How To Build A Successful Business and Family feat. Latrice Claiborne

Chris Davis 0:00
Welcome, everyone to another episode of The all systems go Podcast. I’m thankful and excited that you, you decided to tune in again. And today. Today, I have someone from the family of automation. Okay. And this is our guest is Latrice Clairborne. And she is the owner and founder of Trinity business solutions. As a tech tools fanatic, she is up to date on all the latest tech trends. And those systems and automation like the back of her hand. Do you all see why I said she’s part of the family. I’m not done. I’m not that she’s been able to scale her business to multi six figures while at home with her children and husband of 11 years. First off, I’ve read that but I just realized what I was reading congratulations for the congrats well this week. Happy Happy early anniversary, and is helping other business owners attain the same freedom that she experiences daily Latrice not only has the know how to get your systems and automations running, she has the passion to help you grow and succeed. With tech solutions and marketing automation. Latrice welcome to the podcast. I’m so honored that you decided to come on and bless us with your experience. How’re you doing?

Latrice Claiborne 1:32
Thank you. Thank you, I appreciate it. Let me first say that I have been listening to the podcast for a very, very long time. You are probably the first person that I heard really talking about systems and automation in this way. Because you’ve been thankful a minute of you guys got some years on you. And I do I do. Before it was popular before systems were like a, you know, a term that people just slid slang around and use. Yeah, you were using it first you were the first person I heard using it in this way. And on a platform like this, everybody was talking about being a business owner and entrepreneur and other things on all the podcasts I was listening to. But this one specifically was very different. Because it was talking about my industry. And I didn’t hear anybody else talking about it in that way. So thank you for the platform. And thank you for your time you put in this industry.

Chris Davis 2:27
Yes. Thank you. You are very welcome. And I receive all flowers. Okay, so I appreciate that. Yes, I appreciate that. So tell us Latrice. I’m familiar a little bit. So let me let me give everybody context, I was able to connect with Latrice prior to recording, not like right before this recording, but we actually had a different call where we just caught up and got to know know one another. So I’m familiar with your your your backstory a bit. But what I wanted to give people insight on when we talk about your journey is often we hear people mentioned systems are unique systems. And everybody’s seen that picture where you just see the feet of the person on the beach. And then they’re like, oh, money’s just coming into my account. And I’m not even doing anything. Look at my pina colada. And oftentimes people there’s such a huge gap between what you see on the front end, and what’s actualized in business. And sometimes sometimes you can get some insight on the back end, like people say, hey, look, here’s how my project management system is going. Here’s how my emails perform this, this and that. But very rarely, very rarely do you see somebody who exemplifies how automation has truly aided them in freeing up their time to achieve a lifestyle that they truly desired. So that’s where I really want to hone in on your journey. And let everybody know first. Did you always were you always a systems person?

Latrice Claiborne 4:02
Yeah, I was. That’s how my brain is wired. My brain is wired to operate in systems. So I say, I have self diagnose ADHD. I know it. I didn’t. I didn’t. I have family members who have been diagnosed and I have a child who has ADHD. I went through testing with him and all the studying all the things, reading all the things. And while I was reading, I was like, Oh, wow, check all these boxes. This is great. So I just knew I was like, oh, okay, got it. Boom. But I realized that my brain has been wired to figure out to restructure a system to figure out how it works in each season. So even when I was a kid, I knew I wanted to get things done efficiently. I’ve always been a high achiever. I always wanted to do more to to learn more, to achieve more to do better. And sometimes I would get frustrated with like, What is wrong with why why is this not working for me? Okay, you need to figure out how you work most efficiently. So I always did A system My mom was a school teacher. And during the summer, she would go back to school early to prepare for the kids to come back. And she would leave us a list of like, look, this is everything y’all got to do. When I come home and pull that driveway, everything from this list better be done. That to me was like, Why is this so out of order? Who just leaves a list? Just a list? Like a list? Who does that? Yeah. So every day I would take her list, I would create a list for me and my siblings, everybody had a checklist. And I will break this list down into sections of the house, who’s going to do this first. And in what order they were supposed to complete each test drove them crazy. They were like, like, why are you so bossy? No, because it’s out of order. And we just need to get this in order. And that’s just how my mind has always worked in processes and structural systems, is how it’s always worked. And then I coupled that with software and tech tools. And it was just a beautiful match. But I’ve always been on some person.

Speaker 1 5:59
I think we really aligned on that word order. If if you talk to anybody in my life, I am a stickler for order. It don’t tell me what to do, and not give me the agency to do it in the correct order. It drives me crazy, when people in business focused on the right thing at the wrong time. That’s right. And it’s like, look, you’re just launching, you don’t even have an audience right now. Please don’t focus on your logo. You’re here, you’re out of order. Let’s get some leads coming in. Let’s validate the idea. You know, so order is huge. I’m pleased to hear that come out your mouth, your your professional, your professional career started where?

Latrice Claiborne 6:46
So actually, initially first, I’ve actually been working since I was a teenager and childcare. That is a long time dream of mine to get back to working with children in a different capacity. Oh, nice children that are not as fortunate as some of us. So that’s, that’s a dream of mine in the long run. But Initially it started in childcare. And even then, with children’s systems have to come in place your kids not gonna run me crazy, y’all. Y’all know about to come here at the food. Yes, we may structure and really just consuming how how they learn what makes this kid thrive. And how this one learns this thing. It was amazing to me. So I started off in childcare. And then I started, I always had a brain for marketing. I loved marketing and business and things like that. So then I went to being the marketing and business development for an accounting firm. And it was just like, things that they were giving me were not lining up with what I was doing. They were teaching me stuff that I was like, or giving me things that didn’t seem like it fit under my hat. Like that’s not my responsibility. The first tool they gave me was Infusionsoft and I was like, that has nothing to do with my job. Like, why are you asking me to learn this tool and to teach it to the team. But it was literally just God giving me what I needed and equipping me with the tools I needed to run my business. And throughout that whole position. Although I didn’t love it, I saw seeds constantly being sown of things that I would need for when I got in this position. And it introduced me to how much I really, really loved the tech piece of it. Systems was already a thing and I was in charge of systems there. But then the tech piece and I was like, Oh, wow. Okay, I see I see what’s happening here. Okay.

Speaker 1 8:33
I love it. I love it. So what was your gateway? Like for me? When I look at my story, I had a I didn’t know about marketing, until I’ve failed really hard. And my gateway into into marketing automation was I had a client that was a prominent public speaker. And they just assumed that I knew Infusionsoft. And the truth. I had never heard of it. I’m like an engineer. All my software was like Microsoft and all enterprise stuff. And they were like, Yeah, we’re using Infusionsoft. And if you could figure this out, I’m sure you can’t. You’ve used it right. And right there. I had as a fork in the road, be truthful and say No, I haven’t. Or go with the flow and say, Oh, yes, sure. What that is, and that was the start. That was I jumped in and because I didn’t want to be fraudulent. I dive deep into Infusionsoft connected with the community started following people enrolled in programs, things of that nature and and the rest is history. But what was your gateway from that? That realization that wait a minute, there’s a tech piece that I can cover with the systems. Wait a minute, this is a thing what what was that gateway for you?

Latrice Claiborne 9:49
So I actually didn’t pair the two together initially. I didn’t parents wouldn’t immediately went the tech route. Because that is the you know, oh, shiny object syndrome. Yeah. is the thing that everybody focuses on, like, I need somebody who does. So Tech was the easy segue into it initially, after I stopped my I started my business left my job did all the things that everybody has to eventually do. Once I did that, I then went over into starting offering the contracting services, I got my Infusionsoft certification. But once I got in there, and I started to notice that some of the done for you clients became a headache. Because there was so much that they needed done before the software, and realizing that I’m like, Alright, I have to help them get the system in order. So I need to create some type of framework to help them figure out exactly what they need. And then I realized that most people don’t know what a system is anyway, when you say system, they’re like, oh, Active Campaign, oh, acuity. Okay, keep. So they will throw a random system, I have random software out there and consider that system. So I had to figure out a framework to get my clients to the point where they were ready for me to actually implement the work and make my job easier. So they don’t just have me implement the tool, then they have a headache at the end of it.

Speaker 1 11:11
Yeah, yeah. And I want to, I want to give you a spotlight and let you talk about how you do some of that implementation. So you, you start techy, and then you start to realize, wait a minute, there’s more to it than just the software and hold on the language you’re using is a low law of way, you’re not going to make it hold on, let’s take a step back, get some systems in place, then let the systems determine we’ll strategy then systems and let that determine the software and now we can can reach some success. So you you start moving, you start making some progress, some some revenue, what was it about you that did not sacrifice the home life, when you saw that you could start making more and more and more money?

