Anne

Hi, everyone, and welcome back to Unexpected Journey. This week, we are so happy to have Laura Ciel here with us. She is the CEO and Co Founder of 9Q solutions. 9Q Solutions is a people investment consulting and training company, helping leaders and their teams feel good, do good and profitably make a difference. Now, Laura, and I met through a foundation called chief. And, you know, we immediately hit it off. And one of those reasons is because we’re both invested in employee experience and what we’re doing here in the world, and I don’t even think, Laura, keep me honest here. I don’t think that it’s even about employee experience, so much as it is about the human experience. I would agree. So one of the things that really drew me to you, was your passion about really inspiring people and really putting people first and so many people say that, but I’ve really watched what you do and what your company does. And I’m curious about what was it that kind of pulled you into this journey? And why was nine Q? Why did you do this?

Laura 1:34

Such a big question. First of all, thank you for the introduction. And I just want to say I felt the same way. When you and I first spoke there, there was definitely a, a resonance with how we move in the world and how we view the world and what we hope for the world to. So for that big question, It sounds strange, not that I would have known what it was. But even when I was a little girl, I could fortunately, or unfortunately, I could feel suffering in the world. I would stay up at night, four or five years old, trying to get my mom to talk to me about what we could do. And she had no idea what I was talking about. It was really the sense that somewhere other than where I was, people were hurting in some way, shape or form. So I’ve always been drawn to this, how can we make? Look, we’re not going to make the human experience perfect. I don’t think that’s the point, the point of being here. But what are the things that we can do to to alleviate some of the unnecessary stress, you know, sometimes we create our own stress, sometimes circumstances create stress, that are in our control, sometimes it’s out of our control. So along the lines of just looking at, hey, the majority of our work, the majority of our time, is spent at work for most adults at you know, in the working age. And if we’re not happy, if we’re not feeling good, it, not only is it not good for us, mentally, emotionally, physically, it’s not good for everyone around us. And it’s not good for anything in our personal life, either. So there’s this this ripple effect that can work in a positive way. But it can also work in a negative way. And I’ve felt drawn to my whole life through whether it was through the education or my or my work experiences. How can we make how can we make this scenario feel a little bit better, so that everyone involved can feel better themselves and ultimately do better, right, serve at a higher level? Have more fun, you know, there’s enough hard stuff. Let’s have a little bit of fun in the process right?

Anne 3:50

There really is. And one of those things that you know, over the last few years, there hasn’t been a lot of a pandemic hit. And we were all just flying by the seat of our pants. And one of the things that came out of that
was how leaders manage how leaders lead. And I think the pandemic really shined a light on how remote work and hybrid work. It doesn’t really well, it doesn’t create bad leaders, right? It doesn’t create bad managers. It actually just brings them to the forefront. It shines a bright, you know, spotlight on the negativity that is coming from these individuals. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re bad people. It just means they weren’t trained on how to be good managers. So
You know, training them, training leaders, training managers has always been an issue. So, what stood out to you? And why was it so important that you create an organization to, to conquer this because again, it has nothing to do with the pandemic, this was a systemic issue before the pain, right?

Laura 5:20

Well, the way that I look at it is the pandemic was this incredible, really was an incredible opportunity to pause and notice things that were happening, it wasn’t like this was all brand new. It just like you said, it shined the light on it, or I like to think of we couldn’t hide anymore, right? Like, the problems were no longer hidden. They were no longer swept under the rug, they were quite visible, for a lot of different reasons. But our company when we co founded our company was actually just prior to the pandemic. And we could sense and had a real strong intuition knowing that the way that organizations and teams were running was dramatically changing. Number one, and number two, that the skills that were needed, for honestly, for everyone, but let’s start with leaders lead, you know, leaders and managers, and honestly, everyone that what was going to be needed. And let’s put, let’s put technical skills aside, because there are changes with that as well. It’s a little bit of a different conversation.

Anne 6:37 almost like you can teach the technical but the other age, right?

Laura 6:41 And you do have to keep up because the technical skills are I mean, there are rapid changes there. But it’s more tangible, right? So yes, it’s more teachable, because it’s more tangible. When you get to things that have more to do with the human, the human comes on it.

