Making Money Talks Human (and Actually Helpful) with Christine Virost

0:02Christine Virost:Hi, and welcome to this week's episode of the Epic Entrepreneurs Podcast, where we are all about helping business owners just like you achieve success. So we don't do fancy smancy. We don't do flashing lights. We don't do a lot of things that a lot of podcasts will do. These are just real stories about real people and their entrepreneurial and business experiences. as we go into their wins, their challenges, and their learnings. So we hope you enjoy it. Hi, everyone. Welcome to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs. I am Cliff McRae with Action Coach Business Growth Partners, where we work with local business owners to turn big ideas into real scalable growth.

0:47Today, I'm excited to be joined by Christine Verrost, Financial Yellow Lucky Duck with Transamerica. How are you today? I'm doing well. How are you? I'm doing great. I'm doing great. Christine, thanks for being here. Let's go ahead and jump right in. For sure. That sounds great. All right. Perfect. So for those who may not know it yet, who is Christine Burost and what is Yellow Lucky Duck? So Yellow Lucky Duck is my side business of everything for annuities and building kind of that 1099 focus onto it. So as a financial professional, there's a lot of different ways that you get paid, but there's also many different ways that you can promote and market your business and yellow lucky ducks mine.

1:31Okay. Perfect. Perfect. So what problems are you most passionate about solving for your clients? Oh, for there's always all kinds of problems. A lot of the times your emotions are very much tied to your money and it also stops you from making your money grow, making your, you work so hard for that money that you don't know what else to do with it as you move forward and grow and expand in kind of budget, but also be able to live your life, have things into it. But also how do we reach those financial goals that you want to have, but also have the protection in place that if anything was to happen, that your family's not destitute, that you're not missing out on things and the dreams and hopes that you're planning for actually still come to fruition, whether you are still here or not.

2:17Okay, interesting. So take us back to the very beginning, what made you say, you know, yep, I'm doing this. I'm starting this business. Uh, well, it actually would have to go back to when my parents got divorced and my mother would always say that we are fine. We're going to stay afloat. And what is something that floats? Ducks. So throughout college and everything of that nature into it, when thinking about what stays afloat and what's going to keep you afloat, it always represented the yellow lucky duck. So as you're coming into insurance and financial services and the things that we aren't always taught about in school or as with kids, how do we expand and grow?

3:02Well, how do we also make this something fun that people want to talk about? So if you're coming up to talk to me, I'm going to ask you if you how can I help you get your ducks in a row? How do we help you stay afloat? And how do we make sure that you're financially protected? And so it brought around the ducks, but it also is just fun. It's entertaining. It makes a hard conversation something easy. OK, I really like that. I like that reference to the yellow lucky ducks pretty much in everything that you do. I like that. So, you know, and getting to this a little bit more, if you had to start again from absolute scratch, you know, no brand, no clients, no Transamerica, no safety net.

3:43What would you do differently the second time around? oh it's definitely one of those where you need to know you and you need to know what you can do because you can do anything but your own limitations that you've already set ahead of you will stall a business from even getting off the ground but also remembering that you can think outside the box and you don't have to do anything the same way that anybody else has done you can take the bits and pieces that they enjoy and that you enjoy that work and use them, but you can also manipulate it to where it works for you and it fits your personality and what you want to see happen.

4:26I really like that. I like that. So what's a lesson you've learned the hard way as a business owner that no one really prepares you for? Things aren't always going to go well. Sometimes things very horribly wrong. And it honestly doesn't always have everything to do with you. A client doesn't call you back. You don't get the piece of business. You don't get to work with those people. It's not that they don't like you. It's not that your personality and their personality didn't match or they're mad at you because you didn't call them back the exact moment you said they would. It's more about if you can defeat the inner monologue in the brain that's going to tell you that they're mad at you, that this is a personal decision, that they're blowing you off for these reasons.

