HR In Your Business with DeShawn Barrett

This week on the Blackbridge Mindset Podcast, the hosts discuss Midwest weather and long TSA lines at Atlanta’s airport before welcoming Chicago-based people and talent leader Deshawn Barrett, Director of Talent Development at SpotHero, with 15+ years in HR and talent roles at ADP, PowerReviews, Victoria’s Secret/PINK, and more. Deshawn explains HR as a broad system beyond hiring and firing, covering benefits, fair pay, growth and development, compliance (including I-9s), policies, and balancing business needs with employee support. He shares guidance for entrepreneurs on when to use fractional HR or hybrid office manager roles, what to look for in a first HR hire, how culture is built through behaviors and feedback (not perks), and how leaders set the tone. He also advises addressing toxic high performers quickly, and emphasizes knowing your business and desired culture before hiring.

00:00 Podcast Welcome
00:27 Spring Weather Banter
01:41 ATL Airport TSA Chaos
04:01 Meet Deshawn Barrett
06:24 Deshawn Origin Story
10:18 What HR Really Does
15:06 When to Hire HR
15:51 Quick Like and Follow
16:27 Fractional HR Options
19:47 Hiring Your First HR
33:01 Culture vs Perks
35:27 Feedback Without Negativity
36:48 Accountability and Listening
38:54 Culture of Fear Warning
40:07 Lead by Example
41:12 Recognition and Rewards
43:17 Preparing to Hire HR
45:49 Templates and Shortcuts
47:21 Like and Follow Break
47:57 Retaining Your HR Leader
53:08 Toxic High Performers
57:17 Advice Before First Hire
01:00:05 Contact and Closing Ritual

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 Hosts:

• Mike 
• CJ
• Ken

Transcript

CeeJae 0:00

Hello, and welcome to the Blackbridge Mindset Podcast, where culture, entrepreneurship, and business intersect to fuel inspiration. This podcast celebrates the power of diverse voices shaping the future of business. So whether you're building a business, breaking barriers, or just looking for some serious inspiration, you're in the right place. The Blackbridge Mindset, where culture and entrepreneurship collide.

Mike 0:27

I don't know when this recording will get published, but I'm just excited that spring is like knocking on the door. It's still like 40 or 50 degrees here

CJ 0:35

I was about to say, I can't tell.

Mike 0:36

but,

CJ 0:37

I.

Ken 0:37

It's bipolar as hell. It was, it was 80. Two or 84 degrees yesterday, and now it's supposed to be a hive like 65. So just,

CJ 0:48

You complaining about 65?

Mike 0:50

Right. I take it.

CJ 0:51

Correct.

Ken 0:52

I mean.

CJ 0:54

Listen, my furnace was mad When we got home Sunday, it was cold. to turn the heat back on and then we wake up the ne no, no, I take that back. It was, it was that Monday we came back, it was like in the sixties, had everything off. In the middle of the night, you talking about freezing, I'm like, okay, wing got a blanket, turn the heat back on. It was freezing in here and I was mad that I had to turn it back on for this week.

Mike 1:19

Yeah. I was mad when I got off the plane weekend because coming from an 80 degree, 90 degree weather. And my butt, you know, walking through the airport, stepped outside to wake for my Uber and it was 30 something degrees. I turned right back around. I was like, what the hell? I was not, I was not ready or prepared, but here we are. Lovely Chicago, lovely Midwest.

CJ 1:41

Speaking of airport. Do you want to touch a little bit on what we experienced at at Atlanta Airport at A TL?

Mike 1:49

People.

CJ 1:49

don't ever in life want to experience that again, those in charge, if you just happen to be watching, take note

Mike 1:55

I mean, that's Congress.

CJ 1:57

If I'm a TSA worker and I've gone through this. What, two or three times in the past few years are you gonna come back,

Mike 2:05

Well, that's the problem too. So they've, they've funded it, but they still, they've had over 500 people like quit. And so they're like, well now we need to start interviewing, getting people in. So it's not gonna be like tomorrow that the hour and a half line that we were in is gonna just go away.

CJ 2:21

Our guest for today's show, you know, we're focusing on human resources. Think about those in human resources that work for the government, for TSA. What are you doing to, what are you going to do to entice people to come work for you? Now, after all of this.

Ken 2:35

Nothing. There's nothing you can do. Right? And, and listen, the only reason why they came to a resolution is because Delta was the first airline to say that the congressional members no longer get that secret pass or whatever, right? So they're gonna have to stand in line with everybody else. So think about it. If somebody recognizes you, whether you're standing in that line, right? And the potential for you to get harassed.

CJ 3:01

across the line and whoop your ass. I.

Mike 3:07

And on top of that, yeah. And on top of that, so Delta did that, which put all of the Congress members in the regular lines. But then TMZ came on top of that and was like, if you see them out and about, take their pictures, take videos of them and send them in. So now you got them standing in regular lines and you got everybody like taking your, taking videos of you Those two things coupled together, I think annoyed the shit out of them. And they were like, okay, let's,

Ken 3:35

Yeah, we gotta get this done.

Mike 3:36

we could get our status back. Yeah. And, and that's what I saw somebody online the other day that they were like, that's why we need our corporations to step in doing things like this because it will help move the needle. It's not looking at Trump and being like, Trump do this. It's, you affect Congress and then, you know, they'll, they'll get things done. Because before they were unaffected. But but talking about behind the scenes and HR. We know somebody who's in that realm. And let me tell you, that's our guest today. If you've ever worked somewhere that felt like everyone actually cared about your growth, odds are there was somebody behind the scenes making that happen. Today's guest is one of those people. He's a Chicago based people and talent leader with over 15 years of experience building the kind of cultures that actually retain and develop great employees. held HR and talent leadership roles at companies like ADP, power Reviews, Victoria's Secret, pink, the Marketing Store, and currently Spot Hero, the Chicago based parking tech firm where he serves as director of talent development. He's been featured and built in for his work on leadership development, has spoken on inclusion in tech, and is known for building people programs that are practical, not performative. If you're a founder, a first time manager, or anyone trying to build something, people actually want to stay at this conversation is for you. help me welcome Mr. Deshawn Barrett. Woo.

Ken 5:09

Hey,

Mike 5:09

it.

Ken 5:10

welcome to.

Mike 5:11

Hello

CJ 5:12

welcome.

Mike 5:12

hello sir. And I'm gonna keep saying

DeShawn Barrett 5:14

Hello, and thanks for having me.

CJ 5:17

on in.

DeShawn Barrett 5:17

Oh my gosh. I don't know how to follow that up. I mean, I didn't know I did all that, but Yeah, I guess so.

CJ 5:25

Listen, sometimes you need a reminder.

DeShawn Barrett 5:28

You know, sometimes you do. And

CJ 5:31

As black men, we gotta lift each other up.

DeShawn Barrett 5:34

Yeah. Well, hopefully I can, I can do some help here and, and lift everyone up who's watching.

