Purpose Over Profit | Diana Barbiani

Transcript note: This full episode transcript was lightly formatted for readability. Speakers are Jet Bunditwong and Diana Barbiani.

[00:08] Jet Bunditwong: Welcome to the personal side of business with Jet Bunditwong, where every business has a story. Today, I'd to welcome Diana Barbiani. She is a small business advocate and philanthropist here in San Diego. Welcome, Diana. So tell us, how did we get here?

[00:21] Diana Barbiani: Thank you, Jet. Thanks for having me. How did we get here? Well, I asked you to be on a podcast. Very easy, right? Yes. We work together. We're becoming good friends. And I'm very, very excited to do this with you today.

[00:35] Jet Bunditwong: Yeah, so tell us a little bit about your story, because you have a really unique story from way back when you were young.

[00:41] Diana Barbiani: Yes. Well, how many stories? Too many stories. But yeah, originally from Croatia, I came to the States when I was 22. And yeah, definitely live my American dream to this day. Many, many years later, the life back home was beautiful. My childhood was beautiful until the war started in Croatia when I was 15. And for the next five years, it was tough. So come my pretty much 18th, 19th birthday, I was like, OK, this this is not working and we need to do something. And my aunt that lived in the United States happens to visit. And she said, do you want to do you want to come over? Do you want to try? Do you want to take some English classes? I'm like, oh, heck yeah. Nothing, nothing. I mean, I learned English through translating Guns N' Roses songs. No joke. And yeah, when she was there and visited, like nine months later, I was here on a plane here with everything that I owned, literally two bags, kind of like many, immigrant stories and never look back. There's no plan. There was no plan. There's really like

[01:20] Jet Bunditwong: You didn't know any English?

[01:37] Jet Bunditwong: Well,

[01:41] Diana Barbiani: you know, go to school for a couple months, ESL, English as Second Language, and see what's going to happen. And I loved it so much, I didn't want to leave. Who would want to leave San Diego?

[01:52] Jet Bunditwong: Yeah, but you had visited America before? No.

[01:56] Diana Barbiani: Never. Never. Never been on a plane before. Yeah. That was a huge jump. 22.

[01:59] Jet Bunditwong: That's a huge jump. And so let's start to take that journey from when you went to English school and then what was the path of getting into working with businesses? What was your business journey?

[02:16] Diana Barbiani: Yeah, yeah. So my business journey started when my mom first opened her business. See, I think I firmly believe that if you're to be a not a born, you're going to be, you know, business owner by nurture. did for me. It happened through my mom's business. She made me work. She made my little sister work in business as well. So when I came to United States very early on, I was like, okay, I'm going to work for somebody, but I'm looking for opportunities to have my own business. And it kind of manifested itself. I worked for a gentleman for about 18 months. He was leaving back to Switzerland and he said, do you want to take over the lease and the inventory that I have? It was like a little kiosk at Fashion Valley Mall. And I was like, I think so. He let me basically pay off the inventory in payments and still coached me through whole business, taught me everything. Pretty much I know that I didn't learn from my mom. So between two of them, I feel like I was mentored by them and pretty much I do. do that for others. think that's why the love for mentoring and coaching.

[03:15] Jet Bunditwong: Yeah, that's incredible. And to do that on the fly, I'm assuming when you were when he put you in that position. mean, it's I think that opportunity is great. Right. But you also did you have stress like going into that beginning? Like, I'm not sure what.

[03:30] Diana Barbiani: Yeah, very much so in full transparency that didn't have permit to work or do anything, but I had a business, you know, sometimes you have to be creative in the ways that you're sourcing out revenue or making money in the country, anywhere, wherever you are. But I felt okay because he was with me. He actually stayed on and even helped me remotely. And I would talk to my mom still about the business. She couldn't believe it. She was more stressed out than I was about me. having a business in brand new country and not knowing the laws or anything. But business here and business in many other countries that I hear from my clients that are immigrants is very different. is very business friendly, at least California and definitely San Diego.

[04:16] Jet Bunditwong: Yeah, think I hear that a lot too, that America gives this opportunity, but I think also California has a lot more rules and regulations, I think, than a lot of other states, right? What were some of the things that you learned in that first year of running that business?

[04:33] Diana Barbiani: Yes, very many, very many. As much as he guided me and I've heard from other business owners that were kind of like right next to me. When you own a kiosk and not in a store, you very much are connected to other kiosk owners. Yeah, like some of the trouble that I've gotten myself into was the signing of four-year agreement with the credit card processing company back in the day. Yeah. And I wasn't even in business after one. I joined somebody else. I joined a business partner that had established business after that. So I... had no need for a credit card process, but I was on the four-year contract, so was paying off. And just knowing the American entrepreneurism and the way in the United States, like the customer service and management of the inventory, all that basic stuff, yeah.

[05:19] Jet Bunditwong: Yeah, because I think we see that a lot with. immigrant families that start businesses here, especially in San Diego, you're used to running a business like that in other countries and you come here and it's almost like going from a bicycle to like a Lamborghini. You're trying to like fast forward as much as you can and it's a little bit overwhelming. Now that you're dealing with a lot of different businesses, what are some of the ways you coach them? Do you start from basics? Do you make sure that they know everything from basics first?

