57. Tri Cities Influencer Podcast featuring Jennifer Cunnington

Tri-Cities Influencer Podcast with Paul Casey

Speaker 1:

I've learned that people will forget what you said. People will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel, by Maya Angelou. I am Michelle Oates and I'm a Tri-Cities Influencer.

Paul Casey:

What specific behaviors must everyone on your team do every week to live out the vision and keep it alive? One of the only ways change happens in a company is if people change their behavior and align it to the vision.

Speaker 3:

Raising the water level of leadership in the Tri-Cities of Eastern Washington, it's the Tri-Cities Influencer Podcast. Welcome to the TCI Podcast where local leadership and self-leadership expert, Paul Casey, interviews local CEOs, entrepreneurs and non-profit executives, to hear how they lead themselves and their teams, so we can all benefit from their wisdom and experience. And here's your host, Paul Casey of Growing Forward Services, coaching and equipping individuals and teams to spark breakthrough success.

Paul Casey:

It's a great day to grow forward. Thanks for joining me for today's episode with Jennifer Cunnington. She is the home loan sales manager of STCU here in the Tri-Cities. And a fun fact about her, is I found a lady who likes fantasy football, but Jen, you better tell us more about that.

Jennifer Cunnington:

Yes, indeed Paul. Thanks for having me. Yeah. My family put together a league a few years back and I was the only girl. And so I thought that I had to do a ton of research in order to be good at it. Over the years I've rested on my own laurels a little bit, but they always tease me, because I do so much research. I haven't won yet, but I've come pretty close. Top five out of 10, I think is pretty good. So I'm still working on it.

Paul Casey:

Awesome. Well, we're going to dive in after checking in with our Tri-City Influencer sponsor, Mario Martinez, Northwestern Mutual. Mario, what types of services do you offer?

Marion Martinez:

Hey Paul, thank you for letting me be on here. We run bifurcated practices and then we focus in two areas of a financial plan. The first one is, we do protection pieces, which include life insurance, disability insurance, long-term care insurance, really the things that people should be focused on to protect their families, their businesses. And on the other side of our practices, we do investment services. And on the investment platforms, we do both the brokerage platform and we do the advisory level services. So, depending on what someone's looking for, as far as guidance on their investment strategies, we can curtail and build a strategy for them that makes sense.

Paul Casey:

Mario, how can people get in touch with you?

Marion Martinez:

The easiest way, you can reach out to me directly on my business cell phone is 509-591-5301. You can send me an email at [e-mail] or you can reach out to us on our social media platforms. The easiest one being Mario Martinez - Northwestern Mutual on Facebook.

Paul Casey:

Thank you for your support of leadership development in the Tri-Cities. Well, welcome Jen. I was privileged to meet you through leadership Tri-Cities just a couple of years ago. It seems like it's been longer. And you were a shining star in your class. What number was that again?

Jennifer Cunnington:

24. Best class ever.

Paul Casey:

Yet again, best class ever. And we've done some work together, with some team building with your awesome team over there, STCU. I'm glad you could join us today. So start us off by telling us a little bit about your career highlights that led to what you're doing now and why do you love what you do?

Jennifer Cunnington:

Yeah. Well, I started in banking when I was in college and then just was introduced to the mortgage arena through that big financial institution. Then I went to work for a credit company who started acquiring banks, back in the day. And so, because I was the only one with a little bit of knowledge about something big that they were going to be involved in, they took advantage of that. And I rolled with it, learned a lot about things I had not a lot of knowledge about, but that helped me embark on this... Gosh, I won't say how many years, but have had just a really engaging time in this industry.

Jennifer Cunnington:

So, I had a lot of really wonderful mentors and as I went through different positions in finance, I decided that I wanted to be on the forefront of the origination part, because I wanted my clients to have the very best experience possible. So, I really wanted them to get to the closing table, feeling comfortable with paperwork, and there's a ton of it. And really understanding what their terms were and that it was all in their best interest. So, it's been a big ride over the years. I've gotten to do some really, really fun things and meet a lot of great people. And now we're here.

