This episode was recorded live from The Ripple Space in Downtown Vancouver, WA at the Passages to Success Fall Conference. Our guest is Chris Hays, President and COO of ZoomInfo.

It's not often that you get to talk to an executive leader of this caliber. Chris shared his experience in growing ZoomInfo into a multibillion dollar public company and provide very relatable ideas for small business owners around sales, growth, scaling, failure, exit strategy, and ways to weather an economic downturn.

Prost!

Episode Highlights:

0:37 Introductions

2:45 ZoomInfo's commitment to Vancouver, WA

5:30 The Beer portion of the program

7:57 How to manage growth & executing on opportunities

10:56 Learning from failure

14:20 Best ways to focus on your Total Addressable Market (TAM) - fit and intent

17:33 How company size impacts your ability to pivot

19:56 Ripcord moments

21:21 Cofounding a small business

26:32 Always have a contract

28:11 Tips for scaling your business

32:15 The natural tension between Sales and Operations

34:57 The hardest thing Chris had to sell

35:50 Keys to weathering an economic downturn

39:30 Ways to look bigger as a small business

42:15 The Final Action

43:45 Wrap up

Guest Beer:

Victor 23 Craft Brewery - Vancouver, WA

Briefcase Full of Hops, Fresh Hop Hazy IPA, 7% ABV

Thanks to all our Sponsors of the Passages to Success Fall Conference:

Comcast Business

The Port of Vancouver

Gravitate

Greenhaven Landscapes

Rational Unicorn

In Light Hyperbarics

Twin Star Credit Union

Chase

Victor 23 Craft Brewery

Valo Cellars

Heathen Brewing

K Water Store

The Barbers

This episode was recorded live from our Passages to Success monthly member event at IV Tea Company in downtown Vancouver, WA. Our guest is Natalie Fairchild, Founder and Chief Inspirational Office with Pacific Perks, a mobile cafe that creates personalized experiences for families and organizations in the Pacific Northwest.

Small Business Owners are experiencing a wide variety of hiring challenges in today's market. In this episode, we do a deep dive into some of those challenges. We discuss the notion of The Great Resignation, and Natalie shares with us some creative solutions for a more effective hiring process. In addition, Natalie shares with us her 5 Rules for Business Basics and shares some big news about the future of her company.

Prost!

Episode Highlights:

0:08 Intro

1:11 Thanks to our Sponsors

3:35 Top Hiring Challenges

5:00 Welcome Natalie Fairchild Founder of Pacific Perks

6:36 The Great Resignation

9:44 Creative Problem Solving in the hiring process

12:52 How many spaces after a period?

16:35 Changing the old school mentality

17:58 The role of storytelling in the hiring process

20:47 Constantly recruiting for great candidates

23:54 The beer portion of the program

26:45 How pivoting can help you make the best of a bad situation

32:30 5 Rules for Business Basics

37:48 Franchising at Pacific Perks

43:05 Balance your work and maintain your flexibility

47:47 The Final Action

50:15 Contact Natalie

50:42 Wrap Up

51:20 Meet Jason Huggins with our Sponsor Twin Star Credit Union

Guest Beer:

Blue Moon Brewing Company - Denver, CO

Blue Moon Belgian Style Wheat Ale, 5.4% ABV, 9 IBU

Episode Links:

Passages to Success

Natalie Fairchild

Pacific Perks

Top Hiring Challenges from BMA Group

Thanks to our Sponsors!

Twin Star Credit Union

Chucks Produce

IV Tea

Loowit Brewing

Coming to you live from The Clark County Historical Museum in Vancouver Washington, this was recorded at our April 2022 Passages to Success member Event.

We are excited to have Owners Jon Dyer and Kara Bowman of CheckRight NW, a Bookkeeping and Payroll company based in Vancouver, WA.

Her journey from 10 hours a week to 10 hours a day

Jon started offering bookkeeping services while getting his accounting degree and by the time he graduated, he had an established business. The question was whether or not to change to a CPA business or stay the course.

He stayed the course, growing from just bookkeeping, in an office barely big enough for two people, to multiple offices all over Portland, OR Metro and expanding in to Payroll Services as well.

Kara started as a part time employee in 2012 as Jon's first hire, and has now become a Partner in the business.

Episode Highlights:

00:42 Introductions

3:53 High level overview of CheckRight NW

5:10 The beer portion of the program

6:30 Our first ever live TikTok

11:25 How John and Kara came together

17:55 Should have quit my jobs sooner ("18:50 I wish I would've just let go of some of things that were holding me back")

19:40 Work life balance

24:40 Building their company culture

30:05 How Kara went from employee to partner

36:25 Curiosity as a cornerstone of growth

41:03 Don't bake for clients

45:11 How their Customer Service culture will drive future growth decisions

49:15 Advice for small business owners about growth

53:30 The Final Question

55:55 Contact information

57:20 Wrap up

Episode Links:

Passages to Success

CheckRight NW

Kara Bowman

John Dyer

Jon's Mom's Google Review

Von Ebert Brewing

Sector 7 Hazy IPA