A college graduate of Florida State University and a bank branch manager all by the age of 20, Andrea Corpening is no stranger to raising the bar. She is the owner of Elite Business Performance, LLC, where she helps businesses across the U.S. reach new levels of performance by maximizing their talent, developing strong leaders, and creating innovative business strategies.
As a certified professional in Talent Development through the Association for Talent Development, Andrea’s unique approach to hiring, training, and engaging employees makes it easy and affordable for businesses to increase their performance. She provides in-person and virtual programs.
Katie: 00:00 Hi, everyone. Thank you for tuning into the Hustlenomics Podcast. I’m your host, Katie. And today, I am super excited to be talking with Andrea Corpening, and she is a talent development and performance coach for businesses and individuals. So Andrea, thank you so much for coming on the show today. Absolutely. So I talent development and performance coach. Now I told you before we jumped on that’s something that you know, I’ve never been familiar with or interviewed before. So do you mind telling us a little bit about yourself and exactly what you do?
Andrea: 00:30 Sure. So I help businesses and individuals increase their business performance. So whether it’s sales or customer service or simply performing the job that they have, I help them do it better. And so at the foundation of that is training. And so I started my career as a bank manager, but then I became a corporate bank trainer. So I helped people learn, and I’m good at helping people to develop their certain skills. So if it’s someone that’s struggling in sales, I’m able to help them come up with a customized training program and deal with any issues that are hindering their performance.
Katie: 01:12 Wow. So interesting. So I would love to go back a little bit. You mentioned that you used to be a bank manager, so how did you go from bank manager to what you’re doing now?
Andrea: 01:21 So when I was in college, I went to Florida state university, and I worked part-time as a bank teller. So when I graduated, I was accepted into a banking manager program, and I was 20 years old. I came up with the head Germans program. And so I learned very early in my career the keys that I feel are successful and make someone successful as a leader. And that’s training and teaching and coaching people. And so I wasn’t a traditional bank manager. I spent a lot of time developing my people. If I learned something new on the computer system or I noticed that maybe they didn’t handle a customer interaction or I may, I spent time coaching and bringing their skills up to a certain level. And so I was very successful in that. And so I realized that that was my purpose.
Andrea: 02:15 And so I became a corporate thing trainer. And so I would travel and teach bankers how to do their job. And so I would be in one city one-week teaching people how to be a banker, how to do sales, customer surveys. And then the next week I was somewhere else. And so I ended up becoming a bank director cause I was highly recruited by a company to do their training. And I ultimately became promoted very quickly to be the director of retail in training. So I was able to provide more of that consistent training and learning to help grow and develop in their career and to do well on their job. And so the short version of the rest of the story is I became a military spouse and got married and supporting my husband’s military career. So we ended up in a small town where there wasn’t a lot of opportunities for me. And everyone says, Andrea, do you need it? Needs to be your own business. So I now am certified, and talent development, and I also have additional certifications that helped me to have helped me to develop my framework. Now I train and develop individuals and businesses to perform at a higher level. Oh, so interesting.
Katie: 03:46 What was the point of like starting your own business kind of happened through circumstance and I’m always curious, what was that journey like when you realized, Oh man, this is probably going to be the best option for me. Where was it scary? Was it exciting? What were you feeling?
Andrea: 03:58 I was excited because my personality is, I’m very flexible. I love challenges. I don’t like routine. That’s my personality. So I like the challenges of being a business owner, but it is one of the hardest jobs I’ve ever had because I am not a very administrative person. So I struggle with the business aspect of running a business. But the skill of doing what I do is the easy part. So even now being in it, you know, almost a year and a half now, it’s still scary at times, especially when I get off track of what I should be doing. And so I have to have support in, you know, running the administrative part of my business because I’m self-aware of my strengths and what I’m good at. And that’s what I try to focus my time. But I still have my days where I’m like, what am I doing?
