Glenn Harper [00:00:00]:
Hello, everyone. Welcome to another edition of the Empowering Entrepreneurs podcast. I'm Glenn Harper.
Julie Smith [00:00:04]:
Julie Smith.
Glenn Harper [00:00:04]:
What's going on, Julie?
Julie Smith [00:00:05]:
You know, I'm really excited to hear our guest's name from you today. You've been practicing so hard, and I just I can't wait to see if we if we nail it. Or
Glenn Harper [00:00:13]:
I get all the hard stuff. I know. I've got a good cup of coffee. It's a 100 degrees out. It should be a good day. So we're really excited about it. Well, we've, love to introduce our guest today. We're very, privileged to have Steve Gavatorta here, a hardcore certified professional behavior analyst, a certified professional values analyst, a certified Myers Briggs practitioner, as well as being accredited to coach and train for emotional intelligence, which I know, Julia, you're into that.
Glenn Harper [00:00:40]:
He's an accomplished author and loves to put some informational videos out on the web. He's the owner of Steve Gavattore Group, which is which he has a panache to empower individuals and organizations to identify, develop, and exceed their goals. He started his career in big pharma space doing marketing, switched to Kodak for a short time, then decided to follow his passion and start his own company. Some people have careers doing tasks with Steve, but not Steve. He wants to get in your head without a psych degree and find out what makes you tick. Then he helps you release your inner kraken to become who you were destined to be. The ability to bring out the best in people as to why he does what he does, his passion, skills that are extraordinary, have the I have equal feelings of eager excitement and pure terror of letting Steve get in my head this morning. Thanks, Steve, for being on our show.
Steve Gavatorta [00:01:24]:
You know what? I need to hire you guys as marketers.
Glenn Harper [00:01:26]:
That was
Steve Gavatorta [00:01:26]:
there were some added things in there that were pretty darn good. So, hopefully, I don't know if I'll release any Kraken today, but, I'll give my best. Oh, every
Glenn Harper [00:01:34]:
everybody's got me.
Julie Smith [00:01:35]:
We need you to, say your last name for us.
Steve Gavatorta [00:01:38]:
Gavatorta, g a Steve Gavatorta. Yeah. Like, it that I was telling you, earlier, it means something cake. Torta, and, we're not quite sure what the gava is. Yeah. Yeah. So it's Steve Gavator. So now you've heard of him.
Steve Gavatorta [00:01:53]:
Good. I did okay.
Glenn Harper [00:01:54]:
It's it's a lot of pressure on these things. But, no, it's all good. Well, I tell you, appreciate you being on the show. We can tell already you've got a lot of energy, and that makes it exciting to do a show with you. And, you know, one of the things we like to do is get to know you a little bit, see where you're from, what you do, and it it looks like, I did a little stalking. It looks like you grew up in, Burgottstown, Pennsylvania, just across the river Ohio River by Steubenville, Ohio. That's probably was the big city you went to. And it looks like there's about 1421 people in that borough.
Glenn Harper [00:02:23]:
Does that sound about right?
Steve Gavatorta [00:02:25]:
It was maybe it's less now, and that no. No. We stayed away from Steubenville in West Virginia. Mister mister and missus Ohio there. I actually am we're 32 miles west of Pittsburgh. So Okay. So that was the main time we took. My dad, strangely enough, worked in Steubenville.
Steve Gavatorta [00:02:42]:
In the day, it was the the largest Kroger grocery store was located in Steubenville, Ohio. And in the day, late seventies, they were one of the first grocery stores, the one he worked at, downtown Steubenville, to have wine and cheese sections. It was one of the most progressive yeah. It was one of the most progressive Kroger. So, yeah, my dad did work down there, but we didn't hang down there too much, the steel mills. It wasn't,
Glenn Harper [00:03:06]:
you know, a lot of people are pretty there. Crossing the river, it's always a thing. Did you grow up there your whole life, and that's where you your parents are from and been there?
Steve Gavatorta [00:03:14]:
Yeah. Yeah. My mom was from a neighboring town, but my father was from Bergottstown, and that's where I grew up. And I actually went to college about 2 hours away. Started my first business of my career started in Pittsburgh too. So I was I spent probably 22 years of my life, 21 years of my life at least in that area.
Julie Smith [00:03:34]:
So what did your dad do for Kroger?
Steve Gavatorta [00:03:37]:
He was a meat cutter. Okay. He he was a, a butcher for Kroger. He was with them for a long time, and then, he had a little working at Kroger, used to have teenage dances on Saturday nights that were actually announced on a Pittsburgh radio station. So he he was kind of a big name in the area for having teenage dances, so he had that entrepreneurial spirit. Bette worked for Kroger. And then he wanted to start his own, another business, and he ended up buying a produce market. And most of my adult life or my not my adult life, but my elderly younger years when I was living at home, I was a slave at my father's crude produce market.
Steve Gavatorta [00:04:19]:
Fantastic. Toughest boss toughest boss I ever had. So but I learned a ton. I learned a ton work in that little store. So
Julie Smith [00:04:25]:
Did you ever get to be involved in these teenage dances?
Steve Gavatorta [00:04:28]:
Or No. No. I was too I was too small. I'd step my grandmother's. I remember one time, though, I I I probably went down where I'd sit by my mom. My mom would be the person at the door. There'd be a couple police officers. My mom would take the money at the door.
Steve Gavatorta [00:04:45]:
And I remember a few times I'd go sit and, and with her a little bit while my dad DJ'd. But they were seriously big things. There was an r and b station in Pittsburgh called WAMO, w a m o, and they used to announce his, dances on my, on WAMO. So it it was a big thing back in the day. My dad was kind of ahead of his time. He had, like, strobe lights. He had, like, he would show videos or, like, I forget what the old you'd need to have a picture, and it would spin around, and it would show on the wall. You know, those things before disco was even disco.
Steve Gavatorta [00:05:20]:
So he's kind of ahead of his time on those things. So, he was a creative guy, my dad.
Glenn Harper [00:05:25]:
You know it's big when you gotta have the cops at the
Steve Gavatorta [00:05:27]:
high school, you
Glenn Harper [00:05:27]:
know, dance party. That's that's awesome. Oh, yeah. That's a tough town. I like that.
