Tauna Batiste - Non-Profit management consultant

Dex: 0:07

Hey, welcome to another episode of in the black. This is your boy Dex. I got kind of a connection from the last episode. In fact, she works with, if you guys listened to the last episode, she works with Nicole Carter, lady Xtreme, the promotions person that we spoke. In fact, I think this one might be just as, if not more interesting than the last interview. So let's just go with it. I have the head of well, I guess the best way to put this is she does nonprofit management and she's the head of Drew Alexander consulting. Her name is Tauna Batiste Tauna. Welcome to the show.

Tauna: 0:51

Thank you. Thank you. It's such a pleasure to be here. Thank you for having me on.

Dex: 0:54

Yeah, I appreciate you taking the time out to everything. I didn't get a proper introduction of you, but I'm gonna kind of let you spill your own beans on this one. Tell us about yourself.

Tauna: 1:05

Sounds good. And so my name is Tauna Batiste. I am a CEO, a founder, a mom, a nonprofit afficianado business strategist extraordinaire. I am the founder and CEO of Drew Alexander Consulting, which is a nonprofit management consulting firm. I'm also the founder of Next Woman Up Leadership Academy, which is a leadership academy for women who want to move up and continue to bolster and build their leadership. I also do executive coaching under Batist Executive Coach. So I do a little bit of a lot of things, but all in the same spaces. Yeah, like I said, I'm away from mom and, have lots going on. So I am the busy entrepreneur that you see running from things to things, who it was just building, building our empire, as I like to say. Yeah, like I said, it's just, thank you again for having me on, it's just a pleasure to be here with you.

Dex: 2:03

Awesome. Awesome. So in case anybody's listening and they're in the Ohio, Ohio area, if you see that blur, that's passing you every day on the street, that's her. Okay. Cause she's working that hard.

Tauna: 2:15

Feels like

Dex: 2:18

you, you, you're the very reason for the winds coming off that lake, right?

Tauna: 2:23

Well, we don't have the lake that's Cleveland.

Dex: 2:26

Oh yeah, that's right.

Tauna: 2:27

central Ohio. Yeah, but if you see me on two 70, you know, making the round that's that's me

Dex: 2:33

You know what? We're just gonna pretend like that joke worked out anyway. So we're just gonna go, we're just gonna

Tauna: 2:38

yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. The winds all moving so fast. I feel it in Cleveland. There we

Dex: 2:42

Yes. All you all you Um, so I did a, a bit of rudimentary research on you and

Tauna: 2:52

Mm.

Dex: 2:52

very early in your career, you volunteered for The center for healthy families. You have to tell me about what you learned during that experience. Cuz I got this feeling. You still use that. Go ahead.

Tauna: 3:04

Oh, for sure. So I'll give a little pretense soon as a healthy family, just an organization, uh, based here in Columbus, Ohio, that was started by Donna James, who is this amazing? Uh, just. She is, she's an amazing entrepreneur, but she sits on many corporate boards, one of the most notable. Now she is chairwoman of the Victoria Secrets Board, but in her, her illustrious past, she started life out as a teen mom and kind of, went through a journey with all of that in finding her way through school. She was a model, for Ebony. She just, she's done just a lot of amazing things. One of the most racial souls you'll ever come across in this world. And so I, she also sat on the Limited Brands, board and I met her back probably 15 to 20 years ago. And so, she started this organization with the intention of supporting teen parents, helping them to navigate the systems and the opportunities available to them, but ensuring. They did not become repeat teen parents cause that's a, that's a huge thing in that space. And that's where I started my career was in youth development. And so it just had such a synergy for me. When I came on board at the Center for Healthy Families, they were just getting started. So their executive director was in place, but they had no other staff. One of the things that I got to do there was to help develop some systems for them. Was to come in and understand the work and be part of conversations, but set up things so that they were ready for their volunteer management, that, that entire system, I also set up like kind of their file share and different things. And I learned, I really did learn so much about being a black boss, a black woman boss. I mean, surrounded by these black women who were doing amazing things in the world, and building your, your own. So the things that I carry now are, you know, whether it is, with a client and coming in and assessing their systems and figuring out like, what can we do next? And how can we make this work for you? And, and being able to take kind of that vision, that dream they have and, and bring it to reality or in my own business, as I've been out here in these streets for the last couple years, building Drew Alexander, and now Next Woman Up. Understanding I need to start and what systems we need in place and, and making sure our foundations are tied in, but it was, it was an amazing opportunity to watch something grow. I see them now in the community and I'm just so proud of all the work that they're doing. Cause the organization has truly grown and it's having such an impact here in central Ohio. So shout out to Donna and she, the executive director for giving me the opportunity to be this, you know, young, black woman figuring it out in life and, and surrounding me with greatness and opportunity, uh, that I could then continue on into the future.