Katie: 04:59 That’s amazing. That kind of like that self-awareness was built in what you were doing for other people as well. Because I know a lot of people, I’ve talked to those who have struggled with that looking at themselves and saying what my weaknesses were and what kind of delegates mentioned that it helped. Were you reaching out and delegating those tasks to other people or taking courses? What kind of help are you getting?
Andrea: 05:19 So for me, I, as a business owner, I started trying to do courses. I tried to do it myself and I because this is what I do with people. I had to stop in and say, okay, Andrea, I’m getting off track. What do I need to be focusing my time on? So now I have people that help me in my business, do the aspects of my business where they’re not my strings. So I have done the courses I’ve done well. People say this is how you’re supposed to run your business. And now I’ve just thrown all of that to the, Oh wait, and now I’ve gotten back to these are my strengths, this is what I need to focus on. And I have to have that support in place where the areas that and weekend, and I find that a lot of entrepreneurs, a lot of people nowadays, they want to do it all until they realize that you can’t, you have to focus on what you’re good at and then you have to have the support in place or you’re going to get burned out or your business will not perform at the level that it should.
Katie: 06:25 Yeah, I 100%. And since you were so successful in the corporate world, what were some of the reactions you got from like family and friends or even you know, former coworkers and instead of going back into the corporate world, you were ready to start out on your own?
Andrea: 06:39 Yes. So all of them have been so supportive. I’ve had people refer my business, and they’ve always been there to like my Facebook post or share some posts. And so there’s a lot of support that I’ve had there, so I’m grateful for that.
Katie: 06:56 Well, that’s amazing. That’s amazing. And before we hopped on the call, you mentioned, you know, that we base a lot of what you do on a personality test called disc. So do you mind explaining, I’ve never heard that before? So can you explain what that is?
Andrea: 07:08 Sure. So DISC is, in my opinion, one of the easiest to understand and easiest to implement personality type assessments. And so I’ve been certified in DISC for over 10 years, and basically, there’s four main personalities or four main areas of us that influence our behaviors. And so the assessment that I use does measure how assertive someone is. You know, are they someone that’s going to jump in and tackle the challenge of the day? Are they going to kind of sit back and have to think through it more. So it also measures how people interact with others. So are you a people person meeting, or do you mind or just someone that doesn’t have to interact with people much, or are you more cautious around people? And then you also have steadiness where you either like routine and you like pace, and you like to have a predictable schedule versus someone like me where I like variety, and I can adjust very quickly to change.
Andrea: 08:16 And then the last measure would be how compliant you are. So do you like policies and procedures? Do you like to follow things by the book? And so it measures who you are and how you will typically act or behave in different situations. With that. There’s also a motivation assessment that I always give my clients as well that measures your values. You know, how we were raised determines what we hold as important, and that influences our actions. So if someone has, let’s see, they’ve gone through something in their life where maybe they were, they were hurt, they had the heartbroken, maybe they were abused. You will typically be more cautious of people, more self-protective them yourself. And that ends up coming out in your business. It comes out in your job, it comes out in your relationships. So my assessments help people to increase their self-awareness and understand why they may be shoveling in areas or why they may be really good in others.
Katie: 09:29 That’s so interesting. And so once you took that test, and you’ve got a, an answer, a result for whoever you’re working with, what are those next steps that you take with them? Usually, I’m sure it changes for everybody, but on a general level,
Andrea: 09:41 Yeah. So I do customize it to whoever I’m interacting with or the business that I’m working with. Because a lot of times, businesses will bring me in to assess multiple people or a team. And so I will then look at, well, what’s the issue? So if it’s a team-building project I’m working on, then I’m able to see why things are happening or, or why this person has this response to this person. So they don’t like Susie. Well, why don’t they like Susie? I usually can tell them why. And then also in someone’s business, let’s say someone’s struggling in sales, sometimes it’s just a lack of training. Someone, they haven’t been taught how to sell, how to overcome an objection. So it’s a training issue, and that’s my background in training. But sometimes it’s a mindset issue, or it’s a motivation issue.
