Focus On Talents: Turning Dreams Into Goals, Jessica Perez’s Passion for Helping Entrepreneurs

🎤 Welcome back to another episode of Pathways with Amber Stitt.

📊 Today we have a special guest joining us—Jessica Perez, the founder of Jessica Perez Consulting. In this insightful conversation, we dive deep into Jessica's journey as a consultant who transforms dreams into reality for startups and small businesses.

📈 We explore her passion for helping entrepreneurs overcome their fears and take actionable steps towards growth.

💼 Jessica shares her valuable experience in financial services, her approach to building efficient and goal-oriented businesses, and the importance of family, teamwork, and community support in both personal and professional life.

🎯 Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a business owner looking to level up, or simply interested in effective goal-setting and time management, this episode is packed with wisdom and practical advice you won't want to miss.

Throughout the episode, you'll hear about:

💡 The importance of goal-setting and how Jessica's approach has helped both businesses and families thrive.

💬 The value of personality assessments and anonymous feedback in building a strong, cohesive team.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Practical tips on maintaining work-life balance and managing time effectively.

👯‍♀️ The role of community and mentorship in personal and professional growth, especially for women in male-dominated industries.

From onboarding clients to reinforcing company culture, Jessica provides actionable advice for business owners and entrepreneurs at every stage.

📽️ To watch the video podcast: https://youtu.be/-gZeXTWBCoU

🔗 Resources & Links:

To learn more about Jessica Perez please visit:

📲 Website: https://jessicaperezconsulting.com

📲 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/JessicaPerezConsulting

📲 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-perez-4b84a365

📲 IG: https://www.instagram.com/jessicaperezconsulting

To learn more about Amber Stitt please visit:

📲 Website: https://www.amberstitt.com

📲 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amber-stitt-acp-chfc%C2%AE-cltc%C2%AE-clu%C2%AE-gallup%C2%AE-1b186821

📲 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amberstitt_ 

#pathwayswithamberstitt #jessicaperezconsulting #pathwayspodcast #amberstitt #jessicaperez #EntrepreneurJourney #WomenInBusiness #WorkLifeBalance #GoalSetting #SmallBusiness

Transcript

Amber Stitt [00:00:00]:
Hello and welcome to Pathways. I am your host, Amber Stitt. And today we welcome Jessica Perez from Jessica Perez Consulting, my friend, to the show. Welcome, Jessica.

Jessica Perez [00:00:11]:
Thanks, Amber. Glad to be here.

Amber Stitt [00:00:13]:
It's not our first time we've been podcasting together.

Jessica Perez [00:00:15]:
It's not, won't be the last, hopefully.

Amber Stitt [00:00:18]:
Yeah. And that was where I got to know you and learned a bit about family life, big families, books, and writing and all these things that we like to do. And so that was really neat that we could do that through the "Counting On Her" space. Now, gosh, not even a year, we're doing even more than ever. And I know you've been really busy with your consulting work. So let's pause for a second and let the audience know what you do, what you love to do, and how you can help people with consulting.

Jessica Perez [00:00:43]:
Yes, my passion is helping people. It starts there, and that really grows. So, Jessica Perez Consulting helps in multiple ways, but the clients we serve best are startups. So small business, startups, entrepreneurs. I always say I help turn dreams into goals and goals into reality with most people because you have this idea of what you want to do, and so many people are afraid to get started, or they don't know where to go. And so it doesn't take a lot. Sometimes it just takes a friend, and I can be that friend and that coach and that consultant to help you figure out how to get started.

Jessica Perez [00:01:17]:
I also help small businesses that are looking to grow. I always say level up. You might have started this because it was a passion of yours. You started a business, it was just you. You went out there on your own, you did it. But now what? I want it to grow. Maybe I want to market more. I want to expand.

Jessica Perez [00:01:32]:
How do I capture clients on social media? So I can help take you to that next level to figure out what your business is missing. How can I help you be more efficient in what you're doing and really get to where you want to go? So, again, still goal focused and helping you get there. But those are the two ways I help small business owners. And then my background and the history has been in the financial services world, and I've served financial advisors for nearly 20 years. And so now what I'm doing is helping those advisors in one of the biggest decisions of their life, what to do next. Do they want to leave their current firm? Do they want to start their own? Do they need a new partner? So what are the options that are out there and exploring those and deciding how can we really change your life and impact your business while keeping clients front and center.