Latrice Claiborne 11:58
So it didn’t happen like that? What initially happened was I went for the money. And I went for the oh, man, this is this is actually initially I just said, You know what, I’m gonna keep my back. I just had a baby. So I said, You know what, I’m gonna just keep my two kids at home. And I’m just gonna make the difference between what, whatever I was making minus the childcare. Yep. You’re just making it. So I didn’t, I didn’t get into this to be like, Oh, I’m just gonna make all this money. I was like, No, I just want to spend time with my kids. That was, that was the why, wow. But eventually, as opportunity presented itself, and another opportunity and another opportunity. When by the time my youngest became three, at my youngest at that time, became three years old, I then put him in preschool. So I was like, Ooh, I have so much time. I have like, all day when no kids are here. So much done. So I started to pursue it. And opportunity after opportunity started to open up once I continue to invest that time. So subconsciously, it was like a trigger of like, continue to invest the time, continue to make more money, invest the time, keep investing more time. And I was working almost around the clock. So I have my I have my oldest son is very, very, he’s outgoing. He’s very outgoing. And he’s always been a comedian. But one of the things that he used to do all the time is he used to put this work show on and used to always be like, I got work to do. I got work to do. I used to always say that is I first ever I would laugh like oh, what’s what’s the show? And he had a toy laptop. And he was constantly in one day somebody asked him, What are you doing? What are you mocking he was like, my mommy. My mommy always works. And I was like, Well, I failed. Let me go ahead and clock out. Well, there we go. That like, you ain’t gonna remember. Oh, yeah, my mommy take me all these places. We go to the park. We have fun. No, it’s core memory was I got work to do. So I was like, Alright, so I’m failing at this basically. So we need to go ahead and regroup. Take a step back and regroup. And so I got to the point where I was making all the money I wanted to make, I was like, oh, man, this is great. I can hire this person. I can invest in this. We get to travel, we could go here, we get to do these wonderful things, and live this life. That seems so great. But at the end of the day, in the beginning, I started this because I said I had other obligations. I said I wanted to spend time with these kids. I wanted to be a part of everything. I didn’t want to miss a thing. And now here I am just working working working around the clock. So it took me getting to that point to be like, okay, cool. I literally scrap everything and start it from scratch again. I started from scratch with I had so many team members, I had all these things. And it was just so so much of a requirement for me it was so time consuming. Whether I was doing the work or not. I was still having to meet with people. We’ll do assessments, train people doing marketing, we launched in something else that we launched. And again, I have retainer clients, it was just consuming my life. And I didn’t like it. So I literally started from scratch. And I was like, Alright, let’s start again, we’re gonna scrap these offers, and we will start over with something that is sustainable for my life. And I had to really, really make the sacrifice.

Chris Davis 15:25
Alright, so that we get into it, everyone. So this is good, this is good. You said, I started over and and I cringed for all of my inventor, founder, big visionaries, right? Because this is often was required, a lot of times somebody bring me into their, to their company. And I tell them all the time, the worst thing you could do is have success doing things the wrong way. Because you just built this terrible just Frankenstein bolted solution system. And I come in, and I’m essentially going to tell you, this thing, ain’t gonna take you where you need to go. Now, trust me, I’ve learned how to not just give anesthesia to the to the patient and knock them out. I can operate while they’re woke now, you know, but this idea of man, we got to start over, they often think of everything that they’re letting go of everything that was working, and is they don’t see, the greater later that will be in front of them. So in your time, I think I know the answer to this. But was it hard for you to hit that reset button? And what? What did that look like? Did you just take your website down? Did you just redirect the the the checkout pages? Like what was that process?

Latrice Claiborne 16:53
So for me, it was more internal than it was? Yeah, but anybody else would notice externally. I had a large team, I had about 15 people. And it was large for what I didn’t because I consider like, Oh, I’m gonna get a VA and then we just go meet her gonna rock out. That’s yeah, that was the initial plan was we just me and this girl we gonna rock out? Then it evolved to? I was like, wait, wait a minute, why don’t have all these people? And why am I doing all these things? I, I don’t know what to do. So I had to cut people, I had to restructure and move certain people who are not in the right place. And to really get to the place where like, am I being the type of leader that I need to be for these people? We’ll have enough thinkers at the top and strategist there or do I have a bunch of execution lists that can just do tasks, I can check off a box, I had to really focus on that. And that was rough. And then the year prior to that, not even a whole year, the year prior to that I had invested so much money in all of these experts that were to come in and restructure my agency. And they did all of this work. And then I also did all of these trainings with my team. So in my mind, I’m looking at how much money did you spend on experts? How many 10s of 1000s of dollars did you spend, hire did the best of this person to come in? And how much money did you spend training your team to do all these things and creating all these processes that now you want to just start from scratch with all the processes again, have you lost your mind, but I’m like, Okay, I’m gonna lose my mind one way or the other. So I lose my mind sitting here, considering the business this way, or I’m gonna have a shot at getting it back if I start over, because I was like pulling my hair out at that point, and not really sleeping and we even had more retainer clients, then we had the capacity to handle at that time. So it was like, everybody was stretched too thin all across the board. So I had no choice but to start over and create a good shot at creating exactly what I wanted to see.

Chris Davis 19:10
Mm hmm. Man, this this is so good. Listen, everybody. You have two people deep in the automation space. Listen to the conversation we’re having around success and growth. A lot of it that people just leap over is mindset. Right? I can’t even get to the execution of a thing. If my mind ain’t there. And for you, I see. You saw you you you took on that leadership mindset and said wait a minute, hold on. If in order to get to where I really want to get to. It’s gonna be some changes. I take these luxuries that you put so much money you had invested so much impact I have a, I cringed with you because I found I found that to be true for me in my corporate career. And after having enough student loans to buy a second house, right? And eight years in, I’ve got my Masters. I’m like, Man, I’m well decorated, respected in the space. I don’t want to do it anymore. And nobody in my family is really entrepreneurial, didn’t have a friend support system that’s like, Yeah, do it. They’re like, what are you thinking, like, you went to school for too long. Remember all those late nights studying. And that was in my head for like, to I lasted two more years than I should have in the corporate world, because of that. But similar to you, you get to a point where you’re just like, you know, what, if I don’t do this, I’m gonna be going crazy either way, but I rather be crazy. On the side of man, there’s so much more potential. And my mind is freed up so much more. And I’m in control, really? So I did, I have to highlight that and commend you for that. Because now I would imagine, after you make this shift will let me not easily jump over.

Chris Davis 21:09
I know you, you talked about children in the beginning, and you said you really love working with kids, and especially those without access to resources that most people aren’t, or some, some demographics do. And what I heard is a heart to truly help the helpless, right? So I have to, I just have to imagine, somewhere in that process, when you look at the additional 12 folks that you got on, you’re gonna have to let go of like, 10 of these jokers. I had to imagine that was a heavy heart pool. And you’re like, oh, what they need money to? And I promised them this. How? What was your? How did you get through that?

