This week’s guest on our podcast is Tamara Prato!
We are excited for you to get to know her. Tamara Prato – Business Growth Advisor | CEPA® | EOS® Implementer. Tamara prides herself on giving the leaders she works with the relief and freedom to grow in the right direction. She is a celebrated Growth Advisor, EOS® Implementer and a Certified Exit Planner (CEPA®) who loves helping entrepreneurial business leaders “connects the dots” and drive value.
Her unique insight and diverse set of business acumen help her understand the challenges and obstacles business leader’s encounter day to day. Tamara has a 25-year track record of driving growth. Her diverse background driving revenue upwards to 13 million, leading the charge on 14 national magazine publications, and serving as the executive director and chief of staff of a multi-million dollar nonprofit, have given her the perspective, drive and solutions to solve any of today’s business challenges.
Tamara drives outcomes, builds relationships, creates community and makes an impact not only on the bottom line, but also on the culture of an organization. She helps business owners see their business in a whole new light and execute on a simple set of tools and principles to identify root causes before they become problems, place the right people in the right seats, and align every employee toward the same goals. She instills accountability and discipline, provides tools to measure progress against meaningful metrics, and builds trust through thoughtful and direct feedback.
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Transcript
John Simon Sr. 00:00
John, welcome to Simon Says, inspire a podcast about life, leadership and building legacies. I'm John Simon, SR
Dina Simon 00:14
and I'm Dina Simon,
John Simon Sr. 00:16
and our guest today is Tamara Prado. Tamara is a business growth advisor, Tamara, welcome to the podcast.
Tamara Prato 00:24
So lovely to be here. Thanks for having me,
John Simon Sr. 00:26
Tamara. Why don't you take a few minutes and tell us a little bit about yourself, where you live, and a little bit about what you're doing these days? Sure.
Tamara Prato 00:34
So let's see. I have lived in the Northeast Metro for the last 23 years with my family. So husband, Bill of 20, almost 26 years, and we have two adult children, and are back to full nesting for a little bit, and have two rescue pups. And so we enjoy being outside, getting out and about doing, going to lava, live music. That's one of the things that my husband, I love to do together.
John Simon Sr. 01:01
I know Rich and Dina went to one the other night. Those were certainly brewing. And I think, if I'm not mistaken, it was like the middle of the week, and they sent me a picture, and I couldn't believe the crowd didn't say yeah.
Dina Simon 01:13
It was a Monday night, and it was, it was just packed. It was so fun. Yeah, yeah. And I love the what did you call it the full Nester again. Yes,
Tamara Prato 01:22
I'm not empty nesting at the moment. I'm full nesting and re acclimating to what that what all that joy that brings. So
John Simon Sr. 01:29
basically, the house has shrunk. Yes,
Tamara Prato 01:33
the house is shrunk. We were
John Simon Sr. 01:35
up in Minnesota recently for the State Fair, and it's amazing when Mandy left on the Monday was saying how much different the house is when it's just her and rich, and that one person just makes a huge difference in the house. It
Dina Simon 01:49
does, especially when they're when they're that age and they have a lot of stuff,
Tamara Prato 01:54
lots of stuff, different schedules, different eating habits. Yes. So
Dina Simon 02:00
since we're talking about your family, let's talk about so you and Bill, and you talked about you love to go out and have music, hear music and stuff, but talk about your fantastic children and why they've returned home. Oh,
Tamara Prato 02:10
well, one hasn't left. So there's that we like to refer to him very lovingly, of course, as our unpaid renter. Yes, and Heather's our son Will you just turned 24 he's in the tech space. So does it work cyber security type work or a small business? And so he has been with us as he's building his nest egg, yeah, so that he can make some good choices and decisions in terms of where he's going to choose to live next and vehicles and all of those fun things, yes, and he is just, he is a piece of work, and is always keeps me on my toes. He's He's great. And then our daughter, Lizzie, just moved back. She recently graduated from the University of Minnesota with a nursing degree, and so she is now working full time as a nurse at the U and so her schedule is, let's just say, quite varied. And so she may be coming home at midnight. She may be leaving at midnight. Hard to say that's where our Acclimation and operation dog barking and all of those things all come into play.
John Simon Sr. 03:18
Someone once told me that your kids are not gone until all of their stuff is gone. Yeah, well, they're clearly
Tamara Prato 03:25
not gone.
Dina Simon 03:28
A friend of ours in town who we have to have on the show sometime, but Mary Kay, who runs a company called bus stop mamas, she posted the other day. So when she talks about mama, she talks about, you know, are you early stage mama, like having car seat in the car, or possibly middle school or high school, or beyond, so, you know, just barely beyond. And I messaged, I put a message out there saying, you know that there is that whole thing about mamas having college kids, college kids that then come back, yeah, so why don't you tell us what you're up to as a business growth strategist, talk to us about the clients that you work with and what you
Tamara Prato 04:08
do absolutely so my focus is how being small to mid sized business owners get clarity in a couple of different ways. So number one, through kind of operating system type work, getting really clear on their vision, what are their priorities? What does that look like? Do they have the right team around them? Does everyone know who's accountable for what? So that's some of the work. And then I do work with owners directly. So that's with more the teams. And then I work with the business owners directly in terms of helping them define and execute on an exit strategy. And to me, that is, it's a growth strategy, right? So how do we make your business as valuable as we can within the allotted time? To make it valuable to an outsider doesn't matter what you think it's worth. It matters what somebody outside thinks it's worth. Right, yeah.
Dina Simon 05:00
And you're certified. What the CEPA? What does the acronym mean? Yeah, so
Tamara Prato 05:05
that the SEPA is a certified Exit Planning advisor. And so that is a designation and a training through the Exit Planning Institute.
Dina Simon 05:15
Nice, yeah. And what I love about that is I was telling Tamara when I was working with franchisees that were coming together as business partners. We always said, that's great. You want to come into business together, but you have to talk right now about what's your exit plan as well, because otherwise it gets muddy and murky along the way. So I love that that's something that you're bringing to business owners.
John Simon Sr. 05:37
Are you predominantly dealing with entrepreneurs? Yeah.
Tamara Prato 05:40
I mean, these are all obviously, you know, smaller, privately held type organizations. Many of them founded those organizations or have taken it over within their family. And so just trying to get crystal clear and make sure that if and when it's time to exit and or transition, whatever that looks like, that. It's on your terms, right? As the business owner, yeah,
John Simon Sr. 06:03
one of the things that has always inspired me are entrepreneurs, because they risk everything, and there's a world of difference between signing the front of a check and the back of a check. And all through my life, all through my life, I signed the back of a check, and when your name is on the front of the check, it gives you a whole different perspective.
