Lighting for Profits - Episode 218

From after-school improv classes to corporate team coaching - Emily Elliott turned play into purpose. Discover how the art of “Yes, And” transforms workplaces, builds confidence, and strengthens collaboration. Improv isn’t just for the stage - it’s for life.

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Episode Transcript

Welcome to Lighting for Profits. All light. Here is your host, Ryan Lee

Welcome to Lighting for Profits. All light. All light. All light. Powered by EmeryAllen. Here is your host, Ryan Lee. All right. All light. All light.

If you're looking to start or grow a landscape lighting business, this is the place

Welcome, welcome, welcome to the number one landscape lighting show in Palm Beach, Florida. Holy cow, it's happening. It's the number one landscape lighting show. hey, listen, if you're looking to start or grow a landscape lighting business, you're definitely in the right place and today is gonna be a little bit wonky. If you're looking to start or grow any business or just get better in life in general, this is the place to be. We're here to educate. We're here to motivate. We're here to help you dominate in your life and in your business. just really, really excited to hang out today. We got a special show. We got Emily Elliott with Elevate Improv. I did it. I did it. I can't believe I said all those things at the same time. It was great, but Emily, has become a friend of mine. we had Emily come and help out at Secret Summit, last month in west, Palm Beach, Florida. And I gotta say, it was an epic event. And she actually, helped kick it off. And, so we're gonna talk about, what we did, why we did it, how we did it and all that stuff.

We're gonna talk about using improv in your business

So we're gonna talk about using improv in your business. And, it might seem weird at first because you're like, why would we use comedy? Like, this is a very serious thing. We gotta grow our businesses and all these things, right? Well, the reason is because I love comedy. So a lot of people would rather go see a concert and listen to music. Like, I want to just go see a comedy show, because I think it's funny and it is. So, I'm m excited to have Emily on. Before we have her on, I want to, talk about a couple of things.

We're trying to get to 100 five star reviews on Apple

So, number one, thank you, guys. Thank you for your support. We are stacking the five star reviews. If you haven't, just a gentle reminder, go to Apple or, or Spotify, preferably Apple. I feel like I don't want to, you know, hate on the Spotify people, but we're, trying to get to 100 five star reviews on Apple. We're at 86 now, so we're getting closer. And you just like, go to Lightning for profits and then you just like, hit the five stars and then you write something nice. Maybe write something nice about Emily after today's show. So, that's what we're trying to do. But thank you guys so much for your support. Really, really appreciate it. Such an honor. And ah, I have a blast being able to do the show, hang out with cool people, interview some, some great, great people.

Emily went to Greece because Sterling Lighting put on a lighting summit there

So before we have Emily on, a couple weeks ago I got the opportunity to go to Europe. Lindsay and I went to Greece. And then we actually hung out for a couple more days. Went for a few days in Portugal. my second, my second home. It's not my second home, but I want it to be. and we went to Santorini, we went to Mykonos, then we went to Athens. And some of it was vacation and some of it was work. But the reason we went there is because Sterling Lighting. Sterling put on their Sterling Summit. And they have a summit every year and it's awesome and people love it. But this one was special. It was in Athens, Greece. You know, it was kind of a big deal and got to meet and hang out and get trained by Eleftheria Deco and her team. And it was I mean the vacation, I mean I could go on for days about the vacation. It was sick. We had such a blast hanging out with other people and stuff like that. But in terms of the work, right when we got to work, it was awesome. Eleftheria and her team, she's responsible for doing the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics when it was in Athens. In terms of like the lighting design. She also did the lighting for the Acropolis temple, of Poseidon, many other monuments and, and historic buildings and non historic buildings throughout Athens. And it was just, man, it was epic. It was so cool to see and get inspired by this woman. And you know, she, she has this radiant energy about her. I love learning. You know, actually when I was in college I got a marketing degree. I hated learning. Like how do I get out of class? How do I study less? But now that I like found like what my jam is and what I'm passionate about. I love learning and so I can pretty much learn from anyone. But I love her style of teaching because you, you, you don't just listen, you feel it, right? And you learn a lot. Not by what she's saying, but how she's saying it and how she's teaching it and stuff like that. So it was really, really cool. and it was honestly just an unforgettable experience. I'll always remember it. I've not only been to many, many lighting events, but I've put on, probably a couple dozen at this point. I put on quite a few. And so I know what a good lighting event is. And this was my favorite by far. It was just, so well done. So kudos to Sterling Put for putting this event on. it was amazing. And I think some of it was because I wasn't in charge. I was, like, sweet. I get to, like, be the student. I get to enjoy. I get to take notes. I get to do, my thing. So that was really, really cool.

