On today's episode of Gathering the Kings. I love the last word Chaz you use honor. Not only is it my honor to give you that opportunity to share it, what an honor it is to be able to have done it. And then also repeatedly, you said it when we were talking right before the show and Anne to do it 4 years in a row is It's a big deal. And, actually, what it speaks to is a history of winning. And so there's a lot of people out there that love the underdog story.
The guy that's coming up or the gal that's coming which is all fine. That's super inspirational, but I just always loved winners. And I'm not like the Tom Brady fan, but what I am a fan of is people who win consistently because they're freaking winners. What's up everybody? I'm Chaz Wolfe. Gathering the king's podcast today coming back to you with another queen on the king stage. Queen, Chris Murray. How you doing? Fantastic. Thanks for having me here. I am thrilled to be here.
Well, I am thrilled to have you here. Not only do I think you're gonna bring incredible insights because you've been doing this business thing for a while, but you've been helping a lot of other business owners do this thing for a while. And you've built a community around what you're doing, which I'm personally interested in. So I'm in the audience today. Yes. I get to a bunch of questions, but I'm super excited to be in the audience learning from you today as well.
So, Chris, tell us what kind of business that you have. Yes. So I created a coaching and training business with events, and it's essentially a mastermind coaching business. For specifically for daycare preschool child care business owners. What I like to call entrepreneurial educators. And saw a need in this industry that they were extremely underserved in understanding how to build a business, how to run a successful business, you know, for their preschool daycare.
And so that's what I brought to the world in 2009. I love it. You've been doing this for a minute, and and someone might not recognize that that there's that many preschool or childhood educators out there being entrepreneurs running these little businesses. Well, sometimes pretty big businesses. Yep. What's what's this industry look like? How big is this?
Yeah. So it's a very there there's niches within the niche in the United States because the the biggest group is the home based daycare, childcare business. Somebody Sure. A woman, typically, a woman at home with 6 to 8 kids in her home. And then there's actually quite a large enterprise component of the industry with Kindercare is the largest. They've got thousands of centers. Serving 100 of 1000 of families and children.
And so the the actual size of brick and mortar business owners is about 25 to 30,000. Of course, there's also a ton of montessori programs that are usually really beautiful schools that could often be even instant through k through 12 or k through 6. So there is a an after school going into kindergarten and and beyond, you know, component to it as well depending on Right. What you're looking at.
So, yeah, there's a lot of different flavors within the niche, but certainly the brick and mortar hundred child center freestanding that needs to have all the business skills to run really, really well is the is the primary person that I, sir. Yeah. I I liken it, you know, to different size business owners because, obviously, that's what gathering the Kings does.
We can serve business owners from all different sizes, but there's different conversations happening, right, at the different, in your case, niches or really the way I would put it for people that are either in our mastermind groups or in our different subsets. It's just the the level that they're at in their business, it draws up a different type of conversation.
And so I'm sure you guys probably break that down because the home administrator who's got 6 to 8 has a completely different need and structure and set up in comparison to the the 100 person. You know? So Yeah. I mean, that's really looking at a day in her life or their life. A lot of times, I do serve couples. And it's a husband and wife team. So the the the walk that they're walking Chaz be very different depending on the size of their business, and we're helping them scale.
They wanna get from, you know, one location that they own the real estate, ideally, to, you know, 5 to 10 locations. And then that can become a $10,000,000 business that then they can exit beautifully. And and also it can just feed a very, very beautiful lifestyle as well. Right? Yeah. There's a lot of things attached to that. I wanna I wanna take that little piece of what it what that can do for them and parlay it into why you're doing this. What's the why? What's the purpose?
As we talked about, you know, before we hit the record button, that burning desire, that's the language that I like to use as well. What is that for you? So the burning desire for me originally to be honest was to get out of my day job. I was working for my little brother in a Bolt Manufacturing company in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Wow. And the huge bolt makers, which all day long, in the Factory. We're going. And I was running the quality and marketing. It's it was intense.
It's a very masculine business, and it's very dirty and people, you know, people that are in it love it, but it just wasn't my jam. And I was running his quality assurance and his marketing departments. And I had little babies at home, and I was just working part time. So it was family run. It was me and my brother, and then my dad was part of it as well. Yeah. And I wanted to break free and create something that was mine.
But the original impetus, the original brain desire was just make enough money doing something that I could do Chaz, like, an online business or something from home to quit my day job, to quit the Bolt Factory. And so I did that in 2009, and I was very, very happy the day that I realized I was making enough money in my how to start a daycare online business to quit the Bolt Factory, and then I just built it from there. That was the original burning desire.