Paul Casey:

And why do you love what you do?

Jennifer Cunnington:

I love what I do, because really being able to assess needs and be a part of one of the biggest financial decisions in one's life, is huge. Really priding myself over the years of gaining that knowledge of all different programs and the nuances of the benefits. Being able to provide that to people and helping them get into the homes and realize a lot of their financial goals is huge.

Paul Casey:

It's great to know that why; it reminds me of the tire commercial that it says, "It's not about the tires, it's about the child that's riding in the car." So, I love that your why is very clear of helping people with that big financial decision of buying a home. So throughout that journey, you hit some obstacles to success as we all do. There's some speed bumps there. What's one of the biggest hurdles that you overcame in your career?

Jennifer Cunnington:

Oh gosh. I think just the cycles in the financial industry is huge. Back in 2008, I was just really getting going in my career and of course, too big to fail. And so our economy goes through so many changes and the mortgage industry was a big part of that back then, but I didn't know any better because I was relatively new. And so I didn't know about some of the things that people used to do. I just was able to adapt quite quickly and just move forward with new procedures and regulations. And so, taking that all into account, I really wasn't that phased. And so I was really one of the lucky ones.

Jennifer Cunnington:

A lot of my friends and colleagues in the industry, unfortunately shut up to work and doors were locked. All those folks that they were trying to help, they weren't able to do so, because the companies ran out of money. Lots of different changes, but I think just being able to weather a lot of these cyclical changes that we experience from time to time, whether it be political, economic, all those things, are just huge. So, that was a big one.

Paul Casey:

So, you've used the word adapt a couple of times already. Why is that such a valuable skill for a leader?

Jennifer Cunnington:

Oh, well we have to be flexible. There's one thing that's constant, which is change. And so really if we find ourselves being too regimented, or set in our ways, we won't be able to move forward when these changes occur. So you really do have to have the flexibility to learn new things. And especially salespeople, they're not really good at that. We like the ways that we have our day set up. And the technology that we get just good enough at, to get to the next step and maybe have somebody else help us with the next things after that. But really, you have to be flexible with people as well. You have to know how to communicate effectively with all different types of folks. There are folks that come in and think that they know everything, that you're just going to be their conduit. But really, hopefully at the end, we can help them realize that we do have a little bit of knowledge and if we can add to what they already know, or help along with something that they don't, it really is important.

Paul Casey:

And I heard a John Maxwell quote the other day, "Change is inevitable. Growth is optional."

Jennifer Cunnington:

Oh, definitely.

Paul Casey:

So leadership is difficult. What is your biggest ongoing challenge as a leader? What really stretches you, either in just in a hard way, or just in a really good way?

Jennifer Cunnington:

Yeah. Well, I think I was a pretty good producer and so I was tapped to become a leader and we all know that not all producers, or successful salespeople make good managers.

Paul Casey:

Right.

Jennifer Cunnington:

You could be a manager or you can be a leader. Over the years, I have really evolved myself because I’m pretty direct, an achiever, if you will. All of Enneagram 3. And so I was brought up in the business as being really quite autonomous, but you can't do that when you're in leadership. And so I think my biggest challenge has been really employee engagement. We've got so many folks that come to this business because they hear it's super easy, anybody can do it. People have the ability to be so exponentially successful, but not everybody can be good at it.

Jennifer Cunnington:

And so it takes a lot of effort and engagement. And so employee engagement really has been my challenge, all different personality types, aptitudes, styles of communicating, all those types of things, played big roles. And as leaders we're really have to find out a little bit more about each of our team members, to find out what makes them tick, to hopefully appeal to that, to give them maybe more resources or direct them to those resources, so that they can become better. And that helps everybody involved. So that's been a really big challenge.

