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Here's how AI is going to make your life better.
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And here's how you can do it without AI.
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But redeploying our humans so that they cultivate the relationships with your clients, that's the humanality part.
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And they have to learn to use their critical thinking skills.
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All right, guys.
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Welcome back to Center Stage Podcast.
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My name is Danny Decker, your host today, one of the co-founders here at Spotlight Marketing and Branding.
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And really excited for today's conversation.
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We've got a really great guest joining us, Kristen David, who is the founder of Up Leveling Your Business.
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Her business helps entrepreneurs create thriving businesses that are self-managed.
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Really cool.
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Kristen, thank you so much for being here.
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Thank you for having me.
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I love always spending time hanging out with you, Danny.
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Yeah, 100%.
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So, Kristen, you have been on this podcast before, but it has been a little while.
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So, for folks that don't really know kind of you and your background, I think you've got a super interesting story.
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Do you mind just kind of bringing the audience up to speed on kind of who you are and your journey over your career?
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Absolutely.
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So my name's Kristen David, and I am a lawyer by trade.
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Uh, but I spent so many years struggling.
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How do you balance all this stuff?
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How do you get your team to get things done without you all the time?
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And I loved being a trial lawyer.
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I was defending lawyers and legal malpractice cases and doctors and surgeons, but I really struggled with the business side of things.
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And I kept thinking there's gotta be a better way.
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And ultimately learned how to start documenting what I wanted done and delegating and learning that art of delegation, learning how to get your team enrolled and to really take ownership is vital.
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And at that time, I also wrote my first business plan, plain English.
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Here's what I want to accomplish in the next 12 months.
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Got it done faster.
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We doubled in nine months, rewrote my business plan, doubled again to 1.4 million in the next nine months, uh, kept growing, building an amazing team to the point where it didn't need me.
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I would take vacations, I would come home, I would ask a bunch of questions, and my team would literally say, like, leave us alone.
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We know what we're doing.
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Um, so when I say self-manage, that's what I mean.
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Like, I came home and there was a new paralegal hired, and there were people like doing their jobs.
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Um, and that's the joy I want everyone to have because I struggled with working 85 hours a week and it sucked.
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It sucked and taking home way too little money for all those hours.
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And then it's so much fun on the other side where your business actually runs.
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And so um sold the law firm, pivoted into coaching, which I absolutely adore and love, and do a lot of workshops these days with up-leveling your business.
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Um, we have a whole coaching department.
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We sell systems packages online.
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And my favorite is we get to do these fun experiences around the world.
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Um, in the last uh 12, 18 months, we've done New Zealand experience, Paris, Mexico, like all kinds of places all over the world, and some in the US.
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Um, but I love getting out of a classroom and a conference room and and instead learning around the world.
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So um we take business owners all over.
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We're gonna do the Greek islands.
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You know, Danny, you know, this is this is the fun part.
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When you get to like get out and enjoy when your business is actually running, you can as CEO enjoy and do some things and expand your horizons.
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So that is a little snippet.
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That is that is super cool.
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I mean, you piqued my interest.
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Tell us a little more what are those experiences like?
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I assume it's maybe like a combination of some like learning and also getting to like experience these these places.
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What's the structure like?
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So our the number one favorite one that everybody loves is Paris Experience.
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So they fly to Paris.
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We do five days, and so every day is a combination of learning as well as like hands-on experiences.
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So we do some hive minding in kind of this uh down in this cave of this like we work place.
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Um, but so we do definitely work on the business.
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The theme is scalability, and you can't scale until you build your foundation.
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So we take them to French pastry cooking class, and you learn from the French uh chefs that every ingredient is weighed.
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Every single time the recipe is followed to perfection, to every gram is weighed out, and so that way your shoe pastry dough turns out perfect every time.
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Like there's no deviations, your team doesn't do it differently, you do it the same.
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And once you get that good foundation, now you can make a dozen different pastries out of that.
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It's just adding some fillers or some sprinkles on top, right?
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And that's the same in your law firm or your business.
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You build that solid foundation, and that's what allows you to scale because now you can do 10, 12 different side things, little nuances and niches, but do it stably, profitably, and well run.
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Um and you get to eat all those wonderful French pastries you're baking up during the class.
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We take them to chocolate making class.
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You don't have to reinvent chocolate.
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You just need to learn to package it the way your clients want it.
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Some clients want little fruit on top or nuts on top of their chocolates.
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Some want it plain.
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You've got to know your audience, and you have to package your product the way your audience wants it and be ready to have option one and two.
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Don't just say yes or no.
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Um, so you have a couple variations of your product.
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Uh, we do uh watercolor painting along the Seine.
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We do uh interactive scavenger hunt for food at the farmer's market.
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We eat and dine at a French uh Michelin star restaurant where you learn to hire the best of the best.
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You don't, you know, Michelin star restaurant, they will lose their star if this waiter like drops forks on the ground.
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So they're not hiring baby brand new waiters, right?
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Wait staff.
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They're they're hiring the best of the best.
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And that's the kind of consideration.
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If you're running a one, two, three million dollar business, you're no longer in baby steps.
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Like you need to hire good people that are gonna come in and do a phenomenal job.
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So these are the lifelong lessons that they're gonna carry home and take back to their business and implement.
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So we have a lot of fun, a lot of laughter.
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Paris is always a good idea.
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So we have a lot of fun.
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It's it's great.
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That sounds like a blast.
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Super cool.
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I love that you've kind of built a business that allows you to do things in a really fun way.
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Like uh that just sounds that sounds fantastic.
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So, Christian, we were talking in the green room kind of right before we hit record.
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You guys are launching a new cohort or a new a new program called the CEO operating system.
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Can you tell us a little bit about that?
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Absolutely.
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So we end of last year, I started really trying to figure out like why are some of our clients um, I mean, we've been doing this for now seven years uh with up leveling your business.
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And some of our clients are now, they started at 1 million with us and now they're at like eight, nine, 10 million.
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Um, I have about 25 clients over 10 million, but most of our sweet spot is one to eight million.
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But we started trying to really analyze why are there a few of our clients that are still just stuck?
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And why are some of our clients so quickly able to break through those barriers and get to that higher level?
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So we started analyzing it and digging in, and we did about 30 test cases to try to figure out like diet is kind of a post-mortem, you know, like what happened, where, where did we go wrong?
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And uh surprise, surprise, it all comes down to the CEO.
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And the CEOs that learn how to delegate, they have to have that mental shift.
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They have to realize they need to be that architect, that visionary.
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They need to quit being the damn doer.
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They need to quit parachuting in, they need to quit making sure every decision goes through them and no judgment.
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That was me.
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That was me back in the day.
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Um to me, the freedom came with writing down the policies and procedures because then I emotionally felt like my instructions were clear.
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Um, what I later learned is people have different learning styles, and not everybody likes to read a long policy and procedure.
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Some people need a diagram or a quick two-minute video, right?
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Um, so that's why these days when we build systems, we do them in multiple manners so that different learning styles will learn faster.
