Get Better at Business with Travis Richards

S.2 Episode 10: The Importance of a Positive Work Environment

Fri, 28 Apr 2023 11:00:00 +0000

Welcome to Episode 10 of Get Better At Business with host Travis Richards and guest Roy Homfeld. Today, the two discuss innovation and growth as part of a business, and how to really take advantage of learning opportunities. They also share their experiences fostering a positive work environment and how important hiring motivated employees is for a growing company. You won’t want to miss this discussion!

Time Stamps & Show Notes:

(00:00 - 01:01) Introduction

(01:02 - 03:40) Holiday Celebrations

(03:41 - 07:26) How Holidays are Incorporated in Home Design

(07:27 - 09:28) 3D Design in Home Design

(09:29 - 11:46) Staying Innovative

(11:46 - 13:50) The Impact of Trade Conferences

(12:51 - 17:36) The Importance of Engaged Employees

(17:37 - 19:27) Fostering a Positive Work Environment

(19:28 - 31:20) Parting Ways with an Employee

(31:21 - 36:29) Different Positions in a Business

(36:29 - 38:30) Learning in Business

(38:31 - 40:02) Contact Information and Closing

S.2 Episode 9: Life as an Entrepreneur - The Exciting and the Challenges

Fri, 14 Apr 2023 11:00:00 +0000

Welcome to Episode 9 of Get Better At Business with host Travis Richards and guest Jacob Robinson where you will hear the highs and lows of being an entrepreneur. Listen in to hear Jacobs' success story along with the hardships he faced along the way as he founded 3 separate companies. Jacob also explores some key insights he has taken away as a young entrepreneur as well as the passion he has for serving others.

Contact Jacob at DigWorldTX.Com or jacobrobinson11@gmail.com

Time Stamps & Show Notes:

(00:00 - 02:49) Excitement from the Week

(02:49 - 07:42) How Jacob Began as an Entrepreneur

(07:42 - 11:01) What He Learned about Himself as a “Serial Entrepreneur”

(11:01 - 16:58) How to Win Against the Lows and Highs of Business

(16:58 - 18:35) What to do With a “Bad Idea”

(18:35 - 20:48) Not No, Just Not Now

(20:48 - 22:18) Knowing When to Put a Good Idea off for Later

(22:18 - 26:35) The Unified Principle that Guides Business- Serving Others

(26:35 - 30:21) Jacobs Touching Life Story- Why He’s in the Theme Park Business

(30:21 - 33:30) Finding a Worthy Cause in Business

(33:30 - 36:50) Finding Your Company's Purpose Beyond Money

(36:50 - 40:00) Outro / How to Reach Jacob

S.2 Episode 8: James Benham: The Importance of Having a Focused Business

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 11:00:00 +0000

Welcome to episode eight of the Get Better at Business Podcast! Today our host, Travis Richards is joined by CEO and Co- Founder of JBKnowledge, James Benham. They dive into what it really takes to be a leader, and the integral part of knowing who you are part takes in it. James brings up important topics such as culture, roots, and values that he integrates in his business. They discuss how important it is to stay focused on a goal, and industry while starting a business toa point of perfection. They share advice to young business owners and just people looking to better themselves. Don’t forget to like and subscribe.

Timestamps:

(00:00 - 02:18) Accountability in the workplace

(02:19 - 04:02) Taking initiative and being confrontational

(04:03 - 06:16) Everyone has their pros and cons

(06:17 - 09:39) Tackling the landmines while implementing a new system

(9:40 - 11:20) Dealing with leaders and stronger personalities

(11:21 - 13:25) Visionaries and Integrators

(13:26 - 14:48) Culture is roots and values

(14:49 - 17:30) How to improve yourself

(17:31 - 18:22) Knowing yourself allows you to improve even in your professional life.

(18:23 - 21:13) What inspired him to pursue software

(21:14 - 24:08) Discuss how his first projects took off

(24:09 - 25:05) Stay Focused

(25:05 - 28:52) Being Great at just one thing

(28:52 - 33:18) Importance of Coaching

(33:19 - 36:53) Focusing on a successful business

(36:54 - 38:45) Motivate Employees

(38:46 - 40:00) Outros/ Thank yous

S.2 Episode 7: Using Problem Solving in a Successful Business

Fri, 17 Mar 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Welcome to Episode 7 of Get Better At Business with host Travis Richards and guest John White! Tune into this conversation as John explains his transition from philosophy, to a career in IT. His foundation in soft skills have given him a unique perspective into logic, and the role it can play in good business. Listen now to learn more about the fascinating career shift!

