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Welcome to the Confidence Curve with Ashley and Rick Bowers, where personal and professional journeys define the art of scaling with confidence.
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Whether you're a business leader navigating change or someone seeking personal growth, this podcast offers insights and actionable advice to help you thrive.
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Now let's dive into today's conversation with our incredible guest.
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Welcome to the Confidence Curve podcast.
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My name is Ashley Bowers.
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I'll be your host today with Apex GTS Advisors.
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Our guest today is Stephanie Waldrop.
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She is the CEO of Employee Benefits International.
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I've had the great pleasure to get to know her quite a bit over the last few years, and even more so in the last year and a half or so, and just brings a wealth of knowledge to the employee benefits space, really caring about your business, caring about your employees and what the entire benefits process can do for your organization.
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So welcome, stephanie.
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Thank you for being here, thanks for having me, absolutely, if you want to just kick us off and tell us a little bit about your background and Employee Benefits International.
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Sure, sure.
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So, gosh, I have been in the insurance industry for approaching 30 years it gives you a little bit of an aging but for a long time spent over 10 of those years on the insurance carrier side, really learning the guts behind the machine, if you will, and had a real passion to bring that knowledge to advocate on behalf of employers and their employees, to control their benefits cost and pull the right levers.
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That took me to the consulting and agency side and a little over 10 years ago now started Employee Benefits International in the Arizona marketplace, and that's how the journey began.
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So to speak.
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Yeah, you know a lot of people get into business because they have a passion in a specific area and, in addition to that, you really have a passion for scaling your organization.
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So talk a little bit about that journey that you're on and what's really driving you to make a bigger impact across the employee benefit space.
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Sure, well, I guess, starting with the first part of that question and, you know, getting into the business because you have a passion for it I was in the unfortunate situation of having a tragic car accident at the age of 18 and ended up breaking my neck in two places.
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Just due to family dynamics, among many other things, I was left navigating the health care system really by myself at that point, with a pretty severe situation, and didn't know whether I had insurance or not, and so that led me down quite a journey and really opened my eyes to a lot of the challenges that exist today and getting good quality health care and navigating insurance, and really created not only a strong knowledge base at a very early age but also a real passion within me to leave an indelible mark for anyone that I encounter in their experience and journey with the healthcare system.
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So that's really how my passion for the industry was born, so to speak.
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And in terms of leadership and scaling, you know that's been an evolution.
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You know, maybe like the stone at the bottom of a river, I've been molded over time.
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I certainly didn't set out to lead and scale, but naturally, when you take care of people and are accountable and have energy to solve their problems versus sell them, something you know.
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The reciprocal of that is that you usually have the ability to grow in a pretty rapid way, and that's certainly been our experience.
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So I'd like to say we're really blessed to have had the scaling challenges that we've had in that regard and really that journey has become something that I've come to enjoy but hasn't always been that way.
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You know, learning to make sure that our systems and our team and knowledge base across all levels of the organization are keeping pace and that we're looking into the future for where those developments need to go long term.
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You know, I mean leading organizations, benefits is that thing?
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I mean, obviously it comes up every year and it's a necessary evil and we have to have it.
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And what about the attrition?
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And there can be just this daunting feeling every single year and I've had the privilege to get to see a little bit, you know, behind the scenes with EBI and the constant talk track about how you're making it, making a difference with the benefits but and not only for the employees but also for the employer and understanding how it can be an attraction and a retention tool without it being this thing that you know they're up against every single year, with the right data and analytics and sophistication, one like what drives you to go that deep, because I think that that's really incredible.
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And then, if you want to give any insights into that process, yeah, I mean I guess at the core of that is, you know, at EBI we aim to serve clients the way we would want to be served and you know some of the inherent challenges with the industry is that there are a lot of misaligned interest in every facet of our healthcare system, and you know that's a whole separate podcast, so to speak.
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But specifically, as it relates to the brokerage and consulting world that EBI lives in for employee benefits, you know there's higher profits in the easy button and as more and more agencies get gobbled up by private equity and are beholden to stockholders and things of that nature, those conversations about profitability get very intense and the service model gets squeezed.