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So we really started going through once we started honing in on it, it was the CEO, and we said, what is the operating system that the CEO needs to really have in place that's not them that's the operating system, right?
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And so we spent a couple of months really working through and building this program.
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So we put the first group through last spring.
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I gotta tell you, there's nothing better.
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A couple weeks ago, I got an email from one of the people that went through.
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She's an estate planning attorney.
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Uh, she's now on track for four million this year.
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And she just took like a three-week long vacation in July and let go and let the team, because we'd put all the stuff in place for a couple months.
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Well, after she learned this stuff, and she said the team just was thriving, doing great, besides just hitting all of their targets, all of their stuff, putting money into a cash cushion.
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She took home an extra$40,000 of profit on top of everything.
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And there was not a single glitch in the firm while she was gone.
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And that's what I love to hear.
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I love to hear that the teams are thriving, that the owners are finally able to walk away.
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And some people think, oh, okay, I'm gonna walk away, but we're gonna tank the revenues while I'm gone.
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No, I want to hear that you're more profitable than you've ever been while you're gone.
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Like that's a true win.
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So we reverse engineered and built this program.
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We're doing another cohort um with some live sessions in September, uh, some mini live sessions to like really help owners start to shift the mindset of who they need to be.
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Uh, because I see it all the time that there's some great owners, but they're part of the problem.
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And until they change, they can't expect the firm to change.
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So um a little more mindset, a little more like this is the shift that has to happen.
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Uh, and you know me, Danny, I'm a little blunt.
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Like I tell the CEOs, they don't get to bring their staff into these calls.
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This is me kicking their ass and telling them some hard truths.
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Um, but I gotta tell you, the first cohort went through and it works.
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And so super excited.
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It's always fun to see people just transform.
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Can you describe um, I don't know, if it's different every single time or if there are some similarities, but what are some of those shifts that have to happen in the business owner as they become the person they need to be in order to scale their business?
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So it's really about reallocation and redeployment of their team and the tools um and that mindset shift of you are the architect, you are no longer the doer.
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Your job is to lead and to build self-managers.
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So they've got to put themselves up at the top, they've got to rebuild and really strengthen up that next layer of self-managers and really help instill the confidence and the competence of their team of great, this is what perfect looks like.
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This is how to do it, this is I believe in you.
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Go refine it, figure it out, get it done.
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And here are the tools at the bottom layer.
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Here are the tools I want you to use.
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And I'm a big, big AI user.
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Um, we did our summer of AI helping hundreds of uh law firms implement AI and really getting their teams using it responsibly.
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And so, you know, whether it's the AI tool or just using their workflows, their email automations, like things.
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There's a lot of tools that don't even need AI, really.
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It's just here's a trigger, here's some cascading events, here's what done looks like.
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Like you got to get to done.
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Um, a lot of the tools that we're teaching every week, it's bringing the here's how AI is gonna make your life better, and here's how you can do it without AI.
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But redeploying our humans so that they cultivate the relationships with your clients, that's the humanality part.
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And they have to learn to use their critical thinking skills because human, ask AI to do something.
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AI gives you something, it will not be right the first time.
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Human, activate critical thinking, ask it to refine.
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So that means you have to actually look at the end product and say, ooh, it could be better here and there, and I want this.
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So thou shalt always, always, always with AI, as that junior copywriter, that intern AI guy, make him refine it at least once.
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Like that's where we got to get that critical thinking part, and you get a better product.
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Now, you might refine it two or three times.
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I mean, Danny, you and I know that sometimes you got to go at it a couple of times to get it right, but uh we have to like train our team to activate the critical thinking skills and use AI as a tool and not just pump out AI slop that's not correct.
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And so um, again, each week we're showing them great, here's what AI can do.
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Great, here's what a basic automation would be that your whole team can use, and it'll take you five minutes to set it up.
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Like we got to get people to embrace using the tools they already have.
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They already have Outlook or Gmail, they already have Word and dictation opportunities, they already have so many tools, they're just not even using them.
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And so that's what keeps the costs down.
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So it's no longer about hiring more and more people, it's about you up-leveling your team and using your tools appropriately.
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That's what's the good financial model.
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And so, yeah, in four sessions, it's amazing what they accomplished.
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It's awesome.
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I love it.
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Fantastic.
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Sounds it sounds awesome.
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So, okay, so I'm glad you mentioned AI because you know, I don't think you and I have honestly connected really kind of since AI burst on the scene over the last, I don't know, two years-ish.
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Um, so I am curious, sort of, you know, from a big picture perspective, like how are you, how are you seeing law firms use it well?
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Conversely, maybe some things that uh you've seen that have not gone well.
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Can you just kind of share your kind of big picture perspective on that?
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Absolutely.
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And I gotta say, Danny, even though we haven't chatted one-on-one, like I love seeing all the emails.
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And listen, tons of our clients use spotlight branding.
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So like I already know what you guys are doing.
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I see the webinars, the things you're doing.
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I completely agree.
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Um, love the stuff.
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So as much as it seems like we haven't talked personally so much recently, I've been very involved with what you guys are doing.
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So in that part, I feel a little connection.
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But I 100% appreciate that.
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And that is the funny thing about social media, right?
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Because I'll actually say the same right back at you.
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I'm in several of the Facebook groups that you run and um also feel very connected and also know law firms that are doing great things, sort of uh, you know, through your program.
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So that is super cool.
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I appreciate you saying that.
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It's nice to have that connection, even though we don't have the time to always connect in person.
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But uh that's like the good part of social media, right?
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Like that's actually social media working really well in a great way.
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But anyways, please do share.
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Okay, so so your question is like the goods, the bads, the highlights, the lowlights.
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Let me start with the low light.
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And this is the thing that is like we talk about it all the time.
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Um, if you just try to layer in a bunch of AI without structure, you are just gonna have chaos.
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It is gonna get ugly, it's gonna get messy, your team, everyone's gonna get frustrated with it.
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Like a whole lot of people are coming to us like, Kristen, I got all excited about AI this spring, and I did all this stuff and I shoved it down my team's throat, and nobody knows what the hell is going on anymore, and there's no ownership and no clarity of what's AI doing and where does it get handed off to.
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Um, and so you know what we do?
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We spend the next 45 minutes building some structure, just mapping the workflow and getting clarity on who shall do what by when.
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And one of those who's sometimes is AI.
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Like, great, paralegal, you're gonna plug this into AI with this prompt.
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You're gonna then refine it and you know, really tune it in, use your personal critical thinking skills, then you're gonna hand it off to the attorney.
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Attorney, you're gonna, you know, step by step, just that structure.
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And and that is key because when we see the line, we see the structure, everyone can really have more confidence of okay, what am I trying to accomplish?
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What is the end product?
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And that's the other thing we teach a lot of is AI prompt architecture.
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It is your job as a human to architect what it is you're asking it to do.
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Give enough information.
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Please, please, please, everyone, never just do a one-sentence prompt.
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Like you've got to feed it more information.
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Hey, chat.
00:18:50.160 --> 00:18:53.119
And now I love to have fun, Danny, with my AIs.
