Welcome to the Live with Sondra podcast where
we dive deep into business, tech, and entrepreneurship.
Hosted by me, Sondra Shannon, CEO of GateMaster
Technology. Each show, we explore the latest
trends in ticketing attractions and guest experience,
helping you stay ahead of the curve in this ever
-evolving world of attractions and events. Whether
you're an industry expert or just getting started,
this show has insights to inspire and empower
you. Today's episode is sponsored by GateMaster
Technology, your trusted partner for ticketing
and attraction management solutions. Let's get
started with the show. This is Live with Sondra.
Thank you for joining me today. And I am super
excited about today's live show because we have
the collab queen, Deanna Jean. on this live to
talk about how to power up your success with
collaborative strategies so we're going to talk
about this so let's welcome Deanna Jean to the
stage today now we're going to talk about some
of this stuff I just realized I left this I I
Deanna how are you I'm good listen it's all good
I heard I heard the sirens I felt at home because
you know I'm in New York City I'm like Well,
for those of you that don't know, I'm in Southern
California right now with a couple of my kids.
So we are broadcasting live from the ocean. The
ocean is literally right there. And for whatever
reason, the sirens are going off. So, you know,
it's a live show. I think I say this all the
time. It's live. And this is us just going and
talking about these things that. are so important
to businesses, those owning and operating businesses.
And I am super excited about today's show because
I know that if there's anyone out there who has
not considered collaboration or that needs to
understand or foster better collaborations in
their business, that you are the person. that
they need to be connected with and also you know
collaboration is just a huge part of my heart
you know it's uh it's businesses or empires as
one of my mentors likes to say are not built
alone and so we need collaborative strategies
and we need to understand how to foster these
good relationships in our business and our work
in order to really be successful because you're
gonna bump against The scaling of what that looks
like. Absolutely. And you and I connected over
collaboration. We did. We did. Well, before we
get started, because I have a ton of questions
for you, you know, maybe share with the audience
a little bit about who you are and your story.
Because I know when I met you on that stage in
last December at Elevate Your Network, you know,
you just brought me to tears with your story.
But also, you know, I. really resonated so much
with your message on collaboration. And so if
you wouldn't mind just kind of telling everyone
a little bit about who you are. Yeah, I mean,
I'll keep it as brief as possible because I'm
excited to get into this conversation. So as
Sandra mentioned, my name is Deanna Jean. I'm
your collab queen. And experts and organizations
and businesses come to me when they are ready
to truly embrace the power of collaboration to
do hard things. So sometimes those are businesses
who are preparing for mergers and acquisitions.
Sometimes those are entrepreneurs. who are getting
ready to go to a new height in their business
or in their life. Sometimes it's just people
who are looking for a change and they want to
be able to embrace that change and they know
that they can go further faster through collaboration.
I am their guide to helping them do that and
to unlocking that superpower. And it's work that
I absolutely love to do. And I love that. And
I think you are you are you know, I know I'm
totally going off script here. I know we had
a number of things. I told you we'll figure it
out. It's going to be good. Well, one of the
things that I just you you made me think of is
I on LinkedIn today this week and last week,
I had a couple of posts that I made. And I'm
sorry, I'm just looking for one of them, because
what you said really reminded me of one of the.
the polls that I had talking about collaboration
in business. And one of the questions that I
asked, let me just find this real quick, because
I think it's interesting that you brought up
doing hard things as a reason why we would want
to collaborate. So the question that I asked
yesterday was, how do you use collaborations
to achieve success? And the things that could
be chosen from the poll were diversity of skills.
which makes sense. Sometimes we've got to find
people who have other skills. Tackling big issues,
their goals, and to motivate teams, and then
to spark innovation. What was interesting to
me is nobody chose tackle big issues. No. There's
a reason why that is. And I love that those were
the choices because I think that you can learn
a lot about people. by the way that they respond
to questions around collaboration. Because I
think so often when we talk about doing hard
things, a lot of times people don't want to associate
that with collaboration because they don't want
it to seem as if they cannot do it on their own,
that they are incapable of being able to tackle
hard things. Because a lot of times we're put
in positions in work and in life because we are
the strong one. We are the one that knows the
answers. Really and truly, if you really want
to tackle big issues, collaboration is the easiest
way to do it because of the reasons that you
mentioned. Being able to identify and find different
and diverse skills, innovative ideas, right?