[05:49] Diana Barbiani: Yeah, so permits or, you know, writing a good business plan or looking at the funding, looking at their pricing strategies, all that stuff. But all of that's still not going to help you if you don't have, like, especially if you're not, let's say, a service or direct to consumer business. You have to have the basic understanding of human nature. And if you want to be in B2B business to business, it's all about relationships. And if you just take that out of the equation, you think you're going to just sell the product or service that you're selling and that's going to be enough. We're on time and we're the cheapest in town. That's not going to cut it in today's world.

[06:22] Jet Bunditwong: Yeah, and I think a lot of people think that, right? Like you open up a business and things are just going to happen. And I think it's so competitive in 2025 or whether you're in a brick and mortar or your e-commerce, there's so much competition out there. What is some of your advice to try to maybe get a leg up on your competition?

[06:45] Diana Barbiani: Yeah, many, but what I see lacking over and over and over again is the customers or should I say clients that are looking at doing any type of business. They're not talking to their customers enough. They're not researching enough. They're not doing the beta testing of some kind. Some industries and some tracks are very much so. Yes, we need clinical trials because we cannot put the drug out unless we test it. Of course, why aren't we all doing that or some form of testing, some form of Let's go to our customers or prospects. Let's get them involved in the whole process. Let's go back to the drawing board and then pitch it to those same interested parties again. All of the answers are in the people that we're trying to serve. But often the ego that drives the business owner to even start a business and go through the turmoil and the tribulations and all that stuff, it also prevents us from going out there, testing the product or even some kind of basic MVP, right? And then hearing the good, bad and the ugly that might come with the comments.

[07:49] Jet Bunditwong: Yeah, I think that is one of the hardest things is to change from the ego side to over to where the customer is really the person you're catering to, right? Because I think a lot of people get into business, especially like in food businesses, or they create a product and they're like, I love this product, I love this food, I make this food, I make this product. And it's about me, right? Because I'm so proud of it. But then... things start to happen and the customer is like, don't, there's some things wrong with this and this needs to be changed or tweaked. And then that's where I've seen some people that are really great about it. They're like, we've listened, we're adjusting and we're going to tweak it so that it can sell more. Right. And some people don't. There's this thing that you and I have talked about where the business owner entrepreneur is to be, to work on themselves. as they're trying to get better to run the business. Let's talk a little bit about that. You wanna approach it from a holistic standpoint. So let's talk about that.

[08:53] Diana Barbiani: Yes, thank you. That is definitely my passion to talk about because going on six, seven years in being a business advisor and coach, the theme does repeat itself over and over and over again. And sometimes it's much more in your face and sometimes it's like, you know, people can mask themselves in business and in life in general. And what I see that if I work with the client first as an individual and pointing to them or, you know, basically teaching them some tips or any type of looking at the goals that they can achieve on a personal side, they very easily translate into business. So how do I differentiate that? They do come to me with business problems, but often as one of my clients said, and I absolutely love the quote that she comes to me for business therapy, right? Yes, it is business therapy, but first is personal therapy, personal, like how do you do things? Are you on time with the appointments that you have that are personal? Do you share very easily with friends? Do you tell them you love them? Do you get feedback? How are you with any kind of criticism or anything? That gets amplified 100-fold when you have a business and you're exposed to the comments and likes or dislikes and buttons up, buttons down or thumbs up, up. It's just grueling. So I think that the more people turn to themselves and look at the personal brand of the business, even if it is product. think the majority of people in a service-based business, especially in, let's say, professional services, you want to be a notary or you want to be, again, nutritionist, people want to see who they're doing business with. So on that side, we're used to building a personal brand first. But many, many folks with any type of product, 3D, regular CPG products, they always hide themselves behind really good marketing campaign just for the product. They don't even say, hey, this is our team. We're a family-owned business. We are women-owned business. Very rarely that they capitalize on that. So I want them to build a personal brand first, or in themselves, because business will benefit from everything you're doing. It is very hard to take from business and hope you're hoping that yes, that revenue might come, but the business will take on your personality. It's just, you know, there's no separation.

[11:12] Jet Bunditwong: Do you think that was always the case for retail or hard products to always try to sell the person? Or do think that has changed over the years because of the competition and so many items popping up in the market? Do you think that has shifted over so that we need to get to know the

[11:36] Diana Barbiani: 100%, we're shifted even more now. It's neither one. It is these individuals or teams that are, let's say, building out the momentum and social media presence and branding for one person or an entire team of people, more on a personal side and telling the story and leading with mission, with heart-centered actions. And when they, two years later, come up with a physical product. Naturally, it just flies off the shelves because they already have the tribe, the audience, they build the community already. So that's the, you know, slow and steady and it is maybe the upside down of the business, which I actually love that motto. Love the motto.

[12:20] Jet Bunditwong: Yeah, to go to get people to know the people behind the business first and then start to build out the product.

[12:26] Diana Barbiani: Yeah, yeah, because they're not selling the business. There's really no business. mean, there's no structured business in some way because there's maybe no revenue coming in or anything. There's just people that are having fun. doing amazing things in community and they're showcasing that. How beautiful is that?

