Ivan, Mariana and The American Dream

Joe Polish [00:00:00]: And after 25 years of success and this business is doing really well, and me thinking that I wanted this business really badly. Within six months, the financial collapse happened and we lost 97% of our revenue. Mariana Polic [00:00:13]: We were not going to back down, we were not going to surrender to the circumstances. Mike Koenigs [00:00:18]: You managed to prep the business, negotiate really life changing financial freedom numbers and walk away in six days, which is extraordinary. Joe Polish [00:00:29]: No matter what the situation is. There is a special custom process or pathway for you, a pathway through to your dreams, to why you started your business in the first place, to create the freedom and the quality of life for your family. And that dream is still alive. I want to tell you, no matter where you are finding yourself in right. Mariana Polic [00:00:52]: Now, it is way better to, you know, get on the journey on the same journey with your partner, with your spouse than, you know, trying to figure it out alone. Because it becomes more difficult doing it alone, but doing it together way better in it makes it more possible. Mike Koenigs [00:01:19]: What's the pinnacle of entrepreneurial freedom? Selling your business for an eight figure or more exit, Getting paid upfront and exiting strings free in less than a week. Or having a self managing, self running business where you can disappear without a phone, laptop or meeting for weeks at a time. Now, I know that sounds impossible, but today's guests, Ivan and Marianne Polic, are an amazing power couple and a true American dream and a hero's journey, which I always love. So they were born in Serbia into a world of chaos and war at home in their country. And they've endured the worst of entrepreneurship, losing 93% of their revenue with the business they took over, being near bankruptcy, panic and anxiety attacks, total hopelessness. Sound familiar? Well, their journey is fascinating and I can promise, very relevant to you. Ivan is a former professional soccer player turned aeronautics entrepreneur, and Mariana, a journalist who thrived in the most challenging environments. They met on TV during a war before immigrating to the U.S. Mike Koenigs [00:02:25]: so we're going to hear all about their American dream that included taking over Ivan's father's family business, only to see sales plummet 93%. So this is Capability Amplifier and today my guests. This is Ivan and Mariana, by the way. Mariana Polic [00:02:39]: Say hi. Mike Koenigs [00:02:41]: All right, thank you, guys. So they're going to share with you the art and science of getting out of your way. Their Shift intelligence system can help you double your revenue, triple your income, and achieve entrepreneurial freedom. That's a big, big promise. But they've got the goods. So this system helped them rebuild their business from the ground up and achieve a massive eight Figure exit and walk away fully six days later. So if you are stuck in the grind, fighting for financial freedom and longing for the time to enjoy life with your family, this episode is for you. So, Ivan and Mariana, welcome to the show. Mike Koenigs [00:03:17]: It's so nice to be here with you. Mariana Polic [00:03:19]: Thank you. Joe Polish [00:03:20]: Great to be with you. Mike Koenigs [00:03:21]: All right. Joe Polish [00:03:22]: That's quite a. Quite an intro there. Mike Koenigs [00:03:24]: I know. Well, it's. The good news is it's all true, and I told you this the moment I met you. We got to thank Roland Fraser for reconnecting us, but I love a great American dream story, and you guys are, to me, the pinnacle of a power couple made it, and you get to share it with other people. And this is not just a Left Brain episode. This is about a lot of love and a lot of heart. And that was one of the things before we worked together, you said, look, that's super important to me. So before we get going and talk about your backstory and also share some of the big ideas, how the hell are you and what's on your mind right now? I know I'm picking on you. Joe Polish [00:04:07]: Well, I love to be here. It's. It's been a long journey, so getting some of the story out, it's. It's. It feels great. Mike Koenigs [00:04:14]: Yeah. Mariana Polic [00:04:14]: Yeah. Love to be here. Thank you so much for having us. Mike Koenigs [00:04:17]: It's a total pleasure. So I'm going to start with you, Mariana, before we get into the meat, because Shift intelligence is your system that you guys have been working on, and there, it's both the cure for your entrepreneurial challenges, but also now that you've been working with other founders, helping them do what you've done or turn their business into a business they'll love, which resonates deeply with me. But why don't you describe your background? Because it's awesome and I love the story, even though you hate it, of the cow that ate your dress or the bull that ate your dress. But I'm picking on you. I can't help it. Mariana Polic [00:04:58]: Well, I was born an only child on a farm and where all you can hear and do is hard work and no complaining. Getting up early in the morning. I learned how to drive a tractor when I was six years old because my dad needed somebody to move the tractor on the. And also bring it home. Mike Koenigs [00:05:16]: Yeah. Mariana Polic [00:05:17]: So learned all kinds of things that, you know, usual kids don't learn these days. You know, milked cows, you know, getting up at 4am in the morning, and, you know, many different things. So, you know, on one hand, it was very hard. And I was kind of ashamed of, you know, being from the farm when it was not popular. Everybody was like, into the city and, you know, urban culture and things like that. But then what I realized later, meeting some most incredible people who grew up on farms and successful and smart, that it taught me a lot of things. You know, never give up and, you know, be adoptable and embrace hard work and ethics and all of that. So as much as it was hard, it was also really good and beneficial. Mike Koenigs [00:06:00]: Yeah, no, it's like I said, I just, I love your backstory. And we have a photo of the bull that ate your dress. And I'm going to put that in here whether you like it or not, please. So, Ivan, you. You're a professional soccer player, but before that, just to set things up, you grew up in a little bit of a war at home that turned into a war at home, meaning in the house and then in your country. It's also one of the ways that you two met. But once you tell a little bit about your backstory and get to the soccer part too. Playing professional soccer. Joe Polish [00:06:37]: Yeah. Well, growing up, my mom and dad didn't get along. And as a young kid, I was looking up at them and thinking, how is it possible these amazing human beings can't get along? Like, they are so magical, so strong, so powerful, so smart, but these just can't get along. A lot of, A lot of fighting around home. And I kind