But then later, I continued to build it and put all of my blood, sweat, and tears into it, it became a much bigger desire to make a huge impact for people and for women. Who were underserved. No one was really teaching them business concepts like lifetime customer value and unique selling point and how to build a great world class website and how to differentiate yourself from the daycare down the street and how to look at your money math.
And all of those concepts that are basic entrepreneurial concepts, they they had no, you know, exposure to. And so I was very excited and had that burning desire to help change and improve their lives once I started tapping into that. Yeah. That's pretty cool Chaz from the I mean, you gave up a quick picture there of, yes, she did it for you. There was money involved. I think we all start the business originally for that purpose. That's okay. Fine. We check, you know, move moving on.
The the cool part is that you got right into helping other people. And so I'm curious is that always been like a thing? Like, has that been a history for you? I mean, you were working for your little brother, and that's kind of helping people. Right? Like Yes. Yeah. I've always been a giver. Sometimes an over giver, I have since I was a little girl, I always said that I wanted to make a difference.
And so whether it was help, you know, volunteering at the homeless shelter or, you know, whatever it was, I always want and I always had a component of myself that I wanted to teach. I wanted to be a teacher or I wanted to, you know, share my you know, whatever I had to share, I just I wanted to help people. And so when I took that, remember the what color is your parachute book with a little test? No. I've never heard of this. Yeah. So this was early days.
So I'm 56. And and so in the in the eighties, primarily, when I was coming up in, like, in high cool. The what color is your parachute book was really the original kind of strengths pinder. Yeah. Like, take this little assessment. It will help you understand where you should. Right. Now what what are your strengths? And so I and I love all those other ones too. I love drinks and disfinder and PI and all that all that stuff. Can I swear on this podcast? Or no? Should I not use any Yeah.
It's it's clean, but every now and then it slips out. We understand. So the what color is your parachute was really the early kind of what career fits your personality the best book and little assessment in the eighties when I was coming up. So I remember being in, you know, high school and a bunch of us took it. And always, every single time I did these different kinds of assessments, Chaz, I got the result of being in helping profession. Helping profession.
You you you're hardwired to be a nurse, a teacher, a therapist, Right. You know, occupational therapist is was is actually what I was went to college for was to be, an occupational therapist. And then I realized that wasn't my jam. So I kinda took that hard wiring of being in the a helper, a helping percent as a servant, and then put that into an entrepreneurial spirit. So that that's what really has driven me from from the court when I was little.
Yeah. You've said a couple of times that that wasn't my jam, and you use that in a couple of different circumstances. That are very different from each other. And so so what is your jam? Is it entrepreneurialism? Is it is it this specific business that's just like, oh, this is what I made for. What what is your gym? Now it's funny because I reflected on this recently that all around me, my parents and grandparents on both sides, were all business owners and entrepreneurs.
And I didn't really have that insight until I was telling my story to somebody recently. And I was like, oh, my grandparents On my mom's side, owned a jewelry business. My mom had a bookstore and office supply business with my stone bother. My dad had many different kinds of businesses was really an early small business coach, and then my grandparents had a thriving meat market business in downtown Cleveland. So Wolfe All around me was entrepreneurism.
Being in the car with my dad, he Wolfe, like, teach me concepts. Driving around in the car all the time. He taught me the value of, like, what is the meaning of having customer relationships. We would have these conversations when I was a teenager. So Yeah. I was I was built to to do this. That's cool.
There's those moments that you just described with your dad that I I didn't grow up knowing who my dad was, but I have children now And even just, like, a week ago, my daughter came into my office. And I've got several things on a board over here, but one of which is some pictures of some pretty big just business icons, you know, the Rockefeller, the JP Morgan, the Henry Ford, all the all the just the icon names.
Not that I'm particular about any any one of them specifically, but they're all in black and white. And she's like, who are these men? You know? And so it was just a really cool opportunity just like that customer relations. We've talked about that. We talked about sales, but I got to just for a few minutes explain innovation and industry and how things changed dramatically when this person did this.
And, you know, regardless of of their industry or their specific story, it it was that conversation with my nine year old daughter Chaz I was just like, woah. This is what I didn't have. This would have been cool. You know? Yeah. Well, one thing I wanna say about that is that when you talk about the burning desire, so that that takes me back to my favorite book, which is Napoleon Hills thinking Grow Rich. Yeah. And there is a whole chapter on seal the burning desire.
