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Juliann Nichols

Jennifer Currence, MBA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, ACC, CEO of WithIN Leadership

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Jennifer Currence is the CEO of WithIN Leadership, a leadership development and coaching company focusing on legacy leadership – who you want to be – in Tampa, Florida. It is here where Jennifer delivers results through customized training and coaching programs for leaders and Human Resources. She is the creator of the Leading for RealTM leadership development program and content creator for Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM’s) new People Manager Qualification (PMQ).

She earned her MBA with an emphasis in management and holds a nationally accredited certification in coaching (ACC) and two international senior-level certifications in human resources (SPHR and SHRM-SCP). Jennifer has been recognized as a Thought Leader by the International Society of Performance Improvement, a Subject Matter Expert by SHRM, and was named Tampa Bay’s HR Consultant of the Year for 2017.  She has 20+ years of experience in Human Resources and training in organizations, is a university professor, and is one of roughly 50 people in the world serving as a faculty member for SHRM.

Jennifer met JULO Strategy’s CEO Juliann Nichols at a Predictive Index Class they were both attending, and they established a relationship. Jennifer took CEO Mindset because she realized there were things she didn’t understand about running a business and the processes she needed to succeed.

During CEO Mindset, Jennifer learned how to “bake cupcakes,” Juliann’s process for writing detailed procedures, and her exit strategy – who does she want to be when she grows up. Jennifer focused on where she was in the present and not where she wanted to be. Her A-Ha Moment during CEO Mindset was thinking about the end game – a big awareness for her. She is still acting upon that awareness today.

Jennifer’s best things about CEO Mindset were hearing from other entrepreneurs – their successes and failures. The class helped her understand why she is a leader and business owner and clarify her business role. She now understands what she can automate, delegate, and eliminate to do more things she enjoys and is a genius doing. She’s learned how to spend her time wisely and more effectively.

Jennifer’s revenues have increased and are the most they’ve been since taking CEO Mindset. Being a CEO means freedom, constant change, a lot of innovation, and empowerment to Jennifer. She now has control over her destiny.

Jennifer has been published in HR Magazine and featured in Fast Company magazine, USA Weekly, and HR.com. She is a professional member of the National Speaker’s Association, the International Coaching Federation, and the author of three SHRM-published books on business behavioral competencies.

We are so proud of your accomplishments, Jennifer, and look forward to watching your continued successes!

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Juliann Nichols

14 Microchanges Guaranteed to Advance Your Career

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Is there some way to advance your career that’s faster than completing an MBA, and easier than rescuing your company from a hostile takeover bid? The truth is there are plenty of microchanges that can have a macro effect on increasing your value as an employee.

If you want a raise or just more job satisfaction, try these simple tips for taking your work performance to the next level. They’ll pay off quickly.

Online Microchanges for Greater Career Success

The internet makes it easy to gain knowledge and promote your visibility. Take advantage of virtual opportunities to climb the career ladder.

  1. Edit your LinkedIn profile. When’s the last time you updated your LinkedIn profile? Let colleagues see your most recent accomplishments. Research the most effective keywords that will make you stand out.
  2. Manage your network. Organize your contacts so you can follow up with the interesting graphic designer you met on the jogging trail. Whatever software you use, a successful system will help you to stay in touch and grow your network.
  3. Support others. Networking is more effective and rewarding when you focus on giving to others. Take a second to retweet someone’s message or recommend a former intern on LinkedIn.
  4. Follow industry news. Impress others with your knowledge. Spend a few minutes between meetings scanning the top business blogs in your industry.
  5. Collect time saving apps. Use technology to increase your productivity. Find a program that will remember your passwords or play phone tag for you.
  6. Monitor your time. On the other hand, it’s easy to lose track of time when you’re browsing online. Set limits on your YouTube sessions if you find yourself becoming distracted.

Offline Microchanges for Greater Career Success

Face-to-face interactions still have a dramatic impact. Maybe that’s even more true today when so much communication occurs electronically. See what a difference showing up in person can make.

