Leaders aren’t born, they are cultivated. Listen to Life/Business Coach Erica Love Davis on her approach to bringing out the best in leaders through her tried and true process of working on core issues, not the symptoms.

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Podcast Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):

Welcome to On Air with Amber Wynn, where nonprofit leaders learn to fuse passion and commitment with proven business strategies to create long-term funding, impact, and sustainability. And now, here's your host and resident Philanthrepreneur Amber Wynn.

Speaker 2 (00:29):

Hey fam, it's your girl, Amber Wynn. And I am here today because, well, I love you. I love you. But I am here today talking about something that's something that's been on my heart because my purpose is service. And so I get a lot, I've been getting a lot of, “Hey, Amber, how can I do what you do? I wanna do what you do.” And I take that seriously. I take what I do seriously. Y'all know that y'all know that the hardest working people, most giving people in the world are nonprofit leaders. And so being in that space of being a nonprofit leader and I just take it really seriously. So I'm gonna say this in jest, but I really mean it. When someone says, “Can you teach me what you do?” I say, “No.” Like, I do. I say no because there's a difference between running a nonprofit and running a business.

Speaker 2 (01:35):

And what I do is I run a business. I am a consultant. I just leverage my 30 years of nonprofit experience. And so those are two different things. It's like what I say to my nonprofits when they start their nonprofit. You have this expertise, but you are running a business. All that to say, y'all, today I have an in-studio guest who is going to talk to you about running a business because quite frankly, I'm still trying to figure it out. I'm not even gonna lie to you. You ask me something about nonprofits, I can tell you front back, upside down. But running a business, I am still figuring it out. And it would be unethical of me, <laugh>, quite frankly, to try and teach somebody how to run a business. So you know what we do? We've got a break, but when we come back, we are going to speak with my in-studio guest, and I'm gonna try and give you what you ask me for because I'm your girl. And that's how I do it. So after this commercial break, we'll take it on.

Speaker 3 (02:38):

You're a school, a foundation, a healthcare provider, or an environmental group, a museum, a church, a shelter, or a community service. You're starting a nonprofit on a startup budget, and you need to get this right the first time. No mistakes, no misunderstandings, and no costly do-overs. At Nonprofit Elite, we know what you need because we've been there too. Accurate information, mistake-free filings, and peace of mind assurance that your 501(c)(3) application will be successful. This is what we do, and we are very good at it, all backed by our industry-leading guarantee and 100% IRS approval rate. But forming your nonprofit and obtaining tax-exempt status is just the beginning. Once you're up and running, Nonprofit Elite will consolidate the bulk of your operations into one place, including your accounting, compliance, website, fundraising, and more. We do the work of several full-time staff for just a fraction of the cost so that you can remain focused on advancing your mission. Contact Nonprofit Elite for expert preparation of your formation documents and 501(c)(3) application, and for a full range of accounting, fundraising, and administrative solutions.

Speaker 2 (03:59):

Welcome back. You are on air with your girl, Amber Wynn. And today, I am talking about coaching for success. Specifically, if you're thinking about becoming a nonprofit consultant because I have been getting that question from day one. I get up, I do my thing, I am who I am, and it looks easy because I know the topic. I've been doing nonprofit stuff for 30 years, and so it, it comes out easily. But when I tell you I've been humping in terms of creating this business, I have been humping. And one of the things that I have always said, and I'm gonna say it again, is coaching is the best way to advance your business. Coaching allowed me to bypass some of the mistakes that an experienced person who's been in my situation learned and then shared with me. So today, I have in-studio, the lovely Erica Love Davis, “Welcome”, (Thank you) who is a coach extraordinaire.

Speaker 2 (05:09):

I met her in the space of DEI after the murder of George Floyd. We had all of these corporations with their statements talking about they wanted to increase the number of BIPOC people in leadership roles. And my thing was, you're putting them in this systemic environment where it's still racist. You are just now putting more of them in it. And so if you're serious about really supporting a person of color in a leadership role, you can't just dump them into the situation, provide them with a coach so that they can then be successful because they're gonna still be alone. So that's how I met Ms. Davis <laugh> only to find out that, like a lot of us, she's a coach, an executive coach, she's a life coach. And guess what, y'all also an author. We're gonna let her talk to us about that a little bit later. So Erica, welcome.

Speaker 4 (06:07):

Thank you. Thank you, thank you. Thank you so much for inviting me. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (06:10):

Yeah. So let's just jump into it. As I said at the top of the show, I have people coming up to me all the time saying, “Can you mentor me? I wanna do what you do.” And so I thought I would bring you in to just talk to our audience about what are the benefits of having a coach when you're trying to start a business, and all of that. So let's just jump in. Can I ask my first question? Please.

