James Blain: 0:25

Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the ground transportation podcast. I am super excited about this episode. I've got one of my mentors in the industry, one of my friends in the industry, one of my all round favorite people in the industry. I've got Athena Grimm with us, who I have to tell you, I would say, Has one thing, but she doesn't. She's got BAC transportation, Alaska medical transportation. She has the Raise Up podcast, which if you're listening to our podcast and you enjoy it, you absolutely have to listen to their podcast. Her and her husband, Charlie are absolutely incredible. Thank you so much, Athena. I'm so excited to have you on.

Athena Grimm: 1:01

Thank you, James. You are one of my favorite humans too, and so I was really excited when you asked, asked me to come and, uh, yes, our raise Up podcast, you can find that on raise up mindset.com. So, uh, I absolutely invite your listeners to come if. If they want to hear about Charlie and I's, uh, transportation journey, we're, we're here to just be helpful like you are. So thank you so much.

James Blain: 1:26

Absolutely. So I want to start, and I know that anyone who's been listening to your podcast has already heard some of the fun adventures of how you guys got started. But I wanted to see if you could start by kind of telling us how you and Charlie actually got into the industry and how you kind of ended up in transportation.

Athena Grimm: 1:44

You know, I would like to say that. we just went on with like, really, it was about going along with your gut and what felt right at the time you got to understand in 2000, uh, Charlie and I, I was 21. And, uh, you don't have a lot of great ideas in your early 20s. You know what I mean?

James Blain: 2:09

Of course

Athena Grimm: 2:09

So, uh, so yeah, and I kind of made a joke because we went to Vegas and then, um, that was the, first time that I was in a limo was right after my 21st birthday. And then the

James Blain: 2:21

Oh, I didn't know

Athena Grimm: 2:22

I was, Yeah. And so that was the very first time. And then the second time I was in a limo, I was driving it from Las Vegas to Alaska. So, um, so yeah, like we have on our podcast, we go through the whole story of like what that was like and, and where the whole idea came about. But really, I think now that It's about, like, feeling in your decisions, like, does this feel right to me at the time? And honestly, if you look around when you're in your early 20s and you figure out, I don't have anything else better to do or that I've come up with at this point. And so let's just roll this and see how it feels as we go through And I'll tell you, that's really what was going in my mind at the time that Charlie was like, Hey. I want to you know, do this, this next venture because we already had businesses that we, I was operating my own business. He was operating his business and he wanted to try this thing. And so I was willing to roll with him on it and it was really his idea and his, he like figured out the pathway and then I just kind of jumped on board with operations once we, I started to see that, hey, this thing's actually growing and we need to get some process behind it.

James Blain: 3:41

So were you guys both driving at that point?

Athena Grimm: 3:45

Uh, yes, him more so than me, but we both got our CDL licenses. Yes. Yes. I don't know if that was a good idea or not, but yes. Okay.

James Blain: 3:54

Well, and I, and I don't want to steal from your own podcast, but I know one of my Favorite stories that you guys tell is the first limo. If I remember it had like a fish tank or something in it, right?

Athena Grimm: 4:04

So that was the first SUV limo that came to the state of Alaska. And, uh, it's kind of ironic because you would think that we would have more four wheel drive limos than anybody, but yeah, we brought the first SUV. It was a Lincoln Navigator. And like I said, being in my 20 zone, I wasn't really thinking about the fish tank and Charlie wasn't thinking about the fish tank and winter hit and guess what happened to the fish tank.

James Blain: 4:30

Oh,

Athena Grimm: 4:31

So we were like, well, shit, that's not a thing anymore. So we took out the fish steak. Um, but yeah, it was just those little tubes in the back. There was two tubes by the door and they had these little plastic fish that fluttered. And so they were fun for the summer.

James Blain: 4:45

Okay. Well,

Athena Grimm: 4:45

we repurposed that area.

James Blain: 4:48

so no real fish were harmed in the making of this business.

Athena Grimm: 4:51

Correct and, you know, for your listeners who don't know me, I live in the Arctic. So I am in Alaska and it's very much winter here a large section of the year. So it makes it extra interesting dealing with the elements. And so that's just 1 of the things.

James Blain: 5:09

Well, but you, you guys get some cool gifts out of that. I know when I came up to visit you guys and we were working on the, the yield DC stuff That, we were doing for you guys. It was interesting because I will never forget, And I was telling my, this actually came up recently with Casey, my wife recently, I told her, I said, it is so weird driving back at midnight and it's still sunset because your brain doesn't, I mean, and it's, it was most interesting for me because My brain kept telling my body, stupid, you're not tired. It's sunset. But clearly the clock showed it was midnight. So you get kind of some strange gifts that come with that too, don't you?

Athena Grimm: 5:45

You know, honestly, I think that that is 1 of the most magnificent things about our region. Is that yes, in the summertime. It just gets dusk. It doesn't actually get dark. So it just, you get a lot done, but we, we have been in this environment for so long that we have been able to like, figure out how to navigate things. So, uh, I think you need less sleep in the summertime. Absolutely. Because your circadian rhythm is telling you that you're not tired. And I also think that, uh, we have like, My room where I sleep is completely dark, like I have manufactured it in a way that it is everything. There's no light that comes in. So that's another piece how I I make it through the summer, but yeah, it's cool.