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I mean, that's the inherent outcome inherent, you know, outcome and so I just I think that we focus on having a very high touch service model and providing employers with the insights, level of analysis and overview that we would want in making those same decisions.
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And the outcome is, you know generally and this ranges from small employers to employers with several thousand employees that they oftentimes tell us that for the first time they feel like they really understand and appreciate benefits in a different way for their organization.
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Versus that, I could think, very daunting process that you teed off the question with, and so it is a matter of a lot of employers don't really understand how benefits actually impact attraction or retention or have the insights the meaningful insights that actually tell them how to impact it or where the program needs to be tweaked.
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So that's generally part of an annual process for us that we're looking at that year over year and making sure that employers do know how their program stacks up and discussing is this a pain point?
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And benefits isn't the end-all be-all for attraction and retention.
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It's a piece, it's a component of total compensation.
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Obviously, culture comes into play.
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There's lots of different facets of this.
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We launched an HR consulting aspect of the business last year that's going very well, aimed to solve some of those challenges, because, as we dive into these conversations, employers need more resources than just the employee benefit programs and engagement to deploy, and so we're really looking to partner with them on creating a holistic conversation.
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The beginning of the engagement with any client is always about solving their immediate problems.
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You know they're reaching out to us for a reason.
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Sometimes they're reaching out to us for multiple reasons, but at the end of the day we're still going to deploy on all of the different pillars that are important, to have a holistic conversation with them and leave them in a very good place with their benefit program and, you know, measurably solving for what we can each year, meeting them where they are from a budget, from a bandwidth, all of those.
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You know dynamics have to come into play, absolutely.
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Well, thank you, switching a little bit to your leadership style.
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What are some lessons that you wish you would have learned earlier in your career?
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Maybe attributes that you've developed you know more recently that you wish you would have had as you were starting out, either in leadership in other organizations or as you started EBI.
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Yeah.
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So you know, much like scaling a business, leadership is an area where I would say I'm a molded.
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I'm a stone that's being molded.
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I continue to be molded as I experience new endeavors in that category, but I would say one of the biggest lessons I've learned over time is to listen more.
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You know, the people around me have really great insights and generally have ideas on how to solve a problem, and oftentimes they don't share that information with you because they haven't been asked.
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So it's about engaging the team and bringing them along for the journey and making sure that you're getting those key insights engaging the team and bringing them along for the journey and and making sure that you know that you're getting those key insights from from the, the team members that are in the day to day of a of a specific process.
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You know, I, I.
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It brings to mind a story of, I guess, a leadership faux pas that that we had as an organization.
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Where you know, at the leadership level, we, we vetted organization.
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Where you know, at the leadership level, we vetted this really.
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You know, seemingly great technology that was going to solve some big problems for the organization, a lot of complaints from the team and manual processes associated with, you know, a key part of the work that we do, and so we were very excited about the technology and deployed it to the team, you know, at the worst time of year, thinking it was going to be a Hail Mary and that they were really going to love and appreciate this new resource that they were provided.
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And you know, you know where this is going because I said it was a faux pas, but the technology was not as user-friendly as was anticipated.
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The learning curve with the team was greater than anticipated, the time of year was absolutely incorrect to deploy and ultimately it cost the organization quite a bit of money and resources to deploy something and then have to pull it back right.
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And, of course, the grief that the team felt along the way didn't go unnoticed.
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So you know, I think in terms of that often when we're making big decisions that impact, you know, day-to-day processes and I'm very careful now to make sure that the conversations are being had at the right levels and that the conversations are being had at the right levels and that the team's being brought along for the journey at different touch points.
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And timing Timing is another big leadership lesson.
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There is a good time and a bad time for just about everything as it relates to leadership.
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Every once in a while.
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You don't know what it is until after it's done and you're like oh, okay, now I know it was there.
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That's where we were at.
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Yeah, and I would, I would say another leadership.