That is the best way to be able to get to a positive
outcome in a difficult situation. Yeah. Oh, I
agree. And for me, it was really surprising,
but I think you totally nailed it. especially
women, I'm not trying to leave out any dudes
here, but you know, as women, I think oftentimes,
you know, we are the CEO in our homes. I talk
a lot about that, especially with this audience,
which is most mainly attractions are end user
of the products. Like what I create at gate master
is, is typically going to be a parent. That's
right. Right. And in most cases, it's the female
in the home that's planning these types of adventures
and experiences for the family. And, you know,
I can honestly say, you know, as a woman, sometimes,
especially one in business who is the CEO of
my home and, you know, I am planning these experiences
for my family. But also there's a lot of times
where, like, I feel like I got it. And sometimes
we don't, right? Because we just need the help
of other people. And that's been a hard lesson
for me in my business, really, honestly, was
figuring out how to delegate and to explore the
skills and competencies of other people that
could help me. Maybe even not being the smartest
person in the room, like letting other people
be smarter than me. That's a hard one for people.
It is difficult, but you know, that's really
what it means to be a specialist. So I use the
analogy a lot of times where I talk to people
all the time that say, you know, people come
to me for answers. If I ask for help, it makes
me seem weak. And I say, well, all right. Have
you ever been to a doctor before? Say yes. I
said, OK. Have you been to a specialist before?
Say yes. All right. There's a reason that orthodontists
get paid more than general practitioners. There's
a reason that anesthesiologists get paid more
than. general practitioners or generalists because
they are very very good at the thing that they
do and they don't try to go outside of their
lane and when we start to embrace the idea especially
in corporate environments especially in companies
that um we really should reward people for their
gifts instead of moving to make them be a jack
of all trades our businesses are going to go
so much further, so much faster. And the people
within our ecosystems are going to be much happier
in the work that they do. Yeah. Yeah, I agree.
I think it, you know, I don't remember who coined
the term, it takes a village to raise family.
But guess what? It takes a village to build a
business. Absolutely. Absolutely. You don't want
to be the bottleneck. You don't want to be the
bottleneck in the business. Yeah, I was I was
talking to a business owner actually today. And
and, you know, it's always fascinating to me.
They're like, I'm a one man wolf pack. I'm like,
no, it's not a compliment back here. Like we
have to we have to grow together, you know, and
and that is actually something that I often say
is my job as CEO of my company is that my role
is to ensure the success of everyone around me.
Every person, every person. Yeah. And that's
a hard thing for a lot of people to do, but it's
also necessary. It's so necessary in our businesses.
And that actually leads me to one question that
I have for you. What role does collaboration
play in achieving positive outcomes for businesses
and teams? And I know you hit a little bit on
that, but let me go a little deeper. Yeah. So
for me, collaboration, really and truly gives
you the opportunity to unlock the genius that
you actually saw in people when you hired them.
So when you see someone, if you think about it
as a hiring manager, and you go through the process
with someone and you see that spark in them,
a lot of times as leaders, we get confused or
we get frustrated, whereas time passes on, we
start to see that folks are losing their spark.
But a lot of times the reason that they're losing
their spark is because The thing that we really
loved about them, the thing that we were excited
to make that offer for, we pulled them further
and further away from those things as time goes
on. So what collaboration allows us to do is
to give each person the opportunity to shine
in that area of expertise. But most importantly,
at the end of the day on a team. We all want
to be able to contribute to the positive good
of the team and the thing that we do really well.