James Blain: 6:32

it's incredible. And for you guys, that's also, it's interesting you brought up summer because you guys have a seasonal swing too. because you guys have a lot of tourists. You have a lot of things going on I know you work with a lot of the different companies that kind of rely on that for those that aren't aware. Can you kind of share what that's like for you guys?

Athena Grimm: 6:51

Absolutely. So we have, uh, we're very much a tourist, uh, or we have tourism business here. so tourism starts for us in full swing by June 1 and then it usually, uh, it really hits the pinnacle in August. That's our busiest month of the year for tourism. And then by October 1st, we pretty much have seen the last of the visitors that are coming in. Come through for the season, but then we have about, I would say, a 4, 3 to 4 week reprieve where we move right into cargo season. We have the 3rd busiest air cargo hub in the United States here. And so, uh, all all. Well, not all, but most of the carriers run through here, especially as they're coming from Asia to fuel up change out crew. and so, by November 1st, we are, in full swing for cargo season. So, it, it very much is this, like, very beautifully cyclical system that we've come to understand here in the transportation industry in Alaska. For at least passenger transportation, so then after you hit January, January is like our training month, getting everybody caught up on whatever needs to happen. And then we move into this, like, this spring reorientation of of what's going on with the departments. So 1st quarter is really about re, grouping, getting everybody on what the plan is for this year reinvigorating retraining all of that. And then by 2nd quarter. We are, we are heading into tourism season again. We are getting ready for that. That May, June, July. Um, busy month, and that's really what it looks like here for us.

James Blain: 8:40

Well, and it's, it's interesting because you guys have found different ways to work within those cycles and you guys have found. Different ways to kind of serve clients, you know, and, and I, again, I, I'm going to plug your podcast at least about a hundred times here because you guys go into so many great stories. You know, it's kind of like, when you guys talked about when you guys started doing flight crews. That, from what I understand, that wasn't necessarily a target. That was, you guys were just doing such an incredible job that that opportunity kind of made itself appear to you.

Athena Grimm: 9:14

so I

James Blain: 9:14

bit about how that went?

Athena Grimm: 9:16

I think really. The power of decision making is so incredible for us, and we can make these decisions that will make a series of other decisions underneath us. and so when we decided to go into ground transportation, I'm, I'm an all in kind of a girl, like, I don't half ass it, like, I'm all in, if I'm doing this, then I'm doing it to the best of my ability. And I'm, my, my only competition is how I showed up yesterday. And, uh, So we don't know everything when we start ventures or we're moving into these. We just are trusting that, uh, I, I trust myself and, and I trust the decisions that I make and that things will start to, to come back. Forward. And so, just like when you started training, you didn't understand that there was all of these other little facets that you could get into because you just only saw this much of the picture. But as you start to, like, open to the possibilities, more and more things appear. And so, that's what happened with crew transportation. That's what happened with baggage delivery. That's what happened with wheelchair. Like, we, we made the decision to get into the transportation lane and then we stuck with that lane. And so, the idea is that Um, you're never going to see BAC cleaning airplanes because we're not a cleaning crew, we're logistics and transportation. So when the opportunity for crew transportation came about, we, it was totally within our lane. But you got to understand, like, when we first started in crew, that was, gosh, that was almost 20 years ago. And a crew transport in our region was like 25 bucks. And so then we have to decide, does that even make sense? Like, that's a Cambride price, you know?

James Blain: 11:09

Well, yeah. So what, what do you do at that point?

Athena Grimm: 11:15

So, really, our very first crew client ended up paying us contracted rate prices, and that's how we got into it. It was a fluke where Charlie got a phone call in the middle of the night because he was, the phones were rolling to him at night at that point in the business. And he answered the phone and it happened to be world airways. and they just said, uh, look, I, we've got some pilots that need transport to night, can you do it? and it was basically whatever the price is and world contracted with, um, the government and had like parameters that they could work within and and we kind of laugh now world airways eventually went out of business, but, um, they, they were So all over the board all the time, like that was my first airline. I had to figure out how I was going to like build systems with it in the middle of this shit show all the time. And so I felt like, gosh, if we can do world, we can do anything, you know? And then we started realizing that these other, these other airlines actually had. like infrastructure underneath them and scheduling and support. And so it just, it's like, I'm so grateful for that 1st airline being just this hot mess because schedule wise, because it taught me what the worst case scenario was. So then I could receive all of these other scenarios.

James Blain: 12:41

Well, and it's, it's really funny that you say that because, you know, I, I heard someone talking recently and they said, you know, if you pray for patience, You're not just going to get Patience Patience isn't going to just show up. You're not just going to wake up one day and God has given you patience. What's going to happen is you're going to get put through a situation that teaches you patience. Is that something that you've kind of seen happen more than once for you guys in the business? Is that kind of a, a, has that, has that come up?