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You know, there are some things that are adaptable, some things that are less adaptable about, about leadership styles, and that usually has something to do with willingness to change or desire to change in that category, and so I move, personally, at a pretty fast pace and have a high sense of urgency for things, and not not everybody's wired that way, and so so, you know, I've also learned, you know, the right, the right types of team members to surround myself with to to ensure that we're going to be rowing in the same direction and not have a paddle that's, you know, causing us to go in circles in the journey.
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So, yeah, no, that makes sense.
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You know, one of the big like leadership wins that I look at over my career is like when I've had an exit that maybe didn't go in an ideal way.
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Right, you know you have to make a decision or you're leading them down a path to make a decision, and it you know you have to make a decision or you're leading them down a path to make a decision, and it's hard in that moment.
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But a year later, two years later, that individual is coming around and wanting to have lunch or get together for coffee and suddenly you're talking about everything that you helped them with and how they see it very differently now than they saw it in the moment.
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And they're thanking you for that time because, as much as they wanted to hang on that it was the right place.
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It wasn't the right place for them, because that does happen.
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It's a part of being in business, um, and so that's one of the things like.
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I love the fact that people come back around and have that conversation with me.
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Even in those hard moments, what is something as a leader that you want to be known for?
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you know, I think the the word that jumps out at me, just gut instinct, and then response to that is opportunity.
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I, you know, coming from very humble beginnings myself, have had an immense opportunity in this industry to not only impact lives but also to impact personally my family's life.
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And and I I'm a big believer in, you know, mentoring, giving opportunity, giving skill sets, helping people grow and develop.
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So so that's, you know, something that that stands out to me is, you know, I want every team member who walks in our door to know that there is, you know, a open dialogue and pathway to success, whatever that looks like for them, as long as it's in line with the, you know, the company's direction and core values, and develop that conversation over time.
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And you know, not everybody wants the same pathway.
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Not everybody wants to be, you know, the same pathway.
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Not everybody wants to be, you know, challenged to grow right.
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So I mean, thirst for growth is one of our core values and, and we we do lean on attracting team members that that want to grow and want new opportunity, um, through their journey.
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Uh, but you know we've also learned that that's that's not always the case, but I aim to provide people with opportunity and help them reimagine.
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You know what their impact can be.
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Sure, that's awesome.
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Yeah, yeah, I feel like that's one of the lessons I wish I would have learned earlier in my career that not everybody wants to just go up and work crazy and that you actually need the balance as your organization gets larger and larger and larger.
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right, you need people who want to stay at that front desk forever because it's such a hard position to fill and you have those different things and sometimes you might see opportunity in them and potential in them, but you also have to meet them where they're at right.
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I could have benefited from that a few times in my career.
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Yeah, I mean, I think of a particular circumstance where we had a team member that came in and had never even, you know, worked in an office job before.
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And you fast forward three years later and they're, you know, making a very high wage and a big impact on the organization.
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But each step along the way was a huge challenge to comfort zone and you know, pushing their boundaries and limits in different ways with you know what their prior experience was versus what their aptitude and capability was.
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And at the end of the day, you know, sometimes you have to recognize to your point that not everybody wants that growth and sometimes, just because someone's capable of doing more, it can be detrimental to you know, to encourage them to do more if they don't want to stretch.
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So yeah, absolutely.
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Focusing in on the industry a little bit.
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Obviously you know the healthcare industry has a lot of external factors impacting it all the time.
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What are the biggest factors that you see impacting the industry this year?
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And you know what do some of the larger employers you know need to be kind of on the lookout for as they're going through their process.
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Yeah, you know, I think that probably some of the biggest impacts in the coming year are more on the legislative front right, I mean we have obviously a new administration and kind of a complete turnover in a lot of those seats, and there is already a lot of discussion and talk about transformation that's needed, transformation that's needed and particular to the healthcare industry.
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I expect to see, not just at the state level but also at the federal level, discussions surrounding pharmacy benefit management entities, maybe some on the wholesaler side for prescription medications, but that's clearly been an area of desired impact and it's necessary to have some disruption there.
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I think, just based on the escalation of pharmacy cost as a percentage of spend.