[12:43] Jet Bunditwong: I agree. Now, let's play to the people who are listening and are saying, I am not comfortable being in front of the camera. feel like the sigh says it all. But let's talk to those people, right? Because there's, I often meet people who I suggest that same thing to start to open up themselves in the brand, let people know who they are to connect with them. And they're just like, I'm not comfortable. being in front of the camera. I don't want people to really know my story, anything. What do you say to those people?

[13:20] Diana Barbiani: I think it's a must if you're gonna convince them to not only buy from you for the first time, but continuously buy from you. Sometimes we're actually living in very good times when we are pretty abundant. If you want, can get two, three jobs and you can have whatever income you want at any point, in my opinion. So that means that we have disposable dollars and where do we spend them? It matters because again, there's so much noise. And you have to, unfortunately, be something different. You've got to be there. has to be some kind of element where you're keeping me staying and buying continuously from you. And whatever you bring you, I'm going to come to you first. And you have to continuously stay in touch. And how do you do that with just the product? You know what I mean? It is just too hard. So painting a picture of who you really are, what matters to you, it is so important. If I see that you, let's say, contribute to, you know, local humane. society or shelter or something like that. That would probably make me buy from you rather than somebody else that doesn't showcase anything. I'm not saying they're not doing it, but they're not painting me a picture of the whole person behind the brand, behind the actual product. I'm always looking for more. I'm always looking for more from business owners.

[14:32] Jet Bunditwong: Yeah.

[14:36] Jet Bunditwong: Yeah, and I think that's one of the hardest parts as a business owner is to also get involved in those different organizations to help build you. I think as a person and as a brand, which then start to spill into the product and people are starting connecting to all those levels. Would you suggest if someone had extra income in their business to start to seek help in that area? They're like, I'm not comfortable with putting myself out there, maybe there's a branding specialist or an advisor that could come into the business for a little bit and say, okay, this is how we're gonna help you out and market you without you going too far outside your shell.

[15:20] Diana Barbiani: 100%. You don't have to do it all along. And I think that's money very well invested. Because there are people, when I teach my workshops and when I talk about good business and businesses giving to charities and forming any kind of partnerships, I actually realize that they are giving already, but they're not showcasing anything, not showing. Why aren't they amplifying their own message and that, let's say, charity's message or whatever it is, the local nonprofit organization? They just don't. So somebody that will come from the outside and dig a little bit into the past and to showcase them all these wins that they have done already in their life in business and just highlight those. Even if it happened 10 years ago, I don't care. It was a nice good act, right? Donating a kind, volunteering, whatever. So people, and that does not have to be just for philanthropic efforts. It can be for anything, for partnerships that they form with another business. do it, but they don't showcase enough. And I think maybe, yes, they need professional help to come in and just dig that up and say, and that's yet another curse of a business owner. We just level up, level up, level up. And very rarely did we pause and like, wow, look at this, you know, from that mountaintop that you're so like, look up to six, seven, nine months ago, I'm here, but then pause them, like just sit with it a little bit.

[16:44] Jet Bunditwong: And I think some people feel that way, that it's difficult for them to showcase what they've done because they're like, I'm not doing this for the glitz and glamour, I'm doing this because I wanna give back. But sometimes I say to them, what is the ultimate goal? Is it to help grow this business? Because that just aids you with, and... in return as your business has grown, they're going to look back like you're saying and say, you donated to this organization. I want to get involved with it because I buy your products. So it's just the cyclical world of ecosystem of helping each other out that I think and also wanting to be a part of the business. when did you get involved with all the nonprofits that you're helping out now? What was that avenue for you?

[17:32] Diana Barbiani: Yeah, believe it or not, it was actually a workshop that I used to teach for our work. I really wanted to form something where I just wake up people about how charitable giving makes a difference, right? And not just like a passive charitable giving. I have that. Like I have charities that get $25 a month from me, and that's it. Super passive, right? Then I have some that I'm very much so involved in. So when I was teaching a workshop, I just wanted to... feedback from people on what they do, how they do it. And I'm like, okay, let me do that. That was about five years ago when I first started. Ran that workshop for three years. Just talked to all kinds of business owners about giving. And yes, 90 plus percent of the time, yes, we gave, but we don't know how to showcase and should we even showcase that? I said, yes, definitely do it. But on more intentional ways, you have to, I mean, if that's not enough, everything that I just said, you become part of the leadership. either you, often my business owners do have a nonprofit arm of their own and support their own charities, their own charity, or they're just look up charities around town. And if they are showcased somewhere and not just on their own website, somebody like me on my website, I just list all of them. And I'm like, I want to amplify the effect. their links are there. Not OK, we donated. Don't ask me, you know, where to find them. It's right here. The links are right there. So it can be so simple. But being on a leadership. I have my giving circle and being on the leadership, I feel like I'm making even more difference. I'm leveling up in that area because I personal goals about my philanthropic efforts.

[19:09] Jet Bunditwong: You know, do you guide people to want to be involved with certain organizations based on their personal side of things, or is it like the business side or both? Like if someone was like, I have no idea who I want to align with. Yeah. What's your advice for them?

