The Alimond Show
Welcome to The Alimond Show --join us as we share our entrepreneurial guests' stories, uncover their secrets to success, and explore the unique paths they've taken to build thriving businesses in our community.
In each episode, our host, Aliyah Dastour, sits down with a diverse group of local business owners, from the corner cafe to the boutique shop, from tech startups to family-run enterprises. We peel back the curtain to reveal the trials, triumphs, and transformational moments that have shaped their entrepreneurial journey.
Discover the passion, perseverance, and innovative thinking that fuels these businesses, as well as the challenges they've overcome along the way. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur seeking inspiration or simply a curious listener interested in the stories behind your favorite local spots, The Alimond Show has something for everyone.
Our guests share their experiences, insights, and valuable advice that can empower you to turn your own dreams into reality. We discuss topics like marketing strategies, customer relationships, community engagement, and much more, offering practical takeaways you can apply to your own business or career.
Join us every week as we celebrate the unsung heroes of our local business community and explore the vibrant tapestry of entrepreneurship in our area. Tune in to The Alimond Show and get ready to be inspired, informed, and motivated to support and nurture the businesses that make our community thrive.
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The Alimond Show
Veronica Matthews Founder of VLM Coaching & Consulting, LLC
Are you striving to be a leader who inspires loyalty and drives growth? Prepare to transform your approach with insights from our latest episode featuring the trailblazing founder of VLM coaching and consulting, Veronica Matthews. We navigate the complexities of leadership, dissecting how it can revitalize a languishing corporate culture and bolster employee engagement. You'll learn invaluable strategies for managing remote and hybrid teams, preventing burnout, and mastering the delicate art of giving feedback with compassion. Plus, our guest shares their personal journey from a curious college student to a seasoned HR professional and successful business owner, laying out a blueprint for your own path to success.
This episode isn't just about problem-solving—it's a treasure trove of wisdom for anyone at the helm of a business. We dissect the power of social media in client acquisition, the art of referrals, and the criticality of aligning with a coach who mirrors your core values. Furthermore, we delve into the lifeblood of any successful venture—continual learning and personal well-being. For small business owners, the chapter on self-trust is particularly poignant, offering encouragement to remain focused on your 'North Star' amidst challenges. Join us for an empowering session that promises to instill confidence, reignite passion, and position you precisely where you need to be.
Well, I am founder and chief leadership coach of VLM coaching and consulting, where I transform leadership for organizations so that they can go from high turnover, low employee engagement and low morale in a crazy corporate culture to absolutely having a positive corporate culture and high employee engagement and lower turnover and more effectiveness. My clients will typically reach out to me when they're either experiencing high turnover they're not quite sure what the challenge is and they are really looking for a solution because their employees are leaving in droves, or maybe they're leaving and the exit interviews are identifying that there is a bit of a challenge. So that's when they usually reach out to me, because they want to do something that is going to be effective, and so my coaching and training is effective for those aspects I love that.
Speaker 2:Can you tell me a little bit about when leaders start to get a little bit stressed, what those situations are and how you help guide them?
Speaker 1:through that? Yes, absolutely Well. One thing that the pandemic taught us was that human resources used to be the keeper of employee culture and employee engagement. The pandemic dispersed everyone home, so therefore the managers were the first line for employee engagement and for corporate culture, but they weren't familiar with what to do, because it has always been a human resources function.
Speaker 1:So managers get a little bit stressed out, flustered by leading teams remotely or hybrid, and they have challenges with employee productivity, because there could be a lot of burnout, there could be overwork, and they don't know how to handle that. Or they handled it in a way that backfires, or they handled it in a way that really is not effective and it ends up turning people off. So, therefore, enter in bare minimum Monday and enter in the great resignation and enter in quiet, quitting and anything else, and so managers don't really know how to deal with that, and so they reach out, and what I do is I really help them co-create strategies that are authentic to them and also are effective for their team, because no teams are quite the same, so they really need to be in touch with their team members to identify what they need and then to be able to craft a strategy that helps to fill in those gaps and to support that, and so that's how I'm able to support them in that way.
