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Unveiled
Welcome to UNVEILED, the podcast designed for women ready to break free from the confines of societal expectations and rediscover their authentic selves.
I’m your host, Angela Marie Christian, Silicon Valley CFO turned intuitive, clinical hypnotherapist, and conscious mother.
If you've ever felt trapped by the roles imposed upon you—whether as a mother, a professional, or simply as a woman navigating life—this podcast offers a space to explore, heal, and transform. I was once deeply entrenched in the corporate world, checking all the boxes society told me to. But after realizing that true fulfillment comes from within, not from external achievements, I embarked on a journey of self-discovery that changed my life. Now, I’m here to guide you on your own path to empowerment.
We dive deep into conversations that strip away the layers of limiting beliefs and societal programming that have kept you from living a life of true sovereignty. Using neuroprogramming techniques such as ____, we explore how to rewire your mind, break old patterns, and embrace your innate power from within. These intimate conversations are more than just talks—they’re a catalyst for change, designed to energize and inspire you to take actionable steps toward your desires, goals, and dreams. Whether you’re a mother feeling unfulfilled, a single woman seeking more, or anyone looking to ignite that inner spark, UNVEILED is here to remind you of the incredible power you hold within. Join me weekly for conversations that feel like connecting with a close friend—conversations that will leave you inspired, empowered, and ready to unveil your true self.
Unveiled is a transformative space where women embark on a journey of self-discovery, mental wellness, and empowerment. If you’re struggling with anxiety, burnout, or feelings of overwhelm, this podcast is your guide to reclaiming your inner strength and breaking free from societal conditioning. As a mother, especially if you’re navigating life as a single mom, the pressure to meet every expectation can feel insurmountable. Here, we understand the weight of that burden, and we’re here to help you lift it.
Through intimate, connected conversations, we explore practical tools for managing anxiety, stress, and the exhaustion of burnout. You'll learn to challenge negative thoughts, dissolve limiting beliefs, and build unwavering self-confidence. We dive deep into mindfulness practices, cultivating self-love, and the power of neuroprogramming techniques to rewire your mindset. Each episode empowers you to embrace your true self, reclaim your sovereignty, and reignite the spark within that leads to a more fulfilled, purpose-driven life.
Whether you’re struggling to balance the demands of motherhood, work, and personal growth, or you’re on a path to healing and self-discovery, Unveiled offers a compassionate and supportive community. Here, we validate your experiences, nurture your resilience, and inspire you to take action toward your desires, goals, and dreams. Join us weekly to unveil your true self, transform your life, and step into your power.
Unveiled
From Layoff to Leader: Crafting an Entrepreneur's Success Story with Feras Alhlou
Ever faced the sting of a layoff or the daunting prospect of starting your own business from scratch? My guest Feras Alhlou, an entrepreneur who turned his own layoff into a launch pad for success, joins me to share his inspiring journey from job loss to triumph.
Feras has been a client of mine for many years and I always love hearing his stories. He shows us how resilience can lead not just to recovery, but to extraordinary achievements like writing a bestseller, selling a flourishing company, and becoming a sought-after advisor.
Feras has founded, grown, and sold businesses in Silicon Valley and abroad, scaling them from zero revenue to 7 and 8 figures. In 2019, Feras sold e-Nor, a digital marketing consulting company, to dentsu (a top-5 global media company). He has also served as an advisor to 150+ founders.
In his current venture, Start Up With Feras, he's on a mission to help entrepreneurs in the consulting and services space start and grow their businesses smarter and stronger.
Learn more about Feras here.
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Society told us who we should be. I tried that. It's not for me, and if you're here, I'm guessing it's not for you either. So welcome to the unconventional un-CEO podcast with your host, angela Christian, where my mission is to help you break free from the matrix once and for all to live a life of freedom, joy, wild abundance and fulfillment on your terms, unsubscribing from the status quo because you don't fit into someone else's box. Are you ready? Let's do it.
Speaker 2:So welcome to the show, Ferris. I'm so excited to have you on today.
