Forge News and Updates |
In the heart of Forge’s collaborative workspace, ideas are evolving, and businesses are flourishing. We want to shine a spotlight on five exceptional members who are leading the charge with their exciting ventures. From tech startups to creative agencies, our diverse community is a hotbed of talent and innovation, and these entrepreneurs exemplify the spirit of success that permeates our coworking space. Join us as we take a closer look at the stories of these remarkable individuals and their businesses, and discover how Forge serves as the launchpad for their inspiring journeys.
Vero Skills
The aim of Vero Skills is to train disadvantaged individuals in values-driven corporations’ unique entry-level qualifications to resolve the tech talent deficit facing America. Vero Skills provides underserved students access to on-demand training and mentoring by top industry professional software developers who work for the biggest companies in the world.
By working with their community partners, Vero Skills aims to help every student overcome the barriers they face and achieve their goals of entering the tech industry.
Project EMS
Project EMS motivates and supports under-resourced students from multiple socioeconomic demographics on their journey towards a successful academic education. Project EMS, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit organization that believes they can create a future in which every student will have equal access to educational resources and opportunities.
Project EMS hosts a STEAM Camp in the summer! (STEAM represents STEM plus the arts – humanities, language arts, dance, drama, music, visual arts, design and new media.) Project EMS, Inc. proudly hosted their Second Annual STEAM Camp, immersing students in an exhilarating week of hands-on learning. From suturing and dissections to 3D printing, rollercoaster dynamics, and drones, the campers had an incredible experience!
Golightly Landscape Architecture
John Wilson of Golightly Landscape Architecture has been a member at Forge from the very beginning! From tidy courtyard gardens and exterior renovations to master plans for new construction and estates, Golightly Landscape Architecture provides comprehensive and site-specific designs that draw their clients into the garden.
From master plans for new construction and estates to courtyard gardens and exterior renovations, Golightly Landscape Architecture has designed more than 80 residential gardens in Birmingham and beyond. Check out some of their work here.
Stafford Smith Group
The Stafford Smith Group prides themselves on helping busy social impact leaders get their ideas out of their heads and into the world. Rosie Stafford Smith has a knack for simplifying complexity and she has a lifelong commitment to social justice. Rosie works with a variety of leading families, nonprofits and companies across the United States.
The Stafford Smith Group has worked with clients like Jones Valley Teaching Farm, Protective Life and United Way. They most often are hired for strategic planning, philanthropy advising and strategy coaching.
AMZ Atlas
At AMZ Atlas they have a depth of knowledge and singular focus on Amazon that allows them to create more value for their clients- clients who are in desperate need of hyper-focused Amazon services.
The AMZ Atlas team is made up of strategists and tacticians, from former brand managers with hard-earned Amazon success, to specialists who live and breathe the world of Amazon commerce, and veterans in areas like retail pricing, inventory, brand protection, and operational experts who thrive on efficiency.
At Forge, innovation and collaboration thrive, and the stories of these remarkable businesses serve as a testament to our community. From empowering underserved students through tech training to inspiring the next generation of scholars with STEAM education, and from crafting beautiful landscapes to catalyzing social impact, these entrepreneurs are not just building businesses; they’re shaping a better future.
As we continue to grow together within our collaborative workspace, we’re inspired by our Forge members. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for them and all the other incredible members who make our coworking space a hub of innovation and success.
Forge News and Updates |
Fa la la la la! It’s that time of year! We asked some of our Forge Members to share what books they have enjoyed in 2022 that the business person in your life may enjoy!
Use this gift guide to purchase a book for yourself or for someone else!
The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business by Patrick Lencioni
“An organization is healthy when it is whole, consistent and complete, when its management, operations and culture are unified. Healthy organizations outperform their counterparts, are free of politics and confusion and provide an environment where star performers never want to leave. Lencioni’s first non-fiction book provides leaders with a groundbreaking, approachable model for achieving organizational health–complete with stories, tips and anecdotes from his experiences consulting to some of the nation’s leading organizations. In this age of informational ubiquity and nano-second change, it is no longer enough to build a competitive advantage based on intelligence alone.”
Making Vision Stick by Andy Stanley
“There are lots of books about discovering or developing a vision for your organization, but this one is about making that vision endure the corrosion of time and complexity–how to make your vision stick. Influential author and pastor Andy Stanley reveals the reasons why leaders’ visions often falter, and he delivers 5 in-depth strategies so that you can dodge the pitfalls:
- How to state your vision simply.
- How to cast your vision convincingly.
- How to repeat your vision regularly.
- How to celebrate your vision systematically.
- How to embrace your vision personally.
