Debbie Foster (00:03):
Welcome back to The Powerful Leaders No Apologies podcast where we celebrate fierce, fabulous females making waves in the legal world. I’m Debbie Foster and I’m excited to introduce you to these women who are leading the charge with their bold leadership and influential journeys ready to be inspired by their powerful stories. Here’s the show. Welcome to another episode of The Powerful Leaders No apologies podcast. I’m Debbie Foster and I am your host, and I am really excited to be here today with Danette Schaifer from Florishion Consulting, and she’s going to tell us more about the name of her company. But Danette, thank you for joining me.
Danette Shaifer (00:45):
Yeah, no problem. I’m excited to be here. I’ve been listening to your podcast and I just love the concept and the information and insights that you have on there, A bunch of power hitters, so I’m honored to be here today.
Debbie Foster (00:59):
Awesome. Well, let’s just jump right in. I would love it if you wouldn’t mind starting off by telling us your leadership journey, and maybe we could go in reverse. So you could start with where you are now and then kind of tell us your story about how you got there.
Danette Shaifer (01:13):
Sure. Currently I am a new entrepreneur. I’m in my first 12 months of entrepreneurship, so I launched my business, Florishion Consulting and Coaching, and I am the chief founder and chief empowerment officer. And the reason why I decided to go with that particular title, which is always weird to give yourself a title, but it’s something that I’m really passionate about and everything that I do from when I was starting out in my career as a help desk tech, being able to help someone feel better about their day-to-Day is really what it’s all about for me. So currently I’m focused on the people side of business and bringing teams together and helping them work better by providing workshops and different tools and templates that empower managers to be able to do exactly that, empower their team. So that’s kind of a theme for me with Florishion Consulting and coaching to go in reverse, in my last W2 job, I had the opportunity to work with traveling coaches.
(02:21):
It was my first consulting opportunity to stretch those type of skills, and I loved working alongside of that whole group. I used to be a client of theirs. I would hire them when I worked in law firms to help with large scale projects for training and tech support. So I got to work with them as a learning strategist and really dig into some of their new offerings and help them bring that in-house law firm perspective to the table. I did that for about a year and a half. I went into that role actually with the CEO knowing that eventually I was going to do this and had her full support, which meant the world to me.
Debbie Foster (03:03):
Gina, I’m assuming Gina.
Danette Shaifer (03:06):
Gina, absolutely love who’s amazing.
Debbie Foster (03:07):
I need to get her on this show. Yeah, Gina is amazing.
Danette Shaifer (03:12):
Yeah, she was so supportive. And to take that next step back in reverse, my last in-house position was the global director of learning and development for Greenberg Tourig, and I had been there for 13 years and really made my way from IT trainer into that role. So it’s been a long journey. I’ve been in the legal industry for over 20 years, years. I grew up in this industry and it’s my home.
Debbie Foster (03:40):
That’s a great story. I love the stories that start with people working inside of a firm and thinking about how impactful they were inside and getting excited about how impactful they can be to take what they’ve learned and bring that to many different places. So it sounds like that’s a lot of what your journey looked like. So what made you make the big leap? What was the big decision point? What happened in your career where you were like, you know what, I’m going to, because I think there were a lot of people, what if there were no constraints? What if the risk felt less risky? What would you go do? I think people are sometimes afraid to talk about what that would be, and you made that decision along the way and said, I’m just going to go ahead and do it. What happened?
Danette Shaifer (04:28):
I went back to get my graduate degree in 2021 at the beginning of 2021 because we weren’t traveling. So I was home and not in the air and going and moving around. So I have a bit more bandwidth with my time, and I decided to go back and get my graduate degree. And honestly, during one of my classes, we did an activity where you had to really dig in and do some vision casting about what that perfect day would look like for you. And I realized that I was ready for a change, and I don’t believe that I would’ve realized that without going through that process. And then it didn’t happen immediately. However, I just began to really see the signs that it was time for me to try something new and I didn’t know what it was, but what I did know is that I had raised a family, worked and gone to school to get my undergrad, and that’s a lot to manage and I can do it, but I had the opportunity to actually just focus on my family and my education. And so I resigned from a job that I loved and a team that I loved and was very passionate about and decided to just focus on school, take a minute to catch my breath and figure out what my next step was. And here we are.