Dex: 6:04

Wow, this, that was such a good answer. that was, yeah. Yeah. That was a great response. Uh, you know, it's, it's kind of funny because I, I often talk about systems and that's the

Tauna: 6:18

Mm-hmm

Dex: 6:18

cuz I always had big ideas and I'm sure there's people out there, there to listen right now who. Who always have big ideas. And, but when you sort of start with a system, you, you simplify things and you put these things in place. With the system, there's gotta be a process. Tell me about your, your process.

Tauna: 6:38

Know, my process is really, I, I was actually having a conversation with someone recently and I wanted to give 'em a visual, a big on visuals, right? So I, uh, love the Sherlock Holmes. I love a mystery. I love the Sherlock Holmes and kind of all of its forma book, audio podcast, you know, movie and in the Sherlock Holmes movie, they do this cut scene where he is processing. Like something's about to happen. Usually a fight scene. And time slows down and he's doing all of the calculations of, oh, he is gonna try to hit me this, do this to counteract that, oh, this works in this place, these, these buckets and all of this, like motion happening in slowmo. And then it feeds up and that's what happens. That is my process. When I go in, I do a lot of listening. I want to hear, uh, what's happening, whether it. Advising on leadership, whether it is developing a new program, um, or even in leading my own team, I listen a lot and I'm, I am constantly dissecting what I'm being told. I wanna hear both for the human emotion part, cause people are our greatest asset. And so I wanna hear what's going on with the people. Is everything that's happening related to the work or is there something else going on? I also want to hear about the work and like where, where are we? Is it, is it a dream? You know, I have clients what I'm working with right now that we're dreaming. And I have lots of questions about, well, how do you visualize this working? And if that's the goal, I have questions about the steps that get us there. And so I come in and, and ask those things. I can flush it out. Then I go to. I am the daughter of a building family. My dad is a master electrician, and many of, uh, the family members on his particular side are tradesmen in all different. I mean, like essentially if I got all my uncles and cousins together, we could build you a house from ground up. Right. And so I grew up with that experience of watching people take a stack of tile or take a coil of, of wire or stack of wood. And turn that into a vision they had in their head and make it be something beautiful. And so I, I used to tell 'em like, I take that and I just apply it in business. Um, and so then I get to building and we wanna make sure that we're putting the right processes in, uh, So that it leads to the right system, but it's all about that foundation of having like a clear understanding of what we're trying to accomplish, having clear goals, um, establish with that. A lot of what I do, uh, with my clients, always it comes back to what's the goal, what's our timeline, what do we need to do to accomplish it? And walking people through the different stages, you know, there's, there's so many people. I work with that are geniuses. You know, they are amazing in their own, right. They have this amazing vision and goal, for what they wanna do. A lot of times it's just needing to have someone to bounce the ideas off and fill in your gap. And so I, you know, what I do is unique and I'm, I'm great at it, but I am just amplifying the visions and goals and, and dreams of those that I work.

Dex: 10:01

Yeah. yeah. Look at you. yeah. I, I imagine there's a lot of reverse engineering in what you do.

Tauna: 10:09

Oh, gosh. Yeah. Oh gosh. Yeah.

Dex: 10:12

So when you set up. When you, where you're setting these things up for people, take me through a typical day. Like what's the first thing you do once you you've listened to them, you flushed out a plan. What's the first thing you start to, you know, to where you start putting the pieces together for them.

Tauna: 10:28

So the the beauty of there's no, typical day is one of the reasons why I like, like the work that I do. Um, but I think the first thing once we've had our listing session, I kind of, um, I'm constantly thinking on things. So I was kind of like that pot on the back of the stove. That's just simmering away. I could be out, you know, running around with the kids. I could be on my target run. I could be on the treadmill, but I'm just thinking about how does it all fit together? What do we know? What don't I know, what do I need to know? What questions do I need to be asking? I'm thinking about who I'm working. Right. How is X gonna respond? When I say these things like, am I putting it in language that he can receive? Is it, am I putting it in plans that they can follow? You know, I'm just looking for Those things. And so just depends on what kind of project is some of the projects I'm working on. They just need me as a thought leader. And so, like, I don't need to create a deck for them or do a big presentation. They need me to come in and talk them through. There's other projects we're getting ready to start a project. That's gonna end up being a 45 plus page report. And we kind of just, you know, that's why I love it's a variety. It can ever, it's always, um, My plans. One of the things that I I'm honed in on is that when we do strategic planning and goal planning and like trying to, to do these things, it needs to be tactical because we can have big ideas, but if we don't know how to walk those things out and what are the steps like I can say, Hey, I want to build a seven figure business. That's a great goal, but how. What are the things that I'm gonna do to get there. And so that's where we break down with clients is, is coming back to saying whether it's growing in your career, whether it is growing in your leadership, whether it's growing your particular project or organization, how so we break things a lot. We set things down a lot to like this granular level of in September. These are the things I need to tackle and take. In October, these are the things that I've been ready to take on and try to make it so that these really busy professionals, cause we're all running constantly have a list or a designed plan that is achievable. You know, that, that I see it's too often that we, we set out these lofty goals. We don't have the plan of how we're gonna do between the thought, the design, the, the. And when we wanna see fruition and we get lost in the middle. And so if I can essentially hold your hand through the process to show you, okay, so here's the next, you know, shining that light. Here's the next step. Oh, then, then you also need to make sure that you're addressing this, then you need to make sure that you're addressing this next thing. And it builds, right? And then they, they also get to build and their confidence and I do a lot. A lot of cheering. I laughed because I was like a cheerleader for maybe one year, one season. And I was like, this isn't the life for me. But it really is because I spend my day cheering people on, reminding them of what the greatness that's inside them, building them up, combating imposter syndrome. I'm just really reminding people, that they've done hard things before and that they can do hard things again. So, while there's no typical day, those that's a lot of what goes into my day. Lots of talking all day.