So it also gives everybody a place and clarity
around their specific zone so that there's no
ambiguity. There's clarity and people can feel
very good about moving forward with their mission.
Yeah. Yeah. I love that because, you know, I.
You know, working with a lot of business owners,
I've had a few of them tell me over the years,
like this person's not worth what I'm paying
them. Right. And I agree with what you said in
so much that there's a reason you hired this
person. They had a certain skill set. There's
something that you loved. So how do we invest
into that person so that that's what comes through
and they become. maybe even more valuable than
what you're paying them. That's the thing that
I've tried to foster in my environment is that
every person that is on this team will ultimately
become more and more valuable, not just to me,
but to the world, right? To the world. And the
way that they do that is by operating their genius
zone. But what happens typically, we have a corporate
ladder, right? And in the corporate ladder, the
idea is that if you're not moving up, you're
moving out. And that's not always the right way
to go. This conversation is so timely because
a really good friend of mine, Tia Silas, who
is the chief human resources officer for Shopify.
Shopify just actually launched an amazing initiative
called Mastery. And the idea behind Mastery is
that they are actually going to reward people
for. Really focusing in and mastering their genius
zone instead of forcing people to take different
paths to leadership management that might take
them outside. They were really hired to do their
genius zone. And I think that's so innovative
and a really great way to start to continue to
focus on people and the skills that people bring
to the table. Yeah. And I love that because,
you know, so often. You know, especially in environments
like startups where people wearing a lot of hats.
And I know that that can be frustrating for people
because they're learning about business, even
though they're they might just be an employee
of the business. But I don't that that is not
to to say. That's why I always say, you know,
businesses are not built by one person. Absolutely.
And if you are the only person in your business,
you don't really have a business. You got a job.
I was going to say you gave yourself a job. You
have to be able to scale. And this is where collaboration
is. But what I love about what you just said
about really focusing on people's genius and
their personal success. And that's something
that I really have loved about how we handle
our team members is we really do try to understand
who they are as individuals, what their personal,
professional, financial goals are, how that aligns
with their current role. And then also how it
aligns with the company as a whole so that they're
not just looking at how can I get to the next
place or get out. Right. Like you said, there's
two places up or out. You know, how can I use
my role, my position to be able to improve my
own life? What what what I'm curious about, though,
is, you know, with the idea that in in in business,
it's either up or out. How do you, what do you
think the effects of, because we all know like
bad managers, right? I hate to even call them,
that are not interested in helping people move
up. In fact, that's actually, I think what you're
talking about where people get frustrated because
their geniuses don't, their individual geniuses
are not being used in their roles. So they're
frustrated. They're not being treated as experts
in things that they're experts in. And then you've
got managers who, Want to be the smartest person
in the room. They maybe don't want to see people
pass them up. I know in in sports, a lot of times
there's this idea that, you know, eventually
your athlete will become better than you if you
actually are a great coach. Right. Yeah. And
but coaches embrace that. Good coaches embrace
that. They want the folks on their team to be
better than them at the specific practice, at
the execution of the sport. Right. Everybody
has a role because the person who's playing the
game and executing is not necessarily going to
be the best person to coach the team. Right.
Those are two different types of skill sets.
So what's important in life is that we don't
require people to be practitioners. Right. When
they are the thinkers. or uh you know the strategic
mind of the idea that's why in collaboration
we try to give each person a role you took the
collab quiz right like trying to make people
each identify where do i really live where do
i really thrive um and then letting them take
it from there and and letting things blossom
and grow yeah i think that's i i i think that
it's so important i love that you brought the
club quiz because understanding, you know, where
people are going to thrive is understanding who
they are. I am a huge advocate. I know that they're
not always based 100 % in science. I got into
an argument with somebody the other day about
like whether or not, you know, the disc assessment,
for example, is accurately science. But at the
end of the day, whether it is or isn't, it became
a fantastic tool for being able to have conversations
around how we have conversations as a team. And
to me, that is I mean, it's just a facilitator
for a better working environment. Right. Because,
you know, not only did I find in in our business
that when we understood how who was the drivers,
who are the influencers, who are the, you know,
analyzers and and then, you know, the stabilizers.