5:13All of that's not true. It's going to be more of what's happening in their life. And they're the most important thing in their life. And you are just a sidestep into it. But how do you create that sense of urgency and the importance to where they want to call you back? And persistency is always going to be key. We're not pushy, we're not bugging, we're not driving people crazy. We're being persistent because we care about it. And we want to help them with what we can do, but also understanding that at some point you can say no and cut that off. Yeah. And I'm sure in what you do, you deal with that quite a bit, right?

5:47Yes. Quite a bit. Okay. Okay. Get real nervous around it. It's a hard conversation. It's something that everybody needs and has to have, but not everybody wants to do it. Yeah. So, so digging into that a little bit more. So you, you're saying you reach out to people sometimes and they don't reach back out to you and you kind of have to, you know, blur the lines between being, you know, persistent with the while also not being desperate. Correct? Correct. Well, you never want to come across as desperate because I'm not desperate. I don't need this business. I don't need you to listen to me. I don't need you to put these plans in place, but your family does.

6:24And your family's going to need something of it because the reason that you typically buy insurance is that you love someone or you owe someone. And the reason to get better with money is because we all want more of it because then we can do things with it. But when it comes down to being persistent, it's more about, hey, I'm just reaching out because I was thinking about you. Let me know where you want to go from here. And if you do want to proceed, wonderful. If I'm not the right fit for you, that's perfectly fine. Please go ahead and tell me so that I won't consistently come back to see if you need me still.

6:57Yeah, no, and I agree with that. I'd rather you just be honest with me rather than me chase. You know what I mean? Like if it's like, if you're not interested, just let me know. I'd rather you let me know rather than me keep, you know, breaching out to you every couple of weeks or whatever, and just not get you to answer the phone. But it's also one of those things where a lot of us in business, we all think we're just so amazing and wonderful that you're going to say yes on day one. It doesn't work that way. Typically, most people don't say yes until maybe the fifth connection and, and or further than that.

7:29So depending on what you're doing and how you're pursuing things, it might take a while. You have to have the long game and plan in place. Otherwise, it's going to be very disappointing for you. Yeah, no, I agree with that. So what's a lesson you learned the hard way as a business owner that no one really prepares you for?

7:51Christine Virost:it's definitely going to be not prepared for what it's going to take out of you and what you're going to actually have to put into it because motivation is going to take you so far discipline will take you the rest so there's many days where you wake up you're not motivated and you don't want to do it and you don't want to make the calls and you don't want to go see the people and maybe just don't want to network but when it comes down to it once you get into the spirit of it, get up there and start talking. It's fun and you enjoy it. But if you don't enjoy it, then don't do it. Okay. So what would you say is one common myth people believe about running a business that makes you laugh now?

8:38That it's all about competition, that you're going to compete with lots of other people. When actually it comes down to more, it's a collaboration. If you have a strong enough community of business owners and people who are experiencing the same things as you, it's no longer competition. It's more of collaboration and community to help support each other because I do something different than what you do. And all we want to really do is serve the client. We want to make sure that they have what they need, that they'll meet their goals and that this is going to fit within their budget. it. Okay.

9:16All right. So let's move on to a little bit more about you. So let's be honest, you know, you know, be completely honest with this answer. Are you naturally more of an entrepreneur or an employee at heart? Ooh, I would say I'm definitely an entrepreneur. I like being an employee occasionally, but I like telling others what to do. And I like to be in charge. Okay. And then other than other than being in charge, there are any other, any other things you could think of that make you realize that you're more of an entrepreneur? It's very much thinking outside the box. There's many people who hand over formulas that are like, this is how this works.

9:54And this is what you should do. And I'll come up with a very different idea and get told multiple occasions that that's not going to work. But when I put it back to them and ask, well, have you tried that? They're like, no. Then how do you know it's not going to work? So why can't we do it? And why can't we proceed with those? And so it's more of the entrepreneurial spirit into it because I like representing Transamerican. I like representing Yellow Lucky Duck because those are the things I believe in. And I believe we do good business. So I have the confidence and the support backing. So the employee side's nice, but it's still the flexibility and the freedom to do this the way I want to and have the ability to make those decisions.