Tamara Prato 06:25
Yeah, there's so, I mean, there's just so many different things coming at them all of the time, right from all of the little details within the business. And then again, taking the time and the effort to step aside and look above and are we going in the right direction? We all know where we're going. Am I prepared? You know, should something change right within the business structure? So it just, it's so important that entrepreneurs have good counsel outside of folks that are there really for their greatest interest and to help them prioritize some of these things.
Dina Simon 06:58
Yeah, and share with us a little bit about your career leading up to what you're doing right now. Oh, goodness. Well,
Tamara Prato 07:05
started mostly on the sales and marketing side of the world, and mostly, I'd say, Gosh, I bet 90% of my time with has been in media, mostly print media, so I've worked for both daily newspapers in a sales capacity. Have also worked at the Business Journal, did some time at Twin Cities Public Television, which I absolutely loved. Lots of fantastic people there. Loved the mission of that organization, and then came in and had a chance at a small local publishing company here in the Twin Cities to really test my own entrepreneurial spirit, had a lot of leeway to try new things, create new products. And so that was great. And with that, I Gosh, Minnesota Business Magazine, Minnesota bride, Wisconsin, Arizona bride. I mean, list goes on, and then 10 community magazines as well by the time that I left. And so it was a fantastic opportunity to really be a part of the local community, both business community, as well as telling the great stories about all the organizations that sometimes didn't get that publicity. John,
Dina Simon 08:14
that's how Tamara and I originally met, is Darren said that Tamara and I needed to know each other, so we met, and through the Minnesota Business mag, we connected. They supported Simon says, Give with some stuff. I emceed the 100 places to work the power 50 that we talked with Kathy paper on that she was a power 50. Was Darren a power 50 as well. I was a power 50 as well. So there's some synergy there. Thank you. Tamara Prado,
Tamara Prato 08:41
you're welcome. I'm the one non power 50. So yes, you're you're also welcome.
Dina Simon 08:46
Thank you. Well, you create, you created that opportunity for us and many others. So we appreciate that, but all that amazing experience that you now also bring to the table, and you were at the James J Hill, and, I mean, you have this amazing business background to now take with you to those that you are working with out in the business community. Yeah, it's
Tamara Prato 09:07
been a great right experience of seeing from all different levels, right? Being in some bigger organizations, realizing that's not my my happy place. Learned a lot, but I'm much better and more adept at being in small to mid sized business, and when I think about the opportunities, right, launching new products, deciding where are we going to do that, overseeing editorial and art direction, this is something I hadn't done before, right? So stretching and and learning new things and just really getting immersed in the local community was was such a great opportunity for me to see all these different things right, from the financial piece, from real estate, from just the HR and so I feel like that experience, and then running the Hill Library, Hill center in downtown St Paul right, gave me that overarching experience. Right, a. Having to make those tough decisions. Right as a business leader, sometimes you have to make and that you don't want to, but like sometimes you you got to think about what truly is the greater good, and put your ego aside and make some of those choices. Well said,
John Simon Sr. 10:16
you know it has to be rewarding for you, Tamara, to to see the progress that companies or individuals make after you have spent some time with them, and you see that the what you've worked with them on, you know, they it came to the top, and they said, wow, this really helped us become a better organization, a better people. And that really has to be rewarded for you.
Tamara Prato 10:41
It is. It's great to see leaders grow and leadership teams grow, and their ability to truly trust each other and have that open, honest dialog. Get in a room together, maybe they're not agreeing, but when they leave the room, they're all on the same page, and no one's gonna, you know, complain about, I can't believe what sales just did to us at blah blah, right? It's Nope, we're we're united front as a leadership team, and we're going to go out and then have that cascade to an organization. It's always really gratifying to see that happen. And when I think about the teams that I've led, seeing and continuing to help those folks grow and get to places that I know that they can get to right so helping support them in terms of where they go next, and keeping them connected and top of mind as
John Simon Sr. 11:28
I was reading your Bible a little bit it daily, reminded me a little bit about the discussion we had with Greg Jackson a couple weeks ago, one of my friends who's an entrepreneur, And one of the phrases or sayings he has, if you can measure something, you can improve something. And he says, You never stop measuring anything, because the more you measure it, the more you're going to improve it. And you said that in years, you know, make your progress. Abramowski against meaningful metrics, and, you know, and that really is important whenever people do
Tamara Prato 12:01
that, yeah, just honing in on that handful, right? Not having 2830, things that you're trying to track can always be measuring. But what are the key items that truly tell you if your business is on track, whether that's personally, right, whether that's personal or business, right? What are the things that help you know, gosh, I'm on track and keeping an eye on those things. And so, right? So you have your goals. We're striving for those. These are what our priorities are. You can measure how infu mated there, right? And so those are the kinds of things that we want to, want to talk about. But yeah, the the measuring in the metrics is so important.
John Simon Sr. 12:39
And then, you know, through the measurement comes great improvement, correct?
Tamara Prato 12:44
Yeah, it's funny when companies that a specific organization I've been working with for over two years now, seeing where they started and where they're at today, when they give themselves scores about how they're performing on team and communication that, you know, they've been on a scale of, you know, zero to 100 they've gone from low 60s to mid 80s in just two years. Nice. And that's not one person's view, right? That is the whole leadership team's a great score, because I think that also is important is that it is the voice of the team, not just maybe the owner. So, yeah, it's really gratifying to see and exciting to see.
John Simon Sr. 13:22
And once people have a buy in on it, it becomes a competitive thing within the company or the organization, because they'll sit there and say, well, this department has done this, we need to step it up a little bit in order to have the same type of results.
Tamara Prato 13:36
Sure, absolutely.
Dina Simon 13:38
Yeah. So we've talked a little bit about your life, and we've talked a little bit about leadership, anything else on leadership, as far as you know, what good leadership means to you and what you've either seen or witnessed or believe?
Tamara Prato 13:51
Yeah, for me, you know, when I think back to the again, the teams that I've worked with, it's really been a lot of open, honest communication, right? Just tell me where you want to go, and we can make a plan to get you there, but please, just don't leave me hanging, right? Like, I'll help you get to that next step, like I'll do whatever I can if that's where you want to go. But let's be open and talk about that. And so for those folks that have been able to do that, I mean, it's been huge for them and their trajectory to be able to do that. And you know, there's always the whole idea, too, of getting the band back together. And have several folks that have done some amazing work with over the years that there's always like, whoa, what could we maybe do to bring this magic back together? So I think for me, it's right, helping your team get to where they want to go. Give clear direction, right? Let them know what their expectations are, but give them the autonomy to be able to you brought them in here to do the job. Let them do the work, their work, and help lift them up and support them however you can.