Paul Casey:

Love employee engagement. And you said one of those ways is to fully get to know your team and what makes them tick, what maxes them out, what's their sweet spot for them. You got another employee engagement tip that you tend to employ?

Jennifer Cunnington:

Yeah. Well, we have been really fortunate to be able to take advantage of some team building. Paul, you were helping us as well, and it's true learning about each other. So, anybody can want to do this autonomously, but really I think when you surround yourself with a really wonderful team, it's great to know a little bit about a lot of things because the rest of us can fill in those gaps. But providing resources and like I said, directing people toward things that they might be interested in, what really might push their button, as you mentioned. But team building I think is big, because again, it takes a village to do what we do. We can't do it by ourselves. There's absolutely no way.

Jennifer Cunnington:

And so learning how to rely on each other, be truthful and open, and say, "Hey, I need some help." And then being open to that assistance and then also rewarding each other. A lot of our support staff, they don't always get the recognition that they deserve. And so it's really buying into that mindset of, it does take a village. And so it's really a holistic environment. And more and more, as time goes on, with all of the changes that we were alluding to earlier, you really do need a wonderful team and that's an expansive effort, not just your team that you see every day, but all those folks behind the scenes that are helping make your clients experience the best that it can be.

Paul Casey:

Fantastic. And you alluded to the Enneagram assessment, and maybe our listeners don't know what that is. It's probably the most ancient of the personality assessments. You could say, it's having a resurgence lately, through a gentleman named Ian Morgan Cron. And he wrote a book, The Road Back to You, which I would give as a recommend for you Tri-City Influencer listeners. And Jen is a three and I'm a three as well, which is the achiever one. And achievers, also one of these strengths finder strengths, which we got to do with your team. And if you take the CliftonStrengths Assessment, it will give you your five top strengths. And you read it, and you're just like, "Wow, that is so me." And everybody else nods their head and, "That is so you." Then you can place people in the right spot in an organization, or when you have a project to come up, you know where to place people.

Jennifer Cunnington:

Exactly.

Paul Casey:

Well, if you had a leadership philosophy, and you've probably already alluded to some of it already, what would you put front and center on a bulletin board in your office for all to see, what would those messages say?

Jennifer Cunnington:

Well, I think because I'm a little linear, the first one is, input equals output. One of my mentors, a long time ago told me that, and it's about engagement and commitment to the process. And so really I still believe that, we can do the minimum and we can get a little bit less back potentially. But if we just go a little bit above and beyond, imagine what the possibilities would be. So input equals output, but on the more emotional side, it's do what you love. Most of us have choices of what our profession is, and I would recommend that everybody really dig deeper, especially as we get a little older and we're really settling in and becoming experts in our fields. It's so good to recognize that, Hey, what I'm doing right now, I really like it. And to find out why, and to really take a deeper dive into looking into the why.

Paul Casey:

That maybe isn't like, Woo hoo. I love every aspect of it, to try to find out those areas of your job at 20%, that really does light you up and try to spend more time there. And it's like football, I can't do that either. Well, there's probably a hobby, or some other passion that you can light up outside of work that will carry over into work, because I find if one area of your life is humming, then it bleeds over into the rest of life. So I love that and love the input equals output. It reminds me of the saying, "You reap what you sow". So, you get what you give and put into it.

Most influencers I know, have a bit of a visionary inside of them in order to take that next hill. Where do you take time to dream about the future? What does that look like?

Jennifer Cunnington:

I have sisters-in-law, that are just wonderful. And so one of them just signed me up for book of the month club. And so, it gives you some choices every month, all different genres, but I'm still getting back to now. Finding more time to read, taking some more time, especially what we've been through this year in 2020. Some of the solitude that we have been forced into in different ways, has given us a little bit more time to start reading about things that we love and then engaging back into professional books as well. You just mentioned a couple. There's some really great ones at the beginning of the year, took a look at that Brendon Burchard book, High Performance Habits, all those good things. But I think it's really important to... If you love to read, get into that.