00:18:53.279 --> 00:18:58.400
Um, and this is some people they might not like this, but I want to make sure I smile in the morning.
00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:04.799
So I'm like, Claude and I talk all the time, and he's um a British voice, is the way I have it set up.
00:19:04.880 --> 00:19:08.000
And so I'm like, hey, Claude, you sexy beast.
00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:08.880
Good morning.
00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:11.759
Today we're gonna work on this, and it's playful.
00:19:11.920 --> 00:19:13.039
Like, have fun with it.
00:19:13.119 --> 00:19:20.559
Don't be like, oh, like I want people to like be engaged in your in your day.
00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:25.119
Don't just like, if you are dry all day, it's gonna be a dry day.
00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:26.960
Bring a little pizzazz to your life.
00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:34.960
You don't have to call it a sexy beast, but I'm gonna encourage everybody to like be playful, like bring the joy a little bit.
00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:50.400
Um, but yeah, so we get in there and it's like, hey, as a 15-plus year experienced paralegal, I need you to help me structure a workflow or a fresh trigger with a cascading series of events.
00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:59.440
After the client pays and on boards, what are the first 10 things the legal team can do to set this client up for success?
00:19:59.599 --> 00:20:02.240
And let's figure out who shall do what by when.
00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:05.039
Uh, we use this tech stack.
00:20:05.119 --> 00:20:13.519
Uh, we use Cleo and uh maybe Lawmatics, or we use Clio Grow and Clio Manage, we use uh Outlook.
00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:17.440
Tell it the tech stack you use because now it's gonna give you back.
00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:18.880
Oh, absolutely.
00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:23.680
Straight from your inbox, it can trigger these actions and straight into this.
00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:27.920
And you're like, well, damn, that'd be amazing.
00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:30.160
Okay, Claude, let's build that.
00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:46.160
You know, like um, so, anyways, that's I think the funnest part of AI is like really helping train the teams to like think about the trigger and then the action set and then use AI as a tool to help you build it out.
00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:57.759
And when AI says, Oh, I can't do that, push back because by time two or three that you ask, it usually can figure out how to do it for you or make it easier.
00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:00.160
So it's it's it's a process.
00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:01.039
Love it.
00:21:01.200 --> 00:21:12.720
And I, you know, as much as anybody, right, has been guilty of like being blown away by some of these capabilities and and just jumping into it and maybe throwing my team a little bit too much early on.
00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:20.400
And one of the things I've learned, and I love the way you you laid it out, is at least for me, it's really helpful to think about AI as an employee.
00:21:20.559 --> 00:21:26.720
Like it's not this magical machine that can do anything because it's great at some things, but it's not great at everything.
00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:31.599
So figuring out what AI is really good at and what works well within your business.
00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:46.240
For example, I have found AI to be a great research assistant, great at creating first drafts of marketing copy, definitely then needs, to your point, a senior copywriter, a marketing strategist to then take it to the next level and make it really good.
00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:54.400
And where people get in trouble is when they just trust it to do the whole thing instead of like you would never take a junior copywriter on day one and just let them go unsupervised.
00:21:54.480 --> 00:21:55.839
You would use their research skills.
00:21:55.920 --> 00:21:58.000
And and so I love that you laid it out that way.
00:21:58.319 --> 00:21:58.880
That's perfect.
00:21:58.960 --> 00:21:59.440
So, Kristen.
00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:09.839
I want to ask you because we talked at the beginning, kind of, you know, maybe some of the higher level services you guys provide at up leveling your business and some of the international trips and some of that stuff, which sounds amazing.
00:22:09.920 --> 00:22:13.519
But what about for the smaller firms that are maybe earlier in their journey?
00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:17.599
We have a lot of listeners of this show that are solos, just kind of getting started.
00:22:17.759 --> 00:22:20.799
What does it look like for an early stage firm to work with you guys?
00:22:20.960 --> 00:22:24.480
And kind of what is the right point for a small firm to reach out to you guys?
00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:26.240
Like when should they reach out to you?
00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:38.000
So listen, I am a huge, huge fan of helping, especially my fellow lawyers, um, but all kinds of business owners, like keep your cash close to your chest in the beginning.
00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:40.319
Like you need to make sure you pay yourself.
00:22:40.400 --> 00:22:43.680
Don't go just buying every vendor that's out there.
00:22:43.839 --> 00:22:51.680
Um, and that may mean that you need to use some of the resources, um, really find who you resonate with.
00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:57.359
I know, like, we have free webinars, how to write your first business plan, how to update your business plan.
00:22:57.519 --> 00:22:58.960
Um, those are completely free.
00:22:59.039 --> 00:23:05.440
And we'll even review your business plan, give you feedback, and help you triage like the next three, six months plan.
00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:10.720
And then listen, once you're doing 40,000, 50,000 a month, then come get a coach.
00:23:10.880 --> 00:23:14.720
Then you write, but in the beginning, don't throw all your money at a coach.
00:23:14.880 --> 00:23:15.839
You can figure this out.
00:23:15.920 --> 00:23:17.359
You got through law school.
00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:26.720
Um, so our up-leveling, our Facebook group is up-leveling your business with AI, but almost all of those same videos are also over on our YouTube channel.
00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:29.359
Um, we teach three levels of AI.
00:23:29.599 --> 00:23:32.799
Level one is how do you get started?
00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:35.359
Like, how do you set your privacy settings?
00:23:35.519 --> 00:23:37.680
How do you personalize it so it knows you?
00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:39.839
How do you build an AI knowledge base?
00:23:40.079 --> 00:23:44.160
How do you work the human AI tandem relationship?
00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:54.480
Like these are all little like five to seven minute videos that train, give you like that quick base understanding where you should be using it, how to use it.
00:23:54.799 --> 00:23:57.759
Level two AI is automations.
00:23:58.160 --> 00:23:58.880
Okay, cool.
00:23:59.039 --> 00:24:01.119
Let's start get the trigger.
00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:03.200
What are the cascading events?
00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:10.079
And we give you like 10, 12 of them that are like cool that you can use in every party, different parts of your business.
00:24:10.319 --> 00:24:29.599
Um, level three AI is those AI agents, but you gotta you've really gotta learn that prompt architecture, build the structure and the automation, learn it, and really make sure it's correct before you let loose some AI agents to really work things up every week for you or every couple days.
00:24:29.839 --> 00:24:33.759
I mean, listen, I have five AI agents working for me at UIB.
00:24:34.160 --> 00:24:47.440
And I mean, my morning reviews, um, a whole bunch of stuff with marketing, like they're great, but you got to build the structure first and be clear and refine it before you ever turn it into an agent.
00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:51.119
So definitely there's ways you can level up on your own.
00:24:51.279 --> 00:24:52.720
You go watch these videos.
00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:58.079
I do tons of free open office hours and things from time to time.
00:24:58.400 --> 00:25:11.519
But I think one of the greatest gifts that we have in this era that we're living in is that we have access to YouTube videos where we can listen to people that have been there, done that, understand it, can tell you what not to do.