John Simon Sr. 14:53
And yet, you have to give people the freedom to do that also, right?
Tamara Prato 14:58
Know that they have. Autonomy, right to make these decisions or do this kind of work, and that actually give it to them? Yeah, yeah.
Dina Simon 15:06
One of the thing Tamara does, because we've done it, we've talked through it together, but since we have young professionals out in the world, you know, working with our kids and other their friends and all of that generation. But just what would you think of you know now that you're at where you're at today, what some of that advice that you give to somebody who's in their early 20s just starting out,
Tamara Prato 15:29
oh goodness, social media is forever? Yeah, number one, it does exist for a very long time. So just being mindful of what that is about, I think, understanding what a true relationship is from a business perspective is that I was just had a call with someone earlier, just the difference whether it's the Go Giver movement that you think of or Adam Grant's give and take, right? Like a true relationship means that we are building and we're helping each other, not accepting anything in return, right? But that we're doing it for good reasons. And I think people actually picking up the telephone to talk to someone I think is really helpful, because too much can be read into the tweets and the text messages and all of the other things. And so I just think being a good communicator, and don't burn bridges, this is a small town. It is a small
John Simon Sr. 16:24
town with social media to get smaller every day. It does, and
Tamara Prato 16:28
if and when you choose to exit or move on from things, making sure to do it in an appropriate way.
Dina Simon 16:34
Yeah, because it's not even just a small town. It's a small world, like it's not just, you know, we're you and I hear here in the cities, but in John's down in Dallas, but it's a it's a small world, how people are interconnected, correct?
John Simon Sr. 16:46
One of the things that I found out, and I've been retired for every 20 years now, but I still have clients that I had 20 years ago, that I'm still friends with today. In fact, we're going to have one of them on the podcast in a couple of weeks, and we met in 1986 and we both retired now, but we still keep in touch with each other. So you know, through the business, you can make some lifelong friends. Also,
Tamara Prato 17:10
absolutely we, I think we were figuring out Dina and I am probably it's been about 10 years that we've known each other, and we've been in multiple places, doing all kinds of different things, right? But we, we continue to come together and support each other in the different types of endeavors that we're we're pursuing. Yes,
Dina Simon 17:28
exactly. And John, you were kind of smiling at the social media and the Twitter and all that kind of stuff. So again, you've you've got grandkids that age that we're talking about. What are some of your thoughts on the whole social media craziness. Of you didn't have that. No, we
John Simon Sr. 17:45
didn't have any of that. And in fact, the internet was just getting started, and I guess it's going to catch on, and people are going to keep using it for a while. You know, the one thing that I found that people will put things on an email or a text that they would never say to a person in person, and I don't like that part about it, but when it comes to me with the grandkids, I always tell them, you know, I'll text you a little bit, but really, I want to talk to you because I want to hear your voice, because I can read a lot into how they're doing just By the communications that we have, the verbal communications or or even zooming or Skyping or being able to see their face. And I kind of like that. But you know, when you take a look at what we have today, with everything people working at home now, as opposed to going into the office, and instead of traveling, you're doing zoom meetings, it's just a new paradigm. Yeah, you better get used to it. If you don't like it, yeah, you're gonna get passed by Yeah,
Dina Simon 18:45
yeah, yeah, yeah. Tamara, I was with somebody at lunch today who has a 15 year old, and we talked about the social media and just the advice that we you and I both have given our our daughters and young friends that we work with and coach with to say, whatever you put out there, it's out there. Just remember that. And hiring managers at HR and recruiters, they still immediately go to John, you know, looked you up Tamara on Google to do some research. People, people go out there and check sites out, and it's just, it's out there. It is.
Tamara Prato 19:17
I remember when I was hiring someone at Twin Cities Public Television just happened. I'm like, you know, but I'm just gonna check Facebook and they had something posted that was highly inappropriate. And I'm like that, I can't have one of Twin Cities Public Television's, you know, supporters going to, you know, looking this person up and seeing that like that, that show did not match with the brand, right? Didn't matter what kind of experience they had, just a total disconnect with the brand and what I would want anyone Yeah, seeing Yeah, sure,
Dina Simon 19:55
yeah, yeah. So in building legacies. So remember. Legacy is not something you just leave behind, something that you're living out now, what are some of your thoughts around the legacy that you're building? Oh,
Tamara Prato 20:07
goodness. Well, I think part of it is, like you've talked about a little bit helping younger individuals, coaching up and comers, I think is really important, and to helping them get where they want to get, to help them find some tools, resources, whatever that that looks like. So I think that is part of it, you know, for Bill and I, in terms of things that we give and, you know, support. We're big public media supporters, so both radio and television. So that is something that we continue to invest in and donate to. And you know, we are rescue pup fanatics, and so I can't have more than two at a time, I've been told. So we have our we have our limit as of where we're at, but I could see us getting another rescue pup at some point. But then, from a business perspective, I think it's training good people to be good human beings, like I've always said for my kids, like, I just want to try to make you a good human that can take care of yourself, right, financially at some point in the future, that like helping people understand that I do believe in karma, and it will come back. Amen.
Dina Simon 21:13
I believe it. I believe in karma as well. Yes, yes, one
John Simon Sr. 21:18
of the things that's pretty much a shame anymore. I know when I went to school, but they taught you a lot of basic type stuff. And today they don't teach some of the things that we learned whenever I was younger. And a lot of it was, you know, be nice to people and treat someone the way you want to be treated. And today, it just seems to be a lot more pressure on the young, the younger kids in school, they should come across different than they come across, I guess, is a better way to and, yeah, to come across in a in a good, sweet, you know, loving way. And sometimes that doesn't happen today. No,
Tamara Prato 21:55
no. And I think social media has has certainly had an impact on that when I think about middle school and high school, girls are terrible, yep, and be terrible, you know, in terms of again, and some of it isn't always even true, right? And so I just think it's trying to help instill the idea of do the right thing, right? Just do the right thing.