And that those men, you know, are the men that Napoleon Hill interviewed and came up with the the secrets of success, essentially, but that was that's that's probably my favorite and most impactful book that I've, yeah, on myself. Wolfe, I agree with you. That's one that I I visit every year, sometimes multiple times. And so maybe we'll get into that here in a bit.
I wanna know your story between working for your brother and having the largest mastermind you've got events that happen every year that have happened for a decade, and people, like, really know you in this industry. Like, everybody in this world knows Chris Murray. And so I I like, what's the story in between that? What's the gap?
Yeah. So the story that it started out where I knew that based on Napoleon Hill's work and other work that I have read that the power of the mastermind is the essence. So I just knew I needed to then. And so I tapped into people in the very beginning of my journey. And the one the most impactful that I tapped into is a man named Dan Kennedy. And Dan Kennedy taught me that if you wanna have a niche coaching business because he had a whole formula for it. Yeah. And there were people.
There were mostly men serving, you know, auto repair shops and the trades and, you know, dentists. And all of these different niches and real realtors to develop a coaching business of that nature. I just kind of followed the formula that they laid out and, like, white recreate the wheel. Right? Right. A lot of the formula has to do with being coming an influencer. And having and owning your own media. So I've written a newsletter.
One of the very first things I did was create my own newsletter in really 2008 before I even launched the business and started writing. And then I wrote my first book, which published in 2012, And now I've got 4 books. I've got the leading podcast. We still do the newsletter today. It's grown to a beautiful color 16 to 20 page newsletter from the original for paid black and white Right. Creating myself.
Yeah. And but what we did originally was my ex husband and I would walk around the room table and we had the newsletter and we would create these as the expert on CD monthly calls, and we would put them on. He we had a CD burner down at the basement, and we would make the spoils. And the kids would help us, and we would walk around the dining room table and collate and stuff envelopes. And then I would take the big pile to the post office and buy it stamps and stand there and put them all on.
And that's how we started. And so Yeah. You know, just doing all the jobs in the business and pulling up your bootstraps. So then I learned how to start building a team and scaling slowly over time by doing all the jobs and doing all the things. But that that's early days. You know, a picture of what it what it looked like. Yeah. I wanna know specifically you kinda let us write into this, which is great. What was a good decision that you made?
So maybe it was in those early days when you could look back and go, okay. Well, we did this one thing. There are a lot of our success has come from us doing that. So the core business and the business really has grown on the backs of launching the mastermind group. I started out doing webinars and training and online courses and then, you know, trips and remember, like, a $39 a month membership. But the core business, you know, that really grew into launching mastermind group.
We called it just the platinum group back then. In late 2011, and and it started in 2012. So 2012 Chaz a total pivotal year for me. I also moved from where I grew up in Ohio. We moved the kids back to Colorado, where I am now back to the mountains of Colorado. So a a lot of thing in my book came out. A lot of things happened. There was a lot of momentum in my life in 2012, but that's starting the high end coaching group.
Which was charging people 750 bucks a month ish to be in a mastermind group that we host events and we did 3 or 4 mastermind events a year. Yeah. And weekly calls, monthly calls, content, and created a member's area, and all of that. That was the pivotal decision. Why do you think that that was so? Like, what what about that was so meaty for you or that allowed you to hold on to something that then you know, gave you the trajectory. The community that was built from that decision.
Sure. And price point, to be quite frank, to be able to offer high end services at a $7.50 a month price point, which I never dreamed I would actually be able to do that real early Chaz, I started out at 39 bucks a month, you know, with a newsletter monthly deal. So it really is the person that you have to become. To when you make that decision. You make the decision. You do all the things. You market it. You sell the program from stage. You you know, start delivering it and operationalize it.
But then the person that I had to become to be the per you know, sometimes I might get hit with imposter syndrome. I might get hit with mindset issues a lot. You know? So it was like, I had to start working on my own mindset, my own confidence, and develop my own skills to then become that person that was able to have a 7 figure business into 8 figures. Yeah. I I wanna ask you on this topic here of kinda like this you know, you're the facilitator. You're the creator. You're the founder.
And so inevitably, you're gonna be seen as somewhat on a pedestal. And and that's just kinda how it is with a coach, but even in a strict mastermind only setting where, you know, I've done coaching and and sales and business strategy and it's 1 on 1 or 1 on few. Okay. Fine. Or you're the person. But then in the mastermind setting, it's much more of a facilitation. If done per Napoleon Hills outline. And so it really doesn't call for a person to be the person, although you're the founder.