  1. Demonstrate initiative. Identify what your boss considers to be the top business priorities so you know where to devote your efforts. Find a way to contribute that goes above and beyond your job description.
  2. Volunteer your assistance. Make allies by being helpful and generous. Pitch in when your office mate is facing a tight deadline.
  3. Speak up. Participating in meetings and business discussions will grow your confidence as they bring you extra approval.
  4. Radiate enthusiasm. Your boss will trust and value you more if you show that you’re invested in your career. Think about how your efforts contribute to the success of the company.
  5. Express gratitude. Let your colleagues know how much you appreciate them. Offer sincere praise and share credit for team projects. They’ll be more likely to return the favor.
  6. Dress sharp. Appearances count. Pay attention to the office culture so you can choose an appropriate wardrobe even if there’s no formal dress code. One good rule of thumb is to start dressing like the position you want to hold in the future.
  7. Join a professional association. Membership has its benefits, including networking and educational opportunities. Your employer may be willing to cover all or part of the cost.
  8. Use your vacation days. According to the Harvard Business Review, employees who take all of their vacation time have a 6.5% higher chance of receiving a promotion or a raise than their peers who are stockpiling their time off. Now, that’s a fun way to succeed in business.

The average fulltime work week in the United States is already 47 hours long. Wouldn’t you like to have a strategy for impressing your boss that doesn’t involve putting in a lot of extra hours? These microchanges will help you do a great job and maintain balance in your life.

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Juliann Nichols

Sara Ferrera, Veteran and CEO of Floaty’s Farm – Providing Locals With Home Grown Microgreens

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If you have never heard of microgreens, they are young vegetable greens that fall somewhere between sprouts and baby leaf vegetables. They have an intense aromatic flavor and concentrated nutrient content and come in a variety of colors and textures. Although fragile, microgreens are versatile and flavorful and can complement or shine in any dish. And yes, they make powerful and delicious garnishes – but they are more than just toppers. Despite their small size, they pack a nutritional punch, often containing higher nutrient levels than more mature vegetable greens. This makes them a good addition to any diet.  

If you are looking for these fresh greens, Sara Ferrera, Founder and CEO of Floaty’s Farm has you covered. Sara provides local residents with these tiny but beautiful plants and does it all in her own backyard! 

Sara Ferrera spent most of her childhood running through cattle farms with friends in Russellville, Arkansas. Born in her grandparent’s cabin in the Ozark Mountains, Sara is no stranger to the wilderness and still finds solace when surrounded by nature. 

In 2011, Sara followed her grandfather’s footsteps and joined the Army as an Intelligence Analyst. She spent her days working in an office conducting research and processing Soldiers for the Combat Aviation Brigade out of Fort Riley, Kansas. Office life was a challenge, but Sara met the love of her life – in the next cubical over, and within a year, they were married. 

In August 2014, Sara left active duty to pursue the Army Reserves and experience what life was like on the “civilian side.” She soon moved to Florida to eventually become a contracted intelligence analyst until February of 2019, when she decided to pursue her passion and work toward a Fish and Wildlife Management degree. However, due to health complications, Sara put her education on hold. 

In January 2020, Sara joined the Veterans Florida Agricultural internship with the University of Florida’s Gulf Coast Research and Education Center.  This hands-on opportunity gave Sara just what she needed, a chance to learn the ins and outs of commercial agriculture. 

Sara expanded her knowledge by learning how to research chemical impacts of produce yield, identifying plant disease, identifying nematodes, and more. However, her internship was cut short due to COVID-19, and she was unable to continue lab rotations. Instead, Sara moved to the Farm Crew, where she transitioned from intern and eventually to a permanent employee. Sara’s time on the Farm Crew has been invaluable. She has learned managerial techniques, equipment logistics, and chemical operations. But the biggest lesson learned was that it is okay to make mistakes as long as you fix them and move forward. 

Sara has taken this lesson – along with her husband and team members’ encouragement and moved forward with starting her own urban farm, Floaty’s Farm.

She attended our CEO Mindset course to have a solid business plan and information on how to move forward to be successful. “I learned that I have a fear of failure but also success. I couldn’t start my business or begin to sell until I was confident in myself to get customers.” While focusing on produce, she still didn’t have a niche,  therefore, she wasn’t going anywhere with the product. Encouraged by peers, she decided to focus on microgreens and when she put out there what she was selling, she sold out in ONE DAY. She managed her time better by incorporating an assistant to handle tasks so she could focus on her produce.   

Floaty’s Farm began as a multi-produce urban farm, but after going through and utilizing what she learned from JULO Strategy, Sara now produces a microgreen specialty farm. Soon after, she began raising Barred Rock chickens and vermicomposting to assist with fertilization. 

Sara has vivid plans for Floaty’s Farm’s future, including expanding produce offerings, raising livestock, and an education center to teach others about responsible farming, wildlife conservation, and how agriculture can help others battling PTSD, much like her own internship. 

