In this episode of Build Momentum, we are joined by Jim McVety. Jim is the managing partner of First Step Advisors, a consulting company that builds the capacity of companies that serve education, whether they are nonprofit or for-profit providers, and improves their vision of growth while aligning that vision through strategic planning. Jim is also an experienced sales and marketing communication specialist who is responsible for his client's success in all areas of education.
Jim hosts a podcast called “Jim Questions Everything” where he asks people in all walks of life (from educators to industry leaders to celebrities) to weigh in on topics like education, family, or culture; and what it takes to make sense of the world.
Some Questions I Ask:
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
Quotes:
"Especially in early stage companies, [leaders] get enamored with their own creativity and they rely on a neat factor—’Hey, isn't this neat that I can do this!’—but what district leaders really want to hear is that you're paying attention to what they need, to what their staff needs, what their teachers and their students need.”
“The 2-minute drill becomes a really meaningful way to drive relevance and meaning and connection to the district leaders that companies are hoping to serve. I find it to be an effective, fascinating exercise.”
“Be your authentic self. Build that script, narrate your story—and then let it go. Don't work from a script, work from your story. Think about the key points you want to convey, and it will come naturally to you. … And that's what's gonna make it successful.”
“Give yourself a chance to tell your story from your story, not from your script. That’s my visionary advice. And from a practical standpoint, I say, practice, practice, practice in all the different kinds of conditions you might find yourself: sitting, standing, big room, small room, mask on, mask off. If you practice, you will be ready. So bring your story and practice and you'll be good to go.”
Connect with Jim McVety:
The First Step Advisors website
Stay in touch with Sarah Williamson:
Free Case Study Guide
SWPR GROUP Website
LinkedIn
Stay in touch with Chad Bolser:
LinkedIn
About "The Secret to Transformational Leadership," which Sarah co-authored with Dr. Quintin Shepherd:
Transformational Leadership Secret website
Purchase the print or ebook
In this episode of Build Momentum, we are joined by Jim McVety. Jim is the managing partner of First Step Advisors, a consulting company that builds the capacity of companies that serve education, whether they are nonprofit or for-profit providers, and improves their vision of growth while aligning that vision through strategic planning. Jim is also an experienced sales and marketing communication specialist who is responsible for his client's success in all areas of education.
Jim hosts a podcast called “Jim Questions Everything” where he asks people in all walks of life (from educators to industry leaders to celebrities) to weigh in on topics like education, family, or culture; and what it takes to make sense of the world.
Some Questions I Ask:
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
Quotes:
"Especially in early stage companies, [leaders] get enamored with their own creativity and they rely on a neat factor—’Hey, isn't this neat that I can do this!’—but what district leaders really want to hear is that you're paying attention to what they need, to what their staff needs, what their teachers and their students need.”
“The 2-minute drill becomes a really meaningful way to drive relevance and meaning and connection to the district leaders that companies are hoping to serve. I find it to be an effective, fascinating exercise.”
“Be your authentic self. Build that script, narrate your story—and then let it go. Don't work from a script, work from your story. Think about the key points you want to convey, and it will come naturally to you. … And that's what's gonna make it successful.”
“Give yourself a chance to tell your story from your story, not from your script. That’s my visionary advice. And from a practical standpoint, I say, practice, practice, practice in all the different kinds of conditions you might find yourself: sitting, standing, big room, small room, mask on, mask off. If you practice, you will be ready. So bring your story and practice and you'll be good to go.”
Connect with Jim McVety:
The First Step Advisors website
Stay in touch with Sarah Williamson:
Free Case Study Guide
SWPR GROUP Website
LinkedIn
Stay in touch with Chad Bolser:
LinkedIn
About "The Secret to Transformational Leadership," which Sarah co-authored with Dr. Quintin Shepherd:
Transformational Leadership Secret website
Purchase the print or ebook
Hello and welcome to Build Momentum where we help education organizations, blow past their competitors with strategies that make an impact. We think beyond traditional press releases and generic communication tactics, and seek out big, bold ideas create meaningful results for our clients. I'm your host, Sarah Williamson. And I've spent more than 15 years in public relations for the education sector, where our team has learned what works, and what doesn't when it comes to PR from launching groundbreaking new industry awards to landing sought after panels at most prestigious shows. We absolutely love this stuff. But the best part is, we have an opportunity to interview some of the smartest people we know who share their knowledge and strategies for success right here on the show. If you enjoy what you hear, we would so appreciate if you please take a moment just drop us a review on whatever platform you listen. And if you want to learn more about us, visit swpr-group.com. Thanks so much for tuning in today. Let's dive into the show. On today's episode, we have Jim McVety, the managing partner of First Step Advisors. Jim, it's so great to have you on the show today. Welcome.