Debbie Foster (05:55):
Wow, brave. It’s brave. And it’s also, I’m guessing has been rewarding and
Danette Shaifer (06:04):
Absolutely
Debbie Foster (06:04):
You’ve really been able to make an impact on people, which we’ll talk a little bit more about that, but I would love it if you wouldn’t mind sharing along the way. I think for all of us, there are people who influence us and impact us that make our journeys a little bit easier or maybe make us think about something that we wouldn’t have previously thought about. And I’m curious if there’s any of those for you.
Danette Shaifer (06:29):
Well, there’s so many that I would take way too long to mention them, but I’ll give you a few specific that immediately always come to mind when I think about, especially my professional journey. In my first job that I had, it was a firm in Orlando. I had no computer experience, but I had call center experience. I was a young mom, young single mom going to school, just trying to figure out how to pay rent and do all the things you got to do. And I landed my first job as a IT help desk tech and Gary Harris and Alice Nesbit were, and Connie, I mean there was just so many people that were part of that firm that took me under their wing and taught me everything that I needed to know to really grow. And so that was my first experience of being in a law firm.
(07:24):
I was there for five years. I was thriving. I soaked it all up. And my next person that I would mention is Tracy Ashton, rest in peace. She was a IT training manager. Unfortunately, she did pass from breast cancer in 2020. Oh gosh, I think it’s 2021. But she was my next person that just saw something in me I did not see, brought me over to her firm. I worked with her for a while, and that was truly just seeing how she interacted with people and she traveled the world. She was such a supportive person and letting me try new things and just do what I felt I needed to do and grow. So there’s a lot of people out there throughout the industry. I could even say Gina coming in, Gina Buser coming in and knowing that I was leaving a job that I loved after 13 years and reaching out to me and saying, Hey, I heard you’re leaving. Congratulations. That’s awesome. Call me when you get a chance and let’s talk. I might have some opportunities for you. So seeing strong women and men that have advocated with me and for me along the way, there’s just so many that I could not list them all, but those were probably a few of my tops.
Debbie Foster (08:43):
That’s awesome. And I think this is something, it just recently reminded me when I saw the Simone Biles in Jordan at the Olympics with the Brazilian gymnast, Rachel, Rebecca. Rebecca, and how they just let her take that gold medal and just bow down and they’re superstars and champions in their own. And it’s little reminders like that along the way. And this podcast has done that for me too, to just think about who should we be saying thank you to now their words were give them their flowers while they’re still here, right? Make sure that we’re not just waiting and talking about how amazing people are when they’re no longer with us, but how do we really do that actively? So I love to give people the opportunity to talk about the people who were instrumental in their journeys and just remind people that we can reach out to those people for free and just say, Hey, thank you.
(09:40):
I really appreciate that. I was at the A conference in May of this year and someone, one of the, a former members now a consultant came up to me and said, Hey, I just want to let you know that I started my business because of you. And I said, really? What was that? And she said, well, you and I talked a few years ago here and I told you I was thinking about this and you were like, do it. Just go do it. You can get a job anytime. Just go do it. And if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out and you just go get another job. You’re really smart, you could do it. Now. I didn’t even remember the conversation, but we think about the people that we’ve made an impact on and the people that have made an impact on us, and how do we just actively pay that forward and make sure that people know that was so meaningful to me that she took the time to come up and tell me that. So thank you for sharing those names of those awesome people. So next up, obstacles, triumphs things that have been harder than you thought they would be along the way?