Mike 5:42

Listen, you, your showing up is already half the battle, so you're good. good. The rest

DeShawn Barrett 5:47

All right.

Mike 5:47

be easy. worry if these two start getting too rough on you. I'll, I'll re it in a little bit

DeShawn Barrett 5:54

Oh, I know how to deal with them.

Mike 5:55

you know

CJ 5:56

Here he goes. Playing himself to be the nice one.

Mike 5:59

I am

Ken 5:59

Right. Correct.

DeShawn Barrett 6:01

I'm always nice.

Ken 6:03

Not you.

Mike 6:04

Nice one. They're talking

CJ 6:06

Look, re rewind to last week's opening.

Mike 6:10

I don't know what you're talking about.

CJ 6:12

Exactly.

Mike 6:13

a great editor,

CJ 6:16

Exactly.

Mike 6:17

an amazing editor We have no one will ever know, enough about us Deshawn. Tell us a little bit about yourself. I mean, I just read off all of your accolades and everything else that you've been doing, but let us know who Deshawn Barrett is. Who is Deshawn Barrett?

DeShawn Barrett 6:33

Wow. That's a big question because there's more to me than just of course, talent and, and HR and everything like that. But I like to say I, I'm a person that likes to live by truth, and live by. Doing the right thing, even when no one is watching. You know? That's kinda how I am now. Am I perfect? Hell no, I'm not. But I like to take that with me whenever and wherever I go, and that bleeds into the work, you know? And so, you know, what you've, you know how you've described, you know, my, my experience. I mean, that's the first time I've ever heard it like that. I think it's amazing. And like you said, it, it, it, sometimes you need that reminder. And and, and with that, I think. You know, I am one that wants to see other people succeed, and I wanna be, I wanna help in that. And that's why I started, you know, in, in HR what we call people. So it's not, you know, oh, you know, I'm a great people person. So that's, you know, I think that's, that's why I wanted to end up where I am today. And I think part of that comes also from my upbringing. I'm a son of a preacher man. You know, I, I, I've always been one to, you know, always think about others or try to think about others before I think about myself, you know? And so this is a great space, you know, for me to help build that and help, you know, build our future leaders of tomorrow well as our leaders of today, you know? And. It could be working at someplace like Victoria's Secret, or it could be working at someplace like a DP. I think all of the experience is relevant, however, you know, for for this purpose, my experience at a DP helped me in a way, in my career. Than I have ever had because of the fact that when I was at a DPI was actually I was in HR of course, but I was on the client side, meaning I walked into small businesses to help them build out whatever HR infrastructure. So I would work with, you know, the owner of the company, the present, the CEO, the office manager, you know, to help them build out what they needed. And so I, I think that, you know, when it comes to people. We just have to remember that they are people And just as much you know, the bottom line is important. If you don't have the right culture, if you don't have the right people, you're not gonna make no money. And you know, we want to not only, you know, have the right people in place and build the right culture. 'cause if you have the right culture, happy people. Make people happy. And so if you got people that are, that are happy that are working for you, guess what that's gonna turn into? Guess what? The customer that's gonna bleed over, you know? And if you have people that are not happy that are working for you, guess what? The same thing is gonna happen and you're gonna see that, you know, either way and the money that you make.

Mike 9:35

That's awesome. And just for transparency, we all know Deshawn. He's one of our best friends and I've 15, 17, time.

DeShawn Barrett 9:45

more than that.

CJ 9:46

Yeah, 20 plus.

DeShawn Barrett 9:48

Yeah.

Mike 9:49

so everything he just said where he said that he's a cheerleader for his friends and family, and he was a

DeShawn Barrett 9:54

Cheerleader.

Mike 9:55

point is true because even when I have something that comes up, I'm like, oh, I'm working on this thing or this thing. He is that person. And it's like, okay, come on, businessman. And he's, he's always there for me. And I, and I, and I say it enough and I love it, and I, and I love having people around me who will. Cheer me on. So Deshawn, everything he just said about himself being, you know, being happy for others is a hundred percent true. I could vouch for that. So with that said, a lot of people may be listening to this are young entrepreneurs starting their own business, maybe have never even thought about having an HR person. So if you can, just from like a bird's eye view, tell us what is HR.

DeShawn Barrett 10:36

So in a nutshell, I'll say it's a system of things. what I mean by that is that there's so many, you know, you may think that HR is there just to, you know, reprimand somebody. You know that, like when you think of hr, a lot of times you're thinking about someone that's here to hire and then fire, but you don't think about everything else. What I mean by everything else, it's even behind the scenes. Behind the scenes. So making sure everyone has benefits, you know, what do our benefits look like? Do they make sense for, you know, our company, making sure people are being paid fairly. Also making sure that people are continuing to grow and also understanding the business so that way we can, you know, from an HR perspective, if we understand your business, then hopefully we'll be able to help you build programs, you know, like. A mentorship program, and I know that's a lot. However, let's say you've got a company of 10 people and you know, you, you kind of have to many, many hats with a small company. So with that, can you cross train people to make sure that guess what, you know, and so that's another part of hr, right, is that you have to ensure that people can continue to grow it also that the business can succeed. And so that there are no, no folks that might be. A single point of failure so that way your business can continue to thrive. And so on top of that, of course I talk about that. I talk about pay, I talk about of course, recruiting, hiring, hiring, all that stuff, therapist. That's another thing. And, and what I mean by that is people are people just like I said, and people have problems and sometimes they come into the, they come into the business, you know? And how do you navigate those conversations and ensure that. know, you can support, you know, anybody that is working for you. But at the same time, no, we got a business to run we gotta have that, that fine balance. Outside of that, there's a lot of compliance stuff as well. And what I mean about compliance is, you know, you're hiring someone, you have the right paperwork in order to hire someone. You know, what we're going through in this. In this administration, in this day and time, you know, about undocumented workers and all that kind of stuff. And, and so how are people hiring undocumented workers? 'cause guess what? They're not, you're not asking for the right or they, one, they don't care. And because they know that they can hire them for lower wages, and they need to get the work done because guess what? Some people are don't want to do that work. And some people, that's the way they're gonna live. but ultimately when you're hiring someone from a compliance standpoint, you have an I nine, and that really what that is, is that's a form that's from the government that that allows you to know and you collect, you know. Basically information from folks that allows you to know if they're eligible for work in the US and, and all of that. And that's one thing that you can get really ded on. Let's say you get audited by the government and they come in and they see that, guess what? You're gonna get fined. And if you're small business, do you want to spend $1,800? You know, because someone, or maybe the I nine is sent, filled out correctly, you know, you didn't collect one, you know, so just thinking, and I just threw that number out there. It could vary, you know but, you know, just things like that. And so compliance is, is really important and I think it gets more important the larger the company gets. And also with benefits, it's a cost, you know, but at the end of the day, like I said, happy people. Great, happy customers. Happy customers return, they spend more money and you make more money. I know that was a longwinded answer, but you know.

Mike 14:30

I didn't know HR did all that myself. Like you said, I think a lot of people do think of HR and I think of hire someone then if someone gets in trouble, that's who you go see

DeShawn Barrett 14:41

Mm-hmm.