What is fascinating to me is that now we had
to ask ourselves, how do we communicate with
people that are different than us? That's exactly
right, right? How do we communicate with people
that are different than us? How do we all come
together with our different areas of genius,
our different areas of expertise, and sometimes
even competing priorities? How do we all come
together? to achieve the same goal that is the
joy of collaboration but it also really is the
part of it that requires a guide it's the part
of it that requires somebody that can look at
it and actually identify that you know what there
is a common goal that we all have here how can
we all rally around that thing um to achieve
that goal yeah and you know the interesting thing
about i i have to just tell this story i have
i have I have very few drivers on my team. I
actually do think they probably are a small percentage.
I think most people kind of fall into that stabilizer
category. I don't want to rock the boat. I don't
want to fight with anybody, which is great. They
actually, and from what I found are some of the
best salespeople though, which is interesting
to me. Absolutely. I think the calming nature
of somebody like that is very soothing to people
in the sales process. So if they use that skill
to their advantage. Understanding who you are
and how you communicate is also a great way to
persuade people or just get to know what they
need and if they're the right fit for you or
whatever that is in the business. But I have
very few drivers. I have one in particular who
happens to be my husband that is a high driver.
Yeah. He's the guy that's always driving everybody
nuts in the company because drivers push people
to keep moving forward even when the going gets
tough. This is why in collaborations, you need
all types of people. That's right. and so he's
the guy pushing everybody all the time and it's
interesting because every now and then i'll have
somebody come to me and be like oh he's bushy
and you know or you know whatever that looks
like yeah and and you know i'm like did did did
you read about how to communicate with him because
what's interesting is it goes both ways it's
not just about him figuring out how to communicate
with them It's oftentimes that they didn't take
the time to learn how to communicate with him.
And that's where the differences play a huge
role in understanding how people operate. And
I wish we had done the collab quiz today. Maybe
you can drop that for people. Yeah, I'll drop
the link so that people can see it. It's a really
great way to understand, yes, how to communicate
with people, but also what are people motivated
by? So I think a lot of times that's the part
that we miss in leadership and in management.
So prior to doing the work that I do right now,
I spent a decade and a half in sales leadership
and management. Let me tell you something. Managing
salespeople is not for the faint of heart, right?
You really have to be able to understand not
just what is going to uh get them to move but
you have to understand really why the why behind
they're doing what they do why why behind why
they're doing what they do and also understanding
what's motivating to them because that's going
to affect how you engage the types of rewards
that you put in place the types of projects that
you align them to a hundred percent And, you
know, I don't want to skip, but I do want to
make sure we get through some of these big questions
that I have, because I love that. And I think
that that's great. But I also think that brings
us to like enhancing client relationships. You
mentioned salespeople. We mentioned salespeople.
But, you know, in what ways does collaboration
with clients lead to better relationships and
outcomes? And I think that that is like a big
part of, let's say, a sales process. So I'm curious,
you know, what you think about. the collaboration
that we're doing, not only with our team, but
with our customers and clients or partners? Absolutely.