Speaker 4 (06:36):

All right.

Speaker 2 (06:36):

Right. So first question is, share with the audience the difference between coaching and being a therapist.

Speaker 4 (06:45):

Okay. So the easiest way I can do it is therapy. Like a therapist generally is dealing with the past. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, past trauma, past wounds. And so you go to a therapist because you really wanna get some healing around that so you can move forward in your life. So a therapist, so that's a therapist; now, a coach, we deal with the future. We deal with mapping your dreams for the future and what you wanna accomplish in the future. So that's the simplest way to…

Speaker 2 (07:19):

No, it's very clear. Right, right. Very clear. Very clear. Because people will say, Oh yeah, my coach, and you're not a therapist. So it's just important to just point that out. Right, Right. All right. So why would a solopreneur get a coach? What type of benefits would they get from coaching?

Speaker 4 (07:40):

Well, first of all, solopreneur is solo. It's just one person, <affirmative>. And you can get far by yourself, but with a team or with another person that's strategically partnering with you to create your dreams of your business, you're just gonna get there faster, <affirmative>. But my goal is also to get you there. Happier, happier…

Speaker 2 (08:06):

Happier. Now that's novel. Happier, right? Yeah.

Speaker 4 (08:09):

Because happiness is the new currency. <affirmative>, I work with a lot of people who have successful businesses and are depressed. Cause you could have these businesses, you could have a lot of money, but what's the point? If you're not happy? This is true. So my goal is to work with you to have work-life balance and work-life happiness.

Speaker 2 (08:28):

Work-life balance. We're gonna have a couple of episodes coming up where we talk about that…all work and no play makes Jane a dull girl, <laugh>, and you know, give so much of yourself. And I'm guilty of this too. You know, give so much of yourself, you've got to fill your cup back up. There's gotta be balance. Cuz if you're depleted, you can't give. Right.

Speaker 4 (08:49):

Right. Of course.

Speaker 2 (08:50):

And I think especially women, I think we've been acculturalized to give, give, give, give, give, and then we get depleted. And so having that balance is extremely important.

Speaker 4 (09:00):

It's extremely important. And also I find that a lot of us as women, <affirmative>, like you said, we've been socialized to give give give, but we haven't really been educated in how do we give, really give to ourselves.

Speaker 2 (09:14):

To ourselves.

Speaker 4 (09:15):

So that we are grounded <affirmative>, so that we are happy. So that we are fulfilled. So that's part of the work that I do.

Speaker 2 (09:23):

Yeah. Cuz we taught, you should be happy if the people in your life are happy. Right? As a mom, it's like, well, you should be happy if your kids are da da da da da da da. Well, I am. But that doesn't mean that I don't deserve to be happy based off of what makes me happy and not my happiness being another person. Right.

Speaker 4 (09:40):

Right. And there's a lot of guilt I see associated, especially if you are a mom. If you are a wife, you're supposed to be focused on the other person. And when you focus on yourself, they're like, Oh, well what about my kids?

Speaker 2 (09:52):

You're selfish. Right, right.

Speaker 4 (09:54):

Right, right. But you can be better for them if you are fulfilled, if your cup is filled up.

Speaker 2 (10:02):

Yeah, no, I definitely believe that. I got a lot of pushback on that. I would take a vacation a year just by myself, and then I had a family vacation. Cause when you're with your kids, you're not really vacationing. You're still mothering. Right. So they were having a good time, but their vacation, they're like, Oh, you're selfish. I'm like, And that's what I am, because I was a better mom when I came back. You're right. Doing better. Yeah. Yeah. No, so I totally agree with that. All right. So share with us your process for coaching a client in building a business. I mean, everybody's going to, of course, coach is gonna be different or whatever, But what's your process?

Speaker 4 (10:39):

So my process first is I do a deep dive into their business. And what I like to do is not only understand their business and their goals, but I want to understand where they are emotionally, mentally, spiritually. Because a person has to be, again, whole enough to be able to have the emotional availability to get to where they wanna go. So I first start with their business, I understand their goals, and then I map their goals. That's important. I always say, if it's not mapped, it's not happening. And so I help them map their goals. And then I look at, there's a thing called ontological coaching, I’m more closer to, ontological coaching…ontology is the study of who a person is being not what they're doing. So I focus on, well, who are you being, are you being who you need to be in order to get to where you wanna go?