Mike 14:41

they fire someone. But everything from the hire to the release, no idea.

CJ 14:49

The first thing I think of is HR is, is who's coming around once a year to make sure I'm signed up for my insurance. That's, that would be the first thing I think of. But can we, can we back up just for one second and I'm curious your thoughts. If I'm an entrepreneur and, like Mike said, and I'm starting a business maybe that's just because of, of you know, how long I've been in the industry and I'm not sure if someone. a younger person may have heard something like this, but noticed, you know, maybe 15, 10, 15, 20 years ago, there was a big push for a lot of companies getting rid of their HR departments. And I'm, I'm curious, you know, if I'm starting up a business, should I take on the financial side of bringing someone in a human resource personnel to, to run this side of, of my business? What do you think is the, one of the main benefits outside of, you know, some of the things that you mentioned? What would be the benefit for me if I'm just starting up for bringing in an HR person and taking on that financial side of things?

Mike 15:51

Yo, if you're not following Black Bridge Mindset yet, what are you waiting for? The button's right there at your fingertips. Just hit that like or follow button that's somewhere here on the screen. It only takes two seconds. So do us a solid, and when you like and follow, not only will you be informed of new episodes that are coming up, but you also help the algorithm push this out to other people who are interested in being entrepreneurs and can learn from some of the guests that we have on our shows. Thank you for liking and following. Thank you for sharing this with your friends and family because I know you are. And, uh, yeah. I'm not gonna keep you. Let's get back to Deshawn and, uh have a good day, bye!

DeShawn Barrett 16:27

Yeah, that's a, that's a good question. I, I think. There in, in starting is you can focus on the business and growing the business while you know you have someone that's in hr and, and so here's another thing too. Don't think that if you're hiring someone that's in HR, that they can't do other things. They can be the office manager as well as, you know, the HR person so they can take on multiple responsibilities. 'cause knowing that if you're starting your own business, you're probably gonna have. It might be you to start, and then you might hire two or three or four other people, right? And so having someone that's dedicated, so you don't necessarily have to hire an HR person, but you have to have someone that's dedicated to the people, right? And they can wear multiple hats, that allows, if you have someone that's focused on that, that allows you to focus on the business, and you have someone also that can be a point of reference. For you when it comes to people things, you know, so you have someone that has some expertise in those areas that allows you to focus on making money, you know? And a part of it too is if you have someone, you know, I'll say this, what are your greatest assets you're in a company? It's

CJ 17:40

People Right.

DeShawn Barrett 17:42

right? And so why wouldn't you? Spend the money to have someone to focus on the people along with if you're an office manager or you could be the COO as well as you know, or you could be partners and one partner is business, you know, focus minded. The other partner has business and then they also have an HR aspect to their role too, you know, so, and as you continue to grow, then. about the focus on the people and not necessarily having someone in that space as a HR manager right away. and then when you get to that place where let's say you maybe have 10, 20 people, you're like, guess what? I probably should have someone in here that's a little bit more focused on more on the full-time, you know, around that. But at the beginning there's, I mean. It's a small business, so small to have someone just totally dedicated to that doesn't necessarily make sense because what are they gonna do if it's just two people? If it's three people, there's not much.

Mike 18:44

of like fractional,

DeShawn Barrett 18:46

Mm-hmm.

Mike 18:47

So just having a fractional HR person that comes in lifts some of that work from the. the founder of the business until you're ready to hire a full-time HR person.

DeShawn Barrett 19:00

Yeah, and with that, that fractional, you can hire someone that way. There's also services that are out there that could serve as your, you know, HR arm that you can pay a small fee for. That can help you out. You know, so there are other things rather than just thinking about bodies. And, and so it, it's interesting in just the way that, you know, CJ you mentioned, you know, a while ago they were thinking about, Hey, let's get, just get rid of the HR department, right? And, and part of that is, are there other services out there that can provide the same thing and not spend the same amount of money? And so it's, it's a trade off, but you're still, you know, you're still planning your workforce, but just in a different way. know, you're supplementing it with other, other ways to get the same job done.

CJ 19:45

Now on the flip side of that. Okay. I'm, ready to go. I see. You know, I've got not many things going on in the day I see that I need to bring someone in to, to, you know, take care of some of this workload. What things would you, or what pointers would you give someone that's, you know, starting a company and they've now decided, okay, I am gonna hire someone to take this on. what are some good resources or some good, key factors that they should look for in bringing someone on.

DeShawn Barrett 20:13

When I think about bringing someone on and they're ready to bring someone on as an HR manager or whatnot, thinking about someone that lean in and understand your business at the same time is understand, you know, the world of HR and the world of people. And the reason why I say that is because if you're at that point where you're, you are bringing in an HR person. You want them to also understand your business and how it works, they're gonna be able to help support it with if it's hiring, make, helping you make hi the right hire decisions, know when it comes to recruiting and all of that. That's one thing. And also another thing is at this point you're gonna have someone that, they're gonna be an HR person of one. So someone that can do all aspects. So we talked about, oh, HR is not just hiring and firing, but can they manage benefits? You know, if you're going to offer benefits or whatever that might be, that might be a benefit stipend, so that way people go to the marketplace to, you know, get their own benefits to someone that, you know, knows how to build a job description that can recruit. And typically when you're hiring, you know, your first HR person, a lot of it is gonna be around recruiting. You know, it's gonna be around building those processes to help setting that foundation so someone that can really set the foundation. From a people, you know, perspective with policies, and that's another thing I didn't talk about. I talked about compliance, but also the policies, like how do you want people to show up to work, you know, and, you know, and now in the day and age of chat, GPT ai. You can build your own employee handbook by, you know, using chat GPT, you know, and things like that. So there are things that can be done even ahead of time, but having someone that you can work with,

CJ 22:05

Right.

DeShawn Barrett 22:05

understands, and it's about understanding the foundational pieces of HR and not someone if you're just bringing someone in, I wouldn't necessarily bring in someone like me and I'm gonna be completely honest because, you know, yes, I've been there, I've done it at the same time. I'm at a different point in my career and I probably cost too much. You

CJ 22:26

Okay. I was about to say.

DeShawn Barrett 22:28

do. So you wanna. Think about it from the perspective of you need that foundation, you know, and you probably don't have some things in place that you probably need in place. So someone that can understand and has experience in the whole world of hr, but also that can understand your business too, because that's probably gonna be one HR person and for a while, you know it's gonna be that. So you, you're gonna have to be, you know, and someone that's curious autonomous.

Ken 22:56

I, I have a question. So, you had talked about hiring you know, an HR consultant or an HR person, you know, to come in and have multiple jobs. How, how does somebody know when to a. Personality hire versus a subject matter expert hire. Right.

DeShawn Barrett 23:19

should never do a personality hire.

Ken 23:21

but you had, you had mentioned earlier, right, about picking the right person for the team.

DeShawn Barrett 23:25

Mm-hmm.