Steve Gavatorta [00:05:33]:
Yeah. Yeah. It was every Saturday night. And, yeah, it was a tough town. It's a lot different now. But, yeah, it was, I'm Birgitstown is a coal mining town, a steel town, a zinc mill town. We had a it was a natural melting pot for a lot of immigrant families. So I grew up with every every nationality, immigrant background you can have.
Steve Gavatorta [00:05:53]:
The beauty of it was a lot of the families came here from everywhere, not speaking English, not speaking each other's language, but their they and their offspring became usually successful. It's really a great was a great area to grow up in and, really some great success stories, from that little town, to be honest with you.
Glenn Harper [00:06:13]:
Wasn't it an amazing place to grow up? Yeah. If you work hard, people respect that. And, and you'll assimilate quickly if you wanna work hard and and carry your own weight, which is probably what that was like. Exactly.
Julie Smith [00:06:23]:
Yep. Which leads us to emotional intelligence. No. Hey.
Steve Gavatorta [00:06:26]:
Now now we got time
Glenn Harper [00:06:27]:
for that. We gotta get to more of the story.
Julie Smith [00:06:29]:
So no. I so before you were a slave to the produce market, did you do have any entrepreneurial things that you did? You know, newspapers, sell rocks, you know, lemonade stands, or mow yards. I don't know. Did you did you have any of those tendencies?
Steve Gavatorta [00:06:45]:
I had the I I wanted to deliver the newspaper, but I don't think my mom wanted it. It was her. She didn't wanna get that early in the morning to make sure I did it. But before I worked for my dad, I I was a lifeguard, and then I did I helped cut trees. I had a neighbor who did a had a tree service. I would cut trees in the summer. And then while I was at my in college and working for my dad, I would detail cars. So that's probably the more most entrepreneurial thing I did at that time was I had a knack for detailing cars, and a lot of the people would bring their cars by.
Steve Gavatorta [00:07:19]:
And, hey. It's a beautiful sunny day in the summer, and why not make some cash, you know, doing that? So that was probably my first nimble. And, you know, you I got paid as a lifeguard. I paid for cutting trees, but this was kinda my own thing. So it may have planted that seed for that entrepreneurial side. So You
Glenn Harper [00:07:35]:
know, it's what a great place to, live and grow up where literally you're either gonna sit around and do nothing, or you're gonna hustle a little bit, and all those opportunities are there. And that's some hard stuff you had to do. I mean, who wants to cut trees in the summer? That's hard work, but you do it anyway. And, gosh, working for parents in a in a market, you know they're gonna beat you down all day. But I bet they
Steve Gavatorta [00:07:55]:
My dad yeah. He was the toughest boss I ever had. It's funny because after I moved away, all my relatives, my cousins would work for him. And when I would go home for a holidays, they're like, god. We loved working for uncle Steve. That's his name. And I'm like, who did you work for again? Because that's not the same guy.
Glenn Harper [00:08:11]:
He had a different guy. Yeah. He did. He did.
Steve Gavatorta [00:08:14]:
So how
Glenn Harper [00:08:15]:
And you picked Allegheny College in Meadville, and you do that, did you pick that because you're able to play football there? Or and how did you pick economics? I mean, how did you pick come land on that?
Steve Gavatorta [00:08:27]:
Yeah. I was fortunate enough for Alec to go to Allegheny. I don't know if you know much about Allegheny, but it's a very good school, notch below the ivies. But I actually did not have the grades or the SATs. I wasn't a horrible high school student, but, I didn't have the grades or or SATs to get into Allegheny. Thank god. Because I played football.
Glenn Harper [00:08:47]:
Yeah.
Steve Gavatorta [00:08:48]:
I was they were able to make some amend you know, make some, help me get in. Let's put it that way. Division 3 football, you don't have full scholarship, but they could do things for you, get you in, get you financial aid. I had work study. I had work. I worked security at concerts and stuff like that. So, that enabled me to get in Allegheny. I'm grateful because I needed a good school like Allegheny to bring discipline to me, and I met some really great people there.
Steve Gavatorta [00:09:15]:
Economics was the closest thing to business there was. It's a liberal arts school. They didn't have a business degree. So economics was the closest. I was interested in business, and economics was the closest thing to that. I had some I was pretty close to minoring in psych. I didn't. I wish I would've.
Steve Gavatorta [00:09:33]:
But, yeah, that's kind of the story of, you know, how I got there and why economics.
Glenn Harper [00:09:38]:
Did you get a lot of no money while you were there? You You get paid a lot as well? The no money, the n I and I owe money for your name and likeness? No. No. He didn't. Any of that? No. You missed out on that.
Steve Gavatorta [00:09:48]:
Division 3.
Glenn Harper [00:09:49]:
You missed out on that.
Steve Gavatorta [00:09:51]:
Division 3 football is not quite, as as illustrious as division 1 football. Let's put it that way.
Glenn Harper [00:09:56]:
You know, it's it's funny. I remember taking economics night. Julie, you that was your degree, I think. And, man, that was a really hard class for me. That and stats. I you know, I loved accounting. When I say loved, I wouldn't say loved it, but it it made sense to me. But stats and ecom was just all this theory, like, how does all those variables work? So is that for you, was it that big picture looking at things? Was that, like, easy for you? Or were you like, oh, this is so hard? Or I how do you Yeah.
Glenn Harper [00:10:22]:
I'm picking that's a real interesting to me.
Steve Gavatorta [00:10:25]:
I thought that was difficult. I mean, I it was a lot of theory. Strangely, counter to what you were saying, the thing that actually helped me with stats, and I think accounting were probably my better economics classes. I struggled when I first went to Allegheny. I mean, I was really I was on academic probation, not because I was a bad guy, but I didn't know how to study. In Allegheny, you they they you had to write a lot. They forced you to write, so you can't memorize something the night before and write about it. It's not as easy.
Steve Gavatorta [00:10:59]:
So I struggled for a while, and the the one of the classes 2 classes turned around for me, stats and economics. For some reason, I'm sorry, accounting. Accounting, for some reason, resonated with me. It was Seymour black and white in stats. I like sports. I knew how to figure out the batting average on baseball. I figured out the average of a running back in football, so it kinda came intuitively. And those two classes kinda helped, kick things around with my grade point average and whatnot.