Many of us have good ideas, even great ones. The difficult part is putting them into practice and keeping that vision clear and visible to your organization–whether that’s a business or a church–when there are so many things in the day-to-day living of that vision that can distract from it. Making Vision Stick offers valuable, practical tips and case studies. This is a book you’ll want to highlight and dog-ear and pass around as you learn how to propel your organization toward the vision God has granted you. Vision is about what could be and should be, but life is about right this minute. The test of a true leader is in keeping that vision on track, day in and day out.”
Book 3: Recommended by Drew Kirk, VP of Finance at AMZ Atlas
7 habits of highly effective people By Stephen Covey
“With Sean Covey’s added takeaways on how the habits can be used in our modern age, the wisdom of the 7 Habits will be refreshed for a new generation of leaders. They include:
Habit 1: Be Proactive
Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind
Habit 3: Put First Things First
Habit 4: Think Win/Win
Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
Habit 6: Synergize
Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw.”
The Doodle Revolution: Unlock the Power to Think Differently by Sunni Brown
“Sunni Brown was named one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business and one of the 10 Most Creative People on Twitter by Fast Company. She is founder of a creative consultancy, an international speaker, the co-author of Gamestorming, and the leader of a global campaign for visual literacy called The Doodle Revolution. Her TED Talk on doodling has drawn more than a million views on TED.com. Her work on visual literacy and gaming has been featured in over 35 nationally-syndicated news programs and reported on in The Wall Street Journal, CNN.com, the BBC, Fast Company, Inc. Magazine, etc. She lives in Keep Austin Weird, Texas.”
Book 5: Recommended by Jeremy Adams owner & CEO of Southern Heritage Consulting
It Take the Stairs: 7 Steps to Achieving True Success by Rory Vaden
“How do successful people achieve results? In short, they do it the old-fashioned way, with focus and self-discipline. Popular speaker and strategist Rory Vaden presents a simple program for “taking the stairs”—that is, resisting the temptations of “quick fixes,” eliminating distractions, and transcending personal setbacks in order to reach your goals.”
Books 6 and 7: Recommended by Kim Lee, Founder and CEO of Forge
Excellence Wins by Horst Shulze
“Horst Schulze knows what it takes to win. In Excellence Wins, the cofounder and former president of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company lays out a blueprint for becoming the very best in a world of compromise. In his characteristic no-nonsense approach, Schulze shares the visionary and disruptive principles that have led to immense global success over the course of his still-prolific fifty-year career in the hospitality industry.”
Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
“Combat, the most intense and dynamic environment imaginable, teaches the toughest leadership lessons, with absolutely everything at stake. Jocko Willink and Leif Babin learned this reality first-hand on the most violent and dangerous battlefield in Iraq. As leaders of SEAL Team Three’s Task Unit Bruiser, their mission was one many thought impossible: help U.S. forces secure Ramadi, a violent, insurgent-held city deemed “all but lost.” In gripping, firsthand accounts of heroism, tragic loss, and hard-won victories, they learned that leadership–at every level–is the most important factor in whether a team succeeds or fails.”
Happy Holidays!!
Forge News and Updates |
Fa la la la la! It’s that time of year! Our Founder and CEO, Kim, has a podcast called Building Birmingham Together, where she talks to business leaders about building and growing their businesses in Birmingham and beyond. One of the hidden gems of each interview is the book suggestions each person gives! We wanted to create a list of all the books that have been suggested, so we did just that!
Enjoy this compilation of books that have been recommended in Building Birmingham Together interviews, including two recommendations from Kim herself!
Use this gift guide to purchase a book for yourself or for the business-person in your life!
Books 1 and 2: Recommended by: Cindy Martin, Founder and President of Bham Now and The Bama Buzz
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster By Jon Krakauer
“A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down. He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more–including Krakauer’s–in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Into Thin Air, Krakauer’s epic account of the May 1996 disaster.”
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People By Stephen R. Covey
“One of the most inspiring and impactful books ever written, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has captivated readers for thirty years. It has transformed the lives of millions of people worldwide.”
Book 3: Recommended by Pamella Phipps, Executive Director of Grace House Ministries and Jacqui Jones, CEO of One Degree MMM
Dare to Lead By Brené Brown
“I’ve spent twenty years studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy, and I recently completed a seven-year study on brave leadership. The goal of Dare to Lead is to share everything we’ve learned about taking off the armor and showing up as leaders in a skills-based and actionable playbook.”