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I mean, I think back to my insurance carrier days, you know, and it was very clearly that you would expect pharmacy to be somewhere between 13 and 15 percent of your overall spend, and and now it's, um, you know, very typical for it to be in the in the low 20s to 30 percent range for an organization and so so that's an area that's continued to escalate.
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There's no slowdown in sight there, um, in the environment, outside of change, just due to the fact that most of the medications that are in development are specialty or, you know, medications that alter genetic, and so those are very expensive medications and they have big implications on the cost of health care, and there needs to be some discussion surrounding how that gets handled, because whether an employer is fully insured or whether an employer is self-funded and we serve that whole gamut and there's the in-between but at the end of the day, no matter how the employer is funding their insurance cost, escalations in health care cost overall throughout the system are born through premiums and are funded by employers.
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So, um, the smallest employers aren't insulated from the long-term impacts of of these types of developments in our health care system, when they essentially end up footing the bill.
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So um.
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So there's, you know there's a lot to be said there.
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Um, some of the legislation will only impact Medicare, which is unfortunate, I think, for our commercial insurance clients.
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But there's a site of care legislation that's being looked at that would essentially require that the same services receive a similar compensation regardless of if it's at the hospital or if it's at a doctor's office.
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If it's at the hospital or if it's at a doctor's office, huge implications in terms of the cost of care and savings in the cost of care, if that were to pass, because it's no dirty little secret that you can pay $400 for an MRI at a freestanding facility or several thousand dollars in an inpatient or an urgent care facility or imaging center that's associated with the hospital and there's been a lot of acquisitions of those types of facilities to bill at the higher rate in the system.
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So I'd love to see some of that legislation come into the employer space.
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But but I think you know, as far as on the horizon, I do expect to see some decisions over the next administration related to legislative outcomes.
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And then, in terms of employers, I would say that the main thing that we're seeing there is that more and more employers are awakening I say maybe getting red-pilled to the fact that there are many aspects of health care costs that they do have an ability to control and impact.
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And that's probably, you know, that's where we spend the vast majority of our time and focus with clients that have more than 100 employees, where we can get raw claims data and really dive into what is driving their cost and how can it be impacted.
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And so I just we're definitely seeing all the benchmarking supports it that more and more clients are entering into the types of programs where they really do have the ability to take control, and then it, you know, and then it really matters to have a partner who knows how to analyze the data and also, you know, solve for the problems that it represents.
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Everyone will say they do that in this space when you get into that large employer marketplace.
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But the reality of the circumstances is that many, many firms try to deploy as little resources as possible to include that as a pillar, and we aim to make a difference and control the cost for the employer.
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Ultimately, we aim to impact the lives of the employees.
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So to do that, we have to help the employer control their cost so that they can deliver a higher value of benefit for their budgetary spend to the employee in the form of richer benefits or reduced cost.
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So yeah, thank you so much for all of that.
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And it's such a scary place and so often I think, as leaders inside organizations, we literally are looking at it once a year and really need to be looking at it more holistically and throughout the year.
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And giving time and the education process of the employee population too of how to use the benefits and where to go and who to call and all of those things too, I think is such a big factor in all of it.
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Kind of flipping back to the leadership side of things and you know so many senior executives have like, oh, they've got it all together, and you know we'll use a phrase like, you know, duck on water, right, like we look, like we've got it all, we're there, we have it, but we still have the same, you know, talk tracks in our heads and the same, you know, like demons on our shoulders at times and so the thought of like imposter syndrome, right, I think most of us go through that at some point in our career.
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Have you ever felt like you've been in that place of you know?
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Is this really happening?
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Am I really here?
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Should I be here?
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And, if so, how did you deal with it?
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If you haven't done that, like, how have you managed to stay away from it?
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What's your?
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secret.
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Yeah, yeah, I don't have a secret.
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So I think everyone goes through that at some point in their career.
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right If you're, if you're soaring to new heights.
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At some point you're going to find yourself in a room where you say how did I get here and how am I viewed in the room, which you know is essentially how imposter syndrome is born.
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I would say, very early, I had success very early on.
