#86 - How to Create an Effective Work Culture with Jody Layne

In this episode of the Morning Upgrade podcast I talk with Jody Layne about her morning routine, maintaining health, effective work culture, being present to enjoy the journey and more.

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Ryan 

Hey guys, it's Ryan real quick. So my mission with the Morning Upgrade blog and podcast is to raise the awareness of morning routines and personal development. And I now have two products that also helped me with this mission. The first product helps you start a 20-minute morning routine. And the second product is a book that outlines how to use personal development to upgrade your life and business. You can get full details on both products over at morningupgrade.com. Thanks for letting me share and now on to the show.

Announcer  

Welcome to the Morning Upgrade podcast with Ryan Cote where we feature casual conversations with entrepreneurs about personal development and growth.

Ryan 

Hey, Jody, welcome to the Morning Upgrade podcast. How are you?

Jody 

I'm great. How are you?

Ryan 

I'm doing great. Yeah. So great. Friday morning, as we record this, I'm excited to talk to you. Let's introduce you to my audience of morning upgraders. Tell us who you are, and what you do for a living, I think to give us a wind happening in your life right now.

Jody  

Okay, sure. Well, first of all, thank you for having me on. I'm honored and excited to be here. My name is Jody Layne, I actually have two full-time jobs right now. One is that I am the CEO of the Florida Center for Hormones and Wellness. We are a wellness clinic in Orlando, Florida. And we are specialists in optimizing hormones for people through the aging process. So as people age, their bodies develop hormones less and less. And as that happens, there are a lot of symptoms that occurred exhaustion, fatigue, muscle fatigue, low sex drive, things like that. And so we put the hormones back in the body in a natural way. And they go back to living their lives like they did when they were in their 20s. My second job is that I started a company about a year and a half ago, called the Greenleaf Group. And we are consultants, specifically right now for the hormone space, where we help providers develop their business start off with developing their business plan, we do a little bit of marketing, we focus on culture, process, make sure they have the right mindset to be successful because most doctors living in a world of insurance. And so when they move over into the hormone world, and it's a cash pay world because insurance will cover that type of specialty, it's a whole new ballgame for them. And so I've taken what I've learned, and the success I've had in the clinic that I work in, and now I bring those principles to other providers so they can experience the same success that we have.

Ryan 

That makes a lot of sense to you. You're helping the hormone practices, and you also have one you operate one. So you have both sides of it must be an interesting dynamics.

Jody  

Yeah, it's really fun. It was a natural progression, which is one of the best ways for entrepreneurs to live their lives, instead of forcing a business just to have a kind of naturally show up. I am personally just very committed to every person on the planet learning about hormone optimization, and how beneficial that is for their health and their life. And so the fact that I get to help patients here in Orlando, but then help other doctors reach more people, that helps to fulfill my goal of people learning and being able to make a choice whether it works for them. So yeah, that's really true.

Ryan  

What about a win happening in your life right now?

Jody 

You know, there's actually a lot going a lot of wins in my life right now. Right now I'm an empty nester, my daughter just left to go to college, and my husband and I have really decided to embrace our new lifestyle and rediscover each other as a couple. And so that's really working for me, the clinic is doing really well. And I'm very proud of what we do here. And I attribute our success to authentic marketing and a great culture. And the fact that honestly, as a result of COVID I think our society is beginning to embrace health care, more than sick care, they want to take care of themselves versus taking fixing what gets broken, and so that it's good for the world, but it's also good for our clinic. And like I said before, our new venture is really resonating with people. It's just organically succeeding. And I'm loving it. So I've got a lot of wins right now.

Ryan 

Excellent. That's a great answer. Love the energy. Let's talk about how you feed your energy like you know, you have a morning routine. So what do your mornings look like?

Jody 

lYou know, I would love to say that I'm that person that wakes up and meditates and like has the gratitude mantra, but unfortunately, that's not me. I wake up and I work out. That's what I do. I've been doing that since I was about 25. I wake up at 5:45 in the morning, and I go right to a workout. And after my workout. If I've got time, I will go outside and walk or run. I'm a runner. I'm training for a marathon right now. So I love to be outside, I don't like to be on the treadmill. So I'll get a weight workout in, I get a cardio workout in. And then as I get ready for work, I listen to podcasts. That's my thing. It's the only time that I really take for myself to explore both the news of the World and then self-development. So I focus my podcast choices on things that enrich me as a human and kind of set me up for the day. And then I make myself some bulletproof coffee and head out the door. And that's my morning routine.