I interviewed a lighting designer and got an insight into how they operate

But the reason I'm telling you all this is because I want to share. There's three or four points that kind of stood out to me that I thought would be valuable, to you that I, that I brought home, from this experience. And so in really no particular order other than just what's on my mind, the first one was, that, you know, her and her team, like, she's a true, like, lighting designer. And I'm probably going to offend some people right now, but I feel like our community, like myself included, we're more like contractors that identify as lighting designers. You know, like, we're like contractors that also do lighting design. And. And that's okay. Like, But she doesn't install. Like, she is a lighting designer. And they spend, her and her team, they spend so much time just conceptually, like, envisioning things and bouncing ideas off each other. And as lighting designers, you know, and installers, contractors, whatever. A lot of times we don't have time for that because we have a homeowner that's, like, got an $8,000 budget. Like, you can't spend 80 hours, like, thinking about, like, how many lights you want to put on that tree. You're just going to put two lights on the tree and, you know, you're going to just use the same fixture. Right. But it was really cool to see an insight into how they do things. They'll spend days just on concepts and trying new ideas and things like that. So that was really cool to get inside the mind of a lighting designer and how they operate their business without the thought of how am I going to install this? And anything like that. They truly get paid for their designs. The second thing was, she said this a few times, but, she's learned over her life and career to say no. And I'm sure, you know, or getting started and if you're in this position too. I feel like there's different times of my life and career where I can afford to say no. I'm like, no, I'm just not going to do that. and it's not easy to do when, you know, if you don't have people knocking down your door and like, hey, please let us work with you. and she, she wasn't always like that. I mean, she started off doing, like, theater lighting and stuff like that. She actually worked in New York doing a lot of, lighting for the shows and stuff there. but now, I mean, she's got a resume, okay? And so she's done the Olympics, she's lit the Acropolis, she's done all these really cool things. Now she's got these elite projects that have built her resume so that she can say no. So if someone says, hey, I want this lit a certain way, she just tells them no. It's like, against my religion, my, my lighting religion. It's against how I view the world. I'm not going to do the project that way. And she just tells them no. And I thought that was cool to see that she's got to that point where she can do that.

Are there certain projects that would potentially help you build your resume

And so I want to ask you, like, are there certain projects that would potentially help you build your resume? Are there projects within your city, within your, state or whatever that would be a resume builder that maybe you need to do at less profit or maybe you need to do in order to build your resume so that you can say no more. Because this is. This is a big problem with, with small business is we usually aren't making enough money, so we just say yes to everything, and then that just makes the problem worse because now we're busy and we're not productive and we're not profitable. And so it might make sense for you to go find. What are these 1, 2, or 3. Just big projects that would put me on the map, that would build my resume so that I can say no more often. The next thing I noticed was, she uses quite a bit different, levels of light and also different color temperatures. Now, again, I don't want to. I don't want to, like, preach the wrong message here because again, her projects are mainly architectural. They're mainly, you know, big commercial projects. Residential is going to be a little bit different, but, just the use of it was really cool to see, how she's going to very different light levels to build, like, prominence and to build focal points and stuff like that. And so perhaps on your larger projects you could do that. Right? I learned a lot of that stuff from Illy when I was not only an attendee, but A mentor, and they teach these things too. But it was cool to see a different perspective, not just on landscape lighting, but on actual, buildings and things like that. And so are you in a position where you could perhaps just vary your color temps a little bit? And I'm talking small, like, okay, maybe over here on, on these, warm on these, this type of landscaping it's 2,700k and then on the building it's 3,000k. Well, or vice versa. Whatever it is, whatever makes sense, for the composition that you're trying to build with your lighting. But that was a takeaway for me. Another one was really cool when they were talking about their projects. A lot of times if someone presents to you an opportunity and you're like, okay, how would you light this? You automatically just go back to your reservoir, you go to your inventory of, okay, what manufacturers do I know, like what products are available and you immediately just go, okay, I would, how would I light that? I'd probably use a spotlight, a wash light, whatever, you know, linear. Well, they don't think like that at all. They think, forward with like, okay, here's how I would do that. And they haven't even thought of the fixture. They haven't even thought if it's possible yet. They just think like, you know, what would be cool is if this could do this and then we could have it change this scene and then this color or whatever. Right. And again, they're doing like the lighting at the airport and stuff like that. It's different than like a backyard residential project. But it was really cool to see. And again, perhaps if you score a big larger, you know, several hundred thousand dollar lighting project, it might make sense to where you actually don't make your designs fit with your inventory, but like make it work the other way around where you actually can best help create, help create a fixture. You know, help help create and not be limited based on what's available in the market. That was just really cool to see. They showed several projects where they actually basically commissioned fixtures to be built by manufacturers based on the needs that they wanted for their designs. And then finally, I think this was so cool. And it happens at every event. It happened at Secret Summit, it happened at Light It Up Expo, it happens at other events. I go to just simply being around other passionate people that are as passionate as you are. Right. It's very, very powerful. and I was surprised there wasn't more, you know, I don't know how many companies were there. There was spouses and Stuff like that. But, maybe 30, 40 people. And, I know Greece isn't easy to get to. It's literally like 24 hours of travel or something like that. it's easier to not go. It's easier to just stay home. And there's complications with, you know, who's going to watch the kids and what about the business and all that stuff. And I don't want people to feel, like, bad for not going, but I was surprised that there wasn't more. And, for me, anytime I can be in the room with other people like that, it's very powerful. It gives me really good energy. it helps me gain confidence. I'm at home now. No one really knows what I do. I tell my neighbors, and they're just like, all right, you weirdo. they just don't know. Like, they don't get it. And so, it's fun being around other lighting nerds that want to change the world with light. I guess it's good. And so I, I believe that it's crucial for you to attend a couple of these types of events every year to just soak up that energy, get that inspiration, and that can help fuel you into your next project, give you that momentum that you need to overcome the bumps when they come, because they're coming. All right. If you're a business owner, like, it's never smooth selling. If it is, I get ready. Okay. So, those are kind of my big takeaways, but absolutely amazing experience. congrats to Sterling Lighting for putting on the event and really making it awesome. I'm kind of pissed, Kind of pissed. I told Pat Harders. I'm like, damn it, now I gotta level up. Because I, I think I had the crown until this event. I think I was holding the crown at least. You know, I'm biased, but I think I had the crown for the best lighting events in the world. I mean, I don't think it was close. Of course I was. I had the crown like, I was the king, but they, they, they dethroned me. And, it was. I mean, you have the, the person that designed the lighting for the Acropolis and the Olympics, and you're in Athens, Greece. Like, how am I going to one up that? I don't know. I got to call into the builders of the pyramids and stuff like that. We're going to see what we can do, but, like, that's not going to be easy to overcome. So. A little pissed but grateful at the same time. So congrats. Sterling. Cheers to you.