Book 4: Recommended by Kellie Clark of Innovation Depot and Deon Gordon, CEO and President of Tech Birmingham
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less By Greg McKeown
“In Essentialism, Greg McKeown draws on experience and insight from working with the leaders of the most innovative companies in the world to show how to achieve the disciplined pursuit of less. By applying a more selective criteria for what is essential, the pursuit of less allows us to regain control of our own choices so we can channel our time, energy and effort into making the highest possible contribution toward the goals and activities that matter. Essentialism isn’t one more thing; it is a different way of doing everything. It is a discipline you apply constantly, effortlessly. Essentialism is a mindset; a way of life. It is an idea whose time has come.”
Book 5: Recommended by Russell Hooks with Happenins in the Ham
It’s All in Your Head By Russ
“With chapters named after his most powerful and popular songs, It’s All in Your Head will reflect on the lessons he’s learned from his career, family, and relationships. He’ll push readers to bet on themselves, take those leaps of faith, and recognize struggles as opportunities.”
Books 6 and 7: Recommended by Kim Lee, Founder and CEO of Forge
Excellence Wins by Horst Shulze
“This book is a great reminder of how important it is to conduct all of business with a customer service and hospitality mindset. This book specifically addresses the way that The Ritz Carlton approaches hospitality in every single area of their business, but every lesson addressed in this book can be applied to any business! (And to any leader.) The book is also a great reminder of the importance of intentionally thinking through every system and procedure in your business and evaluating if that is really the way that you want to operate or if you need to put a new system in place that reflects the values of your business.”
Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
“I love this book because it is a great reminder that as the leader of your business or organization everything really does fall back on you. It is written as an encouragement for leaders to be intentional about the way they set up their organization and run their teams. This book inspires me to take very seriously my role as leader of my organization and to be the best that I can be for my team and for my business.”
Happy Holidays!!
Lunch & Learn |
Josh Rhodes has led many organizations but currently he is the CEO of Agent Leads. They generate leads for real estate agents and mortgage brokers. Josh is a founding Forge member and we asked him to share his online marketing tips at one of our past Lunch & Learn events. Here’s a recap of what Josh taught us…
Josh Rhodes Agent Leads
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Focus on getting the right offer, right medium and right audience.
You have to know your customer! And your audience dictates your offer. Know what channel you can use to interrupt someone’s life so they’ll buy your product or service.
2. The anatomy of good marketing starts with the story you tell.
The story doesn’t have to be long! It could simply be two pictures side by side- showing a before and after. You can tell the origin of your company, origin of your product or a customer success story.
3. Know that people are always buying for different reasons and you need to sell a bunch before you think you’ve got their motives figured out.
Just understand that people have many reasons for buying something- maybe because someone told them to or they wanted to try something new. Not always because your product looked really cool.
4. Get outside of your own assumptions of what the market wants.
You do not represent your customer so don’t assume that your customer wants the same exact things that you do. Josh’s company, Big Lead Gen, has taken over 10,000 phone calls with customers. Now they can understand their customer’s pains and needs…and finish their sentences!
5. Don’t build baseball fields in corn fields!
You can’t just build something and assume that people will come. You have to work to attract traffic and convert sales.
6. Understand traffic.
Traffic means the eyeballs and impressions that see your offer. There is cold, warm and hot traffic. Micro commitments from your sales funnel help customers move from cold to warm and warm to hot. Hot means they’ve got their credit card out and they’re ready to buy!
7. Think about your business through the lens of a funnel instead of a website.
Every business has a sales funnel- whether or not you realize it. Having a beautiful website is becoming less and less important. It’s much more important to move people through your sales funnel with micro commitments. This will change the way you market your business!
8. Automation trumps determination.
(Josh said he stole #8 and #9 from Casey Graham- creator of The 7 Figure CEO Podcast) You are only one person. You have to leverage automation. You will run out of time if you try to do it all by yourself.
9. Nail it, then scale it.
Don’t try to automate something you haven’t dominated yet. Get the repeatable unit scalable. Don’t try to cut corners- spend time refining the repeatable unit. Make sure you can sell with your eyes closed.
10. Leverage the power of contrast!
Before and after pictures are immensely helpful. Use success stories from customers.
11. Find the villain in your industry. If there’s not one, create it!
Attack the incumbent! Act like it’s only you two in the boxing ring. Josh gave the example of his own company as they are working in the real estate industry. Zillow is their villain! Customers relate to that.
12. Model the masters.
In our day and age, why would you ever try to start from scratch? Create your stuff based off what others in your industry are doing. But don’t plagiarize.
13. One One One Formula
This means focusing on one skill, one piece of technology/tool, one funnel/framework. Every business endeavor is energized by this formula! Attract traffic with your skill and convert sales with your funnel or framework.
14. Hire a coach….and not a free one.
If you want to go to the next level, you should pay for it. If you want fast forwarding for your business, you need to hire someone who has already been there.