[19:26] Diana Barbiani: Yeah, I do it both. I don't know, I'm in this like as you said ecosystem of small business ownership. So when I approach them right away, know one they're on my level or I'm on their level. So we are business owners to business owner, right? I talk and then I asked them about like, are they doing something on a personal level? And how can they amplify that on a business level? So it's like, you know, smart decisions. Yeah, some of them ask like, hey, what's the tax rate like deduction and all that? I was like, no, go ask your tax professional. But it's just planting the seed and you know like we can do that, we can do that. You just post their link on your website and donate button or have something in a physical store or if you have physical space where people can donate. So yeah, it's never, it's very fluid between the personal and business. I just want them to showcase because I think that's a great way to amplify everybody's message.

[20:19] Jet Bunditwong: Yeah, I appreciate that too. think people should be able to let people know where their, I think, personal goals or emotional goals are, right? So people can align. And I think people don't see businesses enough in that sense. And I think that's where it comes back to branding, right? When you start to, when you're like, this person is helping out the community doing this and go, I've actually even done that myself, where I just want to support and buy something from a local business just because I see them out doing this cleanup or helping out the homeless community or something along those lines. Now, I'm sure listeners have, you from the educational side of a business want to learn how to get involved with the CPG world. Right. So I you have quite a bit of experience in that. Let's just kind of dive into that for a little bit. Sure. Your experience. Let's talk about your experience in when you started getting into that, you know, with retail, what started and then how did you end everything?

[21:29] Diana Barbiani: Yeah, yeah. So the first little business that I had back in the day, as I talked about, is the kiosk at the mall. But when I closed mine, I met a business partner that I'm going to partner with for pretty much the next 20 years. And in those 20 years, we imported a lot of goods from overseas, different countries all over the world. But we realized that when we started importing, these are huge quantities. And we I started our wholesale division. So not only that we had retail stores, kiosks and actual in line stores in community and in in shopping centers, but also started wholesale. And literally, no joke. You want to hear another funny story? I traded my well, I sold my beloved Trans Am for an SUV so that I can sell out of my SUV. Wow. Yeah, no joke. That's I would have merchandise in my. Ford Explorer and just sell the hats out of the trunk pretty much. So walked store to store and that's how my wholesale journey started because before that we imported a 20 foot container of hats from China and it was like, oh my God, this is huge quantity, it will take us years. So out of a need of just unloading the inventory, we started wholesale. And little by little the wholesale grew and then we grew into some international accounts. So now my passion is to basically tell everybody all of the mistakes that I made, but also all of the successes, all of the sticky points, like what to watch out for about vendor relations, like how, you know, some vendors that brought you to one place are not going to take you to the next one. And it's growth. I call them like sticky points or like, you know, that sweet spots where you know you're growing, you're bursting into seams, but is it the time to pull the trigger and buy a warehouse or, you know, hire more staff or you know get graphic designers in-house and not you know them freelancing and kind of putting you on a back burner because they have better jobs bigger jobs to do so all of that I've learned so much in those close to 20 years that now when I'm guiding clients I'm like just slow and steady got to have those margins you have to make sure that you know more than ever now packaging is so important and then yes of course branding I would say it's easier we have an affiliate ambassadors

[23:48] Diana Barbiani: You know, everything that supports those digital sales. Back in the day, we didn't have any of that. Nothing.

[23:54] Jet Bunditwong: Yeah, you were you were doing it more in person, right? Did you have any e commerce?

[23:59] Diana Barbiani: Zero. Zero in e-commerce. Even traditional way to sell wholesale or to offer your goods through trade shows, we've done three in 17 years. Three only. That's it. They were not that good. I was much more successful door door. So yes, it's that person, in person, human element that always helps. And no joke, I would be selling to the same people 10, 12 years.

[24:28] Jet Bunditwong: What was some of that work like for you? Were you making phone calls a lot, showing up to places? Let's tell a little bit about that story, because I'm sure there's people out there that open these e-commerce businesses and just like, everything's gonna happen for me, and then they don't make sales. I always suggest that you need to get out there and build those relationships.

[24:50] Diana Barbiani: Yeah, you have to. So we had retail stores and then we also had wholesale and all of it was very much so. I learned everything that I knew about customer service and all that stuff from being in the mall for like 11 hours at a time, know, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. kind of thing. So very much in person customer service, shaking hands and knowing that if they didn't buy today, if you take care of them, maybe they'll come back and buy again, buy some other time. because they know where to find me, right? Same with us, some with me, when I would go and try to sell my merchandise to them, I knew where they were. It's okay. I wasn't pressuring myself to close the sale on the spot. No, if the owner was there and if he wasn't there, somebody was there, I can leave the samples or do anything. So very rarely. As a matter of fact, in those 17 years, I can recall that I've only used uncles twice. And that was when I was just delivered my two babies and I was working from home. Yeah, like I had two weeks break with one and a month break with the other one. That's when the phone calls happened. And then after that, they went with me and they work with me and they saw the customers because customers saw me pregnant and they wanted to see the children. The whole time, but in person and it was, can't, I can't say it because that really is, I think it's the service to say that I was hustling. I was making revenue and I was making sales, but I really had so much fun. Like majority of my 90

[25:56] Jet Bunditwong: You were hustling all the time.

[26:11] Diana Barbiani: 5 % of my clients, think customers were amazing, wholesale customers, yeah.

[26:16] Jet Bunditwong: Did you build a team out during that time?