Time Stamps & Show Notes:

(00:00 - 00:41) Introductions

(00:42 - 02:25) Introduction to John White’s career path

(02:02 - 04:13) What did you do as a child that led you to where you are today?

(04:14 - 05:03) How did your life change after switching career paths?

(05:04 - 09:00) Foundation in soft skills

(09:01 - 10:39) What skills from your degree have you brought into your career?

(10:40 -13:18) Solving problems in IT with a background in philosophy

(13:19 - 16:00) The first big problem solved

(16:01 - 17:30) The need for “firing clients”

(17:31 - 22:03) Systematic problem solving

(22:04 - 26:30) Choosing a prefered system for problem solving

(26:31 - 31:40) Finding the biggest problem

(31:41 - 34:06) Logic in business

(34:07 - 36:11) Closing advice

(36:12 - 37:37) Closing remarks

S.2 Episode 6: Sheena Parker - Turning the Page Of Mistakes

Fri, 03 Mar 2023 11:00:00 +0000

Welcome to Episode 6 of Get Better At Business with host Travis Richards and guest Sheena Parker! Tune in to this conversation as Sheena gives us some insight into her life as an entrepreneur in different sectors, from real estate to now government contracting and a janitorial business. Sheena is a veteran business owner, and her husband is an entrepreneur himself. Listen to see how Sheena got to where she is today and the many lessons she learned from trial and error as an entrepreneur!

Time Stamps & Show Notes:

(00:00 - 01:56) Introducing Sheena

(01:57 - 05:20) Looking Back To The Uniform

(05:21 - 09:30) Veteran Entrepreneur & Real Estate

(09:31 - 11:08) Introducing Government Contracting

(11:09 - 15:45) Turning The Page of Government Contracting

(15:46 - 19:04) Branching Off Into New Ventures

(19:05 - 23:20) Learning To Slowly Pull The Trigger

(23:21 - 28:00) Opportunity To Teach Government Contracting

(28:01 - 30:45) Employment Problems During The Pandemic

(30:46 - 31:55) Who Is Your Ideal Student?

(31:56 - 33:05) Where Can People Find It?

S.2 Episode 5: Jose De Leon - The importance of Engineers and Ethics

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 18:24:45 +0000

Welcome to the fifth Episode of Get Better At Business with host Travis Richards and guest Jose De Leon! Today we are joined by Jose De Leon, President of Venturi Engineers LLC, he shares with us his experience from being a student at Texas A&M, through post graduation employers, and stumbling into this opportunity. We dive into what pushed Jose to form his own business, especially the influence the people around him had on his career. He emphasizes the importance of staying true to yourself and trying to always do the right thing leaving doors open. He shared with us the issues that arose while Venturi was just taking off and how he dealt with these issues. To learn more about Jose De Leon and Venturi Engineers, keep on watching. Do not forget to like and subscribe!

Time Stamps & Show Notes:

(00:00 - 01:22) Introduction/ Jose De Leon

(01:23 - 03:37) Entering into the Wrong Major

(03:38 - 05:00) Life and Changes after Graduation from Texas A&M

(05:01 - 07:01) Unnoticed Perfection and Small Big Mistakes

(07:02 - 09:18) What made him go Build his Own Business?/

(09:19 - 10:38) Having the Right Mentor

(10:39 - 13:15) Entrepreneurial Connections

(13:16 - 15:40) Planting Your Own Seed

(15:41 - 19:39) Leaving Open Doors and Importance of Ethics

(19:40 - 21:35) Expanding the Business into more Divisions

(21:36 - 23:41) Hiring New Employees

(23:42 - 26:44) Value in the Employees

(26:45 - 28:37) Importance of the Sense of Team

(28:39 - 31:21) Being Honest and Providing the Best for Clients

(31:22 - 33:56) What does it take to be an Entrepreneur?