Athena Grimm: 13:09

That, I think, is like a mirror to life. If you see that you have challenges that are coming up, and if you choose to accept those as this, like, like there's a gift somewhere in every single challenge that we have. And we just have to decide, are we going to receive it as a gift? And are we going to see what we can do with this challenge? Because it's here for a reason. It's here to teach us something. It's not just here to mess with us and to make our life miserable. It's like, I chose to be in this place at this time. And so now I've got this challenge that's coming up against me. And a hundred percent of the time, a challenge teaches us something. If we're willing to receive, or we go through it. Over and over and over again until we learn the lesson. And so, um, that's really the perspective that I come to in every circumstance. Like, this is here for a reason. What do I need to know about it? And so it opens up a lot of opportunities, and there's been a lot of things that have come our way. James that I'll tell you are not part of our business model, but it's fun to think about how creative things could get if if we allow.

James Blain: 14:15

Well, and that leads to a really interesting question because, you know, I found that almost all All great business people, almost all great businesses. It was rarely ever a straight line, right? I don't know that I've met a, business owner that's been in the business long term that said, Oh yeah, it was a, straight line to get here. Everything went exactly how I expected. So what were some of kind of the other major twists and turns that you guys kind of had that were kind of the uninspected, you know, we didn't see it coming, but it really helped bring us to where we are today. Yeah.

Athena Grimm: 14:48

You know, I would say working with your spouse or working with family has been the greatest gift that I have ever received. Like, especially working with my husband. Like, he is literally 1 of the most magnificent humans that I know. He's my absolute favorite human. And I did not. Had I not been in this experiment with him over the course of our life, over the last, um, 27 years, like, I would have never received the The, this, this huge knowing of what it means to be in partnership in connection with someone else to this caliber. And so looking back, that has been that has been the, uh. The largest thing that has surprised me in business and also the greatest blessing that I've ever received. And, uh, and, and continuing on with that journey, like the, and it wasn't, I didn't always have that perspective. I had, I mean, at one point, I mean, being so young and kind of having my own set of limiting beliefs along the way and understanding what is. What is his role? What is my role? Kind of what you're working through with Casey right now. What is your roles? And how does this thing work? But I'm telling you that if you decide that this is what you're going to do, and you're going to work through it, because it's not just what Running a business, it's working through all of the things that that other person has to work through to become their next higher self. If that makes sense, because when we're, when we're, when we're younger, we, we're at a certain level and then we move to Through age and experience, we kind of, like, raise our self awareness and we raise our level of how we operate in the world. And Charlie and I had to be witnesses to each other at every single level and choose to still stay in the game together. And that, that, that's something.

James Blain: 17:10

yeah, and, and it's, it's really funny because, you know, I always draw the parallels between kind of your relationships and ours because, you know, very similar to us. If I remember right, you guys were very early twenties when you started dating, right? I, mean, you guys have been together and been through quite a bit, haven't you? There

Athena Grimm: 17:27

uh, when Charlie and I first got together, I was 20. He, there's almost a nine year age gap between us. So, um, he was just turning 30 the year that we got together, so I threw his 9th, I threw his 30th birthday party for him. It's a very funny story. There was, there involved a, a, a very chubby, uh, belly dancer and it's a great laugh. He's going to have to tell you sometime.

James Blain: 17:55

is no doubt. We will have to, have Charlie on to help tell that story because that is what I haven't heard. And for anybody that's, that's listening to the part of the podcast that doesn't know Charlie, um, Charlie is got one of the larger life personalities that. just, he has this way of just. Incredibly captivating storytelling. He just commands a room in a way that I don't know that I've seen anyone else do. And so I can only imagine what will ensue when Charlie tells the story.

Athena Grimm: 18:26

Well, he brings the energy. That's really one of his gifts is that he keeps the energy moving. And sometimes he brings that energy up in different ways. But if you notice that if you are watching how he operates from, um, from that perspective. That, that point of view of he brings the energy, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. And he can also, I warn people that first come to work for us. I'm like, look, he is one of the master energy readers, meaning that, um, if you are not up front with him, he will be able to sense it and know it. So just keep that in mind that if it's, if it doesn't feel right, he's going to know it right away and he's going to sniff it out and you're not going to be able to lie to him.

James Blain: 19:11

Well, and, and You you truly are one of the power couples in the industry. And it kind of leads me to, to a question that I think I know a little bit of the answer to, but how do you find those areas where you're able to say, Oh, This is where Charlie really excels, and he is really the best fit for that. This is the area where I excel, this is the best fit for me. And then where do you find the areas that you kind of meet in the middle? Is that something that comes over time? Is that something that you guys have a way to kind of identify? Or how has that developed over the years?