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All right, hey, listen, we got to, we got to play some music. I need a drink. Hey, by the way, if you've been listening for a while now, you know I care about the client experience. It's an easy way to differentiate yourself from the competition. It's easy. Don't let a bad lamp ruin your client experience. Emory Allen makes premium LED lamps for lighting professionals who demand the best. Don't settle for less. Upgrade your designs and installations today with Emory Allen. Reach out to tom gmaryn. com to learn more and take advantage of their contractor pricing. All you need to do is email tom gmeryallen. com and mention lighting for profits, and he will hook you up with that discounted contractor pricing. Email Tom gmeryallen. com Don't go to their website unless you want to spend more money. You can do that free country, but, just email tom gamreon. com.

Emily Elliott talks about building teams and leadership at Secret Summit

all right, guys, well, I'm ready to get into the show. We got Emily waiting behind the scenes to hopefully, help us. Help us get all uncomfortable, because that's what life's all about. So, let's see. Where's the music? Where's our intro? Oh, there it is. Please welcome, Emily Elliott. What's up, Emily?

Hi. How are you?

I'm doing so good.

That music had me feeling like I needed to, like, step out and run in and, you know, give high fives everywhere.

Yes, I know you. We. We did some intro music for you at Secret Summit.

Yeah, it was good. It got me pumped up for sure, as everyone else kind of was like, what is about to happen? I'm like, let's do this.

Yeah. I loved it. Oh, I'm so grateful that you came and dominated at Secret Summit. And, thank you for being with us here today.

Oh, it's my pleasure. I'm happy to talk about all things. Like you said, getting a little uncomfortable, you know, like, you know, just accepting the fact that you can't control everything and new and challenging. And you mentioned, you know, from the seminar you just went to, you know, the creativity there, the, you know, just getting. Getting all the. Getting all the goods.

Yeah. Do me a favor and. And, just introduce yourself real quick. I was like, okay, how do I introduce Emily? So I'm just going to let you do it, and then it's more comfortable for me.

All right, perfect. I can do that, I think. so my name is Emily Elliott, and I started elevate improv over eight years ago. I had been a classroom teacher for a really long time, and I still, while teaching, said, you know, I want to give kids this opportunity to learn how to think on their feet and be more creative and build confidence and look each other in the eye and. And all those things. And so that evolved into summer camps and audition prep, and then during COVID I worked with some teams virtually to bring, businesses together. And now I love working with adults, too, because I realize this is not just for kids. Right. The principles of improv are good for everyone in every aspect of life. But I think, especially when it comes to building teams and leadership, that the skills, practicing them and kind of bringing that into the. The whole climate of a business is. Is huge.

Well, thank you so much. I. I taught a webinar last week about really, you know, I. I try to help so many people go from where they're at to where they want to be. And in order to do that, it's really kind of. I. Understanding that you have this identity that's been created since you were born. I mean, your family and your friends and all this stuff just creates this identity. And in order to get to this new place, you have to kind of create this new identity. And by, nature of, like, being human, like, that's not normal. It's just easier to stay comfortable.

Right, Right. It's definitely uncomfortable to change, for sure.

Yeah. It's like, well, I don't. I don't really want to do. I want to do that. You know, if I want to make more money, I have to start thinking differently. I have to act. Start acting differently. I have to hire people, and I have to trust people to do things that I am the only one that knows how to do. And usually if I'm a betting man, the first time you hire your first person, you're not good at training them and teaching them. So they screw up, and then you're like, ah, see, I was right. I'll just do it myself, you know? So this is why I love about improv and what you do is it helps people understand and kind of get outside their comfort zone and realize, like, you're still here. It's okay. No one got hurt.

Right? Right, Totally. That. That idea of there's magic in mistakes. I tell it to my kids all the time, like, we're not looking for perfect here, because no one's perfect. Right. Even when you in business say, you have your systems in place to mitigate any, you know, issues, things happen, life happens. And being able to accept that and build on that and move forward takes creativity. It takes collaboration with your team. Even if your team is super small or your team is just you right now, being able to collaborate with your clients. Right? Like in the midst of whatever chaos comes up, it's that. That adaptability is, is everything for sure.

So I want to get to, I want to get to like, okay, what are some ways we can use improv to help with those things?

Emily Elliot spoke at Secret Summit about being in the moment in business

But before I go there, I want to ask you about your experience with us at Secret Summit. did you know what you were getting yourself into? Like, was that like, what were you thinking before I said, here's Emily Elliot?

