today on beyond six seconds.

Senior executives, when they're transitioned out even when it's voluntary, are susceptible to depression

and to a feeling of loss. So what we offer with our holistic approach is for them to be engaged for them to remain production while they are in that period of transition. Welcome to beyond six Seconds the podcast that goes beyond the six second first impression to share the extraordinary stories and achievements of everyday people. I'm your host, Caroline Keel. Today we're talking with Pedal Penny Cook. She's the founder and chief executive, right hand of executive right hand pedal. Welcome to the show.

Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure.

So pedal. Tell me about executive right hand and what service is does it provide?

So Executive right Hand is the premium provider of executive support to chief executive level clients who are in transition. So we partner with executives to help them maintain their executive presence during periods of transition that might be retirement that might be between rolls. It might be looking at salons or B, whatever it is when they're being transferred from a corporate rule when they're exited. The organization we are an alternative or a supplement to executive outplacement because the top tier senior executive requires a difference. That of resource is to be successful.

E c. And what kind of service is do you provide to them?

We take a holistic approach to our executive clients, so they keep some benefits when they leave the organization. But the thing they lose on Day one is that right hand person, the person who may take care of their calendar, who knows where the doctor's appointments are, who provides directions and their device. The person who knows all the ins and outs the person keeps. It's seamless. So what we seek to do is to fill the gap, to make transition seamless.

I see. So then, how are your service is different from, say, what a virtual assistant would provide.

A virtual assistant is more task oriented. An executive right hand is more leader or ian kid. So we treat the leader as a leader even though they are in transition. So we capture as much data as we can from their last assisting. We build a dust year on them. We talked to them. We have conversations taken, bounce things off of us. We are filling the gap left by that resource. So we're moving people away from calling us a virtual assistant because we're just so much more

than that. I

see if a senior executive has had really good support and even if they haven't if they've had mediocre support, we bring our A game every day. I say We want to be the American Express Centurion Black card, where when you slipped that across the counter, people look and go there. Backstreet and the customer service goes to a whole other level, and we want to be the people that executives go to HR and say I need a new assistant, but I want an executive right hand So that's my goal is for us to be that kind of a brand excellent. We also do training and coaching of executive assistance to help them, whether they have a new leader or they're seeking to make their way up the corporate ladder into the C suite. We help them with soft skills needed to be that executive right hand.

Oh, interesting. So when you work with senior executives, would they still be employed at the time or already

in transition they may be is still employed. They may be in transition. We can go in when an executive is in transition, say they've moved into a new rule. Well, we've been supporting them for usually 3 to 6 months is the average time we'll go in and do a two week coaching of the new assistant to help that person have a more seamless on boarding with their new executive.

That makes perfect sense. So where did you get the inspiration to create this business?

Actually, it was while working for a Fortune 500 retailer in their talent management group, I saw a lot of transitions happen, sometimes internal. Sometimes people were transitioned out of the organization. But what I realized was that when a senior level executive left, they seem to miss that executive assistant that resource more because they would sometimes call back and ask, And anything's like home. My doctor's appointment. Could you give me the information for that? Or do you have my SkyMiles number or my Hyatt number? So I looked at that and I saw a pain for you, and I thought, Well, if I could help these leaders to transition then possibly I could make their lives easier and make what the company spends their money on, which is outplacement assistance more valuable.

So is that kind of how you decided what types of service is to offer from your what you had seen in your own experience, that people needed

absolutely over 20 years of experience working with senior executives, companies like Citibank, the Home Depot 80 and T large for creations, and all of them have executive out placement assistance. And while some use it the most, senior level executives traditionally don't use it because I actually launched this in 2008 and in 2009 it was the second place winner and a concept to reality competition at Kennesaw State University in Atlanta, Georgia, where we were voted second most likely to be successful of all the competitors.

That's awesome.

Everyone thought it was such a unique idea because you could hire a temp, yes, but to have someone who would capture your data and stay with you and help to transition you, that was unique. And if I tell it to someone who was not a senior executive, they'll go, Oh, but if they don't have a job, Why do they need an assistant? But that's exactly why, right? Because we treat the leader as the leader, whether they have a team that they're leading or not. We still treat them as a leader, and we give them that ability to not have to pick up a phone themselves and ask for meeting. We do that on their behalf. So it's really soft touch expertise, and it requires a unique set of skills to be an executive writing.

Absolutely. And how long do you usually work with clients?

We fear the average assignment will run between three and six months, depending on the leader. And, you know, some may go to when you roll in six weeks, but 3 to 6 months is about on average.

I see. So you mentioned that you started the business in 2008. What was involved in getting that developed and off the ground?