Andrea: 10:41 So if someone has a low value on money, that they’re satisfied where they are, they want to enjoy life. They will typically have struggles in sales, or if their product doesn’t address their need for helping people and they can’t find a value in what they’re trying to sell, then they’re going to struggle. So the assessment reveals typically why someone’s shuttling in a certain area or like I said why they’re really good. And so I take that, and we work through it. So what happened that’s caused you to feel this way about yourself? Or why is this mindset in place? And then I help them overcome it. So the town of development or the training aspect is, okay, now that we know that this is the issue, this is the root cause of why you’re struggling in your business in this area, or why you’re having issues with this type of person or customer kind of thing. I can help them work through exercises and role-plays and learn how to overcome them.
Andrea: 11:53 But if the issue and the training and the learning we go through just doesn’t fit them naturally, then they will still be stressed. They’ll still have anxiety, you know, and they’re faced with something. So let’s say it’s the fear of public speaking and they’re their business. So their job requires them to stand in front of people and connect with people and do that kind of thing. It gives them actual anxiety. Then sometimes I can help them develop the skills, right? So I can help them practice, I can help them know where to look or how to practice their, their presentation. But then sometimes if it’s so much outside of their personality or their behavioral style, which I can usually tell them the assessment when they do the disc or motivators assessment, I have to let them know that you’re going to always struggle in this issue. So maybe we need to help you outsource it. Or maybe this is not the right career field or job for you. And that does happen from time to time where it just doesn’t fit them naturally, and it causes anxiety or issues, and they’re not able to overcome. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. That makes a lot of sense.
Katie: 13:10 And so thinking in a practical way for people who are listening, who own their own business, if they have employees or they have freelancers or whatever, they can easily have kind of take this assessment so they can understand how they’re going to work together. But for example, like, you know, if I have a client that I’m working with and it may not be conducive to ask them to take this test, so, you know, they might, that’s not how it would work. Are there any like questions or tactics that you have for people to kind of in a polite and respectful way, get to know the person they’re working with without having them take this test
Andrea: 13:48 Without taking the test? I would say you could typically ask them point-blank, you know, how do you prefer for us to interact? Do you prefer me to give you a call, or would you prefer for me to email you ahead of time with my questions? Because some people need more time to think through things. They don’t like to be put on the spot. Whereas others are just kind of that direct person. They know how they feel, you know, that kind of thing. So I always say just kind of put it out there and get a feel for how they communicate. And then once you notice their behavioral styles, so maybe they’re more direct, maybe they’re indirect. So they might say, let’s say you’re sending them your, whatever you’re doing for them. If you’re doing photography, send them the pictures, and they say, well, it’s okay.
Andrea: 14:38 Being able to pick up on their tone of voice and, and know that some people will say it’s okay, but it’s really not. And some people are not going to open up to you. They’re going to keep it inside because that’s just their personality. And so being able to pick up on the cues of when the tone, when they become more short in their responses, being able to drill down and figure out, okay, so what are you thinking? How can I better communicate with you? How can I make sure that this is exactly what you need kind of thing? So asking questions is always one of the best ways to do that. Now I will also say that you actually can refer to the assessments. I have had a lot of clients say, you know, I have a big project we’re working on.
Andrea: 15:29 I want to make sure that we set the project up for success, and I would love to learn more about you and how to interact with you, and would you be open to taking a personality assessment with me and we can go through it. And so that is one way that you can do that. And then I always recommend with employees, if you manage people or freelancers, I do have a virtual team building session than I do. So we could use zoom and then go through all the assessment assessments and then talk about how can we better communicate kind of thing, or how can we make sure that everyone is in the right positions kind of thing. So there are ways to still go the route of having people do it.
Katie: 16:14 Interesting. That’s very interesting. Right? And it’s like in a way that they don’t feel ambushed. I think I saw on your website or one of your promotional items that you work with people from all different generations, from, you know, baby boomers to generation Z. And that’s always been fascinating to me because when I first started working, I was dealing with a lot of people who were decades older than me, like so far removed generationally that it was almost impossible to communicate, especially when it came to things like technology and new ideas and new techniques to doing things. And so I’m curious, how do you kind of bridge the gap for people when you’re working in a team environment when there’s such a big generational gap between people?