Dex: 14:10

I imagine you, you deal with a lot of people. Okay. Well, in dealing with a lot of people, I'm sure you built up a network. How important is that network and how do you leverage what other people know to get to your client's goals?

Tauna: 14:31

So this is a, this is kind of, it's a fun question. Cause it's an internal joke with my client. That kind of knows. She always knows a guy, right. Or a woman. So you'll come to me and you'll say, oh, you know, I wanna really wanna do this. And I'm like, oh, I got, I have a connect for you. I collect people. Because, you know, I was taught early in my career that your network is everything. I took that to heart. And so I'm big on, like, I connect with people in a lot of different ways. I have them on LinkedIn. I have people that are just continue to maintain relationships with, but at the same time, I'm an amort, there are moments where I am super extroverted. I love, you know, we'll talk to. In most scenarios, but then there are things that like, are so intimidating to me that given the chance I'm going to avoid it. So going to a networking event is not my jam. Like I just, we gotta walk. We're just walking into a room and just connecting with people with no purpose. Don't want to do it

Dex: 15:33

Why do you think they give out free alcohol?

Tauna: 15:36

I don't drink

Dex: 15:37

Oh, you don't? Oh, more for me.

Tauna: 15:39

even, I that's not even I'm like, if I have great desserts, then I'm like, maybe okay. But no, it that's not. And I have a pretty, exclusive network. That's not where I people from. I really do have like these conversations with colleagues. I want, I am always kind of listen. To here. Tell me what about, you know, what you're doing and what you're into. And I log that information. I collected people when I'm on job sites and, and working with different clients. For me, that's, that's been, I, you know, move in a different way. It's and I think that's the encouraging thing that you don't have to network one way. I also ask my network when I don't have the person. So, you know, it's, Hey, I'm looking for a. A new hire. We just made, I had a conversation with a couple folks in my network. I'm like, I'm looking specifically for this. Do you know anybody? And so the referral came back and that referral was goals. And so it, it is both having a network that you can go and ask the question to. I definitely select the people who are above me, like making sure that if their, their career has moved further than my, um, That I'm, you know, keeping in contact and kind of watching what they're doing and, and sharing them on when I get the opportunity. It was foundational when we started our business, our business right now runs on probably we are at like 80% referral rate.

Dex: 17:09

Oh,

Tauna: 17:10

So, um, yeah, our referral rate is super high and I'm super appreciative cuz it is a reflection of people's trust in. And belief that I can accomplish the goals that, our potential clients have. Yeah, it, and we've been really fortunate, like to, to achieve that level. Cause that mean it's super high, for the amount of business that we're doing. Right. And so, I appreciate that folks, you know, look out for us and think of us when I was. Talking with this new hire. She was saying that when she was talking about taking on a new project, we hadn't announced, her hire yet. And. One of the people she was talking to said, do you know Tauna that sounds aligned with like, we, I was not a part of this conversation and not in their shared spaces. So here's another, we have there, she has a shared contact of ours, but doesn't know that we know one another. And it was like, oh, you, this sounds like Tauna's work. And this sounds like you should be, you know, if you don't like, do I need to connect you to, to, um, And so that's really amazing, you know, like it's amazing to have your network grow in such a way. Um, but the other thing is that I'm really authentic people get you, get what you get. Like, I, I don't, I don't really put on a lot of masks or other faces. Like I am authentically myself in all, all of the places that I show up. And so I think that it helps people to connect with me authentic. So yeah, so the network, you know, the network is everything. We protect it and, and there are times where I'm like, I need to talk to people more. There's a lot of ways to keep up with folks, especially social media. Now, you can do that in a lot of different ways. And so that's why I have people everywhere. I collect them

Dex: 18:58

i, I. I have a very hard time believing you're afraid of anything now to be quite honest with you.

Tauna: 19:05

Oh, don't believe that, um,

Dex: 19:08

I really do like you just, your approach is just so

Tauna: 19:12

a very real part of it,

Dex: 19:13

yeah, it is.

Tauna: 19:16

Yeah. I mean, I, the top thing I am afraid of is failing.