John Simon Sr. 22:19
I was I was kind of shocked this morning, I was working out and I was watching the Today Show, and they were talking about how much time the children and when I talk about children, are talking about under 18 years old and high school, middle school, how much time they spend on their phones every day. And even the the hours between 10 o'clock and four and five in the morning, how they have their phones on, and all of a sudden they hear a ding and they feel compelled to answer it. And a lot of its companies, you know, they all the hits that they want to get on it and and it's really something that I think that parents have to hopefully control a little bit. Yeah, yeah, it
Tamara Prato 23:02
is a tough, tough scenario. Yeah, it's, I
Dina Simon 23:04
mean, I remember back in the day when I had a pager, right? And so it's on your body and it rings, but now we have them on our watches, and we certainly can turn it off, but there's, there's just we can always be on. And so that ability to rest and refresh is far and few between. So Tamara, from a business perspective, what's your sweet spot, as far as clients? Is there a sweet spot of clients that you would look to work with? Yeah,
Tamara Prato 23:32
the most important thing for me is growth oriented, right? That they truly want to grow their business, that they want to take it to the next level. Size wise, I don't know, 1 million to probably up to 15 million is probably my personal sweet spot. That's where I prefer to stay, sure, because that's when things are just, you know, they're they're growing. We're putting in processes. We're thinking about right what is the true, right structure to get us where, what your ultimate goal is. And so I would say that right now I'm industry agnostic. I mean, I work with as nonprofits. I have people in recycling, I've worked with publishers, I've worked with, you know, agricultural businesses. So, yeah, it's law firms, other professional services. So for me, it's more the mindset of the leader, the leadership team, that they truly want to build something great, yeah, yeah. And
John Simon Sr. 24:26
at that point, that's where they're going through a lot of growth spurts, also within the within the companies, right, right? And
Tamara Prato 24:33
so it's, it is. It's that idea of, yeah, they have to the owner or the business leader has to be willing to hear their team, and has to be open till it's my way or the highway. Type of a leadership style doesn't work terribly well.
Dina Simon 24:48
Nope, it doesn't.
Tamara Prato 24:50
We don't last very long together, right?
Dina Simon 24:52
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And and also, so what you said like a company has to have all those things be open to have. Having somebody outside helping to facilitate. There's so much value in that. So them understanding that. And I had somebody ask me just, just today, even on, you know, who's my ideal coaching client, and I said, one that is open to coaching like they want to grow and open to that partnership. Because so often they just, they say they want it, but they don't really want it at the end of the day. And it's like, if you're not going to put the work in, then you're not an ideal client for me or for any or for you or for anybody else,
Tamara Prato 25:28
correct? Yeah, it's it's got to work, work for both sides, right? And I think if you can truly hear and listen and you know, reflect doesn't mean we have to agree on everything, right, right, but can we reflect on it and then All right, what's our path forward? What are we going to do? But that mutual respect, right is for me, is also really important, like I'm here, I'm truly here on your behalf, trying to help you get where you said you want to go. So I'm truly trying to help you and ask questions that maybe will challenge you to think about something, maybe a little differently, but I'm not going to tell you what to do.
John Simon Sr. 26:07
You hit the nail on the head right there, not only listening to what you say, but hearing yet also, and then doing something and then doing something about it. I
Tamara Prato 26:17
am not a consultant. I am an advisor. I am a coach. I am your sounding board. I am all of those kinds of things. But at the end of the day, if your goal is to do X, then my, I will help you get there by offering ideas and suggestions. But I'm not going to come in and and, you know, be like, Oh, fire them. Do this, right? That's that's not what I'm there to do. I'm really there to help these people grow as leaders, as business owners, and help them get what they really want their business. Nice. But it's work years
John Simon Sr. 26:54
ago when people would bring a consultant in, all of a sudden, everybody gets defensive, because now here's somebody coming into my business telling me how to do my business, and they know nothing about my business,
Tamara Prato 27:07
right? And I can't tell you how many times that happened at organizations I've been at in the past. And my whole point to some of the leaders was, why are we bringing another person in to tell us all of the things that are wrong? Because guess what, we're not going to change any of them. So why are we going through this process if we're not going to actually either implement or learn from it, right? And so I think there's, there is that fine line between looking for help and being told what to do versus okay, how do we fix this? How do we work on this together?
Dina Simon 27:40
Right? In wrapping up, Tamara, is there anything else that you wanted to cover on the podcast? Well,
Tamara Prato 27:46
goodness, I would love to cover that I am just thankful and very blessed to have you in my life. Miss Tina Simon and Mr. John Simon, such a pleasure to meet you that it just has been a total joy over the last 10 years of friendship and business partnership and shenanigans and all of the great things. You know, you're a great you're just a great inspiration all the things that you do. Wow.
Dina Simon 28:16
Well, thank you very much, and I love partnering with you, and we've got some we've partnered in business in the past and some hopeful future, things that we're going to partner with on. So love that friendship and business relationship and how it can ebb and flow based on what's happening in our in our businesses. And love you to death, and thank you, and just the impact. I mean, you've done so much, not just for this Minnesota community, because you have clients outside of here, but with the work that you've done here, within the media, within the James J Hill, I mean, you've just given so much back to the business community, and huge accolades to you because of all of that. So just appreciate that I was along the ride for some of that, and just know the impact that you've made in the community. Thank you. I
Tamara Prato 29:02
appreciate hearing that.
John Simon Sr. 29:04
And you know what? I signed that after the podcast we've done the Minnesota Nice has come out to everyone that we've talked to,
Dina Simon 29:12
yes, so typically, when we say Minnesota nice, it's that negative connotation that we talk about it, because there is this passive aggressiveness, and so that's why John also, I think we've kind of joked about it on the podcast, but what you have seen is, because you've gotten to meet some of my amazing network here in Minnesota, is we do then selectively find who is that circle that we can hang with. We can trust trusted advisors. If I'm about to go do something, and Tamara's like, I don't think you should go do that. We have that trust in each other, that we can be brutally honest to say, Hey, did you also think about this, and we need those people in our lives so love that we have that Yes.
John Simon Sr. 29:53
Well, yeah, and you're all willing to share your ideas with each other. You know, there's nothing that you're going to hold back. Yeah, you're going to tell them you. Exactly what you're saying, and that's what that's what's important about the relationship you have with that people, yes, yes,
Tamara Prato 30:06
because we do crossover, right? Some of the work we do within certain areas. But for me, it's who's going to be the best person to help that leader or that team and where they need to get to. Not everybody wants to spend eight hours a day with me, right? I mean, I am a peach, but there are others that maybe I'm not the best person for them for a variety of reasons, and so, you know, for me, it's, how do we get them to the right person? So we're not competing, right, even though we might be doing some of the same work, but Dina may be much more suited for that client or for that need,
Dina Simon 30:44
or vice versa? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, awesome. Well, we thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for taking time to be on our podcast. Thank
Tamara Prato 30:52
you.
Dina Simon 30:53
I'm so glad that John got to know you better, and that our podcast listeners get to know more about you, and we'll share all the contact information, all that kind of stuff, so people know how to do business with you. Oh,
Tamara Prato 31:04
thank you so much. I appreciate it. And John, I hope next time you're in town, see you in person.