Well, you know, when I walked into the room and you know, a lot of people, you know, sitting, you know, arms crossed or, you know, they're looking, you're. You're telling your stories, you're making them laugh a little bit. And even at one point you said something like, are you ready to do this or that or learn? And you know, they were like, yeah. And then you said, m, come on, you know, give me more than that. And they, they amped it up a little bit, but you could just see, you know, it's a, it's early in the morning. People are like, okay, what am I? You know, what am I?

And it was the first day. I mean, we literally not had really, I was the first speaker before you, you know.

Right, right. And, and then you know, when you, like I said, when you told them, hey, we're gonna do some improv, and I'm walking up like, you know, kind of to the my m to my walk up song. And people are like, don't call on me, you know, and I just broke it down. Like, if you're uncomfortable, great. That means some really beautiful things are about to happen. And, that's okay. You know, this isn't about learning how to become a performer or, you know, to be able to do improv with an improv troupe, you know, underground somewhere. It's more about learning those principles. So we, we started off with, I bring, bring my rules that I teach my students, my, you know, elementary age kids that, that first, if you don't remember anything else, you just remember saying yes and. Right. That's the, the key. And every game that we played kind of built, on. On that. And so the first game I remember, you know, a little more reserved. You know, I could still see the, the egos in the room a little bit. Even though some were great sports right from the beginning. You know, you could tell that some were a little more nervous, but. And then we kind of came back to each game like, hey, you know, how. How does that apply? How can we bring that principle into. Into your business? So, starting with the yes and, you know, like I said, accept and let's build off that. That doesn't mean you have to agree on the thing, right? Like with your team m or the client, saying, you know, I want this, even though, you know, hey, maybe that's not going to work. it's like I am accepting what you're saying. I'm going to bring something here that we're going to talk about, collaborate and move forward together. And, being in the moment. We played some games where, you know, there's. There's no time to think. You just kind of have to do. And that's, that's huge in improv, in life, right? In business, especially, when you're in front of a client and they're waiting for you to respond, you can't be like, I mean, you could say, hey, let me think about that and get back to you, of course. But, you want to show that you're there with them present and, creating conversations. And we also talked about, don't think and being, okay with making those mistakes and then enjoying yourself, too. Right. If others can tell that you're enjoying what you do. Like you said when you went away to your seminar, you're, like, just getting pumped up. And when you bring that energy to your clients, they'll feel that, too, and they'll refer you to their neighbors, and maybe you'll get that pyramid gig one day.

We're working on it. Yeah. We have to. We have no choice now.

Right? Right. Seriously. So I, think there are a lot of ways that people can bring these ideas back to their business without even, spending too much time or effort or energy. You know, something as simple as even just getting people out of their. Their comfort zone by asking them when they walk in the office in the morning or when you have a zoom, quick team call. Like, hey, if you, could be any animal, for the rest of the weekend, what would you be?

I just thought of an elephant. I don't know why.

Okay, well, if you had to tell me why, why do you think you would want to be an elephant? How would that help you this weekend?

I would be pretty entertaining. I'm pretty sure my kids would be like, this is dope. Like, sliding down the trunk and like, yeah, big foot. And stuff. Yeah.

Right on. And so even that, right. Like that idea where some people might feel super uncomfortable when you're asking them, like, I don't know, like, just pick the first thing that comes to your head. And even if you want to change your mind later, like, right now, maybe now you're thinking you'd rather be, a dolphin because you want to go swimming. I don't know. But just kind of bringing in some random ways to make people have to kind of stop and shift. Right? That's. It's great, too, with, just saying, you know, I think it's. I think what I want to say is that when we're in team meetings or when we're with clients, sometimes we feel like we have to be so serious and get it right and look a certain way and remembering that they're a person too, you know, your team, they're people. And the more that you can show yourself as being, flexible and. And creative, then I think that translates more into being able to be more creative, say, about a project. Right. Like you were saying, that something you learned was they were able to come up with all these really elaborate creative ideas. Now, again, small business, you might not have that time to put into that, but if that became part of the culture, that you're able to just kind of fire some ideas out even when you're having lunch or walking to, from the car to the job, like, hey, let's like, brainstorm here. And it doesn't always have to be about the business, right? Like, just let's, like, throw some ideas around. and I think that helps show people that they can relax a little with you like that you don't have to be so serious all the time.

I love it. I even just like you just throwing out that thing, you know, random. Like, what. What animal would you be this weekend or whatever. It's interesting because if you. If you just go to, like, every business owner in the world right now, a certain number of people will just be like, I'd, be a tuacan or whatever, you know, and then I don't even. Is that a bird?

I think people are worried about saying the right thing or being embarrassed

Yes.

Yes. other people would be like, ah, ah, ah, And they literally. It would take them like a minute.

Yeah.

More. And it's like, just pick. We know there's an animal in the head.

Yeah.

Just stay, monkey. Just say the thing. We know that you're thinking of something. And what do you know? Why, like, why are people afraid? Is it because they want to say the right thing? They don't want to be embarrassed.

Exactly. I think both of those things. I think people want to. They're thinking, like, what does she want me to say? Or what does she think I'm going to say? Or what does that mean about me if I say blank, you know, or are they going to think that's weird if I say this? And I remember growing up, my dad used to always say, like, I'm weird. Like, I like being weird. And to me, that became like an idea of like, you're fun. You're not afraid to be yourself and to let loose a little bit. And I think that when people are so worried about saying the right thing or being embarrassed, you miss out on so much. Like, not just fun. Right. But even those creative ideas in, in team and business. And I think that also then holds your team back because then they feel they have to be so serious. Right? Like your team is a reflection of you, you know, when you learn, okay, this is how I'm going to train them. And if you're training them to always be so serious and to stick, you know, everything has to be just so. And. And you can't, you know, stick. Spend a minute just kind of chatting about something random, you know, like, hey, I was thinking about, you know, I was watching this bird and I was like, I bet he's wants my sandwich right now. I don't know, you know, just like saying those random things.