Speaker 4 (11:44):

And so when I focus on that, I can see what's missing. I can see what's happening. My job is to sniff out what's going on emotionally and mentally that needs to be resolved or focused on in order for a person to get there. So I look, I call it whole life coaching. I'm looking at your business, but I'm looking at you emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and focusing on all of those aspects. So that, again, when you get to where you're going on the way to where you're going, that's another thing I find that everyone's so focused on goals, goals, goals, goals, goals. And they're stressing out, trying to meet the goals, and they're miserable. And so I make sure that there's a balance as we're going towards our goals. I make sure that on that weekly basis, what are you doing for self-care? <affirmative>, What are you doing for fun? Let's take care of business. But by the time we get there, you would had a whole routine, excuse me. You would've had a whole routine together, a whole lifestyle. Right, right. I'm trying to create a lifestyle of wholeness and groundedness and happiness for people. So that's basically how I work with a person.

Speaker 2 (12:58):

And I think that's important, especially in the nonprofit sector, because again, we are socialized to give, this is nonprofit, this is altruistic, this is philanthropy, but we lose ourselves. The sector has the highest burnout rate because we give, and there's so much need out there. So I try to say to my nonprofit leaders, you talked a little bit about it, but that mindset, knowing that there's more to leadership than just giving. It's being whole, taking care of you, how they say on the airplane, put your oxygen mask over on you first, before you put it on your kid, because you need to have air, which means you need to be grounded so that you can help other people. And I think that that's very important.

Speaker 4 (13:50):

Yeah. I wanna mention one other thing I find more challenging for people than meeting business goals is being…finding their passion and the things that make them happy, really. So when I'm trying to say, Okay, well what are you gonna do for <affirmative>? What are we gonna do for fun? They don't know. I don't know. Go to a club. I don't know. The new edibles besides… Right, exactly. Drinking, drugs, clubbing, sexing. Really, my goal is to find out what truly ignites you. What are you truly passionate about? <affirmative>. So that can be more challenging than this business.

Speaker 2 (14:33):

Yeah. No, no, no. I agree. No, I agree. I have check-in sessions with my coach, and I'm not gonna lie, Amber, what have you done for Amber this week? I'm like, I paid a bill. And they're like, No, that's not passion. That's responsibility. What has made you twirl and spin? And I'm like, Oh, <laugh>. Right, right, right.

Speaker 4 (14:53):

That's a big piece that, because our passion is not always just our business. Sometimes if we can get in touch with other things that we're passionate about, it can fuel our drive with our business and stuff like that.

Speaker 2 (15:05):

Yeah, no, absolutely. Absolutely. All right. So you've been talking, thank you. Sharing with us about how coaching is supporting supportive of a solopreneur. And listen, people, if you wanna do what I'm doing, you don't have to be a solopreneur, as Erica mentioned, you get further when you have a team. But the reality is, when you're first starting out in this entrepreneurial space, if you don't have a plan, which I didn't, I just knew I no longer wanted to be in corporate, I just knew that I wanted to leverage my experience in the nonprofit sector with people who had gone through what I'd gone through. And if you don't have the 25 or a $50,000 to start with, you are going to be a solopreneur. And so within that space, you've gotta be prepared. And the best way to be prepared is to have a coach. Can you share with us what's coming up for you? As I mentioned before, she's not only an executive coach, but a life coach, and she's actually writing a book. Tell us more about that.

Speaker 4 (16:10):

Yes, yes. So I have a book coming out in spring of 2023. Okay. It's called The Gurl’s Guide to Happiness, Healing, and Happily Ever After.

Speaker 2 (16:24):

Okay.

Speaker 4 (16:25):

Yeah. Yeah. So half my clients are men, but I'm very, very passionate about us, about women. And I wrote the book because number one, there are only so many hours in a day that I can coach. And there's so many more women who have the wants and the need for coaching. And so I wrote the book primarily though, on a deeper level because we're hurting, a lot of women are hurting. And I find that a lot of women, they don't even know, Well, where do I start to release this pain and get some healing so that I can then focus on my dreams and then focus on a significant other or a significant relationship. And so I wrote the book, sharing my experiences so that they will know, hey, here's a starting point. There's a lot of information in there. You can just choose. I make it real easy. You can just choose what fits for you. It's around your healing. And then we go through the other steps around your happiness, creating the life and the dreams that you want.

Speaker 2 (17:30):

Amazing. Yeah. Thank you. So when can we expect to see this amazing work of art?

Speaker 4 (17:35):

<laugh> in the spring? Spring of 2023? Yes.

