A note from Hattie

... from 1979 through 1991 I made a living as a speaker. In Fort Worth, Texas where I lived at that time, I worked with dozens of small businesses serving as their in-house training deparment of one and I spoke on hundreds of convention platforms.

I learned quickly that the deepest insights came from people sitting infront of me; they're the best teachers, not some guru. My job was to ask good questions.

In Fort Worth, small businesses with fewer than 100 employees were my target market because these companies were too small to have a full time person delivering employee training. My classes would meet once a week for 60-90 minutes. Just like Weight Watchers, participants would come to class every week for as many as 16 weeks and weigh in; that is, they would share the success and failure they had experienced trying to use the techniques as a group we had worked to perfect. For example, it could have been as simple as a manager who was experiencing high turn over would practice how to give positive feedback to an employee.

The weekly meetings achieved results. And, the convention speaking was exciting. Not only did I speak in every major market area in the US, I also had the opportunity to work in some of the country's most fabulous resort and tourist attractions. Let's face it, meeting planners entice participants with a great location.

In 1992 I pulled back from all the teaching and speaking to work on the idea of bringing the dynamics of those classrooms to public television. With the man whose energies seem endless, my husband and business partner, Bruce Camber, we developed the television series. Since that time, most of my speaking has been done on behalf of our national and local sponsors.

For Verizon and the USPS, I have been in most of their markets presenting free-to-the-public seminars on how to grow a business. For Microsoft we are focusing on women's initiatives and these collaboration events. For Hibernia Bank, BankOne and Chase Bank, I have presented to customers and on convention platform. On many occasions I have spoken to a number of organizations made up of women entrepreneurs. With wisdom gathered from some of the country's most fascinating small business owners, my seminars and speeches are powerful because the audience hears the best real world advice that we have found in over ten years of television ... all insights and wisdom about how to start, run and grow a business.

On Smallbusinesschool the focus is always on the small business owner. If there is ever a journalist or guru on the show, that becomes their focus, too.
There are no actors on this shows. There is no script. All of the people on the program have taken precious time to tell their story. We go on a search for truth and insight. Bruce calls this type of television programming, integrity TV, people honestly taling about life and value. So much of television is acting and so much acting is empty and even fraudulent and exploitive and viewers unwittingly become victims.

In 1994, after completing the first season of our television series (called SMALL BUSINESS TODAY at that time), I wrote the book, Beating The Odds. The stars of the first 13 television programs provided much of the material. If you click on the link from the book title, you can read the first chapter of the book here on this web site.

Bruce and I have one primary objective in doing this television series -- we want to lift up the best models within our business community to share their hard-earned insights and knowledge about successfully starting, running and growing a business. We believe these people are the real heroes of our society and we call them, The New American Heroes -- the innovators, the miracle makers, and the risk takers. Our new American heroes create meaningful work; they create wealth; and they actively try to make the world a better place.

The stories of these men and women are full of lessons which need to be learned by any person who is running a business or who wants to.

Did you know that making money is not the primary goal of most small business owners?

Understanding the "why" behind business ownership is the beginning of understanding the psychographics of small business owners. The real reason people start a busines is for freedom.

As a national sponsor, Microsoft keeps us informed about its research on small business. Microsoft says that women busines owners are using the Internet even more aggressively than men. The reason is that women seem to place a higher prioirty than do men on customer service and women see the Internet as a way to improve service. That explains the fact that we will spend money to service our customers better before we'll go buy ourselves a new car.

If you request the "Hattie Bryant Speaks" video, you will see me in front of a live audience in Boston at the US Postal Service Forum in a session for small business owners. Primarily in the printing and mailing business, everyone in this class focuses their marketing strategies on service. This is smart because we all know that we can't compete with a big company on price.

My goal in any presenation is to give most participants one idea that can be implemented in their business with ease. Hopefully in the process of telling the stories of these fascinating people, they will inspire everyone who attends to continue building their busineses with enthusiasm and joy.

Many small business owners, including me, find their greatest satisfaction comes from creating good work for their employees. In the spirit of Herb Kellerer, founder of SouthWest Airlines, my sessions are full of great ideas from people who get up in the morning and run a business. Herb says that your employees will treat your customers the way you treat them. So, if you don't have time to listen to one of your employees complain about a problem, then that employee won't have time to listen to a customer complain about a problem.

Want to know what it really takes to start, run and grow a business? Want to know the single quality possessed by all 25 million small business owners in this country? Well, we know none of us look alike. There are men, women, people of every color, people with just three years of formal education and people with PhDs running their own business. There are young people and old people, first born, middle and youngest children who have started and grown a business.

I'll give you a hint: the common quality can not be seen with the eye or be read about in a resume.*

I look forward to being part of your next convention, seminar, workshop or other educational event. And, when I meet you in person, I'll tell you my secret.