Amber Stitt [00:02:16]:
Perfect. Yeah, and I always talk about this with, really, this opportunity that we have where we can be working within a position, or working for people in the time that you've had in financial services. Sometimes we want to be at a certain spot, but sometimes it takes time in the game to be paying attention, and that's where you had this business development. You're watching, seeking, listening to see what is happening out there. And even though your role was in business development, I think most of the time.

Jessica Perez [00:02:44]:
Correct.

Amber Stitt [00:02:44]:
You have some licenses, too, correct?

Jessica Perez [00:02:46]:
Correct. I hold my Series 7 and my 63 licenses in the financial services industry.

Amber Stitt [00:02:51]:
You've walked in the shoes. Isn't it funny how sometimes by just being in that world, you see I need to help? And I really think that's where you figured out, at some point, I have to be out there helping people, and so you were able to build this business out of it. So I really encourage people that know that they're good at something, and we'll talk about community, getting around the right people to support it. But that's where it was a nice way to have this ramp up to get the experience, get in the firm level, and see what's happening, see what advisors are talking about, and then what are the client's needs? And I know you've been really good at being able to pull all that together and your strengths and being able to launch that into that client experience for your clients.

Jessica Perez [00:03:30]:
It's fun when you can figure out what matters most to people, because at the end of the day, there is usually something that you care about more than anything that's gonna drive your decision. And so my goal is to find out what that is. Is it money? Is it family? Is it time? Is it efficiency? Is it clients? What is it that really drives you? And I pull that out of people, and then that's the guiding factor of how we make decisions going forward. But it's really hard to do that when you're in charge of the due diligence, the research, running a business, as well as, keeping your eye on that goal and that prize. And so that's the fun part about it. And, Amber, with the years I've had and the experience, it's really helped me identify the type of clients I want to work with and the struggles that most people encounter. Whether you're in a service industry outside of the financial world, or not, we all encounter the same things, which is we start a business because we love it and we're passionate about people and doing what we do, but it grows, and then it becomes a business, and that's where it really changes. And you have to start thinking about more than just what I want to do because I love this and what I need to do to run and grow a business.

Amber Stitt [00:04:37]:
Well, and I feel like you do walk the walk because you've been there and done that. And I know that we've even talked about time management most recently, and you're essentially challenging me to build out a little bit more time. And so we joke, tease each other, kind of push, like, "All right, what project are you working on?" But you truly do roll out structure in your own life. And I know that we've talked about how important the family level is, and you make that time and you unplug. And so if you're doing that, I know that you can give that framework to your clients, which is great.

Jessica Perez [00:05:05]:
I can. And that's what helped is I've helped a ton of people start their businesses but become more efficient in what they're doing. But also on a personal level, I love helping families get back to what I believe we were created to do, which is spend more time together. I heard a saying once, it says, "Win the Table, Win the Kid." Right? Because if you can get them around a table and have dinner together every single day, and we can have time together, we're going to spend more time together, and we're going to have a better community, better life, and I believe we can help each other go a little bit further. That's not every single client I work with. Some people don't have kids, so focusing on the children isn't important. But at the end of the day, we all have a goal that we want to focus on, and we all know what we're willing to sacrifice and what we're not.

Jessica Perez [00:05:47]:
And those are important pieces as well. And even you know that, too. And that's why I challenge you. I know you want to spend more time with your daughter and have more freedom. And when they start school, the time just starts to fly after that.

Amber Stitt [00:05:59]:
And as you've gone through some transitions and then business ownership, I know that there's been money goals that you and your husband work as a team. And I think, again, you're walking the walk of helping clients, whether they're with a partner, or not. It could be a spouse, or a literal business partner. You got to have some alignment there and really check yourself at what's important in life when it comes to the money. And so I know we've talked a little bit about trials and tribulations. We might have been shifting money goals at some points of our lives, too. And do you think that's happened for you, just even over the 20 years?

