[quote style=”boxed”]Typically, I write out my ideas and refine them in a conversation with others.[/quote]
As president and co-owner of an ActionCOACH Business Coaching firm in Miami, Jody Johnson works with clients to help them realize their dreams through thriving and successful businesses. “When business owners and their teams have their needs met the next most natural thing for a human being is to be of service. They can’t do that if they are working 60+ hours a week or more and are exhausted.” “Our mission is to raise the household income levels in South Florida above the national average by transforming the economic landscape in South Florida.”
Jody’s desire to help people coupled with her entrepreneurial drive led her to ActionCOACH in early 2006. Through her business coaching firm, Jody employs her passion to make a difference in the lives of her clients, their families, our community and in the world. This passion has been noted within the ActionCOACH community of more than 1,200 coaches worldwide. Jody is a platinum level coach and has received multiple awards in the ActionCOACH community including ActionCOACH Best Client Results Award for revenue growth worldwide, ActionCOACH Coaches Choice Award for Excellence in 2011 and the Global ActionMAN Award for Excellence in 2011. She has consecutive placement in the monthly “Top 100 Coaches” worldwide list and monthly “Top 20 Coaches” in the national list since ranking was instituted over 4 years ago. ActionCOACH Team Sage received the South Florida Business Leader Magazine’s Top 100 South Florida Small Businesses Award in 2011 and Jody was named one of Top 50 Entrepreneurs out of 3,500 applicants by South Florida Business Leader Magazine in 2012.
What are you working on right now?
Right now I am working on a draft of a speech I will be giving this week at Toastmasters and an outline for an upcoming panel discussion on upcoming economic opportunities for small businesses in South Florida. I’m also working on new business development and getting client results in their businesses.
Where did the idea for ActionCOACH Team Sage come from?
The idea to become a coach really presented itself to me. Someone I knew asked me if I would consider being their business coach. I had done a good bit of pro bono coaching, but I wasn’t affiliated or certified by a specific coaching organization. So I knew that if I was actually going to make coaching a full time job I needed to make sure that they were getting what they needed to grow their business and I knew all that I needed to about being an effective advisor. So I decided to interview several coaching franchises and models. I chose ActionCOACH because it was clearly the best and I’ve never looked back since.
What does your typical day look like?
A typical day for me is a combination of working with clients, new business development, building community relationships and contributing to the non-profit sector . Every single morning we start off with a team huddle and recap the previous workday and discuss our top five accomplishments we hope to have for the coming day. We also share where we can be in support of one another.
How do you bring ideas to life?
Typically, I write out my ideas and refine them in a conversation with others.
What’s one trend that really excites you?
Upcoming changes in South Florida and the opportunities for small business owners to grow their businesses and achieve wealth.
What was the worst job you ever had and what did you learn from it?
I’ve had horrific days, but I honestly have never had a worst job experience.
If you were to start again, what would you do differently?
I would stay in my natural flow and I would develop my strengths more keenly instead of spreading out into areas that are not in my strength zones.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Understanding your financials. At any given moment, I can tell you where we are with our weekly cash flow, projections and budget. Being on top of their financials is crucial to the success of their business. I also think morning huddles with your team are essential and give people the opportunity to check in and make sure that all is aligned. Learning is also key to owning a successful business. You need to learn before you earn and I am constantly reading and pushing myself to be more knowledgable so I can be of better service to my clients.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
Hiring people that I liked that were not competent in their role. They quickly outgrew their competencies and letting someone go is never an easy thing to do.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Make sure you are functioning in your natural aptitudes and developing them into strengths – stay in your strength zone. Another tip – saving a wage can cost you a fortune. If a task in your business is not a strength, don’t be afraid to outsource – good enough is not good enough – it’ll end up costing you more time and money in the long run.
If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be and how would you go about it?
I believe that when people have their needs met and have the time & money, they will be of service. When businesses are flourishing, it spills pout to everything else – the arts, the music, social programs, goodwill and things can happen in our community because their time and money for it. So I would change the opportunities that are available to small business owners to run their businesses better so they get rewarded for their efforts. And I’m one of the lucky ones, I am actually doing this through the work I am doing in my business.
Tell us a secret.
You are smarter, wiser and more capable than you know.
What are your three favorite online tools or resources and what do you love about them?
- Blogging because it creates and maintains an ongoing dialogue with people you want to connect with.
- Business online tools like Profit Sense because they allow you to benchmark your business against other companies in different areas, industries, etc. Website analytics are very, very interesting. They are the science we didn’t know how to tap into that we now have. I think it’s amazing to know what people are looking at on your website – it is marketing gold.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
My current favorite book is Great By Choice by Jim Collins.
Three people we should follow on Twitter?
Kaihan Krippendorff, Brad Sugars and Vern Harnish
When was the last time you laughed out loud? What caused it?
Saturday night when I was spending time with my brothers and sisters.
Who is your hero?
My parents – I am truly blessed to have been raised by wonderful people who happen to have been successful business owners in South Florida.
I am also in awe of Kerry Gruson and Harry Horgan of Shake-A-Leg Miami. Not only are they extraordinary sailors, but they are social activists who have developed boating programs for people with disabilities and disadvantaged youth. Both of them have been wheelchair bound since being young adults and have played enormous roles in integrating able and disabled communities in South Florida.
How important is your ability to communicate to your success?
Communication is the response you get and 97% of communication is non verbal. What are you communicating?
What’s my favorite thing to do to relax and reset?
Go sailing.
Connect:
Jody Johnson’s Phone: (305) 285-9264
Jody Johnson’s Email: [email protected]
ActionCOACH’s Website:
ActionCOACH on Facebook:
Mario Schulzke is the Founder of ideamensch, which he started a decade ago to learn from entrepreneurs and give them a platform for their ideas.