Jim McVetty:Thank you so much. It's such a treat to be here. I'm really excited to be a part of the show.
Sarah Williamson:Absolutely. So tell us more about First Step Advisors, would you mind sharing more about what you do?
Jim McVetty:I'd be delighted thanks for asking First Step Advisors, they'll tell you two parts of the story. First is what we do, I feel like I should lead with that there's three ways in which we engage with education companies first and strategic planning. So if you have a big issue, and you need somebody to think really hard about that issue, and give you recommendations, that's what we do, might be in the form of customer research, interviews, market segment analysis, there's a lot of strategic planning that we can offer to clients. The second is in marketing. So we will become either the full or part time marketing operation for companies, particularly those who are in a turnaround situation, or in an early stage growth situation. And the third is an outgrowth of those first two pieces where we were building capacity of companies, and they were growing quickly. They needed leadership in place. And so we built an executive search function. So we help find and appoint talent into leadership positions. So those are the three areas in which we engage with companies. And often people ask, Well, how did you come by the name First Step Advisors. That's because when we found it about 12 years ago, I was struggling to call it something, too. I call it Jim McVety consultants or McVety associates. And as I was falling asleep the first night, my daughter had just taken her first steps that day. And I thought, you know, that's a methodology, people often ask, well, what's the first step we should do and is no, my daughter was, in my mind, I thought, you know, that could be a good name for a company. And here we are 12 years later. So that's first step advisors in a nutshell,
Sarah Williamson:That's a great name. I also think it's so interesting that you've added on all these different services over the years with now kind of the recruiting piece, not recruiting necessarily, but placement piece, I'm finding in my role, it just all kind of starts to flow naturally. You just you get to know people, and then all of a sudden you see positions open, it just is starting to happen for us to where we're able to support here and there. So it just makes sense. So you're brilliant to put a structure behind your work. That's pretty smart.
Jim McVetty:Well, I appreciate that brilliance. Not often a word associated with me, but I'll take it today. That's a good Friday word association. I appreciate it.
Sarah Williamson:Yeah,
Jim McVetty:It is a function of growth. You know, we had been doing that informally for a good long while. We realized if we put some structure to it, if we use a tech stack to support it, and we have a good methodology behind our research, particularly in support of diversity, equity and inclusion, which is really important in our space right now. And I think we have a lot of value to add. And it's in keeping with our mission of building the capacity of those companies that serve education.
Sarah Williamson:Yeah, that's great. That's so smart. One day, I'll have to have you back on we'll talk about your structure and how you do that.
Jim McVetty:It's good. Thanks. Next Episode.
Sarah Williamson:Yeah. So today, I know you work with Doug Roberts at the Institute for education, innovation, one of our clients as well. And that's actually where we met at the Supe's Choice Award. So shout out to Doug and Supe's Choice. I know you help many the companies who participate at IEI to perfect what Doug calls the two minute drill. For those of our listeners who don't know what that is, would you mind sharing what a two minute drill entails?
Jim McVetty:Yeah, I'd be delighted. It's one of my favorite pieces of the whole MIEI experience. The two minute drill is an opportunity for participating companies to address a roomful of superintendents and senior level district administrators. And that two minutes is yours exclusively, to that very select group of district leaders. In that two minutes. You have no props, no slides, no gimmicks, it's just you and your organization's story. And it becomes a really meaningful way to drive relevance and meaning and connection to the district leaders that companies are hoping to serve. I find it to be effective. fascinating exercise, and well worth it.
Sarah Williamson:Yeah, absolutely. I feel like any industry could totally benefit from a two minute drill. It's essentially an elevator pitch who couldn't benefit from perfecting an elevator pitch? I mean, I certainly could. So let's talk about that. I want to know, how do you do that? How do you start when a company comes to you and says, I want to work on my two minute drill? Where do you start with them? Well, the first step, and in fact, I have a call scheduled just after this interview to coach somebody one or two minute drill. So the timing is perfect. Yeah, the first step is actually to hear their story. So I give companies a chance to give me a dry run. And I will listen to their version of a two minute drill or two minute pitch. And you know, it's interesting, you see, effort being put in by every participating company. But oftentimes, that effort is a little bit dismissed, directed, or out of sequence. So one of the first things I do is start to unpack the story into its big components. The first off, what I find that companies fail to do is name themselves in their story. So they might talk about how the fact that they were once an educator or married to an educator, and they get down the story before they have even named their company, they get further into the story before they really name what it is they're doing and the impact they're having. So one of the things about a two minute drill is you have to be really clear in your sequencing and in your blocking. So a lot of times we'll go through the exercise, and then we'll break it all down into into parts, and then we'll reassemble it and put it into a better place. Alright, so you hear their pitch, they're not talking about themselves, you try to figure out how to make it work, then how do you put the pieces back together? Like do you have a framework for you want to start with this? You want to start with that? Like, tell me your framework?