Steve Gavatorta [00:11:28]:
And, listen, I graduated in I still can't believe it graduated in 4 years, never flint a class, and, you know yeah. So turned things around. Allegheny was meant to be for me. It really, helped me a lot.
Julie Smith [00:11:41]:
Did you have a mentor there that kinda they took you under their wing and kinda helped say, like, hey, listen. You've gotta do these things to be successful. Here's what I did. Here's the shortcut. Let me help you. Did did you encounter that?
Steve Gavatorta [00:11:54]:
It was mail mainly my fraternity brothers. I mean, I went to college with some smart guys. I mean, not for he's not fraternity brother, but the CEO of PNC Bank is an Allegheny guy that I knew. You know, so we have some heavy hitting guy heavy heavy hitting guys. I know they were wild and fun guys too, but they were smart. So I had some mentors within the fraternity. My big brother was a great mentor. He wasn't as soft touch.
Steve Gavatorta [00:12:22]:
It was it was kind of sending him give him a paper. He goes, are you an idiot? Did you ever write anything before? You know, it make me that's kinda how it was spelled. But, you know, he did teach me structure. He had his little tongue in cheek and that abuse. But, you know, the it was mainly the guys I went to school with. They were smart guys, and, I would lean on guys in certain specialties and, learned a lot from a lot from them.
Glenn Harper [00:12:44]:
It's funny you get to that point where you realize that, you add up your game because everybody's passing you by. And And when you have that realization as a young man to, like, be a man, that's what you gotta do. You gotta figure that out. Yeah. And if not, you get left behind, and you have nothing to offer. So here you are making that happen. When you came out of school, you you jumped into into big pharma, and, again, what you're doing is marketing for them. Is that what you're what you're doing for them?
Steve Gavatorta [00:13:11]:
Well, 2 things. 1, it was the consumer packaged goods divisions of pharmaceutical companies. So the products that you would buy in a grocery store. So I worked for a division of GlaxoSmithKline, but it was actually called Beecham Products. So I sold Aquafresh toothpaste, cling free dryer added sheets, cough and cold items, health and beauty aids, things like that. And was mainly started out in sales. I was calling on retail grocery stores, selling toothpaste to retail grocery stores. And my career progressed at that time, and and I was fortunate that the first company I worked with called Beauchamp Products, all their upper level management were former Procter and Gamble
Glenn Harper [00:13:52]:
Mhmm.
Steve Gavatorta [00:13:52]:
People. And back in the day, Procter and Gamble really was the creme de la creme in training and development. Mhmm. So that was another instance. You know, going to Allegheny was a life changing thing. Going to Beauchamp was. It may not have sound sexy or romantic, schlepping, aqua fresh, but you'd learn fundamental skills in selling. You'd learn how to manage your time.
Steve Gavatorta [00:14:14]:
You'd learn how to deal with objections, hearing no. You you know, you'd learn some great fundamentals, presentation skills. You learn some great fundamentals in that initial job calling on grocery stores that carried me on to this day. You know, so it was a great a great move. So my career in consumer packaged goods roughly lasted 21 years, 10 with a division of 10 with Beauchamps or GlaxoSmithKline, and had an array of jobs, 5 with Warner Lambert, then ended my career at Eastman Kodak. And, again, I did everything from sales, sales management, leadership, marketing, a liaison between sales and marketing, training and development, category management, and loyalty marketing too. So I had a plethora of experience, and that really helps me in my consulting business now because most of the clients I work with, you know, I'm not some schmuck that never did, as we say, carry the bag, whether it's a marketing bag, whether it's a leadership bag, whether it's a sales bag, whether it's dealing with change in a company bag. I've experienced that, you know, so I can bring some of that reality to the table in workshops.
Steve Gavatorta [00:15:27]:
I didn't just get my MBA from Harvard and taking everything's theory. Yeah. I I experienced this stuff, so I feel your pain. So I leveraged that a lot in my business.
Glenn Harper [00:15:36]:
Yeah. It's funny how, you know, a lot of entrepreneurs, they start off in corporate America, and they get all this training, and they learn how the world works and the cut through business and all those things, how to climb the ladder. And then all of a sudden, they're like, I wanna be an entrepreneur. And then sometimes you get entrepreneurs that never touch the the corporate America, which is me, which is a different way to get there. And then I'm like, wow. I wonder what that was like in corporate America. And I'm like, that sounds terrifying. But, again, you were able to do that.
Glenn Harper [00:16:04]:
And and when you were there, obviously, you learned a lot. Again, those are great companies you work for. They have great systems and processes and whatever. What made you decide that, you know what? I think I'm done with corporate America. I wanna hang my shingle and do my thing.
Steve Gavatorta [00:16:18]:
Yeah. I think it's Tony Robbins said Robbins said the 2 things that motivates people are pain and pleasure, and, mine was pain. What I didn't mention in my first job out of college, Beetram products. One reason I chose them was the first interview I had there, and who a gentleman who was head of, he was director of training and manpower deployment. That's what they called it. He became he hired me first interview, and he became my mentor throughout my life. And so he really helped me understand the importance of training and development. So I had a passion for it.
Steve Gavatorta [00:16:54]:
He ended up leaving the company and start his own corporate America, to side of corporate America is, to your point, taught you a lot of skills, standards. You learn a ton. But there there is there are restrictions to that in your freedom, in, you know, your creativity, and things of that nature. And I think as I progressed through corporate America, I my passion for training development was growing. And my desire to go that route, really started changing my interest, you know, to get out of corporate America. But I was I was afraid. I had a great base salary. I had a company car.
Steve Gavatorta [00:17:36]:
I had a 401 k. Leaving that was quite intimidating, and I didn't know how to take that first step, to be honest with you. So I played around with it for a couple years. And finally, what probably pushed me was my I I made 3 quick couple jobs I left out. I made 3 quick career moves that all were jumping from the fire of the frying pan, which was unreal for him. Unrealist not my norm, I should say, because I was a pretty steady guy. I just thought they were opportunities or whatnot. And and I think through those moves, I'm like became disenchanted.
Steve Gavatorta [00:18:10]:
I was with at Kodak when they when digital was starting to take over. And they were had their head in the sand, to be honest with you. And they were telling me to say things to my client that weren't true. And I I can't do that. So one night, I didn't know how to fundamentally structure and start my business. That made me a little bit afraid. And so one night, I couldn't sleep. I was worried about work.