Latrice Claiborne 21:53
Yeah, so with the people, that’s the biggest piece of I would say, people don’t like people management, a lot of times, it’s because it’s always like this, you know, people are difficult and people aren’t it. For me, it’s not as much that as it is the man, I can connect it with these people. Like we build relationships. I know the kids, your daughter gonna be on the Zoom, we know Monday, like it’s a thing where we just get so so connected. And for me, that’s my struggle more. So then the, Oh, I heard y’all just so difficult. And y’all just get on my nerves. That’s not this is not that. For them, I gave them plenty of notice. So that they were able to transition out so that they had time they were able to transition out, I also placed a couple of people. So for example, I had one client that we were getting rid of in that season. And I was like, I just can’t do it anymore. So I took the team member on my team who was already serving that client behind the scenes. And I put her on the front end and was like, Look, contract right here, you ready to go, you want it. Cool. So I paired a couple people with specific contracts. And then I helped support them in other areas as well, just making sure that they were placed in the right place. Some of them had business ideas of their own that they wanted to do. And they just needed support and structuring them. I got programs for days that I hadn’t done for years. So I was like, boom, here, take a program here. This is just to help you build your business, whatever resources I have to help you to move along and your business or your career. Yeah, I got you. And that made me feel better. They had no hard feelings about the transition. But that made me feel better about the transition was because okay, I feel like I’ve done something to help you move forward and the rest of your life. Yeah,

Speaker 1 23:39
yeah, that’s the hard part, right? The heart in business that a lot of people want to separate. Hey, it’s not businesses. It’s not personal. It’s business. And I crane so much when I hear that, because everything is personal. On some level, it just is what it is. And to see you take that action now let’s be clearly let’s be clear, and fully honest here. You could have told them, hey, I’m shutting down. Here’s your two week notice 30 day notice shut down not place them not giving them any resources, and still not been wrong. That would not have technically been Oh, she did me so wrong. Business had to make a shift. Look, you weren’t part of it. Sorry. Great work, if you need a testimonial Gotcha. But by the 30 F be gone, you know, tight. And that’s happened many times. So it’s no knock against somebody that would have taken that approach. But you see, what I see is seeds planted. Right when you take that extra step, that extra care, because you just never know. And I’m always thinking the trees. I’ve been on the short end of that decision many times in my career professionally and as an entrepreneur, so I know how it feels, and how dare I be the catalyst to that feeling in someone else’s life. It’s just, it’s not that deep to me in terms of business. success if I have to sacrifice people along the way, you know? Absolutely. So that’s. So this is this is so good. So now we get to the transition, you got the lean team now the tree’s lean team, you’re, you’re more aware now of what the system needs to look like, you’re more aware of listen, I can’t be mommy always working, you can’t be impersonating me no more. What were the next steps when it came to? Well, let me say this, what systems were the first that you had in place to start to leverage this new direction.

Latrice Claiborne 25:40
So what’s funny is I actually literally just went back to the basics. When I first started my business, I was extremely disciplined. I was extremely disciplined, I had such a structure in place, because again, I had at that time, two kids at home, one toddler and a two year old and a newborn. So at that time, I literally needed to leverage every little, teeny little chunk of time, I got to be super productive, and be super efficient in that little bit of time, because I wasn’t going to get a lot of time to work with them having a need and all the things. So I literally just went back to the basics, my basics of time management that I used to use my time blocking my task batching, my Pomodoro technique that I used to use all the timers, all those things, I went back to literally just blocking off chunks of my time and batching tests for specific times a day, and that tremendously helped me. But you know, all the basic things that you automate your scheduling, your onboarding, your Legion, all that stuff was already working. And I had learned so much because I had done so much in all those years, I was able to get all the data, and I knew what works my audience now I don’t have to guess like I did in the beginning. I know what works, I know what doesn’t, I had created a really nice efficient process for my content, to wear out a nice repurposing content process, creating the content and bulk, chop it up in small pieces, repurpose the little videos in multiple different platforms. I had a great process that made me seem like I was doing a lot and I was everywhere. So I’ll see somebody I have local people who like a church person from church that sees me on social media doesn’t really understand what I do. They’re not on my business. So they all know that my mom is still don’t know what I do. So now understand what we do. They don’t get it. It’s always like, what can you tell me what you do again, and we just go

Chris Davis 27:31
can you fix my computer?

Latrice Claiborne 27:34
Just add some or all my Kindle app on my iPad girl. I can’t help you today. I can’t. We had to FaceTime me from one phone to look at the Kindle. Yeah. So I ended up having people from church and stuff. They’ll look and they’ll be like, Oh, you’re a busy lady. And I’m like, no, actually. But it just appears that I’m everywhere. I’m doing all the things. I batch everything. I’m on a podcast now. But I’m going on podcasts and in meetings all day. Because everything is segmented everything has a day. Everything has a place that it goes as a position and a place that it goes in. And that system has really, really simplistically worked for me and I literally went back to the basics of what meant a lot to me back then what disciplinary things that I have in place. What did I do, then that I really got laksa days ago on in this season that I need to get back to, that helps me to maximize my time in the I typically work if people are like what I typically work two, four hours a day, two to four hours a day, Monday through Friday, my two year old is here I have another kid, a two year old two year old always here with me. And I work two to four hours a day and meet him we’d be chilling, we go places we have fun, we have a good time. And that is important. That’s important to me. And so I had to really, really okay, what’s gonna let me figure out what in this business fits into my life, do these offers align with the life that I want, if these offers require me to be working nonstop all the time at your every beck and call helping you with this launch and this thing and if that’s what that requires, that doesn’t fit into my life. So I need to restructure my offer, so that the offer is aligned with the life that I want. And I have to put in the work to make this offer successful. Running on the Legion, on the marketing on all those things on the client experience. I have to do that on the front end to make this work and really trust that this is going to be profitable for me create the strategy to make this profitable so that I can live the life that I want. Mm

Chris Davis 29:43
hmm. This is so good. Listen, everybody, if if it’s not good to you as good to me, so that mission accomplished. I have to say this, I have to say this and I’m interested in your feedback. You talked about getting back to the basics, and this is a theme on the previous POC hairs on my head. Tanya, she was talking about the importance of blocking off time and scheduling. So you two are aligned in ain’t even met each other probably. So there’s a theme here. Now I want to I’m, I’m burning asked this question because you also mentioned church members. So I had a pastor friend once that was working full time and pastoring. And you’ll be like, when I come off this job, I’m going to tear the church up, we’re going, we’re going higher, you know, this isn’t that. Then he comes off the job minister total opposite. Like you saw a downturn. And I was like, what happened? And years later, I looked up and I say, You know what? That job was creating structure for him. Yeah, he was thriving in that structure. And when that Job was removed, and you no longer had to wake up at 6am.

Latrice Claiborne 30:50
Today, right, so,

Chris Davis 30:53
yes, so would you say Latrice? Would you say that the kids helped you, when you were getting back to the basics, make sure you were structured and discipline because you literally did not have all the time in the world to fool around and just kind of figure it out?

Latrice Claiborne 31:09
Yeah, it’s funny. I’m in a group chat with different entrepreneurial friends of mine. And literally today, maybe about an hour ago, one of my entrepreneur friends in the group chat, she’s the one in the group chat who has older kids who are middle and high school. And so she has all day and she has an office, and she goes to her office and works and the rest of us have small children. So for her today, she literally just an hour ago was like, Yo work is today because I’m just hanging out. I don’t you know, I’m tired. I don’t feel like working today, my mind is all over the place. I didn’t record a video content. I did this and I’m just kind of hanging out. And it’s funny because she has that flexibility. But for us, there’s that drive that’s like, Oh, hold on, he taken a nap. Oh, god. No, no, you got you got an hour and 45 minutes, max, approximately hour, 45 minutes. Let’s go. And you’re gonna take advantage of every single minute. It keeps you discipline because you know, I can’t take this time for granted. Here’s coming back in a second. Let’s roll. Let’s roll. So I know exactly. I’m keeping an account of how much time I have, and how to structure what I do. Okay, I can we can do learning at this time. I actually homeschooled my kids for a year, and I’m going back to homeschooling them next year. But I homeschool them for a year. And my husband was literally saying the other day during that year, I homeschool them. I was pregnant with another child. And I had all these clients, I had all this stuff going on. And my husband was like What in the world? What? What am I? What are you feeding yourself? Right? Because what is going on? Because, I mean, I did four launches for myself. During the time that I was pregnant. I was doing homeschool, I had clients, I had team members. I mean, I was out here for me, it’s the more pressure that’s put on me, the more I’m like, Alright, let’s go, let’s go, we got to, let’s keep the structure in place. And it’s the structure that helps me to thrive, I thrive in structure. And when I feel like I have all this time, and I feel like I have all this space in this room. I’m just I’m just gonna chill. And I’m gonna hang out a little bit and get a little lazy and kind of like discipline in certain areas. And a lot of people are the same way.

Chris Davis 33:27
Yeah, notice that’s good. What is your team size? What does your team consist of now?

Latrice Claiborne 33:34
Just five people. So I like it. I like it. It’s just a five, but even still, in that. I have a couple on retainer. So I have an executive assistant on retainer. My Operations Manager is also on retainer. And not that those two are the most important, but right there. I can’t do it. I just put him I just can’t, I’m not showing up. Because I can’t. I also have a VA, and she helps me with like tech projects and different things like that. And then I have a copy person. And then as myself, it’s just the five of us. And it’s simple. And my copy person doubles and she supports my membership like in my Facebook group for my membership. Absolutely. But other than that, it’s very simple. It’s nice, quick, easy, seamless process team meetings are quick and easy. Everybody is on the same page. And and now and I love it because it doesn’t require as much for me, but also, I like that they are also able to live a life first. They have a life first business as well. It’s not all about me, me me and what can you do for my company and all that I love what is creating for them as well and it’s exposing them to different ways that they can live their life while also having a business.