You're the facilitator. You're still seen Chaz such. And so my question to you, then those moments of imposter syndrome or mindset issues, because you've been put on a little bit of a pedestal, that's crase Chaz. You're just like, oh, I don't know. Like, am I really that person? I gotta become that person. Am I that person today? Sometimes, you know, I don't know. Maybe maybe tomorrow. You know? Or Yeah. Maybe maybe there's days where you crush it.
But my question for you that can help the listener is they're in the same situation. Not necessarily as as a facilitator or creator of a mastermind group, but they can be part of a mastermind group, or they could be pouring into other business owners around them or their employees, like helping grow another individual, is really what we're talking about. Right?
And so in the midst of doing that, what have you done, or how have you seen the value of helping other people, which then in turn helps you be come the person that you need to be. Is that is that my question makes sense? Yes. I can feel the energy coming from the people in the audience when I'm on stage and when I'm facilitating in front of the room. When I see them have that light bulb moment, Right. Is everything to me.
And so what we started doing as a community is sharing uh-huh's and sharing moments. Yeah. And also making it fun and super meaningful. And so what what helped me make the leap and get out of potentially a troubling mindset or imposter syndrome is reading the stories of the women and men that would write to me. I have many stories where I've received emails over the years, and I collect them. So if I'm ever having a down moment, I go back and I read them all.
I have people that tell me they believe that I was having sent. I have people who are, you know, and these are more spiritual people. And then I have people just for more nuts and bolts and share with me the results that they received from implementing what I've taught them. And so I know to my core that I have made a difference. And that was the only thing I ever really wanted as a little girl. I'm actually feeling emotions coming at this moment. Yeah. So I go back to that.
If I ever have self doubt and I ever have those moments, I just go back to Even if I just help one person, one human that's suffering, then I've done my work. And it's it's okay. You know? And so that that's how that's what I believe in in it drives me. And then it just drives me to want to create more beauty for more humans.
Yeah. I I see that in respect that the the same possibility is available for all the people listening who maybe don't run a facilitation or a mastermind group or whether, you know, being heaven sent to one of their clients because maybe they're just installing a deck or maybe they're doing a marketing campaign or whatever the scenario is. The impact though that you're talking about can be on their employees or on their community. Or right?
And this is a lot of times where I say we're being a king or king mindset, is more the mindset. It's not masculine. We have queens like you that have the same mentality, which is when I pour out not only do I get to fill my own cup because that's what you were just like, man, when I as I've poured out, I can look back and go, woah, this was super fulfilling.
But the impact that you made in those individuals' lives, that then created another ripple and another ripple and another ripple, some of which you've you're never gonna even know about. Yeah. It's pretty powerful. And I have a friend who has a pool and spot of business. And he's, you know, a typical cranes guy works with contractors.
Yep. The the the company is the leading pool and spa company in this valley, and they focus on the impact that they make for their clients You you could just say, oh, it's just pool and spa. So it's like I'm installing hot tubs. No. It's really actually much deeper than that. They're making an impact for their clients to help their lives be richer, help their lives be more luxurious, more filled with great experience as they can enjoy their pool and spa in their home.
So flipping that to oh, well. I just make coffee beans. Well, no. You actually are making a beautiful experience daily because I don't know about you, but I'm a huge coffee drinker. What I look forward to is waking up and having a fantastic cup of coffee. So it's part of my everyday beauty. And so anybody listening podcasts can apply that to what they do. I don't care if they're a plumber. There's always great experiences that we are providing as entrepreneurs.
Yeah. I've got an experience that I'll share with you. We had a client. We still have a client in our group that does super high end you know, rock formations and and water features. It just creates backyard incredibleness. Yeah. Yeah. Just, yeah, bliss. And we were talking. This was almost a year ago now, you know, in the, you know, the 2023 recession was was coming, you know, And we were talking about, you know, he does projects, you know, 2, $300,000 sometimes a lot of times.
And not that he was concerned, there wasn't a conversation of concern. It was more of a strategy. Like, if this were to happen, what is my strategy? And, actually, one of my team members spoke up in the conversation was like, hey. So want you to think about this differently.
I want you to think about not that you're just providing a coin pond or a, you know, a waterfall in someone's backyard or whatever the scenario is that just practically that you're that you're building, it's when someone walks out and they get to experience peace. Or when they walk out and they get to host you know, the their small group or their family's reunion or whatever it is that's special to them in the space that you created and all of the impact that that has on that person's life.
