Whitney is one of the new folks on team SOCO. She’s a pretty awesome person and we’re super pumped to have her on board as our Director of Business Development (and first full-time hire!). We can’t wait to see all the cool stuff she’s going to accomplish here. But enough of us talking, we’ll let Whitney tell you about herself.
Who Do You Work For?
SOCO 🙂
Tell Us About What You Do. Brag a Little (50 words or less)
Business development & sales. Finding new members and expanding events at SOCO.
What Are Your Passions? What Do You Love Doing? Business or Personal.
Business – Developing relationships with people and a community.
Personal – Reading, walking with my husband and our dogs, visiting local breweries and biergartens.
What is one wealth building, debt elimination, or personal finance tip that you would share with the community?
I am definitely not the person to ask hahaha! (Whitney will like our personal finance boot camp!)
What’s Been The Hardest Part of Your Journey?
One of my passions is getting involved in the community. My husband and I moved a good bit, and it was difficult to get established in a community when you don’t have any contacts in the area. It was really challenging having to start over from square one repeatedly. We are happy to be back home!
What’s Been The Most Rewarding Part of Your Journey?
Usually some of the hardest parts are the most rewarding. I am thankful I was able to join and help build communities/relationships in the different places I lived. I always learn something new to take with me. There is nothing better than watching something you helped build flourish!
Ley’s an awesome human. You’ll see him at both 80808 and Bull Street. Ley does good work: he helps people facing mental illness and challenges. In many ways, his work pays homage to the legacy of Bull Street and the patients who received care in the South Carolina State Mental Hospital. We could go on about Ley, but we’ll let him do the talking.
Tell Us About What You Do. Brag a Little (50 words or less)
I am a behavior analyst, a gerontologist, and a small business owner. My specialties include behavioral gerontology and the behavioral presentations of neurological disorders, in addition to working with criminal offenders with intellectual disabilities. Primarily, I work with adults with a dual diagnosis of intellectual disability and mental illness living in community residential homes, providing behavior analytic services.
What Are Your Passions? What Do You Love Doing? Business or Personal.
Simply put, my passion professionally is helping people with unique challenges live higher-quality lives, whether they are 1 day old or 100+ years old.
Personally, my passion lies in becoming a global citizen through participating in my local community, advocacy for the silent, life-long learning, and trying novel experiences.
What is one wealth building, debt elimination, or personal finance tip that you would share with the community?
Treat your personal finances like a business. If your personal finances were a business, would you be open or closed?
What’s Been The Hardest Part of Your Journey?
I am a behavior analyst and a gerontologist – nothing less and certainly nothing more. I never set out to be a business owner. The ongoing challenges related to business strategy and business management, in addition to the continuing education related to navigating business ownership, are constant companions.
What’s Been The Most Rewarding Part of Your Journey?
The most rewarding part is knowing our team makes a positive difference when we work – every day. We are catalysts for happiness, promoters of success, and advocates for those who have no voice. Intrinsic value is difficult to quantify but to qualify personally, I would describe myself as an incredibly wealthy man.
How Has SOCO Supported You On This Journey?
Confidence. Support. Trust. Friendship. Guidance. Who has a thesaurus? SOCO has taken professional networking, dumped it in the trash, set it ablaze, and pushed it out to sea. SOCO is based on naturally occurring conversations, happening repeatedly over time, which form into friendships and true connectedness, as opposed to professional speed dating at networking events. From a small business perspective, SOCO will be an imperative component for the next levels of success I achieve, no matter what that may look like. It is impossible to overstate the benefits of being surrounded by other business owners who encompass the entire continuum of business, from conception to success (as identified by the person!).
Casey Kennedy is a practicing attorney and founder of Hogan Land & Title, a premier real estate title abstracting and genealogy services company. When she’s not flipping through old dusty deed books or driving to counties with no online records, she’s spending time with her adorable toddler, husband, 47 house plants, and two dogs. She’s a muralist, avid gardener, and enjoys cycling, kayaking, and hiking.