of needed an escape. And I, My, my escape was the soccer field. Getting out there and actually being able to make a difference on the field, being actually able to affect the outcome as opposed to not being able to affect. To get my parents to get along. Joe Polish [00:07:16]: And so that was my escape. And that's kind of like 25 year journey, a kind of quest to, to reach the professional level, to, to actually affect outcomes at the highest levels. And that's kind of the journey. And I now say that my biggest prize from my whole professional soccer career is sitting right next to me. Mike Koenigs [00:07:36]: Oh, yeah, yeah. So you gotta tell I have to set this up a little bit because you were getting in trouble in Serbia. Your dad who had moved to the States and started an aeronautics company. Mariana Polic [00:07:51]: Right. Mike Koenigs [00:07:51]: Aerospace company, rather. You came in, basically grew up here. But take it from there. How soccer changed things around for you, and then it went back home. But talk about the professional journey and how you met. Joe Polish [00:08:07]: Oh, yeah. So I, I came to live with my dad to get out of trouble at 16 years old. And then I still kept my dream of playing Professional soccer. I went to college on a soccer scholarship, and after college, I wanted to go. Go back home to Serbia and pursue my dream of playing in those big stadiums and playing at the first division level and being a. Being a professional player. Being. And when I. Joe Polish [00:08:33]: When I went back, that's. That's when I went. Mariana. And I was lucky enough to give an interview after one of our first games. And she was the sports team reporter, a stunning, beautiful. And I was like, oh, my God. Like, I better. I better say something smart right now because my looks angry going to get me across the line here. Joe Polish [00:08:56]: So I was able to put a few, few good, good things together in that interview. And thank God, because that was the beginning of our relationship. And the war part that you mentioning. After a couple years of being together, the NATO bombing of Serbia happened, and it was a major upheaval. We had to run and hide, and it was very, very rough. And that's. I had a choice. I had to either ask her to marry me or I had to go away forever. Joe Polish [00:09:29]: And I joke many times and say that there had to be war for me to have enough balls to do what I needed to do. And that was kind of like one of those moments where you don't waste the crisis. And that was a big, big push and hurdle. And we ended up having to get married in a foreign language, and we had to have a forced honeymoon while the bombing was going on because we couldn't do it all in Serbia. We had to run and get out and all of that. So it was a. It was a major, major, major chapter in our lives. And it's been 25 years. Joe Polish [00:10:06]: Exactly. We just did everything two days ago. Mike Koenigs [00:10:09]: That was awesome. While we were together. That was so great. Mariana Polic [00:10:11]: Yeah, yeah. Joe Polish [00:10:12]: So that's a little bit of the backstory. Mike Koenigs [00:10:14]: That's awesome. Do you have anything to add to that, Brianna? Mariana Polic [00:10:17]: Well, yes, he was a smart soccer player who gave a good interview, and those are high in demand. But I have to say that. So, yeah, I was actually quite proud of myself for achieving that. I was the only female sports reporter in the city at that time, and I was always looking for good interviews and something of value to add beyond just simple reporting. He definitely provided that. So the word that got him over the line was consolidated our lines. And I'm like, I would like the consolidation. Mike Koenigs [00:10:55]: That's a long word. There's a lot of letters in that word. How about insurbian? Is that a long word, too? Joe Polish [00:11:01]: Yes. Mariana Polic [00:11:02]: Translate the same. Yeah. Mike Koenigs [00:11:03]: Oh, it is. Ok. All right. So from here, you made it over the borders. You basically had more or less, if I remember correctly, sneaker over and then you managed to get to the States legally, of course. And then I like to just riff on our current political state because. But. And then you came to take over the family business. Mike Koenigs [00:11:33]: So why don't you tell the story that really made for this interview today, which is the transformation, the, the pain and ultimately that led to the big exit. So that's the setup. Where did, where was it that you crossed the border and then what happened when you took over the business when things blew up again? Joe Polish [00:11:57]: Yeah, so I had to wait for her at the border of Bulgaria and Serbia. On the other side. I was already out of the country at that point. I was already an American citizen. And then her dad had to drive her over to the border crossing. She had to say goodbye right there to kiss her dad goodbye and walk over to the other side to me. Maybe you can cover that. It's quite, quite emotional. Mariana Polic [00:12:22]: Well, it's one of those moments that you know that you are unbreakable. Even when your heart breaks, you know, it's such a mix of feelings when you are leaving your country and leaving your family on one side and you're grieving that and you're getting separated and you don't know, know when and if will you come back. Because it's, it's war and you know whether they're going to survive or not. And then on the other hand, you, the love of your life is waiting on the other side and you're so excited and there's new life ahead and you're just kind of bursting with joy. So, you know, it is in those pivotal moments when you realize, okay, I guess I'm, you know, I can make it anywhere. Mike Koenigs [00:13:02]: I love that. So here you come to the States. Your dad had this business that you guys started taking over and why don't you lead us up to the disaster moment that took you on a hell of an entrepreneurial journey. Joe Polish [00:13:18]: Yeah, so it was a, it was an aerospace precision machining company. We made mission critical parts for commercial airliners and military applications. You know, when a signal has to go through, when a pilot presses a button and electrical connectors and components have to get the signal across. Those are the parts that we made less than a hair tolerance, very difficult operation. We had a 24,7 production, a very demanding and difficult business. I have to say one of the most difficult. And we were humming along. We were doing really well. Joe Polish [00:13:55]: I earned enough trust and added a lot of Value in order to put myself in a position where my father said, I think it's time for me to go, go home to Europe. And, you know, you gotta, you gotta take this thing to the next level. I really took that upon myself to really do well by it. And after 25 years of success in this business, doing really well, and me thinking that I wanted this business really badly, within six months, the financial collapse happened and we lost 