Welcome to The Good News with Angie Austin. Now, with The Good News, here’s Angie.
SPEAKER 04 :
Angie Austin here with The Good News along with Scott Montgomery, and we’re talking about his book, How Did You Get Here? Lessons of Unconventional Success. He also runs a successful business, and we’re going to talk today about being present, showing up, and also giving back to the next generation, helping to teach these younger kids. Welcome back, Scott.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, thank you. Thank you. It’s great to be back, and I love our conversations. I hope the audience is finding them beneficial. We’ve got a lot to share, right?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. You were talking about your own son. He just finished his first year of school along with mine as well. I think his last final is today. And so you were talking about giving back to him but showing up and how you have more success in front of your customers than behind an email.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, you know, it’s so true. Today I had a staff meeting. We had our quarterly business review from the first quarter with my – all the leaders of my team, and I invited my son and a few other folks that could benefit from seeing and being aware of what topics are covered and what we go over. And all of the folks that are on my team that we’re client-facing had progressive conversations. And the thing that I think we called out most is that in those parts of the QBR that we’re going over, they’re in front of the customer. The partnering and being available to your customers is is not done in email and it’s not done over the phone it’s done in person believe it or not and it’s so important for in a business like mine where we consult school districts and we’re helping i.t organizations as well as the businesses that my our children are going to graduate college from to go into being present and available in person is really a theme for today because it’s where we’re finding the most success and the most authenticity and growth leadership and opportunity And so I thought, yeah, let’s talk about that today because we’ve watched customers of ours sort of slip and fade away. And we start showing back up and saying, geez, it’s been a couple weeks since I’ve been here. When we show back up, oh, well, let me send more money your way. Let’s get some more help from you and let’s integrate you into our team and let’s make sure we’re working as a collective in partnership. Then you are being treated as a vendor and hoping to sell something. And I think it’s really important. that we talk about that as it relates to your son’s business, too. Let’s talk a little bit about what he’s doing with that shirt business of his.
SPEAKER 04 :
You know, his business name is Legend Vintage, and he started when he was 12. He’s 19 now, almost 20, so we’re going seven to eight years into this business now. And he got such a nice post on social media. I read it, and I even thanked the people. I don’t know them per se, but I said thank you for what you wrote on my blog. my son’s Instagram page and it says it showed a picture of my son’s store at sneaker con with all of his vintage because he started with sneakers like reselling high-end Nikes etc and we never bought a pair for him because you know these these shoes are sometimes over a grand and so you know you’re spending at least two or three hundred on a pair and then They go up in price and more than that in some cases. And we didn’t want to spend that much money to start his business. We’re like, we’re not buying you two $300 sneakers. You have to figure out how to do that on your own. So he started making money and using birthday money, Christmas money, and then making his own money. and reinvesting. And then he got into this vintage thrift. So now he’s got this mobile store and, um, he posted a picture of it and he ran into some people he’s been in business with for a while. And they couldn’t believe he had such a nice store with like flooring and would see a cedar ceiling and lights and, music and fans and heating and you know it’s really nice so anyway it says i gotta give kudos and flowers to legend vintage once again i’ve watched riley hustle during his lunch breaks at school to get to every possible event to grow his brand you know brother um super proud of everything you’ve built at such a young age your future is big And so I wrote to them and said that these are other business people that are adults because most of the people he’s done business with since he was 12. Well, they’ve been adults, you know, so a lot of grownups have known him. And so they are really proud of him. A lot of them, they’ll come up and talk to me and be like, I’ve seen your son and these events, you know, he does. They’re so labor intensive when he doesn’t have that, that trailer store, which they just built. He has to load everything up in an SUV or truck, every single cart and really heavy