Chris Davis 34:56
So this is I think it all hopefully it came for circle for you, everyone, all my listeners Latrice start with 12 people, or what did you say? 50? I don’t know where I got 12 from 15. Right? 1515. Okay, working long hours, she had a son in person eight, okay, goes to five people, two to four hours a day, one would say, Well, you’ve downsized your team. Two thirds, you’ve got to you’re operating at a third of that capacity. And if we were just going to assume that you were working eight hours, well, now you’re working two to four. So that’s at least minimizing your work hours by 50%. Surely your revenue has decreased by at least 50%.

Latrice Claiborne 35:49
So no, there was a season where my revenue did decrease a little bit, what I didn’t take an account for was the building. So there’s that one season, where you switch your offers. Yeah. So now you have to stop taking on more people for the thing that you know, like the back of your hand at work, Discovery calls in my sleep with my hands tied behind my back. Listen, I could do those easily. Close people complete the projects, assign it to the people that need to go to boom, boom, boom, QA done back to the person, easy process. But then there’s that little bit of time where you have to stop taking on more people with the thing that you know, and you have to pause and spend time creating something new, you can’t just create any old rough draft of something and throw it out there. Because now you’re integrities on the table. So you have to create something, refine it. Now I have to relearn, what am I offering? How am I pitching this to people? How am I selling this? How am I restructured it and for me, a lot of it was a transition from doing as much done for you. And going over to the DIY, like the programs and those things are two different beasts, two completely different beasts, the messaging is different, the audience is different. How you’re getting them to actually purchase this thing and join this program, completely different. So there was that little step at a time where it’s like, alright, we got to figure out how to do something brand new. Just when I was telling someone I was like, man, just when I thought I had business figured out. I was like, Wait, it’s my first day. I don’t know. It’s my first day on the job, everybody, please show me grace. I don’t know what I’m doing help. And there’s that little piece of time where you have to do that. And what that did was, money was not the same for a little while because I was like, okay, but I’m gonna be diligent in the learning I have to add to be diligent and learning this new process, setting up a new system, creating new offers, because if I just throw any old thing out there, my integrity is that question.

Chris Davis 37:52
Yeah, I love it. I love it. You have to. I hope you all are seeing the real, what’s really taking place behind the scenes. There’s no switch that you’re gonna hit in business. Listen, we are automation specialists. This is what we do get. Put a process on the table right now. And it will be automated in a matter of minutes. Especially like right now, the trick is if I had a hot seat and hit a button, somebody comes on. There’s enough brain power right here. But we got your whole business in 30 minutes, right? That that’s not an issue that we got it checkbox. However, you there is no switch that just because I know how to do that, that I money’s just gonna start pouring in. And, and there’s other things involved. I’ve got to make sure this new offer is aligned. It’s a whole nother onboarding and back end fulfillment for this new offer, then the second one, and that’s another part about success, especially in a space of automation that I need people to understand. I know it sounds so good. Landing Page, Active Campaign, high level kartra Whatever you want to say, links tags. Oh, and then look at this money. I get it. I promise you I do is just so much more that’s involved. And again, I love the fact that you were able to endure for a time. That’s it. That’s it’s sometimes we just lack endurance the trees

Unknown Speaker 39:30
is that that word right there.

Latrice Claiborne 39:34
You will have to have an entrepreneurship.

Unknown Speaker 39:36
Oh, perseverance and indoors.

Speaker 1 39:41
We’re not we are not above it. Yes, we can automate but we’re still subject to the principles of building business and running a business sustainably. You know, so I want to I want to publicly acknowledge that that was a huge part. I have success for you is the the ability to endure for a season, you didn’t take the temporary drop in revenue as well, this ain’t work. Yeah. And sometimes it’s just that

Chris Davis 40:17
the right.

Latrice Claiborne 40:20
So that word you said is the big piece for a lot of us, we can do a lot and get a nice boost and revenue. Or we can do something that seems to work for time. But it’s that sustainability. And for most people, I cannot tell you the amount of seven and eight figure business owners that we have served that have been clients that have built businesses to that point, where at, oh, we’re at 12 million a year, we’re talking 8 million a year, but we have no systems in place, we have a whole entire mess in the back end. And they have all the things except for the systems. So now everything in the business is shaken, it’s because you have no foundation. And so the systems build the sustainability that you need to actually keep you going. So if you don’t have

Speaker 3 41:13
systems, you got to continue to listen to the podcast.

Chris Davis 41:17
Listen to some systems, folks now. perfect segue. First off, I can just so you know, I could talk to you forever. I’m already I’ve got my timer telling me, Chris. So I’m gonna add here to my process. Two questions. One, I want to give you the floor so you can talk about how you help clients and where they can get in touch with you. But before that, if someone were to ask you right now, at the time of recording this, I know it changes the trees. But right now your top three tools, software, let me be specific, top three software, that if you started a new business today, that’s your that’s on your roster. I gotta have this this and that. What with those top three? New business? Yep,

Unknown Speaker 42:04
yep. Oh, man.

Latrice Claiborne 42:06
Now, if you just beginner, if you’re just a beginner, and you’re focusing on getting leads in booking these appointments, which you should onboarding the leads, which is extremely important, and managing the money. Yeah, basic, basic, basic, before we get into high level stuff, that’s extra, and all those things. I initially would choose something to schedule appointments with EZ scheduler, basic thing you can do, most basic thing you can set up as a scheduler acuity can only somebody find somebody and then a dubsado something to automate your whole onboarding process from them, booking the appointment with you getting with you on the calendar to you sending a proposal, it automatically signs contract signs, the invoice, collects the payment system, onboarding, emails, questionnaires, all the things gives them a portal. And then whatever financial tool you’re gonna use, if you are just beginning, I would choose those three. Now, if you are already in business, we got a different text. But if you’re just beginning you need to be able to get the leads in somewhere, you need to be able to book appointments, and you need to be able to manage the money. That does not mean go with your personal money. Yeah,

Chris Davis 43:18
yes, absolutely. All right. Listen, it’s a loaded question. Latrice, I struggle answering it even when I asked you, I’m just like, actually, I would choose this one if they were this, this, so I get it. So in closing, people have listened to you talk. They’re they’re intrigued by your story. They’re, they’re encouraged by everything that you’ve been able to do. And perhaps there’s somebody listening, that’s like, Man, I’m trying to get lean to grow. And now I have the blueprint, give people a little more insight of what you do in your company, and then how they can get in touch with you.

Latrice Claiborne 43:54
So our goal is to help business owners streamline how they work and earn in their business. So we first figure out the system for how you work. And then we figure out the tools in the software that match with that system to help you earn more money. You can go to get systems support.com all the ways that we work with people we work with you on a done for you basis, or DIY, we have programs and a membership, or we also offer a tech and automation setups. And we offer VIP days as well for those of you who are launching because we know how much goes into a launch. So you get systems support.com I also have another free resource called the automation quiz. And the automation quiz is an amazing way for you to see kind of what’s possible with other areas outside of sales, marketing, things like that. Other things that you can automate in your business it helps you to see what’s possible. So automation dash quiz.com is a great resource just for you to kind of get your feet wet and kind of see where you are with your on your automation IQ.

Chris Davis 44:59
Yes, you Yes, thank you for that Latrice. And thank you so much for coming on to the podcast,

Latrice Claiborne 45:06
I appreciate it.

Chris Davis 45:07
I’m so grateful for people like you, that have really done a great job with operating in integrity with integrity in a space, where we know we know what the others are doing. So it takes that much more, because you see money, you do see money that you could get, if I just put a little bit of this integrity to the side, I think I can double, right maybe even triple. But to stay on that path and to continue to operate with a heart. And of course, the space of automation done for you. Do it yourself. Listen, if you’re looking for reputable people, I’m praying that this podcast in its totality from the people that have gone through my program and are certified to people like the trees, you cannot say I don’t know where to go. I don’t know where to start. Where’s the help? Help is here. And hopefully this has been very instrumental in helping you all understand all the resources that you have available the trees. Thank you so much. We’re connected. This is our first time on the podcast won’t be the last. And I just pray and speak as much success continued success in your business, in your marriage and everything. Again, thank you so much for coming on the podcast.

Latrice Claiborne 46:25
Thank you. I appreciate it. All right.