So I strongly believe that the way that you do
anything is the way that you do everything. So
if you see, when you find a company that has
a strong client base, that has very, very strong
buy -in from their clients, it's likely going
to be a company that also has very strong buy
-in internally. collaboration with clients is
critically important because at the end of the
day that usually is the stabilizer the outcome
for the clients is usually the thing that you
can rally everybody internally around and it
goes back to exactly what you mentioned understanding
how you can align with your clients so that they
become your biggest champions because at the
end of the day If your clients are talking about
the experience that they're having with you,
if you're collaborating with them in order to
achieve their goals, the switching costs are
going to be very, very high. for them to want
to go to somebody else, for them to want to go
to another amusement park, right? We look at
that and, you know, the big, big boys like the
Disney's, right? At the end of the day, it is
the client and the customer relationship. The
fact that they are creating this experience for
every single family that comes, regardless of
where they live, regardless of race or creed,
regardless of ability or inability, that consistent
experience from the clients is actually what
fuels and actually what drives and informs how
the teams function and even how they hire. Yeah,
of course. You know, I think so many of the parks
that I've worked with over the years. they're
having to give their teams the strategies on
how they're going to communicate and collaborate
with their customers or their guests, as we call
them in attractions. How are we collaborating
with them and what does that look like? Right.
And in most cases, which is why I love this industry,
it's that they are having these memorable experiences
that are being created. And that is. That is
a creation process that is so huge when we talk
about collaboration, because it's not only from
when you buy the ticket, which is how we're involved
in the businesses. So meeting with the ticket
booth, but in what's being created in the environment,
how your team serves the guests and all of those
things make or break those experiences oftentimes.
That's right. Disney, they have an amazing. You
know, I don't care if I'm in California at Disneyland
or if I'm at Epcot. That's right. The experience
I have with their team members is usually the
same. And it's such a great study on what collaboration
looks like for a team. Absolutely. And again,
playing into folks' strengths. When you walk
into Disney, you feel like everyone is doing
the role. Everyone is executing the thing that
they always dreamed of doing, whether it is that
they're at the concession stand, whether it is
that they are performing in one of the shows,
whatever it may be. That is the experience that
you want to have because, you know, getting to
work at these competitive amusement parks, those
are not easy roles. You go through a process
and it was continual. professional development.
There is continual strategy and evolution of
what that next step looks like for that person.
That is true collaboration at its core because
as we grow, we evolve. So you want to make sure
that you're solving for that too when you're
talking to a teammate. When I think about it,
when I started in sales, I was 24 years old,
right? I had a very clear idea of what I wanted
my sales career to look like. And then as time
passed on, I got married and had kids. And then
one of my kids is on the autism spectrum. So
we had different needs there. My husband was
a military service member. The things that motivated
me, my why changed and shifted. So I had to be
in constant collaboration with my team around
what made sense for me, what kind of role was
going to be the best that was really going to
help me to be able to create. those positive
outcomes. Well, I love that. And I think that
that's great because actually, you know, one
of the things that I want to know from you is,
you know, how can businesses leverage collaboration
and by identifying and achieving goals? Sorry,
I'm tongue -tied. Identifying and achieving the
right goals effectively, right? Because I think
what you mentioned is... that's evolved over
time and you're right in businesses in businesses
i mean i i've been in in this business for 23
years and i always like to say there's a lot
of different sandras inside of me because i have
also grown and evolved over time and one of the
best compliments is that i personally get is
you've changed yeah I've changed. Of course,
that's what I'm supposed to do. Right. I hope
so. Yeah, I hope so. Thank you for that. You
know, I don't know if it's always positive when
somebody says that to me, depending on where
in my life they're coming from. But in most cases
and I or I would say in all cases, I appreciate
that because I know that that is. something that
I want to do. I'm actively pursuing the change
that needs to happen inside of me. And I realize
that businesses don't always understand that.
And so, you know, how do they leverage collaboration
by achieving and identifying those goals? I want
to know your secret sauce to that. Yeah. So we
have a framework that we actually use that helps
folks. I think any time you can create a framework
around something, it really levels the playing
field because it gives people the opportunity
to, first of all, apply it as it pertains to
them. But then it also gives everybody a tool
so that we can all start at the same baseline.