leather jackets and, NASCAR jackets and sweatshirts. And we’re talking like maybe eight racks full of clothing. Well, that’s hundreds of pounds of clothing that he has to drive up there. He has to first load it all up at our house. And then he’s got to drive to Boulder an hour away and unload and build all the racks, haul all the clothing by himself, sell all day long. He never sits. He And then he loads everything back up by himself, then brings it back home. And he has to unload it to leave us our vehicle and then take his car back to school. So they’re good 12 to 14 hour days when he does these events. And he’s done multiple events this month while he’s been in school. And right now he has like a 3.8 or 3.9 GPA. and he’s going to business school, and he has another job at Arc Thrift Stores where he works a few days a week, which, by the way, here’s my really cool update on all of this. So he had multiple events this month, and I’ve known the president and CEO of Arc Thrift Stores for many years, and what they do is they help people with cognitive deficits like Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, et cetera, find work. When he first started at Arc, there were only five ambassadors. I believe they have well over 500 now, of differently abled ambassadors. So it’s a huge nonprofit that helps people who are differently abled seek and find work that really fits their gifts. And really, their gifts are amazing because there’s such a joy in this organization because of the ambassadors. So anyway, my son works there, and he gets to work with ambassadors. And he’s, through the years of working with me, because I work with, you know, I do work with ARC, that he’s gotten to know the ambassadors and really has an affinity for kids who are young people that are, you know, different. And he loves it. He loves the ambassadors. Anyway, he asked the president CEO if he could meet with him because he wanted to ask him about maybe doing some shadowing. My My friend that is the president, CEO, Lloyd Lewis, went to Booth School of Business, the Booth School, University of Chicago, and it’s always in the top five of business schools, sometimes number one. And some of the big mucky mucks in the business world, that’s where they went. And so to make a long story short, He met with him on Monday, and he got hired for an internship with the president and CEO to learn about finance. And he kept him over that day to do the quarterly meeting on their financials. And Riley knows a lot of the business terms and the financial terms, and he was going over the P&Ls. And he’s like, Mom, this is how much it costs to open a store, and this is how much to give back to the community. And he’s just blown away that he’s getting this opportunity. So it’s Monday through Friday all summer long for four hours a day. He’s thrilled.
SPEAKER 03 :
That’s great news, and I’d like to go back to what you said about his work ethic and how he sets up the trailer, and then he’s on his feet all day. The two things that I wanted to really point out on that that I thought were really commendable is he’s clearly following the right habits and setting the goals high, but he’s also, back to the original opener for me, he’s being present to his customers. He’s on his feet all day, and he’s interacting with them like he is this new internship and those at the arc that need his mentoring and his mentorship. And it’s really important that people stay in relationship and they be present and in the moment, not stuck behind their phones, not hiding behind email, and certainly setting yourself up for those successes, following right habits, setting those goals. But I really love what you’re talking about because it’s about interactive behaviors and being in the moment physically. It’s so important in so many different businesses.
SPEAKER 04 :
You know, when you said that your business does better when you’re in front of the customers, I think back to his first job. It was at 15, and he worked at a Christian farm, and they did Cherry Creek Farmer’s Market. And the guy told Riley that he was, like, doubling and tripling their sales from the prior year because when you walk by these booths at the Farmer’s Market, people are on their phone reading a book. They’re not really engaging. Yeah. And you kind of just want to walk by and not interact with them. But Riley, he never sits. He stands. And he’s like, hey, I see you on your bike there. I’ll bet you could use a boost of energy. I’ve got fresh honey over here. Let me get you a sample. Yeah, brother. You’re riding that bike. You’re out of breath. Come on. Let me give you a little boost over here. I hear that. Yeah. One guy put a tip in the tip jar because there were tips for the kids. And he said, I’m putting a 10 in here.
SPEAKER 03 :
You get 800 results.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, he goes, I’m putting a $10 in here. I’m not even buying anything because he’s like, you are the best salesman at the market.