00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:20.000
We have access to AI, to chat, to Claude, um, and it ask questions and it'll walk you through how to do things, right?
00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:22.960
Um, so we have so many resources.
00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:26.000
It is a little bit about being diligent with your time.
00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:35.440
And sometimes you're like, oh, I can write all these policies and procedures with Claude, or I can just go buy Kristen's systems package and be done.
00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:38.160
You know, not done, but it's 90% done.
00:25:38.319 --> 00:25:39.839
You just have to tweak it.
00:25:39.920 --> 00:25:43.680
Um, and it's because I've helped thousands of business owners do this.
00:25:43.759 --> 00:25:47.359
So that's why we know these procedures work in law firms.
00:25:47.599 --> 00:25:50.880
Um, so definitely lots of free resources.
00:25:51.119 --> 00:26:06.240
I'm my biggest thing to everyone is set aside a little time each week, work on this policies, the procedures, the systems, train yourself, delegate to your team, um, really get yourself start thinking like a CEO.
00:26:06.400 --> 00:26:11.359
And when you get to be at that higher over half million, then come chat with me.
00:26:11.440 --> 00:26:15.279
You know, like the the team is ready, they've got lots they can do.
00:26:15.599 --> 00:26:17.359
But I'll leave it with this, Danny.
00:26:18.079 --> 00:26:20.559
Every one of us as owners is a little different.
00:26:21.119 --> 00:26:25.039
Some of us are great at marketing, some of us suck.
00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:27.359
Some of us are great with people.
00:26:28.240 --> 00:26:32.480
Some of us never were trained how to manage people or train them up.
00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:38.240
Some of us are great with numbers, some of us are scared to death of numbers, right?
00:26:38.640 --> 00:26:50.160
That's why we have all these different coaches because sometimes you just need to get in for two months and just work on your financials and build the financial systems manual, learn what you need to learn, and then get out.
00:26:50.319 --> 00:26:51.920
We kick people out all the time.
00:26:52.079 --> 00:26:54.319
Like, cool, let's just fix this.
00:26:54.559 --> 00:26:55.680
Now go deal with it.
00:26:55.839 --> 00:27:00.640
And then when you're ready, we'll fix the next thing and work with you or work with your team.
00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:04.960
So I want everybody out there to recognize we're not perfect.
00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:14.480
We all need to up level our game in different areas, decide which one's your biggest pain point and tackle that first, and then move to your next one.
00:27:14.640 --> 00:27:18.319
So that's what I'll leave you with as a kind of final nugget.
00:27:18.480 --> 00:27:22.480
But listen, the door is always open, especially to my fellow lawyers.
00:27:22.640 --> 00:27:30.799
Like if you're struggling, you need help triaging, get on our calendar, whether it's with me or one of my team, we'll help you triage a plan.
00:27:30.880 --> 00:27:37.200
And honestly, sometimes we might kick you out and be like, you're not ready for coaching, but here's your game plan.
00:27:37.519 --> 00:27:41.200
Um, we just do that give back to help people on this journey.
00:27:41.279 --> 00:27:43.599
And we'll it'll come back later.
00:27:43.680 --> 00:27:44.400
So it's all good.
00:27:45.039 --> 00:27:45.759
Well, love that.
00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:46.400
Thanks for sharing.
00:27:46.559 --> 00:27:52.559
And so, Kristen, for the folks that do want to connect with you and maybe take that first step, what is the best way for them to do that?
00:27:53.039 --> 00:27:53.519
Absolutely.
00:27:53.680 --> 00:27:59.839
I mean, listen, you guys, I still we still have email like Kristen at up leveling your business.com.
00:28:00.079 --> 00:28:05.680
You can go check out all of our stuff on our webpage, up leveling your business.com.
00:28:05.839 --> 00:28:18.319
If you want to see all those systems packages, I mean we've got how to hire on board, work with an associate, a paralegal, a legal assistant, an EA, uh, like all the different positions in a law firm.
00:28:18.400 --> 00:28:23.680
We've got you covered to help support uh Upleveling Your Business dot com slash packages.
00:28:23.759 --> 00:28:30.079
You can see the list of all those different systems packages if you're a systems person and want to take a look.
00:28:30.319 --> 00:28:32.000
But um, don't be a stranger.
00:28:32.160 --> 00:28:34.000
DM me on social media.
00:28:34.319 --> 00:28:42.720
Danny, you and I need to connect in person next time I'm on the East Coast, maybe when the Clio conference or one of these fun events.
00:28:42.880 --> 00:28:46.240
I know we both go to drop into different events and have fun.
00:28:46.319 --> 00:28:48.160
And it's always good to see people.
00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:50.640
And I love, I literally will be at these events.
00:28:50.799 --> 00:28:53.599
People like, I heard you on the such and such podcast.
00:28:53.839 --> 00:29:01.839
So listen, everybody listening, just uh send me an email or come up to me at one of these events and say, I heard you on center stage.
00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:03.599
I will love to talk to you.
00:29:03.839 --> 00:29:04.480
Fantastic.
00:29:04.559 --> 00:29:05.920
Kristen, this was fantastic.
00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:07.279
Thank you for joining us.
00:29:07.599 --> 00:29:08.559
Thank you.
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.240
Here's how AI is going to make your life better.
00:00:02.399 --> 00:00:04.320
And here's how you can do it without AI.
00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:12.400
But redeploying our humans so that they cultivate the relationships with your clients, that's the humanality part.
00:00:12.560 --> 00:00:15.519
And they have to learn to use their critical thinking skills.
00:00:15.759 --> 00:00:16.399
All right, guys.
00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:19.359
Welcome back to Center Stage Podcast.
00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:25.039
My name is Danny Decker, your host today, one of the co-founders here at Spotlight Marketing and Branding.
00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:27.359
And really excited for today's conversation.
00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:33.840
We've got a really great guest joining us, Kristen David, who is the founder of Up Leveling Your Business.
00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:39.920
Her business helps entrepreneurs create thriving businesses that are self-managed.
00:00:40.159 --> 00:00:40.719
Really cool.
00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:42.399
Kristen, thank you so much for being here.
00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:43.520
Thank you for having me.
00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:46.560
I love always spending time hanging out with you, Danny.
00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:47.759
Yeah, 100%.
00:00:48.240 --> 00:00:52.719
So, Kristen, you have been on this podcast before, but it has been a little while.
00:00:52.960 --> 00:00:58.719
So, for folks that don't really know kind of you and your background, I think you've got a super interesting story.
00:00:58.880 --> 00:01:04.640
Do you mind just kind of bringing the audience up to speed on kind of who you are and your journey over your career?
00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:06.079
Absolutely.
00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:11.120
So my name's Kristen David, and I am a lawyer by trade.
00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:13.920
Uh, but I spent so many years struggling.
00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:15.599
How do you balance all this stuff?
00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:19.680
How do you get your team to get things done without you all the time?
00:01:19.840 --> 00:01:21.680
And I loved being a trial lawyer.