Chris Davis 0:00
Welcome, everyone to another episode of The all systems go Podcast. I’m thankful and excited that you, you decided to tune in again. And today. Today, I have someone from the family of automation. Okay. And this is our guest is Latrice Clairborne. And she is the owner and founder of Trinity business solutions. As a tech tools fanatic, she is up to date on all the latest tech trends. And those systems and automation like the back of her hand. Do you all see why I said she’s part of the family. I’m not done. I’m not that she’s been able to scale her business to multi six figures while at home with her children and husband of 11 years. First off, I’ve read that but I just realized what I was reading congratulations for the congrats well this week. Happy Happy early anniversary, and is helping other business owners attain the same freedom that she experiences daily Latrice not only has the know how to get your systems and automations running, she has the passion to help you grow and succeed. With tech solutions and marketing automation. Latrice welcome to the podcast. I’m so honored that you decided to come on and bless us with your experience. How’re you doing?

Latrice Claiborne 1:32
Thank you. Thank you, I appreciate it. Let me first say that I have been listening to the podcast for a very, very long time. You are probably the first person that I heard really talking about systems and automation in this way. Because you’ve been thankful a minute of you guys got some years on you. And I do I do. Before it was popular before systems were like a, you know, a term that people just slid slang around and use. Yeah, you were using it first you were the first person I heard using it in this way. And on a platform like this, everybody was talking about being a business owner and entrepreneur and other things on all the podcasts I was listening to. But this one specifically was very different. Because it was talking about my industry. And I didn’t hear anybody else talking about it in that way. So thank you for the platform. And thank you for your time you put in this industry.

Chris Davis 2:27
Yes. Thank you. You are very welcome. And I receive all flowers. Okay, so I appreciate that. Yes, I appreciate that. So tell us Latrice. I’m familiar a little bit. So let me let me give everybody context, I was able to connect with Latrice prior to recording, not like right before this recording, but we actually had a different call where we just caught up and got to know know one another. So I’m familiar with your your your backstory a bit. But what I wanted to give people insight on when we talk about your journey is often we hear people mentioned systems are unique systems. And everybody’s seen that picture where you just see the feet of the person on the beach. And then they’re like, oh, money’s just coming into my account. And I’m not even doing anything. Look at my pina colada. And oftentimes people there’s such a huge gap between what you see on the front end, and what’s actualized in business. And sometimes sometimes you can get some insight on the back end, like people say, hey, look, here’s how my project management system is going. Here’s how my emails perform this, this and that. But very rarely, very rarely do you see somebody who exemplifies how automation has truly aided them in freeing up their time to achieve a lifestyle that they truly desired. So that’s where I really want to hone in on your journey. And let everybody know first. Did you always were you always a systems person?

Latrice Claiborne 4:02
Yeah, I was. That’s how my brain is wired. My brain is wired to operate in systems. So I say, I have self diagnose ADHD. I know it. I didn’t. I didn’t. I have family members who have been diagnosed and I have a child who has ADHD. I went through testing with him and all the studying all the things, reading all the things. And while I was reading, I was like, Oh, wow, check all these boxes. This is great. So I just knew I was like, oh, okay, got it. Boom. But I realized that my brain has been wired to figure out to restructure a system to figure out how it works in each season. So even when I was a kid, I knew I wanted to get things done efficiently. I’ve always been a high achiever. I always wanted to do more to to learn more, to achieve more to do better. And sometimes I would get frustrated with like, What is wrong with why why is this not working for me? Okay, you need to figure out how you work most efficiently. So I always did A system My mom was a school teacher. And during the summer, she would go back to school early to prepare for the kids to come back. And she would leave us a list of like, look, this is everything y’all got to do. When I come home and pull that driveway, everything from this list better be done. That to me was like, Why is this so out of order? Who just leaves a list? Just a list? Like a list? Who does that? Yeah. So every day I would take her list, I would create a list for me and my siblings, everybody had a checklist. And I will break this list down into sections of the house, who’s going to do this first. And in what order they were supposed to complete each test drove them crazy. They were like, like, why are you so bossy? No, because it’s out of order. And we just need to get this in order. And that’s just how my mind has always worked in processes and structural systems, is how it’s always worked. And then I coupled that with software and tech tools. And it was just a beautiful match. But I’ve always been on some person.

Speaker 1 5:59
I think we really aligned on that word order. If if you talk to anybody in my life, I am a stickler for order. It don’t tell me what to do, and not give me the agency to do it in the correct order. It drives me crazy, when people in business focused on the right thing at the wrong time. That’s right. And it’s like, look, you’re just launching, you don’t even have an audience right now. Please don’t focus on your logo. You’re here, you’re out of order. Let’s get some leads coming in. Let’s validate the idea. You know, so order is huge. I’m pleased to hear that come out your mouth, your your professional, your professional career started where?

Latrice Claiborne 6:46
So actually, initially first, I’ve actually been working since I was a teenager and childcare. That is a long time dream of mine to get back to working with children in a different capacity. Oh, nice children that are not as fortunate as some of us. So that’s, that’s a dream of mine in the long run. But Initially it started in childcare. And even then, with children’s systems have to come in place your kids not gonna run me crazy, y’all. Y’all know about to come here at the food. Yes, we may structure and really just consuming how how they learn what makes this kid thrive. And how this one learns this thing. It was amazing to me. So I started off in childcare. And then I started, I always had a brain for marketing. I loved marketing and business and things like that. So then I went to being the marketing and business development for an accounting firm. And it was just like, things that they were giving me were not lining up with what I was doing. They were teaching me stuff that I was like, or giving me things that didn’t seem like it fit under my hat. Like that’s not my responsibility. The first tool they gave me was Infusionsoft and I was like, that has nothing to do with my job. Like, why are you asking me to learn this tool and to teach it to the team. But it was literally just God giving me what I needed and equipping me with the tools I needed to run my business. And throughout that whole position. Although I didn’t love it, I saw seeds constantly being sown of things that I would need for when I got in this position. And it introduced me to how much I really, really loved the tech piece of it. Systems was already a thing and I was in charge of systems there. But then the tech piece and I was like, Oh, wow. Okay, I see I see what’s happening here. Okay.

Speaker 1 8:33
I love it. I love it. So what was your gateway? Like for me? When I look at my story, I had a I didn’t know about marketing, until I’ve failed really hard. And my gateway into into marketing automation was I had a client that was a prominent public speaker. And they just assumed that I knew Infusionsoft. And the truth. I had never heard of it. I’m like an engineer. All my software was like Microsoft and all enterprise stuff. And they were like, Yeah, we’re using Infusionsoft. And if you could figure this out, I’m sure you can’t. You’ve used it right. And right there. I had as a fork in the road, be truthful and say No, I haven’t. Or go with the flow and say, Oh, yes, sure. What that is, and that was the start. That was I jumped in and because I didn’t want to be fraudulent. I dive deep into Infusionsoft connected with the community started following people enrolled in programs, things of that nature and and the rest is history. But what was your gateway from that? That realization that wait a minute, there’s a tech piece that I can cover with the systems. Wait a minute, this is a thing what what was that gateway for you?

Latrice Claiborne 9:49
So I actually didn’t pair the two together initially. I didn’t parents wouldn’t immediately went the tech route. Because that is the you know, oh, shiny object syndrome. Yeah. is the thing that everybody focuses on, like, I need somebody who does. So Tech was the easy segue into it initially, after I stopped my I started my business left my job did all the things that everybody has to eventually do. Once I did that, I then went over into starting offering the contracting services, I got my Infusionsoft certification. But once I got in there, and I started to notice that some of the done for you clients became a headache. Because there was so much that they needed done before the software, and realizing that I’m like, Alright, I have to help them get the system in order. So I need to create some type of framework to help them figure out exactly what they need. And then I realized that most people don’t know what a system is anyway, when you say system, they’re like, oh, Active Campaign, oh, acuity. Okay, keep. So they will throw a random system, I have random software out there and consider that system. So I had to figure out a framework to get my clients to the point where they were ready for me to actually implement the work and make my job easier. So they don’t just have me implement the tool, then they have a headache at the end of it.

Speaker 1 11:11
Yeah, yeah. And I want to, I want to give you a spotlight and let you talk about how you do some of that implementation. So you, you start techy, and then you start to realize, wait a minute, there’s more to it than just the software and hold on the language you’re using is a low law of way, you’re not going to make it hold on, let’s take a step back, get some systems in place, then let the systems determine we’ll strategy then systems and let that determine the software and now we can can reach some success. So you you start moving, you start making some progress, some some revenue, what was it about you that did not sacrifice the home life, when you saw that you could start making more and more and more money?

