2384 - Empowering Entrepreneurs Everywhere Through Democratized Business Education with BOS-UP's Scott Abbott

0:03Welcome to the Thoughtful Entrepreneur. If you're committed to growing your business by serving audiences with generosity and real expertise, you're in the right place. This is a daily 15-minute show featuring leaders who believe real impact comes from generosity, not hype, which means as a listener, you're going to get the good stuff. In fact, we created podverified.com to give thoughtful leaders like you free tools to show up better on podcast stages like this one. That includes your free podverified score, free podverified guest training, a free media kit builder, and so much more. It's the first ecosystem of its kind built by podcasters who genuinely want to help guests thrive and grow in podcasting.

0:46Visit podverified.com if you'd like to be featured as a future guest. I'm Josh Elledge. Let's get into it.

1:20field guide called Boss Up Moments, which is a supplement to your book, Boss Up, which we'll be talking about. But first off, Scott, thank you so much for joining us. Thanks, Josh. Appreciate being here. And thanks for what are you up to like 2 ,400 shows here. So something like that. Yeah, they haven't fired me yet. So I just keep showing up. So you're putting up with your boss, aren't you? That's good. Yeah. All right. But before we get into your superpower, Scott, always love finding, you know, what high-level leaders are kind of passionate about that has nothing to do with work, you know, something you're geeking out on.

1:55It could be a hobby or that sort of thing. What have you been into lately? Yeah, you know, I'm just an avid reader. I'm a pretty active writer. And over the last decade, from journaling to actually books that have been published and put into the world. In fact, when you go to Scott Abbott ABC, You can see my studio. I've invested a lot in just the curriculum learning. I believe if you're not growing, you're dying. So my never-ending pursuit of awareness. And God knows I've got a lot of shortcomings that I won't overcome. So just real passionate about the fusion of reading, writing, and journaling.

2:35And it's something that I've embraced to help me be a better version and love sharing with other people as well. Well, I know you're an advocate of AI tools, and obviously that's kind of your boss at moments is very intentional around that. My suspicion is, and I would love to hear, do you mind just talking about like your learning ecosystem? I don't know if you use Notebook LM for that, you know, how you're using AI. I'll share with you, you know, I'll, I agree with you. You know, so I used to just, you know, I've listened to, I don't know, more than a thousand books, I'm sure, in my lifetime, you know, and it is so enjoyable now for me to go through and actually process with an AI as I go through chapter to chapter and then create journal entries.

3:23and then either work the whole thing into Notebook LM. I'm now just starting to get into notebook or knowledge management, looking at potentially Obsidian, looking at all the different platforms. Tell me how you do this. Yeah, well, I think, I don't know who said it, something along the lines of, tell me and I hear, teach me and I learn, incorporate with me and I engage, right? So I agree with you. I think the fusion and BossUp's really about the fusion of proven concepts, tools, and disciplines, some of the time-tested awesome gems and nuggets from renowned thought leaders like Collins and Drucker and Deming.

4:02And then we do tuck in practical and intelligent use of AI, Josh, right? Obviously, today, you've got a lot of people that are both excited and concerned. So I'm really more about the strategic side, to your point. How do you leverage it to enhance your critical thinking? how do you leverage it to go deeper and even wider, but in a simple, cohesive way. And that's where AI can be tucked in and leveraged. And then coaching. And not just because I am a coach and I've got a coaching academy community, but for everybody to have a coach's mindset, right? Back to challenging yourself and growing and being a better version.

4:38So I just believe that, in fact, in our solution, we use classic pen and paper. We got beautiful guidebooks. If you look at my books, they're very visual. you know, emphasis on context, not just content. And I think it's been proven that when you read and write, and I love listening to books too, but I'd encourage you to read as well, especially because of AI. But it's been proven that when you read, write, and you do that along with technology, the average human is about 20 % more better to actually learn, adapt, leverage, and benefit. So it's this wonderful, almost three-dimensional interactive approach that we take in our solution or academy, where again, it's reading, it's interactive with technology, it's video.

5:22And I think you see a lot of that in schools today, the really good schools. And for some reason, it really hasn't translated into the home or into the business. So that's what we're trying to do here. Yeah. Well, from a personal standpoint, what is, not including your own, don't say that, but But from 2025 last year, what would be maybe the most impactful books that you can recall reading last year? Yeah, you know, it's like music and food. I love a variety, you know, jazz and blues and rock and roll. You know, I'm a Gen X hip hopper too, man, right? So the same thing with books. I one of my all time, you know, I've read a lot of the Stoics and the classics from Plato's Epictetus, The Art of Happiness last year.