00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:30.640
I was defending lawyers and legal malpractice cases and doctors and surgeons, but I really struggled with the business side of things.
00:01:30.799 --> 00:01:33.439
And I kept thinking there's gotta be a better way.
00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:48.640
And ultimately learned how to start documenting what I wanted done and delegating and learning that art of delegation, learning how to get your team enrolled and to really take ownership is vital.
00:01:48.879 --> 00:01:52.959
And at that time, I also wrote my first business plan, plain English.
00:01:53.120 --> 00:01:55.840
Here's what I want to accomplish in the next 12 months.
00:01:56.159 --> 00:01:57.280
Got it done faster.
00:01:57.439 --> 00:02:09.520
We doubled in nine months, rewrote my business plan, doubled again to 1.4 million in the next nine months, uh, kept growing, building an amazing team to the point where it didn't need me.
00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:17.280
I would take vacations, I would come home, I would ask a bunch of questions, and my team would literally say, like, leave us alone.
00:02:17.439 --> 00:02:18.719
We know what we're doing.
00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:21.759
Um, so when I say self-manage, that's what I mean.
00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:28.240
Like, I came home and there was a new paralegal hired, and there were people like doing their jobs.
00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:36.960
Um, and that's the joy I want everyone to have because I struggled with working 85 hours a week and it sucked.
00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:41.439
It sucked and taking home way too little money for all those hours.
00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:46.800
And then it's so much fun on the other side where your business actually runs.
00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:57.599
And so um sold the law firm, pivoted into coaching, which I absolutely adore and love, and do a lot of workshops these days with up-leveling your business.
00:02:57.759 --> 00:02:59.919
Um, we have a whole coaching department.
00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:02.000
We sell systems packages online.
00:03:02.159 --> 00:03:06.400
And my favorite is we get to do these fun experiences around the world.
00:03:06.639 --> 00:03:18.800
Um, in the last uh 12, 18 months, we've done New Zealand experience, Paris, Mexico, like all kinds of places all over the world, and some in the US.
00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:25.919
Um, but I love getting out of a classroom and a conference room and and instead learning around the world.
00:03:26.240 --> 00:03:28.879
So um we take business owners all over.
00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:30.560
We're gonna do the Greek islands.
00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:33.599
You know, Danny, you know, this is this is the fun part.
00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:43.840
When you get to like get out and enjoy when your business is actually running, you can as CEO enjoy and do some things and expand your horizons.
00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:46.319
So that is a little snippet.
00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:48.400
That is that is super cool.
00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:50.080
I mean, you piqued my interest.
00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:52.000
Tell us a little more what are those experiences like?
00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:57.360
I assume it's maybe like a combination of some like learning and also getting to like experience these these places.
00:03:57.439 --> 00:03:58.879
What's the structure like?
00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:04.319
So our the number one favorite one that everybody loves is Paris Experience.
00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:05.680
So they fly to Paris.
00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:14.560
We do five days, and so every day is a combination of learning as well as like hands-on experiences.
00:04:14.800 --> 00:04:22.480
So we do some hive minding in kind of this uh down in this cave of this like we work place.
00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:25.920
Um, but so we do definitely work on the business.
00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:30.560
The theme is scalability, and you can't scale until you build your foundation.
00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:40.160
So we take them to French pastry cooking class, and you learn from the French uh chefs that every ingredient is weighed.
00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:51.120
Every single time the recipe is followed to perfection, to every gram is weighed out, and so that way your shoe pastry dough turns out perfect every time.
00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:56.319
Like there's no deviations, your team doesn't do it differently, you do it the same.
00:04:56.639 --> 00:05:02.399
And once you get that good foundation, now you can make a dozen different pastries out of that.
00:05:02.480 --> 00:05:07.120
It's just adding some fillers or some sprinkles on top, right?
00:05:07.360 --> 00:05:09.920
And that's the same in your law firm or your business.
00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:24.800
You build that solid foundation, and that's what allows you to scale because now you can do 10, 12 different side things, little nuances and niches, but do it stably, profitably, and well run.
00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:30.399
Um and you get to eat all those wonderful French pastries you're baking up during the class.
00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:33.199
We take them to chocolate making class.
00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:35.360
You don't have to reinvent chocolate.
00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:38.720
You just need to learn to package it the way your clients want it.
00:05:38.959 --> 00:05:44.399
Some clients want little fruit on top or nuts on top of their chocolates.
00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:46.000
Some want it plain.
00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:54.720
You've got to know your audience, and you have to package your product the way your audience wants it and be ready to have option one and two.
00:05:54.879 --> 00:05:56.639
Don't just say yes or no.
00:05:56.800 --> 00:06:00.079
Um, so you have a couple variations of your product.
00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:05.199
Uh, we do uh watercolor painting along the Seine.
00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:10.560
We do uh interactive scavenger hunt for food at the farmer's market.
00:06:11.199 --> 00:06:18.959
We eat and dine at a French uh Michelin star restaurant where you learn to hire the best of the best.
00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:26.879
You don't, you know, Michelin star restaurant, they will lose their star if this waiter like drops forks on the ground.
00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:31.279
So they're not hiring baby brand new waiters, right?
00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:32.160
Wait staff.
00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:34.800
They're they're hiring the best of the best.
00:06:35.120 --> 00:06:37.279
And that's the kind of consideration.
00:06:37.360 --> 00:06:43.519
If you're running a one, two, three million dollar business, you're no longer in baby steps.
00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:49.120
Like you need to hire good people that are gonna come in and do a phenomenal job.
00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:56.560
So these are the lifelong lessons that they're gonna carry home and take back to their business and implement.
00:06:56.800 --> 00:06:59.680
So we have a lot of fun, a lot of laughter.
00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:01.839
Paris is always a good idea.
00:07:02.079 --> 00:07:03.600
So we have a lot of fun.
00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:04.639
It's it's great.
00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:06.560
That sounds like a blast.
00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:07.439
Super cool.
00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:13.680
I love that you've kind of built a business that allows you to do things in a really fun way.
00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:16.000
Like uh that just sounds that sounds fantastic.
00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:20.959
So, Christian, we were talking in the green room kind of right before we hit record.
00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:25.920
You guys are launching a new cohort or a new a new program called the CEO operating system.
00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:27.920
Can you tell us a little bit about that?
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Absolutely.
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So we end of last year, I started really trying to figure out like why are some of our clients um, I mean, we've been doing this for now seven years uh with up leveling your business.
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And some of our clients are now, they started at 1 million with us and now they're at like eight, nine, 10 million.
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Um, I have about 25 clients over 10 million, but most of our sweet spot is one to eight million.
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But we started trying to really analyze why are there a few of our clients that are still just stuck?
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And why are some of our clients so quickly able to break through those barriers and get to that higher level?
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So we started analyzing it and digging in, and we did about 30 test cases to try to figure out like diet is kind of a post-mortem, you know, like what happened, where, where did we go wrong?
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And uh surprise, surprise, it all comes down to the CEO.
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And the CEOs that learn how to delegate, they have to have that mental shift.