Jennifer Cunnington:

Podcasts are awesome. So if you're in the car a lot, just taking the time to actually research them, download a couple, so that you have something a little bit more interesting to listen to, maybe than just constantly searching the radio stations. But really now, I think it's future planning. I do this with my team a lot and I'm always encouraging them to revamp business plans all the time, because the world isn't just changing around us, but the economy's changing, our industry landscape changes all the time. So being able to take a look at all of these factors and then put it into a plan. How can we back into it? Where do you want to be?

Jennifer Cunnington:

And so, I still love Pinterest. I'm getting a little bit bigger on Instagram. I know people are laughing, a lot of pictures of my new dog, but-

Paul Casey:

I've seen him.

Jennifer Cunnington:

...I think he's adorable. So, but motivational quotes and stuff, tons of people have been sharing those. And you never know when that one post that you put out there in the universe that day, is going to make an impact on somebody else. And so I think that's huge too.

Paul Casey:

How far do you future forecast with your team as far as business planning? Do you go out one year? Do you go out more than that? Is it just quarterly?

Jennifer Cunnington:

Great question. We started with just one year, especially as we have a little bit newer folks getting into this full-time. And then mid year, of course, we keep mentioning this year, but we have to make some adjustments. And so, we've been taking a look at those more frequently, but our standard business plan, everybody I think can have a pie in the sky goal of five years. But you never know what life is going to hand you, say in June of any set years. So really, the focus is one year and then scaling into it on a monthly basis and then having connections, what we call connection meetings. Trying to still do that once a month at least, and find out just one-on-one where they're at, what other resources they might need, what challenges they're having specifically and how we can triage and solve those equations for them. But it's all meant to be able to provide them with a better experience for their clients as well.

Paul Casey:

Yes. And I'll kudos the audio books and the podcasts. And usually I have the Libby app for here, the Mid-Columbia Libraries going, I read the 4-Hour Workweek, on vacation last week. So I'm able to do that on the way there and back, got the audible. I usually get the free one with Prime, always using that credit, and then podcasts or so. Those little bursts of 30 minutes that you can stay current with things, or just get that inspirational burst. Well, before we head into our next question on Jen's typical morning routine, let's do a shout out to our sponsor, Mario Martinez, Northwestern Mutual. Mario, why should people work with a financial advisor?

Marion Martinez:

Hey, Paul, that's a great question. Really, I think there's two types of people who should be seeking out a financial professional. The one person is somebody who has very limited access to financial guidance. Maybe they're a younger professional, or somebody who just hasn't had an introduction to a financial professional yet. And the other type of person, is really someone who has a lot of different exposure to different professionals. They just haven't found the one person that they really trust to take guidance from. So there's really an over information in that sense. So those are really the two types of people that should be looking to be introduced to a financial professional.

Paul Casey:

Fantastic. So Mario, how can people get in touch with you?

Marion Martinez:

The easiest ways to reach out to me directly on my business cell phone, which is 509-591-5301. You can send an email to [e-mail] or you can find us on our business Facebook page, which is Mario Martinez - Northwestern Mutual.

Paul Casey:

So Jen, what's your typical morning routine before work, maybe even once you arrive at work, if there's any rituals that you do to start your day strong?

Jennifer Cunnington:

Well, I love to exercise and in the beginning of the year, it was three times a week. We get up super early. My husband and I would take part in what we call, triad class, which changes, but it was a punch class. So it's essentially boxing with a small group of people. 5:00 AM. We get home about 6:15. Get ready. I love to make breakfast in the morning. I think that that's super important just to have a couple of minutes, not necessarily talk about work, but just to talk about where our days are going.