Jessica Perez [00:06:33]:
Oh, definitely. It's happened multiple times. At different points in time, you have different projects, or different things that are important to you and I. You and your husband work together. My husband and I work together in building his business, as well. There are challenges that come with that. Identifying roles and responsibilities. You have to do that personally and professionally, especially if you work together, because you cross a lot of paths that way. But, yeah, I think constantly understanding what your goals are.

Jessica Perez [00:07:00]:
Sitting down and goal planning. My kids do goal planning. We did a family dream board night last year in December, and I'm talking to my whole entire family, my mom, my sister, my nephews, my nieces, all the way down to the five year-olds in the room. We're cutting out pictures.

Amber Stitt [00:07:14]:
That gave me goosebumps.

Jessica Perez [00:07:15]:
Yeah. So we do these as a family, and every year, Shawn and I sit down and we identify personal goals for each of us. We write down our business goals that are shared, we write down our family goals, and then we write down our relationship goals. So I'm very goal oriented. If you want to know how I work, we start with the goals, because I can measure that. I can see what that is. I can hold you to it.

Jessica Perez [00:07:39]:
I can say, "Amber, you told me you wanted to take one week off every single quarter," and I'm gonna hold you to it, girlfriend. You didn't say that...

Amber Stitt [00:07:44]:
I like how it's fluid, that we can be malleable depending on the project, the person. There's something you said about bringing everyone together and did all these people around the table with the vision board have different goals?

Jessica Perez [00:07:56]:
Absolutely. I had a 25 year-old boy who was single, trying to find himself, who lives at home with his mom, who started working with his dad. And his goals are different. He wants a jeep. He wants to be outdoors more. Twelve year-old niece had on there a keyboard and jewelry, things that twelve and, you know, teenagers want. Yeah, my son had on there a snake.

Jessica Perez [00:08:21]:
Never gonna happen, but...

Amber Stitt [00:08:22]:
My daughter's been talking about snakes, and I'm like, what is happening here? Are they hanging out?

Jessica Perez [00:08:27]:
I don't know, but it's not happening. That's gross. No snakes, but everybody's were different. Shawn had on his land and a tractor and big things that he wants for his vision. It's fun to see at different age points and just where you are in your life. My mom is 60 and a grandma. She has six kids and ten grandkids like hers are way different than ours, right? So it's a lot of fun.

Amber Stitt [00:08:50]:
The ideas on the family level are so great. Let's pull it back into business.

Jessica Perez [00:08:54]:
Okay.

Amber Stitt [00:08:55]:
As you've worked with startups, there's a lot of things we do in business planning that we could probably pull into the family. What can you share about what you've learned about this vision board working together? Everyone's got a different something important. What are you telling your clients, or how are you helping your clients pull that into business, and pay attention to their teams?

Jessica Perez [00:09:15]:
So one of my favorite things about consulting is having all access to people. So I do not take on a client unless they will give me all access to their team. And I am a huge assessment person and a huge anonymous feedback person. So two of the very first things that I do is I will send out assessments, whether it's DiSC, Enneagram, StrengthsFinder, you name it. I love all of those because it gives me some insights to the people. And then I can understand their role and say, "Does the person match with the role? Or are we trying to fit square peg into a round hole?" And then I interview all of the people. So I send out an anonymous survey just to get some feedback on how we're doing. How referable are you as a company? What are the strengths that you have? And I create these surveys so they're personalized to the firm, so I can understand some of these things.

Jessica Perez [00:10:04]:
Within 30 days my goal is to fully understand all of the people and all the unique personalities to then understand, are we working together on a shared goal and vision? Because all that information will help me to see, are we aligned here? Does it make sense? And usually there's a disconnect somewhere. And so then we start to all try to bring it back together to say, "Here is what I have observed so far, and this is what the owners are saying." And if you're a parent, you can understand that a little bit more. To say, sometimes what you hear from your kids is not always the truth. Right? There's an underlying message we may not hear, but they will be willing to tell an outsider. And it's crazy to me that that happens. But then I also wonder, are we checking in with our people regularly? Do you have a culture that allows people to speak against the grain? Do you encourage people to say, "Hey, this might not be the best way of doing things," or, "This has worked for us for the last five years, however, technology and people and things are changing. So how do we evolve?"