Danette Shaifer (10:44):
I would say that the entrepreneurial journey is very, it’s an interesting space to be in when you go from working very hard and kind of making a reputation for yourself within a organization, within an industry, and then you move into this entrepreneurial space. You don’t have the team or the resources, and it’s not starting from scratch. It’s definitely starting from experience, but there’s so many new skills and different ways of trying to figure out how do I want to show up? What is my brand? Who is Danette? What Florishion? What are my service offerings? All of those things have been just ongoing and evolving as I have gone through this journey. And it’s been great to be honest, but it’s also terrifying at times trying to figure out, oh, this social media presence, what do I want that to look like and what’s my sales approach and my funnel and all of that?
(11:50):
It’s part of the challenges. You’re first getting started, and I remember starting out with almost like a mind map of just the different types of work that I’ve done, right? Okay. I’ve done onboarding, I’ve done leadership training, I’ve done professional development, IT training, adoption, change management, blah, blah, what am I going to do with ion? So that was my first hurdle is just trying to figure out what it was specifically I was looking to do. And I’ve gotten much clearer, thankfully about my services, about my brand, about my offering, about my mission and how I want to show up. So I think just going through this whole process over the past few years, because really it’s more like two years in the making of going through all of that that has been so enlightening and has made me dig so deep into places and to figure out what does that look like today versus what it may have looked like when I was in an in-house role or working for someone else. It’s not an easy thing to do.
Debbie Foster (12:56):
Oh, no, it is not an easy thing to
Danette Shaifer (12:58):
Do. It’s important thing to do, but it’s not always easy. That’s a big part of that hurdle, right?
Debbie Foster (13:03):
For sure. And the clarity in who you are and what you want to do and the services that you offer. Sometimes some people you think that that’s easy to do, but if you can do a lot of things, it’s really challenging to narrow down where can you be the most impactful? You’re running a business now, so what is the profitable work that you can do? How do you not work 16 hours a day to get that stuff done? All those things are going through all of our minds from an entrepreneurial perspective, but I would love for you to take an opportunity to tell us what do you do? How do you help people? What kind of impact are you having on the clients that you’re working with?
Danette Shaifer (13:43):
So my main focus right now is all about strengthening teams dynamics because whether it’s working across verticals or departments or whether it’s working with your own internal team, when we are working better together, our experience in the workplace and in general is just elevated to a place that I feel like we all deserve. And so tion is about being able to create an environment, the definition, because there is a definition for tion. It’s a word I made up, right? Okay. So the definition is it’s the realization of business objectives by creating a favorable work environment where talent can grow and develop to their full potential. So it’s, they say a culture of thrive while I’m trying to create a culture of ion where people really do feel seen and heard and engaged as part of their day in day out. So my current offering that I’m about to launch, I actually haven’t really even, this is my first time really talking about it in public.
Debbie Foster (14:50):
I love it. Hot news, hot news,
Danette Shaifer (14:52):
Hot news. Yeah, it’s called the Team Synergy Analyzer. So it’s essentially about taking the guesswork out of managing people. It’s for our people managers and essentially it’s three components. There’s a pulse check because even if you are having your one-on-ones and you’re talking with your team, sometimes if we don’t get real intentional about what we’re asking, we’re not going to get the answers to the questions that we really need to know for sure. But the pulse check, it’s then turned into a scorecard. So it’s benchmark metrics of the snapshot of where the team is today, right? Communication, collaboration, connection, and clarification are the four components of the pulse check. So there’s a scorecard that the people manager now has along with key insights and recommendations on what to do going forward to keep engagement high, to keep people feeling like they’re part of this team. The other two components that come along with the team Synergy Accelerator is a collaboration clarity kit. So some resources to help with collaboration and clarity and engagement bundle.
