We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kathy DeCocq. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kathy below.

Alright, Kathy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, folks often look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight – but that often obscures all the nitty, gritty details of everything that went into the growth phase of your business. We’d love to hear about your scaling story and how you scaled up?

There is a false belief that many business owners hold: Clients are buying “me,” therefore I have to do everything. I held this belief for over a year and took responsibility for every aspect of my business, including the ones that I disliked and wasn’t really good at.

I fantasized about how nice it would be to hire someone to do all the things I didn’t enjoy. But the thought of hiring someone else to do things for me felt disingenuous.

My particular nemesis was social media. I hated doing it. I tried my best to stay consistent by blocking time on my calendar and forcing myself to sit down and do the posts during that time. I dreaded that time. It was easier to skip it and say “oh well” rather than to make myself create the posts.

But the relief of not wrestling with social media was short lived. I felt bad about neglecting an important part of my business. I was worried that by not having a social media presence I was missing the social proof for my business that would help me grow.

That false belief was hurting me. I realized that scaling up and hiring someone that loved doing what I hated wasn’t disingenuous at all. In fact, it would free me up to focus on giving even more value to my clients. That’s when I hired a Social Media Manager. It’s the best decision I’ve made in my business to date!

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

I have always been a process person, even as a kid! I didn’t realize it at the time, but I developed strategies that would help me minimize time spent doing chores and maximize what I loved best: play time. The satisfaction of heading to the park well before my sister ingrained in me my love for processes that make life easier and more efficient. That’s why it’s no surprise that I pursued a BS in Industrial Engineering and an MBA – both centered on efficiency.

In my professional life, I’ve spent more than two decades helping executives from large, global companies become more efficient with everything from manufacturing lines to services.

But the implementation of modern, state-of-the-art ideas wasn’t always easy for corporations accustomed to antiquated approaches and “the way we’ve always done things”. So I decided I wanted to take all my years of experience to those companies who truly needed the help and were defined by anything but the status quo.

That’s why I started Savvy Maven – this company is a natural extension of what I love to do best: Improve processes for individual executives at companies in professional services industries. My approach is to learn what executives are struggling with; tune into their vision of what an efficient and dynamic company looks like; then, create customized solutions that work.

Any advice for managing a team?

I’ve managed all kinds of employees over my career, and whether you’re dealing with full time, part time, small teams, or large teams, I’ve found that there are two critical elements to maintaining high morale and inspiring dedication, enthusiasm, and excellence.

First, it’s extremely important to make sure everyone knows exactly how their work contributes to the big picture for the company. When documenting processes and creating SOPs for my clients, I don’t just explain HOW to do the work, but I help the team understand WHY they are doing the work. Knowing how to do something is the bare minimum to complete a job, but knowing why you are doing something turns that job into a mission that resonates with each team member in a way that has them excited to come to work each day.

Secondly, leading a team and keeping morale high depends on recognition and celebration. Find a way to recognize even the tiniest step in the desired direction by a team member or an entire team. Celebrate the win, no matter the size, especially if it’s early on in the project or transformation. I love to “catch people doing it right” and reward them on the spot with praise and recognition. For the longest time, I thought the finished product was the only thing worth celebrating and recognizing. But as I’ve matured and led more people, I’ve learned that incremental recognition and celebration is what keeps the team moving toward the desired outcome. It doesn’t have to be perfect, progress is worth celebrating, too!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Being an entrepreneur is challenging, but it can be downright detrimental to your health if you make the same mistakes I did. My company was born out of the desire to take what I had learned from my own failures and share them with other entrepreneurs.

During my corporate career, I was a dedicated, enthusiastic employee who wanted nothing more than to demonstrate my worth and please everyone. The phrase “working yourself to death” became more real than I could ever have imagined. I worked hard – not smart – at the expense of my own physical and mental health. I didn’t have any boundaries, I said yes to everything wanting to be seen as “a team player” and “willing to get in the trenches and do the work.”

This approach didn’t work for me. I worked so much that my productivity was non-existent and I ended up having to take an extended medical leave to deal with health issues that I had been ignoring.

These experiences are often our best teachers. I learned that it was up to me to define the boundaries and rules of engagement that would keep me both productive and healthy. No one else was looking out for me in that regard, especially at work.

I took a dose of my own medicine and did two critical things.

First, I used my experience as a process optimizer and project manager to establish boundaries that would keep me productive without negatively affecting my health.

Second, I communicated them to everyone who needed to hear them, bosses, co-workers, and family members.

Doing that enabled me to create a new way of getting work done effectively that honored my health needs and still got the job done for the company.

Today, I have a work-life balance that makes life a joy, being productive and offering value to my clients while enjoying good health and a rich life outside of work.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.asavvymaven.com
• Instagram: kathy_decocq
• Facebook: Savvy Maven
• Linkedin: kathy-decocq
• Youtube: Savvy Maven

Image Credits
Ali Hohn Photography