97% of our revenue. And we were pretty much crushed with no hope because there was no work to be had. Everybody was really tight around everything, work and, and all that. There were no orders to be had out there. And we were pretty much limping into planning how to go bankrupt in the most optimal way with no hope in sight and a business that was healthy and growing and succeeding. Joe Polish [00:14:54]: We just signed the five year deal that was going to put us on amazing track, and I was instrumental in that. And we opened up a new facility and new equipment and new everything. And boom, right after that, we were losing 200 grand a month. There was only so many months that we could have kept the lights on. And so that was the time when we really were feeling the pain. Mike Koenigs [00:15:19]: Now, from there, a lot of in betweens here, but during the hopeless, helpless part when you were really struggling. Mariana, why don't you describe some of the moments, what you experienced both as a partner, because you were involved and you've got young kids. And why don't you talk a little bit about the pain that you observed, that you went through and the transition to figuring out how to fix this thing. Mariana Polic [00:15:55]: Right. Well, every day you see the pain on his face and in his body every single day. And I remember the most just waking up during the night and turning over and he is just lying there in bed, kind of frozen, eyes to the ceiling, trying to figure it out, trying to figure out where, you know, how to keep it going, what's going to happen, what is the future again, as you said, you know, family, two young kids, employees, you know, do we need to let people go? How do we keep them? You know, what the future? And then also the sense of potential disappointment to the father, what he was building and, you know, and everything was so much weight on his shoulders. And I'm looking at him and I'm helpless. I. I don't know what more is painful. Is it me witnessing him and kind of trying to absorb his pain or my own pain of not being able to help? Like, how can I help? Yes, I'm there. I'm with you. Mariana Polic [00:16:53]: I'M hoping that's enough. Let's just tell me what to do and I will do it. And that was one of the things that actually made us look deeply at ourselves and say, we've been through a lot since very young age, both of us, and we endured a lot, but we also very sturdy, and we figured out a lot of stuff growing up. And up until this moment, how can we figure out this situation? Because we were not going to back down. We were not going to surrender to the circumstances. At that time, there were a lot of machining companies and organizations and shops that went under, but we were not going to be a statistic. Mike Koenigs [00:17:35]: Yeah. So talk a little bit about the transition, because you guys got coaching, you invested in yourselves when you had no resources. And along the way, you know, I'd never bet against an engineer and a farm girl, especially a Serbian farm girl, but, you know, you became the wizard and the fixer, the visionary and the fixer. Talk about the moment when you first had hope and when you started figuring out your toolkit and where shift intelligence was born. Well, that's a handful. I know. Joe Polish [00:18:18]: It's a. We got it. It's. You know, first we had to find just to stop the bleeding because it was. It was really rough. So we had to make really, really deep cuts. You know, they say you gotta cut to the bone. I think we cut into the bone. Joe Polish [00:18:32]: That's how major the cuts had to be. We were running a 247 production facility. We had to go down to three days a week, one shift from 24 7. It was a big cut, and that was the only thing that enabled us to survive. Our advisory board was instrumental in that, helping us make the appropriate cuts, able to get enough traction to keep the lights on, and then slowly rebuild from there. We were quite a bit of a secret in the industry, so we were a little bit of a captive vendor with large concentration. And we had to open up to the marketplace. We had to get certified at as 9100. Joe Polish [00:19:11]: We had to put the systems in place. We had to open up to the marketplace, and we accomplished all of those things. We used the crisis actually, when the production slowed down to put some of those things in place. So we were not just sitting there as a sitting duck. We were actually preparing for our rise out of that situation, and we were able to do it. And along the way, we had to do a bunch of our inner work in order to be able to see a bigger picture, see the bigger vision. Notice the stuff that is outside the box. Solutions we have to acknowledge certain things, face certain realities in the business and overcome a lot of internal challenges. Joe Polish [00:19:52]: We have to overcome the resistance to change from the. From the staff, from the team, and add the right people and let go of the right ones and build out of that difficult situation. We use it as a foundational moment to take things to the right place and enable, eventually enable our exit. Mike Koenigs [00:20:13]: Okay, so I'm going to ask Mariana this next question, which is. And we're going to deconstruct some of the successes that you've had since then in your toolkit. But, Mariana, when can you remember the moment when you had hope and you had a buyer and you started going through the cycle that can either be game changing, life changing, or absolutely disastrous. Because the worst thing that can happen to a founder sometimes is the sale where you get a little bit of money up front, you're tied down, and you become an indentured servant for a long period of time. You're given impossible to reach goals by the buyer and you never get the rest of your money, and you have to go back and basically get a job or start all over again. And that. That absolutely sucks. Joe Polish [00:21:01]: Right? Mike Koenigs [00:21:02]: But you guys managed to figure it out, turn it around, get it to a point, and payday. So what were the breakthrough moments and what happened? And we'll back through some of the healing moments too, because some of this was a deep spiritual journey, getting past your own traumas, intergenerational traumas, Serbian traumas, genocidal traumas. But let's go back to the win. Okay? Mariana Polic [00:21:30]: Right. Well, we're very resourceful people, both of us, and if we don't know how to figure something out, we will, you know, find help and ask who can help us, which we did help, have a lot of help. And from the beginning, we were really clear, knowing some of the stories that we've heard and, you know, seeing people, you know, going on a journey that was just not a desirable one, as you say, you know, a servant journey, you know, under the new buyer. We were very clear from the beginning that we will sell the business and exit. There was no contingency. You know, you have to stay this much, this long. You have to do this. You have to, you know, get your money