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GSD Diaries with Angela Proffitt

Transforming Life & Business with Purpose, Passion, and Perspective Welcome to GSD Diaries (formerly Business Unveiled), where we share stories of transformation, resilience, and the pursuit of purpose. Join us as we travel the world, sharing insights from other cultures, highlighting wellness, and what it means to navigate the ups and downs in life and business. We'll uncover the truths behind living a fulfilling and impactful life. In this podcast, we highlight impactful leaders who have navigated change, wellness resorts and companies that prioritize health, sharing real stories of resilience and motivating you to create a balanced, fulfilling life. I'll sit down with industry leaders who have overcome incredible challenges, sharing their secrets to success and survival. Together, we'll explore how to shift perspectives, embrace healthy habits, and find true happiness in our work and lives. Hi, I'm Angela Proffitt, an entrepreneur disrupting the hospitality industry by shaking things up. As the GSD Girl who loves to Get Shit Done, let's dance around the world together, uncovering the 'first times' and the powerful stories behind them. Often, it's a near-death experience that wakes you up and pushes you to make a change. I've learned the hard way—if you don't take care of yourself, you can't take care of others in hospitality. In this wellness series, I'll chat with some of my closest friends and fellow movers and shakers in the entrepreneurial community. Together, we'll explore meaningful ways to become more human and empathetic, and shift our perspectives for a better life and business. This is GSD Diaries—transforming the hospitality industry, one step at a time.
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Now displaying: January, 2023
Jan 26, 2023

Have you noticed how every day is full of surprises? Even though I live by my calendar, there is always something unexpected and new that happens! The universe brings us together in amazing ways. We’ve been focusing on lifelines lately (if you’ve listened to the past few episodes) and if you are a business owner, your brand story is a huge part of your lifeline. 

Recently I traveled to the Atlanta market to shop for a client, and also I just love to go to see what's new! It’s hours of walking up and down stairs in multiple buildings with many many floors… and yes, you guessed it, I’m tracking ALL my steps along the way!

It wasn’t on my to do list for the day but I walked by this world art gallery with maps everywhere (I’m obsessed with traveling and seeing the world and learning geography because I’m SO not good at it.). I had to stop and go in! 

I spent hours in there! 

Ya know when you see something and you have that inspiration and you just have to stop and get it out! This was one of those moments! 

I quickly started to lay things out on the floor and designed away with one of their team members. Then one of the owners came over to answers some questions. 

When asking him about his story it’s the way he responded where I couldn't help myself…and asked “can I video you” (I’ve learned to ask, thank you to my sweet travel husband)!

There was an amazing brand story there and we recorded this podcast right on the spot! No mics (even though I had them in my bag, didn’t want to kill the vibe), I was so excited to hear how the company was founded and what they do, that we jumped right into conversation.

Let me introduce you to Ryan Martz of Fire & Pine. Grown from passion, this business’s mission is to provide meaningful home decor that gives memories a sense of place through their unique burning process that creates decorative wall maps, intricate U.S. patents and custom-designed wood artwork for customers in all 50 states and internationally. 

I’m so excited for you to listen in to (watch) hear his story and I would highly recommend you watch so you can catch a glimpse of their creativity at work!

Main Topics:

*Taking a passion and turning it into a real business
*How to lead with relationships
*How to create a company culture that includes your team

Key Takeaways:

*Some of the best ideas and inventions come from last minute thinking
*Creative ways to involve sustainability in your business
*How to be productive as a creative

More About Our Guest:

When we started Fire and Pine in 2016, there were only a handful of us working out of a small part of a warehouse. Today, we are a team of 24 artisans working from a full-scale production facility in a small town in South Carolina. Our unique burning process creates decorative wall maps, intricate U.S. patents and custom-designed wood artwork for customers in all 50 states and internationally. We’ve grown rapidly, continually adding new products to the Fire and Pine brand and increasing production output.

None of this would be possible without a fantastic team of creative professionals who take pride in the art of woodworking. Thanks to the support of our local community — and you! — our team is continuously innovating. The fact that we get to have fun while we work is an added bonus.

Jan 19, 2023

If you’ve been a listener over the years you may have heard me mention the 4 Ps. These are the Phases of GSD, the pieces that every business needs to achieve success! This episode highlights a keynote that I delivered last year in Turkey that sums up the GSD phase of Processes and organizing your business into what I like to call “Time Pots”. Using a time blocking, color code, priority exercise we do helps people actually “see” where their time is going and as an owner focusing on growth is your full time job.

