Start With A Win - Remote Work Revolution: How a 1999 Trailblazer Built a Top Agency Without Commuting | Laura Liotta

Starting point is 00:00:00 It's 2023. Moving into 2024, how should we think about remote work, hybrid work, and should people be back at the office or stay at home? Let's talk about that today on Start with a Win. Welcome to Start with a Win, where we unpack franchising, leadership, and business growth. Let's go. And coming to you from Start with a Win headquarters at Area 15 Ventures, it's Adam Kantos with Start with a Win. Today, we have Laura Leota, the dynamic president and founder of Sam Brown Inc., a seasoned corporate communications expert with a 35-year career. Notably, she's a trailblazer in remote work, introducing the hybrid workplace model in, get this, 1999. Laura's visionary approach emphasizes both client success, which is important

Starting point is 00:00:47 to the business, and personal fulfillment for her team, which is important for the employee. This helps people thrive in their business and has helped Sam Brown achieve a $15 million expected revenue stream in 2023. Today, we dive into her insights on leading in the evolving landscape of remote work, prioritizing team satisfaction, and navigating the challenges of hybrid versus in-office work on Start With A Win. Laura, welcome to Start With A Win. Great to be here. Nice to see you. Yeah, you too. I mean, this is actually your work environment because you are a hybrid and remote work expert.

Starting point is 00:01:26 How long have you been doing this? 25 years? 25 years. I've had a remote public relations agency in healthcare. Wow. Okay. And so Laura works in healthcare and biotech and things like that in a PR firm, which is a servicing company and she's decentralized because everybody's remote in her business.

Starting point is 00:01:44 And that's really what we want to get into today because you have, I mean, you've probably made all the mistakes in it and probably found all of the successes in it. I want to start unpacking those hybrid versus remote versus in person. What's better. Why do people like it? Why do they not like it? Things of that nature. So once you give us a flyover of your perspective of those, those topics, and then let's start unpacking some of them. Yeah. So first of all, when I started the agency in 1999, yes, 25 years ago, I really wanted senior people. And so I was outside of Philadelphia, and we're very specialized in healthcare public relations. And for me, I didn't want just talent in where I was in Philadelphia. I wanted talent in oncology or

Starting point is 00:02:27 virology or other things specifically or different aspects of public relations. And so I really went after the talent and it wasn't going to be practical to move everyone. So I started a 100% remote agency business that can continue to grow and grow. Today, we have 55 people working all over the country and in Mexico City and in London and other places. And as you can imagine, it's quite different to do today with video and all of the technology we have than it was then. But I'm definitely a very big supporter and fan of remote work to get the best people. All right. So time out here. You said video. Video has not been around all that long. How did you do this when we didn't have video? Is it possible to lead people over a conference call?

Starting point is 00:03:16 Yes. How do you handle that? Well, first of all, it definitely was a lot of conference calls, but we also traveled a lot more than we do today. I think, you know, post COVID with Zoom and Teams, there's much less travel. So even though we worked from home, we would try to get together at clients' offices or at different locations around the country. But yes, we did everything via email and telephone. And you mentioned work from home. So I would assume that the people that are working remote, if you will, for you are working out of their house. Is that correct?

Starting point is 00:03:53 Correct. Okay. Every person is working out of their house. Some people do like to go to a shared office space, but we haven't needed to have any. And I think, you know, the flexibility for people back then and now just to be able to maybe put their children on the bus, men and women, right, and not have to spend an hour commuting to Philadelphia or New York City to work in a public relations agency, that really, that flexibility to me has served the agency so well. I have a long time dedicated team and many people stay with our agency, Sam Brown, for over some 20 plus years, some 10 and 15 plus years. It's really worked out so well. So I think the flexibility is an offering to the employee that they value and they respond with good, high-quality work.