later and things like that. Mariana Polic [00:22:15]: And we were not going to settle to just sell for the sell, you know, selling sake. We were going to, you know, just make an exit and do something else. Because as great of a journey this was, and also achieving a great success within the company, you know, quadrupling it and making it a really healthy organization. Even then, this was not our future. We were already on the side being asked to help other entrepreneurs and organizations with their transitions and building the team and culture and things like that. So that was our purpose. We felt like for both of us to help others do the same that we did. So that helped us be clear on how can we make this organization absolutely untouchable when it comes to any kind of games that are being played in the market so that we can exit clean. Mariana Polic [00:23:07]: You know, give, give it to the buyer in the best possible way, in the best possible conditions so we can focus on doing something else. So we were both on the same page. Mike Koenigs [00:23:17]: Yeah. So you managed to prep the business, negotiate really life changing financial freedom numbers and walk away in six days, which is extraordinary. And in the process you built your own toolkit because by then you were already advising and consulting with other clients. So I'm going to set up the next question and I'm going to check in and see if you have anything to add there along that line. Because sometimes the best way to teach the system is by deconstructing successes. So what I had ahead of time is I got to review a lot of your past clients and customers you've been working with, examine your toolkit. You've got a massive body of IP systems, procedures and also psychology that's uniquely yours. But why don't we. Mike Koenigs [00:24:17]: First of all, is there anything that I should have asked you that I didn't between the last bit and then let's start deconstructing some success stories. And I want to start with Beverly. She was one that really popped because she's representative, I think, of most entrepreneurs. But anything that I should have asked you that I didn't so far. Joe Polish [00:24:33]: Yeah, I mean this didn't just happen overnight. So we had two failed attempts at a sale, two times, I tend to say failed due diligence and got less desirable deals in the end of the process of due diligence, which taught us a lot on how what needed to happen inside of the business for it to be sellable the way we wanted to sell it. So a lot of preparation went into that. We had to think from the perspective of the buyer, what would they look at, what is the risk that is acceptable to them, what would they buy that didn't need a lot of transition time, what would the organization have to be and how self sustainable and self managed would it need to be? We consciously actually went to a two hour work week ourselves so that that story would Be believable that this organization is already running by itself for a while before you've acquired it. It's a asset in a box that you're getting that is going to just hum along very well. And so that was a process. And during the finalization of the deal, there was a demand that we stay for six weeks, that we stay for six months, which we said, absolutely not. We're not staying for six months. Joe Polish [00:25:52]: They said, can we do some kind of, we need to do something. We said, no, no. And they said, no deal. We cannot do a deal. And we said, wait a minute, maybe we can do something. So rather than let the deal die, we said, what if we gave you two days a week and you don't need us, but we'll give you two days a week just for your certainty? And they said, okay, that's the deal. Let's do the deal. And in the third week of that process, they said, you were right, you were right. Joe Polish [00:26:20]: We don't need you. Thank you very much. Goodbye and see you later. And that's the six day process of transition that is very uncommon. Mike Koenigs [00:26:34]: That is awesome. So I could ask you many, many more questions, but I think some of the answers are going to emerge in our case studies. So. And there's again, there's so many great places to go. You guys are so complex. You have such a fascinating backstory. We can just stay in the personal stuff, but I want to create more value for our listener and viewer. Let's talk a little bit about Beverly. Mike Koenigs [00:27:00]: And when I look at all your case studies, what many of your clients have in common is an organization that requires the founders so they can't get away. They're working 60, 80 hours a week. Lots of partner problems, bad partners. Renegotiation has to take place. Key employee culture issues where the, you know, teams don't listen to you, they are not accountable. You know, all the standard challenges founders have and you've built this system that consistently works and there's the psychology around it. So we'll spend a little more time in the psychology, but let's get the nuts and bolts first. So once you talk about Beverly, the setup there and how you got her to her own level of independence. Joe Polish [00:27:52]: Well, Beverly had a, has a consulting business that she was a senior consultant. She built this business from scratch. She was the original consultant. She added some people and things and she was always a person that, with a very strong work ethic and she just couldn't understand how other people didn't have the same work ethic. And why would they get away with cutting corners when she never did? She was working 80 hours a week. Her right hand person that she put in place to support her and on her continued growth, she became a kind of a limiting as a senior consultant, she needed more, more leverage. So the person that she brought in was functioning for three or four years before turning toxic and turning off all the other consultants and pretty much making a nightmare in her business. We were brought in to actually deal with the nightmare of how to, how to let go and release this person that was the kind of in a general manager position without it blowing up in a lawsuit of epic proportions. Joe Polish [00:29:01]: She was very hesitant and worried that this is going to actually take her whole business down because she had access to information that could hurt the business very much. So we had to negotiate with her a friendly departure that was going to not sink the business. And that was the beginning of it. By the time we did that, there was no team around anymore because the entire team was kind of disbanding because of the ugliness of the situation. The customers and clients were not getting the great service. We had to in rapid fire, rebuild the team, retrain the team, recreate the culture, rebuild the organization and all of those things. And we did. And right now is Beverly. Joe Polish [00:29:44]: Right now, three years later, is about six months from running her business from an island, literally, because she, she wants to be fully remote. She's doing no