Health care costs: These costs are insane and it’s robbery what companies are getting charged. The math just doesn’t add up, which means we’re just paying for inefficiencies and/or fraud. This is one of the worst, and out-dated systems currently in the workplace in the United States and I can’t wait to see change. Politicians talk about improving it, but I haven’t seen any discernible improvements.
When it comes to designing the future of work, one size fits none. Discovering success isn’t about a hybrid model or offering remote work options. Individuals and organizations are looking for more freedom. The freedom to choose the work model that makes the most sense. The freedom to choose their own values. And the freedom to pursue what matters most. We reached out to successful leaders and thought leaders across all industries to glean their insights and predictions about how to create a future that works.
As a part of our interview series called “How Employers and Employees are Reworking Work Together,” we had the pleasure to interview Rhett Doolittle.
Rhett Doolittle is the Chairman and CEO of Business Warrior (Stock ticker: BZWR), a SaaS that helps small business’s grow and thrive at a time when they need it the most. Doolittle has been a business owner for 15 years with two successful exits in the past. He took Business Warrior public in early 2020 and has been able to break revenue records and scale the company despite entering the public market at the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Business Warrior recently launched a small business lending solution to offer between 5,000 dollars and 50,000 dollars loans to businesses that can’t get approved with a traditional bank. Much of Doolittle’s experience and capabilities stem from running his first business, Entrust Bankcard, a payment processing company launched in 2006. Entrust Bankcard had a remarkable three-year revenue growth rate of 8,417%, which placed them #18 on Inc. 500’s list of the fastest growing companies in the United States. Business Warrior is the culmination of his years of experience creating products and learning what problems need to be solved for small businesses.
Thank you for making time to visit with us about the topic of our time. Our readers would like to get to know you a bit better. Can you please tell us about one or two life experiences that most shaped who you are today.
One of my first memories from when I was about 4 years old is a good representation of who I am today. I was with my family in Lake Tahoe, where we had a tradition to spend a day fishing for crawdads. We would catch hundreds of them and take them back to our cabin where my dad would make a delicious dip from them. One day, we had a change in plans. Instead of going back to the cabin, we had to make the 5 hour drive home immediately, and there was no way we were going to drive with them in the car. Peeeehew! My parents were going to throw them back in the water or try to give them away but I said “no way!” Instead, I was determined that I was going to sell them to somebody in the parking lot. Keep in mind, there are hundreds of these crawdads, so at 4 years old I could barely even carry the two large heavy buckets. I walked up to a group of Hells Angels (sidenote: Hells Angels in northern California in 1983 were a scary looking group) and tried selling them the crawdads for 10.00 dollars. My parents were freaking out so when I came back with the crawdads and my parents asked what happened, I told them that they didn’t want to pay 10.00 dollars and offered me 5.00 dollars instead. My dad said, “Just go give it to them for free!” Right at that moment, the lead gang member walked over to me and said, “Hey kid, we’ll take em for 10 dollars!” Haha…sold! There are so many lessons here about not judging a book by its cover, not decreasing your value, negotiating 101, and not being afraid to walk away from a deal. But the biggest takeaway is that the way that I was back then, is still how I am today. I was determined to sell those crawdads and hit my goal, but I was smiling and having fun the whole time. I didn’t get down or discouraged when they originally said no, just like so many deals in my life since then.
Let’s zoom out. What do you predict will be the same about work, the workforce and the workplace 10–15 years from now? What do you predict will be different?
Recruiting, hiring & keeping employees will be drastically different than what we’re used to today. When I would visit Silicon Valley a few years ago, I was shocked at how much turnover there was with employees and this top-tier talent. I used to think to myself “How could this successful company lose this person that is switching organizations?” The fact of the matter is businesses needed talent badly and were offering signing bonuses and stock options to people that were too good for them to pass up. If you have good talent, then it should be a priority to keep them. It’s always harder to find new people than keeping what you have, especially with the best people. The old mindset around businesses, with regards to talent and hiring, was that everybody was replaceable. Sometimes, areas like Silicon Valley can show us signs of what’s to come in the rest of the country, which I believe we’re seeing now.
What advice would you offer to employers who want to future-proof their organizations?