Athena Grimm: 20:24

You know, it boils down to the decision of, are you going to trust this person or not? And if you decide that you are, well, you have to act like it. Like you have to show up as I'm trusting them because you can say I trust you and then you can go behind them and like double check on them and do all of these things that basically render that other person as, um, unusable because they're feeling inadequate because you're projecting on them that you don't think they can handle it. And so that's where you have to start is it's not a matter of, like feeling through it. It's, it's like you have to decide, am I going to trust this person and then act like you're going to trust them. And when you act like you're not trusting them, you're sabotaging them. And so, and then the other piece is you have to decide, Do they get to be who they are around you or do they have to show up as somebody else? Because you can't handle who they are or you're not a good match. And that's the other thing is like Charlie gets to be whoever he wants to be today. Today he's not feeling well, so he's not joining us today, and that's okay. Like I'm not upset about that. Like he gets to show up and be who he is and when it's safe to be who you are, guess what? You thrive in that environment. Because you don't feel like you have to put on a mask.

James Blain: 21:56

Well, and I think there's something to be said there about the trust portion and being able to, you know, for example, Charlie not being able to join us today, you know, you think of kind of the typical stereotype of husband and wife and something happens. a lot of people would think that you know, well, you're going to be upset and They got sick. I think having that level of trust and knowing that you've got each other's backs, whether, whether you're married or not, right, this goes for all business partners, You know, knowing that you trust each other to do that is massive. Cause if you can't feel like you have that ownership, you can't have that piece there. You're never going to truly work together.

Athena Grimm: 22:34

well, and that's the piece is it's like, we're the top leadership around here. And so if earlier before we, we started recording, we were talking about what are we actually doing when we're we're running an organization? It's ultimately developing trust. For the people that work with us, so that they feel safe enough to be able to do their job so that they can go out into the world and have this freedom to create and to grow and bring forward, like, their very best person. To to everything that they're doing. And so if we're not treating each other that way, how can we, like, encourage our leadership team and the rest of the staff to get there? Like, I want people to feel safe here working in this environment so that they can move into this next place of growth and awareness. That's ultimately what we're doing here. You're not going to grow if you feel scared, and you feel unsure, and you feel, um, like you can't be yourself. You're going to hide, and you're going to just put your head down and punch a clock.

James Blain: 23:43

Well, and I think one of the things that you've hit on is there's a lot of people out there that, you know, they want the employees to come in. They want them to do what's expected of them. You know, if you've got chauffeurs, I just want them to drive. I want them to do the trip. But there's So many business owners out there, even ones with, you know, large, successful businesses that don't understand if you allow those people to grow, you know, It's going to ultimately help you grow, help the company grow, help everyone around you find growth instead of just getting that, that area where you stagnate, which by the way is a perfect transition to raise up And again, I told you I was going to plug the podcast at least a thousand times. So I have to say again, that is the name of your podcast, but I know it's got a deeper meaning. So I'd love if you can kind of share with us. What exactly is RaiseUp and where did that come from?

Athena Grimm: 24:31

So raise up is my core values. They're Charlie's core values and it's responsibility, accountability, integrity, service engagement, understanding, and perseverance. And it's basically the filter that we run. of the decisions through, like, of course, we don't run the lunch decision through the raise up core values, but majority of the decisions that we make here. That's what we're running it through. And I, I tell the team, like, accountability is how we love each other because we're keeping each other in this space of. Checking up and, um, follow through and the engagement, you can't do anything unless you're like, fully engaged in what's happening. If you're, if you're got 1 foot in the door and 1 foot out the door, how can you really show and show up? and, like, bring your full potential and the understanding piece is it's like. Jump jumping to conclusions can be like our worst enemy and so it's like coming with this heart of like seeking to understand what's happening. Like, really from this, this curiosity place and not this place of, um, well, what, what the F were you thinking, You know, um, and then the perseverance piece is about, you know, Sometimes it can get challenging and we have to understand what those gifts are that we're being, that are being presented to us. within this challenge. It's not about, Oh, this is a crappy season. This is a crappy time. And we're just going to white knuckle it through. That's not what this is about putting up with, like, people treating you bad or, uh, anything like that. It's more like being able to, yeah. I think a good analogy would be doing a cold plunge. Like it's not, it's not fun. You've got to persevere to stay in that cold plunge for like three minutes Or more,

James Blain: 26:28

That is the most Alaska thing you could have picked, by the way. I love it.

Athena Grimm: 26:31

but it's true. Like if you're willing to persevere through that little bit of discomfort, then it can be wonderful results for your body and for, for your, for your wellbeing. And so that's really more what the perseverance piece is about. Um, I mean, ultimately, when you think of the words raise up, it's like it is a play on words because yes, the core values spell all of those things. But raising people up is really what we're doing. We're raising ourselves, we're raising the community and the collective of the world just by being here with this mindset.

James Blain: 27:12

Well, and I think one of the things I hear a lot, especially in the smaller companies is, you know, well, we're not ready for that yet. We're not at the point where that matters. We don't have enough employees yet, right. You know, there's just two of us. There's just three of us. I can tell you from my own experience in small business, That I found that even when you have a couple of people, it almost becomes more important, right? Because when you have a little tiny company, if there's only two or three or four of you now, all of a sudden, if you have someone that doesn't meet your values, that means a huge chunk of your company now isn't aligned with it. Where would you say you, you kind of figured that out? Is that something that you learned along the way? Or is this something that you guys were able to identify really early on and kind of build into the company from the very beginning?