 

Building internal and external processes that are paperless, are essential to our business world today. Get everything out of your head and in the cloud quickly. Video your screen to show others how to do what you do. Consider an internal process and a communication plan for you and your team. Delegating to the right people is essential. And consider an external process that you and your team will follow with your clients. Do not deviate from your process, meaning, if you allow your clients and your business to run you, you basically have another job. Learn from your process and make it better!

 

Main Topics:

*Define goals
*Assess & Segment Activities
*Plan & Prioritize

Key Takeaways:

*What process needs to happen in order for tasks to get done
*The critical steps that need to take place
*Learn from your process and make it better!

More About Our IMWF:

International MICE & Wedding Forum (IMWF) is a business summit that forms a colleague-hood of the best MICE & Wedding organizers, hotels, airlines and corporate brands in a sincere social ambience. It presents countless opportunities to interact and communicate within a cozy environment via panels and conferences, sensational parties, lunches, dinners and activities arranged by first-rate organizers.

IMWF purposefully binds innovative ideas with joint ventures of experts and opinion leaders from the industry. They create a network of long-lasting friendships with the business generators of the industry from all around the globe.

Jan 12, 2023

This podcast will be a little different…special...Real, Raw, BTS of how the family life line activity went…

Yes….I’m:
A few drinks in
Walking at my Treadmill desk at 1am wearing arm weight

And…it’s 1 am; so I Forgot to:
put audio mic on
turn background Music off, sorry in advance

This is why sleep is important

OH, a Heads up: 

If you are not watching the video, there is BTS video that won’t make sense. This is on the go, Vlog style, but even if you are only listening, there’s a few AHHH HAAA takeaways. 

And incase you missed Part 1 you can find that episode on our blog.

Main Topics:

*Clarity on how to have better communication when giving directions
*Perspective on memories; your takeaways vs. your family members
*What to listen for to gain insight on bringing your family closer together

Key Takeaways:

*Listen or watch when you set time aside for having the capacity to grow
*Be present
*Make memories

Jan 5, 2023

Recently I had the most amazing experience in Egypt, and my friend Ramez Salama, co-founder of High End Journeys, is sitting down with me to talk about all things luxury travel and exclusive luxury experiences. High End Journeys is a boutique luxury travel agency, started by Egyptologists and best friends, Ahmed Aziz and Ramez Salama. Both share a passion for travel and draw on their combined industry experience of 34 years to deliver a personalized itinerary for their guests. They work with a singular aim in mind - to create unforgettable memories for every traveler. We touch on how to step out of your comfort zone and stand out to create experiences that no one else can offer. Details are everything, even the smallest details can make the biggest impact. 

Main Topics:

*Your comfort zone is not your comfort zone
*How to stand out and create experiences that your company can offer exclusively
*Details are everything, even the smallest of details can make the biggest impact

Key Takeaways:

*Step out and see what happens, removing yourself from the comfort zone may change your life for the better
*Curate a team that wants to grow with you
*No one knows your country or experience better than you

More About Our Guest:

High End Journeys is our vision for what a high-end luxury tour should be all about: connecting people to people; helping people experience Egypt outside the tourist bubble; allowing Egypt to inspire and change our understanding of the world around us all. Egypt’s ancient history and timeless culture have the power to transform the lives of our guests. We have witnessed that incredible transformation first hand and know that we are called to accompany this next generation of travelers to Egypt to continue to be changed by its people and its treasures. Ramez Salama's love and passion for his country and its amazing history led him to study Egyptology from Helwan University. He has guided a selection of leading diplomats, foreign businessmen, and world-famous musicians. He loves meeting people from different countries and explore their cultures. He has traveled to over fifteen countries - from the Great Wall of China to the game parks of Eastern Africa. He has seen the great castles of Europe, and hiked across the outstanding nature trails of North America. Ramez delivers lectures on Egyptian history and heritage at American churches and schools – particularly in Kansas, Texas, and California. He also serves as a guest lecturer on Windstar Cruise Line. Ramez’s area of expertise is Pharaonic Egypt, and he takes pleasure in leading clients around the Great Pyramids of Giza.

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