Ryan  

And that's a great morning routine. I mean, everyone's kind of find what works best for them. And I've had some guests on that. They just have like a two or three-hour intense routine that works best for them. So I think you bring up a good point, you know, it's, you might not meditate, you might not do gratitude practice. But it doesn't matter. It's like you're you have a routine that works for you and checks off a lot of boxes. It sounds like an exercise, consuming good content, like self-education, and the health between exercise and the bulletproof coffee. So I love it. 

Jody

Yeah, thanks. 

Ryan

What are their habits do you have that you rely on throughout the day?

Jody 

I like getting older. I hit 50 last year. And so as I've gotten older, I've noticed that my habits are forming more around taking care of my body. So eating right drinking water, exercising, not to excess, but exercising defeat my muscles and my cardiovascular system versus, you know, taking it to the nth degree, which I used to do when I was younger. And taking care of my, as the press the point of the Bulletproof Coffee is to take care of the mitochondria. So I look for different things I can do to feed those habits. And you know, it just makes sense. It's like, if you want to go on a cross country trip, you can put bad oil in your car and bad gas in your car and don't take care of the tires don't maintain it, because it'll break down and it will be sluggish. And no, we will get to where you're going. And I view my body the same way. If I give it the right things, then the things I want to do in life will just come more naturally to me. And I don't make myself wrong. I mean, I cheat. I love french fries. And I love potato chips. But if I do that, I get right back on the horse and overcome that with some healthy, healthy living. So I think that's probably the habit I want to share with everyone.

Ryan

Investing in your health is never a bad thing. The Bulletproof Coffee is interesting, I have to revisit that I knew I tried that once and I just couldn't get off. It couldn't get through the layer of butter that I had to like get through to get to the coffee. Obviously, I was doing it wrong, because it's a big thing. And they sell it prepackaged in the store. I don't know if it's any better or worse, but how do you do it.

Jody 

So the key to a successful bulletproof coffee is using a mixer versus using a spoon. So I have like a really small little hand mixer. And you know, once the coffee goes in, I put it in a tablespoon or a teaspoon of ghee butter, and then two teaspoons of MCT oil. And then I mix it with that mixer. And actually, Dave Asprey, who is the inventor of the Bulletproof Coffee says that that's the key to not just tasting better, but also getting the benefit out of it that the chemical reaction when the butter and the oil get mixed in that really aggressive way, creates the whatever I can't I don't know the scientific term for it, but it creates the result that you're looking for. And then you know, I cheat. So in order to make it tasty, I put in a package of trivia, and a teeny bit of non-dairy, French vanilla sugar-free creamer to make it taste good. Therefore, I want to drink it every day. And I still get that benefit. So you know, maybe try it that way.

Ryan  

Yeah, I think I was eating using a spoon, it's hard to create a habit when I would literally get like chills that my back just slop like swallow the butter. It was awful.

Jody 

I don't want to use clarified butter, it makes a huge difference. Regular butter is very waxy, so it doesn't break down as easily.

Ryan  

Okay, good tip. I'm glad we talked about that. Let's talk about your business. I think you mentioned culture was really important for your growth. Can you expand on that, like any tips you have around building an effective culture for the entrepreneurs?

Jody  

Absolutely. There are three things that go into a great culture. The first is that the entrepreneur, the owner, whoever is the leader, has got to be super clear about what their values are, when you are starting a business or even if you're just looking to improve your business, they're sitting down and making a list of 357 values that you as a person live by. And then you want to bring those values to the staff, and make sure that they all align with those values. And if they do wonderful, and if they don't, it may not be a good culture fit. Because think about it. If you could show up to work every day. Let's just say that creativity is super important to you if you were to show up every day with people who also believe that creativity is very important, then you're gonna have a great time. But if you've got somebody who thinks that Everything needs to be super structured and you do everything the way that it was done in the past, it's not gonna, it's not going to feel good. So making sure everyone on the team is aligned with the same values is very important. And then the second thing, and I think this is really the most important part of a great culture is to just get that your staff is the most important product or service you have, no matter what you sell, I don't care if you sell a widget, or if you are a brain surgeon, having the people around you being happy and fulfilled and satisfied and excited about coming to work is the most important thing. And so if you have to foster that through little treats, or reminding them how great they are, or paying them grades, or whatever, whatever way you want to do to make sure that they feel valued, then the culture will just naturally show up. So those are the two. I mean, I could talk about culture for hours. But those are the two things I think are the most important in business.

Ryan 

And we haven't talked about culture on this podcast yet. So I'm glad br Can you give us one of your values, just so we can visualize what you're talking about? Like, what's one of your values that you guys live by?