10:39Okay. No, love it. Love it. So, and let's get into something a little bit different in your personal time. How do you personally handle stepping away from the business? Basically vacations, downtime, unplugging in the evening. Are you the kind of person at 6 PM, you kind of turn your phone off and don't answer, or are you working around the clock? How do you typically handle that? I think it depends on the situation. So I am in the business of life and death, but I do not cause life or death. So there's never that sense of urgency that it cannot wait till tomorrow. So I'm okay being at a birthday party and enjoying the whole evening.

11:17But also, if I have a client who calls and it's a panic call, I will call them back. I want to make sure that they feel supported as well. So it's kind of a balance between those, but I don't really like the idea of balance. I think it's more of harmony. There's some days it's going to be more on the business side. And then there's some days it's going to be more on the personal side. So trying to find where does that fit and putting the energy into it as needed. Okay. And then how about, how do you handle vacations? Vacations are more one of those where it's delegated for somebody else to handle.

11:54And it's making sure that my clients are aware that I am going to be stepping away. And then it's all about fun, like as much as the things into it. But I will tell you that usually when I'm on vacation, I run into somebody who says something that triggers a whole different conversation that has to do with work and all my friends roll their eyes. All right. All right. Perfect. I appreciate that. So, you know, looking back, what would you attribute most to your growth so far in your business? I would say it's family support and friend support. I left a managerial job and pretty much my sister told me that you will either fly or you can jump off the cliff or you can fly off the cliff.

12:38But either way, I'm pushing you. So you're going to do it. so I think that would really contribute to it because they've always been the support of it and the even if you have doubts they're there yeah yeah so you so you're basically saying if you didn't have that support system would you I mean you would probably still be working that managerial job is that kind of what you're saying um I think I would eventually quit on my own but I think it would have been I might have gone a different direction in it instead I found an opportunity that presented itself and I just took it and didn't look back.

13:12And it wasn't something that I had done before because I went from serving coffee to insurance and financial services. Okay. Now, do you have employees or have you had employees in the past? I've had employees in the past. So I did run an agency for two and a half years and I ran a staff for two and a half years previous of that. Okay. All right. Perfect. So when you're building a team, what traits matter more to you than what's on someone's resume? Whether or not they're able to learn and whether they're willing to learn. So just because you are well-versed in a topic and well-versed in a subject doesn't always mean that you actually know how it works and how it works out in the real world.

14:03So you could be textbook smart or street smart, but you need a mix of both to survive in this industry and actually have that growth to it because soft skills and hard skills are so important. But also knowing that if they're looking at the fact they're going to be honest, they need to be team oriented, but also have their own goals and drive because this, my whole industry will beat you down to the point where you're going to question your life. And so you have to be able to overcome that. Now, what would you say is one thing you do intentionally to keep your workplace positive, motivated and productive for those employees, especially during a stressful season?

14:46Where can you find the fun? Make sure that they're connected very strongly to their why. Why are you in this industry? Why is this what you want to do? Why are we trying to help people? if they know that everything else will come and also allowing the fact that you can have a bad day but that bad day can be collapsed into an hour versus an entire week and if it's going to be that way then well go do something about it and then come back when you feel better but how do we make sure that it's okay to have those feelings but it's also not okay to let those feelings completely destroy your whole week yeah yeah so so you're very big on i'm guessing you're very big on, you know, taking some time off if you need to go reset, right?

15:29If you need to go, go ahead and go and reset and come back strong, you know, and rested, right? It's definitely one of those, but also knowing like you had things that needed to be accomplished today, where are you going to move them in your week to make sure that they do still get accomplished? Okay. Okay. Perfect. Yeah. So I appreciate that. So we're going to head into what's called the quickfire round. So basically how this work is I'm going to, I'm going to give you one word and I just want you to give me back the first thing or first idea that comes to mind when you hear about this word in regards to running your business.