[26:18] Diana Barbiani: No, always the only one. The only help that I did get. So in the beginning, I was doing everything, going to see customers, taking orders, going to warehouse, pack the orders and deliver the orders. I've done everything. So five years into it, maybe seven years into it, I'd gotten help with a part time assistant. She was doing some stuff for our retail stores and then helping me process the purchase orders because we grew. We grew significantly. There was quite a bit of merchandise was going out and supporting our peers really. We were selling to some of our team competitions.

[26:52] Jet Bunditwong: And then I think you've told me a little bit about how you started ending everything. What was a point where you realized that you were going to get out of that industry?

[27:05] Diana Barbiani: You know, it came to me. Like all good things, I feel like they find me. So I was literally from our current job, I was taking a workshop and when we all did our little elevator pitch to see who is who and why are we here and what are we learning here, the very nice lady that's been in the network for many, many years, still works in the network, offered me a part-time position. She said somebody with your experience would be so valuable to come. I was like, I'm not a consultant. I've never done any consulting for this. I am very much so in consultative sales, which that's my MO. When I'm selling anything, it's very consultative. And even with my, call them, $5 t-shirt, that's how I used to sell. So I was natural at it, but I didn't realize that that could be translated, that can be valuable to basically me giving all this advice to people that are new to it. I just didn't get the concept. So she told me that I have to have a resume. did like, I've never needed a resume. I was lucky enough to, know, get the job. Gosh, like what resume? Yeah, like I'm a business owner. I build empires kind of thing, know, enterprises. So I did, I just crammed it and then I did both jobs for a year. So my sales job and advising. And then I was like, okay, I am done selling, but I'm very comfortable telling other people what to do.

[28:09] Jet Bunditwong: years. my

[28:31] Diana Barbiani: So yeah, I feel like I've found my purpose. This is it, this is it. What we talked about, you know, we would do this for free.

[28:39] Jet Bunditwong: Awesome. Now, if you could go back and with all the knowledge you have after almost 20 years and you think one piece of advice you would have given yourself early on that would have, you think changed the trajectory of how your business would have went, what would that piece of advice?

[28:58] Diana Barbiani: Believe it or not now that I know that advising and the impact that I make on others like I would have probably left sales the outside sales sooner to become what I am now because I really do give Give the comments and the and you know the feedback that I get from my clients. It's a strong impact They they're always used the words inspired and new energy and clarity and all that stuff when they're scribing How do they feel after? to our meeting and some of them have really nice success and continuous success. I feel like, you know, sales are hard. Outside sales are hard and I feel like I'm a better in a support role than actually doing sales. So I might have gotten, you know, maybe five years before I should have started.

[29:49] Jet Bunditwong: Yeah, and to be in an industry for, I feel like anything for decade has a lot of experience. For you to it almost two decades is great. And when you're helping clients and trying to help their businesses grow, what have you seen that's been one of the commonalities that have... been successful for clients and something that you've seen maybe that has attributed to having a business kind of falter. Either way, what are things you've seen that one's great and one's not?

[30:29] Diana Barbiani: Yeah, I feel like I can now be a predictor of like, when it comes to a one meeting, half an hour, half an hour, I can see. I see if they're logging early on Zoom. Are they late? I see if they're distracted when we're talking. I see if they have an ego and that the unhealthy part of ego where they're, you know, I might be giving them this solution and that solution and that solution. They'll say for every single one of them. I've numbered one or 19, they will say, we tried that, it didn't work. And they're in business for like a year or even six months. So I can tell a lot by how they are as individual to, you know, that correlates a lot if they're gonna be successful. I think the most successful people naturally have a separation of them as a person and the business, which is really good because then they're almost accountable to that business, meaning, If the business and person are one in the same, who is keeping who accountable? Nobody, right? Like nobody's watching over or nobody giving you pass or telling you, hey, you need to do better. So the ones that can kind of separate business activities, they're not very emotionally attached to outcomes or they can, let's say, look at sales projections with me and they can really say, okay, I think I can achieve this or not. little less emotional about like again the outcomes. Those are the most successful ones. But also kind of like we talked about already. Like that personal brand that they are building for themselves, especially if there's some type of professional services, is what brings sales later on. So they're just building themselves and the individual and showing up in the right light and people are attracted to doing business with those kind of folks.

[32:19] Jet Bunditwong: Yeah, thank you for that answer. And you you've been in this position where you were a mother trying to run a business with kids. now there's mothers listening to this and probably saying, I can't do this now. I have a family. I have a job. What is your advice for a client like that that's like, OK, listen, I have like four hours a week to give to this business. Do you try to steer them in an area where like, well, start to do this as a hobby and then let it grow, or maybe you need to get a second pair of hands into this and then work together since you don't have enough time to help this business grow.

[33:05] Diana Barbiani: I would say slow and steady is the name of the game. I see that people, even if they have tons of money that they can pour into business with the length of time that, you know, maybe impatience or again, how you do one thing, how you do everything, they just skip steps that they should. And business is live being. It's an entity that kind of like has its own personality and stuff. So it's okay to chip away on the business goals, even if it's just four hours a week. Maybe those four hours are so much more concentrated than somebody that is supposedly a business owner and they do this full time and they don't see results. So moms are actually some of the best business owners because they are so good at time management, majority of us. Time management. So I'm telling you those four hours like for somebody else might be two and a half days of work. So yes, start, but also get support. I mean, you and I work for a national nonprofit. Everything's at no cost for those services that we provide. Find people like that. And then remember that I was asked to be a consultant. You can make anybody a consultant. Buy him lunch, buy him some drinks, buy him a gift card. Tap into their brain, tap into what they know already and how they can help you.