Ken 23:26

Right? So maybe I used the wrong, term there.

DeShawn Barrett 23:29

Yeah.

Ken 23:29

do you know when you need to bring someone in? Who is. Going to assist with helping the team, you know, be happy and, you know, help them do their job versus somebody who might be a technical expert but does not have level of personality to assist with, you know, getting the

DeShawn Barrett 23:49

Mm-hmm.

Ken 23:49

they need to be.

DeShawn Barrett 23:51

Yeah, that, that's a good question. I, I think it's. It's different based on the company and what your needs are, right? And, and where you are. Because you could have someone that, let's say you yourself, you're opening up a business, you have worked in larger companies, you have an idea of how HR works. So you're doing some of those things or you've you've spent. You know, a lot of time doing your research and everything like that, you know? That's good. I think when it comes to hiring someone that's a subject matter expert, I think it's. That's why I believe hiring someone early, but not someone specifically for hr, but someone that has some experience because there's all, there's a lot of resources that are out there that people can lean on. So to know when I say as early as you can, but not have it solely an HR person. Right? So let's say. You, you're, you have an office of four people. One person is either the, the office manager, they're doing all the scheduling, they're doing all, and I've seen this a a lot, especially in smaller companies where you have that office manager that also serves as a HR person too, so you'll be able to find, so, so I would say that if you're gonna be, let's say, hiring an office person. It's probably not a bad thing to say, okay, well I want this office person to not only do these things around office, but be like my people and places, person, you know you're gonna be, you know, half of your role is gonna be around making sure the office is good and the other half of your role is gonna make sure from a people perspective, we're in a good place, that people still gotta get paid. So who's doing that? You know, who's making sure that if we're need to hire people, I can help with that. You know, if you have benefits and things like that. Is that something that's gonna be driven from you, the owner, or is that gonna be something that's gonna, you're gonna need some help with? You know, so there's, there's things that can be done. So the timing, I, I think the timing. Is different based on your circumstance. You know, and I, I think that, you know, if you're listening right now and you already have a team of 10 to 15 people, you know, it's about time for you to either get, and you don't have someone that's focused on it. About time and you don't know where to start. Chat. GPT is always a great start because you know, and I say that because I mean, I'm in HR and I use chat GPT. I may use it a little differently than you would use it, but I use it I think every day and that's where. You know that, that it's gonna be a constant. So you're gonna have to have that knowledge because we're gonna allow you to, you know, work smarter, hard as well, but smarter, be more productive and all of that. And so having someone that has that experience, but you know, if you're already at 10 to 15 people, and the reason why I say that is because you're a small company, yet there are different, different laws that start to apply to you when you start and, and it's based on the number of employees that you have, you know? So it's probably a good point, you know, even if at this point you may not, you have 10 people just do a search, okay, I'm in this state, I've got this many employees. What are some state and federal things that I should be aware of, you know, and go ahead and put that in chat. TBT. Of course, you always need to have your, your mind, right? And you gotta read it, and you gotta have that human element to it. But that's a good start, you know, because if you do that and you, and you're, you start saying, oh, well I need to start doing this. I need to start doing this. I need to, oh, maybe I should bring someone in that has more expertise in some of these things, you know? Because I don't, you know, and if you are still in that space where you only have, you know, three, four folks, then that's where it's like, okay, you know, it's probably good I can hire someone that is kind of a dual hybrid role that has some experience. And it doesn't have to be someone that specifically does hr. Because your people are gonna wonder, how can I move ahead? What can I do in my career? And that's another thing is your, as you're starting your business, are you creating careers for people or are you creating jobs? And I think that's a difference, you know, and it's all around how you, structure your jobs, how you structure your workforce. If you are opening, let's say, a restaurant, then you know that's gonna be different than you opening an office, right? And starting your own insurance agency or something like that. So there's gonna be a different type of job that you're gonna be hiring. There's gonna be the expectation when people are hired in those specific jobs, or, you know, I, I think about it in this way too. Is that if you want to create a space where, you know, people can thrive and people can come and they can have a career there, and maybe it's not something that's glamorous, but you want people to stay and you wanna have that longevity, then you have to create the culture for that. And you have to provide the resources so people don't have to look elsewhere. And I know I kind of veered off into another subject, but

Mike 29:12

No.

DeShawn Barrett 29:12

I think it's important to understand all that.

Mike 29:15

Yeah, no, that you did bring up a important thing. Just to clarify and I think to answer Ken's question, you answered it, but then you went off to something else that was important. it sounds like it is more important to hire someone based on their talent and someone who could fit into the company culture versus just hiring someone based on their personality.

DeShawn Barrett 29:39

Correct. Correct. You want someone that that can do both, if that makes sense.

Mike 29:45

It does. And you mentioned that when you hire someone, you wanna make sure that the position that you're creating isn't just the one stop shop for that person. Like, this is where you're gonna be for, like, you want to think about it more about like, okay, once I bring in this person to this position in my creating a career for this person to stay long, to have longevity in the business, which is

DeShawn Barrett 30:09

Yeah.

Mike 30:09

thought about.

DeShawn Barrett 30:10

Yeah, and, and that that lends itself to what is your free or business plan. And so this is where I say understanding. You know, you want someone that understands your business too, and, but first you gotta understand your business. You gotta understand where do I want to be in three years? Where do I want to be in five years? Because if you can't articulate that to someone that you're gonna hire in an HR role, you're gonna have someone that's strictly there to be your old school. I'm a paper pusher, I'm doing all that, but, and you're not gonna have someone that can help you build. Your vision and what you want, and that's what you want. And as someone that's in hr, especially if you have that three year plan and you say, okay, well I wanna double my staff in three years, so what is that gonna, and it's not about doubling your staff. Maybe I wanna double my revenue in three years. That doesn't mean doubling your staff. What that means is, is. If you want to double your revenue in three years, what are the things that you have to do in order to do that? And if you need one more salesperson, guess what? You hire that one more salesperson. You know? But you have that in in mind, and you have someone in HR that can help you navigate through that. Because some people might say, oh, I want to build my revenue. I think I need to hire a lot more people. That's not the case, you know? And so just thinking about those types of things too, when it comes to, you know. When it comes to hiring and growing your business and having a vision.

Ken 31:38

I think that's a great point that you made Deshaun about the business plan because I, I don't think a lot of people realize that they should have an HR. Like section or category within their business plan. But I think you're right. Like if you're looking to grow your business, that's definitely something that you should consider including in your three year or five year business plan.

DeShawn Barrett 32:03

You can only do so much. You're one person, you know, and, and you have to think about that and how do you dissect, you know, or, or you know, shell out responsibilities. So that way you need to make sure that you as a business owner are continuing to. And Sure, of course the business is running at the same time. You have to keep looking forward. You know, you have to keep thinking about what's gonna make my business better? How can I get more clients? How can I get more people walking through the door? How can I, you know, so you're thinking about all those things and so you have to stay on that path. You know, that's where the planning comes into play. So if you're able to do that, then you have, I like to think of it that this way you have a journey map. Right. And when you have that journey map, there's different steps along the way that you know, where those are milestones that you have to hit. And based on those milestones, this is where you wanna be, this is what you need to be doing. And then go from there.