Speaker 2 (17:39):

Okay. And when you have it, you'll come back. Of course. Okay. Of course. Because listen, it's rough out there. So if we can get as many resources, if I can provide my family with as many resources as possible, as you've made it very clear, running a business is not just about business goals, it's about being happy. You know, can't just give to yourself and not be happy. So if I can provide my family with resources on how to live that quality life, then I wanna be that. So you promise to come back, <laugh> when it's ready and share. Well, you guys know how we do it right now. We're gonna pause for another break. But when we come back, we're gonna have a little bit more time with Erica, and we're going to jump into our nonprofit spotlight. So when we come back, we'll see that.

Speaker 5 (18:30):

Starting a new career in a new sector with unfamiliar job titles and new jargon can lead to frustration and burnout.  What if you had an easy way to get up to speed to learn the key elements of successful nonprofits and the critical steps we should all take to maximize our impact? Introducing the Nonprofit Essentials Certificate. Three short interactive courses that cover three critical areas. What makes a nonprofit a nonprofit? How nonprofits raise money and skills needed to build a thriving career in the nonprofit sector. Interactive exercises and actionable advice from nonprofit experts help bring clarity to key concepts. And the end of the course exam tests your knowledge so you can earn a certificate and badge, and then quickly put your new knowledge into practice. The best part, the Nonprofit Essential Certificate is 100% free. Thousands of learners have already earned their certificate making this our most popular set of courses in Nonprofit Ready. Register at nonprofitready.org and get ready to accelerate your impact and your career.

Speaker 2 (19:48):

Welcome back you’re on air with Amber Wynn, and we're here today with our in-studio guest, Erica Love Davis, Coach Extraordinaire, and she's talking to us about really getting the support that you need if you're really interested in starting out on your own to be a nonprofit consultant. She shared with us that she's going to spread her wealth and knowledge in a book that's coming out in the spring of 2023. Right now, I'm going to pause because this is the most favorite time of my episode when I get to focus on the nonprofit. As Erica mentioned, and I already know, a lot of times we get so enmeshed in what we do. We're in the weeds that we don't have time to come up and celebrate who we are. For a nonprofit, it's important that you get the visibility that you need so that number one, your clients can find you.

Speaker 2 (20:45):

But number two, funders can find you. So I have taken it upon myself to give you your flowers and to give you the visibility that you so deserve. Today we are going to highlight an amazing nonprofit called Watts Willowbrook Conservatory. Just so y'all know, I am from Watts, so I'm representing today, and I love classical music. It soothes me. It's something that I used to listen to all the time when I was in college. It just releases that stress. And today, I wanted to just share with you some of the successes of this organization. The Watts Willow Book Conservatory is a music workshop program designed to transform the lives and minds of youth in underserved communities through music training and personal development. The Watts Willow Book Conservatory was established in 2010 by SAPA, in partnership with the Boys and Girls Club, the Watts Willow Book, Boys and Girls Club. The structure of the conservatory was developed by Billy Mitchell, SAPA executive director, Dr. Charles Dickerson, founder and director of the Inner City Youth Orchestra. So let's take a look at the Watts Willowbrook Conservatory.

Speaker 6 (22:00):

Tonight we are heading to Watts to tell you about a community program that is enriching young lives, maestro…ah, concerto in A minor. By the time their classes are complete, these kids in the Watts Willowbrook Conservatory and Youth Orchestra will have it nailed. The classes are free, aimed at building character, self-esteem, and discipline. They're open to the public, and instruments are provided at a subsidized rate, which is music to parents' ears.

Speaker 7 (22:32):

Our community doesn't have very many choices for children. It doesn't have very many positive things going on, and it's just imperative that the kids have something to do and something that parents can afford.

Speaker 6 (22:45):

This program was established in 2010 in partnership with SAPA, which in part helps students get music scholarships. These twice a week lessons are clearly making a difference.

Speaker 8 (22:56):

People say that when you're playing music, you discover new parts of your brain. Also, you can make new friends.

Speaker 9 (23:03):

I can play pretty well. I like to think so. Anyways, yeah, it's a great program.

Speaker 10 (23:10):

I started off with the violin, but as soon as I saw my teacher Missy with the cello, I knew I had to have it.

Speaker 11 (23:19):

Well, they say it takes a village to raise a child. We're part of that village. We're just one hut. But we do support the overall goal of raising beautiful, successful, healthy children.

Speaker 6 (23:30):

All right, this session goes through March 15th at the end, individual class recitals for family.