Speaker 3:Angela, I'm so excited to be here as well.
Speaker 2:So, even though I've known you and worked with you since about 2016, I believe, I realized I don't even really know your whole background story and how you got to, from where you were to where you're at.
Speaker 2:So before we dive into that, though, I would love to share just a little bit about how I know you.
Speaker 2:So Ferris and I met when I worked at a firm in the Bay Area specializing in accounting and finance for startups, and I was the lead on Ferris' account.
Speaker 2:We worked together for several years and it's funny because I remember very clearly when we started working together, you had learned a big lesson about allowing I think it was a family member to do the books, and we did all of the cleanup and all of that. So if you want to share that story, you can, but it's just kind of funny to think back on that time. And then, after your company was acquired, we stayed in touch and then I was really happy when you reached out and I think that was about a year ago to help you with your new company Startup with Ferris, and it's just always a pleasure to work with you, so I'd love for you to share your journey. Um, I believe you had mentioned. It kind of started when you got laid off, um, and then how you went to go on to write a successful book and then sell a company and then now being an advisor.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, thank you, bringing back a lot of memories. I don't think I've ever told you this, but before we hired the firm that you're at, we actually hired another company.
Speaker 3:They came in and looked at our books and then they asked for a call and they brought in their principal, the partner, and they basically fired us. They didn't want to take us on as a client because the books were so messy. I think we never said this, but I think they felt like we were doing something. To the people I said, dude, nothing. We didn't have the money or the time to hire someone. I'm glad that you came in here and helped us put our books in order.
Speaker 3:So yeah so in terms of, I mean, I started I started technical actually, so what I want to call it in engineering, computer science, and I worked in that field for two and a half years, three years, and it just wasn't clicking. So I must mustered some courage, went to the CEO office and I asked if I can move to something else and I moved closer to sales and marketing and project management and I really liked that type of work. We worked with people, job management, interfacing with our team, our team, and it was a significant shift in my career. I didn't study for that, I didn't think I'd like that kind of thing.
Speaker 3:So to the listeners, to entrepreneurs, I'll speak it all the time Learn and study, but you never know where life takes you. A lot of opportunities might come up along the way. And then you know, we moved to the Bay Area, we lived in Florida, we lived here, we worked in the startup scene, the area we lived in, so that we moved here, what, what? The startup scene, and then that was the red layoff and the sad um moment. But you know, we have to get back up. I had a young family at the time and we started a business with the partner, and you know, several weeks later we pivoted about, you know, built another company and they specialized in the field, and then all that led to us having a big exit in 2019. So we can dive into any of these phases or seasons, but yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, and so I guess my first question would be if someone, because there are so many layoffs happening right now, what would be like your top advice for someone who might be going through a layoff right now?
Speaker 3:yeah, we. Unfortunately, we are seeing waves of layoffs all around us, not just intact, every day. I look at lentin and you see, so it is, it is real, it is. It's really hard, I think, as you were laid off once, we talked about it.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:My business partner, eric, was laid off. So me personally, I remember I was the VP of attack when we were here in Campbell and when I was told all these emotions that go through your mind, your heart, your body, that it's really like your stomach dropping. You feel like blood is going to go out of your, out of your body I don't know how to describe it, but it is all these mixed emotions about what did I do? Why you mean they pick on me. I do, I never do something right. Then what do I tell my wife? What do I tell my children? What do I tell I've been do something right? What do I tell my wife? What do I tell my children? What do I tell my friends? You know the feeling of shame and inadequacy. So those are real things. So anyone who is listening and has been impacted by layoffs, you let those feelings, you know, feel the sadness, feel the emotions. It's there, but I don't even want to stay there for a long time. If you need a few days, you need a week, a couple weeks, that's okay, but you gotta get up. I mean, that's just part of life, part of business is. Resilience is a thing that you gotta have. So talk to others, it's not just you.
Speaker 3:And I think one thing that's really hard for people to maybe internalize is do an honest, very objective assessment of what led to the layoff. It could be that it was the company just shut down. The company shut down the whole branch and happened to be there. We could have been a top performer. But at times, and probably more often than not, companies do lay off bottom performers. So I think everyone has to do their own assessment and I'm not judging.