CJ 33:01

You had mentioned a little bit about the company culture. Can you speak on. What things someone that owns a business should think about by way of culture and what they wanna offer their people, and then also role HR plays in setting that culture.

DeShawn Barrett 33:17

Yeah, that's a, that's a good question. You know, I'll start with, you know, explaining what culture is because I think a lot of times people, for people think culture. They think the fun stuff in the office. They think about all that. You know, especially, let's say you're an entrepreneur, you're starting your own business. You've worked at other companies, and you see all of that stuff. Oh, I've got a ping pong table. Oh, I've got a good, great coffee machine. Oh, I got all that stuff. Oh, we have all of these events. That's not culture. That's additive, but that's not culture. Culture is how do you live and breathe? How do people work? What are the behaviors, you know, that drive your business, you know, and how, not just those behaviors, but how are they lived out on a day-to-day basis? You know, are people getting feedback? Do, are people clear on what's expected of them? You know, are people, do people feel, you know, safe enough to come and talk to you whenever there's an issue? You know? And those are the things that create a culture. Of that, make people happy, you know and yes, benefits, like all of those things. So when you are thinking about culture, it's about how do you have programs or how do you have how do you live out your values, so to speak? You know? And maybe you don't have a set of values, maybe you don't have a vision, you know, but create, how do you want your people to be, you know, how do you want your customers to experience? You know, your people, you know, and, and building that and then building around that and hiring for that as well. Now you want people that are gonna bring different things to the culture, but you still have to have a foundation, right? And so, and then are people getting feedback? That's a huge thing, you know, if people are not getting feedback and people, and, and if you're scared to give feedback, think about it this way. Feedback is a gift. I use this ism. If you don't know, you can't grow. So if someone is doing something wrong or someone is doing something that they could be doing differently, how else are they gonna change unless say you tell them,

CJ 35:27

Right.

DeShawn Barrett 35:27

you know? And so think about it in, in that way. So feedback isn't necessarily a negative thing. Now how do you give that feedback? People will often, you know, they'll often notice your tone and I got a story so. This was my first job when I was working in Columbus, Ohio. And uh, and I was working at a cheerleading company and I was working in HR and, and you know, talking about culture and, and feedback and I was sitting at my desk, I was working, next thing you know, our head of operations come storming out and this is, we had 10, 15 people in the office maybe, maybe. Comes storming out and our head of production comes storming out and they're just yelling at each other and all of a sudden they're saying, F you and f you and this, that and the other. And I'm sitting here, what did I walk into? This is not it, you know? So, you know, that goes into, you know, it, it's how do you want your people to show up for you and show up for themselves, you know? And I think that's really important when it comes to culture. Now, I totally forgot the second part of the question. Can you repeat that, cj?

CJ 36:38

I was just asking, you know, how you, as an HR person, how do you influence the culture of the

DeShawn Barrett 36:44

Yeah.

CJ 36:45

What things Bring to the table that that can

DeShawn Barrett 36:47

yeah.

CJ 36:47

to?

DeShawn Barrett 36:48

Yeah, it's holding people accountable. I, I think, and I hate to say that because everyone's an adult, well hopefully, you know, they're an adult. But ways that I help with that. It's holding people accountable. One, it's listening. I think that's another thing too. And if, let's say you set, you know, what your values are or how you want people to show up or set those expectations, when I'm having conversations and folks are. Are not living up to those expectations or behaving up to those expectations is calling it out, right? And always bringing it back to that. Right? So that's one. Listening. So, you know, you may have heard of engagement surveys or if not, you know, ways to make, and that's another thing we do ways to make the office better. And asking your people what's gonna be better? What's how, how, what's gonna help you thrive? You know what's gonna, you know, what, what keeps you up at night? What makes you come into work every day? Understanding all of those things too, because if you can understand your people, and it's really important to listen to your people as a business owner, you're like, it's my way. This is my company. This is how I want it to be. And at the same time, remember, you've hired these folks to do something for you at the same time, and they are people, and people have needs, and not everyone is the same. And so thinking about that and understanding, you know, from your people, you know, why they come to work every day. Why are they, why do, why are they here? What makes 'em stay? You know, um, what's gonna help them do their job better? And things like that. And so that's another feedback tool or mechanism that you have at your disposal is conversation and listening, and also not being afraid to hear the things that may be unpopular at the same time. You know, I, I think a lot of times, uh, business owners, what they'll do is if you say something they don't like. Either you're out or you know what? That's just not it. It's my way or the highway, you know? And is that the type of person you want to be? Is that the type of culture you want to create? And that can create a culture of fear. And if you create a culture of fear, no one's gonna speak up. No one's gonna say anything. And then you're gonna have people that are, you know, you know what? I just mind my P's and Q's and I come here for the paycheck. And that's it. And guess what? I don't care about this client. You know, I'm just doing my job. I'm doing the bare minimum.

Mike 39:22

They're on

DeShawn Barrett 39:22

want your people,

Mike 39:23

office looking up another

DeShawn Barrett 39:25

right, exactly. They're on LinkedIn while they're in the office and you come walk in and they change, they change their screen. They do, you know, they, they take phone calls, interviews in the, you know, in the break room or outside in their car, because guess what? That's not, you know, you're, they're not in a place. That they feel like they makes them want to be there. So how about as a business owner, you make your people want to be there, you know? And if you have that in mind, you know, when it comes to the culture and hrs responsibility and culture is not just hrs responsibility, and that's another thing, it's everybody's responsibility. You know, it's how you show up to work every day. I say the shadow that you cast. So as a leader. That's a business owner, entrepreneur. You've probably heard this, and this is nothing new. You lead by example. So the example that you set is the tone you're gonna create for your business. And if you have, you come in and you're like, Hey, we're gonna do this, you know, we're gonna work hard. I know it's gonna be painful for a moment in time, but we got this, we're a team, we're gonna do it together. And you work together. So it's not just coming in, doing go on, go team, but it's a action. And your actions speak louder than words. And so thinking about it from that perspective, that's where the culture piece. It can, it can set your business from being, you know, I'm just barely hitting my numbers to, I'm exceedingly abundantly hitting my numbers, and because of the fact that, guess what? I created this culture where folks, they want to give more, they want to do more, and you reward them for it as well. So that's another thing. It's, you know, you, you're, you're hitting your numbers, you're doing well. Now, not by any means am I saying that. Guess what? You're a small company and you gotta do, you gotta do all that kind of stuff. No, but you have to recognize people. And so it could be something as a thank you. So what do, what, what's important and how do people wanna be recognized and understanding that, right? And some people want money. Some people just need a good thank you. Some people need a pat on the back. You know, just some people. You know, they, they just want to feel like they're valued, you know? And if you as a, and that's for me as, as you know, an HR person, and I'm gonna be your, you've got, you know, your angel and your demon, you know, on either side. You might be the demon and I'm the angel, and I'm gonna come and I'm gonna tell you, Hey, if I heard something about what you did, I'm gonna be the one to be like, is that the person that you are? Is that the person that you wanna be? Is that the person you want your people to see? So for me as hr, you know, thinking about, you know, working with a business owner, I'm gonna sometimes have some difficult and hard conversations with you, you know, and you may not like it. You may tell me to get outta here, but you know what? It's something that you need to know and something that you need to hear. That's my role, right? And so thinking about it from that perspective, it's about the shadow that you cast and me as an HR person, making sure that, you know, I'm doing my part and ensuring culture is everyone's responsibility. And a part of that is at the top. Everything starts from the top. And if the top ain't right. The whole house, guess what is not gonna be good? You know? Or let's, let's flip it if the foundation is not right, what the house is gonna crumble. And so you want to make sure that foundation is right and you are the foundation as the owner, you know, and you gotta be solid.