Debbie Foster (16:07):
Oh, I love it. I love that. It reminded me, I was just telling someone about this a couple a week ago or so. I have a client who is in a smaller firm. There’s only 12 people or so, and he works with about half of those people very closely. And he told me his strategy, they are all back in the office, which we’ll just let that aside for right now. Everybody’s back in the office full time, whatever. Not my preference, but that’s what they’re doing. And so he said he’s in the office almost every day, and when he comes in the office, he does a one to 10, what’s your number? That’s his question for them. What’s your number? He’s like, they know that if they say eight, nine or 10, I’m going to be thumbs up, but if they say six or seven, I’m going to say, tell me more.
(17:00):
How can I help? And if they say five or below, I’m pulling up a chair and I’m going to sit down. And he even used the words, I want to create a safe space for people to say five if they really feel a five. And I said, you’re like this. You’re doing something right here if you’re really giving people the space. And he said, it’s worked so well for me that sometimes I come in and someone says they’re a nine, and at noon they walk into my office and say, I’d like to change it. I am actually at a six and I have a problem. And I think what’s cool about it, and I’d love to hear your perspective on this, what I said to him was, what you have developed is a common language, a low risk way for people to tell you how they feel. And if you have that common language, whatever it is, and everybody is a believer in the words or the methodology or whatever it is, you naturally build trust and create safer spaces. What would you say about that?
Danette Shaifer (18:04):
I love it. I love it. It gave me, honestly, I got cold chills just listening to you describe what that experience and that culture is becoming because of that leader’s insight and intentional efforts and the fact that they’re in the office may create a certain opportunity for those type of things. However, most of that stuff can be translated into remote and virtual environments, still just a check in, a pulse check. That’s exactly what it comes down to is, and this is why I love the concept of a pulse check, is we get so busy and wrapped up into our projects and our priorities and sometimes we just forget to check in. So the fact that this individual has taken that and infused it as part of their daily interactions is impressive.
Debbie Foster (18:54):
And it’s really like a lot of times I hear, and I’m sure you hear the same thing, who has time for that? Who has time for one-on-ones? And I just always respond with, I mean, you guys figure out how to make time to onboard new people and mitigate drama and break up arguments and deal with people who don’t get along. You managed to do all of those things. And I feel like if you actually invested the time in checking in with your people, building better teams relationships, you would actually get time back.
Danette Shaifer (19:28):
Absolutely. And the whole concept, when we think about retention when it comes down to our people, if you are a people manager and you seem to have lost some of your top talent now them going somewhere else because you’ve done a fantastic job of developing them and they’ve outgrown their position and there’s not enough, I feel like that’s almost a testament to your ability to lead and develop people. However, if you are losing people in your, you’re not really sure why or you feel like there’s some blind spots, but I don’t even know the questions to ask. That’s what my pulse check will provide for someone is just an easy way of being able to quickly get some insights that maybe you’re not even sure where to start with. And so the retention of the people within that space is well worth the investment of time and resources. Because like you said, when you have to go back and you’re onboarding new people, you got to figure out how to integrate them and train them. I mean, how do you want to spend your time?
Debbie Foster (20:32):
How do you want to spend your time? That’s exactly right. I love the point that you just made too, about developing people and that means that they leave. I had a guest on Amanda Copus, she’s actually been on the show a couple of times and she’s talked a lot about that, about how she develops people knowing that there will be an end of the road for them and that means that they’ll be onto to bigger and better things. And the concept of celebrating people on the way out when that happens, really being able to say, major high five, thank you for what you contributed here is kind of a foreign concept in a lot of law firms,
Danette Shaifer (21:11):
Unfortunately, because that career pathing, especially if you’re not a attorney, is often not there. And so when I had the opportunity to do those type of things for my team members and they came to me and what I felt great about is I had a few people come to me through the years and say, Hey, there’s this opportunity in HR or in this other department, and I’m thinking about going for it. What do you think? If I knew specifically that this was a great next step for, I mean regardless if they wanted it, I’m going to support them. And that would be to me, a testament that they have not only outgrown, but they’ve developed, they’ve gained experience and they’re ready for that next level. And I had people go outside the firm as well and absolutely celebrated them on their way out. I feel like if you’re able to recognize the value of that evolution for the people on your team, they’re going to talk about how amazing their experience was and how they got to this next level because of your support and that role. If you’re still looking for other people, they’re going to send people your way. Oh man, go work with Debbie. She’s amazing leader, and this is my experience. That’s what we want. I feel like that’s the goal. I don’t know.