So one of the first things that it was took advantage of the group of Io psychologists that I worked with, and they helped me to prepare my question. You're my survey that I would utilize. I then had access to many senior executives, both within the organization and outside of the organization, people that I spoke to regularly, who were excited to give me feedback on Dhe. So that's really how the coaching peace came in, because one of the executives I spoke to said Pedal, I think you need to build an army of petals. So I added the coaching piece. And then I also operate an I attend accredited travel agency because sometimes the executive may decide I need to take an extended vacation to decompress. So we offer that, or if they need event planning, we offer that. So there are a number of different pieces to what we do. Most recently,

we've begun piloting administration for small nonprofits. So a small nonprofit approached this nastiness. Could we do the administration the program management of their nonprofit? Because they're not big enough to afford an executive director. But if we would handle some of the operations for them, then they would be able to be more effective. So we're piloting that right now with the Aqua Foundation. They are very interested in helping in the areas of education and training, um, public safety and their third area is community health. So we have a broad skill set that we are utilizing at this time. And as we are ramping up, a CZ were growing. We're scaling to add more features for right now. At the bases are executive support. And then the coaching rises out of that. The philanthropy comes after that, so all of the pieces fit together. Ultimately,

Wow, that's a really robust and unique set of service is how many clients do you usually have at one time.

So at this point, we are in pre start up again. So, you know, when I started in 2008 it was just when the economy was about to no stag. And so in 2010 I had todo a realistic view and go, You know what? This is not going to be sustainable. Many companies were not transitioning out senior executives because it was better to maintain the status quo during periods of upheaval. So I didn't abandon it. I kept paying the fees, but then I went back to work, and it was supposed to only go back to work for two years to come back to the business. But then I got a promotion. And then I decided to go to school. And so I moved to Florida to finish my degree in psychology, to take the coaching part of the business to the next level and to get some of those Alyosha psychology skill fits that I so admired from the team that I worked for, though now we anticipate that at any given time we will have 2 to 4 clients as we are in pre launch. We just pitched a pilot to a Fortune 100 company, so we would start with four at the beginning and scale from there. Wow,

that's really exciting. As the founder of a business that you're managing and growing, which of your stills have been the most important for your business? Is success,

relentless hope and belief? At the end of the day, I am skilled at what I do. I, as I said, have more than 20 years experience, and I understand people. I'm an impact. I am able to listen and clearly get what people are trying to tell me. Even the unspoken things that I would say is my area of gifting. So it allows me to be pro act active it allows me to anticipate needs where bosses have asked me in the past. Can you read minds, if only right? Um, but it appears that way because I take an active interest in my leader. And that is the unique piece I am trying to bring to executive right hand that even though this leader is in transition, they still feel respected.

They still feel encouraged to participate in the process that will take them to their next role or their philanthropic endeavor or entrepreneurship. We also partner with franchise organization that they help executives to decide if they want to become a franchise owner. So we're giving us, I said, a holistic approach and a robust on boarding and off wording process that allows the executive to still be a leader even in a period of transition.

I see. So you've really got a wide range of service is available and sounds like you tell them for what a senior executive needs. I can see how that really eases the transition for them, absolutely that straight. So obviously owning and starting a new business comes with, you know, many, many challenges, as you alluded to, um, you wouldn't mind. Tell me a little bit about the biggest challenge you faced in launching her business and how you've overcome it.

So I would say my biggest challenge is doing everything. Um, I'm business development. I'm sales and marketing. Ensuring that follow up happens when you were the one person is really a huge challenge. But in the new year in January, as we to our soft launch, I will be taking on one person who will begin to help me with that, and we will scale from there. That's great. I also have a second person who is ready once we have the pilot ready to go, who will also be joining us? And the point of the pilot is to see where it works best and how to change and adapt. So we're looking for a hard launch in the spring, and in the meantime I will be visiting New York and Boston and anywhere I confined. People will talk to be about executive right hand and either replacing or supplementing their executive outplacement services for their senior leadership team. It'll take generally 2 to 3 months that onboard a corporate client anyway, so I think that this pilot will help us to be ready for that client when we get our next 2 to 3 clone Ian's in the next three months.

I very good. And I should mention that even though you're based in Florida, you accept clients from all around the country and beyond.

Right All around the country beyond, we actually have a place for expects. So if someone is in transition coming back to the States from overseas, we're here to assist them with that. If they're going to a new organization or the same organization, and there are things that need to be done for them on a personal level, we will help with that and transitioning them to their new assistant when they get here. We, of course, always help with that. That's great. In the biggest challenge I also had aside from the money to scale the way I want to win the front end. But I am actually looking to possibly do ah crowdfunding exercise to see if that will raise me any funds, because what we're looking at for Executive right hand is probably a two year scaling because companies have already met their budgets for this year, are well on their way with They're 2019. So 2020 is when I see us actually being profitable and locked and loaded. So that's part of

it. Now I know you have mentioned you're currently in pre launch with the business having lost it initially in 2008. Now that you're starting a pure business again, is there anything you're doing differently this time around?

