What's Your "And"?

In this episode of "What's Your 'And'?," John Garrett welcomes Rick Goodmay, the Director of Client Relations at ICM Colorado. Rick shares how his passion for smoking meat and cheese serves as his creative outlet and how it fosters community both in his personal life and at work. Inspired by a coworker, he got into the art of smoking to enjoy and share larger quantities of delicious food. Rick emphasizes the importance of understanding the interests of coworkers and clients to build stronger relationships. He recounts heartwarming stories from his Italian upbringing that highlight the significance of food in bringing people together. Rick continues to spread joy and connection through his culinary talents, even making a point to smoke food with others at the office.

Episode Highlights

• Utilizing hobbies to build relationships: Rick emphasized how his interest in smoking meats and cheeses helped him connect with coworkers and clients, fostering a sense of community.
• Keeping traditions alive: Rick highlighted the importance of continuing family traditions, such as cooking and sharing meals, which play a significant role in his life and personal identity.
• Cold smoking: Rick shared his technique of cold smoking, a method for smoking cheeses without melting them, adding a unique skill set to his hobby.
• Workplace culture: Rick spoke about the supportive and family-like culture at his workplace, stressing the importance of genuine care and check-ins among colleagues for a safer, more cohesive environment.
• Importance of sharing your passions: Rick encouraged listeners to share their passions with others, noting that even if some people aren't interested, there will always be others who are, and these shared interests can build meaningful connections.

Eric Kamont, Director of Strategic Partnerships for the Industrial Metaverse at Microsoft, discusses the transformative power of integrating personal passions into professional environments. Eric shares how using personal interests as icebreakers has strengthened his connections in both work and while running youth programs. He reflects on losing 115 pounds, achieving a black belt in martial arts, and completing 85 Spartan Races, illustrating his mental fortitude and perseverance. Eric highlights the importance of understanding colleagues on a deeper level and fostering diverse, passion-driven teams. He also digs into the positive impact of a supportive work culture that encourages employees to live their fullest lives. Additionally, Eric emphasizes the value of being change agents within organizations and connecting with others over shared outside-of-work interests.

Episode Highlights

· Sharing personal passions can serve as effective icebreakers in both work and social settings, facilitating deeper connections and networking.

· Embracing and sharing personal interests can positively influence work culture and relationships, creating lasting connections and a supportive environment.

· The mental strength developed through personal challenges, such as Spartan racing, can translate into tackling difficult projects and achieving professional success.

· Having a diverse team with varied strengths, such as mental endurance and creativity, is crucial for excelling in the workplace.

· Organizations should create a supportive environment that encourages employees to share and pursue their passions, leading to better well-being, productivity, and profitability.

Wendy Walker, VP of Regulatory Affairs at Sovos, shares her passion for quilting and running. Wendy reveals how she began quilting eight years ago to connect with her mom, utilizing pictures and video calls to collaborate from different states. She discusses the therapeutic and creative aspects of quilting, highlighting its significance as a stress reliever and a source of personal fulfillment.

Wendy also touches on her initial reluctance about sharing her quilting hobby with colleagues, and how embracing it helped display her multifaceted personality beyond her professional role. She encourages listeners to pursue hobbies for personal satisfaction and to integrate these interests into their work life for a balanced and enriched experience.

Lastly, Wendy talks about how personal interests can positively impact professional relationships and corporate culture by fostering creativity and open-mindedness.

Episode Highlights

· Revealing personal hobbies and interests helps positively impact professional relationships and dispel stereotypes.

· Personal items like quilts can spark conversations with colleagues, fostering connections.

· Individuals should pursue personal interests for their own joy and not be deterred by fear of judgment.

· Balancing personal hobbies with professional life enriches interactions, relieves stress, and enhances overall creativity and job satisfaction.

Warwick Jackson is a currently a member of the Killarney Vale Bombers, an Australian Football Club. Prior to this team, he helped the Pennant Hills Demons win multiple Grand Finals championships. He got started in Australian Rules Football when he was a kid but stopped playing for some time to focus on university and his career. Then a coworker at his first accounting firm invited him to come play for his club and the rest is history.

In this episode, Warwick and I talk about how playing football has helped his business career. By playing sports for so many years, he's learned to be open to coaching, be resilient to fight through tough times, and to have fun -- celebrating "wins" is important. Now that he's a partner, he likes to lead by example. He says, "Work is only a part of our lives. I want to make sure it adds to my team's lives, not subtract from it."

Ingrid Edstrom is definitely not your stereotypical bookkeeper. She breathes fire, plays Irish music in a band and makes videos with her sidekick, Penny, who was created as a prop for a Business Networking International (BNI) meeting. When the attendees commented on Penny, she realized that this was something that made her stand out, so Ingrid brings her along on all her business trips as well as appearances on the AskABookkeeper.com online education series.

In this episode, we talk about how if we act like we’re boring then how can we expect our clients not to think of us the same way? And forget about trying to attract and retain top talent if your firm thinks this way. Ingrid refers to it as “finding your inner unicorn”, your own set of passions that makes you unique. Weave these into your work conversations and you’ll soon realize that your relationships with both clients and coworkers will be on a much deeper level.

Ingrid Edstrom is a bookkeeping nerd and CEO of Polymath LLC. Polymath is an award winning Intuit Firm of the Future winner, Hubdoc Top 50 Cloud Accountant, and Corporate LiveWire Small Business Bookkeeping Firm of the Year. In 2016 Polymath was featured in the book “The World’s Most Inspiring Accountants” and was recognized by the Woodard Network with both the Practice Innovation and Rising Star awards.

She has her BA in Biology from Gustavus Adolphus in St. Peter, MN. She was recently recognized as one of the accounting profession’s Top 40 Under 40 and as one of the Most Powerful Women in Accounting.