Speaker 2:They play a pretty important role, then, because I feel like without you there might be a little bit of things not running so smoothly and like tension, and we don't want that because when we're going to work we have to see everybody for a lot of time and days, so that must be like a lot of tension fixing. Can you give me an example of one situation, I guess, where it's been a bit complicated and how you came to resolve it? Whether it's maybe an example like giving feedback that may be a little bit hard to hear? How can we, for anybody listening, I guess, what tips as well, because you give to somebody when we just want to do constructive criticism and we're not attacking you Right?
Speaker 1:Well, interestingly enough, I had one leader that was no-transcript, wanting to be liked, so therefore wasn't providing constructive feedback, because he thought they're not going to like me if I tell them things that they need to improve upon. And I asked him the question of what is more important to be respected or to be liked, and he said how about both?
Speaker 1:I feel like I would say that and I was like, okay, well, let's work with that. So the way to be respected is to actually tell people where they stand, let them know where the gap is and then help them to fill that gap. And then the way to be liked is to always be compassionate, to respect their self-esteem, to help salvage their self-esteem. So you're telling them in a way that is respectful, that is appreciative of their feelings and also is constructive. So we worked through a strategy that was authentic to him and he said I don't have to be afraid of feedback anymore, of giving feedback anymore, because I know that it is for them.
Speaker 1:So when I feel the EBGBs, or when I feel like, oh, they're not going to like me, or when I feel a little discomfort guess what I'm going to breathe. I'm going to lean into it and I'm going to know my talking points to let them know that the behaviors and the productivity that needs to be addressed. This is what it is, this is how I suggest that you do it, but it's up to you. And then this is how I'm going to support you through that. And so if I lean into the fact that it's for them, then I don't have to worry about being uncomfortable.
Speaker 1:And to your question about the constructive feedback. Constructive feedback is beneficial for everyone because it helps the person know where their gaps are and how they can improve. And it also helps the manager, because the manager is now put the ball in their court and let them know that hey, I'm here in the sidelines, ready to support you when you need it. I'm not going to jump in, but I'm ready to support you whenever you need it. So, leaning into the idea that it's not about me, the manager, it's about my employee, and I want to do the best that I can to support them.
Speaker 2:Wow, that's really good man. You know your stuff, don't you? I saw that you have like 28 plus years background in human resources. Tell me your story, like how did you start that job and come to this position now where you are, where you have your own business coaching?
Speaker 1:Okay, Well, when I was in college and trying to figure out what I was going to do, I knew that I am not mathematically inclined, nor am I scientifically inclined. So I'm inclined to work with people, and at the time my sister was a director of human resources and she worked in a union environment and my father was a division chief in the DC government. So I would hear stories about his team and how they don't come to work and how they do things incorrectly and improperly and how he has to discipline them and talk to them and how he was that leader. That was like we all make mistakes, let's fix it and let's get it right so we don't end up here again. My sister, on the other hand, was the intermediary and a lot of employee relations challenges. So I was like this is fantastic, because this is what I'm suited to do solve problems within, through people. And so, upon graduating from college, my first position was in IT. So remember, I told you I'm not scientifically inclined. So I went through a training program and got in the job and I was supposed to create a front end system for insurance agents when they're in their office. I coded and coded and coded, ran the program. Nothing showed up on the screen. So I was like, okay, they're going to fire me, so I am going to head it off at the pass. So I ended up transitioning into my first HR position, which was an HRIS, and then I wanted to go back to the Washington DC area but didn't quite made it, overshot it a little bit, ended up in Richmond and worked for large companies there doing IT recruiting, and then I really wanted to come back to the DC area so I was able to lay my first people manager position and it was an awesome experience. And since then I just continued to work in larger organizations doing employee relations and the employee investigations and lots of training with the managers and working with the managers and doing some coaching. And then that just catapulted my career from there.
Speaker 1:And in 2015, I found out about coaching. Now, granted, coaching was going on all around me, but I didn't realize it and I was even dabbling in it but didn't really know exactly what it was. So after I took that coaching course but before that I had been asking like, what is my purpose and why am I here and what am I here to do? And day two was a three day course in person day two, about three o'clock. I don't know what the instructor was saying, because what I heard was this is your purpose. And ever since then I've just been like really ignited. And so after I finished the program it was about maybe Five months later I started my LLC.
Speaker 1:Okay, and then I intended to work part-time, part-time of the business, full-time still for organizations. And then I said, okay, well, I can have much greater impact if I am actually serving multiple organizations at the time at one time. So to that end, life happened and one of my positions actually released me. So I was like okay, well, I've got the LLC started, I'll go ahead and work that full-time. Unfortunately, I wasn't ready.