Dina Simon 31:08
I want to thank my friend Tamara Prado once again for joining in on the podcast. She is an amazing human. She's an amazing friend, mom, wife, business leader. I know many people that I've worked with and for her in the past that rave about what an amazing leader she was to them when they had the opportunity to work with her. And now she's out advising businesses in a lot of different things that are all surrounding around being good leaders, good business owners, and how to reach the goals that you want to reach. And we'll make sure in the show notes, you know how to get in touch with her. And as always, I thank my father in law, John Simon, for being my co host. And until we talk again, you.
John, welcome to Simon Says, inspire a podcast about life, leadership and building legacies. I'm John Simon, SR
Dina Simon 00:14
and I'm Dina Simon,
John Simon Sr. 00:16
and our guest today is Tamara Prado. Tamara is a business growth advisor, Tamara, welcome to the podcast.
Tamara Prato 00:24
So lovely to be here. Thanks for having me,
John Simon Sr. 00:26
Tamara. Why don't you take a few minutes and tell us a little bit about yourself, where you live, and a little bit about what you're doing these days? Sure.
Tamara Prato 00:34
So let's see. I have lived in the Northeast Metro for the last 23 years with my family. So husband, Bill of 20, almost 26 years, and we have two adult children, and are back to full nesting for a little bit, and have two rescue pups. And so we enjoy being outside, getting out and about doing, going to lava, live music. That's one of the things that my husband, I love to do together.
John Simon Sr. 01:01
I know Rich and Dina went to one the other night. Those were certainly brewing. And I think, if I'm not mistaken, it was like the middle of the week, and they sent me a picture, and I couldn't believe the crowd didn't say yeah.
Dina Simon 01:13
It was a Monday night, and it was, it was just packed. It was so fun. Yeah, yeah. And I love the what did you call it the full Nester again. Yes,
Tamara Prato 01:22
I'm not empty nesting at the moment. I'm full nesting and re acclimating to what that what all that joy that brings. So
John Simon Sr. 01:29
basically, the house has shrunk. Yes,
Tamara Prato 01:33
the house is shrunk. We were
John Simon Sr. 01:35
up in Minnesota recently for the State Fair, and it's amazing when Mandy left on the Monday was saying how much different the house is when it's just her and rich, and that one person just makes a huge difference in the house. It
Dina Simon 01:49
does, especially when they're when they're that age and they have a lot of stuff,
Tamara Prato 01:54
lots of stuff, different schedules, different eating habits. Yes. So
Dina Simon 02:00
since we're talking about your family, let's talk about so you and Bill, and you talked about you love to go out and have music, hear music and stuff, but talk about your fantastic children and why they've returned home. Oh,
Tamara Prato 02:10
well, one hasn't left. So there's that we like to refer to him very lovingly, of course, as our unpaid renter. Yes, and Heather's our son Will you just turned 24 he's in the tech space. So does it work cyber security type work or a small business? And so he has been with us as he's building his nest egg, yeah, so that he can make some good choices and decisions in terms of where he's going to choose to live next and vehicles and all of those fun things, yes, and he is just, he is a piece of work, and is always keeps me on my toes. He's He's great. And then our daughter, Lizzie, just moved back. She recently graduated from the University of Minnesota with a nursing degree, and so she is now working full time as a nurse at the U and so her schedule is, let's just say, quite varied. And so she may be coming home at midnight. She may be leaving at midnight. Hard to say that's where our Acclimation and operation dog barking and all of those things all come into play.
John Simon Sr. 03:18
Someone once told me that your kids are not gone until all of their stuff is gone. Yeah, well, they're clearly
Tamara Prato 03:25
not gone.
Dina Simon 03:28
A friend of ours in town who we have to have on the show sometime, but Mary Kay, who runs a company called bus stop mamas, she posted the other day. So when she talks about mama, she talks about, you know, are you early stage mama, like having car seat in the car, or possibly middle school or high school, or beyond, so, you know, just barely beyond. And I messaged, I put a message out there saying, you know that there is that whole thing about mamas having college kids, college kids that then come back, yeah, so why don't you tell us what you're up to as a business growth strategist, talk to us about the clients that you work with and what you
Tamara Prato 04:08
do absolutely so my focus is how being small to mid sized business owners get clarity in a couple of different ways. So number one, through kind of operating system type work, getting really clear on their vision, what are their priorities? What does that look like? Do they have the right team around them? Does everyone know who's accountable for what? So that's some of the work. And then I do work with owners directly. So that's with more the teams. And then I work with the business owners directly in terms of helping them define and execute on an exit strategy. And to me, that is, it's a growth strategy, right? So how do we make your business as valuable as we can within the allotted time? To make it valuable to an outsider doesn't matter what you think it's worth. It matters what somebody outside thinks it's worth. Right, yeah.
Dina Simon 05:00
And you're certified. What the CEPA? What does the acronym mean? Yeah, so
Tamara Prato 05:05
that the SEPA is a certified Exit Planning advisor. And so that is a designation and a training through the Exit Planning Institute.
Dina Simon 05:15
Nice, yeah. And what I love about that is I was telling Tamara when I was working with franchisees that were coming together as business partners. We always said, that's great. You want to come into business together, but you have to talk right now about what's your exit plan as well, because otherwise it gets muddy and murky along the way. So I love that that's something that you're bringing to business owners.
John Simon Sr. 05:37
Are you predominantly dealing with entrepreneurs? Yeah.
Tamara Prato 05:40
I mean, these are all obviously, you know, smaller, privately held type organizations. Many of them founded those organizations or have taken it over within their family. And so just trying to get crystal clear and make sure that if and when it's time to exit and or transition, whatever that looks like, that. It's on your terms, right? As the business owner, yeah,
John Simon Sr. 06:03
one of the things that has always inspired me are entrepreneurs, because they risk everything, and there's a world of difference between signing the front of a check and the back of a check. And all through my life, all through my life, I signed the back of a check, and when your name is on the front of the check, it gives you a whole different perspective.
Tamara Prato 06:25
Yeah, there's so, I mean, there's just so many different things coming at them all of the time, right from all of the little details within the business. And then again, taking the time and the effort to step aside and look above and are we going in the right direction? We all know where we're going. Am I prepared? You know, should something change right within the business structure? So it just, it's so important that entrepreneurs have good counsel outside of folks that are there really for their greatest interest and to help them prioritize some of these things.