Latrice Claiborne 11:58
So it didn’t happen like that? What initially happened was I went for the money. And I went for the oh, man, this is this is actually initially I just said, You know what, I’m gonna keep my back. I just had a baby. So I said, You know what, I’m gonna just keep my two kids at home. And I’m just gonna make the difference between what, whatever I was making minus the childcare. Yep. You’re just making it. So I didn’t, I didn’t get into this to be like, Oh, I’m just gonna make all this money. I was like, No, I just want to spend time with my kids. That was, that was the why, wow. But eventually, as opportunity presented itself, and another opportunity and another opportunity. When by the time my youngest became three, at my youngest at that time, became three years old, I then put him in preschool. So I was like, Ooh, I have so much time. I have like, all day when no kids are here. So much done. So I started to pursue it. And opportunity after opportunity started to open up once I continue to invest that time. So subconsciously, it was like a trigger of like, continue to invest the time, continue to make more money, invest the time, keep investing more time. And I was working almost around the clock. So I have my I have my oldest son is very, very, he’s outgoing. He’s very outgoing. And he’s always been a comedian. But one of the things that he used to do all the time is he used to put this work show on and used to always be like, I got work to do. I got work to do. I used to always say that is I first ever I would laugh like oh, what’s what’s the show? And he had a toy laptop. And he was constantly in one day somebody asked him, What are you doing? What are you mocking he was like, my mommy. My mommy always works. And I was like, Well, I failed. Let me go ahead and clock out. Well, there we go. That like, you ain’t gonna remember. Oh, yeah, my mommy take me all these places. We go to the park. We have fun. No, it’s core memory was I got work to do. So I was like, Alright, so I’m failing at this basically. So we need to go ahead and regroup. Take a step back and regroup. And so I got to the point where I was making all the money I wanted to make, I was like, oh, man, this is great. I can hire this person. I can invest in this. We get to travel, we could go here, we get to do these wonderful things, and live this life. That seems so great. But at the end of the day, in the beginning, I started this because I said I had other obligations. I said I wanted to spend time with these kids. I wanted to be a part of everything. I didn’t want to miss a thing. And now here I am just working working working around the clock. So it took me getting to that point to be like, okay, cool. I literally scrap everything and start it from scratch again. I started from scratch with I had so many team members, I had all these things. And it was just so so much of a requirement for me it was so time consuming. Whether I was doing the work or not. I was still having to meet with people. We’ll do assessments, train people doing marketing, we launched in something else that we launched. And again, I have retainer clients, it was just consuming my life. And I didn’t like it. So I literally started from scratch. And I was like, Alright, let’s start again, we’re gonna scrap these offers, and we will start over with something that is sustainable for my life. And I had to really, really make the sacrifice.

Chris Davis 15:25
Alright, so that we get into it, everyone. So this is good, this is good. You said, I started over and and I cringed for all of my inventor, founder, big visionaries, right? Because this is often was required, a lot of times somebody bring me into their, to their company. And I tell them all the time, the worst thing you could do is have success doing things the wrong way. Because you just built this terrible just Frankenstein bolted solution system. And I come in, and I’m essentially going to tell you, this thing, ain’t gonna take you where you need to go. Now, trust me, I’ve learned how to not just give anesthesia to the to the patient and knock them out. I can operate while they’re woke now, you know, but this idea of man, we got to start over, they often think of everything that they’re letting go of everything that was working, and is they don’t see, the greater later that will be in front of them. So in your time, I think I know the answer to this. But was it hard for you to hit that reset button? And what? What did that look like? Did you just take your website down? Did you just redirect the the the checkout pages? Like what was that process?

Latrice Claiborne 16:53
So for me, it was more internal than it was? Yeah, but anybody else would notice externally. I had a large team, I had about 15 people. And it was large for what I didn’t because I consider like, Oh, I’m gonna get a VA and then we just go meet her gonna rock out. That’s yeah, that was the initial plan was we just me and this girl we gonna rock out? Then it evolved to? I was like, wait, wait a minute, why don’t have all these people? And why am I doing all these things? I, I don’t know what to do. So I had to cut people, I had to restructure and move certain people who are not in the right place. And to really get to the place where like, am I being the type of leader that I need to be for these people? We’ll have enough thinkers at the top and strategist there or do I have a bunch of execution lists that can just do tasks, I can check off a box, I had to really focus on that. And that was rough. And then the year prior to that, not even a whole year, the year prior to that I had invested so much money in all of these experts that were to come in and restructure my agency. And they did all of this work. And then I also did all of these trainings with my team. So in my mind, I’m looking at how much money did you spend on experts? How many 10s of 1000s of dollars did you spend, hire did the best of this person to come in? And how much money did you spend training your team to do all these things and creating all these processes that now you want to just start from scratch with all the processes again, have you lost your mind, but I’m like, Okay, I’m gonna lose my mind one way or the other. So I lose my mind sitting here, considering the business this way, or I’m gonna have a shot at getting it back if I start over, because I was like pulling my hair out at that point, and not really sleeping and we even had more retainer clients, then we had the capacity to handle at that time. So it was like, everybody was stretched too thin all across the board. So I had no choice but to start over and create a good shot at creating exactly what I wanted to see.

Chris Davis 19:10
Mm hmm. Man, this this is so good. Listen, everybody. You have two people deep in the automation space. Listen to the conversation we’re having around success and growth. A lot of it that people just leap over is mindset. Right? I can’t even get to the execution of a thing. If my mind ain’t there. And for you, I see. You saw you you you took on that leadership mindset and said wait a minute, hold on. If in order to get to where I really want to get to. It’s gonna be some changes. I take these luxuries that you put so much money you had invested so much impact I have a, I cringed with you because I found I found that to be true for me in my corporate career. And after having enough student loans to buy a second house, right? And eight years in, I’ve got my Masters. I’m like, Man, I’m well decorated, respected in the space. I don’t want to do it anymore. And nobody in my family is really entrepreneurial, didn’t have a friend support system that’s like, Yeah, do it. They’re like, what are you thinking, like, you went to school for too long. Remember all those late nights studying. And that was in my head for like, to I lasted two more years than I should have in the corporate world, because of that. But similar to you, you get to a point where you’re just like, you know, what, if I don’t do this, I’m gonna be going crazy either way, but I rather be crazy. On the side of man, there’s so much more potential. And my mind is freed up so much more. And I’m in control, really? So I did, I have to highlight that and commend you for that. Because now I would imagine, after you make this shift will let me not easily jump over.

Chris Davis 21:09
I know you, you talked about children in the beginning, and you said you really love working with kids, and especially those without access to resources that most people aren’t, or some, some demographics do. And what I heard is a heart to truly help the helpless, right? So I have to, I just have to imagine, somewhere in that process, when you look at the additional 12 folks that you got on, you’re gonna have to let go of like, 10 of these jokers. I had to imagine that was a heavy heart pool. And you’re like, oh, what they need money to? And I promised them this. How? What was your? How did you get through that?

Latrice Claiborne 21:53
Yeah, so with the people, that’s the biggest piece of I would say, people don’t like people management, a lot of times, it’s because it’s always like this, you know, people are difficult and people aren’t it. For me, it’s not as much that as it is the man, I can connect it with these people. Like we build relationships. I know the kids, your daughter gonna be on the Zoom, we know Monday, like it’s a thing where we just get so so connected. And for me, that’s my struggle more. So then the, Oh, I heard y’all just so difficult. And y’all just get on my nerves. That’s not this is not that. For them, I gave them plenty of notice. So that they were able to transition out so that they had time they were able to transition out, I also placed a couple of people. So for example, I had one client that we were getting rid of in that season. And I was like, I just can’t do it anymore. So I took the team member on my team who was already serving that client behind the scenes. And I put her on the front end and was like, Look, contract right here, you ready to go, you want it. Cool. So I paired a couple people with specific contracts. And then I helped support them in other areas as well, just making sure that they were placed in the right place. Some of them had business ideas of their own that they wanted to do. And they just needed support and structuring them. I got programs for days that I hadn’t done for years. So I was like, boom, here, take a program here. This is just to help you build your business, whatever resources I have to help you to move along and your business or your career. Yeah, I got you. And that made me feel better. They had no hard feelings about the transition. But that made me feel better about the transition was because okay, I feel like I’ve done something to help you move forward and the rest of your life. Yeah,