Jim McVetty:Yeah. And Doug and IEI has a really good framework for this. So he talks about a couple of key components, including naming what you do. But I think one of the big things is companies have to really name the issue that they address or the problem that they solve. So oftentimes, in it's interesting, especially in early stage companies, they get enamored with their own creativity. And they rely on a neat factor, Hey, isn't this neat that I can do this, but what district leaders really want to hear is that you're paying attention to what they need, to what their staff needs, what their teachers and their students need. So need has to become a central focus to your two minute drill. And you have to describe how what you're doing addresses the specific needs of a district. So when we break it down, we often start with a very short origin story. This is how we started. And more importantly, this is why we started it was to address a specific need. We like founders who came into their business because their child struggled with a certain issue, or their classroom was under resourced or under supported in a specific area, or their school, or their district had a need that they couldn't address on their own. So those origins stories become really important. And they derive meaning and relevance to those districts. But then you have to get into the how to how do you address a need in literacy? How do you improve reading outcomes? How do you address a need in social emotional learning? How do you improve wellness outcomes? How do you address a need and communications? So then how do you improve facilitation of information and deliver context when you're connecting teachers, students, and families. And so what you'll see I just did there was tried to pair the need to an impact. So if we've defined the need in a two minute drill, we have to define our impact the specific way in which we improve and address that need, if you can do that you can really get to into the hearing of district leaders, and they're going to want to spend more time with you as a result.
Sarah Williamson:Yeah. So I'm super curious. So there's so many companies out there right now, and social emotional learning. And in digital curriculum. I mean, you can name any topic in education right now. And it's flooded. But particularly, I think SEL is one of those where people just sort of say, Oh, it's just another SEL company. How are these companies? How do you support them in differentiating their message?
Jim McVetty:It's a great question. And actually SEL is a really good example of how we have to be careful in our industry, when it comes to our positioning. And that really shows up in these two minute drills. You know, because SEL is very popular right now. And unfortunately, that gets construed as a trend. And if you think back in the education industry, we do tend to get caught up in trends. So I'm old, so I can speak back to No Child Left Behind. You know, 20 plus years ago, when that legislation was passed, every industry provider started naming themselves as an NCLB solution a No Child Left Behind solution to the point where its value was diminished, just because we were washing out each other in that language. We saw it again in Common Core more recently, and unfortunately, we're seeing it now. In SEL I've got a lot of companies coming to me They are tangential, or maybe adjacent to the SEL space, but they see the emphasis. And so they start trying to associate themselves there. And I offer a lot of caution around that. If you're going to be in the SEL space, you have to be authentic about it, you can't simply paste a sticker onto your product and declare it as an SEL solution. So we have to be really, really careful about that positioning. And if you want to differentiate, you have to be clear in the space you play in inside of SEL. So meaning there are folks who do assessment, there are folks who do curriculum, there are folks who do training, and then there's levels within each of those. So when you're doing your two minute drill, and you're in the SEL space, for example, you have to go further than naming yourself as a social emotional learning solution. You have to be specific it to be precise in what you do and how you describe it. That's the only way you're gonna help them understand what to say, then the only way you're going to help superintendents understand, do you address a need? And can you drive impact? So I think that precision is really key inside sel. Of course, that holds true for just about any space in the education industry.
Sarah Williamson:Yeah, I agree with that. I also even think when you're setting up the problem for a company like an SEL company, it's basically superintendents have heard ad nauseum, we have a challenge, we have a mental health crisis, you don't need to go on and on about the problem, they get it. It's more about the nuanced problem within the area where your product serves. So it's focusing on that, okay, for assessments, whatever, or for this specific instance of the problem, like getting really granular about that problem. What
Jim McVetty:I think that's helpful. Yeah. So I think being granular is helpful, for sure, I would endorse that. Because that gets to this specificity, it gets to the precision in what you're doing. But I guess I also want to be clear that it has to be relevant, there's actually two things I want to emphasize. One is relevance. So make sure you're relevant not to SEL in general, but to a specific space or a segment within SEL. But the other thing I want to emphasize is that we can only be deficit based when we're talking to district leaders. So we can't come in and say to a district or a collection of district leaders, here's what you don't have. And here's what you can't do. And here's what you're not performing, you might imply some of that, but I'd like companies to be really asset based to think about what could be how far we can go. And together, we can thrive. And I think superintendents want that right now, because you know, a lot of addressing SEL needs is around things like anxiety, self regulation, healthy relationships, and for sure we're experiencing deficits across all those areas. But we're also talking about driving health and wellness and improvement, and all the things that are right about education. So I'd love to see a little bit more asset based framework and how we position those things.