So we have a tool that we use called our goals,
gifts and gaps framework. And many of the businesses
that we work with, the way that they leverage
this is to be able to understand and identify
how to bring teams together and to bring the
different strengths that they have. But most
importantly, how to really ignite the superpower
in each person. The way that it starts is that
you get clear on what the goal is that you want
to achieve. A lot of times on teams, the reason
that we're not achieving positive outcomes is
because let's be honest. Maybe our leaders haven't
done a great job of being crystal clear about
what our goals are. Setting the goal is the first
thing. The next thing is we do a gift assessment.
What are the gifts of your team? This can't happen
if you don't know what they are. If you're not
doing the things like what y 'all are doing at
Game Master, which is making sure that you understand
the personal. the professional goals, how they've
changed, right? But then the last part is critically
important, Sandra, because this is the part that
a lot of times we miss. We talk about goals a
lot of times. We talk about the gift, the reason
that we hire people, the thing that they're really,
really good at. But a lot of times what we end
up doing is we end up making people feel like
becoming punitive around people's gaps, becoming
punitive around the things that they either don't
do well or the things that they don't like to
do. Yeah. In our framework, your gaps for your
team actually become the superpower. Why? Because
that's where you get to pull in people who have
gifts in that area. And now situations that have
in the past might have felt tense or created
tension. You actually have each person now feeling
really good about the role that they're playing.
And now you have a more holistic team. So using
that goals, gifts and gaps framework gives you
the opportunity to get on the same page. to make
sure everybody is working to their most full
potential, and to make sure that the team that
is being created for the outcome comes with different
and diverse ideas and thoughts. Yeah, I love
that. And you're right. We're tapping into something
similar in so much that we try to understand
every person on our team. Yeah. you know and
as my team gets bigger that gets harder and harder
for me to keep track of it all but that's why
i have great collaborators that are you know
from the bottom up creating this environment
where they understand each person's who they
are their strengths what they do and how they
can make that person more valuable i think that's
one of the biggest things that we miss as leaders
in businesses is that you know to truly succeed
How can we create more value in each person that's
around us? In each person. Yeah, each person,
every person matters. And, you know, here at
my company, we often say, you know, it's a no
blame, no shame environment because sometimes
people are learning. Absolutely. We're always
acquiring the skills that are going to continue
to make them great and more valuable. In many
ways, at least with regards to the business side
that we're building, I think in terms of the
work that we do, we are hiring for specific things
at times because we know we need to be successful
in order to make sure that our attraction partners
are successful at what they do. There's not a
lot of room for error when you're dealing with
revenue centers. helping them to be better leaders,
I think is actually the hardest thing that I
found is how do we create more leaders in our
company who can find these, these skills and
competencies and other people that can help them
be better at collaborating. And I love that framework
because I think that's a big thing of what businesses,
a big thing that businesses need and need to
understand. Yeah. And I mean, it's everything
from, so we use that framework to help people
with hiring when they're trying to figure out,
all right, who are the hires that we need? What
is the profile of this person? You look at it,
you say, all right, well, what is the goal of
this hiring process? What do you really want
to achieve by bringing in this hire? Because
so often we'll look at it as a numbers game.
We had 12 people. Now we have eight. We got to
hire four, right? That's a lot of times where
we come at it from, but it's like, no, like,
first of all, was 12 the right number? Right.
And then next is, all right, if 12 is the right
number, you know, what are the skills? What is
the temperament? What are what are the experiences
that these four need to bring to the table? What
do you already have right now in your team that
can complement what's going to come in? And then
where are the gaps in that team? Instead of looking
at it and saying, all right, well, this person
needs to be on a PIP or whatever the case is,
figuring out for those new hires, how can we
infuse this so that now each person who plays
their role feels so empowered and so valuable
on the team that they are going to show up and
show out every single day in their genius zone.
I love it. You know, I just love the idea that
through collaboration, we can create a better
world and a better workplace for people. If we
think about these things that you mentioned here.