Speaker 3:I know it's difficult to talk about this when a lot of people are getting laid off, but it's easy to point at the employer, at the company and, yes, the management of that company. Maybe they've messed up and they're over-hired or whatever. But for us those impact things like assess what could I have been. You know, don't live in the past and don't have a lot of regrets, but understand what happened. Did I not fulfill? Did I not work hard? Did I not learn? Did I not go above and beyond? Look at your last performance review, especially if you had a good manager, and see what did they tell me I could improve on and use that as a way to improve going forward into the next chapter in your life. Not an easy exercise, but I think it's something that yeah, definitely all of that.
Speaker 2:it definitely took me a little bit of time to, because it almost felt like the same feeling as being a child and getting in trouble. Like I just felt kind of the same when I got laid off. It was like I'm in and so just kind of like acknowledging where, you know, I could improve upon myself One of the times I've been laid off more than once, one of the times I realized, okay, this is my opportunity to actually launch my company. So it actually was what I needed to push me towards what I wanted to do as well.
Speaker 3:And that's not an insignificant number of people start a company after a major life event and is a major life event.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think you gotta do the same thing as if you were starting while you were working, and that is you gotta get the idea. You gotta do some market research. Yeah, see who's offering some services, what are your differentiators? And I I say the one thing that you have when you're like a department that you did not have before is you have time. So even I think some people always you the potential to be founder. They were evaluating whether they should go back to a full-time job or start a company. So what I would say is very practical advice. I think, if you have 10 hours a day now that you did not have before, spend four hours looking for a job and six hours vetting the idea, doing all these necessary steps you need to do to properly launch the business. So so those are some, some options, and then you know, at least at least you don't come back and say I wish I did something.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Might be, it might be the time, once we get set yeah, it might be a time to set up a successful business is the time to do so?
Speaker 2:Yeah, no. I think that's such good advice too, because going from being in a very structured job and then all of a sudden having all this time can feel overwhelming. So if you're looking at it like that like yeah, dedicating some time in case I want to get a job, and then also, looking at you know the possibilities it's great advice. And so I've seen how efficient and really clean you run your companies. So, just for the listener's sake, what would you say are like two to three of the most important things to do when starting a new business?
Speaker 3:do when starting a new business. You have no idea If you haven't done a business before.
Speaker 2:You haven't started a business before. Obviously so many things to know. But you've got to start somewhere.
Speaker 3:So let's say, in the services or consulting business, let's say accounting or HR consulting, or you want to do travel services, lifestyle, whatever the case might be, you have some building knowledge. So that is there, because if you're the consultant, if you're the service provider, you have to know something to deliver it. So I'm assuming you have some building. What I think entrepreneurs typically face the challenges that there are other areas that are required to know and, over time, master to build a business. So, for example, if you haven't done sales before, if you haven't done marketing before, if you avoided sales and walking on the plate because those are dirty words, I'm the honest, technical person. So learning I think this is more of a mindset thing is the ability to and wanting and putting the time to learn new things outside of the comfort zone. So that's one. The other thing is, I would say also in the mindset is about there are a lot of unknowns. So when we work in a company, there's a salary, there are benefits. Obviously some people do other functions and we get used to that. When you are CEO and you're the accounting manager and sales person, you wear all the hats. That's again, there's just a lot of unknowns. There's no paycheck, there's no payroll, there's no. You have to go and market and network and be out there and sell and pitch and then get rejections. So there's just a lot of unknowns about the financial side. All of us have obligations. So dealing and being comfortable with unknowns is another mindset thing that's important and I think you can build muscles for those things.