SPEAKER 03 :
I love it. Well, and it’s not even about salesman. It’s about the holistic opportunity of partnering with the customer, seeing what needs to be done to fulfill. And you’re there for a reason. So you can satisfy your goals, their goals, meet your objectives. And it all is so satisfying and so much more rewarding than just the transaction of an email or the transaction behind the scenes on the Internet. And I think for me, in what I wrote about and in my How You Go There workbook that’s a companion guide to the How Did You Get Here? Lessons of Professional Success, it’s about following those exercises and then tracking those results. I have found in my business, my full-time business, you’re talking about your son and his successes. There’s always a better result if you can be present and in person. And Zoom does count, I guess, when there’s certain times, but Just really, really wanted to use that as today’s theme because I think so many people miss that. And as my son comes home from college, he’s actually in the office today and he’s crafting up introductory emails. And I said, when you get any responses to those, you can rest assured you’re going to be on a plane to go meet with that customer. There’s our investment. Just like your son. Hey, I see you on the bike over there. Come over here and get some money because you clearly need to be recharged. You still have to set the email. You still have to set up the tent. You still have to set up the trailer. But once you’re there, be present and be with those customers. Such an important aspect of leadership and development and growth for the next generation.
SPEAKER 04 :
And when you said show up, you know, in that face-to-face interaction, et cetera, I put more into that. Showing up for me is not just like punching the clock that you are there. I remember when I was in high school, I worked at – Boulder Community Hospital. I went to school in Boulder and then went to CU. And when I went to high school and then went to CU. So I was there, I think, for seven years. And sweet little old ladies, they figured out that if you punched out at seven minutes until the top of the hour, you’d get paid the full 15 minutes. But if you punched out eight minutes before the top of the hour, you would not get paid for that full 15 minutes because it was every 15 minutes you got paid. Yeah. That’s not how you want to do it. They would be lined up at the, you know, to punch their time card right at the, just lined up, you know, and you stick it in and it punches the time. And so they’d want to do seven minutes before the hour, not eight minutes before the hour. And they would wait until that second. And then they’d all, you know, rush the time clock, you know, like click and then do it. It just made me laugh because, yes, and don’t get me wrong. These are all really great ladies.
SPEAKER 03 :
That’s not showing up.
SPEAKER 04 :
No, showing up is like actually doing a really good job to the best of your abilities every single day.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right. And not sitting on your phone at the tent where you’re trying to sell stuff at the local market. It’s actually engaging with the patrons. It’s trying to be progressive. And it’s a rewarding style and approach in any business, whether you’re at a farmer’s market, you’re at a consulting firm, or you’re you and I trying to spread what we’ve experienced to the next generation. It’s really, really important stuff. I love it.
SPEAKER 04 :
I love it, too, and I’m just so excited to see our kids. I mean, for your son to be able to get a response and to fly and meet with the client and for my son to work with a financial whiz who’s grown this company. They have over 30 stores in Colorado now. And to see how the business is run and how they’ve grown it. And then, but also for it to be a nonprofit where I just saw Charles Barkley the other day saying the big cars and big houses don’t matter. Like how much can I give back? How can I help change people’s lives? You know, fund scholarships and make a difference. And our good friend Jim Stovall, who’s written over 60 books now, that’s his big thing. He opened the Stovall Center for Entrepreneurship at his alma mater. And it’s just so cool to see people who get a sense of purpose through giving back. He said, every year when we do our scholarships, I ask for the one person, the next on the list, who didn’t get a scholarship. And I use that person to fuel me the whole next year because I want to be able to give more scholarships the next years.
SPEAKER 03 :
The next year, yeah. That’s really heartfelt. Yeah, that’s heartfelt, big time. So important.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, yeah, making the money and the giving back. And so I like it that there’s that added element of the nonprofit and working with people. All right, I want to make sure people can find you, Scott, and maybe your other business in addition to your books.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, thank you. Yeah, so you can find the consulting services firm. is www.WorldGateLLC.com, and we support staffing needs for the SLED markets, State Local Education Divisions. And my book and the companion guide can be easily found and purchased at HowYouGoThere.com.
SPEAKER 04 :
Excellent. Thank you, Fred. Thank you. Thank you.