Jennifer Cunnington:

But those things have changed a little bit, now it's sometimes still more working out, maybe online, just became a beach body coach too. So yeah, putting that out into the universe. And a lot of my friends, they were just reaching out for some camaraderie. Everybody's going through the same thing and if I can just find a little bit more energy and I can help them too, then that's been super great, but we just got a new puppy I mentioned. And so boy, that's changed our routine a little bit. So. But still, I think exercise is key to finding some kind of an outlet for yourself, so that you can clear that path from the day before, to get ready for the day ahead.

Paul Casey:

Love that. Love that so much. Yeah. The gym just opened again, so happy to get that routine back. Because it was hard and I did some of the video workouts as well there. Can't keep up with them, but I gave it a try.

Jennifer Cunnington:

Mm-hmm (affirmative). Very good.

Paul Casey:

But it is really important that we move. We try to get moving, especially as we've been quarantined and it's been just difficult. How do you deal with the everyday grind of your work without burning out? So I heard, exercise. I've heard you listen to motivational things. What else?

Jennifer Cunnington:

Well, I love music, all different kinds. And so every chance I get... Haven't really been able to go to concerts, so getting online and watching just little titbits of concerts or YouTube. I really like, like I said, all different kinds of music, but EDM and cello music. So I find, if I especially put that on, as soon as I get home, I'm able to download a little bit from the day that just happened and do that. I've got a great tennis team. We still managed to play a really good tennis tournament a couple of weekends ago outside.

Paul Casey:

Wow.

Jennifer Cunnington:

And so really staying in touch with just all different kinds of people too. It takes a lot of effort when we're just trying to take care of ourselves sometimes, but really reaching out to at least one person a day that you want to keep in contact with. And it's not so much about you. It's about finding out, gee, what's new with them, what's going on in their life? And I don't like to really watch the news right now. That's a bummer, sometimes a little frustrating, but we can still make our worlds, even if we are living in our own sphere right now, as good as we can. And so, reaching out to people, exercise. Of course puppies again.

Paul Casey:

The pound doesn't keep too many animals these days.

Jennifer Cunnington:

No, but I think family is a big thing as well. I mentioned I'm super close with my family and I think that's a real blessing as well. So we've got our great friends, but if you've got great family, that's just an extension of your support system.

Paul Casey:

Yeah. I totally agree. We have to reach out to one person a day. A text only takes a few seconds to at least initiate, and I found, throughout the years, friends have really appreciated when I have initiated. I always appreciate when they do, because we're just in our worlds. And then someone has to put themselves in front of you to be able to focus. And I was like, "Oh yes. How are you?" And all of a sudden you're back in that place where you were before. So relational wellness is huge, especially in this land of COVID. And love music too, because that's a dopamine release that we get. Yeah, I tell Alexa to play electronic chill music as well.

Jennifer Cunnington:

Usually they sound great.

Paul Casey:

They do. They do. Good stuff. So you mentioned family, it's a big deal. So how do you prioritize family time, yet still be a high performer at work? Because sometimes one or the other has to give. And again, I know we're in the land of COVID right now, so maybe you can answer before and after COVID.

Jennifer Cunnington:

For sure. Well, I think before, that connection with your immediate family was there. We were able to have so much more flexibility to see each other and to really plan activities. Gosh, this year was going to be the year of vacations with friends and family. And so I got a ton of vouchers, I have no idea how I'm going to use them all, but really just having routines too. I mentioned tennis. We just have different groups of people, but family is a huge part. The balance too, was there a whole lot more, before summer. Now, I think we've become really more reactive. And so we're working on that, because I think we're having to reset now that we've gone through this season. We've just been so busy and I hate that word sometimes, because busy is just a-

Paul Casey:

Intentionally scheduled.

Jennifer Cunnington:

...general word. Yeah. But just, I think that the volume of our electronic communication has increased. And so we went from maybe talking on the phone, or meeting in person and being able to knock out a whole lot of conversation and business that way, to now being so focused on Zoom meetings and Teams meetings and email. And I think that does force one to struggle a little bit with how they're prioritizing their day, because when everything is so scheduled within certain timeframes where you have to be seen online, it does hinder the ability to be super relational, as you mentioned.