We hope these marketing secrets have taught you something new or inspired you to try something new with your business! Thanks to Josh Rhodes for sharing his wisdom.
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Member Spotlight |
Today we’re featuring a post written by Forge Member Alex Grodner. We loved Alex’s perspective on work/life balance as he’s a remote worker often traveling for his job. Alex and his friends have a podcast and blog called the Clueless Dads. We know there are plenty of mom blogs out there (and rightly so!) but we love hearing from the mindset of the dads too. They share personal experiences and stories as they learn how to be a better dad.
In today’s day and age, the local / Monday-Friday / 9-5 jobs are almost non-existent. The antiquated ideas of all families being a man who is the only source of income for the household and a woman who takes care of the children and home are long gone. We have turned a corner in society where families look different, have different priorities, and a different working/stay-at-home mixture. While many families, including mine, have decided that the women staying home with the child(ren) makes the most sense, that is not always the case. The idea of the stay-at-home Dads or both parents continuing their careers soon after the baby is born is starting to change the way we think about families and how they work.
The idea of having the entire family home to sit down for dinner every night is not very conducive to many jobs. I personally have gone from every week travel schedule to every other week (but very flexible). What I have found, especially while my wife is pregnant and home with a toddler, is that work travel is not easy and can cause many issues if not addressed. Below is a list of the 6 things that I have found that help find that right work/life balance.
1. Set boundaries when you are home
I would argue this is important regardless of whether or not you travel for work. Whatever expectations you set at a job will be assumed in the future. If you are the kind of person that during a busy time will working until midnight and be back on working at 6AM the next morning, more power to you, but don’t expect that will be a one-time thing. On the other side, if it is an hour or two every work night you are home to spend with your family or letting it be known that Saturdays are for football and not work, it is so important to set boundaries of when you will/won’t work (outside of “normal business hours”). I have found that few jobs will care as long as you are meeting expectations and getting your work done when you say you will/when it is expected to be completed.
2. Make sure the time at home is special
When I am home, I have found that doing “other things” during my non-work time – playing video games, working on side projects, etc. – are best done when my wife and son go down for their afternoon naps or go to sleep at night. I also make a strong effort to spend as little time as possible on my phone or computer, often leaving my phone in the other room to avoid the unnecessary distraction. Having those distractions take priority over spending time with my family, especially when I am traveling a lot, is just not worth it and I end up regretting it when I am out of town.
3. Find a special activity
My son Bryant and I have our special activities that only him and I (and sometimes the dog) do. Spending some time at our local zoo (it’s 5 minutes away, hassle free, and we have a membership), cooking together, and going on runs with him in the jogging stroller and the dog’s leash around my waist are just a few of “our” activities. This is not to say that my wife cannot come if she wants to, but more times than not she finds this as a great time to do things that she wants to do…without a toddler and crazy puppy running around the house.
4. Give your significant other a break
As mentioned in the earlier comment, the activities that my son and I do give my wife a chance to do whatever she wants and has not been able to do while I was out of town – get a well-deserved nap, clean up around the house, run errands, etc. In addition to getting us out of the house, doing some of the things that my wife does while I am out of town (and especially the things that she doesn’t or can’t do) is something she greatly appreciates. Doing the bedtime routine/morning routine, turning cleaning up the house or dog poop in the backyard into a fun activity and having my “big helper” assist (which more times than not he is the opposite), and taking my son to school on my way to a coworking space ends up being a much-needed break for my wife.
5. Have a checklist of to-do’s before leaving town
Trying to get items on the “honey-do list” or things that you have put off and need to get done around the house is so important to try to do while you are in town. Many times it is very easy to forget/ignore some of the issues because they are “out of sight, out of mind” for you, but your wife and child(ren) have to see those things every day. Whether it’s cleaning up pet’s poop/pee or mowing the grass that has become a little too over grown, it can really make a difference and when you get home you aren’t reminded of something else that you wanted/needed to get done.
6. Communication, communication, communication
My wife and I share a Google calendar where I put my flights so that she knows when I am leaving and when I will be back home. This can obviously change due to flight delays or last-minute work changes, but if that happens I try to let her know when I know. I have found this gives my wife something to look forward to (a much-needed break) and it also keeps from the “so when are you going to be home again” question every day. In addition to keeping my wife updated on when I’ll be home, technology has made it extremely easy to video chat regardless of what type of technology someone has. I obviously can’t video chat with them every night, but it’s a nice way to see my wife and son and for them to see me.
Being on the road so much has not been easy, but I have found that these things – maximizing time when I am home, setting work boundaries, and constant communication – make it a little bit easier.