Cool! We have a few questions…
What jobs did you have before you landed where you are today?
I’ve lived many, many lives:
Deckhand on Commercial Fishing Boat in Kachemak Bay, Alaska
Barista
Assistant on an Alpaca Farm
Administrative Assistant
Planter at Family-Owned Greenhouse
Title Abstractor
Corporate Energy Associate
It’s been a wild ride so I’m sure I’m forgetting some, but I like to say I’m “well-rounded.”
What do you wish outsiders knew about your industry?
I wish outsiders knew how important quality title searches are to even the most basic real estate closings. A sloppy title search or a poorly researched family tree can give you information that looks right—but is fundamentally inaccurate.
What’s the #1 question clients or customers ask you?
It’s usually, “Can you do a title search in [rural location]?” So many rural counties in West Virginia and South Carolina have not scanned all of their records to a searchable website yet. Being able to conduct an in-person search in a dusty old office on short notice is typically what people are looking for.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned the hard way?
You have to teach people how to treat you. Boundaries are important in all relationships—personal and professional—and you lay the ground rules by how you respond to various situations. If you always answer immediately, your clients will always expect you to answer immediately. If you’re available by text, your clients will regularly text you. If you’re always the guy volunteering to stay late, you’ll be staying late a lot. There’s a balance between being dedicated and client-focused, while still maintaining healthy boundaries that are sustainable for life.
What’s one book, podcast, series, or movie you’d recommend…and why?
If you’re a true crime junkie like me, I can’t recommend the podcast “My Favorite Murder” enough. I’m a bona fide #murderino. Georgia and Karen are VERY funny, genuine, and when they’re not telling horrifying and bizarre crime stories, they’re taking you on a journey examining a wide range of social issues earnestly and with open minds.
What’s one way the SOCO community has shaped your life?
Honestly, SOCO saved my company (and my sanity) this year and that is no understatement. When courthouses closed in March, I was uniquely positioned in possibly the worst-case scenario for a title search company. The SOCO Community not only helped keep my spirits up with weekly Zoom meetings, but they also got down in the trenches with me with critical information needed to survive the complete standstill in work. Although I wouldn’t say we’ve fully recovered yet, we are still here and getting by, and I will never be able to thank Greg, Lynn, and the Community (and coffee) at SOCO enough for that.
What improvement do you hope to see in your own life in the next 12 months?
I really want to digitize/automate more of my workflow and systems. I still do a lot of menial tasks by hand that could all be automated. Attorneys have a tendency to be very behind in tech, and I’d like to think I’m not as bad as some, but I have a long way to go.
I’m a paid advertising and digital marketing guru who likes craft beer, video games, and playing music. I used to play in metal bands, and I’m looking forward to teaching my kids how to play when they get old enough. I’m always looking to expand my knowledge, and I’m always on the hunt for delicious food and craft brews.
Cool! We have a few questions…
What jobs did you have before you landed where you are today?
Salad Maker at The German Gasthaus
Supervisor at Taco Bell
Supervisor at UPS
Supervisor at Gamestop
Route Manager at Trugreen
Marketing Bitch at VOLT Lighting (Where I started my internet journey)
Various Agencies
Various Startups
What do you wish outsiders knew about your industry?
Paid advertising isn’t a silver bullet that’ll save a failing business. Businesses themselves actually have the best advantage when it comes to creating the most successful campaigns.
What’s the #1 question clients or customers ask you?
“How much should I spend?”
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned the hard way?
Perfectionism is the enemy. I allowed perfectionism to hinder me to the point where I never released a product I could’ve back in 2013. My perfectionism caused me to never launch, and someone else ended up doing it and making a killing doing it.
What’s one book, podcast, series, or movie you’d recommend…and why?
What’s one way the SOCO community has shaped your life?