Mike 43:08

A hundred percent you, you hitting the nail on the head like, not to lose that train of thought, let's say. a, I'm an entrepreneur. I'm starting my business, or I just acquired a business. we really don't have the funds to hire an HR person just yet. What are some of the things I should focus on now in preparation of hiring an HR person so that once I do hire someone, we're, we're prepared and we could hit the ground running.

DeShawn Barrett 43:37

Yeah, I think understanding what HR does, I think that's, that's key, you know? And the value that they can bring to your business. So in preparation for that, you know, do your research, you know, what does an HR manager do? Or what can they do? I'm a company of this many people. And what are some resources that are out there? You have a Society for Human Resource Management. You know, where can, where do I post roles? Understanding that too. That's gonna be a huge thing. 'cause you may not know where to start. So in preparation, you know, maybe you've hired folks and it's been word of mouth. You put some, a notice in the paper, maybe they're family members. That's a different story because when you get family members working for you, that can bring up so much. And that's, that's a conversation for another day because nepotism is real. I, I, I would say, you know, in preparation it's just doing your research, you know, talking to other business owners, you know, talking to other business owners that have hr, talking to HR people get it. And I see this, like sometimes I'll go to HR meetups and, and a meetup, or it could be a networking. And I see sometimes some business owners are there because they want to get some knowledge, right? And they want to network, they want to meet people because networking is definitely important because if you can do that, you can not only meet people, you could meet someone that could lead you to someone else or another resource that, you know, might help you get what you need as far as, you know, HR support, you know, for for your business. So I would say. Do your research, network, talk to people, talk to other business owners and get involved. I think that's another thing is, is, is get involved. We do charitable work as well. And you know, sometimes you might have an HR person that comes from nonprofit, you know, that wants to do something different. You know so you never know. You never know, but you gotta stay ready. And staying ready means doing your research, networking, you know talking to folks. And then from there, know what you're looking for. And also you need to build a job description. You know, I, I think in a part, so one thing you can do, you can go on LinkedIn, you can go on Indeed. You can go on any, one of the, you know, you can search a HR, HR manager. You know, job description. And you just see, look, what are the, what are the things that you know, other companies, you know, and it could be, I'd say Indeed is probably the best place to go, especially if you're a smaller company or you just acquired a company that's, you know, maybe not as large, because then you're gonna see job descriptions for HR managers or HR generalists, and it covers everything. But for a smaller company. And that's gonna give you something to, to start with. And then you can build, go on chat GPT and build your own. Or you know what? Take, take somebody else's. I don't say plagiarism is good, but I said make it fit for your business. But the core responsibilities are really the same.

Mike 46:50

I feel like that's a common thread for all businesses. Don't reinvent the wheel. If someone's already

DeShawn Barrett 46:54

Yeah.

Mike 46:55

and it's working, use it. It's okay.

DeShawn Barrett 46:58

I'm always doing research, always saying, where can I find this template? Where can I do this? Because I got only ano this much time and this much work to do. So, you know, anytime I can, you know, not reinvent the wheel and do something now, I always change it up to what's gonna be, uh, make sense for my company and the way that we want to do things that at least I have a starting point.

Mike 47:21

Yo, if you're not following Black Bridge Mindset yet, what are you waiting for? The button's right there at your fingertips. Just hit that like or follow button that's somewhere here on the screen. It only takes two seconds. So do us a solid, and when you like and follow, not only will you be informed of new episodes that are coming up, but you also help the algorithm push this out to other people who are interested in being entrepreneurs and can learn from some of the guests that we have on our shows. Thank you for liking and following. Thank you for sharing this with your friends and family because I know you are. And, uh, yeah. I'm not gonna keep you. Let's get back to Deshawn and, uh have a good day, bye!

CJ 47:57

So let's turn the camera around for a second. I made the, the, the jump. hired an HR manager. Things are going great. I noticed that, you know, my employees are happy things are rolling What things as a, an owner I be thinking about? To make sure that you, as my HR managers, don't start looking somewhere else? What do I need to focus on? What, what give, can you give the audience an idea of things that as an owner I should be doing and should be thinking about to make sure that I retain you?

DeShawn Barrett 48:30

There's a couple things. As your business grows, it grows with people support. So if, let's say you've gone from, you know, um, having one HR person, but you have now you have 50 people, you know do you hire someone and now. I say support, I don't mean an actual one, a full headcount. Maybe you don't, maybe you have that office manager or you, you know, you need, you need someone that can play dual roles, you know, so it's having, or, or it's allowing, you know, and first of course you gotta check to see if this is good, but let's say you do have an office manager. That office manager, I'm sure that office manager is going to be leaning in and doing something else. Why don't you say, Hey, I, you know, a part of, you know, their growth is gonna allow for them to lean in to the HR people space. That's gonna free up some of your time and some of the areas that you want to grow in, and that's gonna free up your time to be able to do some of those things. You know, or if I think, and recognizing, you know, recognizing when your HR manager is struggling. So you have to be aware, you know and giving them the support that they need from a work standpoint, but also giving them support. Meaning are they taking time off? You know, are they you know, from a recognition standpoint, are you even seeing the work that they're doing and letting them know how it's going or thanking them for it? Are you recognizing them financially? Or as the business grows, you know? So here's another thing. Oh, I'm, you know, I've got this business. It's grown, and you've hired your HR person. They've been there for a while, and you've got all these VPs around, right? And you still have an HR manager that's been there longer than some other folks, and they're running all of you know, hr. If they've got some support from a work standpoint, they're able to grow and do bigger things within the company. Does that mean recognition promotion for them? You know, so they're not just an HR manager, Mary, they're the director of hr, you know as your business grows and the vision of the business changes too. So another thing is it's bringing them into conversations early. That's a part of recognition. So that way they are a founding board for you. And the thing is, is as an HR manager, you know, they, they should have a seat at the table, you know? And hopefully you've hired someone that doesn't feel like, oh, guess what? I need to sit back, but I'm actually gonna take my feet at the table because that's the kind of person that you need. And so, but if you haven't create space for them at that table. So that way your people are just as important as the financials that come through the come through the door. And if you're not treating them equally, then one's gonna fail. And if one fails, it all fails. You know? So you wanna make sure that you know you, you're before any decisions are made, you know you're working with your HR manager to ensure that you're looking at it from. Through the eyes of a people lens too. And if you're not, and decisions are being made without the people being taken into account, then you've made it so that way. Guess what my, my role as an HR manager doesn't matter. Or guess what? Beyond my role as an HR manager, your people don't matter. And if your people don't matter, then guess, I say this all the time. Your thoughts leads to your behaviors, which leads to your end results. And so if your thought is not about your people, then your actions are not gonna have them in the picture. And then guess what the end result is? Guess what? I don't care for my people, my results, my actions are showing that. So my end result, people gonna leave. And then you're gonna have this revolving door and you're gonna wonder why is, why is my retention, my retention so low, or my turnover so high? Why are people leaving and I can't keep people, and that's when you gotta do that inner soul searching. So, you know, to your, you know, to your question, cj, it's recognition and recognition in different ways. You know, and, and having that awareness and bringing them into conversations and ensuring that they understand the business and that the decisions that are being made are being made from a people in, and that the decisions are made are taking into account the people.