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So in my early twenties I, you know, was very quickly climbing and found myself in very large boardrooms with senior executives and, I guess, presenting to CEOs and CFOs in my early 20s, and I was always underestimated in those environments, I think, and always the youngest person by a margin in the room, and so person by a margin in the room.
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And so you know, I, I overcame that mostly by knowing, by knowledge.
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So nobody was going to out, understand the dynamics of the problems we were solving for and have opinions on them.
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Uh, the way that I did, coming into those meetings and so I never shrunk away from being an active voice at the table and, and I think that that's probably one of the, you know, the biggest way I over.
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I overcame that as, as I evolved into, you know, leadership roles versus just that.
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You know that early dynamic of of being green, so to speak.
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I would, I would say that the way I overcame that is surrounding myself with other entrepreneurs, you know, making sure that I really understood whether the challenges that we were facing as an organization were unique to us never are, by the way.
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Or, you know something that every business deals with and what are the tools and resources to solve those problems.
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So it for me having resources, you know, through Arizona Growth Advisors or Entrepreneurs Organization, eo.
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Those are two venues where I've just found a lot of collaborative, you know, entrepreneur CEO type.
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Um, think space if you will for for resolving and growing uh as an organization.
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Yeah, and so I mean on that, you just mentioned Arizona growth advisors and EO.
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Um, what other ways do you continue to grow and develop as a leader?
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I know you're a big reader like how do you find the time to invest in your own growth?
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I was just going to say what other things do I do?
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with what time yeah.
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It's a valid question.
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So I don't watch a lot of TV and I can't honestly remember the last time that I that I did.
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So I'm, I'm.
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I'm not up to speed on any of the latest series on streaming.
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You know none of that, but I am a junkie for documentaries and podcast.
00:25:35.288 --> 00:25:58.624
So you know some of those are more on the personal and health side of things which absolutely impact me as a leader, but oftentimes they're also thought leadership, you know, related to what we do every day, and so I usually have a podcast or some content that I'm listening to as I get ready in the morning is a big time that I am.
00:25:58.624 --> 00:26:00.347
It's more audio content for me.
00:26:00.347 --> 00:26:07.412
I'm usually doing calls in the car so I don't get that time that some entrepreneurs find a window with um.
00:26:07.412 --> 00:26:11.461
In terms of reading, I will listen to books on audio.
00:26:11.461 --> 00:26:22.626
I prefer the 1.5 speed, as fast as possible, um and and uh, and you know, and I will um more often read in downtime.
00:26:23.248 --> 00:26:34.730
You know when I'm, when I'm not not during the work week, just because my my brain's kind of on overdrive in the work week solving for other challenges, but I am an avid reader.
00:26:34.730 --> 00:26:50.012
Just finished Gap in the Gain, which is a great book, great perspective, and so I seek out thought leadership on business growth and leadership and scaling and solving for the healthcare industry challenges.
00:26:50.012 --> 00:27:07.250
Those are all areas that I spend time learning, but the bulk of my time outside of reading and you know, podcast would be related to the time I spend with EO and Arizona Growth Advisors and there's not a whole lot more time I could give in that category.
00:27:08.119 --> 00:27:13.729
I know, and even in those things and I mean I'm not afraid to say it on podcasts, right, it's like that morning's like, do I really have time for this today?
00:27:13.729 --> 00:27:16.960
But then you go and it's like, oh, this is exactly what I needed today.
00:27:16.960 --> 00:27:39.722
And that whole point of self-care, whether it's, you know, doing something like that and getting around peers where you have a little bit of a group therapy session, if you will, right, and be able to kind of talk about issues that, um, out loud, that maybe you can't in other rooms, or whether it's a massage, whether it's a workout, whether it's a hike, um, you know, I hate the word balance, because what does that actually mean, right?
00:27:40.263 --> 00:27:45.766
Um, but obviously you have a family um you know and and like to do things and create experiences there.
00:27:45.766 --> 00:27:54.692
So how do you get those, or what do you do to get those recharge moments to kind of create that sense of balance in a world that's obviously very, very much, you know, work-driven?
00:27:55.299 --> 00:27:59.971
Yeah, well, first of all, I'll just comment on the peer group aspect that you shared.