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Juliann Nichols

Kathy Smith, CEO of Chandelier Transformations Youth Mentoring Inc. – Empowering Young Women Through Mentorship

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Children’s opinions of their bodies form at an incredibly early age, especially young girls. With social media and apps like TikTok, girls become consumed with how many likes they get, how popular they are, all while trying to be their own person and stay true to themselves. With these young minds still developing, it can be exhausting and overwhelming to stay positive. It is difficult to escape the “ideal” body image that is promoted in today’s media and no matter how much you try to shield your child from it, the message is likely to come through.  

Kathy Smith, Founder and President of Chandelier Transformations Youth Mentoring Inc. 501c3 Nonprofit organization in the Tampa bay area, mentors young, brown-skinned girls to embrace their individuality and live boldly and confidently in who God created them to be. By transforming their mindsets to illuminate their path and the path of all they meet, it empowers them to be trailblazers in the world through coaching, speaking, community involvement, mentorship, adolescent scholarships, and social activities.  

Kathy is a veteran of the U.S. Army serving 17 years as a Human Resource Specialist. In the military she served various roles that required her to be the voice for many Soldiers as an Equal Opportunity Specialist and Sexual Assault Victim Advocate. Kathy holds a BSBA, MSHRM and is currently pursuing a PhD in Industrial/Organizational Psychology.  

Growing up in Hillsborough county schools and raising a daughter and two sons of her own, Kathy felt that our younger generations needed real life role models and someone to teach them how to not only lead but communicate effectively in all aspects of their lives. She strives to instill excellence in young minority females by mentoring them on leadership, self- esteem, healthy relationships, boundaries as well as educational and Christian values to become pillars of success in their communities.  

As a Life Coach and Motivational Speaker, Kathy is the Transformation Strategist to professional women serving in the Armed Forces, female veterans and career-minded, goal-oriented women in the civilian sector needing to move from overwhelmed and undervalued to illuminating the path for themselves and others. She walks women through tearing down walls and strongholds of generational curses and self-sabotage that have plagued women for years. Kathy trains her clients to tap into their spiritual consciousness by removing the mask that they have built their lives around and to live life boldly and confidently in their God-given purpose. Through her support, clients can unlock their identity and potential to live a life of abundance and prosperity without fear, worry, anxiety or self-doubt.  

She enjoys meditating, studying ministry and natural health remedies, as well as spending time with her family and friends. She loves seafood and her favorite verse is Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” 

Kathy joined our CEO Mindset course to have a solid business plan, qualify and secure the funding to run Chandelier Transformations Youth Mentoring on a full-time basis and to be an essential business in her community. She wanted to network and build solid relationships with various individuals and form partnerships throughout the Tampa and St. Pete communities. 

She learned there were a lot of things she could delegate or eliminate to maximize her potential and run the business more effectively. She put strategies in place to avoid pitfalls and created tasks to get things done. A big “a-ha” was the difference of an end user client and a target client/market. “I learned that with my mentoring organization, my clients are my sponsors and donors. The girls and families that I serve are the end users.” 

Why would she recommend this course? “CEO Mindset gives you a clear strategy and develops the mindset to help you to get things done in your business. My practices, clients and tasks are clear and defined. No other training program has helped me with these things and in such a short amount of time. The pace is fast but knowing to brain dump and start with a fresh mindset, begin with the end in mind and Automate, Delegate and Eliminate! I feel that CEO Mindset has allowed me to navigate the pitfalls of starting and running a business. It has shown me I can run a business in a manner that will allow for success at the current moment and well into the future.” 

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Juliann Nichols

Options for Small Business Owners to Fight Health Care Costs

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Health insurance is a huge cost of business for any company, but especially for small companies. As a small business ourselves, we understand how stressful it can be to provide coverage to your employees. Premiums continue to increase and many smaller firms are forced to require employees to shoulder the financial burden.

Many employers have been forced to eliminate medical coverage all together. Over 60% of those without health insurance are employed by small businesses. This is a pervasive problem in the United States. The costs are greater per employee for a smaller company than they are for a larger one; some authorities cite a difference of 18 percent.

As a small business owner, what can you do to mitigate this issue?