Mike 53:08

We're running up on time, but there's one question that stood out to me on the list that I want to ask you. So when a toxic employee is also a high performer, in short, like what? Do you do about that? So me as a

DeShawn Barrett 53:25

Get 'em out. Get 'em out.

Mike 53:27

yeah.

DeShawn Barrett 53:28

out, you know? And so here, here's the thing, like if you are, if you have someone that's a high performer, but they're toxic, if they're, that's permeating. So, imagine your, your company as a body, and you've got, let's say your heart. If your heart is toxic, what's that gonna do to the rest of the body? Or let's say your liver, let's say your kidney, anything, if that's toxic, what's that gonna do to the rest of the body? So then you bring that to. Your company, you have something that's high performing, they're doing really well, but if they're toxic, that's not doing anything for the greater good. And so the thing is, this goes down to what do you value? And do you value, you know, folks coming in and wanting to do their best work and, and want to be there? Because I can tell you this, if you have a toxic employee, I'm sure there are other people that are one, looking for another job that don't want to be there. You know? And also if you're paying more attention to that toxic employee and you're not doing anything about it, then people, other people are gonna be like, well, if they can do it, I can.

CJ 54:37

gonna take note. Yep.

DeShawn Barrett 54:38

Exactly. And so that's why you wanna nip it at the butt right away. So if you get the sense that they're being toxic, it's about having that candid conversation with them and saying, Hey, this is how we want people to show up, and this is what I've seen. This is what I've heard. This is the impact that you're making. And if this doesn't, if this continues this way, yes, you're doing great work. At the same time, I can't have this in my business. 'Cause I can tell you this, if that toxicity is out, just imagine how much better the work environment will be and if the work environment's better and people are gonna perform better, if people perform better, then guess what? Hopefully your numbers are gonna show. And then you know that one person that may have done. That one thing great and gave this much to your revenue. Now imagine now you've got five people that are giving that much to your revenue, and now your revenue has grown exponentially. So thinking about it from the sense of, you know, yes, that toxicity can't stay, it can't stay. So you gotta do, you gotta have a conversation about it and, and hold them accountable for it or get 'em out. And if you have, if you've had those conversations multiple times and they still don't change. You know, how is it that you want your people to be, and what kind of example are you setting? If they're still there? It's hard because you're gonna take a hit at the beginning, because guess what? If they're one of your highest earners, or they're bringing in some of a lot of the revenue, you know, it's what are you sacrificing and ultimately, you want your business to thrive and this is gonna sound really, really bad. No one's special. No one is special. Like you could go and find somebody else down the street to do the same job and maybe do it better, do know. And, and so, and I realized that in small companies, you build relationships, you build friendships, and guess what? You've gotten close to people. Yeah, this isn't personal. This is business, you know? And so you have to take that personal part out of it. If you're in that space where you're dealing with a toxic employee, and it could be a family member too, and that sucks, and that's a whole different dynamic. Or it could be your best friend. And it's like, hopefully you could have some come to Jesus conversations with your best friend and be like, this is not it. Let's get it together. You know? And, and so it's, it's, it's, it's a hard thing to do. However, it's about doing the right thing and thinking about what does your business need in total, and not just the individual.

Mike 57:15

Right. Perfect.

CJ 57:17

I, I know that we're coming up on the end of time, but I, there is one question here that I think would be a good way to, to close out the show, DeShawn, I and, and can just kind of be brief 'cause I know we're on time, but if you could give every entrepreneur one piece of people advice before they make their first hire, what would it be?

DeShawn Barrett 57:37

know your business and know where you want to be. You know, know your foundation, you know, and know your business from a business aspect, but know it from a cultural aspect. How do you want people to show up every day? You know? And if you understand that holistically. When you have conversations with folks that you're interviewing for this HR role, you know, hopefully they're ones that are asking those questions, but you can share that. You know, you can share, you know, this is how the comp, this is how I started this company. This is my vision. Being able to share that, being able to share how you want people to come to work every day, and those things that are important to you, you know, in. In your office, in your work, in your people, knowing those things and having that, that solid foundation of that is only gonna help when you're hiring someone. You'll be able to share that and you'll be able to discern if they're gonna be a good addition to your company or not. Based on, based on how they're responding to questions based on yeah. I think a lot of it's based on how they're responding to questions or the experiences that they've had, you know, and then also how they think about culture, how they think about, you know, the things that are important to you because it, now, like I said, not everyone is the same, but the foundation has to be similar, right? And so if these are things that are important to you. As a business owner, as an entrepreneur, hopefully, you know, that then would resonate as you're having a conversation with, you know, during the recruitment process, during the hiring process for your HR person. Know yourself. That's what I say, know the whole self and not just the, you know, the numbers and where you want to be, but how, how do you want your people to be?

Mike 59:33

Oh, that was a great question. I saw that on there, but I was like, oh, we're coming up on time, so I'm not gonna ask it. But I'm happy that you did ask it.

CJ 59:38

That that was a good way to close the show, I think

Mike 59:41

Yeah. Listen, Deshaun, you obviously know

CJ 59:45

Wealth of knowledge,

Mike 59:47

Oh yeah. A wealth of knowledge.

DeShawn Barrett 59:49

Y'all are seeing a different side of me,

Mike 59:53

Yelp.

CJ 59:54

no drinks involved.

Mike 59:56

No

DeShawn Barrett 59:56

right?