Steve Gavatorta [00:18:33]:
And 2 in the morning, I'm watching TV, can't sleep, and Tony Robbins comes off.
Glenn Harper [00:18:38]:
Every time.
Steve Gavatorta [00:18:38]:
And he's selling his tape sets. So with his tape set came this assessment called DISC. I'm not sure if you've heard of DISC. Oh, yeah. DISC is a behavioral assessment of Myers Briggs. So he said, hey. Buy these tape sets. Get this behavioral assessment for free.
Steve Gavatorta [00:18:55]:
Well, I spent $800 for a disc survey, essentially. I always tell people it's the most expensive disc survey ever sold because I just wanted the assessment. So I took the assessment. Simultaneously, I hired a personal coach out of my own pocket to help me transition out of corporate America. My coach, I sent her that disc survey about me. I wanted to learn about me. And she said, you know, Steve, do you like this so much? You can be certified in delivering disc in your coaching and consulting business. And right then, I knew I had a structure of something I could train and sell against.
Steve Gavatorta [00:19:33]:
So a couple months later, I'm certified in DISC. I'm taking coaching classes at night. I informed Kodak that I was leaving. And it actually was a great exit. They were okay. They kinda knew I wasn't I was unhappy. I let them know. But they wanted me to hang on to transition my next, my replacement to get him up and running.
Steve Gavatorta [00:19:56]:
So I stayed a little longer, got him up and running as I was starting my business. And at the same time, my boss left Kodak, so the new her new boss comes in, and they wanted me to stay to help him. So I ended up staying 6 months after I handed my resignation into Kodak. My first job was the new boss who took over from my previous boss. He brought me in to do a workshop for the team I used to work for. So that's my actually, my first job was Kodak as well too. But long story short, pain drove me to that. I mean, I had wanted to do it for a long time.
Steve Gavatorta [00:20:31]:
I was afraid to. I didn't know how to start. It was comfortable, but I think enough pain pushed me to make ultimate decisions that I need to follow my passions. I need to do what I love. And I tell people, you find what you do, what you truly love, you never work a day again in your life, in your entire life, and that's how I feel. Long story short, I hope that answered your question.
Glenn Harper [00:20:52]:
That's exactly what we wanted to hear because, again, as entrepreneurs, again, there's different ways to get to being hanging your shingle up. Some gold cold turkey, some do it in the garage while they're doing whatever. Here you are. You you made the decision, but out of loyalty, respect, whatever you wanna call it, you stayed on for 6 more months delayed doing what you wanted to do to help out the other company, but it all worked out. Right? Those relationships you built made it your first gig, and then the rest is history. Yeah.
Steve Gavatorta [00:21:20]:
It did. And, you know, I told my boss, I have no issues staying no longer, but you gotta realize what I'm doing on the side. And she was great with that, you know. And, so it coulda worked out better. But the seed had been planted through the years. You know, consultants were coming in when I was in corporate America, and they weren't they didn't understand our business. The skills, you know, they they what they were teaching us wasn't relevant. And I started thinking, what are they making? Because I could do a better job than them.
Steve Gavatorta [00:21:46]:
So the seed had been planted for a long time. It was just ultimately the pain of, you know, not enjoying it, not being able not sleeping at night anymore, which I hadn't experienced, and then simultaneously, some things coming together. And it had to be real action steps, hiring a coach, getting certified in DISC, taking coaching classes virtually at night. It really lit a fire and motivated me that I can see an end game. So I'd urge any entrepreneurs, anyone transitioning to do take some steps, put skin in the game. Because now there's ownership, and you can start seeing some things, you know, until you put that skin in the game. A lot of people wanna be an entrepreneur, wanna, you know, have advice from someone, but they're not willing to put in their own money to do that. So you've gotta, you know, put some skin in the game and, and and and then you'll start seeing things manifest in front of you.
Steve Gavatorta [00:22:42]:
You start seeing paths. And that's what happened to me. Thank god. So, ultimately, when I did make a decision, it all happened pretty darn quick.
Glenn Harper [00:22:50]:
You know, when you're, you know, some people are just natural leaders, some people are natural coaches, and then some people have to develop the skill. Do you do you feel like you were a natural coach and you just needed to tap into it and and the training was just like, oh, that all fits together now. Or were you like, oh my god. This is a whole new thing, and you had to, like, retrain your whole self to do that?
Steve Gavatorta [00:23:14]:
No. I think I had a natural passion for it for again, pain drove a lot of that passion. You know? God bless my father. He's no longer with us, but he was not the best communicator and coach. You know? I think a lot of my life, I thought, you know, dad, you coulda handled that differently. You know, not humiliating me, but teaching. And ultimately, I learned lessons, but you know what I mean.
Glenn Harper [00:23:36]:
Oh, I know exactly.
Steve Gavatorta [00:23:36]:
I think there's a passion behind that, that you can help people in different ways. Then, secondly, my corporate career, many times I struggled, I was able to fall back on the training that I've learned, and that was my anchor. So I knew the value of training and development. I knew the value of success had to do with fundamental ski mastering fundamental skills. So that's I I think I became it was a natural passion for me, let's put it that way, of of teaching skills for success because without those skills, the chances of success are minimized. So having some semblance of structure, to guide you to for success is key. And as I've gotten older, I've come to realize, and I've I've talked about it in in, my second book called in defense of adversity, that there's a lot of brain functionality that goes behind having skill sets and having structure and and the alignment to success. Because if you don't have structure, you don't have skill set, when things happen in the workplace, you don't have an anchor to grasp onto.
Steve Gavatorta [00:24:45]:
If I've never had heard no from a client, I might fall into freeze, fight, or flight. You know, what do I do now? They said no to me. If I'm trained on how to handle that objection, then I'm gonna stay calm, cool, collected, and I'm gonna be able to handle that. So I think it goes back to a natural natural passion and understanding the coaching, consulting, and training, what it can mean to a person's life personally and professionally as well too.