00:27:59.971 --> 00:28:20.402
I think it's that old adage if you all throw your problems into a pile, you'll quickly be trying to get yours back, and so I think part of that journey is certainly the content and the learning and the solving problems with other business leaders for their organizations that you may not have encountered yet or you already navigated, and you can be.
00:28:20.402 --> 00:28:28.560
You can be more of an experience share, resource for, but, but you're right, in the morning of time being spent in those environments, it's like, how do I, you know?
00:28:28.560 --> 00:28:28.731
Do you're right?
00:28:28.731 --> 00:28:31.105
In the morning of, uh, time being spent in those environments, it's like, how do I, you know?
00:28:31.105 --> 00:28:31.887
Do I?
00:28:31.887 --> 00:28:33.653
Do I have the space for this today?
00:28:33.653 --> 00:28:35.844
Um, but, uh, I can.
00:28:35.924 --> 00:28:47.326
I can honestly say I never regret committing the space, and so, um, it's funny that that question parlays into balance, because it's one of those things that can create more imbalance.
00:28:47.326 --> 00:29:01.731
Right, yeah, but at the end of the day, I truly feel in this type of a role where you're leading an organization and you're also, you know, serving clients and have a family.
00:29:01.731 --> 00:29:04.568
I mean, my husband and I have a family of five boys.
00:29:04.568 --> 00:29:06.465
Now I say five boys, five young men.
00:29:06.465 --> 00:29:08.287
Now we're in a different season of our life.
00:29:08.420 --> 00:29:10.364
I was going to say like boys, young men Now we're in a different season of our life.
00:29:10.364 --> 00:29:11.145
I would say like boys becoming men.
00:29:11.185 --> 00:29:13.191
But yeah, they're 20 to 27 now.
00:29:13.191 --> 00:29:14.942
So we're on a different, a different cycle.
00:29:14.942 --> 00:29:19.311
But, um, but, but balance is a big, is a big key part of it.
00:29:19.311 --> 00:29:43.611
And how do, how do I find that time I think, um, you know, I will incorporate more micro type, uh, physical exercise into my day, which means I might do a hundred squats in the morning, or, you know, lift some, some weights and and while I'm on a lymphatic machine and also in front of a red light therapy, right Like I'm stacking these things because my time is so precious.
00:29:45.020 --> 00:30:00.407
But you know, limited, limited time to make sure I'm, I'm, I'm, moving weights, whether that's my body or physical weights, in a in a day is is somewhat important, but something I never easily part with is an afternoon walk.
00:30:00.407 --> 00:30:15.517
So at the end of the day, no matter what time I get home putting on sneakers and and walking out my front door, I'm very fortunate to live at the base of a hill, so it gives me a nice little, a little more than a mile, you know, round trip jaunt.
00:30:15.517 --> 00:30:28.088
That has a good elevation to it and you know that's that helps me physically, it helps me recharge, it helps, you know, I'm super blessed when it's at sunset, because I can never get enough of the beautiful Arizona sunsets.
00:30:28.088 --> 00:30:30.652
But it's just a, you know, it's a cherished part of my day.
00:30:30.652 --> 00:30:38.633
That, you know, also has a lot of other tertiary benefits to it so yeah it's the little little things that you just add up.
00:30:39.300 --> 00:30:40.848
Well, and the stacking, yeah Right.
00:30:40.848 --> 00:30:46.249
Um, well, we were in a session on Friday and I was talking about stacking the different things to hit the things that are most important to you.
00:30:46.348 --> 00:31:00.170
And so if you can elevate your mindset, your relationship and your physical by going on a walk with your spouse or your significant other, you know, you can kind of hit three important and core areas of your life all with one activity versus three separate ones.
00:31:00.170 --> 00:31:02.990
So, yeah, definitely a big piece of that.
00:31:02.990 --> 00:31:07.832
Is there a particular book or podcast that has really shaped your career?
00:31:07.832 --> 00:31:10.288
When new leaders are saying like what should I read?
00:31:10.288 --> 00:31:11.201
What?
00:31:11.201 --> 00:31:12.346
Would be something you would suggest.