Anne 6:56 Nice Person.

Laura 6:59

And still, so many of those subtle things that are taken for granted. And the people that might, you know, naturally flourish with some of those. But it’s, it’s really another it’s a whole nother thing, because how do you teach something that’s not quite as tangible? You know, it’s hard to it’s harder to measure it, it’s harder to teach it, we can talk about it, we can talk about how great it would be to XYZ, but then how, and that’s the piece that we felt was missing. And then what happened with a pandemic is it just highlighted that, right. And for us, one of the most powerful, one of the most powerful things that we experienced early on in the pandemic, or some of our leaders who we had just finished a leadership cohort training, it was it was done virtually just because people were spread out. So this was before the pandemic. And we kept in contact with them as a pandemic hit. And we were checking in to see how things were going with their teams. And the feedback with them compared to feedback of people I met who either became customers or maybe weren’t, we’re not customers, as the people who had gone through our training, we’re managing the stress, the chaos, the uncertainty and the fear of their team. I mean, there were so many things that they felt like, wow, this is hard, but I feel that I have the skills to deal with this. And that was wonderful for our customers and wonderful feedback for us. Because we knew it was important, but it was almost like the pandemic was this weird experiment where there was a before and after, and we could really tease out what was it you know, where was this beneficial? So, you know, yes, we’ve all been thrown into a very different world. And honestly, I think it was there before the pandemic, to a certain extent it’s just been, it’s just been highlighted and probably magnified without experience.

Laura 9:56

So it’s, it’s interesting that you say that one of the things that I’ve always wanted to try and make sure that leaders are always encourage companies and employers to make sure that leaders know how to do is to recognize certain flags and signs. So as an example, if you think back to last December, there was a very popular dancer who used to be on So You Think You Can Dance and he was on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and he, he committed suicide. And everybody was very distraught and shocked by this because on social media, he and his wife, they showed only happy things. And very similar to things that happen at work. People see good, or people or you’ve got the people in the middle, and then you’ve got the people that are at the bottom. And so I’ve heard very often, oh, I don’t need to meet with this individual. They’re performing well. They’re great. I don’t need to talk to them. I only need to work with this group. Yeah, well, when in reality, there are bookends and we need to make sure that we’re checking on everybody. And we also need to learn to watch for those flags, because even those individuals that are really showing us only 100% Perfection. That is a sign that is a flag that we need to be cognizant of.
Yeah. Sometimes the people who, and especially if they’ve been successful, who don’t look like maybe they need support or help, sometimes they’re the ones who need it the most. It’s really hard for some people to ask for help, it feels. It feels like you’re saying I’m weak, and I can’t do it. Right. And I like to look at it. And wherever anyone is, whether that’s career path, whether it’s in their personal life, wherever their age, like wherever someone is, don’t we all have opportunities to grow and expand and connect with people and to be there. So receive and give, right receive and give and it doesn’t matter who you are doesn’t matter what your circumstances are. I can’t think of one situation person where that’s not true. Everyone desperately craves connection, a sense that who they are matters, and they crave. They want to love and be loved. That’s really unifying.

Anne 12:49

That’s psychological safety. Yeah, you know, it’s not just and we talked about psychological safety in the workplace, but it’s important at home as well. Definitely just, it’s interesting, we just so I have a nonbinary adult child. And they’ve recently changed their name. And so we’ve just took their old
stocking, and changed their name. And that was a big thing. It was so small for me to do. But the impact that it had on them to feel psychologically safe in their own home and feel accepted and secure. I had no idea the impact that was going to have, but to your point.