Starting point is 00:04:47 Wow. So, I mean, some of the pros here, obviously, there's no commute. They can handle their home life, their kids, getting them out the door to school, things like that. They're home before a spouse or partner or whoever shows up home. I mean, there are obviously some benefits to work from home, especially for those people like you're talking about that have to go into a major city and the traffic around that, you know, we're in Colorado and when it snows, I mean, oh my gosh, it takes an extra hour to get just 15 miles up the road. So I'm, you know, luckily I'm right outside my neighborhood. We have a small office here that's very close. But I worked from home for a couple of years during the pandemic, like many people.

Starting point is 00:05:31 But we also have some cons to remote work. And you've overcome a lot of those challenges that people have. And these are why people are being called back to work sometimes. I mean, it could be said that productivity is less, or it's hard to get a hold of somebody when they're at the grocery store getting dinner for the night or they're picking up their kids or whatever. What are some of the cons to remote work and how did you overcome those? Well, I think it's very important to know that not every industry, not every job is set up for remote work.

Starting point is 00:06:02 So agency life really is. We're working together on programs for clients, a lot of writing and creative. And so I have a lot of pros. Absolutely. In terms of the cons, I think if people are worried about their employees not working when they say they're working, they either don't have the system set up right or they're not hiring the right people. So in our case, you know, most of the people coming into this agency have 10, 15 years experience. They're not junior, they're expert in their field. We bill hourly. So like a law firm

Starting point is 00:06:35 or an accounting firm, right, we're tracking hours. So you can tell if people are working or not working based on their billability. And, you know, you can't say you're working more of the client would know what they got or didn't get. So I think there's systems in place to make sure you address the cons. But to me, the only big con would be is if you felt like that person wasn't working. And that has never been an issue for me. We've built like a camaraderie team with the same mission, same goals, and it's really driven from no matter where you are. So really what you're talking about here is employee accountability to the employer, which essentially, I mean, employers listen up because we essentially run into the same problem when somebody's sitting in a cubicle. Are they on Facebook or are they working on the business at the time?

Starting point is 00:07:25 So, you know, we do have this accountability structure and some, for some reason, we think that they're accountable as soon as they walk into our building, but ultimately they should be personally accountable to doing business process during the day when they're being paid to do so. So do you have any accountability systems beside your billing? Or is that kind of, I mean, it seems to me like that's the key framework here when it comes to your business model, but what recommendations do you have for other businesses for maybe? Absolutely. So first of all, we're in the service business. You have to service your clients. We're in the news business too, in public relations. So there are many cases where you would be in that

Starting point is 00:08:02 agency in New York city till eight, nine o'clock at night, because things have to get done. Not that I'm encouraging that because you need work-life balance. But I think offering teams the flexibility makes them accountable because if they have to run out in the day for an hour, they can make up for it at night or on the weekend. Everything they need is right in their home office. So for me, it's really the respecting the professional and knowing they're going to deliver on what they say they're going to deliver on. Those are accountability measures above and beyond the billing system. That is very important. You have a job to do. You have a client to offer service to. And now you're on top of it. You're giving the flexibility to have work life balance. Wow. I mean, I love the freedom that we give employees, but also the built in accountability.

Starting point is 00:08:51 But we can't assume that they know this. We can't. I don't think, you know, when you hire an employee, you can't assume that they're going to put in that time. If you say, OK, you can work from home and and get done what you need to do. And, you know, we'll always, there are a great deal of people out there that will always find a way to do the minimum. And that's not what we want as business leaders. We want people to show up for work with 100% of their effort. Typically, it's been said that people show up with 25% of their effort and that other 75% comes from leadership and values in the culture of the organization. So, you know, how did you, did you have to put the clarity into that as a leader or did it, was it just

Starting point is 00:09:31 kind of assumed with the quality of employees? No, I think you have to put in mission and vision is absolutely critical. We work in healthcare. So patients are extremely motivating. We work on very motivational programs in terms of important work that we're doing in different disease states and things like that. But in terms of specific accountability, everyone is on a team. They report to someone, there's a leader. We're tracking the programs that have been sold into the client and you have to track the work is being done. And the, you know, so you could see if someone is not holding up their end of the bargain on their team and getting the work done. We get together once a year, some were fabulous, the entire agency.