Andrea: 16:55 So what I find is when I, when I work with teams like that, there are people of different ages, different upbringings. You know, the way that someone was raised in the 1960s and 1970s is so different from how we are raised now in the 2000s. So you have to open up the communication, and you have to help them see that there’s nothing necessarily wrong with the other person. We’re just different. And so that’s why the assessments that I use and even just the communication and the training that I go through with teams is just eye-opening because I break it down as to our differences. But we’re all the same no matter what color you are, you know what race you are. But I’m religion, you are, we’re all the same. We have to be aware of that and be self-aware of our own strengths and our weaknesses and maybe why we may have issues with someone.
Andrea: 17:51 So let’s say a millennial might have an issue with a baby boomer because they think that, you know, Hey, why aren’t you open to change? And these different ideas. Well, sometimes based upon their personality and framework, they need time to adjust, or they need to see the value. And so I coach a lot of whales in saying, okay, before you go and talk to a baby boomer about why they should be doing something, then you need to think about the other person. So what objections might they have? You know, is it a new technology you’re trying to put in place, and you know that maybe they use Facebook. They use other technology formats, but being able to break it down to how can I help you, what concerns do you have about this technology or this process? And so getting pretty much opening the communication lines can help get through with other generations and so forth.
Andrea: 18:54 I also have a lot of baby boomers that have concerns with the generation Z, which are the ones that are coming into the workforce now on like the two thousand and then the millennials as well. So the baby boomers are like, Hey, why are you want to change what has always worked? You know? And it’s like you guys feel like you’re privileged and everything comes easy. You know, we had to work for what we did. You know, a lot of interviewers have that mindset, and so being able to have the baby boomers understand that you have to let the millennials be creative. You have to make them feel like they have a voice because they had a voice their whole entire life, and I’m lying. You know, they could go on YouTube, they could have a podcast, you know, just always had a voice. So basically helping them to understand that everybody has their own motivations and they have their personality and the way that they were raised and their values. But being open to understanding those differences and still respecting the differences and then opening the communication lines for everyone is were the success.
Katie: 20:12 Yeah, that’s super interesting. I love just the idea of being open and asking questions. And then speaking of like, you know, there any conflict, going back to kind of a more individual basis, it like solo kind of thing. You know, it’s never going to be completely calm waters. There’s always going to be some new here and there and fingers crossed. I hope things go well, but sometimes things are going to happen that planned for. So when it comes to like de-escalation and dealing with situations, or you feel superiorly uncomfortable, you know, the other person feels uncomfortable. And you don’t know how to resolve conflict. Do you have any tips for people who don’t know how to take a breath and take themselves back down to a place where they can resolve the issue?
Andrea: 20:50 So yes. Number one, you have to be self-aware of yourself. So what causes you to have that internal conflict first? So is it the other person’s body language? Is it if you’re trying to sale them, you know, your package or your product is it that you are uncomfortable with the price and you have maybe a mindset issue? So you have to identify the root cause. What was the last situation that put me into this feeling of anxiety or this uncomfortable feeling? And then next, after you identify what it is, you should then practice. So I’m a big person that role play. So if it is a learning situation where maybe they need to understand how to overcome an upsells objection, which is common, right? Well, let me think about it. Let me talk to my spouse. Maybe I don’t have the money right now.
Andrea: 21:53 Right? People have sales objections, and it’s just normal for the most part, unless you’ve addressed their main concern, and you’ve just made it like something they can’t resist. But there are going to be sales objections in most cases. And so being able to practice that has been a very big, a key that I’ve helped people through. So being able to sit down and think through, if someone says money is the issue, what am I going to say? Or how can I overcome that? Or if they say, I need to talk to my spouse, or I need to talk to someone else, I need to think about it. Okay, so what can I say? And so having those, the direction of what you want to say in that moment when those objections come up because they took, they will typically come up how you’re going to overcome it.