And it just, like, changed the atmosphere of the conversation, but also just the way that we think. It can be just like what you're saying, more Chaz. Right? It's a it's a more than impact, really, when you think about it. So I appreciate you sharing that. Yes. Absolutely. I wanna know of a bad decision that you've made, something that just wasn't your greatest hour. Hey, Chaz Wolf here.
As many of you know, I have been on an absolute mission to help entrepreneurs from all across the country in many different industries, level up their game and grow their business, and intentionally connect with other entrepreneurs. We do Chaz, obviously, through the podcast, but We also have a peer to peer mastermind group specifically for 7 to 9 figure business owners.
We are bringing some of the best and most successful entrepreneurs and minds together in a regular and a super intentional way to not only grow our network, but to be able to leverage.
And at a certain point in business, success becomes about leverage, leveraging time, leveraging resources, leveraging key relationships, This is exactly what we're doing inside of the peer to peer mastermind group called Gathering of the Kings, specifically for 7 to 9 figure business owners, So if that's you, if you're ready to level up your 7 to 9 figure business, even to the next level and get around other big hitters just like you, I want
you to go to gathering the king's dot com, fill out a short application, and, it'll come to an application, call with me and I wanna chat with you to see if it might be a good fit. Talk soon. Oh, boy. Most of my bad decisions have come around unconscious leadership. Making errors in terms of the way that I communicate to my team. Sure. Or or the way that some decisions that I may have made when I I can't think of one in particular.
I'm trying to think of a specific example, but there's times when the team has decided that they want to go in a certain direction, and I might come in and throw a wrench into the decision at the 19th hour. Right. Right. And really f everything out. And We entrepreneurs are good at that. Oh, yeah. Real we're real good at that. So so that's you know, the the unconsciousness of it, the full steam ahead, the potentially ego. You know, I I would say leading with ego or or being, just unconscious.
Chaz I'd I've really tried to be much more conscious in my leadership and Be more vulnerable with my team and share where my head's at. And then I immediately admit when I've made a mistake and and I just try to be I've worked out really, really hard on my leadership to try to be a better leader. What was the impact of the unconscious leadership you described?
You described basically creating or, you know, facilitating for lack of a term situations that caused what impact What were you experiencing on the maybe the negative side that you're trying to, you know, steer away from? So, usually, it impacts the base of trust at the bottom of the the basis of the company. So I'm a huge fan of Patrick Lindseyoni. I'm a huge fan of the 5 Dysfunctions of a team. It's a great book.
And so that basis of trust or when a company does not have a strong culture, there's an absence of trust. Yeah. Is that that's what's gen you know, the the greatest impact on a on the unconscious leadership in those bad decisions is it starts eroding. The fibers of trust that I have worked so hard to build amongst my team members. So Yeah. One recent bad decision is in 2021, I hired somebody that was talented and great to be my COO. But it ended up not being a fit.
And within 2 years, he had exited the company. And so while he was here, he did some damage. With the fibers of trust, with just not following through on his commitments, not having clear communication, creating a little bit of drama in the team and and just so so that was really not a great decision on my part. It wasn't fully thought through. And so I do have some regret around that. But you know what? It's like, well, we let him go.
Yep. We're still friends who was on good terms, and we're moving forward. You know? So I just think the biggest lesson for me is don't beat myself up about it. You know, be be aware of it. Yeah. Talk vulnerable about whatever I feel like I can share and then just move forward and learn from it. And so my one of my models is when or learn. We don't have failure. It's not it's not when or fail. It's either when, or unlearn from it in the high move on. Yeah. Yeah. I agree with that.
I also just appreciate the perspective that it that's a big decision. I mean, that's not just a hire. That's, you know, number 2 for lack of better terms. And so, hopefully, someone here listening today is contemplating hiring somebody, maybe even all the way up to what seemingly could be the biggest hire. And it's not that you're brushing it off is no big deal, but the the way that you're handling it is, well, wrong choice. We handled the wrong choice.
And and I had to draw a line on the sand, and I have to keep moving forward. Because if I stick there too long or if I had never made the decision to begin with, you wouldn't have learned to your model's point you now know certain things on maybe the next way that you'll hire or specific things that you don't want or can't have in someone that's gonna help you go forward. You you're looking for a very, very even more specific person now. Right? Very myself. Yeah. I love that.