Starting point is 00:10:13 And during those meetings, we're really reminding and setting our goals for the year, our very high expectations and measurement for deliverability. So yes, as a leader, you can't just be loose in terms of the remote, like work when you can, work when you're not. You really have to run your business, right? And you need to scale your business. And so to be able to scale your business comes a lot of flexibility in terms of remote consultants

Starting point is 00:10:40 or additional writers or videographers or whatever it may be in the nature of your business. And all of that really gives the leader also a lot of benefit that would outweigh any of the risks by worrying about people not delivering when they're supposed to. That's great. Yeah. I mean, I think back to the pandemic and I was on Zoom with, I mean, a lot of people in my organization, we had 150,000 agents around the world. And so I was doing probably, I don't know, 10 to 12 hours a day on Zoom, just setting those expectations because a lot of people weren't used to having those. I mean, it was interesting because the real estate industry

Starting point is 00:11:21 was working, you know, you weren't making money unless you were outside meeting with clients and then you're stuck inside quite a bit. And then you got back outside again, but you wanted, you needed this accountability. So, um, I, I got this communication regiment going where even at, uh, REMAX headquarters, when I was running REMAX, we would have a communication regiment. And I always opened my meetings with, here's what's expected of everybody and accountabilities and good job for people to people for doing this. And then we closed them with that also, just the constant reminders. What kind of communication regimen do you think is good for a remote work environment and remote work employee for them to hear from their bosses and

Starting point is 00:11:58 understand what they should be doing? So as a full agency, we get together twice a year. Each of the teams, they get together every week. And I have an all agency call every two weeks. So yes, the agency is definitely on a standard communications process where we are meeting, we're checking in on where the business is, where the new business is, how we're growing and what's expected of the agency. And as you can imagine, when you talk about remote things through COVID and beyond, we even had meetings about what is your background look like? What is, you know, sending everyone ring lights? What is your camera and your recording equipment? And all of that is so important because, you know, that's expectations. They didn't come into this remote work really knowing that I would have of them. I do not like clothes or mess in the back of someone's camera. I'm not a big fan of bedrooms, anything like that.

Starting point is 00:12:56 I really expect everyone to have a professional background when they're doing their meetings with the clients. So yeah, there are expectations set at every turn. Wow. I mean, that's incredibly important there. I hope everybody heard what Laura just said. I'll tell you, the reality is people have a first impression and a last impression when they see you walk into the Starbucks or they walk into your office or you walk into theirs. And then it's that last moment that their mind takes a snapshot of you. And this happens with your remote workers also. So you are really walking the talk, if you will. You know, your expectations are being lived by you and you have a great set there.

Starting point is 00:13:41 You have a microphone, you have lighting. I mean, it's, you know, camera angle. Everything is perfect. And I teach this to executive MBA students also. And they always say, Hey, how should I, how should I look when I'm talking to my business? Because I want to be received as a leader. This is fascinating because you've built this into the culture of your business to have the leadership demonstrated by your people, both on the company calls as well as their client calls. So kudos to you and to Sam Brown for that cultural aspect. Did you run into any challenges with that?

Starting point is 00:14:15 I mean, a lot of people are like, well, I'm at home at my kitchen table. I shouldn't have to clean up my counter for you. Something like that? Or was it just broadly accepted? Listen, it's all about balance, right? Like we all love babies and puppies and dogs barking. And in the beginning, like we would be mortified. Oh my goodness. We're the only agency in the world is working from home. A dog has barked. They are going to think we're on professional. You know, we really were tight, tight, tight. Then Now with COVID, everyone is doing it, right?