Dina Simon 06:58
Yeah, and share with us a little bit about your career leading up to what you're doing right now. Oh, goodness. Well,
Tamara Prato 07:05
started mostly on the sales and marketing side of the world, and mostly, I'd say, Gosh, I bet 90% of my time with has been in media, mostly print media, so I've worked for both daily newspapers in a sales capacity. Have also worked at the Business Journal, did some time at Twin Cities Public Television, which I absolutely loved. Lots of fantastic people there. Loved the mission of that organization, and then came in and had a chance at a small local publishing company here in the Twin Cities to really test my own entrepreneurial spirit, had a lot of leeway to try new things, create new products. And so that was great. And with that, I Gosh, Minnesota Business Magazine, Minnesota bride, Wisconsin, Arizona bride. I mean, list goes on, and then 10 community magazines as well by the time that I left. And so it was a fantastic opportunity to really be a part of the local community, both business community, as well as telling the great stories about all the organizations that sometimes didn't get that publicity. John,
Dina Simon 08:14
that's how Tamara and I originally met, is Darren said that Tamara and I needed to know each other, so we met, and through the Minnesota Business mag, we connected. They supported Simon says, Give with some stuff. I emceed the 100 places to work the power 50 that we talked with Kathy paper on that she was a power 50. Was Darren a power 50 as well. I was a power 50 as well. So there's some synergy there. Thank you. Tamara Prado,
Tamara Prato 08:41
you're welcome. I'm the one non power 50. So yes, you're you're also welcome.
Dina Simon 08:46
Thank you. Well, you create, you created that opportunity for us and many others. So we appreciate that, but all that amazing experience that you now also bring to the table, and you were at the James J Hill, and, I mean, you have this amazing business background to now take with you to those that you are working with out in the business community. Yeah, it's
Tamara Prato 09:07
been a great right experience of seeing from all different levels, right? Being in some bigger organizations, realizing that's not my my happy place. Learned a lot, but I'm much better and more adept at being in small to mid sized business, and when I think about the opportunities, right, launching new products, deciding where are we going to do that, overseeing editorial and art direction, this is something I hadn't done before, right? So stretching and and learning new things and just really getting immersed in the local community was was such a great opportunity for me to see all these different things right, from the financial piece, from real estate, from just the HR and so I feel like that experience, and then running the Hill Library, Hill center in downtown St Paul right, gave me that overarching experience. Right, a. Having to make those tough decisions. Right as a business leader, sometimes you have to make and that you don't want to, but like sometimes you you got to think about what truly is the greater good, and put your ego aside and make some of those choices. Well said,
John Simon Sr. 10:16
you know it has to be rewarding for you, Tamara, to to see the progress that companies or individuals make after you have spent some time with them, and you see that the what you've worked with them on, you know, they it came to the top, and they said, wow, this really helped us become a better organization, a better people. And that really has to be rewarded for you.
Tamara Prato 10:41
It is. It's great to see leaders grow and leadership teams grow, and their ability to truly trust each other and have that open, honest dialog. Get in a room together, maybe they're not agreeing, but when they leave the room, they're all on the same page, and no one's gonna, you know, complain about, I can't believe what sales just did to us at blah blah, right? It's Nope, we're we're united front as a leadership team, and we're going to go out and then have that cascade to an organization. It's always really gratifying to see that happen. And when I think about the teams that I've led, seeing and continuing to help those folks grow and get to places that I know that they can get to right so helping support them in terms of where they go next, and keeping them connected and top of mind as
John Simon Sr. 11:28
I was reading your Bible a little bit it daily, reminded me a little bit about the discussion we had with Greg Jackson a couple weeks ago, one of my friends who's an entrepreneur, And one of the phrases or sayings he has, if you can measure something, you can improve something. And he says, You never stop measuring anything, because the more you measure it, the more you're going to improve it. And you said that in years, you know, make your progress. Abramowski against meaningful metrics, and, you know, and that really is important whenever people do
Tamara Prato 12:01
that, yeah, just honing in on that handful, right? Not having 2830, things that you're trying to track can always be measuring. But what are the key items that truly tell you if your business is on track, whether that's personally, right, whether that's personal or business, right? What are the things that help you know, gosh, I'm on track and keeping an eye on those things. And so, right? So you have your goals. We're striving for those. These are what our priorities are. You can measure how infu mated there, right? And so those are the kinds of things that we want to, want to talk about. But yeah, the the measuring in the metrics is so important.
John Simon Sr. 12:39
And then, you know, through the measurement comes great improvement, correct?
Tamara Prato 12:44
Yeah, it's funny when companies that a specific organization I've been working with for over two years now, seeing where they started and where they're at today, when they give themselves scores about how they're performing on team and communication that, you know, they've been on a scale of, you know, zero to 100 they've gone from low 60s to mid 80s in just two years. Nice. And that's not one person's view, right? That is the whole leadership team's a great score, because I think that also is important is that it is the voice of the team, not just maybe the owner. So, yeah, it's really gratifying to see and exciting to see.
John Simon Sr. 13:22
And once people have a buy in on it, it becomes a competitive thing within the company or the organization, because they'll sit there and say, well, this department has done this, we need to step it up a little bit in order to have the same type of results.
Tamara Prato 13:36
Sure, absolutely.
Dina Simon 13:38
Yeah. So we've talked a little bit about your life, and we've talked a little bit about leadership, anything else on leadership, as far as you know, what good leadership means to you and what you've either seen or witnessed or believe?
Tamara Prato 13:51
Yeah, for me, you know, when I think back to the again, the teams that I've worked with, it's really been a lot of open, honest communication, right? Just tell me where you want to go, and we can make a plan to get you there, but please, just don't leave me hanging, right? Like, I'll help you get to that next step, like I'll do whatever I can if that's where you want to go. But let's be open and talk about that. And so for those folks that have been able to do that, I mean, it's been huge for them and their trajectory to be able to do that. And you know, there's always the whole idea, too, of getting the band back together. And have several folks that have done some amazing work with over the years that there's always like, whoa, what could we maybe do to bring this magic back together? So I think for me, it's right, helping your team get to where they want to go. Give clear direction, right? Let them know what their expectations are, but give them the autonomy to be able to you brought them in here to do the job. Let them do the work, their work, and help lift them up and support them however you can.
John Simon Sr. 14:53
And yet, you have to give people the freedom to do that also, right?
Tamara Prato 14:58
Know that they have. Autonomy, right to make these decisions or do this kind of work, and that actually give it to them? Yeah, yeah.