Dex: 19:21

Mm-hmm

Tauna: 19:22

So like when it comes down to even if I'm afraid to do something else, the fear failing is the thing that pushes me to try to do the things that I don't care for now. I've, I've worked out strategies. If I have to go to a networking event, I'm almost always coming in the door. Like, who else do I know here? Sometimes I'm, I'm quieter than I would normally be. Sometimes I, you know, And it just depends on what capacity I'm there. And when I was the executive director of organizations, I didn't have the option to kind of be like, I don't want to do that part cause it was my job. So you just, sometimes I just have to turn on the switch and like, you need to be on, this is the thing that you have to do in this space. They're looking to you for this leadership. And so what we're gonna do is we're gonna be to sit afterwards, but we're gonna go in here and we're gonna talk to people. We're gonna check in with them. We're gonna see how everyone's doing. We're gonna start conversations. But I always had, I mean, it's also, I always have a plan be and having, I'm gonna do this for 30 minutes, cause I need to be here for 30 minutes or. I'm going to take someone with me that I can introduce them to. I have a really dear colleague and friend, that I love going to events with. And Nicole's one of them. The promoter he's speaking about, from the last show, Nicole is one of them and I have another friend named AJ and I love going to events with them because. They are the life of the party. Everyone knows them. And they're willing to just like usher me around, like, have you met to, you should meet Ooh, to, you should talk to them about such and such. And so like, as you connect with these natural connectors, uh, these wing women, as you may in business, it makes it a lot easier when you're feeling unsure. I would suggest to taking. A friend, another colleague, and then you guys can buddy it, you know, you're never the person standing by the punch bowl going well, I mean, who am I gonna talk to next? Cause everyone's all bundled up and I don't know if they know each other or not. And so it helps.

Dex: 21:31

It sounds like an eighth grade social all over again.

Tauna: 21:35

Yes. Yes it does. It feels that right too.

Dex: 21:39

you know, my wife and I, we were talking about representation in various industries. And you

Tauna: 21:46

Mm-hmm

Dex: 21:47

Being black and being a woman in your industry. And you've talked about bringing friends along, having a wing woman. Now you have to tell us, even though you've partly espoused on it, you have to tell us about representation in all industries and why it's just so important because this is something that cannot be reiterated.

Tauna: 22:13

For sure. As a black woman, I have, my personal experience has been, predominantly bring being the only brown face in the room. And it started very early. I went to private schools, private parochial schools, and where we were limited in representation. I went to a private Christian college where I wanna say there were maybe 12 students on campus at the time out of like 1500 that lived on campus. Yeah. Yeah. I'm used I'm I'm used and then went into an industry where black women are not, in any way, the majority in fundraising and nonprofit leadership roles. So I'm, I'm used to it, right? Doesn't mean it's right. I just, I know what I'm up against. What's really important to me is to hold the door open.

Dex: 23:12

Oh,

Tauna: 23:12

just to be, you know, not just to make space for myself, but to hold the door open and pull and through. And

Dex: 23:19

hold on. I'm I'm gonna

Tauna: 23:20

all industries.

Dex: 23:21

gonna stop you. I'm gonna stop you. I need you to say that again, for those who happened to miss it, somebody in the back row missed everything that you said, say it again so they can hear it.

Tauna: 23:33

It is important to hold the door open and to pull women through. It is in so many spaces. I mean, we talk about compensation. We talk about, how against, when measured against a white man, the differences of where the, the equity and equality is as far as pay. So for women in general, you know, equal pay day is in the middle of the summer for black women. It's not until August. that Meaning that a white woman has to work a year and a half to make the salary of a white man in the same role, in the same position, with the same level of experience and possibly more, for a black woman, she is working a year and eight months to receive the same salary as that white man in the same role, likely with more experience, That that's that's cool. that's try. Why, why, you know, it's the year of our Lord 2022 things should be better. The only way they get better is if we make them better. And so, one of the things that we're really focused on is building women's capacity where they're not currently receiving that from said white men to make them competitive, , in nonprofit industry alone, I think it's something like 74% of, the labor force in nonprofit, which includes everything from universities, hospitals, non-profit organizations and libraries, et cetera, you know, like all of those kind of things

Dex: 25:13

Mm-hmm

Nicole: 25:13

in leadership, it's something like less than 40.

Dex: 25:18

oh, Okay.

Tauna: 25:19

Which, which doesn't that math doesn't math, right? Like that doesn't make sense.

Dex: 25:26

Well, it's,

Tauna: 25:27

good enough to do the work and know the work. Right. We're making the impact and having these things done. I cannot believe that we are not, uh, equipped and qualified to then be leadership.

Dex: 25:38

That's why I'm pushing this podcast because. Nobody's gonna pay you more than you pay yourself. And if you wanna be in leadership, sometimes you have to make the role, you know?

Tauna: 25:49

Yeah.

Dex: 25:49

Yeah.