And I know I'm keeping you a little a little
long. OK, because I I would be it being that
this this show is sponsored by Gatemaster Technology
and. you know i would be remiss if i didn't ask
you you know what the collaborative future looks
like you know especially as technology and businesses
are evolving how do you see the role of collaboration
changing the future and what advice do you have
for leaders who want to embrace collaborative
culture and maybe even collaboration with technology
if you can throw in a little bit of that i'm
curious what you think about that yeah so you
know I think that so many people, a lot of times,
one of the core tenants that we talk about in
kind of our ecosystem is the idea of collaboration
over competition. And I think when it comes to
technology and AI, that we have so many folks
who are seeing AI as a competitor, the technology
as a competitor to their skills and, you know.
the things that could potentially replace them.
When I think about the future of collaboration,
I actually see technology playing a critical
role, even at the baseline level of being able
to do something like launching a collab quiz
that allows for you to be able to have results
spit out that help you to know what position
each person plays. I think that when we are better
informed about what we need on a team when we're
better informed about the strengths and the challenges
that each person possesses, that we can only
be stronger because now we know exactly what
it is that we're solving for. So I encourage
any leader that's watching this and leading any
type of team to embrace technology in a way and
to use it as a resource and a tool and a shortcut
to facilitate collaboration. in order to be able
to get people into a really good place to feel
good about the work that they're doing. So that's
how I feel about kind of the future of collaboration.
And again, with the technology, I think that
we live in such an amazing time where we can
get instant results, instant opportunities that
allow us to be able to differentiate skill sets,
to be able to differentiate jobs. We need to
lean more into that stuff because... We are serving
a more and more diverse world and technology
is helping us to be able to bridge some of those
gaps that might have existed in the past. Yeah.
Oh, yeah. I love that because I think for us,
you know, when we are collaborating with an attraction
and we're working with them oftentimes on workflows
and automation. And yes, you know, I actually
have had attractions tell me, well, I won't need
my team to do that anymore. And it's like you
said, they see that as competition. But the truth
is, is that when we take some of these things
off of the plate of our team, because we are
collaborating with technology, now they get to
do what you've expressed. And that is be strong
in their genius. I'm sure their genius is not
doing a refund. Right. Let's just be real. Like,
I'm sure there is no genius that nobody I mean,
maybe somebody is really good at the customer
service aspect and handling that particular refund.
I don't want to take away from from guest services
in any way. But I do think that sometimes the
very small tasks that we're doing, that we can
leverage technology to take that. chip off the
table for our teams, then allows them to do what
they do best. That's right. And, you know, and
we're collapsing time. You know, I think that's
one thing that I heard from you in this last
little bit here is that a collaboration can collapse
time. Collaborations collapse time. I say that
all the time. Collaboration should collapse time
and multiply impact. Every single time. Because
when you collaborate, it allows for you to be
able to go faster and still get a good result.
So it needs to collapse time and multiply impact.
If you're using a tool and it's not collapsing
time and multiplying impact, it might not be
the right tool, right? Yeah, I love that. And
I think that's a great way to leave people today.
after this fantastic conversation i love that
your genius is in collaboration is with regards
to collaboration yeah you're collab queen thank
you so much for being here with me today thank
you for having me and i mean this has been so
great i just love that we're able to do this
and we found so many synergies and and kind of
the work that we do but also our lives in the
number of children that we have the ages of our
children um i love that you mentioned like moms
you know being the ceo of all the things as indicated
by the fact that you have your kids out right
now and you're taking some time away with them
right so i just love the idea that you and leaders
like you are embracing collaboration more and
more every day and i'm excited um to see the
future of your industry knowing that leaders
like you are at the helm and trailblazing uh
the path thank you for that compliment you know
when you when you first start especially like
i i i often say i lead from the heart right and
for years i i felt like that was a difficult
thing for people to grasp because, you know,
vulnerability is not something that most people
are willing to accept in business, at least not
in the old days. Today, I think having conversations
like this, yes, we're having more and more conversations
like this where we're realizing that, you know,
vulnerability oftentimes just help with the collaboration
and the relationship building that can happen
in business. Business is about people. Absolutely.