Laura 13:42

It did just the safety and security from a psychological standpoint, in that environment was huge. Yeah. Yeah. But going back to corporate culture, trust, trust. I mean, trust is the foundation of psychological safety. If you aren’t building a culture of trust, are you are you instilling psychological safety?
Well, if you’re not building a culture that includes trust, you’re, you’re creating a lot of the consequences are not great in a lot of different areas, that being one of them, right? You’re not going to have people working, producing, creating their highest levels. You’re not going to have you know, you’re probably there’s so many different things, you know, you’re gonna see a much lower retention rate, you might have more trouble hiring great people. Just and now people are less tolerant, you know, back in the day. I tolerated quite a lot back in the day. I think some And that was my, that’s my age that I was then tolerated was tolerated. And you know what, that’s, that’s a good thing. It’s forcing us all to really reassess and look at and, and look, the workplace, an organization cannot fulfill all of what we need as a human being. And at the same time, there are incredible opportunities there for organizations, for leaders who really do want to create something that is, you know, let’s just say a little bit better than has been what has been, right. Like, we don’t have to go, we don’t have to be perfect. We don’t have to, we can strive for perfection. But the goal there is that we’re always growing and doing better. There isn’t some endpoint, that’s perfect. It’s an ever evolving thing. But if we put into place in the culture, those certain things that are important to that company’s culture that also help each person show up as all of who they are, and be able to contribute to their highest level. How can that not be a win win?

Anne 16:06

Yeah, right. I think that the thought of where we were and what we put up with it, like, that’s a whole other show. It’s probably like several, actually, whenever you think about all of us, and what we what we put up with. So I’m really curious, because I, I’m familiar with some of what nine Q does. But I also know that there are a lot of corporations out there that are dealing with trying to revisit their corporate culture, and they’ve suffered from to your point attrition, because people are saying, I’m not doing this anymore. So is this even something that is possible to, to change to work on to, to fix? Or do you have to break it all down to the ground and build it back up? I mean,

Laura 17:09

yeah, I mean, it’s bothered at all. Maybe in some cases that might be needed. But I like to tell potential customers that really, you know, you need to make a commitment to at least pause, reflect, assess, and get clear around where you’re going. Okay, that sounds really simple. And I guarantee most people listen to this, oh, yeah, we do that. But when I start asking questions, it’s very clear. They haven’t done that. So it’s almost like, yeah, yeah, it’s kind of in the back of my head, we talked about at one time you were going to, these are some of our priorities, and then the day to day fires take place. So so if there’s a commitment, and a, you know, if there’s a if there’s a desire, and a commitment is definitely possible, no matter where, where your organization where your leadership team, you know, where they line up. I mean, we worked with a leadership team, one time post, it was technically a merger was functioned energetically more like an acquisition. So you had a lot of negativity. And it was a mixed leadership team following the merger. And, you know, thankfully, that President recognized very quickly that although the numbers looked excellent, that if he didn’t get the, you know, first that leadership team, and then the culture following that, in order, aligned, clear, you know, we know where we’re going, we know where our priorities are, and we’re working together, rather than against each other, that that, that there would be a blow up at some point. So for us, that’s an ideal customer right now would have been ideal. Maybe if he contacted us six months earlier, it might have been a little less to burn down. But it required, you know, really taking some time to where do we want to be and, and we were helping them to get aligned, getting a team that was very, very fragmented to align around what those highest values were. Because if you don’t have that, none of the other stuff matters. You can be doing the day to day stuff, and at some point, it’s going to break down. So no matter where anyone is, certainly it’s possible. It really just depends on commitment, you know, really that desire it, do they want it. Do they know what they want? Do they really want it? And how committed are they to it? And by commitment, I’m talking about time, energy and money and focus, really, I mean, that’s a little bit energy, but it’s focused. So if someone says they want this, but they’re not yet really to actually dedicate those resources to pause and instead apply And moving forward. There might be some movement
you can try.
It’s I honestly, it’s just like if someone were going to go see, look my backgrounds in psychology, right? So every once in a while I get leaders going. We have a psychologists coming in here, yikes. I’m like, hey, you know, I’m not coming in here to do any of that stuff I’m coming in. I’m an expert in human behavior. I’m going to help you with this, you know, what’s, what’s happening here. But it is very similar to someone who’s seeking therapy, for example, if they’re not motivated, if they don’t really see what they what they want, and they’re not willing to spend the resources time energy money. I tell them wait, you know, in the old days, you know, way back when I got my degree, and I was training and working, you know, wait, wait, wait until you’re ready. Don’t waste your time, energy or money unless you really are ready. So it’s same thing with organizations with leaders.
Recently, you, you know, it was really excited to see that you actually were a panelist at Harvard University. At Harvard University, look at how difficult that is to say. So recently, you were a panelist at Harvard University. And whenever we kind of chatted about it, it was exciting. It was cute to say you say that you geeked out. And there were, you know, I’m really interested to hear, you know, what were some of the important topics? And really, actually, what were some of the most surprising questions that you got at that event.
You know, and this was a really incredible group of people, and the woman who runs the class, set it up so well. And the big topic is, was around motivating. So she, the whole class is around motivation. And this particular class that I was panelists for, was around motivating others, so motivating teams and motivating them. I mean, it was really specific, it was more specific to work because these are people in the workplace, and they are also taking this this this course. So so it’s a great, it’s a great topic, right? I mean, we’re like how do you motivate other people, you know, and one of my, one of my reoccurring comments was, it starts with us, right? Like we can’t, can’t be motivating other people if we’re not willing to show up and do it ourselves. But the thing that struck me the most was the diversity of at least of the people who asked questions and interacted with us. The diversity of workplace settings that they were in and roles. I just, I love that was really great to hear little bits and pieces about what they were doing what they were struggling with, and asking for some specific, you know, what would you do in this situation? scenarios? And the other thing that really struck me was the, the incredible, and I would say, Oh, I’d say most people in that class were were a generation younger than me or, you know, maybe. Yeah, I mean, there were there were definitely younger. What was so exciting for me was there there, what I read as a real desire to help their their colleagues, their team members and read like a, like a, it wasn’t just how do I motivate my people to produce more, right, like, kind of what I would say is more old, the old school approach, they really seem to care about their people. And it was inspiring for me to hear them really struggling with and, you know, if if it’s someone who’s struggling with mental health, how do I help? You know, how do I help them when they come back from a leave? Or how do I bring in a diversity of backgrounds and experiences and human beings and motivate them to work together? Right, so is this really strong desire to they cared? I guess that’s what it comes down to cared about them as human they