Dina Simon 15:06
One of the thing Tamara does, because we've done it, we've talked through it together, but since we have young professionals out in the world, you know, working with our kids and other their friends and all of that generation. But just what would you think of you know now that you're at where you're at today, what some of that advice that you give to somebody who's in their early 20s just starting out,
Tamara Prato 15:29
oh goodness, social media is forever? Yeah, number one, it does exist for a very long time. So just being mindful of what that is about, I think, understanding what a true relationship is from a business perspective is that I was just had a call with someone earlier, just the difference whether it's the Go Giver movement that you think of or Adam Grant's give and take, right? Like a true relationship means that we are building and we're helping each other, not accepting anything in return, right? But that we're doing it for good reasons. And I think people actually picking up the telephone to talk to someone I think is really helpful, because too much can be read into the tweets and the text messages and all of the other things. And so I just think being a good communicator, and don't burn bridges, this is a small town. It is a small
John Simon Sr. 16:24
town with social media to get smaller every day. It does, and
Tamara Prato 16:28
if and when you choose to exit or move on from things, making sure to do it in an appropriate way.
Dina Simon 16:34
Yeah, because it's not even just a small town. It's a small world, like it's not just, you know, we're you and I hear here in the cities, but in John's down in Dallas, but it's a it's a small world, how people are interconnected, correct?
John Simon Sr. 16:46
One of the things that I found out, and I've been retired for every 20 years now, but I still have clients that I had 20 years ago, that I'm still friends with today. In fact, we're going to have one of them on the podcast in a couple of weeks, and we met in 1986 and we both retired now, but we still keep in touch with each other. So you know, through the business, you can make some lifelong friends. Also,
Tamara Prato 17:10
absolutely we, I think we were figuring out Dina and I am probably it's been about 10 years that we've known each other, and we've been in multiple places, doing all kinds of different things, right? But we, we continue to come together and support each other in the different types of endeavors that we're we're pursuing. Yes,
Dina Simon 17:28
exactly. And John, you were kind of smiling at the social media and the Twitter and all that kind of stuff. So again, you've you've got grandkids that age that we're talking about. What are some of your thoughts on the whole social media craziness. Of you didn't have that. No, we
John Simon Sr. 17:45
didn't have any of that. And in fact, the internet was just getting started, and I guess it's going to catch on, and people are going to keep using it for a while. You know, the one thing that I found that people will put things on an email or a text that they would never say to a person in person, and I don't like that part about it, but when it comes to me with the grandkids, I always tell them, you know, I'll text you a little bit, but really, I want to talk to you because I want to hear your voice, because I can read a lot into how they're doing just By the communications that we have, the verbal communications or or even zooming or Skyping or being able to see their face. And I kind of like that. But you know, when you take a look at what we have today, with everything people working at home now, as opposed to going into the office, and instead of traveling, you're doing zoom meetings, it's just a new paradigm. Yeah, you better get used to it. If you don't like it, yeah, you're gonna get passed by Yeah,
Dina Simon 18:45
yeah, yeah, yeah. Tamara, I was with somebody at lunch today who has a 15 year old, and we talked about the social media and just the advice that we you and I both have given our our daughters and young friends that we work with and coach with to say, whatever you put out there, it's out there. Just remember that. And hiring managers at HR and recruiters, they still immediately go to John, you know, looked you up Tamara on Google to do some research. People, people go out there and check sites out, and it's just, it's out there. It is.
Tamara Prato 19:17
I remember when I was hiring someone at Twin Cities Public Television just happened. I'm like, you know, but I'm just gonna check Facebook and they had something posted that was highly inappropriate. And I'm like that, I can't have one of Twin Cities Public Television's, you know, supporters going to, you know, looking this person up and seeing that like that, that show did not match with the brand, right? Didn't matter what kind of experience they had, just a total disconnect with the brand and what I would want anyone Yeah, seeing Yeah, sure,
Dina Simon 19:55
yeah, yeah. So in building legacies. So remember. Legacy is not something you just leave behind, something that you're living out now, what are some of your thoughts around the legacy that you're building? Oh,
Tamara Prato 20:07
goodness. Well, I think part of it is, like you've talked about a little bit helping younger individuals, coaching up and comers, I think is really important, and to helping them get where they want to get, to help them find some tools, resources, whatever that that looks like. So I think that is part of it, you know, for Bill and I, in terms of things that we give and, you know, support. We're big public media supporters, so both radio and television. So that is something that we continue to invest in and donate to. And you know, we are rescue pup fanatics, and so I can't have more than two at a time, I've been told. So we have our we have our limit as of where we're at, but I could see us getting another rescue pup at some point. But then, from a business perspective, I think it's training good people to be good human beings, like I've always said for my kids, like, I just want to try to make you a good human that can take care of yourself, right, financially at some point in the future, that like helping people understand that I do believe in karma, and it will come back. Amen.
Dina Simon 21:13
I believe it. I believe in karma as well. Yes, yes, one
John Simon Sr. 21:18
of the things that's pretty much a shame anymore. I know when I went to school, but they taught you a lot of basic type stuff. And today they don't teach some of the things that we learned whenever I was younger. And a lot of it was, you know, be nice to people and treat someone the way you want to be treated. And today, it just seems to be a lot more pressure on the young, the younger kids in school, they should come across different than they come across, I guess, is a better way to and, yeah, to come across in a in a good, sweet, you know, loving way. And sometimes that doesn't happen today. No,
Tamara Prato 21:55
no. And I think social media has has certainly had an impact on that when I think about middle school and high school, girls are terrible, yep, and be terrible, you know, in terms of again, and some of it isn't always even true, right? And so I just think it's trying to help instill the idea of do the right thing, right? Just do the right thing.
John Simon Sr. 22:19
I was I was kind of shocked this morning, I was working out and I was watching the Today Show, and they were talking about how much time the children and when I talk about children, are talking about under 18 years old and high school, middle school, how much time they spend on their phones every day. And even the the hours between 10 o'clock and four and five in the morning, how they have their phones on, and all of a sudden they hear a ding and they feel compelled to answer it. And a lot of its companies, you know, they all the hits that they want to get on it and and it's really something that I think that parents have to hopefully control a little bit. Yeah, yeah, it
Tamara Prato 23:02
is a tough, tough scenario. Yeah, it's, I
Dina Simon 23:04
mean, I remember back in the day when I had a pager, right? And so it's on your body and it rings, but now we have them on our watches, and we certainly can turn it off, but there's, there's just we can always be on. And so that ability to rest and refresh is far and few between. So Tamara, from a business perspective, what's your sweet spot, as far as clients? Is there a sweet spot of clients that you would look to work with? Yeah,
Tamara Prato 23:32
the most important thing for me is growth oriented, right? That they truly want to grow their business, that they want to take it to the next level. Size wise, I don't know, 1 million to probably up to 15 million is probably my personal sweet spot. That's where I prefer to stay, sure, because that's when things are just, you know, they're they're growing. We're putting in processes. We're thinking about right what is the true, right structure to get us where, what your ultimate goal is. And so I would say that right now I'm industry agnostic. I mean, I work with as nonprofits. I have people in recycling, I've worked with publishers, I've worked with, you know, agricultural businesses. So, yeah, it's law firms, other professional services. So for me, it's more the mindset of the leader, the leadership team, that they truly want to build something great, yeah, yeah. And
John Simon Sr. 24:26
at that point, that's where they're going through a lot of growth spurts, also within the within the companies, right, right? And
Tamara Prato 24:33
so it's, it is. It's that idea of, yeah, they have to the owner or the business leader has to be willing to hear their team, and has to be open till it's my way or the highway. Type of a leadership style doesn't work terribly well.