Speaker 3:I don't think any one of us some of us are maybe born that way. Maybe some of us are more risk takers, some of us are more adventurous. But I think you can start to take small steps and build up those muscles around your own unknowns. And last but not least, I think you also have to learn soft. After that soft sense, yeah, your business. So if you are in services consulting, if you're not responsive, I think this is not good, if you're obviously not a good customer service and sometimes not having me with customers who are maybe difficult to work with. So I think those soft skills you have to pick up over time, especially initially your questions about initially, and so you do all of this Over time as you grow your business. You can hire. If you're not a client facing person, you can have someone to do it for you later.
Speaker 3:You have a sale, yeah so soft skills and then and then that mindset about learning and also dealing with unknowns and kind of building those muscles, yeah, no, that's.
Speaker 2:I agree I I'm still learning sales and marketing. That is not my area of expertise. So yeah, just being open and having a beginner's mind and like making it fun. So now I'm like, okay, well, there's so much psychology in sales and marketing, how can I make this like fun to learn?
Speaker 3:So yeah.
Speaker 3:I think people sell. You know sales and marketing is not. You know someone in a form of this entire going to you know fortune 500 small businesses. Typically you, you gotta find out where your potential clients are. So. So in marketing we say that target audience buzzword, basically who is going to buy funding? Basically, who is going to buy funding? Who is going to pay a stranger, give their money to a stranger, and then find ways where are they at and then be there. So it's really a network community through the local chain of knowledge, through BNI, through, I think, sba. They have some local small business development centers and there are a lot of meetups. There are a lot of ways to go and find out people. So I think for people who haven't done this kind of work, that might be even difficult.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so learning, okay, I got it, you got to do it. There are no shortcuts. You got to be out there and network. You know you can network online. Yeah, you can leverage your network, email people and then, hey, I started this business. I'm excited about it. I have a special so you can do things online. Especially these days, it's a big pandemic, but also I think it would be really advantageous to be out there and practicing the pitch, yeah, and hearing the rejections and the answers, jot down that question and then the next networking event. You know how to answer it, yeah, so no escape of having to do some sort of outreach.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely. On having to do some sort of outreach, Yep, definitely. So I know that you meet and you advise entrepreneurs and I'm just curious what seems to be the common challenge and or their top questions for you?
Speaker 3:Most people have good ideas. Most people don't take the next step to turn this idea into action. And there's a quote by Anne Jennison, the former astronaut. She says ideas are like in paraphrasing a lot of potential energy. It's great to have a desire, but and tell me, you put in, you risk taking that action don't.
Speaker 3:Don't say ideas so so I think I think one of the stats I read is 60 percent of americans have a business idea and only up to 9% take the step forward. So a lot of folks. I say ideas are a dime, a dozen. If you're serious about it, just get up to the time Now. If you have a family, you have teenagers some of us do or you have young ones, you have aging parents, parents, you have other responsibilities and you work full-time. It's hard, yeah, but I think if you're really into doing having your own business for a lot of reasons, a lot of good reasons it does require some time maybe a couple of weeks, months, maybe half a days on weekends, half days on weekends and just start doing all these things at the comfort of having a salary and benefits, right. So I think this is one of the main things. A lot of people come to the ideas and I think it's a good idea. Are you ready to put the time? Yeah, so that's one of the. The other thing is I think a lot of it is people are really even seasoned professionals who really, really great at what they do. Sometimes taking that leap is really hard.
Speaker 3:I just had a friend ex-customer for six, seven years and I know they're really good at what they do. They come into a company, they're on the operations side and they can turn a company around in months, not in years. Amazing success. Also, two, three companies has done that and he's now like he hasn't had a consultant ever. He just started to do, he had a short, small, small gig and now oh, this is pretty cool like can I sustain it? Can I do it? Can I get more of this?
Speaker 3:So it is even her seasoned professional, the amazing track record, making that leap is hard. So I think, just encouraging them, and encouraging them to not necessarily to start a business, but to take all the steps that lead and show you're doing the right things there's no guarantee that you'll be successful.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 3:I don't know what you see on YouTube that there'll be another where it's been nice, there's a lot of value. It's not going to end up lying. You know you're not a problem with that. But I think a lot of people just struggle with taking that first step.
Speaker 1:But a lot of us have done it.