SPEAKER 01 :
With Easter right around the corner, Arc Thrift is the perfect place to find great deals on Easter grass, baskets, bonnets, and those cute little dresses for Sunday school. You can decorate for the whole family gathering on a budget, from deviled egg dishes to Easter baskets, and still find those special items that make the day memorable. And coming soon is Arc Thrift’s famous secret jean sale. Watch the art thrift social channels for the secret Friday date because every pair of jeans in the store is just two dollars. That’s right. Rows and rows of jeans, including great brands like Levi’s and seven for all mankind from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. with new stock going out all day long. Spring also means gardening tools, sports equipment, and seasonal treasures hitting the floor. And remember, Arc Thrift stores are size-inclusive and even have fitting rooms open so you can find the perfect fit. Find a store near you at arcthrift.com and follow Arc Thrift on their socials so you don’t miss a secret jean sale. Arc Thrift, there’s a surprise on every aisle.
SPEAKER 06 :
Glendale, thanks for tuning in to KLTT, the Mighty 670.
SPEAKER 04 :
Hey, if you are just joining us, this is Angie Austin with the good news. Well, one of my kids is about to take the SAT again in April. You know, March 2, big SAT testing months for high school juniors across the country, making spring a great time for us to talk about the SAT and also resources for them. Joining us again is Priscilla Rodriguez, Senior Vice President with College Readiness Assessments. Welcome, Priscilla. Hi, thanks for having me. You are welcome. OK, so this is like I can’t even tell you how many doors this SAT can open for kids. But also, if you’re not prepared, how many it can kind of close for you. One of my kids in the last year was in a position where her grades were OK. And then they said she has ADHD and they and she has a scholarship for for athletics, you know, so great scholarship. And they said, you know what? We just really need to see a better SAT score from you for us to just let you in unless you have to jump through a whole bunch of hoops. And Priscilla, I cannot tell you what we had to go through because she just wasn’t a testing kind of person. So I know you have help for these kids. So let’s just first start off with the basics of why should students take the SAT? Because remember, during COVID, some of the colleges weren’t requiring it. So now why should we definitely have them take it?
SPEAKER 05 :
That’s exactly right. It sounds like you’re really you’re really loving this. And I appreciate a little bit about your family’s story. You’re exactly right. So before the pandemic, just about every college required a test score on the application post pandemic. That is not the case where students are now navigating a world where some require and some make it their choice to put a score or not.
SPEAKER 01 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 05 :
And while we worry, many worry that that could be confusing to students, they’re actually navigating it quite well and really thinking about the SAT as a tool. It’s, of course, a test. I’m not going to act like it isn’t, but it’s also a tool, right? It’s a tool that in just over two hours, it gives students and their families, high schools, colleges, a standardized way to understand what what they’ve learned in high school in the core and foundational areas of reading, writing, and math. And these are the research-backed skills that you need to be able to succeed at college and in career. So why now in a world where you can apply to colleges that say you don’t have to give us a score, why take the test? And millions of students still are. I think it’s for these two reasons. So one is for the application. Students rightly want to keep all their options open. If you have an SAT score, whether you took it once or maybe you took it twice as you practiced a little bit more and focused and tried to improve your score, you’ve got a score that allows you to apply anywhere, whether that school requires or makes it optional. That’s about just having your options open, not limiting anything for yourself. And for so many students, it’s not true for everyone, I’ll acknowledge, but for many students, their SAT score is a point of strength. They feel like it’s communicating something about what they’ve learned and what they can do that their high school GPA may not for any number of reasons, right? And so those students especially, you know, exercise the option and provide a score when colleges give them the choice. The second reason is about paying for college. So many families are understandably worried about how to pay for college once a student gets in. A lot of families don’t know that having an SAT score keeps all of your scholarship options open too. There are so many scholarship programs out there. We partner with a bunch of them. Together, they give