While there aren’t any complete solutions, here are several ideas that can help to reduce the cost of providing medical coverage in your small business:

  1. Keep your employees healthy. Offering a wellness program can be very effective. Investments like flu shots, stop-smoking groups, cancer screenings, and more have been shown to return as much as $4 for every $1 invested. In the long-term, some larger companies have claimed a total savings of over $700 million from their wellness program!
  • Most of these types of programs aren’t going to be free, but can be an excellent tool for some small businesses.
  1. Reduce the coverage. Though this option is unpopular with employees, reducing the amount of the coverage or requiring employees to pay a greater share of the premium may be necessary.
  • Talk to your employees. Maybe they’re willing to give up dental or vision insurance in exchange for keeping the cost to them the same. See if a compromise can be reached.
  1. Health savings accounts. These accounts are available to those in plans with relatively high deductibles. In a nutshell, these accounts allow workers to deposit earnings in an account that can then be used to pay for medical expenses. Contributions and withdrawals are both tax-free. Employers can also make tax-free contributions, but are not required to.
  • The deductions can even be made on a 1040 form without having to itemize.
  1. Join or start a group. Insurance premiums for businesses with over 25 employees are less than for those with fewer than 25. Essentially, the more people the better. Depending on state laws, it may be possible to join with other businesses and get a lower rate. The savings can be significant depending on the group size.
  2. Shop for the best policy. Different insurers will have different offerings. Look around and see what you can find. A new insurance company might be just what you need to find the perfect policy for your employees. Talk to other small business owners and see what coverage they offer their employees. Live in the Florida area? We have a great recommendation for you, our own JULO alum, Carrie Roberts with American Trustee of Florida, LLC.

While offering medical insurance is very expensive, if you can find a way to provide this at an affordable rate to your employees, employee retention will improve. You’ll also be able to attract better talent.

One of the most powerful things you can do to obtain affordable health insurance is to pool your resources with other small business owners and qualify for a larger-group rate. In some cases, you’ll save $100 or more per employee. Investigate your state laws to see what’s permitted.

Medical insurance isn’t an easy issue for small business owners, but you can usually find a solution with a little searching. Take good care of yourself, your business, and your employees; see what you can do to offer affordable healthcare to your workers.

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Juliann Nichols

SEO vs. Social Media Marketing – Which is Better?

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With online marketing, there’s a debate raging among experts over which strategy is best to grow your business.

Would SEO or social media marketing be the better option?

Often, businesses will hire an SEO expert or agency to increase their visibility in the search engines without even thinking about social media and the traffic that it can bring to their business.

Similarly, there are those who focus their attention entirely on building a social media following without spending any time on SEO.

Let’s compare both strategies to see which option is best.

 

Targeting an Audience

To bring in relevant traffic and sales, it’s important to be able to target a specific audience. It is definitely easier to target an appropriate audience on social media platforms.

Most social media platforms allow you to create ads that specifically target people within a certain demographic who will be interested in your niche.

SEO is not quite as targeted. Although you can certainly target those interested in your niche, you generally cannot target a specific demographic.

 

How Much Effort Is Involved?

To ensure a return on investment, you’ll want to consider how much effort is required to promote your content via social media and SEO.

With social media, you’ll have to plan and post regular content on the various platforms. While there are tools available that can make this process easier, you still have to do this on a consistent basis.

Social media marketing is not something that you can rely on to work without your own efforts. Each post you make will only have a short shelf life, so you’ll need to make an effort each day.

SEO, on the other hand, will require work, but once you start to rank your web pages, there will be less ongoing work involved.

 

Which Content Should You Use?

Whether you are performing SEO or social media marketing, you’ll need to create content. The type of content you create will make a big impact on your traffic and whether your audience engages with it or not.

When writing content for your website or blog, usually long-form content will work best. This means that you may need to create articles of a few thousand words, rather than a couple of hundred.

For social media, images and videos will work best and will be shared across the community if they resonate with the audience. When this occurs and your content starts to be shared, you’ll also see an increase in traffic to your website.

 

So, Which is Better – SEO or Social Media Marketing?

You’ll see the most benefits from incorporating both SEO and social media marketing into your online marketing efforts.

Write long articles and embed images and videos into your content. Doing this will increase engagement and time spent on your website, therefore showing the search engines that your content is good and can be trusted. Plus, people will share content on social media that they find to be interesting and valuable.

Search engines nowadays use social media as a ranking factor, so it’s worth building your social media presence as it will help with your SEO. Building traffic via SEO to your website will also help people to engage on social media too.

So, while SEO and social media marketing are different, they each help the other and the end goal of both is the same – to help increase traffic to your website, products, or services.

The answer is easy: do both!

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Juliann Nichols

Micro-Famous: How to Become Well-Known in Your Niche

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It’s not necessary for the whole world to know who you are to be highly successful. You only need the right people to know who you are.

For example, if you’re a real estate broker, you want the people in your area to know who you are. If you own a company that provides web links, you want all of the SEO business owners to know your name.

If you’re a realtor in San Diego, it won’t matter much if you’re a household name in Portugal. However, being famous to the right population can make all the difference in the world.

Luckily, being famous on a small scale is easier than you think!