consulting work at all whatsoever. She's down to normal hours and leadership hours. And she's going to be a fully remote owner with an asset that's coming beautifully, growing, growing and improving without meeting her. Mike Koenigs [00:30:13]: And I know when we were going through some of the comments, she said to you, I feel like I have three CEOs. So, you know, talk a little bit about, you know, you, Ivan, as an engineer with the engineer's mind, but you're also the intuitive healer. And then over here we've got the warrior. Were there some. What specifically did you find you had to do Mariana to set things straight and be the fixer in this particular situation? Mariana Polic [00:30:47]: Well, it just so happens that Beverly and I are similar in some ways, you know, on the hard work and the grind. And, you know, we both have that background, so I was able to understand her on that level. You know, on the other hand, you know, Ivan as a visionary, he always had a big picture in mind and he will share that with her and training her to expand her capacity, how to see her business out of trouble, into the new era, into the new future. That actually it is possible to be on an island. Because at that point when we started working together, it was only a dream. It was a dream that she would just push aside and something impossible and you know, in a certain amount of revenue and whatever the business was bringing. And then Ivan is a visionary, will come in and he was like, this is possible, we can do this. So we were like together. Mariana Polic [00:31:38]: We are very complimentary in that and having her be. Have us be with her. That's one of the things she also mentioned is that we were able to sit with her through any and all situations that she was experiencing when she was, you know, like totally in her mind and you know, getting, you know, like totally professional and business and all of that. Also being extremely emotional a lot of the first year was crying. So. And also when she was angry, you know, when she would come on a call and you know, she will be angry and giving angry updates and everything, we sat with all of that. We were expanding our capacity for that as well. Being able to see her in that moment and then work with what is present and what is needed in that situation and what we needed to address. Mike Koenigs [00:32:26]: Yeah. Well, one thing that I want to take a moment for you as a viewer, as a listener. So one of the things that I've been working on with Ivan and Mariana is diving really deep into their business. And one of the things that we put together for you is a masterclass on shift intelligence. And also there's a book and a toolkit to learn more about working with them. You can learn more at ShiftIntelligence Co Tools. So I want to tell you that I'm going to tell you one more time at the end of the show. But right now if you go there, you can grab some of the resources, tools and the really specific how to's on how they diagnose and their content. Mike Koenigs [00:33:12]: Like I said, it is very deep and very rich and we go much deeper in the masterclass video. So let's continue on because another thing that you've done is worked with partners. In this case, the McLean's have a business where it's father, son, father wants to shut everything down. He completely is disillusioned. They have tons of problems. Why don't you deconstruct the before, during, after and where you took them? Mariana Polic [00:33:47]: Yeah, well, we were actually recommended to them by someone we know who knew our situation, that we came from the father son dynamic in the family business. And when he heard that they were kind of having a little bit of friction, a little bit of friction. He said, yeah, you gotta talk to these guys. They can help you. So we were initially brought in to help them understand each other because there was a huge generational gap. Even though they've been working together for so many years, there was still misunderstanding and different vision for the business. The father was already nearing retirement. He was at it for 40 years. Mariana Polic [00:34:24]: He was kind of getting done. But there was a little bit of lack of trust for the son if he was, you know, if he had the chops to take over and, you know, re. I mean, I guess I can say reassure the company's, you know, success in future. And there was, you know, obviously a bit of friction between them, and we just brought in. We were brought in to help them with that. However, there were other things that were happening at the same time, which is another toxic employee in the. Because there's. That seems to be a pattern a lot in businesses. Mariana Polic [00:34:58]: Another toxic employee that we helped them deal with. And then there was also a seasonality in the business, which that's also not very good for culture because you have people coming and going during the winter months when you can't do some of the work that they were doing. So we helped them with that as well. So it felt like there was a door to enter to help the father and son iron out some of the differences. But then the whole different layer of opportunities came up to be addressed that we were, you know, we were able to do for them. Mike Koenigs [00:35:31]: And what, in terms of before, during, after, what were the results? Just to give folks an idea. And ultimately, you also had. When you look at your toolkit, it seems like there's a primary deliverable. But what your clients have in common is typically they Double their revenue. They 3x their profits. And the freedom, when we did the math, it's like 4x. So you got people who are going from 80 hours down to 20. That's the Beverly story, what I noticed. Mike Koenigs [00:36:06]: But it's very commonly, you know, divided by 4x to 5x. It's pretty substantial. So talk a little bit about the core deliverable here. Joe Polish [00:36:16]: Yeah. So for Beverly, Beverly actually went. Her business went from 2 million in revenue to 5 million in revenue. So actually more than double. And besides the revenue, she's living a completely new life because she's no longer on the hook for the projects. She's no longer doing deliverables. She's building a team and guiding a team and building a culture. It's such a great feeling to know that you have a team, you can trust. Joe Polish [00:36:45]: People that got Your back. The people who are feeling expansion and growing of their own career and profession, being in your environment that you are, you have a petri dish of people really growing and, and growing in their professional lives and being better mothers and fathers and feeling really proud of what you've built. And it's not only throwing a bunch of money in cash in your direction, but it's actually a great addition to society. And the work they do in the. In the community is amazing. So it's a. It's a full experience of contribution for her without the drag of doing 80 hours a week. And so that's the end result for Beverly and on the McLean side also, more than