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They have to realize they need to be that architect, that visionary.
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They need to quit being the damn doer.
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They need to quit parachuting in, they need to quit making sure every decision goes through them and no judgment.
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That was me.
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That was me back in the day.
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Um to me, the freedom came with writing down the policies and procedures because then I emotionally felt like my instructions were clear.
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Um, what I later learned is people have different learning styles, and not everybody likes to read a long policy and procedure.
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Some people need a diagram or a quick two-minute video, right?
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Um, so that's why these days when we build systems, we do them in multiple manners so that different learning styles will learn faster.
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So we really started going through once we started honing in on it, it was the CEO, and we said, what is the operating system that the CEO needs to really have in place that's not them that's the operating system, right?
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And so we spent a couple of months really working through and building this program.
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So we put the first group through last spring.
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I gotta tell you, there's nothing better.
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A couple weeks ago, I got an email from one of the people that went through.
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She's an estate planning attorney.
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Uh, she's now on track for four million this year.
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And she just took like a three-week long vacation in July and let go and let the team, because we'd put all the stuff in place for a couple months.
00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:19.600
Well, after she learned this stuff, and she said the team just was thriving, doing great, besides just hitting all of their targets, all of their stuff, putting money into a cash cushion.
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She took home an extra$40,000 of profit on top of everything.
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And there was not a single glitch in the firm while she was gone.
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And that's what I love to hear.
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I love to hear that the teams are thriving, that the owners are finally able to walk away.
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And some people think, oh, okay, I'm gonna walk away, but we're gonna tank the revenues while I'm gone.
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No, I want to hear that you're more profitable than you've ever been while you're gone.
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Like that's a true win.
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So we reverse engineered and built this program.
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We're doing another cohort um with some live sessions in September, uh, some mini live sessions to like really help owners start to shift the mindset of who they need to be.
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Uh, because I see it all the time that there's some great owners, but they're part of the problem.
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And until they change, they can't expect the firm to change.
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So um a little more mindset, a little more like this is the shift that has to happen.
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Uh, and you know me, Danny, I'm a little blunt.
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Like I tell the CEOs, they don't get to bring their staff into these calls.
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This is me kicking their ass and telling them some hard truths.
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Um, but I gotta tell you, the first cohort went through and it works.
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And so super excited.
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It's always fun to see people just transform.
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Can you describe um, I don't know, if it's different every single time or if there are some similarities, but what are some of those shifts that have to happen in the business owner as they become the person they need to be in order to scale their business?
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So it's really about reallocation and redeployment of their team and the tools um and that mindset shift of you are the architect, you are no longer the doer.
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Your job is to lead and to build self-managers.
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So they've got to put themselves up at the top, they've got to rebuild and really strengthen up that next layer of self-managers and really help instill the confidence and the competence of their team of great, this is what perfect looks like.
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This is how to do it, this is I believe in you.
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Go refine it, figure it out, get it done.
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And here are the tools at the bottom layer.
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Here are the tools I want you to use.
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And I'm a big, big AI user.
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Um, we did our summer of AI helping hundreds of uh law firms implement AI and really getting their teams using it responsibly.
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And so, you know, whether it's the AI tool or just using their workflows, their email automations, like things.
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There's a lot of tools that don't even need AI, really.
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It's just here's a trigger, here's some cascading events, here's what done looks like.
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Like you got to get to done.
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Um, a lot of the tools that we're teaching every week, it's bringing the here's how AI is gonna make your life better, and here's how you can do it without AI.
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But redeploying our humans so that they cultivate the relationships with your clients, that's the humanality part.
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And they have to learn to use their critical thinking skills because human, ask AI to do something.
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AI gives you something, it will not be right the first time.
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Human, activate critical thinking, ask it to refine.
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So that means you have to actually look at the end product and say, ooh, it could be better here and there, and I want this.
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So thou shalt always, always, always with AI, as that junior copywriter, that intern AI guy, make him refine it at least once.
00:14:08.480 --> 00:14:12.879
Like that's where we got to get that critical thinking part, and you get a better product.
00:14:12.960 --> 00:14:14.799
Now, you might refine it two or three times.
00:14:14.960 --> 00:14:32.480
I mean, Danny, you and I know that sometimes you got to go at it a couple of times to get it right, but uh we have to like train our team to activate the critical thinking skills and use AI as a tool and not just pump out AI slop that's not correct.
00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:37.919
And so um, again, each week we're showing them great, here's what AI can do.
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Great, here's what a basic automation would be that your whole team can use, and it'll take you five minutes to set it up.
00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:49.679
Like we got to get people to embrace using the tools they already have.
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They already have Outlook or Gmail, they already have Word and dictation opportunities, they already have so many tools, they're just not even using them.
00:15:00.799 --> 00:15:04.000
And so that's what keeps the costs down.
00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:11.039
So it's no longer about hiring more and more people, it's about you up-leveling your team and using your tools appropriately.
00:15:11.200 --> 00:15:13.200
That's what's the good financial model.
00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:18.639
And so, yeah, in four sessions, it's amazing what they accomplished.
00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:19.279
It's awesome.
00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:19.840
I love it.
00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:20.720
Fantastic.
00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:22.240
Sounds it sounds awesome.
00:15:22.559 --> 00:15:32.960
So, okay, so I'm glad you mentioned AI because you know, I don't think you and I have honestly connected really kind of since AI burst on the scene over the last, I don't know, two years-ish.
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Um, so I am curious, sort of, you know, from a big picture perspective, like how are you, how are you seeing law firms use it well?
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Conversely, maybe some things that uh you've seen that have not gone well.
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Can you just kind of share your kind of big picture perspective on that?
00:15:51.840 --> 00:15:52.240
Absolutely.
00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:58.399
And I gotta say, Danny, even though we haven't chatted one-on-one, like I love seeing all the emails.
00:15:58.559 --> 00:16:01.600
And listen, tons of our clients use spotlight branding.
00:16:01.679 --> 00:16:03.759
So like I already know what you guys are doing.
00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:06.480
I see the webinars, the things you're doing.
00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:08.320
I completely agree.
00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:09.919
Um, love the stuff.
00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:18.000
So as much as it seems like we haven't talked personally so much recently, I've been very involved with what you guys are doing.
00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:19.919
So in that part, I feel a little connection.
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But I 100% appreciate that.
00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:24.000
And that is the funny thing about social media, right?
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Because I'll actually say the same right back at you.
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I'm in several of the Facebook groups that you run and um also feel very connected and also know law firms that are doing great things, sort of uh, you know, through your program.
00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:36.639
So that is super cool.
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I appreciate you saying that.
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It's nice to have that connection, even though we don't have the time to always connect in person.
00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:46.080
But uh that's like the good part of social media, right?
00:16:46.240 --> 00:16:49.360
Like that's actually social media working really well in a great way.
00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:51.120
But anyways, please do share.
00:16:51.679 --> 00:16:56.639
Okay, so so your question is like the goods, the bads, the highlights, the lowlights.