00:31:14.280 --> 00:31:18.751
I don't know that I can point to a book that shaped my whole career.
00:31:18.751 --> 00:31:26.000
I mean, if maybe there's one, the Purpose Driven Life you know, there's a lot of good nuggets in that.
00:31:26.863 --> 00:31:42.021
I believe at my core that if you're going to devote such a huge part of the time that you have uh here, uh to something, that it should be something that you feel purpose around and alignment with and um, so I think there's a lot in developing.
00:31:42.021 --> 00:31:45.229
Where do you have passion and purpose as a person?
00:31:45.229 --> 00:31:50.661
Um, and and aligning the time that you spend in the mark that you leave with that purpose.
00:31:50.661 --> 00:31:52.444
So you know, that's what I would say.
00:31:52.444 --> 00:32:01.309
And then just another resource that has a big gamut of leadership and business, but also personal development.
00:32:01.309 --> 00:32:02.993
I love the diary of a CEO.
00:32:02.993 --> 00:32:08.231
It's a big go-to for me, just that you never know what topic's going to be discussed.
00:32:08.231 --> 00:32:18.990
But there's always something to learn from a bright mind who's very purpose-driven and passionate, and so I love that genuinely as, just thought, leadership in general.
00:32:19.131 --> 00:32:19.992
Yeah, absolutely.
00:32:19.992 --> 00:32:23.108
So kind of final question and then we'll do some wrap-up.
00:32:23.108 --> 00:32:26.567
Okay, what advice would you give your younger self knowing?
00:32:26.567 --> 00:32:30.042
What you know today, it's always a hard one.
00:32:30.565 --> 00:32:41.000
It is a hard one, you know, and I'm not one of those types of people who spends a lot of time dwelling on what would I have done differently, to be very, very honest with you.
00:32:41.000 --> 00:32:53.280
So that is a hard question to ponder, but advice I would give my younger self to ponder.
00:32:53.280 --> 00:32:54.143
But advice I would give my younger self.
00:32:54.143 --> 00:33:05.292
I think that every single part of the journey that I've been on, professionally and personally the hardest times and the best times all cumulative, I would, I would give more credit to the tough times.
00:33:06.401 --> 00:33:09.390
When you're going through something really tough, it's easy to.
00:33:09.390 --> 00:33:18.159
I think it's easy for us all as humans to go to the place of why is this happening to me?
00:33:18.159 --> 00:33:30.101
Or having it be something personal or out of your control, or, you know, there's a number of ways that we cope with difficult situations when we're stretched beyond our ordinary comfort zone.
00:33:30.101 --> 00:33:34.410
But I think it's that stretching that really is the fuel behind our growth.
00:33:34.410 --> 00:33:42.523
And when I look back and think of some of the toughest things that I've gone through over the course of my career, it's landed me in a place.
00:33:42.523 --> 00:33:46.813
In each of those scenarios, I can find that silver lining where.
00:33:46.992 --> 00:34:11.081
I wouldn't take back the tough thing that happened right, and so the advice I would give my younger self going through any of those tough situations would be to find that silver lining as quick as you can and have that be your focus, because if you focus on the problem or the trauma such an overrated word today- or the trauma or the you know or what have you then.
00:34:11.362 --> 00:34:17.025
Then you end up in this kind of negative cycle with whatever that is, and you you miss the growth from it a lot of times.
00:34:17.025 --> 00:34:18.630
So I guess that would be I would.
00:34:18.630 --> 00:34:27.967
I wish I would have learned that at an earlier age, that that tough situations, challenges, problems, if you will, are really gifts if you, if you use them to your advantage.
00:34:28.128 --> 00:34:38.407
I love that Well, obviously I'm sure you're connecting with a ton of our listeners and just how you run your business, how you lead your life, your leadership persona that you have.
00:34:38.407 --> 00:34:42.043
How will people get a hold of you if they want to talk to you about their benefit cycle?
00:34:42.264 --> 00:34:42.885
Yeah, sure.
00:34:42.885 --> 00:34:45.992
So I'm on LinkedIn.