6:12And then some of the new authors, Brene Brown and Kim Sanborn, Radical Candor and Let It Be. But but, you know, I kind of stick as I as I do to business work, leadership centric. So I go back to a lot of the classics, good to great, built to last. and obviously to this day, podcasts and your podcast, Josh, I'm a fan. Again, not just saying that because we're on, but I would just say some of the new books. But again, as I said all this, we got to be also careful that when you try to read too much or cram too much, then you get overwhelmed. And so there's that fine line. So again, probably over the last year, I haven't read as much as I have over the last decade because again, I was into the writing side and the journalism.

6:56So those would be just a quick list of some of my favorites from the recent past. Give me one book recommendation that may not have been something that someone's already read, that you're like, oh, I love advocating for this book. It's usually kind of a hidden gem that maybe people have heard about it, but they just haven't read it. Well, I'm going to probably knock your socks off with what I'm going to say. And I mean this sincerely. I don't mean this in jest or tongue-in-cheek. But on my nightstand, I've had it for 20 years, is a cartoon book of Calvin and Hobbes. Do you remember? Sure. Of course.

7:29Yes. I'm kidding. I forget. Gosh, who's the author? But it is deep. And I loved it as a kid. But as I'm older now, he's got such literally this wonderful blend of spirituality and insight and psychology and sociology, right? The way Calvin and Hobbes talks. So that's kind of my, that's my, that's my lullaby, man. And I just use it to sort of decompress and, and I've got actually two of them and, you know, they're the thick books like this, right? And so, you know, I know it might sound a little corny or cheesy, but, but that's, you know, along with some faith based books, that's kind of how I wind down and, and, and find a little relaxing time as opposed to hanging out looking at your iPhone before you go to bed.

8:13Yeah, yeah. You know, and we need, you know, it's nice when you can kind of get that, you know, a little bit lighter, a little bit of levity while we're, you know, philosophically hitting it. Yeah, it's Bill Watterson. Bill Watterson, that's it. Thank you, John. I was mad at myself that I can't remember. Yeah. Well, I had to cheat and break it up. To your audience, take my word for it. You want to find and and it just translates. And it's again, it's light. It's it's got philosophy and insight and depth. And so it's just a nice blend. Again, I try not to really do too much heavy business lifting in terms of work or email or whatever.

8:49After about 730, you know, got a rhythm going. So. So, yeah. I love it. Well, Scott, tell me about your work. And so, for example, you know, obviously we're talking about your book, but, you know, before we kind of get into the book, because obviously I think that's a great opportunity to our friend that's listening with Boss Up and Boss Up Moments. Just give me a quick thumbnail sketch of your professional work and what is BossUp.coach. Yeah, yeah. So, you know, I think a picture paints a thousand words as the expression goes. So I'm not doing this to overly promote, but I think it will help explain it.

9:24Boss Up Blue is effectively what we call the framework. It's, if you think of it like a car, it's the engineering, it's the mechanics to help startup small mid-market companies learn what we call the essential concepts, tools, and disciplines to build a great company. and so it incorporates the nine core competencies so it's just this this wonderful visual way to help people with the uh core elements if you will that they should learn leverage and benefit from to build run and scale so if that's the mechanics of engineering what boss up moments is is really what we call the soft tissue uh if you look at what's going on even in life today people are our challenge with conflicts, setting good boundaries, overcoming anxiety, you know, and all that kind of stuff that's very important.

10:10So again, concepts, tools, and disciplines. And what we also did is we built a channel on YouTube. So in addition to the explanation, there's a QR code of the video. And then back to AI, each moment has five prompts that you can use for journaling. You can tuck into your favorite AI tool, ChatGPT, Gronk, DeepSeek, whatever. And so you take this vanilla format and you customize it for you in business, work, in life, right? Because ideally, we want people not only to perform better in business, but we want to extend that into their home and then therefore into the community. So it's just this fusion of, again, strategy and technology.

10:50We've got software as well. It's the fusion of head and heart, systems and soul, purpose and profit, and hopefully done in a way that people realize that's that's sometimes used the word edutaining, you know, who wants to be scolded and lectured, right? You want to learn through fun, interactive processes and benefits. So that's BossUp. We've got what we also call the Academy. We've got approaching 100 coaches around the world who deliver our solution in the market as part of their practice. And, you know, you can see all that at BossUp.coach or BossUp.academy. Yeah. And I've got, matter of fact, I just downloaded I don't know if this will be the case by the time that this airs, but I appreciate that you have these two books in Kindle Unlimited.