double, because when we came in, they were at 1.7 million in revenue. Joe Polish [00:37:37]: Right now they're at 4 million in revenue. Their profits were 200,000, and now there are above 800,000. So it's more than we promise in general. And one really cool thing about them as well is every winter, because their work is based outside on the east coast where it's cold, they would lose half their people every winter. Half the people would go away. And so hiring and training and is a big pain having to do that every spring. And in 2023 was the first year, 100% retention. They didn't lose a single person, and they were able to more than double their revenue with the same number of employees. Joe Polish [00:38:22]: They employed a bunch of outsource strategies, and they don't have to have the drama and the trouble of a really huge team in order to be able to grow. So that's kind of the end result on the McLean side. Mike Koenigs [00:38:38]: Yeah. That's great. So one thing that we noticed together when we're analyzing all your clients is one pattern, is I asked you how many of your clients are immigrants like you were and what it looked like about half, which was interesting because I, you know, I believe that our best clients are often they resemble us or they're attracted to our backgrounds. You know, the farm kid, the engineer, the immigrant story. But the other thing that more than half of your clients suffer from are partner issues. And you are brought in as the fixer often to renegotiate either help a partner realize it's time to leave, renegotiate a deal. But I believe when we really got deep, and this is the spiritual side of your work, you guys did an enormous amount of trauma healing. And I'd like to just spend a little time on the deep trauma work you did on yourselves and that you've been able to bring into this business as part of your process that, you know, clients always want to buy the money and more profit and freedom, but what they really need is healing. Mike Koenigs [00:39:56]: So talk about your own healing journey and how that became part of the shift intelligence system and toolkit also. Joe Polish [00:40:03]: Well, we realized that besides being around war from a very young age, we had a little bit of war inside as a, as a leftover kind of consequence of being around it so much. And so, you know, the war inside, the inner conflict, the wanting two different opposing things, the trouble that comes with, you know, certain attitudes and beliefs and things that get stuck from the, from the traumatic and painful experiences that had to be addressed. Because if without addressing that, we would just be an amplifier of that, of those inner voices all around us. And usually the chaos in our lives and our businesses are just an echo of what the war inside is going on. And so once we realized that, we said, you know what, we're not going to be able to untangle these efficiency and system issues in the business. And the people trouble, the persistent people issues, they're usually a reflection of your inner world. And we have to go very deep on our inner world to heal from a lot of trauma that we carry from our culture, from our heritage, from our country, from our homes, from the, from the bombs that we were dodging and all those things. And we had to do all that work. Joe Polish [00:41:24]: So it took very conscious effort. We got ourselves surrounded with the best of, the best of this kind of approach and the systemic healing. We learned a lot, we healed a lot, and we then started facilitating and actually doing the healing work for others. We went on a large tour, we facilitated a lot of events in the LA area. We then went back to the Balkans and did some of that work in the region. And that was our journey. And then from there we actually took the principles of that work, the deep healing work. We took those principles and we reapplied them in our organization. Joe Polish [00:42:12]: So as we were healing, our organization was healing. As we were healing inside, our culture was healing. As we were healing, our people were healing. And together we found a way to build them, build us and build our futures. And now we are doing the same with our clients. Mike Koenigs [00:42:30]: I love that. So, Mariana, I'm going to read something here. It just is a set up for. You've got multiple case studies and this is one. And I believe it came from Ray, who's Filipino. He said, my business partner and I were no longer on the same page and the business was suffering for years. I'm a fiercely loyal person and changing the nature of our deal felt like a betrayal. In one conversation, Mariana and Ivan helped me shift my perspective. Mike Koenigs [00:42:57]: I confidently met with my partner and collaboratively and amicably dissolved our partnership. It was remarkably empowering and freeing, and it feels like a whole new business life and opportunity. So I'd like you to just talk a little bit about again. We got wizard and the fixer. You know, you got the visionary, you got the hatchet man here, Hatchet lady. But, but really. But you guys have this really fascinating mixture of yin and yang. Yin and yang. Mike Koenigs [00:43:29]: You exchange heart, you exchange. Both of you have very, very scientific, process driven minds. And yet you are your front end heart people, which I believe in, knowing you, that you're both sensitive, but you didn't come from sensitive cultures. Right? So talk a little bit about the transformation in the partner disillusion or renegotiation work that you often do. Mariana Polic [00:43:59]: Right. Well, as you probably are aware, most of the times when we want to go into a business and we're looking for a partner, it's usually from our inner circle, you know, is that it's a friend, it's a cousin, it's somebody that we know is somebody that we trust. And, you know, sometimes it worked out perfectly, but sometimes it doesn't because there's so much baggage in the personal world and some unaddressed things from the past that, you know, bubble up to the surface when things go sideways. So in this particular case, you know, the family, their families were friends, you know, you know, to begin with, and the two of them are really good friends and they had this, you know, purpose driven, you know, personalities, both of them, that they wanted to do a really good thing in the world and let's partner up together, which they did. But one of them was more in the business, which was Ray. He was more in the business and he was more in operations and day to day, while the other one was more on the investor type of side. He had a job and both of them, in the beginning, it was great in working. However it felt like that one was doing it at the expense of the other, which was interesting, is that both were feeling that way. Mariana Polic [00:45:11]: And Ray understood that if he wants this business to continue, it cannot be a partnership anymore. He was also attached to the business. He wanted to see it succeed, but at the same time, he