Anne 28:53

cared about fellow humans and the human experience. I am so inspired and excited for the next generation of workers. Yeah. There’s hope.

Laura 29:07

Yeah. And it’s not going to always be easy. Look, you know, I mean, it’s, it’s, it’s, there is an old way of doing things that’s changing. We’ve all had been feeling it’s changing little bit by little bit. The new way isn’t there, or maybe that new way isn’t super clear to people. And so that’s going to be a little bumpy at times.
That’s one of the things that we see in the work that we do right work we’re helping to decrease those the bumps so that they’re not quite as intense so that we can realize, okay, this is part of the process of evolving and growing if anyone remembers learning anything new. We did not just, for example, get up on a pair of skis and never have a problem and never fall down. Right. Like it’s as we’re learning and as we’re changing we’re, we’re gonna have bumps that’s that’s normal. But yes, it was super inspiring to hear these people really care about For the people they work with and want to set things up so that everyone felt good and you know, had a sense of trust and safety. Right. And, and the ability to be able to be who they are and contribute to their highest level was really it was really, it was inspiring for me.

Anne 30:20

Well, that’s what I think is interesting is you talk about how we’ve been watching the change. And I think there was, I don’t know about you, but I felt like there was much more change in 2022. Like, there was, like, we, prior to the pandemic, it didn’t feel like there was much change, then there was a slow shift over the pandemic. And then 2022, it felt like, like, the employees just said, Well, I guess midway through 2021 2022, like, it was just we are fed up, we are done, we are putting up our boundaries. And, you know, it kind of was part of the great resignation. And, you know, it was an interesting shift to watch it go from employer to employee.

Laura 31:17

And it was, you know, we want transparency, we want to work, you know, the hours that we’re going to work, we’re not going, we’re going to work, the job description that we’re going to that we were hired for, we’re not going to give more than that, you know, the, it’s not that we don’t want to do a great job, we’re going to do a great job at what we were hired to do. But we’re not going to do three people’s jobs. For one person’s pet, you know, they’re just like some serious boundaries were put in place. And it’s been interesting, and fascinating and exhilarating to watch this happen. So you know, as first of all, I’d love to hear your theory, but then what do you think is in store for 2023, as this next generation of workers is coming into play, and we’re seeing the human experience is actually being taken into consideration?