What about I mean, I'd I'm gonna ask you a a philosophy question here or, like, maybe you have a steps for for thinking or making decisions. I mean, just a huge believer in making good decisions. It's not that we don't make mistakes. We all do, but I'm just a big fan of being conscious of those learning opportunities and trying to move forward. So How do you make decisions now?
Is there a formula, or do you try to, you know, like, what's your what's your math equation for making good decisions when something comes across your desk today? Yeah. So for me, at this point, it's instinctual. It's I have a gut instinct from having done this for 13 years. Yeah. I have a very strong intuition. And so I lean on that intuition. Of course, I'm gonna apply logic, past experience, and my brain to the decision. Sure. And and and just try to think as strategically as possible.
The biggest thing about decisions is that The unintended consequences of of decisions can either be great unintended consequences, but oftentimes they're not so great. Right? And so trying to, like, look at the possible impacts of the decision and spend time. I use what I do now that I didn't do when I was younger is I sit with a decision longer before I make it usual. Like, I ponder it. Right. Long. And I look at all the possible downstream impacts of the decision.
Yep. As much as I can predict or act in my mind, knowing what I know now. Yes. So so those are some of the tools that I use. And and you can't ever predict fully what will happen. But, like, you know, and I and I just think and and I'm also a John Maxwell fan and He talks about decisions, good, bad, indifferent is, you know, you're gonna do some decisions that aren't great. Just just adjust massage, adjust pivot when you need to as fast as you possibly can.
For me, also, you know, hire slow, fire fast. If you, you know, make the wrong hire, gently get them out as quickly as dark possible. But take your time hiring to make sure that you you hire the right person. So hire slow and hire fast is is a good one. A lot of principles here that you're sharing. I think that's they're taking notes They're getting some good stuff. I wanna ask you about KPIs or rather this. What is the number one KPI that you're tracking right now inside of the business.
Good one. I am developing our sales team. So I'm the CEO founder, but right now, I'm also acting sales leader. Mhmm. And I'm having an darn good time with it. We do daily sales huddles with I have a new closer and a new setter, and they're doing phenomenal their 1st month and my top KPI is which close rate and how many sales how many sales this month. And so, of of high end coaching. That's awesome. Right now, here in June, we're at 9 so far in our our KPI is 16. We're reaching clients a month.
So we are on track to ramp up to that KPI. So great question. Yeah. I love that. Also, too, you know, there's a there's a misconception. I think sometimes if a smaller business owner is hearing what you just said and that, you know, that you're the CEO and and Chris has a big business, but that, you know, you're also the sales leader right now.
And sometimes there's seasons where you're playing that Wolfe, sometimes depending upon the business, the CEO is just a little bit more in tune with that sales process, which could even include the marketing which oftentimes it does, but that that sales mindset is really growth mindset. And so it's tough to have a growth mindset as a CEO if you're disconnected to what's happening. In your sales team.
I'm sure eventually you'll have a sales leader in place, but I think it's just really encouraging for the listeners to hear that, oh, you've built a really big business and you've done really, really well. And then tactically speaking, you're doing daily huddles and, like, you're you're doing the thing. You know? That's Yeah. I think it's good for me to do that. Doing it because I know that it's the thing. That's going to drive the business into 18 years.
We'll get on the precipice of it right now. And also, we are one of the fastest growing companies in So I wanna keep that going. And that has to be driven by sales. Sales and marketing is my love. It's where I started, and it's potentially the most important piece Of course, you have to deliver great and have great customer service and follow-up in all those things, but I do believe that sales and marketing is one of the most important life lines of any business. Yeah. I agree.
You you slipped in a little a little nugget of of accomplishment there. You said you're one of the fastest growing businesses in America. What does that mean? What's the achievement? Thanks for asking. We are. We just found out that we are on the inc 5000 list of fastest growing companies in America for the 4th year in a row. Wow. And so we hit the list in 2000, and I'm very, very proud of the fact that we are 4 years in a row. On the list. So that's a huge, huge accomplishment.
It's it was always a goal for me. I actually helped my brother hit the list when I was working at the Bolt Factory. Wolfe Very cool. Thank you for letting me share that. It's it's a phenomenal thing. I've got the ink 5000 plaques on the wall and just very, very crown and grateful for that honor. Yeah. Yeah. It it and I love the last word that that you use honor. Not only is it my honor to to give you that opportunity to share it.
