We recently connected with Adelheid Waumboldt and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Adelheid thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

Success is something that every business person is reaching for – but how you define it as an individual or entity is symbiotic to its achievement. For me, success is growth. If all trajectories are trending upward including but not limited to: acquiring new skills, acquiring new clients, acquiring new personnel, generating more income, completing projects to the esteem of our clients, etc; then, we are in a successful period.

For an individual, success is synonymous with freedom. If your business is able to provide you with freedom then you are a successful individual. Freedom is the ability to make your own schedule, to decide whether or not to work on a project, to have time to do things that aren’t work-related, and ultimately the most merited freedom is that of financial freedom, which relieves an individual of the unrelenting burden of financial stress.

Success doesn’t necessarily happen overnight. In order to become a successful business owner I have had to work for many other people, and made sure I tried to acquire as many new skills during those periods as possible. The grunt work periods have not all been glamorous, and often required sacrifice on my part in other areas of my life.  For me, it was important to view all work as part of the journey, and having respect for the journey of those who came before me was equally important.  Faux realities often portrayed on social media can be dangerous for modern youth – don’t get caught in this “work smarter not harder” attitude. Hard work is the only work that truly pays off in the end.  My advice to the youth is: find joy in your current situation, keep a positive attitude, make goals for the future, and never stop learning.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Hello Voyage readers! I am Adelheid Waumboldt, President of the ISET Agency located in Pasadena, California. I am a woman – which is important to note as many people read my name and write back, “Dear Sir.” My career began from the day I left University when I was immediately hired to work for a multinational conglomerate specializing in the international trade of crude oil products as well as vessels specified for pipeline building and platform supply. During that time I served as the executive assistant to the Chairman which gave me the opportunity to be involved in every facet of that multi-billion dollar entity. Thereafter I had the exceptional opportunity to work for an UHNW individual in the Middle East for whom I focused on investments in the precious metals sector, namely gold and gold mining opportunities. I have worked in a multitude of sectors and have accumulated a range of skills uncommon in the current industry I serve – advertising, marketing and public relations.

I speak several languages including English (surprise, surprise,) French, Italian, some Spanish and Arabic. I was on the cover of Fortune Magazine when I was six years old.

For the last several years I have owned the ISET Agency. It is our goal to leave a legacy of good in our wake. We perform business development, branding, advertising, marketing, and public relations services for a wide spectrum of brands and personalities. Notably, our agency represented world-renowned Pastor Che Ahn and his entities Harvest Rock Church as well as HIM International Ministries in their fight for religious freedom during the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in a favorable 6-3 decision by the Supreme Court of the United States, declaring incontestable freedom to worship in the State of California. That said, as an agency we are not political in terms of supporting one party but effectively support individual causes which we believe will better the world.

My current focus is on the development of a forty acre private island luxury resort and estates located in Exuma, Bahamas where I serve as Creative Director as well as Partner to Stephen Harbaugh and our other investors. ISET Agency is also the advertising, marketing, and branding partner on this project. We cannot wait to escape! Won’t you join us?

Have you ever had to pivot?

Life, in general, is about the survival of the fittest. How fast can you adapt? In times of uncertainty or facing a new challenge, any entity has two choices – to “go with the flow” or to go against it. The “right thing” to do is never uniform, and in every area of life the ability to make quick, proactive decisions is that which carries the successful into the next chapter. As both an individual and business owner, I have had to pivot a million times. I have changed industries, strategies, personnel, location, niche areas, and pretty much any ebb and flow you may think of. At ISET Agency we welcome change and refer to it as “variety,” the spice of life.

I could expound on our pivots, on the ebb and flow, but in fact change should be left in the past, not dug up and brought into the future. I will say this; however: change is what you make of it. Often things that seem like negatives, turn out to be positives. For me, personally, it is my unshakeable faith in God which keeps me grounded, and furthermore carries us through any worldly turn.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Managing a team is something that reads like it is simply about organization but it is so much more. You must handle people, their personalities, the ups and downs of their personal lives that they bring to work, their interest in the work, their interest in your success as a company, their interest in their own success as an individual, their ability to work with others, their skills, their weaknesses, and their future goals.

To manage a team and all of their tasks you must have an organization system or software in place. We’ve tried them all. Monday.com was interesting for a while, then we went back to the tried and true google systems which suit our needs as an entity. We have a multitude of calendars, organizational softwares for different task sets, and other organization vehicles that keep us all on track and moving ahead as a single unit.

Here are some things that help keep team’s morale management and overall work-culture non-toxic: make jokes and make them often, but keep them clean. Do not joke at anyone’s expense. At ISET Agency we focus on the work at hand. When we are not actively doing or discussing our work we find a plethora of ways to entertain each other. We sing. We dance. We eat. We are generally very merry, which stems from the fact that we have great respect for each other, our clients, and our product.

Also, let’s be honest – it’s about the bottom line. You have to treat employees financially fairly in order to maintain morale and loyalty. I feel the best about my work when my whole team is winning together. We do not hire unpaid interns as such practice is beneath us. The culture of abundance is one we want to promote and be a part of.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.isetagency.com
• Instagram: @theisetagency
• Twitter: @theisetagency