Jessica Perez [00:11:06]:
That is the way that you can do it, just like you would a family. Are the things that we're doing working for us as a family. And if not, do we need to pivot? Do we need to make new decisions? And how do we go about doing that together?

Amber Stitt [00:11:18]:
Well, you know what? Sounds like a lot of risk management to me, technically. And if you are really working hard as a team to find out where the gaps are, then the client experience is going to be better.

Jessica Perez [00:11:30]:
Yes. I always say you start with the client and work backwards, right? So if you know your end user and as a business owner, you should know your end user, because that's why you started the business. And if you start there, then you work backwards and you understand, what do the clients need? Do I have the right people in place to do that? Are they getting the experience that they signed up for when they bought into whatever service you have? Whether you're selling cookies, insurance, financial planning, pool service, like my husband, any of those things you say, "Are we delivering what we initially started to? Do I have the people to support me. Am I in my lane as the owner of the company, the CEO, or whatever my role is inside this organization, am I staying in my lane?" All of those things are risks to your business. If you're not paying attention to your client experience, if you're not paying attention to your people and their roles, and if you're not paying attention to if you're staying in your lane, all of that can be risk to your business.

Amber Stitt [00:12:25]:
When you talk about assessments, I was thinking, like an actual test. But assessments? No, you just mean, like, developing them through the personality assessments. I think that word assessment, they just need to change that because it sounds scary, like a test. I feel like I don't want to do that. You're going to know about me.

Jessica Perez [00:12:39]:
Yeah. They're not meant to be invasive. They're meant to be insightful. And you're right. And maybe that's the conversation we need to have is, why people are so afraid of assessments inside of the workplace. And it's because we use things against people. Instead of saying, "Amber, now I know your strengths.

Jessica Perez [00:12:54]:
This is going to help us work together." It helps me to communicate to you in a way that makes sense, and it helps you do the same thing. How do you receive information? This is great. Amber is great at these things. So if more people use that to say, "I want to help figure out, does this make sense for you?" If we're hiring people to fulfill a role, we know certain personality types and we know that there's certain personality types that will not make a great receptionist.

Jessica Perez [00:13:21]:
We know that there are certain people...I would never be a good receptionist. I don't want to sit there and greet all of the people in the world. I don't.

Amber Stitt [00:13:31]:
Oh, that takes me back to the law office, and I was "Director of First Impressions".

Jessica Perez [00:13:36]:
Oh, I was that in my church. I don't know how, but I'm 90 on my "D" for the DiSC. I'm not a good receptionist. I'm also not a good accountant.

Amber Stitt [00:13:47]:
Me either. But overall, we're talking about, really, the structure of leadership. Being a leader to your team, listening to your team and building that culture. It's a continuous thing, and we have to be okay with "We can't do it alone." And you do need third parties, just like we hired an interior designer after Covid because my husband was going to be wrong and I needed someone to tell him and that couldn't be me, you know?

Jessica Perez [00:14:08]:
Absolutely. I love third parties to prove that husbands are wrong, they need it more than we do. What people don't realize is everything is an investment. And your investment of time and money tells us what's important to you. And so everything is going to need a continuous investment. It's like your vehicle. You buy a car.

Jessica Perez [00:14:30]:
You don't just buy the car, and you never do anything to it. There's ongoing maintenance every single year, no matter what, you invest in the vehicle so that way it doesn't break down. You invest in the people so they don't have burnout, or breakdown. You invest in yourself, so you can continue to give more back out of you. So as the leader of your firm, it is your responsibility, not your option, it's your responsibility to invest in yourself, to invest back into your people.

Amber Stitt [00:14:56]:
And we forget that.

Jessica Perez [00:14:58]:
We do, and so hiring a third party to come in, having these retreats, or quarterly, or semi annual meetings, they're so important, and they're a reinvestment of our time and our money. And if that's not a worthy cause, then I don't understand why you started a business and brought on more than just yourself. Because if you don't want to invest in people, then fine, have a business and just make it you. Make it a mom and pop shop where it's just you and maybe your spouse, and that's totally fine. You can make it very far doing that. But the moment that you become responsible for someone else by saying, "Hey, come and work with me, then you have that obligation to be a good leader to other people."