Sarah Williamson:Yeah, I mean, who would want to have someone a company come in and tell them you've been doing everything wrong, we have the be all end all solution for you. I mean, nobody wants to hear that. Any person, you get a phone call from a sales rep, you don't want to hear how you're wrong. And they're the perfect solution. Because no one's perfect. It's a partnership. And let's talk about what we can be together, not what we aren't right now. I love that.
Jim McVetty:Yeah, that's absolutely right. I work with a company and they've been an IEI member in the past. And the thing I love about this group is, unlike other SEL assessment providers who focus on helping a district find out what's wrong with a kiddo. And they've actually used that language, this company really helps you find out what's right, with a kiddo and then builds on
Sarah Williamson:Oh, I like that
Jim McVetty:builds on that. And I'll tell you what, they're doing a fabulous job, and they're experiencing a lot of growth.
Sarah Williamson:Cool. Do you mind sharing what company that is,
Jim McVetty:I'd be delighted the company is called Aperture Education, longstanding client of mine. I've been at IEI and will be there again. And I think the culture of their organization from the top down, has made it a point to talk about all that's right, with education. And all that can be achieved if you put together the right pieces, from assessment to strategies to measuring outcomes, and driving interventions. And in their case, they're really intentional about identifying all those things that are asset based inside a kid that they can build on. So remains aligned to the castle framework, of course, but it's so progress oriented, and asset base that really resonates with district leaders. And I think there's a good lesson in there, whether you're in SEL, or literacy, or math or communications, really any sector, we need that positivity. We need those founders to come at this with a sense of energy and enthusiasm, you know, grounded in reality and in the difficult challenges that schools and districts are facing, but really bringing that optimistic view, I think is just what this industry needs. And that's just what district leaders are looking for.
Sarah Williamson:Okay, so we've all been there, waiting until the very last minute to pull together a conference proposal for an important upcoming industry event, you know, that dreaded moment when you realize you've put this off until that reminder, email pops up in your inbox on what is most likely already a busy day. So you pull something together, read it over, and you think this is pretty good, you hit submit, and you don't think about it for another three months. Then all of a sudden, when it's completely slipped your mind, you get the email you were hoping wouldn't come. Thank you for applying, we received hundreds of submissions, and we regret to inform you that your proposal was not accepted. But we still encourage you to register for the conference and purchase a booth. That rejection can be deflating, and it definitely gets old when it keeps happening over and over. Trust us. We've been there too. We know how you feel. But the good news is, we've learned what works and what doesn't work when submitting proposals. And we've created a framework for success that has dramatically increased our acceptance rate. It all begins with just a few simple shifts to land significantly more of those Congratulations, your proposal has been accepted emails. If you're ready to up your proposal game, and start landing some big airtime at industry conferences, go to swpr-group.com and click on the Contact Us button and let us know you're ready to get started. Proposal season kicks off in a couple of weeks. And we want you ready. Totally agree. I love that approach. Okay, so that's really helpful. I'm curious. Also, Jim, if you can share some examples of companies who have really effective two minute pitches or any specific things or strategies they used within those two minute pitches that were powerful that you could share with our listeners?
Jim McVetty:Yeah, there's some things that I really look for in a two minute drill. And you'll find that some of the most successful companies in these scenarios bring at least a couple of these things to the table. The first is authenticity. So if you are standing in front of a room of superintendents and district leaders, they need to know that you are the real deal that you bring your sense of self to this process, whether you're a founder and executive, a sales associate, you have to be committed to the work and to the mission of the organization. And you have to do that authentically. That's really important. This is an example of a company that's been with IEI for a good long while it's called Think law, and their founder, Collins Seale is a terrific, terrific founder. And luminary. And most importantly, he brings his authentic self to this work. And as a result, he's driving deep and meaningful relationships across the board. There are other companies like Core Insights, which is an early stage operator, but their founder, Toni (Scoble), she also brings a sense of self, and alignment to mission that really is starting to resonate with districts. But you know, the other thing that you have to bring is a little bit of your personality. And there's a company called Jupiter that's been without IEI for a few sessions now. And their presenter brings a lighter touch is a little bit of humor and humility, and really resonates because that's his true self. Now there in the LMS, and SI space, it can be harder to assign a specific mission to an LMS si s company, you know, if you're talking about teen suicide, which some of the companies that IEI address for social emotional learning, which we've talked about are critical thinking, and equity, and access, those things are part and parcel to the mission of districts, when you talk about LMS s is they're functional, they're operational, they're systems. But if you can bring yourself and your persona and your personality, you can start to have the basis for really strong relationships. And Jupiter's done that really well. There's a whole host of companies that have really brought their sense of self, their mission and their full personality to bear at night. I think that's really important. And that's what works,
Sarah Williamson:I was actually going to suggest that too, I think authenticity and just being human, I think if you express your vulnerability, or just a sense of humor, I think that can make a huge difference in how you connect with people. And I think that's how I've gotten all my clients is just general authentic, oftentimes, you know, sense of humor is involved and just being authentic with people.