Paul Casey:

That blurs the lines. Doesn't it?

Jennifer Cunnington:

Yeah. And so scheduling maybe from 7:00 or 7:30 to sometimes six o'clock at night, when other folks have already been online working and now you have to maybe meet needs of clients, but you really need to download a little bit and get back to your family and your safe place. That has been a struggle. And so right now I think we're going through a period of reset and just re-introducing ourselves out into the universe and if... The weather's changing. So we're forced to find other avenues where we can still get in touch with people and make sure we get all of our work done, but in a more efficient way now that we don't have so much coming at us.

Paul Casey:

Yeah. And they say due to Zoom fatigue, which is a real thing now. The wellness experts are saying we have to get eight hours of sleep, even if you could get by with six or seven before, you got to get eight, because it's a different kind of tired. Just stare at the screen all day.

Jennifer Cunnington:

Yeah. It's almost like from the neck up.

Paul Casey:

It is.

Jennifer Cunnington:

Because your brain is working overtime already. And then you're like, okay, well I've got 15 minutes for a quick break and then I got to get back on. And so you're never really able to take a breather.

Paul Casey:

Good for you for the 15 minute break. Because I find myself getting too back to back and if I can run across the room and do some stretching, or anything to move, even if I go to the furthest bathroom in my house in between, it's still movement. In between say, get out of that chair.

Jennifer Cunnington:

Yeah.

Paul Casey:

Well, influencers aren't know-it-alls, but they're learners. And I know you're a learner, Jen. So where do you go for the wisest advice? These can be, people here in the Tri-Cities, it could be authors and motivators, or industry professionals that you've never met, but they're your mentors from afar.

Jennifer Cunnington:

Yeah. So, I mentioned that I've had some wonderful mentors in my career and now I'm grateful to be able to call on my spheres. So we were just talking about electronic communication, being able to check in with folks and find out what they're going through. Is there a better way to do something for right now? That's huge. But I always go back to the lessons I've learned out of some of my favorite books. From a sales perspective, we've got Darren Hardy. The Compound Effect was one of the first books I ever read. Again, input equals output. Your efforts are important in order to meet your goals.

Jennifer Cunnington:

One of my favorite books too is called, The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand. And it's a really interesting study on sociology. Two people, seemingly on the same path, but the choices that they make, make all the difference. And so I love, love, love that book and really can use anecdotes from that book for a lot of different situations that we go through on a regular basis. We mentioned I love podcasts and I don't always do it well. I have time to download them first. So I'm always going, oh, I should listen to that one. Oh, darn it, I didn't get to it. But Brendon Burchard, we talked about him. Dave Harney. Todd Duncan, he's one of my industries gurus and he's written a ton of books, but gets back down to common sense. You start with the want to help people, and then you just apply yourself in the right direction to get the knowledge that you need in order to do so.

Jennifer Cunnington:

Tim Ferriss is a big one. You mentioned The 4-Hour Workweek. He keeps revamping that. He puts out a Friday email. He tells us about a book he's reading, he's got a podcast as well. And then his favorite quote. So again, I love quotes. I love learning new words, English minor-

Paul Casey:

Me too.

Jennifer Cunnington:

Great.

Paul Casey:

Love grammar.

Jennifer Cunnington:

So all those good things and also I like reality TV. I think that we could find a lot of cool things from some of these, especially industry reality TV shows. Some of the Million Dollar Listing and things like that. There's a guy named Ryan Serhant, I'm not being paid for that, but he had a show for a while called, Sell It Like Serhant. It's just about, again learn a little bit about what you're doing and how it affects people. And then eventually you learn how to help them the best that you can.