[34:16] Jet Bunditwong: Yeah, I don't think enough people want to learn. I wouldn't say they don't want to learn, but I don't think they see that as a resource for them to grow a business, right? I think a of people don't want to share their business until it's successful. Like I've met people that they're like afraid to like, want my family making fun of me. I don't want people, my friends saying I was failure. And really I'm like, you did something that no one else around you is even doing. You're taking a brave step into starting something that... One is really risky, two, it's time consuming, and three, it's really stressful, you know, so you get into it. So I'm like, you're a brave soul for doing this. And I think asking for that help and that assistance and guidance can expedite that journey. You you get someone who's already been, like if I came to you and I was like, I'm trying to sell this to so and so and go from a B to B. I would love it if I can talk to you because now you can tell me the mistakes you made and the right things to do instead of me sitting there and go, I'm gonna look up in the internet. And then you start to get into like, you know, Reddit. There's people who like, this sucks, like business sucks. never, but meanwhile you get someone that was like, I had a great experience and this is what I did, but I wish someone would have guided me.

[35:36] Diana Barbiani: Yes, you touched on some really, really good points and I'll try to get to all of them, but yes, 100%. What drives that decision to open up a business, also very differs from like just wanting to get a job, just clocking in and out, it's cushion, you just pay the bills and that's fine. So many, many people don't have the support. As a matter of fact, I see that more people that like come to our class or just want to be coached. They realize they have no support even from, not talk about parents, they don't have support from their friends and even spouses. So yes, it's not an environment where they can be themselves and be to whatever degree this business ownership is. Like it might take a year or two to get it going, but you need to start acting like you are a business owner right away. When clients come to Startup Essentials class, I want them to say who is in business, everybody, right? If I charged for the services and for our workshops, this would be a business expense. So I always try to tell them that that's the biggest mindset shift that majority of us start as somebody's employee, right? So when you open a business, it's very different and you have to very intentionally surround yourself with other business owners. Do not take advice from somebody that was not in business. If they're your mentor, like a life mentor, yes. If it works for you, yes. It will probably also work for your business. No, seek support in the right places if you don't have it at home. Just like my mom was a business owner and I learned from her. So when I opened my own business, she never told me don't do it. She never told me go and get a job or go to more school and stuff like that. No, she realized that she taught by example. And I worked in her business. wasn't like she set me up for success. It wasn't also some parents that maybe have a business but their kids are not involved. That might as well have a job somewhere and I don't know what mom does. I very much knew what mom did. I knew their vendors, I knew customers, you know, was highly perishable fruit and vegetable, fruits and vegetables that we sold. And as 12 year old, you know, money exchange and putting stuff on a scale and weighing by pound or by, know, my gosh, no joke. So I had a great example and it was fostered. And for some people it's not, that's why they have to be very intentional. What circles do they move in?

[38:00] Diana Barbiani: so that sometimes that's all, it's just a class that they come to. Or maybe a networking event, like, and they feel at home. And it's sad when they don't have support. It's just, my heart goes out to them.

[38:13] Jet Bunditwong: Yeah, I'm a big believer in surrounding yourself with other business owners, and even if they're in the same level. I a lot of people think you're supposed to go out there and find people who have been in business for 10 years, 15 years, and go, I'm just gonna hang out with them. But I think it's nice to have the support of people who are going through the same thing you're going through. And then a lot of times, you start to brainstorm, and you're like, hey, maybe... You can help me figure this out because I don't know what I'm doing. You went through it and then it kind of expedites that journey. Yeah. Do you think that people know enough about the just even the free resources in, let's say, San Diego?

[38:57] Diana Barbiani: No, I don't think so. Majority of time even for our agency, like when I go out for a network and do outreach, they just don't know. Or the other half is like, yeah, we use all your services, we love you guys. So yes, San Diego is a hub for startups. I think more businesses start in San Diego than any other part of the country. And same with nonprofits. I think we have over 17,000 nonprofits in San Diego. So yeah, same thing. It's very much a heart-centered decision that you're going to do either one. But yes, there's much support out there and a lot of it is at no cost and very, very good support. Plus networking events and coaching sessions and incubators, accelerators, I mean, they're everywhere. Some come with grant money, some come with just you, again, kind of like on the same level being with others and knowing that you're not alone. That support is huge. Sometimes that's more important than the business stuff like, where do I get my permit? You can look that up on Google. The other stuff I want you to kind of, again, intentionally surround yourself with. with business owners.

[39:56] Jet Bunditwong: And to your point about nonprofits, over the years I've been involved with nonprofits. And the more I get involved with nonprofits and then also hear from people in other nonprofits, the more I start to see that nonprofits, especially in the early stages, don't see themselves as a business. They see because they want to they're doing something amazing right in their heart. They want to give back. They want to change the world in some way. And then I will start to talk to them. I'm like, there's no, there's sort of no foundational focus here to run like business. You still need money to come in to help support whatever you're doing. You need people in certain positions to really get the nonprofit going. In your experience, have you dealt with that as well? And then do you also suggest them to to go like, hey, you might need to run these things a little more like a business.