Sandwich was it.

It was turkey and cheese, you know.

Like, where'd you get it?

I got it from my refrigerator after I made my own bread. I do make my own bread now. yeah, side note, but I think, I think it's that. I think it's like just perfection. People want to be perfect, even though it's so everyone says, like, you know, life's not perfect and you know, don't expect perfection or whatever it is. But it's like people want that so badly. Like they want to be perceived as having it all together and that they can control it all and make everything, you know, just go smoothly and that's just unrealistic and it's not fun, you know, like being okay with the messy and, and learning from that also. Right. And if your team isn't making mistakes, then they're not comfortable trying new things. They're not. Now, I don't mean a mistake like, you know, you left the water on and now the basement's flooded or something. But I mean, creative trying new things, trying to up level whatever the task is or the way that you communicate with your clients or the way that you, are putting together a project. Right. Like, if you did the same thing time after time, that's pretty boring.

Yeah.

Communication is so difficult for business owners, right?

Well, I loved having you, like, start off our two days because. And the reason I want business owners to listen to this and really use some of these things that you're just throwing out here is because the world, man, communication is so difficult for some reason. Right? And when you solve communication, like, big things can happen. And most of the time, business, owner and employee, if they're not getting along, or two employees, whatever, it comes down to communication. And so when you came and really just unlocked the next two days for us, it was so powerful because people didn't care as much about, like, if we didn't do that, then people are usually more. A little bit guarded. They still have their arms folded. They're still like, yeah, I don't want to. I don't want to admit that I actually have weaknesses. I'm going to probably show people, like, what I've done. And, like, that's not the point of a mastermind. Like, mastermind is like, hey, let's all help each other get better. And you have to kind of admit your weaknesses and not be the teacher and stuff like that. So it's just so powerful if people will use these little improv games and little improv skills, to communicate with their team. Because if you just did that random activity with your team, like, hey, what animal are you gonna be this weekend all of a sudden, like, it has nothing to do with becoming a better lighting technician or a better office manager, but now, all of a sudden, you've opened up the lines of communication and now there's more trust, and now they're more willing to say certain things to you and you can find out. Oh, I didn't. I didn't realize you weren't happy with the way that we were leading this company, or I didn't realize you were happy with the way I speak to you or whatever it is. it just unlocks so much.

And that idea of we make each other look good, too, right? So that was something that we talked about when we got into teams with your group. You know, there are people that from all over the country hadn't met each other, and now they're in a team, and their job was to make everybody look good. It wasn't about, oh, how many lighting jobs have you done? And how many, you know, what, what, what are. What's your next project? Or whatever it is. It's like, okay, this is our task where one of the things we did, we worked. we did fortunately, unfortunately. So we told the story, and every other person had to build on the story, either starting with fortunately or unfortunately. So there's some, Some drama, some. Some craziness happening, right?

And.

And there's that listening piece, right? Like, okay, this is the part that they're adding to the story. I'm next. And now I'm going to build on that. And even when someone kind of, doesn't know what they want to say, then the next person can kind of throw something in there because, hey, we make each other look good. It isn't about, oh, my next line is going to be funnier than yours, or it's going to be, you know, more dramatic or whatever it is. It's like, hey, we're building this together. And even these are things like you could do at lunch with your team, like I said, or driving from one job to the next, or it doesn't take a long time to do any of these games that I think.

Make.

Such a huge difference, you know, would really break down those barriers and show that there's some, trust here. Like, hey, I can be a little vulnerable and act a little silly or say something kind of random. And I know that you're in with me, too, and you're gonna say yes and with me, and we're gonna see what happens and, and have a little fun in the process. And. And then, like I said, it translates into all the other things. Like when there is, like you said, there's some issue in the company, it's like, it's just easier to talk about it, you know, because you've already been through some drama and a story about, you know, unfortunately, the. The monkey and the toucan, you know, they. They were fighting over the sandwich, and the sandwich fell and the, rabbit ate it. I don't know. You know, like, just. We can talk in. And it's like, we've already. We've gone through it all, you know, I thought.

I thought it was funny. We did one of those games. I could tell they hadn't fully loosened up yet because they. They were like. They were like, trying to appease me. It was. They were like, saying things that we. We teach and like, inside joke, not jokes, but like. So, for example, they're like. And then, they closed the deal on the spot, and then they charged a premium price. You know, like, they're throwing in all the things, right? I was like, guys, it doesn't have, like, you could. You could bring up the fact that there was a monkey trying to steal a sandwich from the.