Laura 32:08

Right. So my big theory about all this is, so when the pandemic hit, everyone went into React reaction. Pretty normal fight or flight is what I’m talking about, you know, and just trying to survive. And with the idea in the, in the background, that we’ll get back to normal, soon, right? And then by the time we got to where you kind of pinpointed middle 2021, maybe a little bit toward the end of 2021, there was this realization that, oh, it’s not going back to the way it was, it took quite a long time for that to happen.
Anne 32:50 It’s not just three weeks,
Laura 32:53 or three months or six months, right. So there was and people had a lot of time to, and I don’t mean time, like because they weren’t working necessarily. But we were forced to recognize things that we had, we could kind of, we could kind of distract ourselves from previously. So so then you had this great reassessment that’s happening underneath. And then when people realize, oh, it’s not going back to the way it was, and they’ve already spent X number of months or maybe a year looking at Do I like this? Do I not like this? Do I want more of this? Do I want less of this, which honestly, a lot of people that I worked with prior to that wouldn’t even afford themselves the luxury of even thinking about that for quite a while. So you had this combination that all of a sudden, it’s like, oh, it’s not going back to normal. I realize there’s some things I don’t want to live with anymore. I want it different, right? And then now we’ve got this interesting thing where Oh, the economy is getting a little scary. And people are like, what’s, you know, what’s happening here? What’s going on? A lot of changes, a lot of shifts and changes. Yes, for the most part, employees have had more of the power that might be shifting a little bit as we move into this next year. There’s, I mean, I think the thing that we can count on is an acceleration of the rate of change. Right? So the best thing, you know, what I think of is it’s not identifying a, let’s say, a particular I don’t know, thought thing in the future that’s going to happen or not going to happen, and I need to adjust to that. It’s more like energy is best spent. Learning how to go in and being solid in inside oneself. And then we’re better able to navigate those changes that are happening. So in my mind when I look at 2023 We’re gonna have more change. And what does that look like? I don’t don’t know exactly.
You don’t have a crystal ball, no crystal ball for Laura.
But what I know just intuitively is there’s going to be massive change. And there is going to be a lot more of this reassessing. What do I really want? I’m seeing a lot I seen a lot with a female executives I work with, wow, wow, wow. I mean, then the number of people are saying, I don’t know if I want to keep doing this. I don’t know if I want to keep doing it. If it looks like this, I want to do something that involves more of XYZ, which is usually some something that is, is a I don’t want to say balance, because I don’t actually really like I don’t like the idea of a balanced life. But it’s it’s integrated. That’s the word that I think of aligned and integrated. And if they can’t get that, where they are, they’re starting to think about what is my next step look like? That’s happening a lot right now. And even if even if everyone hasn’t made the actual change, it’s happening energetically. So I think there’s a lot of crazy change, uncertainty, and, wow, creativity, what’s gonna come out of this? That’s kind of my approach is like, what’s going to come out of this?

Anne 36:14

So recently, there was an article Well, recently, you know, it was it was a few months ago, there was an article that came out that said that female executives were leaving the C suite, to have babies and to spend time with their family, which I call BS on. But because what part to have babies like,

Laura 36:39

well, that doesn’t exactly make sense, if you look at the makeup of exactly of who’s in those spots. But

Anne 36:47

what that’s exactly my point is that, while there are quite a few, quickly rising, younger, C suite women which props to them, you know, it took me a while to get there.

Laura 37:04

The likelihood is that we’re, we’re outside of the baby popping age range at this point. Now, we frequently do want to spend time with our family, how ever?

