Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in training and development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Debbie Crouse, Founding Partner of CW Training and Consulting, located in Los Altos, CA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
At CW Training and Consulting, we help clients drive results with our professional skills workshops focused on people leaders and individual contributors. Our content focuses on planning, leadership, and team dynamics. We are especially good at helping learners with fundamentals. Examples of workshops for people leaders include The Art of Giving Feedback, Leading with Empathy, Effective Coaching, Leading through Change, and Decision-making that Sticks. We also offer topics such as Collaborating Virtually, Project Management, and Effective Meeting, among others. Check out our website for a full list of topics we have designed and delivered to date.
Most of our workshops are 2-4 hours long and are very interactive. Our learners give us kudos for the activities and breakouts - all designed so they can apply what they are learning IN the workshop and immediately when they return to work. They also like the cross-functional nature of the workshops (although we also work with intact teams). Our typical client is a small to medium-size business that does not have a learning and development team but values learning and needs to boost skills.
What makes us special is that the content of every workshop is developed to fit each client's unique culture & needs. No two clients receive the same content! Typical clients have people who are hungry to learn but don't have much time.
Tell us about yourself
I've been helping others improve their skills for my entire career. I started off as a business systems analyst implementing Oracle ERP systems. We taught manufacturing workers to use mice and enter data into client-server systems rather than batch processing in mainframes. Those who know technology will know that was a long time ago, but that was the very beginning! That role evolved into a series of positions in program management and business process improvement, where I was constantly helping others be more effective.
About ten years ago, I started consulting for Box, Inc. As a start-up, they had lots of recent grads and new managers who could use project management, decision-making, and process design skills. I enjoyed creating and delivering the content so much that I eventually decided to start a business that focused on professional skill building with a focus on medium-sized businesses that don't have an L&D department. The stars aligned at the time, and Jenny Warila agreed to be my business partner, and we formed CW Training and Consulting in 2016.
I really enjoy working with Jenny! We work side by side to delve into both the clients' business needs and the learning needs of their people in order to create straight-to-the-point professional skills content. The best part of our business is the variety of clients and topics that we create for them. I think I would be bored with one client and one topic!
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
I would say our biggest accomplishment was our ability to pivot from delivering 100% in-person workshops to 100% online. In particular, we shifted from typically leading 20 people per workshop in-person to series of workshops with 100+ attendees. We used the same techniques we would use for 20 people but online with a few small changes. It worked!
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
I am sure you've heard this from others. As a small business, it is difficult to manage multiple hats. In this day and age of social media, you could spend full-time promoting and posting online. That doesn't give either of us tons of energy.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
I suggest to anyone who is considering moving from a corporate job to gig consulting or a small business to have that first client lined up. It is much easier to make a move with a client lined up.
Second, make sure you understand what gives you energy and make time for it. One of the things I value about my partnership is that Jenny and I split the "multiple" hats of running the business. She's IT, and I'm Accounting, for example.
Lastly, don't forget self-care. Running your own business can be stressful, but we all have the power to create boundaries. For example, I do not respond to clients on the weekends or after hours - unless it is a specific project that requires planned availability. That time is my family time.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
It's been a lot more fun for me to be a partner. We have the side gigs that we do on our own but have a great time working with each other on our shared business.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: http://cwtrainingandconsulting.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DebbieChildsCrouse/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/debbiechildscrouse/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbiechildscrouse/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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