Speaker 1:My mindset just was all over the place, kind of on a spiral from that trauma of being terminated. So, long story short, it took me about eight months and then I said, okay, well, let me just get a part-time job because I still want to work by business. So I got a part-time job and it got a little comfortable in it, and so it did. As you know, sometimes doors close because you won't move, and so they transitioned me from an employee into a contractor and then it was all systems go from that point because I was like okay, well, this can't be my only contract, so I was able to secure other contracts and then and so I've been full-time in my business now since July of 2021. Congratulations, yeah, yeah, so yeah.
Speaker 2:That is awesome and I think that's part of your story that maybe your father and your sister may have played like a key influence. Growing up in that environment, hearing those stories, and then your sister's well-being, the intermediate I feel like that totally helped you align your passions with what you're doing now today. Right, absolutely so. I find that sometimes it's hard to find out what we want to do in life, but you kind of had like that foreshadowing around you throughout your life I did, until you got to your business I did and in human resources, as in any position, there are things that you love and there are things that are like do I have to do this?
Speaker 1:So for me, there were key pieces of HR that I was like, do I have to do this? So I gravitated towards the development. So the development of people, the coaching, the training, the employee relations aspects, the investigations for that, unfortunately, that come up. So that's really where I had the guidepost from my father and my sister and then it led me to the nexus of what I'm good at and what gives me light and lights my fire.
Speaker 2:I love that for you. Yeah, thank you. Can you tell me about marketing, like for your business for you? How are you on social media? What about on your website anywhere, like, how are you getting your clients?
Speaker 1:Okay. So, interestingly enough, I don't think my clients come from social media. I would love that to change, though. So my handle on Instagram, facebook and X I guess it's called and also on YouTube, is at VLM Coaching and on LinkedIn as well. So I have my personal profile, veronica Matthews, and then I have a VLM Coaching profile as well, and I love I'm in the video mode now. So I'm doing videos.
Speaker 1:I'm making, you know, kind of off of TikTok trends. I'm kind of following them a little bit. I'm doing informational, I'm asking, answering questions, I'm doing things of that nature, and I think I don't think I'm connected to the right people to really be able to receive that information, like it, follow it, share it, engage with it. So to that end, I am, you know, kind of doing the outward outreach to be able to find those people that would then be able to respond to my information. So I also have a website and I think, because people see me on LinkedIn, they go to my website and they do sometimes engage with me from my website.
Speaker 1:So where do I get my clients? I get my clients from referrals. I receive clients from just people that will say you know they'll through a referral mechanism. They'll say, hey, somebody told me to look you up. Word of mouth, yes, word of mouth, yes. So somebody told me to look you up and I want to talk with you about opportunities. And then it's also the people that I do work with. They'll say, hey, I, you know, I really want to be able to provide a support for you. So I'm going to share your information as well.
Speaker 2:Just the best kind of referral method is word of mouth, because they're experienced with you and they see the results. So speaking on it and telling people is probably. It feels good that people are like, wow, I want to go to her too. That's amazing. Could you give any advice to businesses who are currently considering maybe having you or a coach come in and helping them, any advice on why they should hire you or anybody to help them?
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm. Yes, we're not meant to do life alone, and even in business. So if you are struggling with an issue, it is very important to analyze okay, why am I here? And then get the support you need. And so the support could look like a coach. It could look like a consultant, which is different. So a coach is going to help you uncover the solutions for yourself. A consultant is going to identify the problem and come up with a solution, help you implement it and then go off into the sunset, and so it's a difference in which would you rather and I believe that the while I do both. I believe the coaching is that old adage of if you teach a person to fish, they can fish for a lifetime, and that's what coaching is really helping to build that toolkit that will last you into the future. Now, that same toolkit might not last you a whole full 10 years, so you might need to go back in and refresh a little bit.
Speaker 1:And retool and refresh, and that's where coaching can be that longstanding support and so not doing it alone. And then what to look for? Look for a coach that is aligned with your core values. Right, because your organization has its North Star through your core values. Your core values really tell you and your customers and your employees how to engage with each other, and so a coach that is aligned with that, a coach that really is, has the experience in going in and kind of rebranding on most cultures and really helping them turn things around, helping them get back on the right track, is helpful and also credentialing.