11:37So I've downloaded both of them, both Boss Up and the Moments field guide and kind of workbook here. You know, I love that. And I think it's just so valuable for us as content creators. it's almost like, you know, just truly like activating and I don't want to say open sourcing our ideas, you know, but we, we recently did this and I love that you're doing this as well. And just, I think this is an inspiration to other people is, you know, in our, on our website, pod verified, we created like press kit builder or media, like we created, like, I was like, look, I can teach this stuff or why don't I just create a bunch of prompts and instructions for people so that they could actually do the work.

12:24And I mean, that is just so insanely valuable to allow people to really not just hope that they're going to engage with your stuff, but they have no excuse at that point. Like if they've got access to an AI tool, why not make it as easy as possible for them to get value out of their engagement? And then obviously, Scott, there's, you know, they get to a point where, look, it's still AI, it's not a human. And, you know, if you want me to come and correct me if I'm wrong here, but if there's the, then the opportunity to, you know, work with one of your coaches and say, listen, this is AI, it's going to get you 80, 90 % of the way there.

13:01But then why don't, you know, when you want to work with a human, then once you've done this groundwork, I mean, this is just so beneficial. I'm sorry, monologuing here. I love this concept because now you have someone coming in, they've already done the groundwork. So if I'm a coach and I know they've already done done a couple of hours of work on this, man, that is someone who is so easy to work with. Because you don't have to, you don't have to get them off of square one, like, oh, man, we are going to need to change your thinking. Because if they've already done that, man, you know, you could just hit the, you could just hit the track.

13:35Well, and obviously, your listeners are going to believe in you and me, we did not rehearse this. And so you're absolutely correct. And I want to give a lot of credit to the previous experience. And so over the majority of my career, I've implemented high end enterprise technology solutions. Right. And and I use the word solution intentionally because typically you buy a computer, you buy software, you buy a laptop, you have wire and cabling. And so there's parts and pieces and programs and applications, but it's not a solution. You make it a solution. Right. So if you're being brutally candid, all systems are flawed and they're imperfect because out of the box, they don't know you.

14:12and they haven't been tailored to your specific needs in terms of where you've been, where you're at, where you're going. And so that experience really is very much at the genesis of BossUp, where we're taking disparate parts and pieces that historically have been unaffordable, inaccessible. So not to overplay our brand, but we believe we have the most modern, flexible and inclusive way to help both coaches and owners and even contributors in the business learn and benefit from some of the concepts, tools and disciplines that typically had been exclusive to the hallowed halls of academia or the fortune 2500 companies that could afford high-end consultants and spend a lot of money in tech so we actually have like to have a little fun that we're democratizing and we're liberating the ability for almost everybody to your point we have programs that start at 1500 bucks all the way up to 100 grand depending on your size and your situation and then yes you can actually download the content because content without contextualization is like bricks without mortar.

15:09They do not make a home. You follow me? So it's got to be in both. So this fusion of tech and curriculum-based training materials and the human, bring it all together. That's how we get solutions, man. And when you do it right, then everybody buys it. And again, it becomes embedded and it actually becomes part of the culture and part of the framework, not just something that you're sort of passing around and using serendipitously. So I love your passion on that. And thanks for saying that. I'll send you a six pack of pizza later. Now I'm a huge fan. I think there's just so much opportunity for coaches and it does.

15:44It shows a lot of, it shows a lot of generosity too, which again, higher level clients are always going to appreciate that gesture. It's very go-giver of you. As Bob Berg would say. Yeah. You've probably heard the concept of social enterprise and that, and that's, that's what we do. So all the, all the profit from BossUp goes in under-resourced entrepreneurs. entrepreneurs. Again, we are for-profit, but the concept of social enterprise and humanitarian capitalist and all that kind of good stuff. Love it. Yeah. Scott Abbott, you're the author of Boss Up, the solution to build, run, and scale great companies leveraging business operating systems, plus AI and coach, and of course, the accompanying Boss Up Moments workbook.

16:24Your main website, where you can get to everything that you do, is at scottabbottabc.com. Scott, it's been a great conversation. Thank you for joining us. Gosh, happy new year. Thanks for having me. Thanks, everybody, for listening.

16:38Thanks for listening to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. If your goal is to grow your business, increase revenue, and build authority without gimmicks, this show is designed for you. Each episode gives you practical insight from leaders who have turned trust and credibility into real business results. If you value short, thoughtful conversations that respect your time, make sure you're subscribed. We publish daily 15-minute episodes focused on growth that actually compounds. And if you're interested in being a guest or you want to turn podcast appearances into measurable business growth, visit podverified.com.

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