Anne 37:20

Is that truly a reason to leave the C suite? Or? Are there other reasons? And that is an excuse? Yeah,
I vote for the latter. I believe that it’s this whole reassessment, right. What do I really want people talking about purpose a lot more than they used to? Something that I’ve, I’ve given some, I’ve given some talks on on purpose. And you know, over the years, the response has been very different. I mean, now what I get is, oh, I want to feel I want to feel, I want to feel that the way you feel about your work, I want to feel that way about mine, right? Like, I want it to matter, I want it to be meaningful. And before I would say people used to think, Oh, that’s a really great luxury at some point, I’ll think about that more. But right now I’m on this track. So I think this idea of my life, a person’s life have a meaning or having a purpose and being a bit more, like I said, integrated and aligned with what really matters to them inside. Whereas the old way was, we’re doing it for the external stuff. And that’s not just salary, it could be recognition, it could be you know, a promotion, it’s a lot of different things. It’s how it’s how your family views you it could be how your spouse views you it could be it could be how your friends like it’s there’s so many different things, but external now we’re starting to go more internal. And really asking what is it that really does matter to me? Where are my gifts best? Used? Where can I serve at my highest level? And then may not have not everyone has all of these specific questions, but there’s a little bit of this unsettledness this feeling of something’s not quite there, and hey, you know, my mom died suddenly. I know what it’s like to just like someone’s there and then they’re gone. I it’s been a gift for me to be able to say, Am I doing today? Is is what I’m doing today aligned with what really matters. Right now.

Anne 39:38

It’s great that you said that. I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to watch yet but episode one. Courtney brown Warren who used to be at Twitter, she made a had a big conversation about how not just she actually it was a big deal for her but she believes that it’s a big deal for a lot of people to be looking for organizations that are missing. and driven. And that ties very heavily into what you just said. And I think that as we continue to move forward, that while remote work and hybrid work, these are going to become table stakes as a as a work benefit, that it’s going to become one of these things that what, what else can you give me, I want to be able to work for an organization that has, has the same culture has the has the community drive, lets me continue to give back to organizations that I want to that is mission driven, that helps with emerging markets, and helps me give back to young girls in STEM, these are things that people want to be able to continue to work towards. And that’s going to be a future benefit that people are going to want, ya

Laura 40:50

know, definitely that alignment of what the company’s purpose, mission values, all of that, what they are, and what they are really.
They are really,
really nice words written down, but it’s not it’s not being embodied by by leadership or and if the leadership doesn’t embody it, then the rest of the organization, it’s really hard for them to as well. But if if they are, you know, if it is clear, and they and it is being modeled, what does this look like? So someone who’s looking for a job a career and aligns with what matters with them, that’s going to be a huge, a huge plus for that particular company versus one where it may not be real clear, we kind of do this, we kind of do that, you know, for people who really are looking for that’s going to be one of the deciding factors. So as

Anne 42:47

as we’re, you know, we’re already at the beginning of 2023, where, you know, we’ve kicked it off, where were our full force ahead. But as we continue into the next part of 2023. What do CEOs what’s your advice to CEOs that they need to be aware of in order to build that culture of trust and alignment and community to pull in the people that, you know, that, like, what we were just talking about the mission driven, making sure they’re living by their values, so on and so forth?