Julie Smith [00:25:12]:
Do you find that the majority of your clients come from your corporate America experience? Like, is that kind of your niche, Or are you working primarily with entrepreneur? Like, where where is your customer base coming from? And again, I'm just a curious question wondering, you know, because I think your corporate American experience
Steve Gavatorta [00:25:30]:
is great. More corporate because that's where more of my connections were. I'd leveraged most of my connections within corporate America. So it started off more. There there were some entrepreneurial pieces, 1 on 1 coaching, but it was mainly corporate. However, things have changed in corporate for multiple reasons. You know, one of which, HR departments have become incredibly robust, and more companies are doing internal training for some reason or another. So it's gone off towards little smaller entrepreneurial companies, companies who need the structure and the fundamentals.
Steve Gavatorta [00:26:04]:
I'm working with my one of my fraternity brothers now now who his company is growing like crazy, but there's not that structure to sustain them as they're growing. So I'm coming in and helping him with that developmental structure that, you know, I learned from corporate or I brought in. Now we don't wanna be overly corporate. He doesn't wanna be overly corporate, but we're gonna supply some skills base skills for success in given jobs. So it has transitioned to smaller companies, entrepreneurs, or companies who don't have that structure for long term sustain sustainability and success who may not know, you know, what a good sales process is or or skills that, to become an effective leader because they've never had been trained on it. That's kinda my niche is transition into that more entrepreneurial, smaller company world.
Glenn Harper [00:26:57]:
So you can not only train an individual how to acquire these skill sets, but you can also help them implement the program to train everybody, which is kinda cool. You get to at whatever stage they're at, you can help them.
Steve Gavatorta [00:27:11]:
Exactly. And I'll I'll say this. Not only train, but reinforce the training. You know, a lot of I've been in instances where the hiring beat hiring people were like, okay. Steve trained them. Now they know what to do. I might need that time out. Time out.
Steve Gavatorta [00:27:24]:
Time out. Time out.
Glenn Harper [00:27:25]:
No.
Steve Gavatorta [00:27:25]:
That was one time we spent on that. It's up to you now to reinforce those behaviors every day, or they're not gonna be used. So that's part of my training too. It's not just learning the skill, but creating reinforcement mechanisms to ensure the leaders are following up on that training, ensuring the leaders are reinforcing that training. Because just because it's done once does not mean it's embedded in the culture of the company. It has to be a training and reinforcement, a continual, gross, kind of mentality from a per personal perspec per people perspective.
Glenn Harper [00:28:03]:
Did did you
Steve Gavatorta [00:28:03]:
I guess is what I'm saying.
Glenn Harper [00:28:04]:
Yeah. Did you, at some point, you decided you wanna do some Muay Thai and be a street fighter. Is that just to get the rage out, or was that to do a different type of training that was helping you be more mentally tough? Obviously, physically, but it's probably more mental than anything. When did you start doing that?
Steve Gavatorta [00:28:23]:
It's funny you're saying it because the mental side has come later, and it's important part of my life. I do wanna talk about that. Yeah. I I just kinda took up Muay Thai because I just wanted something different to do. I would I would see people holding pads at at the gym. I'm like, that looks pretty fun. That looks pretty cool. So I got into boxing first, then I got in a Muay Thai.
Steve Gavatorta [00:28:44]:
And, I'm not sure if your listeners know what Muay Thai is. It's Thai kickboxing, and it's called the art of 8 limbs. So you use your hands, you use your elbows, you use you your use your knees, and you use your feet for kicking. So, typically, I, all most of my career, I've used a personal coach. So I do 1 on 1 Muay Thai. I don't really do classes. And so it's learning the skills, pad work, and all that good stuff. And and you just meet the most wonderful people.
Steve Gavatorta [00:29:12]:
People think these guys are animals, they're crazy, there's something wrong with them. You meet truly the salt of the earth people, whether they're your teammates, your gym mates, or your coaches. It's really changed my life. Now as of the last couple years, I've gotten into sparring. So mouthpiece and everything. And, it's not only taking the skills you're using in a real world environment, but now it's the mental part. How do I stay calm under pressure? And I'm pushing myself every day to force myself to what they say call stay in the pocket, meaning stay in your exchange, stay in your and go at it. Because when you're able to stay calm, calm your mind, you see things, and you can counter, and you can do those things.
Steve Gavatorta [00:29:57]:
But it all makes means you have to be calm under chaos, and that has transitioned into my personal life too. It's helped me be calmer outside because now I can be calm in chaos, and it's helped in other areas too. So I highly recommend that stuff to work people in the workplace because when chaos hits the workplace, what are you gonna do as a leader or a business owner? Are you gonna get angry? Are you gonna shut down? Are you gonna act like it's not happening? Are you gonna deal with it because you're thinking rationally? So, it's really blended in. It was that's another part of my life that was meant to be Allegheny, beach and products, starting my own business, and and trying Muay Thai. It's changed my life for the better. It's not just the physical. I I say Muay Thai has helped me physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally as well too. Physically, obviously.
Steve Gavatorta [00:30:48]:
Mentally, you're learning something new, hand eye coordination. Spiritually, being in the moment when this chaos is going on is a spiritual event, believe it or not. Mhmm. And then the emotional side, being able to make, train your mind to respond rationally rather than emotionally in a in a in a millisecond. It's helped in all those aspects, which transition in the business world.
Glenn Harper [00:31:14]:
Well, it's you know, as an entrepreneur, this is a a neat little nugget to have because it's chaos every day for an entrepreneur. It is. And and being calm under pressure, not taking it out on everybody and not losing your mind, that's a hard thing to do because everybody's attacking you generally when you're whatever for whatever reason that is. And, again, in corporate America, somebody's always gunning for your spot too, so you just gotta learn how to deflect that. But, yeah, keeping calm, thinking 10 steps ahead, which now gets us to the best part. Well, Julie's probably gonna ask you to evaluate one of us.
Julie Smith [00:31:46]:
Both both of us.
Glenn Harper [00:31:48]:
Not that we want you to do something for free, but, you know, like, all these all these things that you especially the emotional intelligent, you know, how long does it take to assess somebody to know if they have it or don't have it? And if they don't have it, how do you get them to have it? And if they do have it, how do you temper it to get the best out of it?
Steve Gavatorta [00:32:07]:
Yeah. I you know, that's a great question. I think I can recognize it fairly quick. I mean, it has to be an interaction, a diet for interaction a little bit.