Right. And that's. And. And I think people need permission, especially adults. And. And, I'm not going to lie over the. Since I started teaching in elementary school and doing improv, I've seen year after year kids are more hesitant to, say the wrong thing, kind of like we said. And they want to find that right answer. Like, what do you want, teacher? What do you want? You know, so there they are, learning from you. And, you know, of course that's. That's why they're there. That's great. You have a lot of great insight about, you know, how to build in your business. but it's like, okay, forget all of that right now. Just be here in the moment, which is what we talked about, and let's just see what happens. but I think people need permission to be okay. That it's okay to make mistakes or that it's okay to, be creative. And it might come out kind of weird and strange and, you know, and that's, it. It's weird and strange to us. Like, we think that more about ourselves than someone else thinks when you say the thing. And if they're feeling uncomfortable or they think it's weird, that means they just need to loosen up too, and they're just thinking too much about the ego and they're. They're trying to look a certain way or come off a certain way, where they just need permission also to take a breath and just like, just.

Rock, paper, scissors challenge has become an annual tradition at Light UP Expo

What's that thing that's in your head? Just say the thing, you know? And, it's like a constant practice. It's not just like, okay, well, we do, we play a little, you know, team building, icebreaker, drama game once a quarter, or whatever it is. It's like this is just part of the climate, you know, it's part of how we. We communicate and it is fun and better and all that.

Yeah. it was. So now this is the third. I think that's the third year that we've done it. It's become an annual tradition where we end the session with our rock, paper, scissors challenge.

Oh, so good.

Is it paper, rock, scissors or rock, paper, scissors?

Rock, paper, scissor? I'm very serious about that.

If someone says paper, rock, scissors, you correct them.

no, I'll get over it.

You should be more serious about it.

Maybe I should. Excuse me. That's a different game.

I'm I'm leaving. If you're going to play paper, rock, scissors. I'm a rock, paper, scissors girl.

Ah, yes.

I think what we're going to try to do, Light it UP Expo, is March 4th through 6th. I feel like we got to go. I haven't looked it up yet. there's probably a larger group, but maybe not. I want to do the world record for the largest rock paper, scissors championship ever.

We should definitely do some research how large of a group, you get here. And you need to get the, like, the heavyweight champion belt after.

Of course. Of course. Yeah, yeah.

And do you remember it was like the Battle of the Andes. It was.

That was crazy Andy.

And an Andy in the end. Rock, paper, scissor. But okay, so let's. Let's take people there for a minute, because I think this is. This is key. And when we talked about getting it set up and you said, hey, this is something that we need to make sure we do at the end, I was like, right on. This is one of my favorite games because it's that idea that typically in Rock, paper, scissor. Right. Rock, paper. Let's. Let's do this right now. Ready? Rock, paper, scissor, shoe. Whoa. Two scissors. We'll go right there. But usually when someone loses, like, you're. You want to be sad. Let's see. Are you going to. Rock, paper, scissors, shoe. Oh, my gosh. That's funny. And this kept happening, too. Okay, again, one more. Rock, paper, scissors, shoe. I got, you.

I mean, I'm excited. Congratulations.

There we go. That's what we're talking about. You. Thank you.

Creating an atmosphere with your team is key to success in business

I've been practicing, but, you know, our reaction is kind of like, oh, man, you know, we didn't get the thing. But instead, with this Rock, paper, scissor competition, you would become part of my cheering squad. And I'm off to the next battle, and whoever wins that, you know, then we go off and cheering for them. So there's never this, oh, man, it's all right into, like, you did this and you can do it again. And I believe in you and I'm with you and patting you on the back and giving you a back massage and, you know, cheering your name, whatever it is, and seeing the people. You know, just from the start of the improv session to that, you would have thought that these people had been, like, it was a family reunion.

I know.

Kind of thing.

So cool.

And then, so it gets down to the Battle of the Andes. We've got a whole group behind Andy.

Number one, schwindler Andy Thomas.

Okay, thank you.

How does that happen? We have no idea how. Life is amazing, right?

And there's cheering squad. Cheering squad.

Well, someone, someone goes, let's go, Andy. You know?

Yeah. And I'm looking at the name tags and I'm like, Andy, Andy. Like, this is. We need a moment for the Andes. And. And they go. And next thing you know, rock papers in a shoot one. Andy gets lifted up on shoulders and. And then everyone just erupted into cheers and laughter and high fives and. And everybody's just like, let's do that again. You know, like the energy there. And when I was talking to some of the guys that lifted winner Andy up. Yeah, even that, like, one looked at the other and he was just like, let's lift him up. Let's get the winner. Other people, like, it was like, that's that idea, like, that we make each other look good and it just starts happening naturally in, in that energy. When you create that, right? As, as a leader in your company, you're. You're providing a space that people feel safe enough to do the random thing, to do the, you know, out of the ordinary, unexpected thing, and then it works, you know, and it was just like, it was so perfect because that was the, the culmination of, hey, we're gonna work through these rules of improv and play these games and talk about how we can make that, you know, helpful for you and your business. And, and here, look. Look at this. Like, right? It's like, ta da. If we just had a picture of that. Like, this is why cr. Creating this type of atmosphere with your team is. It needs to be priority number one right now, you know, like, let's stop whatever else you think you need to be doing with your team and let's, let's go there. Let's create that, that trust, that collaboration, that, creativity, adaptability, all the things. Like, let's do that by playing one game here and there, right?

Andy, Andy, Andy, Andy.

And I can like, feel it and how we got a couple videos of that too. Like, it was just perfection. And that's it. So here I'm saying that word and that I don't mean it in the sense of like, oh, if I had to say exactly how, you know, I need it to fit in a certain thing. It's. That's it. Like letting go of it all and seeing what happens and letting it be kind of chaotic and messy and all that along the way, like, that's perfect.

That's.