Starting point is 00:14:46 People are more laid back. So you have to find the right balance. Internal meetings, I'm much more laid back on the visuals and everything. Clients, totally different story. So I do think you want to be flexible. You want people to be able to work in a rewarding environment, to feel their contributions, to be able to excel and grow into other levels. So they're learning, right, the back workings of the agency as they come in and move into leadership positions. And then they help us make sure that this remote work is successful. And we are. I mean, we're one of the largest independent public relations agencies

Starting point is 00:15:25 in biotech, and we've been able to do it on our terms. And frankly, when I started, the big why is I had three kids and I didn't want to commute into the city anymore. And I didn't want to work at a big pharmaceutical company and miss dinner with my family. I, you know, I like the flexibility, but that comes with a very professional line. You can't watch your kids and run a business or work at a business. You have to have child care. You have to have control of the noise. You need to make sure your office is set up in a place that's very professional.

Starting point is 00:15:59 So you give and you get. Right. So we have set parameters. And I think if a business really wants to be 100% remote, which works really well for us, then I say you can absolutely do that with the right vision, mission, strategic intent, plans, accountability, measurement. There are definitely programs you can put in place to do that. And in my case, it is made for very happy teammates. Just, it's a lot of respect. We all have each other's back. And I just think, um, it's worked really, really well just to take out that whole office environment

Starting point is 00:16:37 and commute. This is, this is fascinating because I mean, every time you, you come up with an answer to these, I'm like, wow, okay. I have another question around that. So you, uh, you know, you talked about, um, the, the joy of the people, but you also talked about the expectations around, you can't have your, you know, your two-year-old running behind you back and forth on a, on a phone call or video call or something like that. And I think a lot of these reasons that you're talking about, you know, the dog barking, the kid, the laundry, the, the distractions, things like that. Um, well, that balance of being a parent is really important. I'm not taking away from that. The reality is you can't do both at once. And I think you hit that on the head.

Starting point is 00:17:20 You can't be your best as a professional and be your best as a parent. And you're going to be mediocre at both if that's what you're trying to do. And that's not the expectation of business. They want you to be the best for them because you were serving the client. And I think that's one of the reasons why a lot of people have started calling or are, you know, essentially calling employees back is they don't want to deal with that. You know, and I have to, because you, as a boss, you're, you know, that's mean you won't let me be a parent, you know, things like that. I mean, it just, it, it sets you up for those attacks. Um, how can a company work around that? Yeah. It's the opposite really. It's really setting expectations is the opposite of not letting them be a parent because what we're

Starting point is 00:18:01 doing is creating a work environment where you can leave at 11 to go to your kindergarten play, come back because I know the work's going to get done. Maybe you'll do it later at the night or whatever, because everyone has minimum billable every day. So I think it's the exact opposite. So it's part of them. It's partially a mentality and it's also partially an industry driven thing, right? So there are just going to be some industries that this may not work for. But I think when you are open and respectful with your employees, you're going to get a lot more back. And we have created an environment where I need to do this. Can you cover for me? I'll cover for you. And that comes with flexibility. And there's that flexibility

Starting point is 00:18:45 in the office. Some people have to leave, right, and go home early or whatever. But no, in order to have that level of respect and collaboration, you have to hold up your end of the professional bargain, which means, no, you can't have dogs barking and kids running in and, you know, while we're on meetings and emergencies happen, we're very cool. I always like to say I'm very cool with very high expectations. I like that. And there's always a way to, to find what works. Very cool with very high expectations. That is perfect. I should, I should have that behind me. I mean, you don't want to be too hard on things and we celebrate each other and we recognize each other and the departments are all very tight. And I mean, I'm so proud of the team. We've been really successful on our terms. And that has been really important to me. Like we wanted to have lives. We wanted to still work in a big pharma, big agency environment and succeed and do that without going to New York City.