Speaker 1:People will say, yeah, the person does need to be certified. The difference between certification and credentialing is certification You've passed a coaching course. Credentialing is through the ICF. Yes, it is important that the person have trained through the ICF, but the credentialing through the ICF, that just says that another body has a kins out for you. But I think the experience is a lot more important and to that end I would say, in getting the support you need, it's OK if you actually do some sample sessions with a coach really to get that feel of is this the person that is able to challenge me? Is this the person that is able to help my organizational leaders grow, and is this the person that is in it with us right and is able to call us on the things that they see, and then also to be able to help us co-create the strategies that we need in order to be successful.
Speaker 2:Wow, I love that answer so broad and knowledgeable too. You're so soft spoken. Do you feel like that demeanor also helps deescalate things with your clients?
Speaker 1:It really does, because that is a thank you. That is one of the things that I receive a lot, that I'm even tempered, that I'm calm, that I'm laid back.
Speaker 2:I love it Like I could listen to you and just like ASMR or something.
Speaker 1:And that is helpful, because there is that sense of I don't add to the excitement that's already happening. And then I'm also able to model a way of being that is perhaps something that they can find themselves in my being, and then to be able to adapt it for themselves, yes, and then they will be able to see the impact, the ripple effect that it has with their colleagues and with their leaders and with their teams. And so, yes, I do find that it is very helpful.
Speaker 2:Me too, even just hearing you right now I'm just like wow, this girl is calm. Like you're not supposed to yell at your team. Why are you yelling at them and you're yelling at us? You're doing it, so that's great. What do you like to do outside of work when you're not coaching, consulting? What do you like to do to unwind or to In your past times?
Speaker 1:Yeah, Well, I'm a reader and I think that every leader the best leaders are learners. So I'm a reader. I do listen to books a lot and I relax with music. So I love music, I love live music, I love festivals, I love traveling I really want to get some more stamps in my passport and even domestic travel. I just really enjoy that aspect of going to a different place, really identifying what it is that appeals to me and finding it there, and then, if I can't find it, then to see what it is that I can get into. So, yeah, traveling and reading and what kind?
Speaker 1:of music? Do you listen to A lot of jazz. Okay, jazz, you go to. Yeah uh-huh jazz and also just general rhythm and blues and yeah.
Speaker 2:I love that. And where do you wish to travel? Like, give me three destinations that are on your bucket list.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow, okay, so my bucket list are so South America, in I would say Costa Rica in particular, and then Europe would be Great Britain in London. And then not quite on the Asian aspect just yet. So I would say Turks and Caicos.
Speaker 2:Okay, those are nice locations. I hope you fulfill your bucket list and get to relax over there on some beaches or something. Do you feel that taking time off sometimes from a situation could help, or is that like not something that you would recommend to?
Speaker 1:your clients.
Speaker 1:So it would depend on the taking off right. So taking off could look like running away and so we want to make sure that, in the analysis of our taking off, that it is not the avoidance. So as long as we know that it's not avoidance, then, yes, taking off can give some space and some head space and some opportunity to really look at it from a different view. So look at it from stepping back, but also look at it from getting some elevation on it and looking down on the issue and seeing all aspects of it. So, yes, I think that in some cases, taking off can be Really beneficial.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, that's a good point that you just said about. It can seem like you're running away. I never thought of it like that, just like no, I'll be back, guys, I'm just eating. But it can seem like that, right, yes, and then I want to ask you one more question. If you could leave our listeners with any piece of advice or anything that's in your heart, what would that be? It can be in relation to either your industry, music, travel, anything.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this is what is supporting me right now. I would say trust yourself, because if you're a small business owner, you started your business for a particular reason. Whenever things get rough and tough, lean back into that and trust yourself, because there are. I saw, I keep seeing this meme on Instagram that says you know, someone is out there living their best life and doing what you do because they tried, because they got out there. So put yourself out there, continue to stay out there, stay relevant, stay sharp and really just lean into what you do best and you'll find you'll continue to follow your North Star to wherever it is that you are meant to be, and you're meant to be exactly where you are.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's a good one. I love that. You're so inspirational. You got everything ready. You know what to say. I love it. Thank you so much for coming in and giving us your time and knowledge. Thank you, it was my pleasure, enjoy it.