What an honor it is to be able to have done it And then also repeatedly, you said it when we were talking right before the show, it's like, man, to do it 4 years in a row is it's a big deal. And and, actually, what speaks to is a history of winning. And so there's a lot of people out there that love the underdog story, you know, the the guy that's coming up or the gal that's coming up which is all fine. That's super inspirational, but I've just always always loved winners.
And, you know, I'm not, like, the Tom Brady fan or the, you know, the the yeah. But but what I am a fan of is people who win consistently because they're freaking winners. Yeah. And so what I hear when you say I've done it 4 years in a row, but that tells me that it it wasn't a fluke. And not that not that one wouldn't be honoring. But 4, it just sets you, in my opinion, just so much further in another whole class of of thinkers and doers And, I think it's just really, really special.
So congratulations on that. Oh, thank you very much. I do also love the spirit of badassery. And I do. And so, yeah, I'm not gonna lie. It's fun, and it just it juices me out. And I try not to get into my ego about it, but Right. It is. It's just fun, and it's fun to find solo folks to to hang out with and Yep. Share. So I I am in a new mastermind group. Called the Mavericks, and we go off and just do cool experiences.
So now I'm to the point where I can, you know, we can all go on a African safari together or we can go do Right. Whatever. And I love that because it's it's just a a cool thing. And I know you guys do amazing experiences just because I hear at nanny Chaz the experiential piece of building your business and having that community and then celebrating Chaz in your life is is a huge thing that will keep propelling you forward. Yeah. Appreciate that. And you're right too.
I I'd be curious to hear what you think about this. I've kinda recently been processing these three steps that a business owner goes through when it comes to their needs to to get better. And one being coaching, which we kinda you know, hit at the beginning is that there's some practicals, right, that that, you know, a person running a daycare center or, you know, an in home education whatever that they call that center or or home daycare, but there there's practicals that they need.
And and typically, that's earlier on, and that's the coaching form. And then there's community, and then there's leverage. And so you kinda almost all already expressed these 3, but the coaching is information. It's knowing what's next. And a lot of times people can't succeed because they don't have the right information. And and then the community pieces next where it's like, okay. I have put myself in a situation or in a room or in a group of people that think differently.
This is the mastermind philosophy or methodology thinking grow rich, I have to be able to have an agitation of thought. I can't always think the same things. I gotta get around people that are doing the thing. At a greater level and continuing to up level that. And then the last piece, the leverage, which you kinda just referenced, you know, the experience piece is not so much at that point. A n a nugget of coaching or a community.
Those things are great, but it's what one single lever can I pull to get the absolute most out of my time, my money, my other resources, and on behalf of my team, on behalf of family on behalf of my community, any of the things that I'm building? And so I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on that progression. Yeah. I mean, I absolutely agree. And We have built, intentionally a program that focuses on content and community. And coaching. And those are our 3 pillars, the 3 c's.
And so we are always helping people. One of my favorite quotes to the point of leverage is little hinges swing big doors. That may be from Dan Kennedy or may be from somebody earlier, but the looking for those leverage points. What is the little hinge in your business Chaz will swing that door wide open? And just being aware of it, asking the right questions.
So the longer that you work as an entrepreneur and you build businesses, which, and I built 2, by the way, we didn't talk about the second one. That's cool. But 27th of your businesses is you get into a practice where you can start seeing you've just become more seasoned at seeing Yeah. The little hinges. And so for anybody listening to this, it's starting, you know, don't stress it. It it's all good. It will come to you as you as you evolve in your journey.
You will get more seasoned and wisdom of seeing those leverage points. Yeah. You'll see it in other people, especially if you're using the community aspect that we've talked about. And and then you'll start recognizing those points of leverage in your own in your own story. Alright. So I wanna ask you now, Chris, about family. Family is a big deal to entrepreneurs across the country.
I've talked to 100 and and the family is always a big deal, but we always obsess over our businesses, it seems like. And and then we potentially struggle with obsessing over our family or marriages or whatnot. So I'm curious. What are some practicals that you've done over the years to obsess over some of those other important areas in your life alongside of building 2 incredible businesses. Yeah. I have 2 children. My daughter is 18 and just graduated from high school, and my son is 21.
Congrats. I grew this business The business was my 3rd baby Chaz, you know, babies were coming up. I I founded the biz really to launch the business when my kids were 5 and six and three years old. Wow. And so and that's how I got affinity in the niche, by the way, is that my kids were in childcare. And so I started working with the preschool owner Chaz during the recession Chaz was their preschool owner. So, essentially, that was my first client.