Speaker 1 23:39
yeah, that’s the hard part, right? The heart in business that a lot of people want to separate. Hey, it’s not businesses. It’s not personal. It’s business. And I crane so much when I hear that, because everything is personal. On some level, it just is what it is. And to see you take that action now let’s be clearly let’s be clear, and fully honest here. You could have told them, hey, I’m shutting down. Here’s your two week notice 30 day notice shut down not place them not giving them any resources, and still not been wrong. That would not have technically been Oh, she did me so wrong. Business had to make a shift. Look, you weren’t part of it. Sorry. Great work, if you need a testimonial Gotcha. But by the 30 F be gone, you know, tight. And that’s happened many times. So it’s no knock against somebody that would have taken that approach. But you see, what I see is seeds planted. Right when you take that extra step, that extra care, because you just never know. And I’m always thinking the trees. I’ve been on the short end of that decision many times in my career professionally and as an entrepreneur, so I know how it feels, and how dare I be the catalyst to that feeling in someone else’s life. It’s just, it’s not that deep to me in terms of business. success if I have to sacrifice people along the way, you know? Absolutely. So that’s. So this is this is so good. So now we get to the transition, you got the lean team now the tree’s lean team, you’re, you’re more aware now of what the system needs to look like, you’re more aware of listen, I can’t be mommy always working, you can’t be impersonating me no more. What were the next steps when it came to? Well, let me say this, what systems were the first that you had in place to start to leverage this new direction.

Latrice Claiborne 25:40
So what’s funny is I actually literally just went back to the basics. When I first started my business, I was extremely disciplined. I was extremely disciplined, I had such a structure in place, because again, I had at that time, two kids at home, one toddler and a two year old and a newborn. So at that time, I literally needed to leverage every little, teeny little chunk of time, I got to be super productive, and be super efficient in that little bit of time, because I wasn’t going to get a lot of time to work with them having a need and all the things. So I literally just went back to the basics, my basics of time management that I used to use my time blocking my task batching, my Pomodoro technique that I used to use all the timers, all those things, I went back to literally just blocking off chunks of my time and batching tests for specific times a day, and that tremendously helped me. But you know, all the basic things that you automate your scheduling, your onboarding, your Legion, all that stuff was already working. And I had learned so much because I had done so much in all those years, I was able to get all the data, and I knew what works my audience now I don’t have to guess like I did in the beginning. I know what works, I know what doesn’t, I had created a really nice efficient process for my content, to wear out a nice repurposing content process, creating the content and bulk, chop it up in small pieces, repurpose the little videos in multiple different platforms. I had a great process that made me seem like I was doing a lot and I was everywhere. So I’ll see somebody I have local people who like a church person from church that sees me on social media doesn’t really understand what I do. They’re not on my business. So they all know that my mom is still don’t know what I do. So now understand what we do. They don’t get it. It’s always like, what can you tell me what you do again, and we just go

Chris Davis 27:31
can you fix my computer?

Latrice Claiborne 27:34
Just add some or all my Kindle app on my iPad girl. I can’t help you today. I can’t. We had to FaceTime me from one phone to look at the Kindle. Yeah. So I ended up having people from church and stuff. They’ll look and they’ll be like, Oh, you’re a busy lady. And I’m like, no, actually. But it just appears that I’m everywhere. I’m doing all the things. I batch everything. I’m on a podcast now. But I’m going on podcasts and in meetings all day. Because everything is segmented everything has a day. Everything has a place that it goes as a position and a place that it goes in. And that system has really, really simplistically worked for me and I literally went back to the basics of what meant a lot to me back then what disciplinary things that I have in place. What did I do, then that I really got laksa days ago on in this season that I need to get back to, that helps me to maximize my time in the I typically work if people are like what I typically work two, four hours a day, two to four hours a day, Monday through Friday, my two year old is here I have another kid, a two year old two year old always here with me. And I work two to four hours a day and meet him we’d be chilling, we go places we have fun, we have a good time. And that is important. That’s important to me. And so I had to really, really okay, what’s gonna let me figure out what in this business fits into my life, do these offers align with the life that I want, if these offers require me to be working nonstop all the time at your every beck and call helping you with this launch and this thing and if that’s what that requires, that doesn’t fit into my life. So I need to restructure my offer, so that the offer is aligned with the life that I want. And I have to put in the work to make this offer successful. Running on the Legion, on the marketing on all those things on the client experience. I have to do that on the front end to make this work and really trust that this is going to be profitable for me create the strategy to make this profitable so that I can live the life that I want. Mm

Chris Davis 29:43
hmm. This is so good. Listen, everybody, if if it’s not good to you as good to me, so that mission accomplished. I have to say this, I have to say this and I’m interested in your feedback. You talked about getting back to the basics, and this is a theme on the previous POC hairs on my head. Tanya, she was talking about the importance of blocking off time and scheduling. So you two are aligned in ain’t even met each other probably. So there’s a theme here. Now I want to I’m, I’m burning asked this question because you also mentioned church members. So I had a pastor friend once that was working full time and pastoring. And you’ll be like, when I come off this job, I’m going to tear the church up, we’re going, we’re going higher, you know, this isn’t that. Then he comes off the job minister total opposite. Like you saw a downturn. And I was like, what happened? And years later, I looked up and I say, You know what? That job was creating structure for him. Yeah, he was thriving in that structure. And when that Job was removed, and you no longer had to wake up at 6am.

Latrice Claiborne 30:50
Today, right, so,

Chris Davis 30:53
yes, so would you say Latrice? Would you say that the kids helped you, when you were getting back to the basics, make sure you were structured and discipline because you literally did not have all the time in the world to fool around and just kind of figure it out?

Latrice Claiborne 31:09
Yeah, it’s funny. I’m in a group chat with different entrepreneurial friends of mine. And literally today, maybe about an hour ago, one of my entrepreneur friends in the group chat, she’s the one in the group chat who has older kids who are middle and high school. And so she has all day and she has an office, and she goes to her office and works and the rest of us have small children. So for her today, she literally just an hour ago was like, Yo work is today because I’m just hanging out. I don’t you know, I’m tired. I don’t feel like working today, my mind is all over the place. I didn’t record a video content. I did this and I’m just kind of hanging out. And it’s funny because she has that flexibility. But for us, there’s that drive that’s like, Oh, hold on, he taken a nap. Oh, god. No, no, you got you got an hour and 45 minutes, max, approximately hour, 45 minutes. Let’s go. And you’re gonna take advantage of every single minute. It keeps you discipline because you know, I can’t take this time for granted. Here’s coming back in a second. Let’s roll. Let’s roll. So I know exactly. I’m keeping an account of how much time I have, and how to structure what I do. Okay, I can we can do learning at this time. I actually homeschooled my kids for a year, and I’m going back to homeschooling them next year. But I homeschool them for a year. And my husband was literally saying the other day during that year, I homeschool them. I was pregnant with another child. And I had all these clients, I had all this stuff going on. And my husband was like What in the world? What? What am I? What are you feeding yourself? Right? Because what is going on? Because, I mean, I did four launches for myself. During the time that I was pregnant. I was doing homeschool, I had clients, I had team members. I mean, I was out here for me, it’s the more pressure that’s put on me, the more I’m like, Alright, let’s go, let’s go, we got to, let’s keep the structure in place. And it’s the structure that helps me to thrive, I thrive in structure. And when I feel like I have all this time, and I feel like I have all this space in this room. I’m just I’m just gonna chill. And I’m gonna hang out a little bit and get a little lazy and kind of like discipline in certain areas. And a lot of people are the same way.

Chris Davis 33:27
Yeah, notice that’s good. What is your team size? What does your team consist of now?

Latrice Claiborne 33:34
Just five people. So I like it. I like it. It’s just a five, but even still, in that. I have a couple on retainer. So I have an executive assistant on retainer. My Operations Manager is also on retainer. And not that those two are the most important, but right there. I can’t do it. I just put him I just can’t, I’m not showing up. Because I can’t. I also have a VA, and she helps me with like tech projects and different things like that. And then I have a copy person. And then as myself, it’s just the five of us. And it’s simple. And my copy person doubles and she supports my membership like in my Facebook group for my membership. Absolutely. But other than that, it’s very simple. It’s nice, quick, easy, seamless process team meetings are quick and easy. Everybody is on the same page. And and now and I love it because it doesn’t require as much for me, but also, I like that they are also able to live a life first. They have a life first business as well. It’s not all about me, me me and what can you do for my company and all that I love what is creating for them as well and it’s exposing them to different ways that they can live their life while also having a business.