00:16:56.879 --> 00:16:58.480
Let me start with the low light.
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And this is the thing that is like we talk about it all the time.
00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:10.480
Um, if you just try to layer in a bunch of AI without structure, you are just gonna have chaos.
00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:17.440
It is gonna get ugly, it's gonna get messy, your team, everyone's gonna get frustrated with it.
00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:38.240
Like a whole lot of people are coming to us like, Kristen, I got all excited about AI this spring, and I did all this stuff and I shoved it down my team's throat, and nobody knows what the hell is going on anymore, and there's no ownership and no clarity of what's AI doing and where does it get handed off to.
00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:40.240
Um, and so you know what we do?
00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:49.759
We spend the next 45 minutes building some structure, just mapping the workflow and getting clarity on who shall do what by when.
00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:52.799
And one of those who's sometimes is AI.
00:17:52.960 --> 00:17:58.640
Like, great, paralegal, you're gonna plug this into AI with this prompt.
00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:07.920
You're gonna then refine it and you know, really tune it in, use your personal critical thinking skills, then you're gonna hand it off to the attorney.
00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:12.960
Attorney, you're gonna, you know, step by step, just that structure.
00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:24.640
And and that is key because when we see the line, we see the structure, everyone can really have more confidence of okay, what am I trying to accomplish?
00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:26.480
What is the end product?
00:18:26.720 --> 00:18:31.200
And that's the other thing we teach a lot of is AI prompt architecture.
00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:36.559
It is your job as a human to architect what it is you're asking it to do.
00:18:36.880 --> 00:18:38.640
Give enough information.
00:18:39.279 --> 00:18:44.160
Please, please, please, everyone, never just do a one-sentence prompt.
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Like you've got to feed it more information.
00:18:49.119 --> 00:18:50.079
Hey, chat.
00:18:50.160 --> 00:18:53.119
And now I love to have fun, Danny, with my AIs.
00:18:53.279 --> 00:18:58.400
Um, and this is some people they might not like this, but I want to make sure I smile in the morning.
00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:04.799
So I'm like, Claude and I talk all the time, and he's um a British voice, is the way I have it set up.
00:19:04.880 --> 00:19:08.000
And so I'm like, hey, Claude, you sexy beast.
00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:08.880
Good morning.
00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:11.759
Today we're gonna work on this, and it's playful.
00:19:11.920 --> 00:19:13.039
Like, have fun with it.
00:19:13.119 --> 00:19:20.559
Don't be like, oh, like I want people to like be engaged in your in your day.
00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:25.119
Don't just like, if you are dry all day, it's gonna be a dry day.
00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:26.960
Bring a little pizzazz to your life.
00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:34.960
You don't have to call it a sexy beast, but I'm gonna encourage everybody to like be playful, like bring the joy a little bit.
00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:50.400
Um, but yeah, so we get in there and it's like, hey, as a 15-plus year experienced paralegal, I need you to help me structure a workflow or a fresh trigger with a cascading series of events.
00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:59.440
After the client pays and on boards, what are the first 10 things the legal team can do to set this client up for success?
00:19:59.599 --> 00:20:02.240
And let's figure out who shall do what by when.
00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:05.039
Uh, we use this tech stack.
00:20:05.119 --> 00:20:13.519
Uh, we use Cleo and uh maybe Lawmatics, or we use Clio Grow and Clio Manage, we use uh Outlook.
00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:17.440
Tell it the tech stack you use because now it's gonna give you back.
00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:18.880
Oh, absolutely.
00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:23.680
Straight from your inbox, it can trigger these actions and straight into this.
00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:27.920
And you're like, well, damn, that'd be amazing.
00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:30.160
Okay, Claude, let's build that.
00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:46.160
You know, like um, so, anyways, that's I think the funnest part of AI is like really helping train the teams to like think about the trigger and then the action set and then use AI as a tool to help you build it out.
00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:57.759
And when AI says, Oh, I can't do that, push back because by time two or three that you ask, it usually can figure out how to do it for you or make it easier.
00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:00.160
So it's it's it's a process.
00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:01.039
Love it.
00:21:01.200 --> 00:21:12.720
And I, you know, as much as anybody, right, has been guilty of like being blown away by some of these capabilities and and just jumping into it and maybe throwing my team a little bit too much early on.
00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:20.400
And one of the things I've learned, and I love the way you you laid it out, is at least for me, it's really helpful to think about AI as an employee.
00:21:20.559 --> 00:21:26.720
Like it's not this magical machine that can do anything because it's great at some things, but it's not great at everything.
00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:31.599
So figuring out what AI is really good at and what works well within your business.
00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:46.240
For example, I have found AI to be a great research assistant, great at creating first drafts of marketing copy, definitely then needs, to your point, a senior copywriter, a marketing strategist to then take it to the next level and make it really good.
00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:54.400
And where people get in trouble is when they just trust it to do the whole thing instead of like you would never take a junior copywriter on day one and just let them go unsupervised.
00:21:54.480 --> 00:21:55.839
You would use their research skills.
00:21:55.920 --> 00:21:58.000
And and so I love that you laid it out that way.
00:21:58.319 --> 00:21:58.880
That's perfect.
00:21:58.960 --> 00:21:59.440
So, Kristen.
00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:09.839
I want to ask you because we talked at the beginning, kind of, you know, maybe some of the higher level services you guys provide at up leveling your business and some of the international trips and some of that stuff, which sounds amazing.
00:22:09.920 --> 00:22:13.519
But what about for the smaller firms that are maybe earlier in their journey?
00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:17.599
We have a lot of listeners of this show that are solos, just kind of getting started.
00:22:17.759 --> 00:22:20.799
What does it look like for an early stage firm to work with you guys?
00:22:20.960 --> 00:22:24.480
And kind of what is the right point for a small firm to reach out to you guys?
00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:26.240
Like when should they reach out to you?
00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:38.000
So listen, I am a huge, huge fan of helping, especially my fellow lawyers, um, but all kinds of business owners, like keep your cash close to your chest in the beginning.
00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:40.319
Like you need to make sure you pay yourself.
00:22:40.400 --> 00:22:43.680
Don't go just buying every vendor that's out there.
00:22:43.839 --> 00:22:51.680
Um, and that may mean that you need to use some of the resources, um, really find who you resonate with.
00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:57.359
I know, like, we have free webinars, how to write your first business plan, how to update your business plan.
00:22:57.519 --> 00:22:58.960
Um, those are completely free.
00:22:59.039 --> 00:23:05.440
And we'll even review your business plan, give you feedback, and help you triage like the next three, six months plan.
00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:10.720
And then listen, once you're doing 40,000, 50,000 a month, then come get a coach.
00:23:10.880 --> 00:23:14.720
Then you write, but in the beginning, don't throw all your money at a coach.
00:23:14.880 --> 00:23:15.839
You can figure this out.
00:23:15.920 --> 00:23:17.359
You got through law school.
00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:26.720
Um, so our up-leveling, our Facebook group is up-leveling your business with AI, but almost all of those same videos are also over on our YouTube channel.