Mike 1:00:00

But but I mean, we can almost have you on again, like, I'm sure there's even even more that people will need to understand. When, starting a business, and if you're listening to this and you have questions and you know, comments and you're still curious leave your question in the comments. Shoot us an email or a note and we'll make sure to reach out to Deshaun. Haw, this isn't your business, per se. Typically, we interview entrepreneurs who own a business, but this season we wanted to include people who support businesses, so like HR folks, attorneys, things like that. So, if people reach out to you or if you wanna share like an email address or something like that, that people can ask questions. If you want to do that, you could share that. Now

DeShawn Barrett 1:00:43

yeah, absolutely. I'm more than happy to answer questions, you know, as much as I can. And so if you want to reach out to me, you can find me a couple different ways. You can find me on LinkedIn, Deshawn Barrett and, you know, I'll be there. It's a bright yellow picture, you know, background of me on LinkedIn, or you can shoot me an email. What's that?

CJ 1:01:03

I said how fitting.

DeShawn Barrett 1:01:05

Yeah. Yes. Shine bright like a diamond. Yeah. And then you can find me via email, and that's DPK Barrett. That's B-A-R-R-E TT at gmail.

Mike 1:01:18

Ken, you wanna talk about the, the end of the show and what we, what we're about to do next?

Ken 1:01:22

Sure I can do that. Mike is going to ask you the the question from our last guest and what we will ask you to do is to provide a question for our next guest. and then after that we will do the Wakanda peace pause where everybody. Puts two piece signs up like this. We hold for about 15 seconds, so that we can get a screen grab. And then we will say our farewells.

Mike 1:01:52

So with that said, I sort of stole this idea. You ever, you ever listened to the diary of a CEO Steven Bartlett? So I stole this from him. So if anybody ever hears this and sees this, they're like, oh, we've seen this before. He got this from somewhere else. Well, yes, that's where I got it from and I'm sure that he's flattered that I'm using it. So last guest that we had on the show left this question for you, so you could take a second if you need to, to think about it or if you don't, just go have at it. So his question is, he said, I'm always curious about what people learn about themselves. So my question is. the most surprising thing you've learned about yourself since becoming an entrepreneur?

DeShawn Barrett 1:02:34

I think for me, the, the one thing that I've learned about myself, I think it goes to, you know, the beginning of this podcast and how you spoke about me and my experience and all of that. That guess what? I'm great. I've done great things and I think that has really. Come to fruition actually within the last year. And and part of that is, you know, I actually spoke on a panel at a conference in, you know, in, in San Francisco and I have hundreds of people listening to my experiences and know that my experiences are valid and my experiences have helped folks and not to forget my worth. And I think that is something for me, you know, that, you know, I've learned. About myself, you know, since, I would say since I've really come into my own in, in my profession. And so it, it's, it's really important for me to keep remembering that, that I, I have worth, and I've done quite a bit in my journey and my journey's not over yet, and there's still more to do and, and just keep on remembering that. So, so that's what I would say.

Mike 1:03:48

That's great. And before I ask you what your question is, know, you, you said that you heard the, the bio and you're like, that's me. I'm great. I think everyone should do that for themselves. It's just to go in, you could use AI or whatever and just say, who, who am I? Like, and it will go through, we'll find out things about you. one of the great things, say one more time.

CJ 1:04:11

Your resume in and ask that question.

Mike 1:04:13

so I just used for Deshawn, I just used this LinkedIn profile link, that web link, and I just put it in AI and said, who is this guy? Spit it out. Like this is who he is, this is what his accomplishments are. It even pulled up a couple of quotes that you've said, and I know we're on time, but I, I just wanna do these. And you're probably gonna be surprised that it found this, but of the quotes is, if you can understand what your people are looking for in leaders and what your leaders are looking for, and then your values and how it aligns, you'll be able to use that for succession planning throughout the entire employee experience. That's it. I, I didn't know. I didn't know my

DeShawn Barrett 1:04:52

Wow.

Mike 1:04:52

spitting stuff like this. And another one, and this would be the last one. one is in the office 24 7. Now, if that's the case, people have to trust you. You have to trust them, and you have to empower them to do their work. I was like, look at DeShawn Barrett and there's another one, but I won't keep reading them for us. We'll be

DeShawn Barrett 1:05:11

Yes. Wow.

Mike 1:05:12

But look at you, and this is what happens when you go on, on platforms and stages and speak in front of people and do big things. So I'm really proud of you for all of that. You, you've,

CJ 1:05:21

don't get

Mike 1:05:21

done great.

CJ 1:05:22

a soda.

DeShawn Barrett 1:05:24

No,

Mike 1:05:25

So with that said, what is the question that you would like to leave for the next person?

DeShawn Barrett 1:05:30

I think, you know, the question I'd like to leave is, uh, along the lines of what we had talked about today, and it is. How important are people to your organization and what does company culture mean to you?

Mike 1:05:46

All right, so we'll have that ready

DeShawn Barrett 1:05:48

You better write that down.

CJ 1:05:50

I'm doing it now.

Mike 1:05:50

As Ken mentioned the last thing is our Wakanda peace pause. I, again, I tell every, everybody, I don't know where this came from, it just happened, but we're gonna do it. We're gonna, as Ken mentioned, we're gonna do the Wakanda piece and pause here for a few seconds. It's gonna feel uncomfortable, but it's all good. It's all good. And then we're gonna use that later, you know, we'll pick a screen grab of it or something and who knows? It'll show up on Instagram when you least expect it, and you gonna be like, what the heck? And it, it'll just be there for everybody to see. So it's our thing. Go with it. So, I'll have CJ cut us down because I have to move my microphone out of the way, and once I do that, you won't be able to hear me. So, cj, if you could count us down while I do that, that'd be great.

CJ 1:06:31

Alright, so you're ready. 3, 2, 1.

Ken 1:06:45

Balloon up on my face. What did you do?

Mike 1:06:49

How did you get balloons?

DeShawn Barrett 1:06:50

On balloons.

Mike 1:06:51

Okay.

Ken 1:06:52

have no idea what, what, what did you do?

Mike 1:06:55

Is it your birth?

Ken 1:06:57

No, I, I have no idea why that's happening.

Mike 1:07:00

That's hilarious.

Ken 1:07:02

never happened before.

DeShawn Barrett 1:07:04

Nice. You know,

CJ 1:07:05

that's the first time your

DeShawn Barrett 1:07:06

this is a special,

CJ 1:07:07

or something.

DeShawn Barrett 1:07:11

it's a special podcast.

Ken 1:07:12

It is.

DeShawn Barrett 1:07:13

We are here to celebrate.

Mike 1:07:16

This one won't

CJ 1:07:17

was funny.

Mike 1:07:18

a video because everyone needs to see those balloons pop up on your screen.

Ken 1:07:22

That's hilarious because that has never happened before.

Mike 1:07:26

That is hilarious.

CJ 1:07:27

That was funny.

Mike 1:07:29

Deshawn, I really appreciate you. It's been a great I really appreciate you taking the time to do this. Again, maybe we'll have you on again at some point,

DeShawn Barrett 1:07:38

Yeah.

Ken 1:07:39

will.

Mike 1:07:39

talk some more about HR stuff because like I said, there's a lot of stuff you put in there that I had no idea. So enjoy your day. It's been great seeing you.

DeShawn Barrett 1:07:48

Well, thank you