Follow these tips to ensure that the right people know who you are:

  1. Specialize. It’s easier to become well-known if you’re extremely good at something. It’s easier to be extremely good at something specific.
  • For example, keeping with our San Diego real estate example, you don’t want to be a general realtor in San Diego. You want to be the realtor that specializes in high-end San Diego beach properties.
  1. Identify your target audience. Who are you trying to serve? What does your ideal customer look like? Develop a composite of the people that you want to know you. Are they a certain age? Male, female, or both? What income level do they have? What profession are they in? What hobbies do they have?
  • Be as detailed as necessary, but not more detailed than necessary. It’s important to know who you’re trying to reach.
  • Avoid wasting your time with those who aren’t in your niche.
  1. Rise above the noise. What does your audience need? What is the common problem they all have? Center your message around this need and your ability to solve it.
  • Noise is simply non-meaningful messaging. Be meaningful to your audience.
  1. Become an authority. When people want to solve a problem, they want an expert. But how does the average person spot an expert? They aren’t experts themselves, or they wouldn’t need you. Consider these ideas to be looked at as the expert:
  • Put content in front of ready-made audiences. There are others who already have the attention of those you want to reach. Write a guest post for a blog. Be a guest on a podcast.
  • Teach an online class. Create a class and put in on one of the several websites that specialize in that sort of thing, such as Udemy.com. Everyone will assume you’re an expert if you’re teaching a course that you created.
  • Put content on social media and on your own website regularly. It’s important to be consistent with your postings, so stick to a schedule.
  • Use linkedin.com. Keep your profile up to date and use all the features that are supplied on that platform to post content.
  • Write a book. It’s not as daunting as it seems. It only takes a few pages a day to write a book in six weeks. There’s no expense for creating a Kindle book. It’s hard to find a respected expert that hasn’t written a book.
  1. Make friends with the well-known experts in your fields. You can become famous by association. Interview these experts. Contribute a guest post to their website. Ask them to write the introduction to your book.

Being famous has its advantages. This is especially true within your niche. The world within your niche is quite small, so it’s not nearly as challenging to be famous within your niche as it is to be famous in general.

A little fame can go a long way toward building your career or business. You don’t have to be a household name. Just a little fame will do.

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Juliann Nichols

Vince Loran, CEO of Ignite RPM: Overcoming Obstacles To Become a Triple Threat

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Are you ready to remove the obstacles that stand in the way of attaining your goals?! If the answer is yes, we know who can help you rediscover your purpose and increase your performance.  

Vince Loran is CEO of Ignite RPM, a leadership coaching and professional development company. With over 21 years in positions of increased responsibility within the United States Air Force and 5 years in the Federal Government, Vince developed Ignite RPM in January 2019. They provide business leaders and managers growth mindset strategies geared to improve shortcomings, uncover blind-spots and thrive! Their motto is “Inward Transformation leads to Outward Action!” 

Focusing on principles and values of Respect, Purpose, and Motivation, Ignite RPM is designed to positively transform and expand your mind. They offer a developmental process where leaders attain personalized growth mindset strategies to achieve goals and become more effective leaders. Offering leadership coaching and development services across diverse sectors including non-profits, they partner with clients to offer one-on-one coaching, training and speaking services. 

Vince, originally a Bronx and Puerto Rico native, lives with his beautiful wife, Ana, in Oviedo, Florida. They have three adult daughters and one granddaughter, Cristina. Vince enjoys cycling, photography and traveling. He obtained his Leadership Coaching Certification from Georgetown University. He also completed a Certificate in Business Administration from Georgetown University’s School of Continuing Education. Vince has his BBA from Strayer University with highest honors–Summa Cum Laude.

 

Vince attended JULO Strategy’s CEO Mindset course to understand and apply the shift into being the CEO and becoming familiar with the art of Automate, Delegate and Eliminate (A.D.E.). Vince walked away with clear business goals and actions, and the guidance to overcome obstacles that kept him from getting where he wanted to be, therefore leading him to get out of his own way!  

He has since partnered with another JULO alum, Enrique Acosta Gonzalez, running a weekly podcast, The Leadership Void. Offering tips, tactics, and operational strategies to help you maximize your growth potential, every Wednesday they come together and discuss challenges you have and help develop and fill the areas of void in your leadership. You can check out their channel and subscribe HERE. 

On top of running his business and hosting a podcast, Vince is also obtaining his Master’s in Social Work from Barry University. You are a triple threat Vince, and JULO loves to see everything you are accomplishing. We can’t wait to see where 2021 takes you!

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