Dina Simon 24:48
Nope, it doesn't.
Tamara Prato 24:50
We don't last very long together, right?
Dina Simon 24:52
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And and also, so what you said like a company has to have all those things be open to have. Having somebody outside helping to facilitate. There's so much value in that. So them understanding that. And I had somebody ask me just, just today, even on, you know, who's my ideal coaching client, and I said, one that is open to coaching like they want to grow and open to that partnership. Because so often they just, they say they want it, but they don't really want it at the end of the day. And it's like, if you're not going to put the work in, then you're not an ideal client for me or for any or for you or for anybody else,
Tamara Prato 25:28
correct? Yeah, it's it's got to work, work for both sides, right? And I think if you can truly hear and listen and you know, reflect doesn't mean we have to agree on everything, right, right, but can we reflect on it and then All right, what's our path forward? What are we going to do? But that mutual respect, right is for me, is also really important, like I'm here, I'm truly here on your behalf, trying to help you get where you said you want to go. So I'm truly trying to help you and ask questions that maybe will challenge you to think about something, maybe a little differently, but I'm not going to tell you what to do.
John Simon Sr. 26:07
You hit the nail on the head right there, not only listening to what you say, but hearing yet also, and then doing something and then doing something about it. I
Tamara Prato 26:17
am not a consultant. I am an advisor. I am a coach. I am your sounding board. I am all of those kinds of things. But at the end of the day, if your goal is to do X, then my, I will help you get there by offering ideas and suggestions. But I'm not going to come in and and, you know, be like, Oh, fire them. Do this, right? That's that's not what I'm there to do. I'm really there to help these people grow as leaders, as business owners, and help them get what they really want their business. Nice. But it's work years
John Simon Sr. 26:54
ago when people would bring a consultant in, all of a sudden, everybody gets defensive, because now here's somebody coming into my business telling me how to do my business, and they know nothing about my business,
Tamara Prato 27:07
right? And I can't tell you how many times that happened at organizations I've been at in the past. And my whole point to some of the leaders was, why are we bringing another person in to tell us all of the things that are wrong? Because guess what, we're not going to change any of them. So why are we going through this process if we're not going to actually either implement or learn from it, right? And so I think there's, there is that fine line between looking for help and being told what to do versus okay, how do we fix this? How do we work on this together?
Dina Simon 27:40
Right? In wrapping up, Tamara, is there anything else that you wanted to cover on the podcast? Well,
Tamara Prato 27:46
goodness, I would love to cover that I am just thankful and very blessed to have you in my life. Miss Tina Simon and Mr. John Simon, such a pleasure to meet you that it just has been a total joy over the last 10 years of friendship and business partnership and shenanigans and all of the great things. You know, you're a great you're just a great inspiration all the things that you do. Wow.
Dina Simon 28:16
Well, thank you very much, and I love partnering with you, and we've got some we've partnered in business in the past and some hopeful future, things that we're going to partner with on. So love that friendship and business relationship and how it can ebb and flow based on what's happening in our in our businesses. And love you to death, and thank you, and just the impact. I mean, you've done so much, not just for this Minnesota community, because you have clients outside of here, but with the work that you've done here, within the media, within the James J Hill, I mean, you've just given so much back to the business community, and huge accolades to you because of all of that. So just appreciate that I was along the ride for some of that, and just know the impact that you've made in the community. Thank you. I
Tamara Prato 29:02
appreciate hearing that.
John Simon Sr. 29:04
And you know what? I signed that after the podcast we've done the Minnesota Nice has come out to everyone that we've talked to,
Dina Simon 29:12
yes, so typically, when we say Minnesota nice, it's that negative connotation that we talk about it, because there is this passive aggressiveness, and so that's why John also, I think we've kind of joked about it on the podcast, but what you have seen is, because you've gotten to meet some of my amazing network here in Minnesota, is we do then selectively find who is that circle that we can hang with. We can trust trusted advisors. If I'm about to go do something, and Tamara's like, I don't think you should go do that. We have that trust in each other, that we can be brutally honest to say, Hey, did you also think about this, and we need those people in our lives so love that we have that Yes.
John Simon Sr. 29:53
Well, yeah, and you're all willing to share your ideas with each other. You know, there's nothing that you're going to hold back. Yeah, you're going to tell them you. Exactly what you're saying, and that's what that's what's important about the relationship you have with that people, yes, yes,
Tamara Prato 30:06
because we do crossover, right? Some of the work we do within certain areas. But for me, it's who's going to be the best person to help that leader or that team and where they need to get to. Not everybody wants to spend eight hours a day with me, right? I mean, I am a peach, but there are others that maybe I'm not the best person for them for a variety of reasons, and so, you know, for me, it's, how do we get them to the right person? So we're not competing, right, even though we might be doing some of the same work, but Dina may be much more suited for that client or for that need,
Dina Simon 30:44
or vice versa? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, awesome. Well, we thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for taking time to be on our podcast. Thank
Tamara Prato 30:52
you.
Dina Simon 30:53
I'm so glad that John got to know you better, and that our podcast listeners get to know more about you, and we'll share all the contact information, all that kind of stuff, so people know how to do business with you. Oh,
Tamara Prato 31:04
thank you so much. I appreciate it. And John, I hope next time you're in town, see you in person.
Dina Simon 31:08
I want to thank my friend Tamara Prado once again for joining in on the podcast. She is an amazing human. She's an amazing friend, mom, wife, business leader. I know many people that I've worked with and for her in the past that rave about what an amazing leader she was to them when they had the opportunity to work with her. And now she's out advising businesses in a lot of different things that are all surrounding around being good leaders, good business owners, and how to reach the goals that you want to reach. And we'll make sure in the show notes, you know how to get in touch with her. And as always, I thank my father in law, John Simon, for being my co host. And until we talk again, you.