Speaker 3:It does require some sacrifice, some learning sometimes, but I would say it's worth it get good grades, get a good job, like follow that kind of path.
Speaker 2:So it just feels so uncomfortable but I felt I feel like I had to kind of lean into that buzz of like fear and discomfort in order to just take action and I mean, yeah, you did it and you're very good at what you do, and I think once you have some customers.
Speaker 3:Obviously word of mouth becomes so. So for business owners listening, or people want to start a business, you got to be able to exactly especially for your initial set of clients and that would be fabulous.
Speaker 3:And also another thing like you guys want other people to speak with, you didn't just start a business in something that you had no idea about. You had years of accounting, finance, accounting. You came in and messed up what we had and just for those listening, just so you know, three years after that we sold the company. And the first thing that when we had the company, so so, and the first thing that when we we have to be diligence with that choir I remember in downtown san jose we met with pwc and they brought in like four or five accountants and cpas and they were looking at everything in our numbers and actually you know he was helping, you know you help us with all that, all the documents, and they couldn't find anything wrong. I mean, they have some questions, but so I do, you know, appreciate the work you helped us with back into this team.
Speaker 3:But my point was sorry side note there. When you're starting a business, you have even even if you're 27, 28, you have three, four years under your belt, but if you have an education or you've done something, and that is something you can package and offer, so just think of it. It is a new business but you're not a new person. You have skills, you have expertise and you have your network. So all of those are going to really help you out in that initial phase of being a customer and getting the word out.
Speaker 2:Yep, definitely Thank you. And so, because building your own company or business takes so much time, how do you balance, or what do you recommend for people when they're trying to balance business and home life and all of that?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's hard. I was at a network meeting with a business owner and I spoke with two people. One of them was saying I started IT consulting and oh my God, I'm studying so much Chinese. They were like Cisco and he's used to it really. Of them saying I, I started, I think, consulting and oh my god, I'm sitting so much chinese people cisco, he's used to the ruler.
Speaker 3:And I said my friend, let me tell you very similar. You know, I have your own family. You're gonna put the time if you want, if you want to be a solopreneur and keep things sort of simple, but if you want to build a business and hire people that's what you want to do you've got to put your time about 40 hours or more time. So just go in the business with that mindset. I'm not saying you have 80 hours to read every week, but it's not 40 hours either.
Speaker 3:I was talking to another person at Bayview and I said are you starting your own business? And she said no, I want to have a work-life balance. I don't want to start my own business. I see my boss and he's just it's just too much, it's just too stressful. And I said sure, so you know, I think you can have an easy life and then potentially there's a layoff. You can have a hard season in your life where you put time and effort and build something that you would be proud of and that would be financially rewarding so those you know those are, those are some options, but I think it does.
Speaker 3:It does you know? My motto is work hard, play hard, but you also have to be balanced. You know you have a family. You gotta talk about the family, particularly mentally that I read that I learn that I exercise all these things. We know healthy diet, but it's hard to balance. I don't know if there's perfect balance, but sometimes you have to sacrifice your own thing for your own life.
Speaker 3:Let me go back and address that. That's how I view it, sorry. The last thing is when, early on, when we had young kids, my wife, she took a hit on her career and stayed with the kids and now, as I was working, I didn't have as much quality time or as much time helping her. She's amazing. She's the same amazing woman. Later, when the kids went to school, she went back and finished her degree and then and and now she actually had no career change. She's not on social, but she was a teacher and got her master's and you know I I did in that phase where she went back to school and I had no responsibility so you know it's a team so you have have to know that, in my mind, for entrepreneurs you're an entrepreneur especially Prioritize what you're going to do.
Speaker 3:Maybe one piece of advice and less leisure time, don't be too boring, don't be, you know, just maybe a little less leisure time, less video games, less such like video games. I'm not judging, maybe just a little bit, but all us you get. You have three hobbies. Okay, maybe one hobby for the first time, right? So those are decisions, um, you have to make for yourself yeah, no, I agree, and so right now.