Athena Grimm: 27:57

You know, when I joined as the operations manager, many, many moons ago, that was one of the things that I realized early on just through reading. And like, like I said, James, I go all in. So I, like, I devour books and, um, any material that I can get to, like, Set myself up to understand what do we need to know in order to get to the next space and especially to overcome challenges because I didn't want to be stuck in that perpetual cycle of relearning this because the same situation keeps coming up over and over again. So that's really what sparked it. And then I would say, you know, to speak to your piece about, I'm only a 2 or 3 person company, like, It's really easy to understand what we don't want or what we don't like. It's, it's more challenging to sit with yourself and decide what you do want. And if you decide that earlier on, and I'm not saying it doesn't change over time because you become more aware of things as, as time goes by, but But if you decide this is what I want right now, this is the environment I want to work in. These are the humans that I want to work with. This is this is the company that I'm building. This is what I want to be about. Like, that's really what raise up is about is it's about this, uh, This idea of creating this momentum for the collective around us, all of our communities, like, we're the example. Are we going to take responsibility for the situation? Are we going to, I mean, I don't think you can move the needle on anything if there isn't a level of accountability somewhere. And the integrity piece isn't about being honest. Like, I told my children early on, I'm like, people, like, everybody lies. It's perspective and they're like, mom, you lie. And I'm like, do you honestly think that if you guys are like acting crazy, this is when they were really little. And then we were having this conversation. They're teenagers now and adults. But, um, I'm like, do you honestly think that if you're like completely melting down and all of this stuff is happening, and then I show up at work 10 minutes later, that my morning's just going great. And somebody goes, Oh, hey, Athena, how was your morning? And you think I'm going to say, actually, my kids just totally melted down and I had to change my clothes because they got stuff on me. Like, I'm not going to go into that. I'm going to smile at that human. And I'm going to be like, I'm having a wonderful morning. How about you? You know, and they, but, but they didn't, they didn't understand that. And so it's like. They understood what I was saying now, but it's not necessarily coming from a place of I'm trying to deceive you. It's coming from a place of here. I want to be an uplifter

James Blain: 30:47

Right,

Athena Grimm: 30:47

people from feeling diminished if they are encounter having an encounter with me. And so that's one of the tools that I use is I don't share my entire life circumstances with people that I meet all the time. Um, but so the integrity piece is about being true to who you are. And showing up who you are or who you believe you are in that moment. And so an example of this that I use when I'm explaining it is if you're a night person, don't volunteer for a day shift because that's not who you are. You're not in your integrity if you're doing that, like, um, because you know that you don't operate well in the morning. That's just not how you, are. Now, you could make a decision that you're going to become a morning operator. And then that's a whole nother set of like, Things, but that's really It James, is it's like, as soon as you can get clear about what you want to be about and really put some intentionality around that, you will start to set the trajectory to that space. And so, if you think you don't have time to, like, get clear about what you want to be about, or you don't have time to understand what values resonate with you, like, you don't have time not to do that. Because, just like with any circumstance, as you start to build your organization, if you don't, If you don't have it clear, then the environment around you will make the decision for you? So, just like

James Blain: 32:19

absolutely. And I think you've hit on something really important, although you've kind of done it indirectly. And I think that what a lot of people don't realize is the tone is really set top down. you know, if if you were to come in, right, going back to the example from your kids, I mean, think, think about it. Obviously, we've got lots of business owners that. listen to this. but hopefully a lot of them have had that chance to work for someone else. Imagine what happens if your boss comes in. How's your morning? It's God awful. I'm having a horrible day. Everything's gone wrong. I am hiding under my desk if I work for you, right? you know, And and my thing is It's interesting how much, you know I, I grew up in call centers and smile and dial wasn't just a joke. It was, you could literally change the way you interact, the way you feel by how you're outwardly presenting it. So if you come in in that bad mood and you let that bad mood out, it's going to affect how you act. It's going to affect everyone around you. And, and so I think that integrity piece is such a wonderful way to think about it. Because most people think about integrity. It's well, if I found a wallet, would I return it? And I think you've really taken it to an aspect that brings it into the realm of leadership and growth in a way that I don't think a lot of people think about.

Athena Grimm: 33:40

Well, you know, you have to, if, if you're standing integrity and you're being your authentic self in that moment, maybe your authentic self is a thief. Like, I don't know. I can tell you that mine is not. Mine comes from a place of love and respect and, uh, and helping and being part of a community. And I think that truly when. When we all face inward, we all have this space, uh, this like loving place and you have to decide in this moment. Am I going to be, uh, am I going to be that person or not? That's it. And that's what the integrity piece is about is it's like, am I, am I going to show up as my authentic self or am I going to show up as what so and so thinks I should be doing right now? so