Take a serious look at what you’re paying everybody and what benefits you offer. The old days of giving people one or two weeks vacation doesn’t work. At Business Warrior, we have a mutual agreement with our employees that has been a win-win for everyone. We offer unlimited paid vacation and sick time…yes unlimited! We just ask that they make sure their work is done, they have backup when they’re gone or they work while they’re on vacation. Additionally, the days of having a 9 a.m. — 5 p.m. work day with an hour lunch are long gone and unrealistic. Employees end up working all hours of the day and night and probably way more than 40 hours a week, so we feel they deserve a break whenever they need it. Overall, we’ve shifted our policies to this kind of thinking to match the world we live in (digital/virtual/work from anywhere). I would advise other business owners to consider this more flexible model as well.
What do you predict will be the biggest gaps between what employers are willing to offer and what employees expect as we move forward? And what strategies would you offer about how to reconcile those gaps?
I think the biggest gap will be transparency between employers and their employees. There is already a lack of transparency between what the employer expects and what they’re willing to pay, and vice versa. Most of the time when I’ve coached CEO’s or executives, they have certain expectations of people. But when I dig in with them, it’s very clear that their employees are not 100% clear about the expectations of their employer. The employee usually has the same issue about what they expect from their job, employer, pay, benefits, etc. The best way to fix this is to build a culture at the organization to make all of those expectations 100% transparent and clear for both parties. Consistent communication, frequent check-ins, and in-depth reviews will all help to start building this culture.
We simultaneously joined a global experiment together last year called “Working From Home.” How will this experience influence the future of work?
The workplace has been changed forever. I think a lot of people realized that working in the same place everyday is not what they prefer or desire for their future. There has been a shift in how employees are looking at jobs and the requirements of where and when they have to work. There should be more flexibility for the employee, and office space needs to be designed with that in mind. Conversely, employers still need to be able to effectively manage employees wherever they are working from. Employers should communicate trust and have confidence that workers are doing their job efficiently. As I’ve said before, there’s more transparency needed there, but there’s also a bigger need for technology to be able track work. However, the idea of “tracking” could be an issue for employees as well. I think that employees and consumers should look at being “tracked” as a give-and-take. What I mean by that is, are you willing to be a little more transparent about your day-to-day operations knowing that you have more freedom? When you give that option to most people, I think they’ll gladly take the freedom, as long as they know the deal they’re making. Again, transparency is the key!
We’ve all read the headlines about how the pandemic reshaped the workforce. What societal changes do you foresee as necessary to support a future of work that works for everyone?
I think improving emotional intelligence is something that needs to be adopted and normalized by society. One of the biggest keys of my success has been my consistent education in Emotional Intelligence (EQ). I’ve taken several courses, done intense training, and read several books on the subject. I’m constantly looking for ways to improve my EQ to be a better person, manager, partner, and to live an overall joyful and fulfilling life.
I read an article recently that said the number one reason that people are leaving their job is because they do not feel appreciated. Without my Emotional Intelligence (EQ) training, I would say that this is 100% the employers responsibility. However, I know this responsibility of feeling appreciated falls to both sides. When an employee is saying that they don’t feel appreciated, they’re assuming that they’re doing their job to a level that they “deserve” some appreciation, but they’re not getting it. There are several things wrong with that, starting with making assumptions, which is always a dangerous thing to do. The employer could feel they’re giving them the appropriate level of appreciation and the employee isn’t receiving it; or, they could feel that the employee is not doing a good enough job, so they don’t deserve any kudos. If the latter is the case, they should be giving that employee direct feedback so they can correct it. Either way, there is a gap between the way one person feels and the way they want to feel. They should both want each other to feel good in their job, or give them an opportunity to correct it. Without transparency and communication, this is almost impossible. My lifelong mission to consistently improve my emotional intelligence helps me build a culture that allows me to cultivate or recognize when we have a gap. I encourage everybody to pursue more education and training in emotional intelligence.
What is your greatest source of optimism about the future of work?
The pandemic forced companies, the government, and people in general to explore new things and discover new innovations. This resulted in an onslaught of new solutions to problems we didn’t even know existed. For example, banks were very hesitant to adapt to new technologies and ways of lending money that were outside of their traditional underwriting processes. The Payroll Protection Program forced billions of dollars into the economy and everybody associated with the flow of money had to adopt new technologies to handle that volume. That has inspired all kinds of new solutions, such as our Business Warrior Funding product, which was just release on February 2, 2022. Overall, the advancement of technology and sheer growth in the United States brings me great optimism about the future of work and our ability to adapt and try new things.
Our collective mental health and wellbeing are now considered collateral as we consider the future of work. What innovative strategies do you see employers offering to help improve and optimize their employee’s mental health and wellbeing?