Speaker 2:So you have started with ferris I would love if you would just share a little bit about that with the listeners and where you're at now, maybe what the plans are if you want to share. And then, do you also still own a company in Dubai or did you sell that one?
Speaker 3:Yeah, we do actually own a Dubai branch. It's a digital transformation and analytics. It's a digital transformation and analytics. Actually, it's now offices in the US, dubai and Germany and working still with data analytics and knocking platforms, which is a personalization and activation. So that is I'm more of a board. I'm a chairman of the board. I'm not involved day to day in that business and where I'm spending all this hard work I'm talking about is in this startup with Paris venture. So I'm not involved in that business. It was. It was first.
Speaker 3:I was thinking I was writing a book about my years in software value and my years in startups here in the whole lot, and then a friend of mine said why don't you give me some videos? And that's how this whole thing started. And I had no idea how difficult this thing is to produce content frequently and to produce a daily newsletter and then videos and shorts and live streams, and to produce a daily newsletter and then videos and shorts and live streams. So it's been a steep learning experience, but I think it's just shorter.
Speaker 3:So I know what our mission is to be the number one source for entrepreneurs as far as part of entrepreneurs in the services and consultant space. We want to build and grow seven and eight-figure businesses. So we're not talking a lot about product, we're not talking a lot about things outside of services and consulting, but I think a lot of the content is still applicable. So that's what we're doing on the YouTube channel and also on our website, the Daily Newsletter. Yeah, now I'll link both of those in the show notes, because there are such great videos and also on my website, the Daily Newsletter.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, now I'll link both of those in the show notes, because there are such great videos on YouTube, especially and I like that they're not super long, because I feel like people's attention span these days aren't super long. So they're great videos with very specific information. And I love your website. When you just go up to, I think it's like learn, and then there's all these different categories that you can choose from mindset anything. So that's that's really helpful. And, you know, just for people being able to learn in this way, where most people, you know, used to have to pay to go to school, get an MBA, like, like I did, when now it's like youtube offers such great free content from people who've actually done it, you know so absolutely, and we have.
Speaker 3:We do have. Yeah, most of the videos are for five minutes, we have some 15 minutes, but we do have on wednesdays, every wednesday, at 1 pm eastern, 10 am pacific, we have a live stream basically another topic, and then we answer the question that we're all right. So that is more of an open forum, more like the podcast style, but it's really for the last three, four years we've been so. Last three, four weeks we've been talking about advisors to your point. There's a lot of, there's a lot of good advice out there. There's a lot of stuff on youtube.
Speaker 3:You don't have to pay a lot to get that initial understanding, or maybe foundation, foundation understanding of any topic, and then I think at one point you might need to get a paid advisor for a specific thing. But leverage all the good content out there, including Angela's podcast. You can learn and apply or just you know exactly what I was talking about about it. You know, if you're just into this, this acquisition syndrome, it could be like book acquisition syndrome, gear acquisition syndrome or youtube. You know, I'm just acquiring and I'm not typically doing anything with it. So what I'm going to do and then apply.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly Now that's. I used to do that too, where I would just have all this information that I wouldn't actually take action. So then it's like, and your brain can only hold on to so much of that information. So it's really good if you can do, if you can watch a video and then take some action or at least like write out your next steps or something that you're going to do. And so something I know that you've been really passionate about and like such a good role model with is like giving back. So I would love if you could just talk about how you've done that, how you've incorporated it into your business and all of that yeah, you know it's.
Speaker 3:I like to make it like like another guy and down. You know I'm a capitalist at heart, um, and at the same time I think it's important to share and live a life of service. So so it's hard when you're a business owner, you're starting. I know you don't have that time, you don't have any resources to maybe make a financial profit. You should not help others.