Julie Smith [00:32:16]:
Okay. We're 40 minutes in. What do you got?
Steve Gavatorta [00:32:19]:
What's that?
Julie Smith [00:32:19]:
I said we're 40 minutes in. What do you got?
Glenn Harper [00:32:22]:
Okay. Well well, the the
Steve Gavatorta [00:32:24]:
thing I'd say let's talk about the how I look at emotional intelligence, what I was trained on. I look at it as 3 parts. Intrapersonal skills, that's self knowledge. Interpersonal skills, being able to read other people. Then the third is situational awareness. How do I function and my team function every day, but especially under stress? So what I do is I teach my clients through various mechanisms on how to raise their intrapersonal skills, understand themselves, how they behave, how they communicate, how they make decisions, how they're motivated, how they deal with adversity, and how they deal with change, risk, and conflict. Because if I can understand that myself more, I'm gonna be able to self manage. If I'm not aware that adversity, a changing environment can throw me into freeze, fight, or flight, there's a chance when change happens, I'm gonna fall into freeze, fight, or flight.
Steve Gavatorta [00:33:21]:
But if I'm aware that, hey. I I struggle with this a little bit. I've gotta prepare myself for this, so I'm thinking rationally through this. So self awareness is number 1. Number 2 is knowing the people with whom I'm engaging with or I'm leading. Because if I can understand things that put them into an emotional state of freeze and flight, I'm gonna be able to manage that better. So how do I how well do I know myself? How well can I read other people? And how well do we function as a team during these adverse situations? If I have low EQ and I'm susceptible to anger, I'm a leader, I'm no longer productive if I'm angry. I might make a wrong decision.
Steve Gavatorta [00:34:01]:
I may say the wrong things. I won't be able to think clearly, and I may put my team into an emotional state of freeze fight or flight too. Oh, there goes Steve again. I'm I'm staying away from him. Or, god, I hate when Steve does this. You know, I'm putting them in an emotional state, and guess what? I'm no longer productive nor are they. And, again, in those times, we're not gonna think clearly. We're not gonna think creatively.
Steve Gavatorta [00:34:26]:
We may see something we regret later. We're not gonna be able to problem solve. So I think the most important thing is we could do what I try to do is raise the EQ of a leader and his or her team by helping them understand themselves using DISC or Myers Briggs, helping them understand the people with whom they're engaging with, whether they're teammates, colleagues, external customers using DISC or Myers Briggs again, then understanding collectively how do we function during change? How do we function as a team during adversity to realize, okay, Joe Blow, I know how to motivate him differently than Susie q. I've gotta keep her calm this way. I've gotta approach him this way. I think it's Tony, Vince Lombardi, the great football coach, said he the key to his success was he needed to know how to motivate and communicate with 40 men, 40 different ways. So he knew the hot buttons to push on his player. That is high EQ.
Steve Gavatorta [00:35:25]:
He's not he's he knows enough about himself that, hey. These people are different. They're not like me. I've gotta approach them differently. And he was aware enough interest personally wise to know those hot buttons to push. And then when game day hit, the ball snap, he knows how these guys are gonna function, and he can manage that dynamic as well too. So that is a huge passion for me because that is the foundation of everything. If I don't understand it as a leader, I'm not effective.
Steve Gavatorta [00:35:52]:
If I don't understand it as a salesperson, I'm not effective. If I don't understand it as a parent, I'm not effective. Or a husband, wife, spouse, significant other. That EQ, that understanding is is hugely important in in success.
Julie Smith [00:36:06]:
So I have another question. So I'm really into
Steve Gavatorta [00:36:09]:
all I'm good on time.
Julie Smith [00:36:10]:
All the things that you, speak of. I'm very into it. But is there what how do you feel about the Enneagram test in regards to personality test and evaluating people? Because sometimes, and I mean, I've even made this one over here take it. Because sometimes we're not, you know, I can recognize that we're communicating, but like whatever I'm saying, he's not receiving, you know, for whatever reason. And so it's led me to be like, okay. What's your disc? And I mean, we've got down to, like, what's your integrand? And and that one, for whatever reason, has allowed me to understand how to communicate the best with him. And so Yeah. I was just interested in, you know, like, your take on that one.
Julie Smith [00:36:49]:
Because I know it's new. But yeah. Yeah.
Steve Gavatorta [00:36:53]:
I have to be honest with you. I've heard of him before. I think there I there was a client I'm either working with or a client I wanted to work with that used that. And I know I re I researched it, but it's been about a year ago. I can't remember off top of my head. But I'll say this. Disc is my preference of what I like using. Anything I don't care if it's Myers Briggs, Enneagram, Herman Brain, social styles, a disc, whatever it is.
Steve Gavatorta [00:37:20]:
Anything you can drive that self knowledge. Mhmm. Or intrapersonal skills or the interpersonal skills, you have at it, use. You know, I've gone into clients where they're like, we're already using DISC or we're already using Myers Briggs. I'm like, we don't wanna use something else. I'm like, I'm cool with that. You know, let let's use what you're using just so it's helping your people understand themselves and know the people with whom they're engaging with. Something I do a little different that most people don't, in my opinion, I know I've got experience with a lot of other consultants in my past life, but, you know, a lot of people disc is everybody's like, yeah.
Steve Gavatorta [00:37:56]:
That's a nice to know. It's more than that. Mhmm. You know, I teach people how to read the behavior of other people with whom they don't know their disk survey. So in a sales dynamic, I can't go to my customer and say, hey. Take this disc survey so I can understand you. But I teach people through, like, simple steps and instructional videos on how to read the behaviors of others. So if I'm on a sales call, I'm starting to think immediately, okay.
Steve Gavatorta [00:38:24]:
This person's exhibiting either d or c behavior. I know I have to hit facts and data. You know, they may not have it narrowed down to the d or c, but at least they're in the ballpark. Or at least we're starting to get people to think about that person across the desk from me or that person on the other line from me or across the screen from me might be different than me. You know, I look at things this way. They may not. At least raising that awareness is raising your EQ. The tools that you use to help people read others, I say whatever works for you guys.
Julie Smith [00:38:56]:
Do you think
Steve Gavatorta [00:38:57]:
Long well, I'm not sure if it's a long answer. I'm not That's a great answer.