Paul Casey:

Well, Jen just gave a whole bunch of great resources. So they'll be in the show notes and you might want to hit the rewind button and jot some of those down. For my podcasts, I use Castbox to find other people's podcasts. And so then they're all lined up in the library, so you can click on them. So finally, what advice would you give to new leaders or anyone who wants to keep growing and gaining more influence?

Jennifer Cunnington:

Yeah. So I always say, my mentors' helped me define my goals. So those would then help you determine your path. I think anytime you get into a job, some people look at it as just that, a job, but you really need to define first what you want to accomplish and then how the heck are you going to get there? And so a lot of things that we've talked about today, are about applying yourself, getting that knowledge, because again, anybody can do jobs. But to be the best that you can be, you've really got to dig a little bit deeper and figure out some resources that are going to work for you. So that's one of my biggest pieces of advice and it's not always easy to do. Some days we just wake up and we might have really good mojo. By noon, it's gone. But then, we all hope that something great is going to happen near the end of the day, so we can go home with a smile on our face.

Jennifer Cunnington:

You can have goals, but you still need to have a path to achieve them. And it takes a lot of work to do business planning and figure out what system works for you. Then I would also recommend trying to figure out how to prioritize. I'm a list maker, I make too many lists, those who know me, I have 18 notebooks.

Paul Casey:

Good point for the list makers.

Jennifer Cunnington:

Oh my goodness. So I know that there's got to be a better way. There was a time when I was a lot more efficient. Again, I talked about reactivity right now, so it's just whatever path is going to be best for you, to be able to reach those goals and attain your dreams.

Paul Casey:

Define the goals to determine your path. So Tri-City Influencer listeners, good advice there. And then, like she's mentioned earlier, backing into that with the prioritization of your time, to literally get those done by putting them into your daily schedule, your weekly scheduling, your monthly schedule, to eventually get at that yearly goal. So Jen, how can our listeners best connect with you?

Jennifer Cunnington:

Absolutely. Well, online of course, my website is stcu.org and then you can look \JenniferC or a phone number 509-598-7711. Our team is out and about in the universe as well. We've got a great community relations team that's always out there. We're extremely philanthropic. So we're definitely around the community and we'd love to connect with you.

Paul Casey:

Well, thank you again, Jen, for all you do to make the Tri-Cities a great place and keep leading well.

Jennifer Cunnington:

Thanks Paul.

Paul Casey:

Let me wrap up our podcast today with a leadership resource to recommend. A lot of people say, I need to be more assertive. Well, there's actually a website that you can assess how assertive you are. It's TheHRSpecialist.com. And if you go into TheHRSpecialist.com, you can look up these 18 questions to test your ability to be positively persuasive they say. So how assertive are you at TheHRSpecialist.com. And remember, you don't have to be aggressive, but we all can up our confidence a little bit more and be more assertive.

Again, this is Paul Casey. I want to thank my guest, Jen Cunnington from STCU, for being here today on the Tri-City Influencer Podcast. And we want to thank our TCI sponsor and invite you to support them. We appreciate you making this possible so we can collaborate to inspire leaders in our community. Finally, one more leadership titbit for the road to help you make a difference in your circle of influence. It's from Bruce Lee, he said "A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer." Until next time KGF, keep growing forward.

Speaker 3:

Thank you to our listeners for tuning into today's show. Paul Casey is on a mission to add value to leaders by providing practical tools and strategies that reduce stress in their lives and on their teams, so that they can enjoy life and leadership and experience their key desired results. If you'd like more help from Paul in your leadership development, connect with him at [e-mail], for a consultation that can help you move past your current challenges and create a strategy for growth in your life or your team forward. Paul would also like to help you restore your sanity to your crazy schedule and getting your priorities done everyday, by offering you his free Control My Calender Checklist. Go to www.takebackmycalender.com for that productivity tool, or open a text message to 72000 and type the word "growth".

Paul Casey:

Tri-Cities Influencer podcast is recorded at Fuse SPC by Bill Wagner of Safe Strategies