contact with you and your team?
[00:47:33] Speaker A: Yeah, my LinkedIn profile. So Lesley Everett. Lesley spelt L E S L E Y.
My website is lesleyeverett.com so that's pretty easy to remember. And my email is Lesley, Lesley Everett.
So those are the best ways.
[00:47:49] Speaker B: Fantastic. We love your expertise. This is definitely something, I think in a more competitive work market like we have and a very crowded Right. Landscape of being inundated with social media is that being able to have that gravitas, that pull, that presentation aura about you is critical now more than ever. So with that, I thank you for your expertise today. We would love having you on the show, and we will invite you back next time.
[00:48:20] Speaker A: Thanks, Emily.
[00:48:21] Speaker B: Thank you.
All right, guys, that's it for us today at Biz Talk. We've had a great day, learned a lot of things, and would love for you to come back next week to learn even more about how to be in business while we talk biz.
[00:48:36] Speaker D: This has been a NOW Media Network's feature presentation.
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