Julie Smith [00:39:00]:
No. I think I'd
Steve Gavatorta [00:39:00]:
say if people would like it,
Glenn Harper [00:39:02]:
they use it, have at it. Promoting the awareness is the key. Right? To see Yeah. Just to start moving that direction because it communication's everything. If you don't communicate, it's useless.
Julie Smith [00:39:11]:
And I think as, you know, our audience, you know, as you're building a team, another question I have for you is, do you think it's really important to use these tests as you go to hire people and you're building your team to make sure that, you know, maybe your first hire, you're just understanding have the awareness between the 2 of you. But as you start to hire more people and build a team, you're creating and you have to make sure that that personality fits into that culture. So how imperative do you think it is to do these tests before even hiring?
Steve Gavatorta [00:39:45]:
Yeah. I do highly recommend it. It's not the end all, be all. It's how my opinion's highly directional. And I I would tell I always tell my clients, if you if you let's say we have a DISC profile. We're looking for a little bit more on the high d side of the scale, somewhat analytical or likes numbers. Let's say we have 3 people. We like all 3 pretty close.
Steve Gavatorta [00:40:10]:
We like 2 of them really close. The third one matches closest to the disc style. I don't say automatically hire that person because they manage. I'm like, it's a it's a good directional thing to go with. If the person scores a little lower on the scale you're looking for, use it as a training mechanism. So I let's hypothetically say we're looking for someone highly analytical. Steve has some in in analytic skills, not so strong as some of the other people, but we like Steve, and we think there's upside. Use that DISC behavioral assessment or any assessment you're using as the tool of where you need to focus on their development.
Steve Gavatorta [00:40:50]:
Does that make sense? So we like Steve. He's not as close alignment, but let's do some training around him. Let's height let's heighten his analytic skills. Let's see where we can help him there. So I think, yes. Use it. It's highly good directionally. It's not the end all, be all.
Steve Gavatorta [00:41:05]:
Now I've had 2 equal candidates, and one really pops for the style we want. Of course, we want that. I am a believer in you know, the big word now is diversity. I like diversity of styles. Each disc style, Myers Briggs style or whatever it is brings something to the table. You know, a dominant style is a decision maker, a number cruncher, moves quickly. Maybe they move too quick. We might need that compliance style to slow them down a little bit.
Steve Gavatorta [00:41:32]:
Does that make sense?
Julie Smith [00:41:33]:
That's where that's why we we equal each other. I am, like, I am the d. Yeah. And he's slowing me down. And sometimes we have a little tension in regards to that. Right? Because I don't like to go slow. But you know, I think is these thing, this awareness and the education is out there around these, you know, the next thing is I think it's really important to continually have this awareness. So you you take it with applicant a, you hire applicant a, you know where they stand, but you also know those opportunities for training.
Julie Smith [00:42:05]:
Right? I think it's important to do it every year and to continue to assess that. And then, you know, beyond that, I think it's really important that the team understands who all they're working with. So, like, I'm such a nerd and it's okay because I I say closet, but it's out there. But something I'm working on for, like, our company reviews is like, how do you take it and make it so it's anonymous? But that this one person knows where they stand, but they know where they rank amongst their peers.
Glenn Harper [00:42:37]:
Yeah.
Julie Smith [00:42:37]:
And so they know, hey, that's my real strength. Oof. I've I've according to my peer like, I gotta really work on that because, you know, I'm not there yet. And so I listen. I'm so passionate about this, Steve, but it is your thing. So, like
Steve Gavatorta [00:42:52]:
Likewise.
Julie Smith [00:42:52]:
I No. Likewise. I believe in what you're doing and how you're doing it and education and awareness and how do we get it into so that everybody can better understand and have, you know, know that it works. Because it it does work if if you do it. And so, yeah, keep keep doing what you're doing.
Glenn Harper [00:43:10]:
Yeah. Most people No. I don't have the time.
Steve Gavatorta [00:43:12]:
One of the best parts of my workshops now I do share the DISC scores. And with the bit with the version I use, each person gets a score from 0 to 100 across d I s or c. Anything that scored above the 50 represents a behavior that manifests in that person. So, you know, if I'm 80 on the d and everything else is below the line, I'm a high d. So I share those literal scores, and I color code them. That's one of the most enjoyable parts of the workshop because it's a it's an moment. It's like, oh, so so and so is not a jerk. They're high d.
Steve Gavatorta [00:43:44]:
You know? Or so and so is not digging their heels because they're a jerk, or they're high c. They're just not comfortable. So it's a great moment. It's a light moment. And, you know, then when I work that point is, well, let's start looking at the strengths of each style or the downside of each style, make sure we're manifesting the strength. And then, collectively, what's our strengths of a team? What do we need to work on? What's our opportunities areas we need to work on with these team dynamics? I I I mean, I do it with corporate America. For years, the quarterback coach of Iowa Hawkeyes was bringing me in to work with to survey his quarterbacks. And we would do a coaching thing, walk through the dynamics dynamics of his players and their disc style and stuff like that.
Steve Gavatorta [00:44:27]:
So, you know, that's been a fun part. It was funny. 1 of his top quarterbacks a few years ago was very high c, which kinda surprised me. You know, you'd think quarterback's gregarious leader. You know? And, I thought, you know, wonder if this is right. So I googled this kid's name, and there were articles about him because he was a starting quarterback. And it started out like Joe I can't remember his name, but he throws this bullet pass. Everybody's like turns around like, who threw that? It was Joe, the quiet guy who doesn't say much.
Steve Gavatorta [00:44:58]:
He's a leader on the field. But that's the c style. Right? Quiet doesn't isn't gregarious top. So I asked coach Ken. I said, was that was that about right? He goes, that's perfect. That's exactly how he is. You know? So now the coach knew how the hot buttons to push on his players and stuff like that. And, again, keeping them in that rational state.
Steve Gavatorta [00:45:18]:
We talked a lot about this that, you know, a quarterback throws an interception. If they if they fall into freeze fight or flight, you know, they're on a sidelines, they're angry with themselves. Next play, there's a fumble. They get the ball back. If I'm in that freeze fight or flight mode as a quarterback, I'm not ready. Nope. I'm not ready, so I can't allow allow myself as a player to be that way, and the coach can't allow his player to fall into that emotional state of freeze and fire or flight. So I connect the disc styles with freeze, fight, or flight.