Speaker 2 (23:38):

Yes, that was Watts Willowbrook Conservatory. If you are interested in supporting this amazing organization, you can actually call them at (626) 793-8706, or (626) 641-03262. I think that's too many numbers. 6 4 1 0 3 2 6 2. Anyways, the email address is sapaprograms@gmail.com. So you are here today with me and Miss Erica Love Davis, and we're talking about supporting nonprofit leaders who are interested in actually delivering nonprofit management to our community as a consultant. And from the perspective of really just having someone there to keep you accountable, someone there to help map out your goals, and someone there to make sure that there is a balance. It's not just about doing the work, but it's about being happy and doing the work. Right? This is the time of the episode when I do what's called a Mindset Minute. And I just wanted to just pause as we talk about stepping into the space of a consultant to say, if that's something that you wanna do, I'm going to implore you to take that responsibility seriously.

Speaker 2 (25:01):

When I decided to step into the space of a consultant, I decided my focus, my primary goal is to support the most amazing people in the world, which are you, the nonprofit leader. And I didn't pause to say, I need to take care of me so that I can take care of you. But I do take what I do responsibly because I don't wanna give out the wrong information because people are depending on me, right? And I have people say this all the time. They'll finish a course and they're like, Oh, I'm gonna do what you're doing. I'm like, you just finished my course. I'm delivering this based off of 30 years of experience. You don't just go through a course and then become a consultant delivering what you just learned. So if you are thinking about stepping into this space, please be responsible. Please know that people are relying on you. They're scared, they're nervous, they wanna do the right thing, but they're not sure.

Speaker 2 (26:03):

And it is your responsibility to guide them. So if you're stepping into the space of being a consultant leading people in the nonprofit sector, make sure that you have the deep knowledge that is required to guide them through the process. And if you are thinking about becoming a consultant, I'm going to encourage you to get a coach to help you because it ain't easy. Being a consultant means that I had to set up infrastructure. I set myself up as a corporation and not an LLC because I knew that I wanted to do different types of businesses. So I, I'm a writer, so I have a writing DBA, and then I have a consulting DBA, and then I have, so I can't write off parts of my home like an LLC. So you need to get somebody who can coach you through your goals. As Erica talked about, you map things out so you don't start right here, you start back there, and then you back into it. So Erica, are you taking clients? I know that you're making the shift so that you can reach more people and kinda like focusing a lot more on that coaching for happiness and things like that. <affirmative> I appreciate the fact that you're sharing your knowledge from the executive coach part, but like I said earlier in the episode, we all shift to work what works best for us. But are you taking clients or are you focusing more on shifting towards this new venture?

Speaker 4 (27:33):

Yeah. So I am taking clients <affirmative>. I try not to overload my schedule, but I am taking on a few more clients. One of the things though, that's really important I want the client to interview me, but I also interview the client. Yes. Because I wanna make sure it's a really good fit. And most importantly, I wanna make sure that they're motivated to really do the work. Because sometimes I've worked with people and when I have to drag somebody with a finish line, I'm…the burden's on me. So I like to make sure a person is motivated, they're ready, and they are willing and really excited <affirmative> about reaching their goals and doing the work that they need to do in order to…

Speaker 2 (28:20):

No, I think it's the same when I coach people through the nonprofit. I, I'll coach somebody about how to build a nonprofit. I'm not gonna coach you on how to build a business, but it's the same thing. I don't have the bandwidth to do that heavy lifting, and it's about your success so you've gotta demonstrate that you know, wanna be successful. So where can our audience reach you?

Speaker 4 (28:40):

So they can go to www.ericalovedavis.com and there's a little tab there, work together, <affirmative>. I have a little thing there where they can answer all the questions about what they wanna achieve, right? So it's really handy. Also, with the book, yes, it's gonna become online coaching because I find that some people actually work better.

Speaker 2 (29:08):

We're all doing this pandemic. We got very creative in how we work with each other.

Speaker 4 (29:13):

So it's an online coaching course where it's self-paced, <affirmative>, and they can just get through it and they can schedule a call with me if they get stuck or they want more time. But I find that people really enjoy that as well. Some people work better in that way rather than one-on-one coaching.

Speaker 2 (29:31):

Awesome. Well, thank you so much for those offerings. Thank you so much for being here with us and sharing your knowledge. Like I said, we'll look forward to seeing you again in the spring when the book comes out. I'm excited about it. And for those of you who are interested in starting your own consulting business, I'm going to implore you to do the research that it takes, not only to start your business to determine what type of business entity you wanna be, but also finding the right coach. It's a personality thing, it's a value thing. Do the research and just make sure that you're prepared, cuz it is a lot of work. But in everything that you do, I want you to make sure that you take care of you, like you take care of your community. I'm gonna see you in the next episode. Until then, hey, have a wonderful day.

Speaker 1 (30:23):

Thanks for listening. If you enjoy this episode, subscribe and leave a review on iTunes. Head over to www.amberwynn.net/podcast for the links and resources mentioned in today's podcast. See you next time.