Tauna: 25:50

Sometimes if it makes a role, sometimes you have to kick down the door, you know, and, and a lot of times what I find, and this just kind of goes into how we got to Next Woman Up was there's not a defined career path. Now, when you think about good old boys and like the, the boys club of how you move forward in things, it it's things like your network, right? Like who do you know? It's also having someone who went before you to tell you the step that you do. Like what, what do you do next? Oh, well, you, if you wanna get to the top, you come in and, you know, we're all starting kind of start at the associate coordinator level, whatever you do, those. You do it for two years, you move on, you're pitching yourself for a manager role. Then you put yourself for a director role. Then you're looking at a vice president role, right? Like there there's this guidance that happens. That's not happening for women in the same way, especially women of color. And so for us, it was how do we help women overcome that gap in mentorship? Maybe potentially gap in network to define what their goal is. Not spend a lot of time, you know, spending their will. A lot of folks just don't have clarity on what they want to do as to the detail that we ask them to have and to set some real goals and, and pieces in action to help them get there. Cause if I know that, you know, for me, it was. I know I want to take on this role. I know I want to be an executive director. I came outta school with that, but how, you know, and I, by the time I was 30, 30, 1, 32, I dunno, somewhere in there. I was an executive director and, but it wasn't without, uh, especially restarting my entire career. I've been in it, done. Some things went to school. And then when I got outta school, wasn't able to land a role that was progressive. Now there could have been a lot of reasons for that. I can't, you know, we can speculate. It could be that I'm a black woman. It could be that, because there's this gap, you know, I didn't know about this gap in leadership when I was younger. It could have been because I now had more education and collective experience than those who would be going to be hiring.

Dex: 28:23

Mm.

Tauna: 28:24

That could be a problem. It could be that I wasn't talking about myself in the way that I should have been. I was talking more about tasks rather than accomplishments. All of those things could have fed into the process. And it could have been that I needed to have the experiences that we would get here. And I would build this program. You know what I'm saying? Like it could be all these things, but what happened. For me, it was that I stepped back and adjusted all of those things. I started to settle and own the fact that I not only paid for this education, but I earned it. And so I wasn't going to shy away from people who couldn't celebrate it. That I was gonna talk about my accomplishments women. We just, we, we don't do this enough because we're taught not to. We're taught, don't be brag. Don't be boastful. Don't brag. That's not ladylike.

Dex: 29:20

Yeah,

Tauna: 29:21

That's BS.

Dex: 29:23

it is. It

Tauna: 29:24

I own It I'm magic. And you might as well accept that. I'm magic here too. Um,

Dex: 29:32

I like

Tauna: 29:32

so, you know, I, I started to talk about myself differently. I started position what I had accomplished at a very young age. You know, I, I did things that, my peers could not, they couldn't copy. They couldn't, they couldn't say, oh, I did that too. No, I, you know, I did this, I was the first to do this. I was, I created this, I had these amazing results. I have results that don't still have revolts. I don't make good sense to other folks. They're like, wait minute, is that a typo? No, no. I, I really did increase year over year income, 2800% in one year.

Dex: 30:12

well, yeah, you better do a touchdown dance after that one.

Tauna: 30:15

Right. so, you know, let's talk about it, right? So it's like, you have to be, but you had to be willing to, I had to own, I had to own my stake. And so when I made that shift, then I went from being a part-time site coordinator to be an executive director within two years. And so, and it was a very quick Ascension. I tripled my salary in two years because I, I was that clear. And so those are the things that I'm teaching people is it's not so much, you know, I'm not promising, you're gonna triple your salary, but I'm a, I do promise you. If you get really clear about what you want, how you want it, what it looks like. We can define a plan that gets you there and that you can take ownership. And, you know, along with journey, you find out different things about yourself.

Dex: 31:13

Yeah.

Tauna: 31:14

One of the, you know, when I started this, my goal was to become an executive director. I started at like, you know, I went to college. I didn't necessarily see myself as an entrepreneur or doing what I'm doing now, but that was a happy discovery along the journey. So representation, all of that to say, like representation really matters. Like we have to, you know, coming back to that, like we have to be in places, women provide so much, diversity of thought, just natural empathy, emotional intelligence, that in a lot of places what's missing in organizations. Is that level of, um, insight, you know, when you it's, it's the scientific fact that if a, when put together a man and a woman equally, you know, equips, when they invest dollars that the woman's investment will come back and yield higher because she's using different skills, umto evaluate the market and where things need to be. If we're not given the opportunity to prove that, how would we ever know?

Dex: 32:24

Yeah. Well, you, you just mentioned the dollars and it got me thinking how much when it comes to especially the nonprofit world, how much do you think the dollars flow easier when you're not who you are?

Tauna: 32:44

Mm, you're saying my counterparts, who are, who don't have my title? My, my demographic.

Dex: 32:50

Yeah. Specifically.

