We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ottoweiss Cook a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ottoweiss, appreciate you joining us today. Talk to us about building your team? What was it like? What were some of the key challenges and what was your process like?

When I first started, it was just me. I was passionate and driven, eager to bring my vision to life. Those early days were a whirlwind of long hours and countless challenges, but they were also incredibly rewarding. Because I had done my research and due diligence, I knew I had to have a board of directors for a non-profit organization. I did not have any unusual or unconventional process for recruiting or training. I just knew I needed loyal, intelligent, selfless, bold. articulate members of my board. Training was an ongoing process. Since we were a small team, we all wore multiple hats, and learning was very much on-the-job. I encouraged open communication and fostered an environment where everyone felt comfortable sharing ideas and feedback. This collaborative approach helped us build a strong, cohesive team. Looking back, if I were starting today, there are a few things I might do differently. I would invest more time in defining roles and responsibilities from the outset. While the flexibility of wearing multiple hats was valuable, having clearer structure and expectations might have helped us avoid some growing pains. Additionally, I would place a greater emphasis on creating a more formal onboarding process to ensure new hires had the support and resources they needed to hit the ground running. Overall, the journey from a solo entrepreneur to leading a team has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my business. The lessons learned and the relationships built along the way have been invaluable. The team that I have built, I could not be happier with, we have become a family, and the women I have on my team are some of the smartest, most talented, and most compassionate women in the world, I could not have done any of what I have done without them.

Ottoweiss, 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?

From a very young age, I knew I had something special inside of me, and I knew I wanted to share it with the world. I have always had a calling to inspire and build others up. I know that my upbringing in the church became the vehicle in which I used to display and apply my calling and my talents. I began with ministry, whether it was a bible study or worship team, I always found a way to express my faith and my love for God and his people in one way or another while in the church. In my adult years, I began to use that love of ministry to do public speaking and preaching. I started Me Mentoring INC NFP because ultimately, I wanted to provide and be exactly the person I needed when growing up. Everybody needs somebody, and Me Mentoring INC NFP creates a space where not only children (boys and girls), feel safe, but also for adults (men and women), to be guided and assisted in living their very best life and becoming their very best selves. Me Mentoring is truly my hearts passion project, and over the years I have been so very blessed to see all of the lives impacted by this organization. I also have a heart that is really geared toward women, and women empowerment. This passion of mine to build women up, is evident in everything I put my name on. I have now written two books, the first “My Abandoned Heart Ignored: The Cave Experience”, is a testimony of a time in my life that was truly transformational, highlighting different things women go through as part of marriage, motherhood, etc. The second book, my most recent; “I’M THAT GIRL; Unapologetic, Unstoppable”, is a bold guide for women to follow in living their best life, boldly and without any trauma, unforgiveness, or societal expectations weighing them down. While running Me Mentoring, writing books, I am still holding true to my roots in ministry with Ottowiess Cook International Ministries (OCIM), and I am also launching an Ecommerce Online Store at shopwithfrancia.com. The name contains my middle name and pays tribute to my younger self who had a passion for fashion. From my ministry to my online clothing store, my life is a colorful reflection of boldly chasing your dreams and passions. Everything I am committed to, is a testament to the strength, fearlessness, and boldness that is inside of all of us women, my hope is that I help as many women as possible along the way that I can, to find their identity and their voice, and to assist them in living loudly and unapologetically.

Any advice for managing a team?

I encourage everyone on my team to pursue excellence in all that they do. When we all hold ourselves to a high standard, it shows in our work, and as a result of producing such high-quality work; everyone is proud and happy with the end result. When we push for excellence in organizing and everything working like a machine, there is less chaos, and everyone knows what is expected of them and everyone is constantly pursuing excellence. This creates an atmosphere of peace and congratulatory language, instead of running around stressed and upset, we operate clearly and concisely, with very little distractions and disturbances.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

We have a very close-knit group of mentees and mentors for Me Mentoring INC NFP. We go on group outings with our mentees as well as private sessions. We are in constant communication with each other as well as our mentees and their parents. we have group texts as well as private text threads, our clients know they can reach out to us anytime about anything and we will do our very best to help them. As far as my other businesses, I am very hands-on when it comes to client issues or inquiries. All of the inquiries from our websites go directly to me, so I can make sure the proper steps are being made to help that client.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ottoweisscook.com
• Other: www.mementoring.com
  www.shopwithfrancia.com