Andrea: 22:48 So, but here’s the thing. So if it is a sales conversation, some people need time before they need a decision, and they almost beat the decision to death. It’s their personality, whereas some people are very spur of the moment. I’m just going to buy it. And then sometimes they have buyer’s remorse, but some people need time. They cannot make a sales decision that quickly. So you should have the framework of saying, would you mind if I give you a call back in a day after you’ve had time to think about it? You know? So preparing and practicing how you would overcome common objections is a way that does help people when they have that uncomfortable or internal conflict regarding different things that they face.
Katie: 23:35 Yeah, I love that.
Andrea: 23:43 Roleplay is such a valuable way to and to develop your skills and being flexible enough to still adjust, but once you practice enough or you know the direction you want to go in, right. So they say this, this is the next direction I want to go into. It does help you to develop more confidence and, but still being flexible enough that if they don’t say that, you know, you can still not be then put into just the even more uncomfortable space.
Katie: 24:14 Right. Absolutely. And for people who are listening, who are curious, you do work with businesses and individuals. So you work with more businesses is the elite business performance, correct?
Andrea: 24:24 Correct. So that is my B2B. So I typically have you know, team-building, I help people or businesses before they hire someone to make sure it’s the right fit as far as the personality and motivation standpoint. And then if they have employees that are not performing, I can teach them and help them learn to develop their, their skills to do the job.
Katie: 24:48 Okay, great. And you also work with individuals for career prep services?
Andrea: 24:52 Yes. So I have career prep services where I only take a few clients a month, and I help them figure out what is the right career path for them based upon their personality and their motivations and then help people in career development or career progression. So I do separate the two technically. But if anyone’s interested in talking with me, I’ll be able to identify which path would be right to them and the right fit.
Katie: 25:16 And since we’ve touched on more of the B2B, bigger kind of situations, I’d love to talk a little bit about working one on one with somebody. Cause I’m, I know I was in this situation where I was very unhappy in my job, and now that I talked to you a little bit. I’ve done some more self-reflection since then, and I realized my personality was not conducive to the environment, to the job, to any of that. So for somebody who may be listening is like realizing it’s just not a good fit for me where I am right now. What are those steps that you, you know, help them through or take them through or that they could take on their own to kind of start making those changes to something that works better for them?
Andrea: 25:52 Yeah, so I have my career success roadmap where I help them through thinking through their personality, their motivations. You know, what is truly going to make you happy or what’s at the core of what you need to be in the right type of environment. You know, so I helped them through that. And so I also identify what their skills are. So, for example, what are the top 10 skills that are important to you? So is it you want to be able to help people and coach people or is it that
Katie: 26:33 You
Andrea: 26:34 Like to be detail-oriented, maybe you’re very thorough, you have a really good ability to find, you know, spelling or, or read through something and write something. Maybe writing is your skill. So identifying their top 10 skills, typically combining that with your motivations and what they’re passionate about. I’m able to help them define their path. And then from there, whether that is owning their own business and starting that process or working for a company kind of thing, I helped them identify what would be right for them. And so some people, they might say, Hey, let me start my own business. But then when we get into it, maybe that’s not the right fit for you because of these motivations that you told me or these things that we talked about, this is probably not the right fit. Maybe you need a partner, for example, or maybe this is a better path for you. So being able to customize what is important to the person, their motivations, the skills that they have, and then the skills that they need to develop is kind of what I do. But if someone wants to kind of go through that on their own, I would say it does start with knowing what you’re good at and knowing what’s important to you. And then finding the right fit for you.
Katie: 27:59 Perfect. Perfect. And you’ve got a lot going on with two different businesses and doing a lot of things, but you have some, some goals or ideas that, where you want to bring your businesses into this.