And relationships. And relationships. And that
is something that crosses every industry and
every type of business. And I hope that the listeners
or the viewers that we have out there, if there's
one thing that you take from this, it's that
relationships are important to your business.
And what I love about this new friendship that
I have with you is that we were both collaborators.
collaborators yeah chip builders and so we just
quickly hit it off and it happened immediately
it was like oh we speak the same language like
this is the same thing so i appreciate it as
well and and i'm excited um yeah i'm excited
about about the future of collaboration i really
am I'm very excited about the future of collaboration,
too. And I think you're doing an amazing thing
in this world, helping people recognize that
collaboration is a way to power up their success.
And I just want to thank you again. One last
question, though. How do people get a hold of
you if they need help with collaboration? Oh,
wow. Well, thank you for asking. So folks can
follow me. Um, if you're watching this on LinkedIn,
you can follow me at Deanna Jean, D E A N A J
E A N as it's spelled right below. Um, you can
also find me on Facebook under the same name.
You can find me on Instagram at your collab queen.
Um, or you can shoot me an email. Deanna at DeannaJean
.com. And let me know that you saw me on Sondra's
show. And I'd love to chat with you about collabs
and provide any type of insight that I can. I
appreciate you sharing with us today. This has
been amazing, amazing conversation. And yes,
I am out here in California with my kids, but
I'm always happy to take a break to talk about
these things that are going to make. our business
world, a better place. And you are, you are one
of those people doing that. So thank you again.
Thank you. And before I sign off, I just want
to mention that if you are somebody like Deanna
that has expertise that will help. businesses
or attractions massively succeed, I want to invite
you to be a guest on this live so that you can
share your information and knowledge with the
world just as she did. I mean, I know this is
her collaboration is her genius, but you might
have a genius in another area that can help attractions
be better at what they do. And if that is you,
I would love to talk to you and we can have this
live conversation. I always tell people, I'm
like, it's live. So anything goes. Anything can
happen. You didn't have any kids running back
around. I was praying my kids didn't open the
door there. So, yeah, anything can happen. Anything
can happen. It's a live show. But you know what?
I think that's authentic. And what we want to,
you know, I'm trying to create a real experience
for people and also, you know, realize that business
is being done by real people like me and you.
real people who are figuring out these things
that are going to make business better and help
attract. In my case, my industry is attractions,
but help attractions massively succeed, which
is a part of our mission. So you do a great job
at it. And my kids love a good amusement park.
So just know that we appreciate the work that
y 'all do in this industry. Well, I so appreciate
that. And actually, though, what is your favorite
attraction or ride? So. I'm going to have to
go. It's a cop out, I know, but I'm going to
have to go with Space Mountain. And the reason
I'm going to have to go with Space because there
are five of us. So it's me and my husband and
our three kids. And that is a ride that everyone
can go on because we have some folks who are
a little more risk averse. But it is just a really,
really fun ride. You still get, you know, a few
thrills here and there. But I would say Space
Mountain for sure. Oh, hey. I'm not going to
say no to Space Mountain. Prior to Guardians
of the Galaxy, which I talk about all the time,
is one of my favorite rides. And I did get to
take the whole family last year, which was all
my goals. I actually wrote down in my goal. I
was going to take everybody to ride Guardians
of the Galaxy because it's my favorite ride.
But prior to Guardians of the Galaxy, Space Mountain
was a favorite of mine for sure. But what that
tells me, though, is you might need to get them
on Guardians of the Galaxy. Well, listen, you
let us know. I mean, we're ready. We're ready.
They'll be excited. Well, thank you again. I
appreciate your time and your genius and your
friendship. And I appreciate you being on the
show and being so generous with your time. Thank
you for the invite. Of course. Thanks, everybody,
for joining us. Take care. Bye -bye.