James Blain: 34:35

think, I think a lot of people don't realize that this is also something that You know, I hear people all the time. Well, you know, I'm, I'm more, I gotta worry about paying the bills. I gotta worry about getting the revenue up. I gotta worry about this. I gotta worry about that. I don't have time to go into this. I don't have time to deal with the woo woo stuff. I don't have, but I I've, I've heard you and I've heard Charlie tell the stories and I don't know, if you have any come to mind, but it's incredible how many times. Doing that and taking that road will actually translate into getting more business or being there when you're needed or all of those different areas where you would, you wouldn't necessarily go, Oh, wow. I, couldn't believe that because I was doing that. I got there. But it becomes a core part of that,

Athena Grimm: 35:18

Well, when you are standing in your own integrity, Duff shows up in powerful ways, and the person that Charlie is, he's a very generous person. He just gives in ways that I wouldn't even come up with at times, like his time, or I think he spends probably at least 2 hours of his day just connecting people to other people who, who need goods and services and logistical help. That have nothing to do with running any of our businesses. It's just what he enjoys doing to be like, he likes to help. And when you are being who you really are, things become easier, not harder. Like I I've come to understand that the path to least resistance. really is the path. And if it's really hard and over and over again, like you're just in destruction mode trying to get through, like that's telling you something that that's the wrong direction.

James Blain: 36:32

you

Athena Grimm: 36:32

And when things flow easier, it's like natural. And you're in this like this flow state of like networking and just like connecting with the community and stuff's happening, and you're showing up and you're doing the best job that you can for that day. Like, it really is a thing. James.

James Blain: 36:53

well, and I, I think one of, one of the things that you know, Charlie and I were sitting down talking once and one of the things that he said that has just been absolutely etched into my mind, I will take this one to the grave with me is he said, you can't make a withdrawal before you make a deposit. And, and so of course you might think of that. Well, yeah, that's obvious. That's how money works. But the context that Charlie gave this to me and is what I thought was so valuable. And I really think it truly kind of sums up what we've been talking about and how you guys live your lives. And that his point was, if you're showing up for others, if you're doing things for others, if you have a client that is in need and instead of saying, Hey, I could totally jack this rate up and I could triple the rate and get the money out of them. You instead say, Hey, I'm going to show grace. I'm going to be there for that client. I'm going to take care of that client. Now you might have a new opportunity that arrives. Now you might have a time that you need to go and say, Hey, I need help or I need grace. And now you've got that there because you've made that deposit. And the part that he summarized it for me with was the goal is to make more deposits than withdrawals. And that to me was something that really stuck with me. And I think that it's something that, you know, when you're head down in your business, when you're trying to get it done, you know, we all have those times in our business where It's how am I going to get the bills paid? How am I going to get someone on there on time? How am I going to get this taken care of? I think that really shows up in that. It kind of shows that, need to remember that yes, we all do this for a living, but there's more to it than that.

Athena Grimm: 39:36

Yeah, and, you know, I kind of summarize it with the team is like, we happen to be getting people from point a to point B, but really what we're doing here is we are living our lives together with this raise up mindset and that's it. Like, we just happen to be in ground transportation, but we are living our lives together. And I think another piece to that deposit is you can't do it from a place of sacrifice. Because then it ends up becoming something else. It's this, like, beak rudging task that you're doing. Like, a great example is, on Thanksgiving, I cook dinners for the staff. I, I make all the food, and then I prepackage it in individual packages, and then Charlie delivers it the next day. If I decided And I want it to come from a place of love and blessing. If I decided that I was going to have food there at nine o'clock in the morning, it would not be coming from a place of love and blessing because I would be getting up at like 3 AM to cook all this food and that would not be a blessing to me. And so in order for me to keep it from a place or keep it in a tone of blessing and of love, I need to do it when I wake up and I need to be in this place of I'm doing this. because I want to bless them and you see how just that one decision of like putting myself in exhaustion or getting enough sleep and just flowingly doing it. And they get it by lunchtime instead of, you know, first thing in the morning. It's like, I want them to enjoy this food and know that it came from my heart. And not from this place of I said, I was going to do something and now I got to follow through and I really don't want to do it because I really did want to do it.

James Blain: 41:21

I mean, it's the difference there between it. being a chore and something that you're doing as a gift.

Athena Grimm: 41:26

Yes, yes, and that's where you have to come with this. Like, Charlie and I decided very early on that we don't do loans. If we, if we are giving somebody something, we are giving it to them with the expectation that they will never give it back to us. That's it. So there's no more conversation about it. If we can't afford to give it, we don't give it. That's time. That's treasure. That's talent.

James Blain: 41:52

Well, And I also think you guys are living proof that this truly does scale. Uh, you know, I don't know off the top of my head. Hopefully you can share it with us. But how many employees do you guys have right now? I mean, you've got, you've got two great size companies that you've been able to scale this with. So we're not talking about. you know, you're, when you said you were cooking, you're not cooking for four or five people. You've got a large group. I, mean, I I personally, I'm impressed that you could, you could get all that done in that timeframe because you guys have got a substantial team across your different companies.