Amber Stitt [00:15:33]:
Have you ever worked with leaders that do this, a one time thing and then it's done and they've checked the box?

Jessica Perez [00:15:39]:
Yeah. Most of them do, because they want to say they're a good leader. I did this one time. I hired this one company, I did an escape room with my team, and we had some fun team building one time. And then you ask, "What happened? Did people hate it?" "No, they loved it. They talked about it all the time.

Jessica Perez [00:15:59]:
They shared about it. Everybody was happy." It worked so well, we never did it again. That's what that tells me. And what it is, is they don't believe that it's the worthy investment because you can't measure it, you can't put an ROI to it. You can't give it a hard dollar return. And that's because humans don't have an ROI. We're people.

Amber Stitt [00:16:20]:
Do you think sometimes they're just not working it into the budget because they can't see that ROI?

Jessica Perez [00:16:25]:
Correct. And again, I say this a lot. What we spend our time and our money on shows us what's most important to us.

Amber Stitt [00:16:32]:
Sometimes when we're talking about production and time and being business owners, it's hard for the analytical ones to not realize what the community aspect is. It can be so important. Even if it's not you walk home with a deal, a sale, a "I have a referral." It's, "What about the feeling of the soul?" Mentorship, menteeship. I mean, how many times have you and I been at a Women in Insurance & Financial Services event where we're like, "Yes!" Or we're leading the conversation, but there's idea sharing about books and journals, like favorite calendars, like little things that it's just like, having that ability to idea share is so important, you can't get an ROI on that. So that's what's funny. Sometimes you've asked me if you're working on this, "How is it going?" And I'll have sometimes people getting on me for the return, and I'm like, what about the fact that it makes me happy, too? So imagine what you do for a culture and a company for your employees.

Jessica Perez [00:17:27]:
So, at a company I worked for before, they measured happiness, they measured the increase in the happiness factor of the advisors we recruited. And to me, that was my favorite stat to share. Not the growth, not the savings, not anything else other than when people partnered with us. They were 33% happier than they were in their business before. Like that number has to be...

Amber Stitt [00:17:49]:
Gallup says it's pretty high. Yeah.

Jessica Perez [00:17:50]:
Yeah. Well, that was the survey that they sent out after you joined. 6 months after joining. They sent out a survey because they wanted to check-in with their people. A culture check to say, "Are we delivering what we said we would?" And that's what they did to measure happiness.

Jessica Perez [00:18:06]:
If we could measure it, that would be ideal. Right? But not every company can truly do that. But I think that we should be checking-in with people. And, Amber, you should do things that make you happy, that bring you joy.

Amber Stitt [00:18:17]:
Even if partners don't understand it. Back to that husband. Work more. Come on, buddy.

Jessica Perez [00:18:24]:
Does he golf?

Amber Stitt [00:18:26]:
See! So you know what?

Jessica Perez [00:18:27]:
He understands what makes him happy.

Amber Stitt [00:18:29]:
If I go out and have a day, a coffee meetup with my ladies, I don't think that should be any of his business, because he's got his definite four hour blocks that I know he goes to those.

Jessica Perez [00:18:39]:
See, Amber? And this is why family goal setting is important, as well, because Shawn and I budget our own personal F.U. money that neither one of us can speak into. And we say, "Hey, one day a week, you need to go and get away from me and go do something. I don't care what you do. And I'm going to go away." And just so you know, every single week, without hesitation, or a miss, like, I never miss mine. He misses his a lot.

Jessica Perez [00:19:01]:
I do not.

Amber Stitt [00:19:02]:
Priorities. But think about it. When you were dating, you didn't see each other all the time. Maybe it's good for everyone just to have that space.

Jessica Perez [00:19:10]:
I'm not going to miss you, if you don't go away.

Amber Stitt [00:19:12]:
If you don't go away. Especially, when we work together all the time. So let's wrap up a little bit for today's episode about just more of the empowerment, supporting. You do a lot in the community with that. Anything you want to share about just how that's affected you and is propelling you forward in your life?

Jessica Perez [00:19:28]:
I used to think it was cheesy like this, "Rah, rah. Let's come around the women supporting women." Like, why can't we just all support people? Right?