Speaker 3:But I think each one of us can find someone who is maybe less perverse than they are in the mean In something that we can offer. It could be a substitute, could be going to the Habitat for Humanity, could be going and donating blood and on it and the lifelong blood donors, so the one here for the Red Cross. With every donation you can save up to three lives. So that doesn't cost you a penny. It costs you about an hour and a half of your time. That is great if you're eligible to go to the church. So I think having that mindset, that philosophy, if you will, of helping others and being of service with whatever you have, even if it's slow, I think it's important. A lot of people will say, oh, when I make it, when I make a lot of money, when I have no time. I mean, if you don't build that habit of service and helping others and sharing um, it seems to be harder. I think it would be harder to do it when we were more famous and more successful in the Gulf of Europe.
Speaker 3:So, a lot of people help. As we talked about this, a lot of people help us, and so many people, whether it's parents and siblings and family, or our professional network, or just people, sometimes competitors, you know, know, you see at an event. So I think it is our the rent. I think the holiday service, the rent we pay on earth, is the service. So so yeah, let's you know go out and build a business and make a lot of money and help others yeah, yeah I love that yeah, my, my oldest daughter.
Speaker 2:She just spent her first year of college and in their senior year of high school, every senior is required to do a project where it gives back to the community, and so she and her friend worked at a food bank on the weekends for like a month or two and like helped cook and did all the shifts, and I just think that's so important to really understand that. And you know, because I think what you're saying is true A lot of people think, oh, I'll start donating or I'll start doing something once I'm here. But it's like getting yourself into the habit, even if it's, you know, donating $10 or whatever, just like starting to build that into your routine.
Speaker 3:And validating the culture of the business and you know we used to open our books and we had actually, especially as we got better and we got better profitability, we had a multiple percent of our total revenue is what we used to donate every year as a business.
Speaker 3:And I would ask the team members like, just let me know what's non-profit? So we elevate not a significant amount, and we were so fortunate that we were able to do that and we would make those contributions on behalf of our team and people felt great about it right and early on. We couldn't do that, but if we did for example, we had a project for a non-profit we would get a a standard rate or we give you know in terms of someone who you know you were in visual marketing, so we would give. Maybe we would put together a visual marketing plan for you that would take maybe two hours on the weekend. So I think you know I feel great that I was in a position to do that and I did it to do that and I definitely recommend that you find something that you're passionate about, a cause or just something outside of your yeah, yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2:So as we wrap up, I will be linking your YouTube and website in the show notes, but if someone wants to work with you, learn from you, is there anything else that you would want to share or anything else that you would want to refer people to?
Speaker 3:Thank you, and I appreciate that you know you can just go to StartupWithFerriscom S-C-A-L-T-F-E-R-A-S, or the same thing on the YouTube app, startup with Feras, and you have access to all the other detail. We don't have anything dated. In the future we might, but as of the time of this recording, everything is available. So I would love that, you know, we'd love for you to come out and check what we have. We do have one thing actually I mentioned, and what we have. We offer two, three, 30 minute sessions every week and people, please go on my calendar and set that up. No charge, no give x, no pitching, just 30 minutes to help those who want to start a northern businesses. I usually do a lot of listening and then give some, you know, some advice in the name of the direction, in a direction that we can, you know, have a specific end of the business. So those are available on the website as well yeah, that's great.
Speaker 2:That's amazing that people can just come get that advice from you, and, yeah, that's super helpful I only have one condition.
Speaker 3:I say whenever, as you make it and be more successful, do the same. That's the only thing I ask.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, no, that's great. Thank you so much for coming on and yeah, if there's anything else you want to add, definitely let me know.
Speaker 3:Okay, thank you. The one video I definitely want your audience to listen to is go on the channel, look, for we have a place on accounting. There's one video I say do not do accounting on your own. I'm not, I'm not just I'm not pitching as a service, but it is. I mean this is tax season and for those business owners who haven't done things properly, I mean you are going to waste so much and effort trying to find the receipts and the spreadsheets. My friend, I'm just a professional and focused on building a business.
Speaker 1:So check out this one video.
Speaker 3:If you don't want to check out anything else, don't do it. I mean, it was a painful video to record and it was a painful script to write, but it's true. And again, I appreciate what you did for us back in 2016, and I appreciate what you do today for us as well. So thanks a lot and thanks for hosting the conference.
Speaker 2:Thank you.