Steve Gavatorta [00:45:50]:
So, typically, when a dominant style is in an emotional state, they are they were fighters. They'll push back. They'll punch back. Influencers are flighters. They'll act like it's not happening and see the world through rose colored glasses. Steadiness styles will shut down. They'll freeze. And compliance styles will freeze or fight.
Steve Gavatorta [00:46:10]:
So I tie the disc styles to understanding those emotional negatives and recognizing that, hey. You're shutting down. You can't allow yourself to do that. Or I'm shutting down. I can't allow myself to do that. So making sure our team functions in that rational state and understanding that dynamic based on the disc styles.
Glenn Harper [00:46:30]:
But it would appear that as entrepreneurs listening to this, that there is really no excuse not to try to develop yourself a little bit better to have a awareness of what style you are, what your team is, and how do you get the best out of them. And, again, most entrepreneurs are so busy, they don't think about this piece. So this has been a very enlightening, conversation, AC. So I appreciate it. And, again, this is a takeaway that why not add another tool to your toolbox and learn how to do something even better. Right?
Julie Smith [00:47:00]:
And, Steve, I have Go ahead.
Steve Gavatorta [00:47:02]:
Oh, hold on. I'll add some business structure to that too. It's not you know, corporate America, most companies have vision, mission, value statements, strong strategic objectives and tactics, the 4 p's. And all entrepreneurs in many times don't have that structure laid out. Or if they do, they have a vision statement that they write and they never follow through with. So I like connecting the dots between what are those and not being over much the structural company, but building a vision, mission, values, understanding your strategic objectives, and making sure all the departments within my company are not siloed. We're working towards these things together. So I think entrepreneurs do still need that little bit on that structural side and that personal side as well too.
Steve Gavatorta [00:47:49]:
That that that you get in corporate America that you may not get as an entrepreneur with and I wanna preface this without ruining the flexibility, the creative creative ability of an entrepreneur. You know? Not not being too much structure, but some structure and some processes that can help sustain you, you know, during difficult times. And as anchors, you can train your people so they're making wise decisions when you're not around. You know? Love it.
Julie Smith [00:48:17]:
Well, Steve, I have really enjoyed my time with you today. Thank you. But I have I have one last question that we ask everybody. And that question is, what is your end game?
Steve Gavatorta [00:48:31]:
Make people think in their rational brain around the world. Be be rational thinkers. You know? I I I I am conscientious of and it it really is that way. Calm under pressure. I think the quote by Victor Frank was, in between stimulus response is our freedom. You have your ability to choose between stimulus response. You know? Are you gonna choose something or in I wish I had in front of me. In between stimulus response lies your freedom.
Steve Gavatorta [00:49:04]:
You do have a choice. In that choice, whether it's you have time to think of something on how to handle something, or it's a millisecond in kickboxing. Managing that time between stimulus response is my passion. Making sure that time is irrational, I guess, is what I'm saying. Does that make sense?
Glenn Harper [00:49:23]:
It totally makes sense. But I think the quest the the part of this is that you're never gonna stop doing it.
Julie Smith [00:49:27]:
I mean, I think he answered it exactly of, like, that's that's what your your life mission is. You're never going to stop. There's no retirement in the future. You're just gonna keep keep doing what you're doing. So
Glenn Harper [00:49:39]:
You know too much now. Well, Steve has been an absolute pleasure.
Steve Gavatorta [00:49:43]:
I know what, I know what it's like to be in that limbic state and where it's gotten me in trouble. I call it the limbic state. Cortex is rational thinking. Limbic's emotional thinking. You know, I know the detriment of people functioning in the emotional state, whether it's business related, whether it's sports related, whether it's relationship related. When we're functioning in free fight or flight, bad things happen. And I wanna provide the structure to help people make sure they're thinking in that rational state of mind. And I'm a I wanna draw emotions like love and you know, those are good emotions.
Steve Gavatorta [00:50:16]:
I'm not saying that. But I'm talking about the emotion of freeze, fight, or flight where we're not able to think clearly, solve problems, say the right things. That's what I'm talking about.
Glenn Harper [00:50:25]:
So Yeah. Without being a stone cold killer all the time. Right? That's the key. Yeah. How do you how do you inter interrelate with everybody? Well, would you, wanna throw a little plug in here of what you do and how you do it, so our listeners could hear that?
Steve Gavatorta [00:50:38]:
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, if you wanna find me, Google me. There's a ton of stuff out there on me, my book, various if you want information on my books that's out there, go to my YouTube site. There's plenty of videos, instructional videos you could find. Do you wanna reach me? Again, Google me. My site, my contact information's there. There's a plethora of information that people can use for self, professional, and and personal development.
Steve Gavatorta [00:51:01]:
My second book in defense of diversity, I'm quite proud of it. It talks a lot about this brain functionality stuff I talked about today, EQ, the cortex limbic system. And my 3rd book will be out in about 6 weeks. It's a compliment to In Defense of Adversity. It's called thrive in the face of adversity. In the in the book In Defense of Adversity, I interviewed 60 highly successful people on adversity around 6 questions. These people put their heart and soul into this the those questions. I have a PDF file this thick.
Steve Gavatorta [00:51:33]:
The problem was I couldn't put all their information in this book, so I peppered everybody's at least one response to this book. That left, like, 100 of their responses unpublished. So this third book is essentially taking all that they put, and all of their information that they put for each of these 6 questions that I ask. And it's just a gold mine of nuggets from just everyday people, on how they face adversity, what do they learn from it, how they prepare for it, who they're role models, habits and hobbies. It's really a plethora of nuggets, and this will be out in about 3 weeks.
Glenn Harper [00:52:09]:
And it looks like that
Steve Gavatorta [00:52:10]:
6 weeks.
Glenn Harper [00:52:11]:
Looks like the Allegheny College writing skills are coming to test for you, so well done.
Steve Gavatorta [00:52:16]:
Believe me, I don't mind Fraternity Brothers. They're shocked I'm the one with 3 books.
Glenn Harper [00:52:21]:
That is funny. Well, really appreciate you on the show today, Steve. I'm Glenn Harper.
Julie Smith [00:52:25]:
And Julie Smith.