(33:57 - 35:32) Goodbyes/ Outro

S.2 Episode 4: Chris Buckner - The Importance of Networking

Fri, 06 Jan 2023 17:26:41 +0000

Welcome to the fourth Episode of Get Better At Business with host Travis Richards and guest Chris Buckner! Today’s episode dives into business centered around sports. From ESports to a reimagined way of sports interaction in the works. Check out this engaging interaction between Travis and Chris as they talk about how Networking has played a huge role in their careers. In this episode, Chris opens up about his previous businesses and talks about what to expect from his newest venture, Pokatok, an event that will change the way fans interact with Sports.

Timestamps & Show Notes:

(00:00 - 01:18) Have You Ever Seen The Rain?

(01:19 - 05:20) A Couple Of Ideas

(05:21 - 10:05) Born Entrepreneurial

(10:06 - 17:15) From Zero To One-Thousand

(17:16 - 23:40) Network, Network, Network!

(23:41 - 24:37) Let’s Help Each Other

(24:38 - 29:57) Tell Us About The New Business

(29:58 - 32:10) Pokatok And E-Sports: Get Involved

(32:11 - 36:40) Piece Of Advice: Get Ready For A Roller Coaster

(36:41 - 38:10) Reach Out To Chris

S.2 Episode 3: James Benham - Followership Before Leadership

Fri, 16 Dec 2022 14:00:00 +0000

Welcome to Part 1 of Season 2 Episode 3 of Get Better At Business with your host Travis Richards and guest James Benham. In this part of this two-part showdown Travis and James talk about some important lessons for leadership such as keeping your team accountable, how to handle those uncomfortable situations, how a leader should approach problems, and more! They also talk about how their time in the Corps of Cadets heavily influenced their lives and prepared them for their professional careers. Check out how this background revisits an old rivalry with no bad blood lost.

Contact: https://jbknowledge.com/about

Timestamps & Show Notes (Video):

(00:00 - 01:09) Introduction

(01:10 - 05:43) Texas A&M Involvement & Cadet

(05:44 - 07:26) Revisiting An Old Rivalry

(07:27 - 10:49) Mirroring Everyday Politics

(10:50 - 14:43) The Leadership Laboratory

(14:44 - 19:58) Let’s Talk About People Analyzer

(19:59 - 23:12) Holding People Accountable

S.2 Episode 2: Melissa Baxter - Knowing yourself to understand others

Fri, 02 Dec 2022 19:58:57 +0000

Welcome to the second episode of the season of Get Better at Business with Travis Richards. In this episode, Travis welcomes back former guest Melissa Baxter, a soon-to-be mom balancing a 9 to 5, a wedding planning occupation, her own personality-reflection business, and being an influencer. How does she do it?! Don’t miss out on how Melissa uses her knowledge of her own personality to understand others while valuing all perspectives. Melissa and Travis talk about the upsides and sometimes downsides of the process of understanding yourself, how everyone benefits from working on your theory of mind and communication, and Ted Lasso. Check it out!

Contact:

melissabaxter830@gmail.com

S.2 Episode 1: Dr.Christopher S. Taylor

Fri, 18 Nov 2022 14:00:00 +0000

In this episode join Travis Richards, CEO of Catco, to discuss with guest, Dr. Christopher S. Taylor how he has changed his managing style to allow employees to increase their professional growth. Also how being able to find the right fit in a job and matching the company's culture is important. Dr. Taylor discusses how he was able to learn from these experiences and use them to enrich his business.

Host: Travis Richards

Guest: Dr. Christopher S. Taylor

Contact: Travis Richards, CEO at Catco, https://www.getbetteratbusiness.com/

Timestamps & Show Notes:

(00:00 - 02:50) Intro / Dr. Taylor’s background

(02:51 - 05:34) Changing Business Tactics

(05:35 - 13:50) Hiring process results from a strong culture values

(13:51 - 19:59) Learning how to manage a workspace that allows for independability

(20:00 - 22:53) How to Create a Strong Company Culture

(22:54 - 23:52) Implementing Company Core Values

(23:53 - 25:54) Importance of Hiring Process

(25:55 - 28:50) Rapid Fire Questions

(28:51 - 29:48) One of Texas Top Workplaces in 2021

(29:49 - 31:52) Outro / Always Room for Improvement