[40:52] Diana Barbiani: 100%. I think what drives the individual to open up a nonprofit, same as individual that opens for-profit business. And that same thing, we have a great product and it's delicious and people will love it. And then nonprofits say, we have a great mission and it's on our website and we support XYZ and people are to love it and they're going to donate. No, neither one works. I mean, yes, that should be there still and very evident and very in your face, but that's not enough. So yes, nonprofits, as a matter of fact, two weeks ago we were at Better Business Bureau Ignite space. They have coworking space and Kaws San Diego, which is a beautiful nonprofit, organized support to broad small business owners and advisors to support nonprofits. We were coaching them one-on-one on, first of all, what do you offer? What are you still offering? And not just a donate button, yes, but that's passive. They want to see in community you're doing stuff, or maybe again, that we're educating public on something, and then we buy into your message, and we buy into your mission. So yes, it was a very interesting conversation, and I love it, because we're two of the same. Two parts of the same.

[42:08] Jet Bunditwong: Yeah, do you think when someone is starting their nonprofit and they're in the beginning stages, do you think it's harder to gain funding and grants and stuff like that because it's so competitive in this space?

[42:27] Diana Barbiani: Yeah, I think so. And I don't think they look enough at the, again, how many of these 17,000 are doing the same thing that we do? Can we pair up? Can we partnership with somebody? Right? Same as businesses. Businesses don't do enough partnerships. A business with nonprofits, non-existing partnerships. It's very sad. It's to some degree satisfactory on a corporate level. So you might see Brady's Children Hospital and the Polcom gives them a million dollars a year. No, I'm talking about bottom line, small micro businesses pairing up, let's say, with nonprofits and then again forming that partnership of some kind. Even if it's short term, even if it's for just event, two is always better than one. Come on, why do it alone? Why do it on your own?

[43:14] Jet Bunditwong: Yeah, I think a lot times I've given the advice to go find aligned businesses that are not your competition, but really can help you move forward together. And I've noticed when people start to do that, they end up, this is really great. They've referred me business, I've referred them business. And I think networking is a very overlooked tool in business, especially for business owners, because they're deep in it. They're like every day, like, I'm so stressed out. I don't have time to do this, but I think it pays off. I think there's a lot in there that people need to really consider and then see the long-term effects for a business, right? You're in the community, you have advocates now, you have built friendships and you're, to me the biggest tool is you're learning from other business owners. Do you think that they're... Are certain, not think, but are you familiar with certain organizations, especially here in San Diego, that will help networking become easier?

[44:18] Diana Barbiani: Yeah, definitely. San Diego is very, very big on bridging the gap between this for-profit businesses, this being maybe small businesses and then nonprofits. So many events are always taking place, all kinds of summits. And I think it's more intentional than now, knowing that we both, on both sides, for-profit and nonprofits need each other, right? So let's say nonprofits don't even have a physical facility. You can't even walk in, right? Like it might be running from somebody's home, kind of like home-based businesses. and the businesses that have presence, brick and mortar, yes, those would be perfect stage for nonprofits to do something like that. And yes, there's people in community that are doing wonderful things to put them together through summits and conferences, even something small like that where a couple weeks ago, were maybe like 60 of us, but with very much intentional, very intentional of helping nonprofits run more like businesses.

[45:13] Jet Bunditwong: That's a great point. I never even thought of it like that, where nonprofits don't have that ability. And now you sort of get a subset of a place to just hang out and get people to get to know, so that partnership becomes even stronger. Now, I wanted to just touch on your, as a keynote speaker, did you... Did you ever think you'd be in this position like years ago? You go back to the inventory Diana days. Do you think that you were going to be a keynote speaker?

[45:46] Diana Barbiani: working out of a dirty warehouse and yeah, driving my little SUV so can deliver merchandise and put boxes on my pregnant belly. No, not at all. But I love it so much because I feel like I'm comfortable because I see the results. I build the confidence, right, with competence because I do it over and over and over again. And of course, our job, help us do that. We can teach workshops and get in front of people and make mistakes even as a lifelong English learner. and second language speaker. Still, people love authenticity. They help me if I get stuck on a word. So when I'm talking, it's beautiful thing. I'm very transparent and vulnerable in many instances. it's actually a selfish reason. I stumbled upon a quote years ago. I think it says something about Mark Twain. When you teach, you learn twice or something like that. So that's really why I do it. Do you think that when we present, right, and like one too many, when we have workshop or any kind of speaking engagement, I let, I'm not a tech talker. No, no. I let my audience tell me and I draw that out of them. So every time I learn, yes, of course they might look at me as authority, maybe they even paid for, you know, to come and hear me speak at some capacity or just doing it for fun. It's, always learning from them. And that's the beauty. That's why I would like to continue doing this.

[47:17] Jet Bunditwong: What do you think will be the future of your keynote speaking career?