SOCO has shown me there is a community of like-minded, progressive people here. Being around people who have similar interests and all seem to be striving to live our best lives keeps me motivated.
What improvement do you hope to see in your own life in the next 12 months?
I’m hoping to finish building out my business. I’ve evolved it and changed my agency over the years, and I haven’t been able to really scale up as a result. I think I’m closer than ever before, but I want to get things in scale mode within the next year.
Ben Landers is a Husband, Dad, and Teacher. When he’s not teaching or creating resources online, he loves to get active through camping, hiking, kayaking, surfing, snowboarding, or any other outdoor pursuit that he can manage to squeeze in. He’s also pretty handy with a camera and loves making videos and documenting fun trips and daily life with his family.
Okay, so, who are you?
I’m a Hubs of 13 years and a Dad to 3 kiddos 6 and under. Our life is definitely a circus, but we usually salvage some beautiful moments in the chaos of it all. I’ve been teaching Physical Education to Elementary kids at River Springs Elementary going on 14 years. In 2014, I started a teacher resource website to help out PE teachers and create content and resources to push the profession forward.
Cool! We have a few questions…
What jobs did you have before you landed where you are today?
First Job: Landscaping company doing yard work
Worked 6 years for Mungo Homes installing Sprinkler systems in the Columbia heat
Worked at a summer camp as the Tech Guru and Weekly Highlight Video Creator
Currently taking a break from this to focus on other stuff
Phys Ed Teacher 2007 – present
Online Content Creator and Membership Site Founder for PE Teachers
What do you wish outsiders knew about your industry?
Honestly, I wish everyone realized how real the opportunity is to start a business creating content in almost any niche or area of interest that you are passionate about. I think lots of folks who are discontent with their work should start creating content about something they love and are passionate about and try to turn it into a business through creating resources or a membership. It’s definitely not easy work, but I would rather work 50 hours a week doing something I love than 30 hours a week doing something I hate.
What’s the #1 question clients or customers ask you?
They ask, “How do you find the time to do it all?” I usually answer with a few tips like focus on one thing, prioritize your tasks, and batch your time for different types of work. But in the end, everyone has the same amount of hours in each day—it’s just a question of finding a way to use them in the best way possible to achieve whatever you want to do with your life.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned the hard way?
It’s a marathon, not a sprint…Starting a business takes time to gain traction, and there are a lot of hard and long hours. In our microwave society, we want everything to be delivered in 2 days, but the truth is change is hard, and it takes time. Most people will give up on something before they’ve put in enough work to realize the outcome they were hoping to reach. I have to constantly remind myself of this when I get impatient with the way things are going or how long it’s taking to learn something new, develop a new resource or product, or push out a new initiative.
Another big perspective shift is learning to love the process, sometimes it’s the journey over the destination, and if you can enjoy the journey more than the destination—you’ve pretty much figured out the best life hack there is.
What’s one book, podcast, series, or movie you’d recommend…and why?
My favorite Podcast is The Tim Ferris Show. It’s incredible. The most recent interview with Hugh Jackman is a great one to catch if you haven’t heard it; there are so many takeaways and valuable insights that he shared.
What’s one way the SOCO community has shaped your life?
For the first few years, I built my online business in coffee shops and the public library. But when I found SOCO, I was pumped to be able to have a sanctuary to get more focused on work with fewer distractions…unlimited beer and coffee had a slight impact on my decision as well :-). I enjoy the feeling of working in a place where there are so many other people working towards their goals and building something valuable as well—the hustle is contagious.
What improvement do you hope to see in your own life in the next 12 months?
As a PE Teacher, health and activity has always been one of my top priorities, but the whole quarantine situation with 3 kids has pretty much wrecked both me and my wife’s exercise habits…and most of our healthy routines we had in place before COVID. I’m hoping to get some of those routines back and build in some regular exercise, personal development, and mental health-focused times into my life over the next year.