away $300 million of scholarships a year. But there are other programs to run by colleges and universities, states, local communities. Many of them require or strongly encourage the student to have an SAT score for the same reason. They need a standardized way to assess one student against the other to see what they’ve learned and how likely they are to succeed in college. So really, at this point, it’s about keeping your options open. for paying for college and getting into college and having a measure that colleges understand and trust in a world where they’re getting transcripts from high schools they’ve maybe never visited or heard of. AI is more and more in the classroom and leading colleges to say, huh, what can this young person do themselves, right, without AI as a tool? The SAT answers that question.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, when it comes to the SAT, I have to say I – Stand behind you even more because we were told last year because, you know, there are certain dates that you’re supposed to take it. And my daughter had certain she could take it in a certain room. And because she had ADHD and a learning plan, you know, she could have more time, et cetera, et cetera. And they if you send in your info like that is assured for you, like SAT takes care of that with a teacher or counselor, et cetera. We were told at the time from the university, hey, there’s not a testing date coming up or she can’t come out here and do it. So use this other plan. And it’s not ACT or SAT. It was something I’d never heard of. And I was like, oh, this other testing situation. So we tried it three times, Priscilla. Like they said that she could use, you know, reading assistance on this one section. But then it started with math and she wasn’t supposed to have reading assistance with that. So then we get this notification that like we took it, Priscilla, seriously at a tournament. another city in a hotel room and then they write to us oh so confusing for this kid like you could have reading help on this section but not that section but when you start the test it doesn’t tell you that so then they say forget it well she was really great at math we take it the second time she gets a zero in math so I call and I’m like this isn’t even humanly possible she got a zero in math so my point to this is saying stick with the tried and true don’t go off on some weird other testing site the university says oh they have more dates Well, they have more dates because they’re not as respected and credible, and you’re going to possibly waste a lot of money. So I definitely back you guys.
SPEAKER 05 :
That’s very stressful and complicated.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, we sent our accommodations in, and you guys took care of it, and we didn’t have to resend them. And the next time we did the SAT, it was so much easier for the SAT to be taken.
SPEAKER 05 :
That’s really good to hear because we work really hard to make that experience as easy as it can be for the student and their family in their school. There are students with a wide range of learning needs, learning disabilities, etc. And we strive to have the simplest possible process where, yes, we do need to make sure that the student does have the need that is being described so that we can give them an accommodation, as we call it, that matches the need and that is truly needed. Be to go overboard. Right. And making them right. Right. We found a really good balance where we’re serving the students who need it. And it’s not a wide open door for other kids. And to your point, once you get approved by college board for an accommodation or accommodations. That stays with you for the life of your college board test.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 05 :
SATs and AP classes if your child takes those advanced placement classes in high school too. So it’s one and done as long as you can provide the documentation that assures us that this is a genuine need and then we’re obviously more than happy to serve it.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, it was so great because the counselor said, oh, we don’t have to send all that in again. It’s already set up with SAT from her last time. So that was huge. And I also want to say thank you for doing that because so many of these kids with learning disabilities think they’re stupid. And you guys have adjusted the system so that these kids who are very smart but need more time or very smart and get anxious, that you have accommodated them in a way that you said is fair but also can help them demonstrate their level of intelligence properly. adequately rather than being cut short on time or being, you know, overly stressed out or having a lot of noises in the room. I mean, my daughter’s distracted by a pencil dropping, let alone 100 kids in a room with her. Right. So thank you for that. And I want to know for preparation for the SAT, you’ve got free resources, right?