Jody 

Yeah, actually, I can give you so we have seven values, patient-centric excellence, integrity, coachable, responsible team, player, and creativity. Those are our values. And we do everything in our power on a day-to-day basis to kind of hold each other accountable to those values. But the one that's the most important to me is integrity. When I think of integrity, it's not just keeping your promise. To me, integrity is when you make a promise, you do your best to keep it. But if you can't, the moment you know, you can't you communicate that you can't and then make a new promise. And if you're keeping your integrity all the time, it just works. Because people need to know when something has gotten in the way of whatever it is that you said that you were going to do. And that way they can readjust. But a lot of times as humans, we don't want to look bad. So we had to hide and pretend that we know that this is going to happen and we don't communicate. And then there's usually upset missed expectations and mistakes and expectations often lead to anger. So that's why I really focus on integrity for myself. If I'm that way all the time, then my staff can look up to me. And then I encourage them to be the same.

Ryan 

And you find that the staff they really they buy into the values or do you like or they just go along with it because they feel like they have to like can you tell them that it really resonates with them?

Jody  

You know, it's interesting, it definitely resonates with them. And here's how I know is that if it doesn't, usually the person quits. So I've been doing this for about five years here at this clinic, I'll give a plug to the EOS worldwide organization who wrote the book traction. And that's where this comes from. And I highly recommend every entrepreneur in you know, to read this book. And when you build a business and make the values important, and not just like on a on a piece of paper, but in daily life. We do quarterly meetings, and we talk about them. And we have activities where we talk about how we can improve ourselves with them. And we call each other out when we're not those. If you actually live like that in a day to day basis. Anybody who doesn't align with the value will be uncomfortable, and most likely choose to leave. And I've seen it happen and it's not ugly, because there's no right or wrong to values. But if you just don't have that same, that same feelings about it, then you'll just want to find a different environment. And so usually we end amicably.

Ryan 

I love that you're sharing this, this is really helpful, good content, and advice to share. Like I said, we haven't told that culture before and creating your values attraction book. I have not personally read that. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna get it on Amazon. So thanks, Jody.

Jody  

I heard you talk about the Compound Effect, which is my second favorite book. So if you like Hardy, you're gonna love Jackson.

Ryan  

Yeah, I've read that book twice. We read it in our book club of Balentine. And I read it 10 years ago, and then it came out with a 10 year anniversary. So that book is probably my number one book that like when I get asked that question, it's the one that always pops me there's other ones like How to Win Friends Influence People. I like the slight edge. The one thing actually the book I'm reading right now by Robin Sharma. It's called everyday heroes, that one might remember just a little bit into it. But I think that one might be my new favorite one.

Jody  

I'll put that down. I'd say I think the Compound Effect doesn't just work in business. It works in relationship. I asked my husband to read it. And we did a little like couple book clubs with him and I read each chapter talked about the chapters because if you're if your entire life works, not just your business life, but your entire life works in that way. It's glorious.

Ryan  

Yeah. 100% agree with that. So Jodi, I've got one last question for you. Then we're going to wrap up with you telling everyone how they can connect with you. If they want to learn more say hello. It's a personal Question meaning it's different for everyone, but through the lens of, of God, what is the meaning of life?

Jody 

Oh, the meaning of life. I think it changes, I often bet it changes for me a lot as my world sort of like, morphs and changes with, with every passing year. But for right now, I would say the meaning of life is being present. Especially for me, I'm very goal driven. I just get off on succeeding, not just like financial success, but just like having a goal and then reaching that goal, I'm just really, I really enjoy that, which, unfortunately, can make you miss the journey. So right now, when I practice staying present, and being enjoying every part of the process, and when I do that, you know, happiness just kind of shows up.

Ryan  

You're making me think like, especially nowadays, with all the distractions we have, it's gonna get worse. I feel like being present, or the ability to be the ability to be present is going to become like a superhero skill, you know, superhero power.

Jody 

It's so hard to do. It's I noticed that I was at the dentist on Monday. And I had to wait, I had to wait about 20 minutes, and I was sitting in a chair. And so I didn't have my phone in my hand. And I was getting really angry. And I said to myself, What is my problem? Like, it's 20 minutes. It's all you're doing is just waiting, just sit here and just think, and it was one of those reminders that you're right, we have so much coming at us all the time that we've lost the ability to just be still. And so yeah, you're right. I think that is a superhero kind of trait.

Ryan 

That's a great way to end this and this and this conversation. I really enjoyed talking to you, if people want to connect with you, where should we send them?

Jody 

Um, you know, I guess I'll send you guys to our website for the consulting business. It's www.thegreenleaf.group. There's a lot of information about on there, and it is specifically for health care. But a lot of the content really works in any business setting. It just happens to be the audience we're focused on. But if you're interested in reaching out to me or anyway, just kind of reached me there.

Ryan

Thanks Jody. 

Jody

My pleasure, Ryan. Thanks so much.

Ryan 

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