Laura 42:21

Yeah, you know, it this is goes back to the, the idea that it’s, it needs to really matter to them. Right. So there’s an assessment that needs to be made, is this something that’s important to our company? You know, if I’m CEO, if I’m part of the leadership team, is this something that we does this matter to us? Right? Number one? And if the answer is yes, how committed are we? It’s back to that, you know, desire and commitment, because nothing happens without that. What are we willing to invest? And and I say, honestly, the strange thing is, is, I would say more often, a leadership team is willing to invest in some, some money, but maybe not necessarily the time. Which sounds strange, because you think money is usually the thing that stops, stops this from going forward. But it’s it’s time and energy. So so what I believe is really beneficial for a leadership team is to, you know, we all hear about these leadership retreats, and some of them are just really wonderful and great, but I want to know, what are you getting, when you’re done with your two day Leadership Retreat, or a three day whatever it is, one day is a little bit short, if you’re really going to do what you just asked me about? And dedicate time to, to brainstorming around? Do our values really line up with who we are? Do we need to change some of them? Does our mission statement our purpose statement? Is this is this really who we are? Is this really the direction we’re going so a reassessment of what has been done, you know, back when the company was formed for some companies that will be short period of time for someone a very long period of time, and then, and then redesigning those so that they are in alignment with what that leadership team is going for? And this is all the stuff like everyone wants to jump directly to telling, you know, potential talent, this is what we do. And this is where it’s frustrating sometimes for me, because you have that CEO you just asked me about needs to prioritize time and energy on zeroing in on, are we living it? Do we know what it is? Mission? Our big vision, our mission, our values, how we how we treat people, the culture that we want to create? Is it clear to us now do we need to make some changes? If so, what does that look like? Are we all aligned? 100% What are we actually physically action, action wise going to do to embody this and how are we going to hold each other accountable? because if you don’t have any of that, forget about it trying to do it in the culture and the rest of the organization. And I find that’s really challenging for leadership teams to go deep. This is not just oh, yeah, you know, it’s it’s, it’s it’s deep, it’s really deep work, because you’re asking is, is this aligned with? Because if it’s aligned, then it’s really easy to see if something that you’re considering? Should we consider donating XYZ to the community? Well, you just go back to what your vision what your mission, what your values are, is it aligned with who we are? And what matters to us? And if it is? That sounds like it? Yes. If it isn’t, that’s not the right. That’s not the right one. So instead of this is again, instead of trying to please everyone out there, do I do this? Do we do this? Because it’s going to look good? Do we do this because it’s everyone else is doing it? A company that really is embodying all of those, those values, the vision, the mission, they’re gonna know, if it’s aligned. And when they know, potential talent, you know, people who are looking and talking to them, they’re going to be able to feel it, they’re going to be able to, they’re going to be able to, they’re going to be able to know this is what it is. And then it’s easy to make a decision. Right? Yes, this aligns with mine. No, this doesn’t line with mine. I’m gonna go with this other company. It’s really simple, but it’s not easy.

Anne 46:29

Everything worth doing in life is not easy. Yeah. So, Laura, thank you so much for joining us today, the insights that you’ve provided have just been amazing. And, you know, I just want to ask, Is there is there something that can provide a little bit of a taste, you know, a little bit of an insight, I almost want to say like a free assessment or something where people can see what nine Q can provide to an organization and dip their toe in?

Laura 47:05

The best way to start I mean, certainly, you can look at our website. But the best thing is to do is, look, if you’re curious, if you’re if you’re wondering if you’re curious if there’s a little bit that says, Huh, I want to know more, schedule a call with me or my co founder, and we can answer your questions. And we can tell you what we can do, we can tell you what we can’t do. And you know, where are where are, you know, where we feel that our gifts really come out. So the best thing is just schedule a time and talk with one of us, if you want to play around on our website, take a look, you can get a little feel there. But you know, it’s I think it’s always better to talk to it to a human being. And there are a few things that in 2023, that that we’ll be doing, that will just be free resources that will be launched. So definitely sign up on our mailing list, we don’t send out very much, but we’re going to be offering a few different free insights that people can, you know, read, look at, watch and see if it resonates and see if it feels, you know, feels like something they want to know more about. So start with scheduling a time to talk with me or my co founder.

Anne 48:13

Fantastic. And we’ll have that link to the website and to the booking link below and any other ways that anyone can get in touch with you.
Laura 48:29

I mean, I do for fun. We have 9Q solutions Instagram I do for fun and Instagram. It’s really more about the things that inspire me in my life. And I’m going to be starting a YouTube channel and tick tock so that’s a big deal for for me. So that’s something that you can look tapping
out of the comfort zone.
And it’s really, it’s going to be a little it’s going to be a little bit of a give back and a little peek into kind of who I am and what inspires me. And it’s all along the lines of expansion and thriving in life, personally and professionally. So that’s another way that you can kind of get a little get a little flavor of who I am and what inspires me.

Anne 49:13

Your partner shared one of his tech knocks on LinkedIn,
too.

Laura Yeah. So my co founder is also doing tick tock. Yeah, we just decided, okay, this is where the world is going. We’re going that direction,
too. So but and then of course, there’s LinkedIn. So we’ll have all those links below. Again, thank you, Laura.

Anne We appreciate you. And we’ll have all of the contact links and we will see everybody next week.
Laura Thank you, Anne.