We were lucky to catch up with John Stephenson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, John thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I knew it was my purpose in life to help people that had challenges with communication within their relationships. Whether it was within their personal relationships, in their business relationships or volunteer group relationships (church or special interest). We all have dreams of succeeding in every area of our lives and that life involves people. Unfortunately because of the past traumas of life, misinformation we received growing up or just experiencing discouragement, some people need assistance in knowing first that they are here for a purpose and the dreams they see can happen through them. Then second with successful communication skills and valued service, they can develop new relationships and excel in their personal and business relationships as well.

I recognized years ago if we as a society approach every relationship with a heart to serve, work towards valuing people and intentionally seek understanding when conflict arises, just about every relationship can have success. Currently the market is flooded with many personal and business coaches, my niche is that my misery has become my ministry (or service). Having had challenges with people not clearly understanding my intentions at times as well as my misunderstanding of others intentions, created so many disconnections and tension. If we establish good relationship management, proper organization, and establish dependability, the byproduct will result in successful relationships, communities, and businesses.

John, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a faith-based minister/coach that hosted a national Radio Show that has transitioned into a successful Podcast called Vision for Change which is now based in the Washington DC Metropolitan area. Through mentoring and training exercises we have found success in helping people deliver their very best both professionally and personally. In addition to the God-given natural skills and experiences, I have been blessed to serve as a certified mediator in the state of Maryland and California. For more than 20 years I have served full time as an Assistant Pastor and Administrator of a large charismatic church. As the author of 3 books, God has truly blessed me with a wealth of knowledge and a sincere passion to inspire others in the area of service. When I am not working in one of these life-changing capacities, I so enjoy serving in the entertainment business as a background actor in feature films, television series, commercials, and documentaries.

Any advice for managing a team?

To me every team is a working relationship. In the trainings I facilitate, I train from my core pillars for successful relationships. The first pillar is Relationship Management. This is fully understanding every position within a relationship and the responsibilities of the positions. Which positions communicate with whom and what are the protocols established for the communication. Then there is Organizational Management. This is where we review how the relationship is constructed how the organization is operated. Basically who does what and how. I wholeheartedly believe that a marriage is teamwork (one of the services we offer). In my Pre-Marital Coaching sessions, I have discovered that there is not much of a difference in that relationship as it is in business. If there is no proper relationship management and organization, there are problems looming. When a couple has different definitions of what a Husband is and what role he is committing to play within the relationship, as well as the Wife’s definition and role within the relationship, the potential for divorce is very high. Within a business structure the employees need to know and be orientated in the organization’s structure and scope of the operation. Who is assigned to do what and allow the best person to do what is best for the team. This will help to avoid mistakes that can critically cost the business and possibly someone employment. Then finally there is the dependability pillar. This is what I see as the pillar to show the business’s reliability to service. Here is where testing/acquiring the feedback to ensure that what we say we are providing in the business relationship is actually what it is. An estimated 75 Billion to 1.6 Trillion dollars was lost in poor customer service in the year 2022. We have discovered that most people will stop using a business’s services without saying a word. It is in the best interest of every business to establish relationships that are reliable, trustworthy and honest. The same can be said in marriage. A person that is not being served with love, care, trust and honesty, will depart the relationship mentally first and eventuallly departure physical.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

In 2007, a couple of friends and I purchased a local Barbershop and Beauty Salon as an investment project. The owner no longer desired to run the business and wanted a quick sale. I presented the idea of partnership in the purchase of this business with two close friends. We discussed the potential profits that could be made from a business like this with some adjustment and a culture shift within the business. We all agreed and took advantage of this opporunity. As with any business acquisition we faced the challenges of the possibility of employees/contractors leaving the business, the unexpected repair cost, and the list goes on . In our first meeting with the employees as the new owners, we gave the pep talk/motivational speech from the perspective of us being a family. We did our best to remain true to our words regarding being a family, but it seemed we spent a majority of the time on how to gain profits instead of valuing the relationships that were established and how to establish new relationships. After a while it became very evident that money was the driving force for some within the organization due to some of the thirst for new clients which fostered competition and strife. In my personal opinion what fueled this attitude among the contracted employees was the lack of my presence within the business. We noticed that some of the established guidelines we created and placed in our Standard Operation and Procedures Manual were being ignored or just forgotten. I discovered that the employees had not fully digested what we as owners desired regarding serving the customers that faithfully came to our business for service. When I made the adjustment to develop relationships with each employee and committed, spending more time onsite, implementing the ideas they had for improving our relationship with the community we served, taking interest in their personal lives, it modeled how to value people which in turn increased the clientele which increased the income, we saw a noticeable change in business. We hired a manager from within the organization to lead and to oversee that the processes we established to serve our customers in excellence were implemented in the manner we desired.

Eleven years later we sold the business for three times more than what we purchased it for. I discovered that the profit wasn’t the most rewarding for me, it was seeing some of our former employees that worked for us stepping out on their faith and opening shops of their own. They have instituted the same principles and culture within their businesses and are experiencing greater success.

Making the changes was not only necessary for my success, but the success of the other entrepreneurs and customers within our community.

Contact Info:

• Website: vfcmedia.com
• Instagram: @johninspires247
• Facebook: John Stephenson Online
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-stephenson-1704a29?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
• Twitter: @johninspires247
• Youtube: John Stephenson Online
• Other: www.jsmonline.org