Tauna: 32:53

Um,

Dex: 32:56

I, I bring that up because I know there's an inherent bias with people, you know, you know,

Tauna: 33:01

oh gosh.

Dex: 33:01

people go to people that, you

Tauna: 33:02

I mean, it's also what you demand when you come in the door. So I know what I'm worth and I don't, I don't allow, I'm not working for less than that. So,

Dex: 33:11

Yeah.

Tauna: 33:11

But it took a long while to get there. Right. There was a, there was a time when I was just excited that I thought that I was in the rage that I thought I should be. And then I learned a little bit more about negotiating and what was being left on the table. And I was like, oh, I'm gonna take all that too. Um, but no, I think it is easier for people. To depending on the, the makeup of an organization, and was making the, when, I mean, I've worked for predominantly white organizations as an executive, predominantly white board. Do I think it's easier for them to give possibly, you know, in theory, cause obviously we're not testing this, would it be easier for them to, to pallet giving. Another white counterpart, more money than me probably.

Dex: 34:05

Yeah.

Tauna: 34:05

I mean, just being realistic probably.

Dex: 34:08

Yeah. I, I feel like I feel.

Tauna: 34:11

not.

Dex: 34:11

Yeah. I feel like the, um, it, it makes it easier for them not to say no, not necessarily that they'll say yes faster. It's just the level of skepticism, you know, when one person walks through a door versus another, it might be skewed,

Tauna: 34:29

which is why I have to lead. Yeah. Yeah. Which is why I have to lead with accomplishments

Dex: 34:34

yeah.

Tauna: 34:35

you know, the, the first thing is I ju I can justify every penny. I bring results. You know, if this is, if this is what results are, what you're interested in, then results are what you will have. But I also. Will not waste a moment of my life cause like my life, you know, the dollars and all of that is, is, is part of the economy that we live in and, and all of that. But the time that I'm given on this earth is precious and I'm, I will not waste. And I got, I got to this place in my career. And, and self-reflection, I'm not gonna waste a single day where I'm not appreciating. I got fed up with being tired and sick and working myself to the bone to try to prove something to someone who will never be, it will never be proven for.

Dex: 35:34

Yeah.

Tauna: 35:35

And so we just, you know, we don't work with partners like that. Like I've, I have been, in opportunities where we were discussing with prospects and it became clear that, that there was, we were not align.

Dex: 35:48

Yeah.

Tauna: 35:49

And I politely declined to continue the process.

Dex: 35:53

Yeah. I think we've all been

Tauna: 35:55

I'd love to make some suggestions. You know, I did not like it just so, you know, a moment they were, I mean, they were offended like how dare she decides she doesn't want to move forward with this? Well, I'm just, I'm not for every, I recognize I am not for everybody. And that's. Nor is, you know, anyone, we all have our spaces that we, you know, places and, and people that we connect with and that we can bring, great value to, but understanding where my genius is appreciated has been key to my happiness. I'm not working for myself to be stressed. If I, if I want to allow someone else to drive my stress, I can go right on back to corporate America or leadership of an organization, but I'm not gonna do it in our company.

Dex: 36:49

nah, you shouldn't have to. I feel like with some of the gatekeepers, whenever you say no to them, it immediately throws up a mirror while they're asking the question, why me, why did this just happen to me? And you know, they, they don't know that that experience, they don't know the other side of that. So

Tauna: 37:11

Right, right. Well, we're taught that. We just have to accept the mean, think about it when someone comes and even when we're talking about negotiation, someone comes and they're like, oh, well, they offered me such and such. And you know, people are like, oh, you gonna take it instead of, oh, did you ask for more?

Dex: 37:30

Oh, yeah.

Tauna: 37:32

didn't you.

Dex: 37:33

Is this something you teach in the Next Up Women?

Tauna: 37:35

natural reaction. Say you get him.

Dex: 37:38

I'm sorry. Is this something that you teach in the next up?

Tauna: 37:42

Yes. Yes. We definitely teach this the next moment we talk about negotiations for skills. We talk about sure you are, um, acquainted with your worth and what is the appropriate pay or a position, because we should never, we should never leave a table. Having negotiation. There's very, like there's only a few places and I'll, I'll kind of hit on them. Like government work comes in at scales because it's just the way the government is set up. So if you're coming in at a particular scale, you're at that scale, but you still have, you know, there's space within that scale, they have less flexibility just because like of the way that system is designed. So when you're working for private business, when you're working in nonprofits, if you. You have negotiating power and you should exhaust it. So you, you know, whether it is more, pay, more vacation, a flexible workspace, opportunities for continued education, like there's all kinds of benefits and things that make a job, the job that you love to be at and in, And if someone's, you know, if a company is super rigid and they're like, well, we can't negotiate at all. That to me is a red flag. It could be even a, a signing bonus.

Dex: 39:04

Yeah.

Tauna: 39:05

could even be a one time deal, but when a company comes back and they're like, we can't move any on anything, that should be a red flag one moment, because you're not, you're also not going to have the opportunities to move. In ways that makes sense.