Debbie Foster (22:35):
I totally agree. And I think that I’m regularly reminded how small our world is too. And you just don’t know when you’re going to cross paths again with anyone in this business. Right? On the law firm side, on the consulting side, mutual, we were talking before we started recording about how many mutual contacts we have, even though we haven’t, I don’t think officially met before. It’s a small world we live in and we should be celebrating people. I think it’s oric. There’s probably a lot of firms who do this, but someone was on the podcast last year at some point, and they talked about the ORIC alumni Facebook group. I’m not obviously not in it, so I don’t know all of the details and the facts, but the person who was talking about it was talking about the celebrations that there still are ORIC people who are in there cheering people on in other positions. And I’m pretty sure it was oric. If not they’re getting credit for that idea. But this idea of these alumni groups, and I haven’t heard a lot about it, but I have heard more than one firm that’s doing it, I think is such a cool way to honor people who left their mark in your company, in your law firm, whatever, that have left their mark, but have moved on to something else. And it’s a really cool thing to do.
Danette Shaifer (23:55):
And you never know where your path will cross again, like you mentioned, and I know I had lots of boomerang alum that would come back into the firm and it’s like, oh, awesome. And you come back and you’re now at this new level or this new stage in your career, and then maybe you go back out and branch out again. I think supporting each other in our professional evolution is never going to be a bad thing, and it’s always going to come back tenfold in a positive light for the firms and the organizations that hold space for that type of engagement.
Debbie Foster (24:34):
I agree. I agree with that. I’m going to ask you the question that we ask everyone at the end of this podcast. What do you think your leadership superpower is?
Danette Shaifer (24:44):
I’m going to go with, so initially I was thinking dot connector, right? From a strategy standpoint, from connecting people to the right resources at the right time or to other people. So the dot connector was initially my thought. And I do think it’s a mixture of being resilient but also empowering others. That tends to be something that I know working with my teams, we would have tight deadlines and maybe difficult situations and challenges that we would have to face and we would lock arms and dig in and we would get through it. And part of the reason why I felt like I was so successful in those situations is because I trusted my team and I empowered them to do their thing. And so that’s what I’ve taken into this new role as a consultant and really have a focus on, is empowering people to feel better in their day-to-day, whatever that means.
Debbie Foster (25:45):
And we could even marry that up with the dot connector thing because sometimes empowerment is making sure that people know the right people,
Danette Shaifer (25:50):
Right? Absolutely.
Debbie Foster (25:52):
And speaking of dot connectors, I did notice that you were just recently a guest on Ari Kaplan’s podcast, talk about the ultimate dot connector, that guy, he’s been mentioned on so many of our podcast episodes that we had to have him on as a guest because he was a superfan, and also so many people, our super fans of him. So we’ll get to see him next week at ilta, and this will certainly air after Ilta. But I’m really excited to learn more about your company and what you do. I’m excited to attend your session at ilta, and I really, really appreciate you being a guest on the show.
Danette Shaifer (26:28):
Thank you so much. This has been a blast. I appreciate it.
Debbie Foster (26:34):
And that’s a wrap. Are you feeling inspired? Take that energy and go make a difference today. And don’t forget to subscribe to keep up with our latest episodes. And if today’s show really resonated with you, share this episode with your friends and colleagues. You’ll also find some resources and ways to connect in the show notes. So until our next episode, get out there and change the world.