That's Perfect enough or that's enough Perfect. I don't know how to put that. Other than that is like chef's kiss kind of stuff.

It was the chef's kiss. And it, it just set us up perfectly. For the next two days. Everyone, everyone in that room, just really enjoyed themselves. They were, you know, we, you didn't even know you left. But we had two days of. We put people into roundtables and they talk about their problems and, like, solve it as a group. And like, here's what I would do. Almost like boardroom style. Here's what I would do. so many different things. We had, 10k ideas. So, like, everyone gets up in front of the room, which again, if we're like, okay, welcome to Secret Summit, you're gonna get up in front of everyone and talk.

Yeah.

Like, no one wants to do that, but because now they've gotten to know each other, they've hoisted these, everyone up in the air. They've done these things. It's. They're a lot more comfortable. And so we had, How many people do we have? We had like 40 people there. So imagine 40 people sharing a $10,000 idea, something that they've done in their business that's helped them make $10,000. That's $400,000 in shared ideas. Okay. In like a 90 minute period. Well, what was cool. And this doesn't happen unless we have the improv, the breakdown, the communication builder, all these things, right? There's people going, hey, I know I already shared mine, but I have another one. and, you know, John just said something that reminded me, this is another thing we do. And all of a sudden, and I'm improving now. I'm like, well, we got stuff on the agenda that was supposed to happen. It's not going to happen right now because what these guys are doing is magic. This is what we want. We don't want everything scripted. We don't want.

What we want is people to help each other, right?

Okay, now I'm going to talk to you about the pricing, right? Like, what we want is people to help each other. And if they're doing that organically, we're going to let that run all day long.

Right on. And that idea too, of, you know, I know some people that some of the people that were there are in similar, you know, areas, right. They could ultimately be competing for the same clients. And that idea of there's plenty to go around, that abundance that, you know, creativity is limitless, collaboration is limitless. It's not like, okay, once you get to this point, like, okay, we gotta cut it off there. And it just keeps growing and growing because. Right. You share that idea. Yes. And that gave me another idea right where There. It's just that real time, genuine brainstorming, collaborating and, and not being, thinking, you know, hey, if I share this idea, someone's gonna, you know, think that's a strange idea or someone's going to take my idea and call it theirs. Like, okay, great. We make each other look good. You know, that's, it's, that's awesome, right?

Yeah, I love it.

Talk a little bit more about the yes. That's definitely a challenge for business owners

Talk a little bit more about the yes. And like, I, for me, it's like the opposite of like, someone comes to me with an idea in my company and immediately my natural reaction if I don't know about these tools and stuff is like, yeah, but, you don't, you don't get it. I mean, I'm a business owner. I've been doing this for, you know, 16 years. We, we can't do that. Like, that's just the initial, like, automatic reaction for most people. It's not yes and it's yeah, but. Right.

Is that, that's yes and yes. And, and, and it, that has me also thinking about what you said about, by the way. What's that?

You just did it, by the way. Yes.

And, and, and even that, like, I'm not perfect either, right. There are times where I go straight to the no. Right. But sometimes, and what I try to teach also is that sometimes saying yes and is, it comes out as a no. And like the woman that you are speaking about, sometimes she says no to a job, you know, that's ultimately saying yes. And to your piece, your time, your. The space so you can do some other creative things or do something else that maybe is best. but I think that yes, we definitely have to be careful in our teams to go straight to the know. Because you know better, right? Even in parenting, like, you can't always just tell your kid no, no, no. You know, you can reframe it even when you want to say no, even when you know for sure because you've been in business for a long time and they're like, hey, let's use this thing. And maybe you already tried it and it didn't work. You know, just always kind of starting with yes or even saying, tell me more about that. Giving, giving a little more space for you to kind of take a breath and, and listen more being. And then that goes into being in the moment. Right. And creating conversations. Okay, okay, tell me, tell me a little bit more about that thing. And, and then you can kind of say still and, you know, and what I'm hearing you say is ah, or. And I notice you really would like to blah, blah, blah, you know, whatever it is that there's, there's more information. It can kind of. That, yes. And you can keep pulling more out when we go straight into no or. But, you know, we're kind of derailing the conversation where it's, it's over. It's not really derailing. Like we're, we're done with it. When you kind of have that mentality of I know it all and I don't need to hear these other ideas, but when we kind of say yes and what else is there or what, what. What else could I learn from this that I don't know or I haven't thought of? Right. This is a different person experiencing things in a different way. Maybe I can, I can get something out of that. And so just accepting kind of where they're coming from and building off of that together, you know, okay, how can we move forward together? You know, even if you have two very conflicting ideas, building that space, that time sometimes is necessary, and even tabling it and coming back to it, if it's. You find yourself really wanting to say, you know, no. but it's. That's definitely a challenge, I think, for a lot of people, I think, especially business owners, because there's so much that you're thinking about all the time. You know, your, you know, your P and L sheet and the customers that you didn't get back to and following up, and your office manager has, you know, decided that they're not going to work with you anymore. Whatever it is, like, for. There's so many things that I think when the people you hire, they're coming to you. First of all, that's a great thing, right? Like the fact that they want to share something with you, or bring an idea that means they feel comfortable, like, that's great. Whatever is going on, that you kind of built that, that space. Let's. Let's make sure we continue to build off that. If we're always saying no, no, or yeah, but, you know, like, yeah, I hear you, but no is basically what you're saying right away. I think just giving the space in there that, that allows for more of those opportunities to, you know, to, to grow, to communicate, to collaborate together and build some new fun things, creative ideas.