Andrea: 28:11 Yes. So I, I only focus on small businesses for the elite business performance. So I typically work with businesses that have less than 100 employees. And I love that because I’m able to have an impact on people. I get a lot of people that come back and say, thank you so much for the training you did for my company and the results that they’re getting from it. The better relationships that they’re having, the customer impact, and just the increase in performance that I’m able to do on that smaller level. Versus Lord large corporations. But when it comes to individuals, I love seeing people have jobs and careers that they love. And so I only take on a couple of them because I want people to be able to be who they are meant to be to find a purpose. And so right now in my business, at this point, my main priorities are being alive in a mother and still adding value to businesses and individuals. So right now I’m kind of like, okay, taking on a couple of clients just each month, but in the next five years, I plan to, once my kids are older just to hit the ground running and do whatever else I can do to bring impact and increase performance in the room.
Katie: 29:35, Yeah. And we didn’t talk a lot about, you know, you being a mom as well. And so how has it been balancing or you know, finding harmony between all the different roles in your life.
Andrea: 29:44 So I will tell you that it is difficult to be able to balance everything, but I’m doing what I was created to do and what I’m good at. So it’s not at the end of the day, like I’m not, you know, feeling like I’m failing or not successful kind of thing. But I will say that I was a career woman first and then I got married. So it’s funny to balance everything because I’m such a go-getter. I’m such a, you know, dominant woman of just jumping in and getting things done and meeting people and you know, seeing kind of a, or working through things with them. So it’s hard when I have to sit back and say, let me put on my mommy hat, you know, and take care of my home and everything else. So I will tell you this is probably the most challenging part of my life, but it’s the best because I’m doing what I’m supposed to do. I’m helping people with getting to where they need to be in their life and their career and even helping them in their personal relationships. Because a lot of my assessments that I do helps people understand why they’re having issues at home as well or how to increase their personal relationship. And so this is the perfect time of my life, but it is a busy time cause I have toddlers and I have a baby. So, yeah. So it’s, it’s fun
Katie: 31:13 That I always think it’s so cool when kids can grow up seeing their parents doing like [inaudible] something different than what everybody else is doing. You know you don’t have to follow one path. So I think that’s always a cool experience. And so do you have any resources, I mean, do you have any that you offer particularly like any eBooks or free beings or anything that might be helpful to people that you want to give a shout out to?
Andrea: 31:32 Yes. So I do have an ebook called the six reasons keeping you from your dream job, and that can be found on career prep services that calm. And so one thing I didn’t mention is for a little bit, I was at the department of labor employment workshop instructor. And so I would teach people how to do their resume and apply to jobs and that kind of thing. And so it’s not just the resume and the job searching part that keeps people from getting to their, their dream job. It’s a lot of the mindset, and it’s just not knowing their strains and things like that. I kind of what we’ve been talking about. And so that book does cover a lot of the different routines that keep people from getting to where they want to be. And so I am going to be releasing training for my elite business performance about hiring to find the right fit when you’re hiring people or whether it’s a freelance or arm employee. And so that will be coming up.
Katie: 32:33 Oh man, that’s so exciting. I’m sure we could do a whole followup podcast about hiring.
Andrea: 32:38 Yes. That’s the root cause of a lot of issues in businesses is not having the right processes in place for hiring.
Katie: 32:48 And I’m sure people are going to want to follow your journey and check out all the amazing things you’re doing. So can you tell people how they can find you?
Andrea: 32:56 Yes. So I do have social media for my elite business performance, my business to business, but I also have social media as well for career prep services, which are two totally different areas. They have a similar foundation as far as the personalities and the motivation aspect. But I also have my website.
Katie: 33:28 Fantastic. Well, Andrea, thank you so much for coming on the show today. It’s been so nice to talk to you.
Andrea: 33:34 Thank you for having me. So I would love to help anyone that would like to understand more about themselves, and I appreciate being able to talk about it.
Resource List:
FREE ebook titled “The Six Reasons Keeping You From Your Dream Job!”
Get In Touch:
Email: andrea@elitebusinessperf.com