Athena Grimm: 42:24

So, I made 80 meals for the people working on Christmas day. I mean, on Thanksgiving day, so I, he delivered 80 meals and, um. I didn't make the pies though. We did buy the pies. So, but, yes, I made the food and then he cut up the pies for me and put them in little packages and we really have done this so long that we've kind of got it down to a science. So it doesn't take us as long as it used to. But yes, it was 80. 80 meals got delivered that afternoon, and then they got to take 1 or 2, whatever, if they wanted to take 1 home to their family. I was expecting about, uh, 65 or 70 team members, and then I just added some extras on there.

James Blain: 43:10

I have to say, I, I helped my wife cook for six here at the house. And I think I had my fill. I cannot possibly imagine trying to, to help you cook for the team. Even if the pies are store bought. Which I'm sure tasted just as good.

Athena Grimm: 43:24

Well, James, have you ever served on a kitchen line before, like, for the homeless or anything like that? Like,

James Blain: 43:30

I, have not. The closest I've come to that is working in a pizza shop. And I learned very quickly that James is not cut out for food service.

Athena Grimm: 43:38

okay, well, see, be in your own integrity then on that and know that that's not your role is to to be the cook for for the cook line. But. Charlie and I have done a number of things and, uh, you know. That is something that, uh, I, I know that I probably won't do forever because sometimes I won't be in the state on Thanksgiving, but if I'm home, then I do it for them. Yeah.

James Blain: 44:13

have you identified and I know you well enough to know that this is a loaded question. I know you have who are the other torchbearers in your organization for the culture and who, you know, obviously, you know, we're talking about just you. You made a point there. That's the people just working that day. That's not the whole team that we're talking about. So you've got to have those people in that organization. that are kind of. the torchbearers for that culture, for that raise up mentality. how do you help make sure that that gets not only from you at the top, but that that same mentality reaches out and goes through everybody? How do you, how do you take care of that at that kind of size?

Athena Grimm: 44:52

Well, we have a lot of communication. Like, you can see the sign on my wall. It's like 9 feet. Uh, we've got big signage, especially communicating our raise up values. But the leadership drink, the leadership team is 100 percent drinking the Kool Aid with me. So they are sold in this whole thing. Like, we wouldn't be able to have the level of connection and collaboration that we have if they weren't doing it. Part of this full picture and that we, like, we not only love each other, like we enjoy collaborating, kicking off ideas, running experiments on how we can enhance this or that. Like it's literally fun to be at work. You know, this is a segment of our life where we all enjoy it. And, um, we, we absolutely see the vision of yes, we are taking care of our customers, but we are, we are raising up. The people around us, and in turn, raises us up. Yeah.

James Blain: 45:53

Well, and and I will vouch in that I am lucky enough to have come to visit you and get to see the operation and see everything there. And it, it a hundred percent is spot on. And one of the things that I want to have you touch on as we kind of. Bring things to a close. how does, how do you dovetail this into the operations? Because we've spent a lot of time talking about culture and whatnot. What, what a lot of listeners probably don't know is that you are a time management genius, right? I know very few people that have the time management. and like you said, when you commit to something, it is all in or it is nothing. And so. How do you. weave this into operations? How does this, how do you kind of work this in to trying to keep that team effective and also getting the operation side done while holding these values?

Athena Grimm: 46:44

Well, if you have the values? and everyone is aligned with you on these big decisions, we're running them through those values. If it, if it makes sense, we're running them through the values. And so that's 1 piece of it is it's like, they have a North star that go, hey, actually, this will reduce engagement. That's not what we want, or this is the opposite of accountability, or we are not in our integrity as an organization. If we make this move that that gives them something to point to. As this this overarching idea and then the other pieces I treat them like I trust them and there are things that they're going to know. And I also remind them that your how you feel about this is everything. If you're walking into a situation and you're getting this yucky feeling inside, or you're getting the spider senses on the back of your neck. Listen to your intuition. You know, what's happening. Like, you know, the right thing to do. And I think we can all be honest with ourselves a hundred percent of the time when we've talked ourselves out of a situation that our intuition has been telling us, you shouldn't be here right now, or you should be here right now. And we've talked ourselves out of it. We've regretted it. And so I really foster and fan this idea that go with, listen to how you feel about this, the situation. And then also being open, like, my openness to receive what their perspective on and what they're seeing in the organization. They mirror that back to me. They're open to understanding my perspective. And they're all and it's like this mutual being of respect and trust and the trust thing. I think people get confused about trust where it's like, oh, I trusted that person and they screwed me over. It was like, did you did you intentionally evaluate their skill set properly because there's sometimes where we trust people in areas where they're not ready and it's like, we don't really set them up for success. Transcribed If you've raised up a team member from the front line to a supervisor position, you need to put building blocks in place for them to set them up for success. You can't give them responsibilities that they're not ready to receive yet and then expect them to, like, perform on a high level. And so it's, it's not necessarily a question of, Oh, I trusted somebody. It's like, Um, we, we build insurance into decision making so that we can set them up for success. It's not about we don't trust you as a person. It's like we're working, we're training you to get the experience that you need so that you understand the full picture. It's not about, are you smart or not? It's bringing a, bringing you to the next level of awareness.