[47:24] Diana Barbiani: You know what, I've been so comfortable in what I do so far, like so definitely through our network, you know, touch the lives and make a difference individually, let's say in small business owners lives. But my passion is really helping nonprofits. So I'm hoping to continue to work with the ones that have some kind of audience that still caters into small business communities. I stay in my lane and I feel like I can contribute more, but also to create a program where I'm. when I suggest something, it's probably brewing somewhere in my head, in my heart of course, and now I'm gonna have to see what's in the pocket, right? Is to create a program where we would pretty much pair up and matchmake what you were saying, align nonprofits with brick and mortar businesses. And literally slap some stickers in a window and put a donation. box of some kind somewhere, another box. will have to be, you know, we'll use some AI and some maybe rotating videos and play a message in a space. But I want people to just be a little more giving. Yeah, I want to open their hearts. I want them to open up their hands so they can give but also receive.

[48:34] Jet Bunditwong: Yeah, think it's, I think that I always look back at these moments for business owners, especially in that first year and the suggestions I have made for them to do this and that. And I can tell it's not because they don't wanna do it. They're just like, I don't have the capacity, right? So I've always like wanted to, I always wanted to let a business owner know. there is opportunity out there. You just have to dig in a little bit deeper, right? Those moments that you're just really frustrated and you're angry at the business not going well for this, or there's some sort of outside force that's causing you to be so stressed out, but you're like, but I have to make time to connect to those people that are gonna help my business grow in the long term. When you are... advising clients now, do you, going back to your holistic feel of the person, do you start to maybe focus on the person more before you're like, I need to align you right before we get back into the.

[49:52] Diana Barbiani: Yeah, it's kind of like a spiritual character. You have to kind of align a little bit. Otherwise, they're not reaching the goals and then they're frustrated. And then they're also, before that, adapt to goals that are not theirs. They don't even have success consciousness. They don't know what the definition of success is for them. So I have this sales playbook that I work out of because I'm kind of an action-oriented person. So when I teach for nonprofits, accelerators, whatever, incubators, we go through that workbook. And I have four Hs and one W. And it's like four Ws and one H. And I ask them, why are you selling? So we dig deeper, not just to make money, stuff like that. And then who are you selling to? What are you selling? And man, the answers are beautiful. And then it's really collectively, the room kind of shifts from such high pressures of sell, sell, sell product really to coming back to why am I even doing this? Why did I start the business in the first place? And what is in numbers, what is the minimum that I have to make? What is the good enough? And then what would be super nice to have? So you just break it down a little bit easier for them and not all one big number that is totally untenable. It's a moving target if you don't have a plan. So they really appreciate that approach. And I think it makes very logical sense for a lot of them. kind of followed that blueprint. So I absolutely love talking about it. But yes, it's all about them. Porn into them first, making sure that they're okay, that even if what they're selling that aligns and what they, the goals that they have. So literally say how much do need to, you know, pay the bills? Okay, or if you want to, that nine to five, how much income you want to replace? And then we work backwards. That's everything, because then you know your pricing. Then you know how many widgets of these things you have to sell. What's your capacity if you're your professional services, all of that.

[51:49] Jet Bunditwong: All of that. It breaks it down into more realistic. Yeah. Instead of just like, I'm just doing this and whatever happens, happens.

[51:55] Diana Barbiani: Because that's what they come with. That's what they come with. And then I have to kind of like, let me reframe that. But I'm very mindful. Like, what else do you do? Do you have kids? Do you have obligations? Do you go to school? How many hours literally do you have a day to work on this business and then work backwards and say, OK, what can we do in whatever time you have? That's great. Yeah. I have to take care of them. Because they would be running themselves to the ground. Yes, very much so. I've been there.

[52:23] Jet Bunditwong: That's great. All right. And to end here, if you could give one main piece of advice to a business owner, right, that would that you think would change their business life, what would it be?

[52:39] Diana Barbiani: Get support very early on. Get support from other people that are in business and insert yourself in situations where you can talk to other business owners. Continuously just also get support in terms of like continuous mentoring or some kind of business coaching. That's just gonna help you again when you come to those sessions, work on the business and not necessarily in the business. Everybody can work in the business over and over and over again and nothing's gonna change. If you don't remove yourself for a an hour a day or a few hours a week to work on the business. Yeah, that's where really magic happens. So you're not pressured. It's almost like you're relieving yourself of pressure of doing sales or doing marketing or whatever. And then just insert yourself in situations where you can learn on, you can work on the business. Yeah. And yeah, just don't, don't do it alone. Partnerships are a beautiful thing. If you can. find again maybe another business or a few businesses and work on a project together and you'll see how you can amplify the message. People do that very intentionally on LinkedIn and social media where they're kind of tagging and sharing and all that stuff. Why not we? Why not micro businesses? We can do this.

[53:54] Jet Bunditwong: Thank you. Where can people find you?

[53:57] Diana Barbiani: So I do have a website the rep Academy that biz I'm also very very passionate promoting so plug in for my ladies from giving circle San Diego women in business for good and we also have San Diego guys for good we collectively pool our money Nominate the local charity and then donate so there's a platform for that already So some of the stuff that you talked about supporting small businesses, maybe such platform exists where you can shuffle or funnel money that people to donate and be given in form of grants to small businesses.

[54:32] Jet Bunditwong: Well, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Thank you, Diana. My pleasure. And this is the personal side of business.

[54:35] Diana Barbiani: Yeah, very welcome. Thank you, Jet.