SPEAKER 05 :
That is that is right. Yes. So College Board, that’s the organization I work for. We make the SAT. We do those AP classes. I mentioned we’re we’re a nonprofit. And 10 years ago, we made a commitment that every student should have access to world-class practice for the SAT for free. There’s an industry out there of paid prep and tutoring. We’re not part of that industry. And that can be a good option for families, right? There’s no judgment in that. But we didn’t think it was right. that there were financial barriers that stood between kids and their ability to practice and feel confident. So 10 years ago, we made that commitment. And let me fast forward to where we are 10 years later. 10 years later, the number one way students get ready for the SAT, regardless of their family’s financial situation, is with our free practice resources. And that makes sense if you start to think about it. Who knows the SAT better than the people who make it? And so we’re a good place to practice. And there’s kind of three pieces to that I want to make sure, you know, the families that listen to you know about. The first one is the practice test themselves. So students take the SAT on an app called Blue Book. We developed it for testing. It’s super secure. Most students already have it downloaded on their computers through their school. And if you get Blue Book before test day, in there are eight tests. full-length practice tests. We made them so they look and act and are scored just like the real thing. But when a student takes a practice test, they instantly get their score back with what they got right, what they got wrong, why, a sense for which of the skills in the SAT they most need to practice, and example questions to keep working with. I’m going to importantly note, given the conversation we’ve had, that when a student takes the practice test on Blue Book, if they know they’re going to get an accommodation on test day, say extra time or text to speech, you can set that accommodation in the practice test too. So you are testing like you’re going to test.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s huge because it gives them a better idea of what they’re – yes, of what they’re up against because I had to set a separate – Yeah, it didn’t feel like the real thing. Yes, I had to set a separate timer for my daughter because it wasn’t on that particular – I can’t even remember the name. I’ve tried to forget it of that other testing organization. But anyway – I had to set it for her, and she couldn’t use the text-to-speech. But she could use it for the test, but she couldn’t use it for the practice test. And then I had to set a separate timer. So it really wasn’t the same. It was more like mom coming in the room. Yeah, it’s goofy. So, yes, those things are huge. You can do that during your practice test. Okay, what else should we know?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, so that’s practice test. Exactly. Yeah, Blue Book is amazing. The students love it. It is so easy to use. The design. is great. It’s just, it’s great. So yeah. So practice tests, including with accommodations, if you’re going to have them, it then kind of gives you again, that score right, wrong diagnostics, um, simple questions to keep working on. You can then take that kind of knowledge you have about yourself now and go over to our partners at Khan Academy, K H A-N Academy, another nonprofit. They’ve been our partners for a decade. Just about every high school in America already knows about Khan Academy because they are the leaders in free online teaching and learning for students. They do a lot of it through video tutorials and classes. It’s amazing. So they’ve been our partner. And over there is where you go to say, okay, these are the two math skills I most need to improve. This is the reading skill I most need to improve. Their stuff is organized by the same skills. So you then can dig in and do videos and tutorials and quizzes and practice questions to build those skills, right? This is about using students’ valuable time as effectively as possible. And then you can loop back and take another practice test, right, a few days, a few weeks later to see that you are in fact building those skills and improving. The last part I want to mention is the newest. We, like just a month or two ago, announced our newest nonprofit practice partnership with an organization called Schoolhouse.world. They run what they call SAT boot camps. They’re our partner. We work together on all of it. But these gather groups of students. generally over four weeks before an upcoming SAT, into groups with a peer tutor. That is a student who’s already taken the SAT and scored really well. And those peer tutors get a curriculum from us and Schoolhouse. that leads this four-week boot camp where they gather on Zoom and kind of do classes and practice together. Students, it’s early days, but students are loving this, right? It’s an addition. It’s not just go practice on your own with our great tools. It is you have a community of peers around you who are helping you think about how to refresh that skill, et cetera. So I just want to mention that because that’s our newest part, and we’re really excited about it.
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s so funny. I just sent a link to my daughter. I said, this is free tutoring for kids who have already taken the SAT. That’s great. I love that. Okay, cool. Yeah, hers is coming up really soon. I don’t know if she’ll make it to the boot camp. But, you know, if people are listening right now, maybe you have a niece, a nephew, a grandkid, a kid. And you want more information on these free resources, Khan Academy and then also Schoolhouse.World with free online tutoring, Real Human Connection, it says. Where do they go to get more information at College Board?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes, I’ve mentioned so many things, but there’s really only one place you need to go that will take you everywhere else, which is SAP.org. From there, you’re going to see the upcoming test date. Sounds like your daughter has her. It’s ready to go. You can register for the upcoming dates. We have links and information about all that practice I just mentioned. So that’s the single place to go. And from there, you’ll have access to all the resources.
SPEAKER 04 :
Excellent, Priscilla. Always a pleasure to have you on the program. Really appreciate your expertise.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you. And good luck to your daughter.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you. Thank you for listening to The Good News with Angie Austin on AM670 KLTT.