Amber Stitt [00:19:37]:
People. Yeah.

Jessica Perez [00:19:38]:
Then you get into the professional world, and you realize we really are a breed of our own, and we do have to come around each other and support each other more.

Amber Stitt [00:19:45]:
"This is okay. I'm stressed out about that too. It's okay."

Jessica Perez [00:19:49]:
It is okay, because we have different challenges. And I'm not gonna say every woman has the mom life challenge, because that's not every woman's challenge.

Amber Stitt [00:19:57]:
Yeah.

Jessica Perez [00:19:57]:
But 100% as women, we all face similar challenges in the professional world, which is every single profession is male dominated. Unless you're a nurse. I could think of, like, three. Maybe you're the minority if you're a male nurse. Right?

Amber Stitt [00:20:12]:
Yeah.

Jessica Perez [00:20:12]:
Male cheerleader is a minority. Right? There's very few occupations where men are the minorities. So we share a lot there, and we think differently. We're thinkers and we're feelers, which is why I believe we are more successful in the financial advice world, honestly, because we're communicators and we're relationship builders, and we have a higher care factor. So all of that is important. And in male driven industries, you don't think of that at all, ever.

Jessica Perez [00:20:41]:
And so there's not a lot of camaraderie around. How do we empower women to do this and to think differently and to build our business differently? Because we can. We can build a business very differently. As a wholesaler, I was able to go into a room and challenge men in a way that male wholesalers couldn't. Because they would go toe-to-toe and at that point, it's a fight. I'm an innocent, smart female.

Jessica Perez [00:21:04]:
They listen to me, and then they're like, "Okay, well, she's actually right. Okay, this actually makes sense. What do we do now?" But it's different.

Amber Stitt [00:21:11]:
So different. Okay, let's just integrate the pieces.

Jessica Perez [00:21:16]:
And so WIFS has been huge for me. I never knew about them 15, 16...

Amber Stitt [00:21:22]:
Yeah, I didn't know until...

Jessica Perez [00:21:22]:
17 years now in the industry, and I found out about them less than two years ago. But it is one of the, I would say, most important relationship building communities I have today. I met you there. I met Kris. I met so many women at this place now, and I'm fired up about it all the time, and I want it to grow, but I also want to support other women, you know, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. They have a woman's community in there, as well. So there's a ton that I'm passionate about in helping women, but I want to see more women entrepreneurs in the world. And so really, my goal is, is to help every woman who has this dream in her heart and a fire in her belly to say, "Yeah, let's go, girl!

Jessica Perez [00:21:59]:
Let's go do this. I can show you. I can help you. I was there. I was scared, too." And it truly drives me because there's so many women, and you know them, you talk to them.

Jessica Perez [00:22:12]:
They hate their job, but they love this little side thing that they do, or they really wish they could do this.

Amber Stitt [00:22:17]:
Yep.

Jessica Perez [00:22:18]:
And so I just want to keep coming around you. Be like, "You can do it. I know you can." Like, let me bring you into my community of women who can actually show you you can can. And so that's, I think, what you're doing. I'm doing that. It is like a pillar, a foundation for me of what I want to do.

Jessica Perez [00:22:33]:
I want to help people. But really, if you ask me who I'm helping the most, it's women.

Amber Stitt [00:22:37]:
I love that. So can you tell people how they can find you?

Jessica Perez [00:22:40]:
Yes. So you can email me at jessicaperez.business101@gmail.com. My instagram is @JessicaPerezConsulting, Jessica Perez Consulting on YouTube, and then www.JessicaPerezConsulting.com.

Amber Stitt [00:23:12]:
Awesome. Well, thank you for being here today. We have more to come. So this is just the beginning, but I wanted everyone to meet you. I love your insights. Every time we meet, I write something down that I need to do. And of course, we always share the energy that we bring in.

Jessica Perez [00:23:31]:
Awesome, I love it. Okay, well, thanks. Thanks, Amber, for having me. I always enjoy speaking with you.

Amber Stitt [00:23:13]:
Thank you for being here. Thank you for joining us on this episode of Pathways. For more information about the podcast, books, articles, the blog, and so much more, please visit my website at: www.AmberStitt.com And remember, let's take action today! Thank you for listening!