Dex: 39:24

Yeah. One of the things I mentioned in, uh, this podcast a lot is the great resignation and how more and more people are realizing that capitalism works both ways. And I really feel like that's amazing advice for people who need to hear that.

Tauna: 39:40

Yeah. Yeah. For sure. I totally agree. And it's something I've always thought, like you're in an interview. It is, this is an exchange, you know, you're exchanging your commodity of yourself for assets dollars and they're receiving, you know, they're, they're purchasing a service from you. And so when you recognize that you are the asset, it puts everything at a different perspective of, you know, if I'm the asset like, like LeBron, I'm taking my talent to Miami. Where they are appreciated. Right. And that worked out for him. People did not like it though.

Dex: 40:19

Yeah.

Tauna: 40:19

How dare he? He's so UN he's so ungrateful, like, no, I don't wanna spend his life playing for, sorry, Cleveland and I don't blame him. Cause they, you know, as, as a job situation,

Dex: 40:33

You live in, you live in Ohio. Don't say that too loud.

Tauna: 40:37

Listen, I, I will say it everywhere and in Cleveland. Um, but it, it is one of those things where it's just like, listen, if this was a job, we equated it to a job. It's you're in a workplace. They won't put anyone else on your team. You're doing three people's jobs and all they keep telling you is like, well, we really like you. Here's a pizza party.

Dex: 40:59

yeah, that

Tauna: 41:00

That's, that's the kind of work situation he had. You know, so it, for him to say like, no, I wanna go to somewhere where they're gonna put other, they're gonna put other people on my team. They're gonna invest dollars. We're gonna be able to really do this because we're all aligned. Look how he flourished it, yielded it, yielded the goal. And so that to me is like one of those things, like when we look at that as an example, we need to do that for ourselves. You're just as valuable. We not, may not be making a hundred million dollar contact. But the contract you are make making is, should be significant to you. You should feel when you take a new job. When you make a move, this is going to, this is, this is gonna be good for my family. It should be good for my mental health. I should enjoy the workplace that I'm in. I should enjoy the work that I'm doing. It should be helping me to grow for that position for the next thing, whether you. Going into your career in the middle or sun setting, you should always have those things. The saddest thing to me is when I had a conversation years ago with someone and she was coming up on her 30 years in an industry. And I was like, what do you love about your job? Super young in college still. So what you love about your job? You've been doing it for 30 years and she's like, I don't even like my job that had an impact on me that changed my life. I was like, there is no way. I'm not gonna spend 30 years and doing something for a paycheck because we're more than paychecks. If you're just doing it for check, you're never gonna be fulfilled in that moment.

Dex: 42:37

Yeah. Yeah. That's why I do podcasts. I, um, I like talking, I like being able to sit at home and then on my other podcast, I get to sit there and drink. So, you know, that's yeah. That's, that's my resume right there. So , it's just like eighth

Tauna: 42:55

It's the passion. It's yeah.

Dex: 42:58

Yeah, I kind of snuck that joke in , but yeah, it is, it is about passion. It is, it is about passion. Um, and it's amazing how, and I, I keep mentioning this on different, uh, episodes about how the pandemic, in some ways it's one of the best things that happen to people. You know, this is, you know, not counting all the people that got sick and and,

Tauna: 43:21

mm-hmm.

Dex: 43:22

you know, the families that survive. But for so many other people, it put in perspective, what is actually important?

Tauna: 43:31

Yeah, a hundred percent. I mean, we started dead in the middle of the pandemic. So like the bus, we started our businesses in, 2020 in the fall of 2020. So we were right there. That was, that was kind of, the catalyst

Dex: 43:45

mm-hmm

Tauna: 43:47

all of this is happening and it reminded me that time is finite.

Dex: 43:51

yeah.

Tauna: 43:52

And that I should be spending the time doing. What is the thing that I'm most excited about in this moment? Doesn't mean that it won't shift and change and, you know, grow. If we are on this earth for just a few days, what do I wanna spend those days doing? And I don't wanna spend it chasing someone else's.

Dex: 44:13

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. That's all the reason you need to be an entrepreneur. You. That is all the reason you need. I mean, there's plenty of other reasons out there, but if you only needed one reason.

Tauna: 44:25

There are,

Dex: 44:26

Yeah,

Tauna: 44:27

and listen, it's not for the faint of heart. I, I, don't being an entrepreneur is a path and it, it suits me. I think that you can find the same level of joy in. In your work when you treat your work as if you were an entrepreneur. Right. And what I mean by that is if you look at it as if you have a choice,

Dex: 44:48

Yeah.