Yes. And I, I was going to say yes, and, and then, then now I can't say It. Without thinking about saying it.

All right, that, that's even that, like, business boss, put your, little sticky note. Yes. And, you know. Or how can I say yes more today? You know?

Yes.

It's a good reminder.

What I was going to say is like, I think a lot of business owners, they shoot themselves in the foot early on because they'll have a new team member and they'll come to them with the idea and go, yeah, yeah, but you have to understand, like, that's. Who cares if we can save 5ft of wire right there? I got bigger problems. I mean, I gotta get this installed. And so you're, you're just shutting them down. So if you just shut them down the first two to three times, the problem is now they're not going to come back with any more good ideas. And then you're like, they're just not a team player. It's like they don't even. It's like they don't even like their job here. And it's like, well, that's because you didn't learn the yes and strategy.

Right? Right. I think that that's it, right? We, as, as the leader, we're responsible for that space.

Do your employees feel safe sharing ideas with you

Like, do your employees, does your team feel safe sharing? You know, are you looking at them like, what is that idea? Or are you like, oh, tell me a little bit more about that. Even if, even if you think the idea is crazy, you know, you can kind of be like, oh, I didn't think about that. Or, you know, oh, that's, that's definitely an interesting way to put it. Like, you know, tell me more about what you're envisioning. Show me what does that look like? Or, you know, asking questions, being curious. And I think that is helpful, especially when you, like I said, you just want to say no. You know, you, you're just kind of quick to shut it down because time is money, right? Like, we don't have time to, you know, talk about random things or something. That is so small. Right. Like you said, there are other more important things to, to deal with. But that is the important thing, right? That your team, your. The way that your team functions as a whole is, is what ultimately is going to help you grow your business also, because you need to be able to have people that you can trust. When you're in Greece learning more about your business. Right? Or you're, you know, with your family or whatever it is, like, you need people you can count on to have that same buy in. And when you're always shutting ideas down. People, they're out, you know, they're just like, okay, I just keep to myself and do what, you know, my job description is and call it a day.

Love it.

Emily: My two favorite things in life are business and comedy

Well, this has been awesome. I. My two favorite things in life are business and comedy. So when I get to combine them, it's pretty much epic. So, I think it's really cool how I've learned over the last few years how I can use improv, how I can use these things, to not just, like, have a good time. And, like, I love to laugh. I love to. That's why I love comedy. I just love to laugh. I love to feel good. Right. but it's really cool seeing how we can incorporate it into business and how we can use it to better our relationships and all these things. So it's really awesome. if people want to get a hold of you, what's the best way to do that?

you can find me on Instagram or Facebook, elevate in improv and. Or you can go to my website, elevate improv. com, and if you would like to set up a call or a quick zoom meeting, we can chat a little bit about how you can bring improv back to your. Your teams. or I can give some game ideas. Do we have time for one quick game that someone could play, like today, right after they're done listening?

Absolutely. Yeah.

Okay, so how about one word advertisement? Okay, so let's. We're going to sell a light bulb. How about that? Some kind of lighting. Lighting apparatus. Okay. And. But we can only say one word at a time. So we'll go back and forth and we have to build this ad, but only one word can be found.

We're selling, and we're selling a light bulb.

A light bulb.

Okay.

All right. B, the best in the world. So that you can have the most.

Time on your hands.

Because lighting can change the world.

If.

You want to have, fun.

Whoa.

Everyone's buying our light bulbs now.

Why would everyone not buy this thing right now? We're gonna send a link. yeah, we'll send it.

Light bulb company will be asking for this recording so they can, we.

Standing on our hands at some point.

And so that's the thing, right? Like, did that totally make sense? But each time you're, like, anticipating a little bit, but you're like, okay, that's not where I thought that was going to go with that person. But, like, we're smiling, kind of relax your shoulders a little bit. Like there's possibilities are endless and, and what did that take Another like 30 seconds, you know? So that's, that's it. These things don't take or don't need to take a lot of time to make a big impact. So yeah, reach out, follow me on social media and I'll throw some little games out there too that you can steal. And that's it too. You can just Google improv games. Like I don't like own improv games, but I do make them up and a lot of the ones that I make up are because of my students. Like just kind of random making a mistake in another game. I'm like, oh, I have another idea. so that's it. Just kind of just, just be present with your people and accept. Say yes. All the things.

I love it. So good. I think one day what we got to do is have you join me on ah, like I'll go meet with a client and we'll have you actually sell the landscape lighting experience. And you know nothing about landscape lighting and we'll just be like, okay. And here's Emily, your lighting advisor. Anyway, Emily, take it over.

Happy to help.

Yes. These people some lighting.

Perfect.

Perfect. That'd be awesome. All right, so your website elevateimprov .com.

Yep, that's it.

Okay, check her out on Instagram and highly, highly recommend. If you guys are wanting help with any of this type of stuff, reach out to Emily. you did such a good job with our event.

It really just so much fun. So much fun.

Yeah.

Use these games, use these strategies to improve your communication

All right guys, now the hard part. Just implement and say yes to everything.

Right on.

But use these games, use these strategies. It will change the way you communicate, change the way that people communicate with you. And besides, you might have some fun along the way. Thanks Emily.

Right on. Bye. Thank you.

See everybody.