Yes. What I did at that time was I was targeting the individual executives. So the change I've made having learned from my mistakes is that this is much better offered as part of an out placement package. So my target client is now the corporate placement manager. So whoever manages that placement relationship. So usually it's the chief HR officer that I speak with and they will put me through to you the next person, whether and purchasing more, whatever area, earn out the details. But it's really getting the chief HR officer on board to see that. Yes, this is a value. I'm getting agreement that the data shows that senior leaders are not using or taking advantage of the service's of executive out placement that the companies are paying for annually. So the one Fortune 100 ch. R Road that I talked to his reaction was, You are onto something there. I can see this be more cost effective and better utilized by the senior executives.

You know, it's a psych major. I learned research, and I found that Research says senior executives, when they're transitioned out, even when it's voluntary, are susceptible to depression and to a feeling of last. So what we offer with our holistic approach is for them to be engaged for them to remain productive while they are in that period of transition.

I see. Could you share some examples of how you've supported your clients in the past?

Absolutely. I had one client who actually I did quite a bit of travel for him in his transition, and I did his destination wedding at the Ritz Carlton in Jamaica. So literally it is, What do you need? We're here to serve that need. And I had another client. She was doing some consulting, so I did her travel just like if she was in court bridge. She called me. She said, This is where I need to be. I arrange the car to pick her up the A car to take her back to the airport, her hotel and any projects. So I do powerful. It's for her. She had a presentation. I kept her calendar. If she needed that, it just depended on what the client needed at any given time.

So looking forward, what are your goals for executive

Right hand? So my goal right now is for us to scale and to get the executive support peace in such a place that more companies are using us so that we were able to fully staff. I have a great network of administrative professionals many times who may be in their forties and fifties are not making it through the 80 s systems. So we're finding it difficult to find work. And here we have a skilled group of people who sometimes they're facing ageism. And I've got the solution because executive right hand appreciate maturity and appreciates the ability to be loyal and stay and really understand, to see outside of oneself and see the needs of another person. And so my goal is to build that out is best I can I want to develop a training program that will be copyrighted off course. And as I said, develop a team of executive right hands and at some point I would love to franchise

this. That's awesome. You know, I'm really intrigued by what you were just saying about many talented people having trouble finding work these days when their job searching and you mentioned that you have the solution. Could you tell me more about how executive right hand would help change

this? Absolutely. You know, there's lots of people out there who will tell you how to get through the 80 s and to fool the 80 s. But there are some of us out here who want to be valued and want to be seen as more than words on a paper. And we want a way to connect with other people who want to identify talent and higher talent. That is more than just manipulating an 80 s system. So I would never call myself a disrupter in the hiring genre. But if I could be, I definitely would proudly be that disruptor because I think the system on the whole is broken and it's not going to change. Companies have invested too much money to admit that it was a bad decision. And so they're caught in this place where it's not doing what it needs to. But, you know, how do you back out of it? And there's gonna be one company that just makes the step and says, Done,

six second Rescue me. Look over Every time I hear that I cringe because people are more than six seconds. And when I hear a recruiter say that I say, Yeah, I don't want to work with you You know? I want Maur and people want to feel more valued than that. And that is what I hope to bring Thio the hiring, placing people with executives who have been treated well during their transition. And we've treated our people will when they were transitioning. So it's a mutual understanding.

So in a way, you're really starting to build a network of people who who get it in terms of hiring

value, other luvlee I mean, I have to change my logo toe a lightbulb, wait. Everywhere I go, I'm attending I e p meetings and I'm meeting new people who are either retired or looking for work, and I'm taking names and numbers awesome, because occasionally a client may want to have a resource that's in their town, that they can meet face to face occasionally. Yeah, on DSO. That's one of the other things I'm hoping to do. This to use a company like Regis and offer space for the executive if they are wanting to get out of the house and wanting to go to a space Orrico Working spaces, depending on what their individual need,

is Wow, you've really thought of every potential need that a senior executive might have. How can people get in touch with you if they want to learn more about executive right hand?

So my brand spanking new website is at www dot executive right hand dot com, and I have social media accounts on Linked In and Facebook at executive right hand and Twitter at exact Q right hand E x e C u right hand, all of them not very up to date right now. As I said, you know, I'm the head cook and bottle washer, so as we scale, those will become more engaging. But for right now, it's just the occasional those

perfect, and I can put that contact information into the show. Notes of the podcast so that people can have that easy to

access is absolutely. And the number is on the website. I am always available for conversation to tell people what we do. I've become the networking queen of Tampa Bay at Atlanta, and I'm headed to New York the first week of January to kick off the meetings there. If there is a call I want

to answer, that's awesome. Well, it sounds like you're well on your way with your business. I wish you so much luck with executive right hand. It sounds so exciting with a great vision. And all the unique and valuable service is your offering

to Oh, thank you.

Thank you so much for joining me on the pod test

today. Well, thank you for having me, Caroline.

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