didn't want to lose a friend, he didn't want to disappoint, he didn't want to violate the value which was near and dear to his heart at the expense of the Business falling apart. So he came to us in that way and he said, I can't sleep, I can't eat, I don't feel well. Every time I see him, I want to say something and it's just not, you know, I just, I can't. And then we, in one conversation, because we understand the complexity of everything and we take everything into account, we take the family, the hidden dynamics, the, you know, visible dynamics, we took all of that into account and we opened up his possibility lens, if you will, and we told him how to approach and the best possible way to preserve the friendship and to resolve amicably and also possibility that maybe his friend is feeling the same way that he is feeling too. And you know, he went to his house, to his friend's house for a barbecue, they had a conversation and in about an hour everything was, you know, amicably resolved. And, you know, the business continued with Ray at his helm and his friend continued cheering him on. Mike Koenigs [00:46:38]: That's awesome. That's well done. Well done. I love that. So as I think about this right now, I spend a lot of time with you thinking about, like, how can we deliver a massive 11 on value? And we put together the masterclass. We've got your shift intelligence, the inner work, which is a three part process that's in the masterclass. We also have the Shift intelligence freedom toolkit, which is what you use to identify the challenge, solve the problem. So I'm sharing this with you right now. Mike Koenigs [00:47:11]: It's ShiftIntelligence CO Tools. You can get that right now to go deeper in this. But let's talk a little bit about the SHIFT intelligence system, what you deliver, but also who are right fit clients and customers for you, who do you work with, who are best fits, who get the most out of working with you? And I'm, you know, should we start with the pillars and the outcomes and then get to the right fit or should we start with the right fit and then go through the pillars? Joe Polish [00:47:54]: Well, I feel the right fit, we can cover that. Usually the best people that we work with is people that have, they really care about their business, they really care about their mission, they really want to deliver value, they want to contribute. Those are our people, people that are in the position to write a check. Someone who is in charge or owns the business or has the autonomy to make decisions. It's very, very important. And usually, where's the business? Usually between 2 million and 150 million in revenue, somewhere in that range. Someone who's ready, willing and able to invest in Their future. Someone that's used to investing in their future. Joe Polish [00:48:35]: Someone that wants to. Wants to address the core things that would take the business to the next level and make an even bigger contribution. Someone who's open and willing to do some introspection. Someone who is flexible and willing to try out new things and experiment around the business and around themselves. And that's who we usually work with. This is not for people who are really, really uptight and inflexible and not willing to change. This is a major transformation that we are offering. It's going to feel uncomfortable at times because we literally expanding your capacity for greatness. Joe Polish [00:49:24]: We're expanding your capacity for possibility, for goodness, for greatness, for larger contribution, the bigger game that is available to you. And if you're not willing to open to that, it, it's probably not a fit. Mike Koenigs [00:49:42]: And Mariana, talk a little bit about the, the pillars that you focus on. Again, that you've got to very rich diagnostic process when you onboard and when someone applies to work with you. But talk a little bit about some of the core pillars and what you're looking for, what makes the biggest difference in the shortest period of time. Because at the end of the day, your core promises are more revenue, more profit. And then of course, the freedom, which is what drives all of us founders. I told you that we were talking the other day about how I won't trade money for freedom ever. And I. And I'll endure a lot of pain as long as I have freedom and pleasure. Mike Koenigs [00:50:27]: And no freedom is prison. Mariana Polic [00:50:30]: Right. Mike Koenigs [00:50:30]: And I think we share that as founders and entrepreneurs. Those are very common, shared, common values. But what is it that you build this on top of? Mariana Polic [00:50:38]: Well, we, first of all, you know, we start with an alignment. You know, we started with an alignment within the partners and employees and, you know, the culture and everything that we, that we see is like, available right then and there on the surface level, something that we can immediately triage and see results from. And then we also focus on financial clarity. You know, how is the business doing? Yes, it's stable, but is it making money to its capacity or we have more ways to, you know, to produce more financials and, you know, and more money. So financial clarity on that. And sometimes that includes financial literacy from some, for some owners because, you know, they are one of those that are just simply relying on like the most basic tools or on their accountant or, you know, the somebody who is like manager or bookkeeper or actually, you know, them knowing specifically where the money is going and where it's coming from and what the potential is. It's, you know, it's priceless. So that's another one. Mariana Polic [00:51:39]: And then we then focus on business systems as well. What is it that your business already has? What's producing results? What is working? Where can we improve it? And then what are the other systems that we can implement, which we did a lot of in our company to help and enable the team to work better and more efficient and also kind of help the owners start kind of to back away a little bit and not be involved in day to day operations. And then we talk about the exit strategy. You know, what is there an exit that you desire? How does that look like? Do you want to sell it? Do you want to just have it be a humming machine that is, you know, producing your quality of life, enabling your quality of life. And, you know, this is the one that a lot of people are very not sure of, you know, or very sure of in the beginning. Yeah, I don't know, we'll see how it goes. Or oh, I want to sell, I want to just make it, you know, or I would like it to be. But once we're there, that's when the real question comes up. Mariana Polic [00:52:40]: You know, what do you actually want to do? And then, you know, ultimately, you know, the last pillar or the product of all of this is the founder's freedom. They get to decide what they want to do with their lives professionally, personally, you know, their families and all of. Joe Polish [00:52:56]: That on their own terms, on their