Tauna: 44:49

you have options, you know, Finding the thing that aligns to you. Cause not everybody wants the pressure of like where's next sale coming from and all of those things that come like, are we, are we moving the right ads? Are we doing, you know, there's a lot of things that come with it. But if you look at your work, if you look at yourself again as an asset and making sure that you're considering all of the things, your passions, your family commitments, what's gonna bring you the greater joy. You have the opportunity to create something. Whether you're working for someone else or not, that is something you're really proud of is a legacy and you have impact on the world. Um, and it brings you joy. I mean, there, there are people who love being a carpenter, just as much as there are people who love being a CEO, just as much as there's people who love being in food service. Those jobs require a lot of different skills and attributes and, and. Energy from those people, but when you, it's what you love and it brings you joy, you should be able to do that and, and bring, you know, income also into your home.

Dex: 45:59

Yeah. Well, now I have to ask you, you know, in your industry when people are, are, are doing the nonprofit management thing, what is the point in someone's career to where they want to branch out on their, on their own and consult for other people? What is that, that sweet point to where they should consider doing that rather than the same thing that they've been doing?

Tauna: 46:28

You know, I don't know that there's like any particular point. I, I knew I was, um, inclined to consulting. I actually worked for consulting firm earlier in my career. I used to say, then I did it backwards. Cause I was like fresh professional. Right. Um, and then I was consulting to people who had been in the business for 30 years and I was telling, oh, you systems, by doing this, we could change this. And it worked. I just wasn't as confident as I am now. Like, you know, some of the life things that just, you move through, the knowledge is still there. I mean, obviously I've built my knowledge since then, but the know. Of myself really is what settled me. I encourage people to, to consult when they want to, you know, when you're new in it and you're skilled at something, there's, there's opportunities, there's especially a nonprofit, there's a lot of opportunities to bring your, uh, experience into other spaces when you wanna consult a hundred percent of the time. I. Say, when you feel comfortable that you're clear on the industry you wanna consult back to. So just like nonprofit is just a segment of business. It's not, um, there's a lot of things that are similar to a, for profit business. And then there's some very nuance aspects of it. Uh, I wouldn't have said I wanted to consult full time on a hundred million. Fresh outta college. I don't know anything. I didn't know anything then about bringing that type of money in. Um, now I'm more comfortable. You can come to me and say like, oh Tauna we have an annual budget of, you know, these multimillions. Do you feel comfortable working with this? Of course, because I've been exposed to it. Uh, but it's, it's also a lot is dependent on you where you feel confident it's when you feel C. Don't come out here and consult. If you don't know what you're talking about. I have seen people who provide advice and are consultants, and I have not been impressed with their work product because they're not well versed and not continuing to learn about the area that they say they specialize in. And so don't be that person.

Dex: 48:48

Can't fake until you make it. Can't.

Tauna: 48:52

No, some, some things are not like when it comes to being a consultant and leading others, it's not why. Um, especially in a nonprofit space, like we're the whole point of nonprofit is to work to the community. Good. It is, you know, I tell people I work for charities. I don't work for charity. Um,

Dex: 49:16

That's

Tauna: 49:17

But when you're working for charity, my goal is for them to be stronger for them to, to be able to better meet their mission for them to be able to better use the public dollars that have been invest in them. Um, it would just be poor level of integrity for me to take money from a nonprofit and not deliver on what I said I could.

Dex: 49:44

That would be, that would not get you that 80% referral rate that's for sure.

Tauna: 49:49

No, or no. And then like 60% re-engagement rate. So, you know, once they have us, they love us. They wanna keep us.

Dex: 49:56

nah, that's what's up now, if somebody did want to consult on a million dollar grant, how would they get a hold of you?

Tauna: 50:04

yeah. So you can find us at drewalexanderc o.com you can find. Me, uhTauna Batiste. So P a U N a B a T I SST E do com. And if also, if you're looking for our Next Woman Up, you can find us that nextwomanup.teachable.com. But I'm also on LinkedIn. We have a draft vendor page on Facebook. Uh, yeah. Finally and all of, you know, and then spinning around two 70. Um, if you can find

Dex: 50:42

watch that blur y'all watch that blur.

Tauna: 50:45

right, right.

Dex: 50:47

well, all that information is gonna be included in the show notes. And, um, if you want to get ahold of her by all means I she's got my recommendation, you know, I don't know if I have any value in her network, but I'm definitely gonna give her the

Tauna: 50:59

Thank you. Thank you. Oh, you're definitely get, you're definitely getting to the network.

Dex: 51:05

Oh, man. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. I hope I can help other people, you know that for me, that's what this podcast is about. Yeah. Putting that bug in the ear, somebody that really needs to hear it, you know? And speaking of

Tauna: 51:19

exactly

Dex: 51:20

yeah. Speaking of which, if you know someone who needs to hear this show by all means, share it with them. The best way to support this show is to share it with. You can discuss it. You can get ahold of me. If you have any questions, if you have somebody who you think we need to hear about by all means, reach out to me. You'll find all the information in the show notes. so for my amazing guest Tauna Batiste. I am Dex. You are listening to in the black and, always reach out to somebody else. That's definitely one of the big lessons to learn today. All right. You guys have yourself a great day. Thank you.