16:02Now, your answer doesn't have to be one word. It's just the first idea. Our first word is education. Always be learning. No matter how smart you think you are, there's someone smarter. I like that. Planning. Do it or don't do it, but it will affect everything that you do. Inspiration. You got to have something every day that's going to be inspiring and that's fun. Commitment. Oh, that one. Okay. Commitment in regards to businesses. Like you decided to be here. You made that decision. You committed to it. Let's see what you can do with it. I like that. Discipline. Kicks in when motivation drops off.

16:51risk without risk there is no reward yeah agreed agreed and the last word is execution well funny thing is i like lots of sci-fi and historical films so that thinks of something differently but yeah but when like when thinking about it towards business it's sometimes it's progress versus perfection sometimes when you execute something it's not going to be absolutely perfect, but it is better to do something than try to make it perfect. Yeah. Okay. Okay. All right. So I appreciate that. So, and then for this next question, I just want you to be as, you know, as candid as you can with this answer, but, you know, let's say if a small business owner is listening right now to our podcast episode today and feel stuck or overwhelmed, what piece of advice would you want them to hear from you today?

17:44Oh, stuck or overwhelmed, get outside and be a sunflower for five minutes. Look up at the sun, take a deep breath, put your hands on your hips and breathe. But also know that this is just a moment. This isn't the rest of it. You came this far already. How do we help you go further? Okay. Now what do you do if you can't look at what, let's say it's a cloudy day. What do you do then? You can still be a sunflower. Just go outside. When you think about sunflowers, that's the best thing about them. If the sun is out, they're going to look at the sun. If they do not have the sun, they're going to look at each other.

18:21So in that point, you actually need to go find somebody else who will reflect the sun for you. I like that. I like that a lot. So getting into this a little bit more for that small business owner, what words of advice would you give the small business owners who are looking to grow? Your planning is going to always incorporate your family and how do you protect both your family and your business and your employees? And how do we move that forward gradually? So as much as you want to be at the finish line, it didn't take you a short period of time to get where you are. So think about that amount of time and then think about the next period of time.

19:03And what are you going to do differently to shorten how long it took you to get to this spot so that you can meet achievable and attainable goals? I like that. Perfect, perfect. So what would you say is next for Yellow Lucky Duck? What should people be excited about in the new future? For sure. So we're actually going to be a vendor at some of the Memphis Fresh markets. so this weekend on 221 is going to be the winter market out in welford from 12 to 4 we're also going to be at the trailblazer market on the 28th of march as well as the easter egg hunt on april 4th all right all right well i appreciate that and finally what's the best way for someone to connect with you or learn more about what you do so linkedin is always the best thing of it i I am the only Christine Verost out there.

19:54Otherwise, if you want to give me a call, it's 864-416-1410. All right. Perfect. Yeah. Well, thank you so much, Christine. It was fantastic. Thank you so much for sharing your story, your perspective, and real behind the scenes of building a business. I really appreciate you coming on the podcast today. Thank you so much. I'm happy to be here. Yeah. Thank you very much.

20:16Christine Virost:Hey, thanks for listening to the Epic Entrepreneurs podcast. podcasts, here's three things that you can do. Number one, remember to subscribe to the podcast. It takes very little effort on your part. It's going to help you and your fellow entrepreneurs. Plus, you guys know how it works. The more subscribers we get, the more cool things we can offer to you. Second, to learn more about growing your business, just download my book, the coach approach. It's free for you at giftfrombill.com. That's giftfrombill.com. Hey, and if you'd like more info about growing your business and what we can do to help you grow your business, send me an email directly.

21:04Christine Virost:Just send it to williamgilliland at actioncoach.com. That's my personal email that I read. No one else reads it first. It's not screened. It's my real email. Just send it to me. I can't wait to talk to you. Hey, and until then, all the best.