own terms, without anyone else dictating what happens over the next two or three years. One of the biggest nightmares is having to become an employee in your own business and take orders from someone in a business that you built from scratch over several decades. That's a painful thing we wanted to avoid and we were really successful in doing so. Rather than have them dictate the transition, you do your own transition and then decide what you want to do. Keep or sell and maybe sell later, whatever you want. But you'll have an asset that's, that is producing at a great clip and you have options and choices whenever you want. And that's the founder freedom, where you have an asset that doesn't have you on the hook and it's producing financial results and actually growing. Mike Koenigs [00:53:54]: Yeah, well, what I've noticed in your huge body of work is working with you is time compression. So what took you, if you think about it, well over a decade of figuring out how to run your own business and then working with dozens of other founders, being able to help them along that gives you massive power, massive time compression. You've got all these systems so someone can walk in and you can effectively bring these systems in and save them millions of dollars and years of time in months. But the insight you can provide in a weekend, in two days. Because part of what I love about what you do, that we share in common is the one on one workshop approaches. Sit down, get it done, figure it out, and then move forward where you're effectively installing these systems on multiple levels. This is, this is not a cookie cutter business and no one is a cookie cutter human. And what you do is hard work. Mike Koenigs [00:54:59]: And you've chosen instead of focusing on massive volumes of coaching and advice, doling out, you get your hands dirty in an organization. And I love that. I think it's brilliant. And again, I think it's something we share in common from our own values. So is there anything you want to say about any of, any of the things I just mentioned with regards to the tools, the systems and the time compression you provide? Joe Polish [00:55:29]: Well, it's, you know, you can go from, you can get some of this done with a lot of pain over several decades or you can do it in two or three years. We see that the window really for doing this kind of work is two to three, four years and you can get your business to be independent of you. And that's a, that's a huge statement. Sometimes hard to believe after struggling for many, many years, I know it was hard for me to believe. And when I was in the thick of it, I thought it was impossible. I was so worn out and so burned out and so much in so much pain, I couldn't even believe that it was possible. It was so dark. And I'm telling you, if I could have done it in that really demanding and difficult aerospace environment, you can definitely do it. Joe Polish [00:56:24]: It's possible for you. You can do this. Even though it might look really hard, there will be hard moments, but you can totally do it. You can make this happen. It's possible and you can do it. That's a message that I want to get across then, no matter what the situation is, there is a special custom process or pathway for you, a pathway through to your dreams, to why you started your business in the first place. To create the freedom and the quality of life for your family. And that dream is still alive. Joe Polish [00:56:57]: I want to tell you, no matter where you are finding yourself in right now. Mike Koenigs [00:57:02]: Okay, And Mariana, I'm going to give you the last word before we tell everyone all the bonuses that we put together for him. So you get the last word. Is there anything that I should have asked you or anything you want to say after listening to that from Ivan? Mariana Polic [00:57:17]: Well, that's why he's the visionary. He holds the vision and the rest of us go and we execute on that vision. Yes, I would say speaking from the partner perspective, as a spouse in the business, whether you're working with your spouse or not in the business, I am a huge advocate for sharing and communicating and seeking help from your partner and working together again, whether you are in the business or not. Because that's where one of your strengths lies, in your partner, for better and for worse. And a lot of times entrepreneurs, they don't want to bother their partner. They're afraid of the uncertainty inducing conversations and things like that. It is way better to, you know, get on the journey, on the same journey with your partner, with your spouse than, you know, trying to figure it out alone. Because it becomes more difficult doing it alone, but doing it together way better in it makes it more possible. Mike Koenigs [00:58:16]: I love that. I love that. I again, that's another area where we resonate deeply. And that could be another rabbit hole, another show on its own, which is working with a spouse and a partner and how to make that happen. Mariana Polic [00:58:30]: Yeah. Mike Koenigs [00:58:31]: So I'm going to bring this home and let you know once again if you head over to ShiftIntelligence Co Tools, we put together a whole bunch of bonus goodies for you. So the Shift Intelligence Masterclass, the founder, Freedom Insights, that is a book. It's just filled with really, really cool wisdom from these two. They're really insightful. You'll love that. There's the Freedom Toolkit, which is the tools they use that they apply. It's the 10 primary ones, the Shift Intelligence roadmap, and an opportunity to apply for a strategy session to work with Mariana and Ivan. Now, I'll tell you right now, they're very selective about who they work with. Mike Koenigs [00:59:13]: But because you're listening to this podcast, they're actually willing to do it as long as you are qualified. And they're going to review it. It's application only, but normally this is a 5 to $10,000 offer. They're going to do it for listeners and viewers of this podcast. So that's another great reason to go over there. If any of this resonated with you and you go deeper, take advantage of that. The other thing I'll add is they are awesome speakers, presenters, and they can go for whether you need 20 minutes, two hours, two days, or even two weeks. Like I said, they've got a massive body of work. Mike Koenigs [00:59:48]: So beside the work that they do one on one with businesses, they also work with groups and they speak and they're a great power couple together. They play off each other very, very well and what you see is what you get. They're an absolute delight to spend time with. So, with that, I'm going to say thank you so much, both of you. You've been an absolute joy today. And for you, listening, watching shiftintelligence co Tools, get your goodies. Let's say goodbye to everyone, shall we? Mariana Polic [01:00:17]: Yes. Mike Koenigs [01:00:17]: All right. Well, thank you much for listening watching. This is Capability Amplifier. We will see you very soon. Bye.