Jim McVetty:Being authentic is what it's all about. And right that humor is has also got to be authentic. You know, one of the things that I talk, you know, I rely on humor a lot, because I like to laugh, and I like to make people laugh. So it comes pretty naturally. But you know, as we think about this, and for your listeners who are starting to think about their own two minute pitch, and how would they approach this? I want to offer up a maybe a cautionary tale, which is I worked with a company that had a brilliant script, they wrote this out perfectly. I mean, they really hit all the marks that we're talking about in our practice session. They were spot on, but you know, they got wedded to the script, and they started to focus more on did they get the right sequence of words and less on am I telling the right story. And so as a result, they showed up and they just weren't as strong as they could have been. So here's my bit of advice, which is, Be your authentic self, build that script, narrate your story, and then let it go. Don't work from a script, work from your story. Think about the key points you want to convey, it will come naturally to you. And if we do the things that you talked about, which is being your authentic self, the script doesn't matter anymore. It's all about the story. And that's what's gonna make it successful.
Sarah Williamson:Totally agree, any other key learnings you've had with too many drills over the years that you want to share is that kind of the basic one,
Jim McVetty:that's the big one, the big one is give yourself a chance to tell your story from your story, not from your script. And then the other one, if that's my sort of visionary advice, my practical one is practice, absolutely practice, record yourself on audio, on video, stand up at your desk, practice presenting in a mask, because you just might be in a situation where you are presenting to a room and wearing a mask. So it's interesting, but it's got real consequences, because we've had people practice and they're great. But then they get in the live setting. And they didn't realize they'd be wearing a mask. They hadn't practiced with a mask. And so they were thrown off by that. So from a practical standpoint, I say, practice, practice, practice in all the different kinds of conditions you might find yourself sitting, standing, big room, small room, mask on, mask off, if you practice, you will be ready. So bring your story and practice and you'll be good to go.
Sarah Williamson:Awesome. Good advice. I love this. Okay, so, Jim, where can our listeners learn more about you or connect with you?
Jim McVetty:It's nice of you to inquire about that. So there's a few ways they can find us at firststepadvisors.com. That's just a little bit about our business. You can find me on LinkedIn, it's pretty easy Jim McVety. I'm pretty findable there. I have also a little podcast, I don't mind giving a shout out.
Sarah Williamson:I was gonna say yeah, I noticed you have a podcast to tell me about it.
Jim McVetty:Yeah, it's kind of fun. It's called Jim Questions Everything. It's not a series. It's just as I come across people that I want to learn more from or about issues that I want to learn more about the conceit there is that I view the world through the lens of a white cisgendered. Male, some privilege, actually a lot of privilege. And, you know, it took me a long time to start to question what does that mean in terms of how I see the world and how I show up in the world? So on that podcast, Jim questions, everything. I'm very intentional about engaging with people who have different experiences, different levels of privilege, and most importantly, a different lens through which they can view the world. And that's helped me become, I think, a better person, a better storyteller, a better consultant, and coach, and I love doing it. So those are the places you can find me. And of course, you'll find me at just about every institute for education, innovation, working with companies there because they are a good lot of fun.
Sarah Williamson:Yes, I will see you in February in Puerto Rico.
Jim McVetty:Looking forward to it. In the meantime, thank you for having me here. It's been great.
Sarah Williamson:Yeah you too. This has been fun. Thanks, Jim. Thanks so much for tuning in today. If you enjoyed the show, if you wouldn't mind leaving a review, we'd be so grateful. This helps other listeners find and learn about our show. And please reach out if you're interested in learning more about how we can elevate the leaders of your organization with our PR services. If you'd like you can even shoot me a direct email at Sarah sarah@swpr-group.com. I look forward to hearing from you and we will see you next time.