So we traded daycare sees So I got free tuition for my 2 kids in exchange for helping her fix her business. Yeah. And so the family component Chaz been huge for me, and it was hard because my ex husband was home really watching the kids while I was slapping around the country speaking and trying to build the business and meet people and create client relationships and go to conferences and you know, so I was traveling a fair bit to try to build the business.
So, you know, I do feel like my children did suffer a little bit for Chaz. But what we did was when I came home, just tried to do really fun experiences with them. We went on so many trips. You know, took him to Yellowstone. I was just talking with my daughter last night about memories that she has when we were camping or in Jackson, Wyoming or whatever we were but we took them a lot of places, and we had a lot of cool experiences. We took them to Disney a bunch of times.
And so just creating those magical experiences with the children when I was home. And I did feel guilty. You know? I'm not gonna lie. Definitely, there's mom out there for sure. But they got to see me building something that I was passionate about. Yeah. And I think that there's a lot of value in that. So that would be with them. Just like my dad had those conversations with me in the car. Right. Yeah. And I was able to give that to my children as a gift for them to see me.
So I, you know, So those are some things about family, and I'm I'm actually a single mom now full time. I had full time custody of my children after the divorce and wasn't easy raising 2 teens and running this business full time. But I did it, and I'm celebrating launching them both success into the world. They're both, you know, maves headed to Savannah, Georgia for Savannah College of Art And Design, and Owen's living and working in Cheyenne White me with his girlfriend and doing great.
So Nice. I feel there was a success story for sure, and, and I'm really proud of that. That's cool. I got one last question here for you, Chris. I wanna know if you had the opportunity to reach back into time and whisper in younger Chris's ear. What would you say? Baby, hold on. It's gonna be a hell of a ride. I mean, what I what I've lived through and what I've done I never young Chris would never have thought even dreamed of Yep. What actually my life looks like now. And so just juice it up.
Like, lives. I'm definitely a live sees the day carpe diem type gal. Like, just squeeze that lemon for all you can and just enjoy the heck out of it. You know, I think that entrepreneurs isn't so caught up in being so busy and doing all the things. They've kinda forget to enjoy the ride sometimes. Yeah. That's cool. It would just be strap in. Live fully. Love fully. Enjoy the ride. Yeah. I love that. Alright, Chris. You've been incredible. How can the listener find you?
Number 1, if they themselves operate a childish business, or they know somebody. They need to be part of your mastermind and go to your events. How do they find you? And then if they're just a business owner, and they wanna disconnect with you. How can they find you that way? Yes. So our primary website is childcare success.com. And you can reach my team and myself through that website, the all the team info is in there. My email is chris@sokris@childcaresuccess.com. And we're on Facebook.
I'm personally on Facebook. Christmas is 66, and Instagram is the Chris Murray. So those are some channels for you to find me and connect with me. And you can you can reach me through Messenger. I still read all my own emails and answer my own Facebook messenger, etcetera, etcetera. So There you go. Accessible. Well, you've been you've got just an incredible story.
I said at the beginning, I'll be pressing into this relationship for sure because you've got information that I need, but this is what success looks like. And up and a down, kids, family, queenhood, or queen ship, you know, the whole thing. You've got you've got the whole story, and so I just really appreciate your time. You've done an incredible job not only just in your own stuff, but here today, you've you've made courage real. So thank you for doing that.
Blessings to you, your family, and your businesses here in 2020 for being here. Thank you so much, Jess. It's been a joy, and take care and god bless. Thank you for listening to gathering the Kings today. Hope that you were able to pull out a few nuggets to go apply into your business right away. More importantly, though, I hope that you're realizing that it take more to be successful than just being by yourself, doing it all on your own, carrying the weight all by yourself.
What I have realized, not only in my own journey, from multiple businesses and multiple different industries, and now interviewing over 2 or 300 other very successful 7, 8, and 9 figure business owners is that it's tough to do it alone. And so gathering the Kings exists to bring together successful entrepreneurs. In fact, we are putting together 1000 kings, specifically who are grateful, but not done.
We're intentionally assembling kings who fight tooth and nail for their business, family, and communities, and here's what we believe Chaz in the suit of excellence in those areas, that it ignites within us the responsibility to govern power and forge a lasting legacy. So if that relates and and resonates with you and you know that you need people around you, sharp qualified other very successful business owners. I want you to go to gatheringthekings.com.
I want you to take a look at what we're doing and see if it makes sense for you to be part of our pursuit to 1000 kings. Talk soon.