Historically, mental and physical health in the United States has not been a priority for people, which is shocking considering we’re one of the wealthiest countries in the world. I do think that awareness of this problem has improved a ton and companies are starting to think of creative ways to help. A few years ago, it was having ping pong tables in the office, decked out break rooms, a bar for happy hour, or even napping pods. I don’t think that was enough because it was still at the office, which wasn’t the mental break or solution they needed to fix the problem. I think companies are getting more generous with their health insurance, even though insurance costs are insanely high and continue to rise at a rate that is borderline robbery. I think that people’s physical health is the priority because it can be the catalyst to address mental health. I think that people should have the flexibility in their schedules to workout every day. If that means they need to block an additional hour in the middle of the work day — I’m ok with that! Additionally, the rising trend of reimbursing people for continual education is great, but that should go a step further. Employers should reimburse people for courses that help with stress and mental health, like the Emotional Intelligence courses I’ve mentioned.
It seems like there’s a new headline every day. ‘The Great Resignation’. ‘The Great Reconfiguration’. And now the ‘Great Reevaluation’. What are the most important messages leaders need to hear from these headlines? How do company cultures need to evolve?
All of those buzz words tell me that the workplace and the world is going through a “Great Transformation.” The pandemic was a catalyst to get people to see and address change. A lot of the problems and changes we’re seeing now were there for years, but the pandemic forced people to take action. Massively evolving technology, the world becoming more globalized, and the staleness of our political system have been calling for change for a while. There are a ton of opportunities out there for companies to evolve with the landscape, get ahead of it, and be the agent of change. If companies remain complacent and hold on to the “way things used to be,” then they’ll get left behind.
Let’s get more specific. What are your “Top 5 Trends To Track In the Future of Work?”
- Crypto: What was originally developed to be a better overall monetary system has turned into day traders making a quick buck and an emergence of new industries for people or companies to make money. It will be interesting to see how this shifts from “just a way for people to make money,” to actually solving real world problems. What if people started paying their employees in Crypto? The social and political implications would be huge.
- Amazon and other massive eCommerce platforms: Will the growth in this area plateau anytime soon? It doesn’t look like it; but if COVID-19 didn’t happen, I think there were signs that the growth rate was slowing down. Are we as consumers going to miss the local, in-person experience? I think so. Which means there is an opportunity for innovation for these in-person experiences that we haven’t seen before. Local employers’ inability to hire good people is a real problem, and this is only going to help the ‘Amazons’ of the world take over more. I will be watching this growing battle between local businesses and Amazon closely.
- Health care costs: These costs are insane and it’s robbery what companies are getting charged. The math just doesn’t add up, which means we’re just paying for inefficiencies and/or fraud. This is one of the worst, and out-dated systems currently in the workplace in the United States and I can’t wait to see change. Politicians talk about improving it, but I haven’t seen any discernible improvements.
- Metaverse: The Metaverse is so new that it will definitely be changing a lot, but I believe this could tremendously alter the workspace as we know, especially for those who work remotely. One feature I’d like to see with the development of the Metaverse, is the ability to do live, virtual meetings and replace some of our non-dynamic Zoom video calls.
- Travel & conferences: With everybody working from home and used to doing things virtually, the value of in-person meetings and experiences seems to have been lost. I’m anxious to see things like conferences make a comeback. I think that industry is due for a transformation as well. The virtual conferences I experienced the last 2 years were weak and most were a waste of time. I’ve seen some try some new things, but I don’t think anybody has the winning formula yet. I don’t think we can go back to the way they were in-person either, so this is another area of opportunity for a creative entrepreneur to disrupt.
I keep quotes on my desk and on scraps of paper to stay inspired. What’s your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? And how has this quote shaped your perspective?
I like quotes but I don’t really have a favorite or think about any specific one. The quotes that resonate in my life change as I need different inspiration.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He, she, or they might just see this if we tag them.
Bill Clinton: He was an amazing President and I’d love to hear his opinion on how we could transform our current political system before it completely falls apart. Additionally, he is a master of Emotional Intelligence and obviously a world renowned leader. The ability to make positive progress in any condition and bring people together that may be complete opposites, or even enemies, is an amazing skill. President Clinton is known for being the absolute best at that and our country needs that more than ever right now.
Our readers often like to continue the conversation with our featured interviewees. How can they best connect with you and stay current on what you’re discovering?
Follow me on Twitter and Instagram at @rhettdoo. Additionally, follow Business Warrior on Instagram, Twitter and online at businesswarrior.com/.
Thank you for sharing your insights and predictions. We appreciate the gift of your time and wish you continued success and good health.