00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:29.359
Um, we teach three levels of AI.
00:23:29.599 --> 00:23:32.799
Level one is how do you get started?
00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:35.359
Like, how do you set your privacy settings?
00:23:35.519 --> 00:23:37.680
How do you personalize it so it knows you?
00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:39.839
How do you build an AI knowledge base?
00:23:40.079 --> 00:23:44.160
How do you work the human AI tandem relationship?
00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:54.480
Like these are all little like five to seven minute videos that train, give you like that quick base understanding where you should be using it, how to use it.
00:23:54.799 --> 00:23:57.759
Level two AI is automations.
00:23:58.160 --> 00:23:58.880
Okay, cool.
00:23:59.039 --> 00:24:01.119
Let's start get the trigger.
00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:03.200
What are the cascading events?
00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:10.079
And we give you like 10, 12 of them that are like cool that you can use in every party, different parts of your business.
00:24:10.319 --> 00:24:29.599
Um, level three AI is those AI agents, but you gotta you've really gotta learn that prompt architecture, build the structure and the automation, learn it, and really make sure it's correct before you let loose some AI agents to really work things up every week for you or every couple days.
00:24:29.839 --> 00:24:33.759
I mean, listen, I have five AI agents working for me at UIB.
00:24:34.160 --> 00:24:47.440
And I mean, my morning reviews, um, a whole bunch of stuff with marketing, like they're great, but you got to build the structure first and be clear and refine it before you ever turn it into an agent.
00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:51.119
So definitely there's ways you can level up on your own.
00:24:51.279 --> 00:24:52.720
You go watch these videos.
00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:58.079
I do tons of free open office hours and things from time to time.
00:24:58.400 --> 00:25:11.519
But I think one of the greatest gifts that we have in this era that we're living in is that we have access to YouTube videos where we can listen to people that have been there, done that, understand it, can tell you what not to do.
00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:20.000
We have access to AI, to chat, to Claude, um, and it ask questions and it'll walk you through how to do things, right?
00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:22.960
Um, so we have so many resources.
00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:26.000
It is a little bit about being diligent with your time.
00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:35.440
And sometimes you're like, oh, I can write all these policies and procedures with Claude, or I can just go buy Kristen's systems package and be done.
00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:38.160
You know, not done, but it's 90% done.
00:25:38.319 --> 00:25:39.839
You just have to tweak it.
00:25:39.920 --> 00:25:43.680
Um, and it's because I've helped thousands of business owners do this.
00:25:43.759 --> 00:25:47.359
So that's why we know these procedures work in law firms.
00:25:47.599 --> 00:25:50.880
Um, so definitely lots of free resources.
00:25:51.119 --> 00:26:06.240
I'm my biggest thing to everyone is set aside a little time each week, work on this policies, the procedures, the systems, train yourself, delegate to your team, um, really get yourself start thinking like a CEO.
00:26:06.400 --> 00:26:11.359
And when you get to be at that higher over half million, then come chat with me.
00:26:11.440 --> 00:26:15.279
You know, like the the team is ready, they've got lots they can do.
00:26:15.599 --> 00:26:17.359
But I'll leave it with this, Danny.
00:26:18.079 --> 00:26:20.559
Every one of us as owners is a little different.
00:26:21.119 --> 00:26:25.039
Some of us are great at marketing, some of us suck.
00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:27.359
Some of us are great with people.
00:26:28.240 --> 00:26:32.480
Some of us never were trained how to manage people or train them up.
00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:38.240
Some of us are great with numbers, some of us are scared to death of numbers, right?
00:26:38.640 --> 00:26:50.160
That's why we have all these different coaches because sometimes you just need to get in for two months and just work on your financials and build the financial systems manual, learn what you need to learn, and then get out.
00:26:50.319 --> 00:26:51.920
We kick people out all the time.
00:26:52.079 --> 00:26:54.319
Like, cool, let's just fix this.
00:26:54.559 --> 00:26:55.680
Now go deal with it.
00:26:55.839 --> 00:27:00.640
And then when you're ready, we'll fix the next thing and work with you or work with your team.
00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:04.960
So I want everybody out there to recognize we're not perfect.
00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:14.480
We all need to up level our game in different areas, decide which one's your biggest pain point and tackle that first, and then move to your next one.
00:27:14.640 --> 00:27:18.319
So that's what I'll leave you with as a kind of final nugget.
00:27:18.480 --> 00:27:22.480
But listen, the door is always open, especially to my fellow lawyers.
00:27:22.640 --> 00:27:30.799
Like if you're struggling, you need help triaging, get on our calendar, whether it's with me or one of my team, we'll help you triage a plan.
00:27:30.880 --> 00:27:37.200
And honestly, sometimes we might kick you out and be like, you're not ready for coaching, but here's your game plan.
00:27:37.519 --> 00:27:41.200
Um, we just do that give back to help people on this journey.
00:27:41.279 --> 00:27:43.599
And we'll it'll come back later.
00:27:43.680 --> 00:27:44.400
So it's all good.
00:27:45.039 --> 00:27:45.759
Well, love that.
00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:46.400
Thanks for sharing.
00:27:46.559 --> 00:27:52.559
And so, Kristen, for the folks that do want to connect with you and maybe take that first step, what is the best way for them to do that?
00:27:53.039 --> 00:27:53.519
Absolutely.
00:27:53.680 --> 00:27:59.839
I mean, listen, you guys, I still we still have email like Kristen at up leveling your business.com.
00:28:00.079 --> 00:28:05.680
You can go check out all of our stuff on our webpage, up leveling your business.com.
00:28:05.839 --> 00:28:18.319
If you want to see all those systems packages, I mean we've got how to hire on board, work with an associate, a paralegal, a legal assistant, an EA, uh, like all the different positions in a law firm.
00:28:18.400 --> 00:28:23.680
We've got you covered to help support uh Upleveling Your Business dot com slash packages.
00:28:23.759 --> 00:28:30.079
You can see the list of all those different systems packages if you're a systems person and want to take a look.
00:28:30.319 --> 00:28:32.000
But um, don't be a stranger.
00:28:32.160 --> 00:28:34.000
DM me on social media.
00:28:34.319 --> 00:28:42.720
Danny, you and I need to connect in person next time I'm on the East Coast, maybe when the Clio conference or one of these fun events.
00:28:42.880 --> 00:28:46.240
I know we both go to drop into different events and have fun.
00:28:46.319 --> 00:28:48.160
And it's always good to see people.
00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:50.640
And I love, I literally will be at these events.
00:28:50.799 --> 00:28:53.599
People like, I heard you on the such and such podcast.
00:28:53.839 --> 00:29:01.839
So listen, everybody listening, just uh send me an email or come up to me at one of these events and say, I heard you on center stage.
00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:03.599
I will love to talk to you.
00:29:03.839 --> 00:29:04.480
Fantastic.
00:29:04.559 --> 00:29:05.920
Kristen, this was fantastic.
00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:07.279
Thank you for joining us.
00:29:07.599 --> 00:29:08.559
Thank you.