James Blain: 49:38

It's very interesting that you framed it like that. It actually takes me, a quick shout out to Becky from Boston to a conversation Becky and I had. Because you pointed out two key things you've you're giving them a North star. You're saying, Hey, these are, you're going to run it through these values, right? If something doesn't feel right, we go to the values, but you're giving them ownership in the decision. You're giving them ownership in doing it You're giving them trust in that you want them to be able to make that decision. The part that, that for me kind of snapped to a conversation that Becky and I had, um, back when we were at the retreat, Miami. Yeah. What she said, you've got to be willing to let them make mistakes because If you've got people that are scared to make mistakes, or if you've got people that know they're going to get hammered, they make a stake, they're not able to learn. And that goes directly back to what we talked about growth. nobody that works for you is ever going to get it right 100 percent of the time. And so I love that, idea that they have that North star guiding them and that you're giving them that ownership and that trust to have the confidence to make the decision and the openness to not be terrified of. Oh, if I got it wrong, the hammer's coming down, the ax is going to fall and I'm done. I

Athena Grimm: 50:52

This circles back to the beginning of our conversation where, where our goal is to create a place of safety. And so, if you're hammering somebody, you're not creating a place of safety, you're doing the opposite of that. And so you will never develop that person to the full potential. And you have to think about it in that way. Quite frankly, so I look at it like we don't have failures here. We have unintended outcomes, but I'll tell you, I want to, I want to be mindful. Like another piece of that is that you are intentional about understanding. If I set this person up for 100 percent success, they're going to have to grow into responsibility. They don't just get the whole platter and then you let them fail. Yeah. And so you have to be intentional about that as a leader. But the goal here is to be opening up people to their full potential. And so I don't want somebody that's just here punching a clock and doing a thing. Like, I want them to learn who they are on a deeper level, to understand what it means to be running with a group that really wants to succeed at this higher space, and to be this, like, I, you had mentioned, like, time, time mapping and, and, like, scheduling, like, at the level that I operate at. Somebody younger than me who doesn't have the experience that I have could just be in awe going, Oh my gosh, like, how do you get all of this stuff done? How do you keep track of everything? And it's like, as you learn and grow and understand how the world operates and the business operates, you get good at things and then it doesn't take you as long. And so then you can bring one more thing into the fold and one more thing into the fold. But I'm very mindful that it doesn't become this. Stressful, uh, stressful situation that puts me into crisis mode. So the stuff that I can do, a new manager coming in would be learning from me how I, how I operate to get all of this understood and completed within a time frame.

James Blain: 53:09

Well, and I think a lot of that goes back to coaching, right? You know, I, I started playing hockey recently. I'd wanted to play ice hockey since I was a kid and my coach can do things that are absolutely incredible. But one of the reasons I think I found the right coach is every time I've got a frustration, it's. Well, you'll get there. I grew up doing it. I've got 30 years doing this on you. I've got 40 years doing this on you. I promise after you've been doing it for 30 for 30 years, you won't have to focus on it. And it's, I think, especially, and I see it most with the chauffeurs and with, you know, drivers is it's hard to forget that. When you think of that is the core of your business as the most fundamental thing of what you do, every little piece of that is so second nature to you that you can forget to someone new, it might feel like they're juggling 100 things at once. And So I love that you're able to identify and point that out and that you can't just expect them because they're in the role to be able to run instantly as fast as you do. We will definitely have to have you back on at some point in the future, Athena. Um, do you have, you know, if, if you were to pick one thing or one key from what we've talked about today, that would be? You know, if you've got someone that's trying to get to the next level, that's trying to go to business and they're saying, Hey, I just listened to almost an hour of you guys going over stuff. What's the one key takeaway or focus you'd want them to look? I

Athena Grimm: 54:34

Get a mentor. That, um, like engage yourself in a mentor situation, program, whatever it is, get around those people that are resonating with You that you would like to learn and grow to become not, not like a copy, but that you want to also learn how to get those capabilities and be. In that mission with them, I think, that that you mentioned it, like, coaching is everything like that coach is reassuring you that, hey, you're going to get there. We are so like, we underestimate encouragement on on. I mean, at least I did when I was 1st in business. I didn't think I needed that. I was just running and running and running. And it's like a coach encourages you. They give you solutions to things that you just couldn't see at the time because you're too close. It brings you back to center and it just helps you develop new capabilities. So be in a community of growing mindset would be my advice. Don't stay on an island.

James Blain: 55:41

I think you've been listening to the podcast. Cause that's something we talk about all the time is you can't be on your own Island and expect to get better because you've got so many people, like you said, they're going to point out the pothole and say, don't step in that. Don't hit that. Go around that. So I can't thank you enough for being on Athena. Um, I, I am proud to say that you are one of the people that's helped mentor me. You're one of the people that's helped me get to where I am. And I can't thank you enough. Um, we will definitely have to have an episode where we bring Charlie on. There are definitely some wonderful stories and things we'll have to have there. Um, and thank you everybody for listening. Um, if you haven't already, please go ahead and subscribe. Uh, we do interviews like this all the time and we love to share with you guys. Thanks again to everybody for listening and take it easy. Bye bye.