Chris Davis 34:56
So this is I think it all hopefully it came for circle for you, everyone, all my listeners Latrice start with 12 people, or what did you say? 50? I don’t know where I got 12 from 15. Right? 1515. Okay, working long hours, she had a son in person eight, okay, goes to five people, two to four hours a day, one would say, Well, you’ve downsized your team. Two thirds, you’ve got to you’re operating at a third of that capacity. And if we were just going to assume that you were working eight hours, well, now you’re working two to four. So that’s at least minimizing your work hours by 50%. Surely your revenue has decreased by at least 50%.

Latrice Claiborne 35:49
So no, there was a season where my revenue did decrease a little bit, what I didn’t take an account for was the building. So there’s that one season, where you switch your offers. Yeah. So now you have to stop taking on more people for the thing that you know, like the back of your hand at work, Discovery calls in my sleep with my hands tied behind my back. Listen, I could do those easily. Close people complete the projects, assign it to the people that need to go to boom, boom, boom, QA done back to the person, easy process. But then there’s that little bit of time where you have to stop taking on more people with the thing that you know, and you have to pause and spend time creating something new, you can’t just create any old rough draft of something and throw it out there. Because now you’re integrities on the table. So you have to create something, refine it. Now I have to relearn, what am I offering? How am I pitching this to people? How am I selling this? How am I restructured it and for me, a lot of it was a transition from doing as much done for you. And going over to the DIY, like the programs and those things are two different beasts, two completely different beasts, the messaging is different, the audience is different. How you’re getting them to actually purchase this thing and join this program, completely different. So there was that little step at a time where it’s like, alright, we got to figure out how to do something brand new. Just when I was telling someone I was like, man, just when I thought I had business figured out. I was like, Wait, it’s my first day. I don’t know. It’s my first day on the job, everybody, please show me grace. I don’t know what I’m doing help. And there’s that little piece of time where you have to do that. And what that did was, money was not the same for a little while because I was like, okay, but I’m gonna be diligent in the learning I have to add to be diligent and learning this new process, setting up a new system, creating new offers, because if I just throw any old thing out there, my integrity is that question.

Chris Davis 37:52
Yeah, I love it. I love it. You have to. I hope you all are seeing the real, what’s really taking place behind the scenes. There’s no switch that you’re gonna hit in business. Listen, we are automation specialists. This is what we do get. Put a process on the table right now. And it will be automated in a matter of minutes. Especially like right now, the trick is if I had a hot seat and hit a button, somebody comes on. There’s enough brain power right here. But we got your whole business in 30 minutes, right? That that’s not an issue that we got it checkbox. However, you there is no switch that just because I know how to do that, that I money’s just gonna start pouring in. And, and there’s other things involved. I’ve got to make sure this new offer is aligned. It’s a whole nother onboarding and back end fulfillment for this new offer, then the second one, and that’s another part about success, especially in a space of automation that I need people to understand. I know it sounds so good. Landing Page, Active Campaign, high level kartra Whatever you want to say, links tags. Oh, and then look at this money. I get it. I promise you I do is just so much more that’s involved. And again, I love the fact that you were able to endure for a time. That’s it. That’s it’s sometimes we just lack endurance the trees

Unknown Speaker 39:30
is that that word right there.

Latrice Claiborne 39:34
You will have to have an entrepreneurship.

Unknown Speaker 39:36
Oh, perseverance and indoors.

Speaker 1 39:41
We’re not we are not above it. Yes, we can automate but we’re still subject to the principles of building business and running a business sustainably. You know, so I want to I want to publicly acknowledge that that was a huge part. I have success for you is the the ability to endure for a season, you didn’t take the temporary drop in revenue as well, this ain’t work. Yeah. And sometimes it’s just that

Chris Davis 40:17
the right.

Latrice Claiborne 40:20
So that word you said is the big piece for a lot of us, we can do a lot and get a nice boost and revenue. Or we can do something that seems to work for time. But it’s that sustainability. And for most people, I cannot tell you the amount of seven and eight figure business owners that we have served that have been clients that have built businesses to that point, where at, oh, we’re at 12 million a year, we’re talking 8 million a year, but we have no systems in place, we have a whole entire mess in the back end. And they have all the things except for the systems. So now everything in the business is shaken, it’s because you have no foundation. And so the systems build the sustainability that you need to actually keep you going. So if you don’t have

Speaker 3 41:13
systems, you got to continue to listen to the podcast.

Chris Davis 41:17
Listen to some systems, folks now. perfect segue. First off, I can just so you know, I could talk to you forever. I’m already I’ve got my timer telling me, Chris. So I’m gonna add here to my process. Two questions. One, I want to give you the floor so you can talk about how you help clients and where they can get in touch with you. But before that, if someone were to ask you right now, at the time of recording this, I know it changes the trees. But right now your top three tools, software, let me be specific, top three software, that if you started a new business today, that’s your that’s on your roster. I gotta have this this and that. What with those top three? New business? Yep,

Unknown Speaker 42:04
yep. Oh, man.

Latrice Claiborne 42:06
Now, if you just beginner, if you’re just a beginner, and you’re focusing on getting leads in booking these appointments, which you should onboarding the leads, which is extremely important, and managing the money. Yeah, basic, basic, basic, before we get into high level stuff, that’s extra, and all those things. I initially would choose something to schedule appointments with EZ scheduler, basic thing you can do, most basic thing you can set up as a scheduler acuity can only somebody find somebody and then a dubsado something to automate your whole onboarding process from them, booking the appointment with you getting with you on the calendar to you sending a proposal, it automatically signs contract signs, the invoice, collects the payment system, onboarding, emails, questionnaires, all the things gives them a portal. And then whatever financial tool you’re gonna use, if you are just beginning, I would choose those three. Now, if you are already in business, we got a different text. But if you’re just beginning you need to be able to get the leads in somewhere, you need to be able to book appointments, and you need to be able to manage the money. That does not mean go with your personal money. Yeah,

Chris Davis 43:18
yes, absolutely. All right. Listen, it’s a loaded question. Latrice, I struggle answering it even when I asked you, I’m just like, actually, I would choose this one if they were this, this, so I get it. So in closing, people have listened to you talk. They’re they’re intrigued by your story. They’re, they’re encouraged by everything that you’ve been able to do. And perhaps there’s somebody listening, that’s like, Man, I’m trying to get lean to grow. And now I have the blueprint, give people a little more insight of what you do in your company, and then how they can get in touch with you.

Latrice Claiborne 43:54
So our goal is to help business owners streamline how they work and earn in their business. So we first figure out the system for how you work. And then we figure out the tools in the software that match with that system to help you earn more money. You can go to get systems support.com all the ways that we work with people we work with you on a done for you basis, or DIY, we have programs and a membership, or we also offer a tech and automation setups. And we offer VIP days as well for those of you who are launching because we know how much goes into a launch. So you get systems support.com I also have another free resource called the automation quiz. And the automation quiz is an amazing way for you to see kind of what’s possible with other areas outside of sales, marketing, things like that. Other things that you can automate in your business it helps you to see what’s possible. So automation dash quiz.com is a great resource just for you to kind of get your feet wet and kind of see where you are with your on your automation IQ.

Chris Davis 44:59
Yes, you Yes, thank you for that Latrice. And thank you so much for coming on to the podcast,

Latrice Claiborne 45:06
I appreciate it.

Chris Davis 45:07
I’m so grateful for people like you, that have really done a great job with operating in integrity with integrity in a space, where we know we know what the others are doing. So it takes that much more, because you see money, you do see money that you could get, if I just put a little bit of this integrity to the side, I think I can double, right maybe even triple. But to stay on that path and to continue to operate with a heart. And of course, the space of automation done for you. Do it yourself. Listen, if you’re looking for reputable people, I’m praying that this podcast in its totality from the people that have gone through my program and are certified to people like the trees, you cannot say I don’t know where to go. I don’t know where to start. Where’s the help? Help is here. And hopefully this has been very instrumental in helping you all understand all the resources that you have available the trees. Thank you so much. We’re connected. This is our first time on the podcast won’t be the last. And I just pray and speak as much success continued success in your business, in your marriage and everything. Again, thank you so much for coming on the podcast.

Latrice Claiborne 46:25
Thank you. I appreciate it. All right.