Starting point is 00:19:46 And I was able to. I worked at big pharma. I worked at big agencies. And I said, you know what? My story is I had the flu one day and Oprah said, are you living your best life was one of her shows. And I was like, hell no, I am not. And I quit my job and started this agency the way I wanted with senior good people to deliver on the business, but on their own terms, like live where you need to live. You don't have to commute. You can work the way you work, but we, to be the best, we have to take it to a certain level. And that's what we did. Awesome. And I want to kind of add some clarity to this whole package here, as far as what you're talking about, because I heard a couple of things which I really liked. You know, a lot of people have made this kind of a polarizing conversation. Yeah, everybody has to come back to work, darn it, or you're fired.

Starting point is 00:20:37 And then you also have the other side of, no, everybody can work from home and be great, you know, things like that and be productive. But the reality is we were missing some pieces in that conversation. One of which is be your very best and have the high expectations and professionalism that creates great outcomes for your business. Those things, I think, I think those things stopped being measured when we started being overly, you know, I don't want to say overly sensitive to the emotional desires of the employee, but I think we put those before the productivity of the business, which the business has to be productive folks. The business has to grow. Otherwise you're going to be out of a job, whether or not you work at home or in an office. I mean, that's just,

Starting point is 00:21:21 that's the fact of business is business is not just a, a give, it has to be profitable. So, um, there, and, and the second thing that you said that I think was really important is this is not for everybody. Right. There are a lot of businesses that this is not for. And frankly, I would add to that. There are a lot of leaders that this is not for. If you cannot lead remotely, then you cannot run a remote business. So, you know, you got to kind of balance all that as well. So, Laura, this has been an incredible conversation about this and it probably opened up some more questions for people, but I think it also made them hold up the mirror and examine how are they leading their remote employees because let's face the facts, we all have them, I would venture to guess. And unless, you know, like you have a sandwich shop

Starting point is 00:22:08 or, you know, a restaurant or something like that, it's kind of hard to work remote there. But ultimately, you know, mainstream corporate world, everybody's got them. So what final words of advice do you have for somebody to maximize in the event that they have remote employees or realize in the event that they have remote employees or realize in the event that they need to bring those in-house?

Starting point is 00:22:28 I think you need to understand what happiness is to an employee. And it's not, I think the expectation is to keep an employee happy. They don't wanna commute. They don't wanna work. And that's not true. Most employees want to be seen, want to be

Starting point is 00:22:45 heard, want to contribute, want to be part of a great team. So happy employees do equal successful business, productivity, everything that you just mentioned. So I think to be a really good leader, you need to understand that it's not a bad thing to have happy employees, right? It doesn't mean they're slacking off. It means understanding how to keep your employees motivated and driven through a number of ways, work-life balance and inclusion and, you know, communications and sharing in successes. And, you know, yes, salaries, bonuses, all the things we know. But I think setting up a business in a way that's going to make your employees happy is going to make you more successful. Awesome. Laura Leota, really dynamic president and founder of Sam Brown Healthcare Communications,

Starting point is 00:23:36 PR firm. You've been doing this for 25 years and you know this remote work hybrid piece very well. Thank you for being on start with a win. I do have a question that I ask everybody on the show and that's how do you start your day with a win? Oh, I have to get quiet in the morning, even though my body's saying, go get coffee. I usually spend about 15 minutes doing three things. Like what do I really want to achieve today? Um, what should I celebrate today? And what, um, you know, what am, what am I most proud of? And I think it's because I have kind of a type a personality and I need to know that I'm going to check off things. And the only way I can, you know, you can have lists at your desk, but I need to clear my head in the morning and really think about what I'm going to check off. And then because of the nature of my business,

Starting point is 00:24:27 I have to read all the media. So I start my day reading the media, especially in the industry of healthcare. There you go. I love this quiet and reflection piece that, that is very centering. It helps you focus on your, your strengths and what you need to accomplish. So that's, that's awesome. Laura, thank you so much for all this wisdom today. And thank you for being on start with a win. Thank you

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Start With A Win - Remote Work Revolution: How a 1999 Trailblazer Built a Top Agency Without Commuting | Laura Liotta

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