Blueprint for Entrepreneurial Success and Leadership: A Conversation with Multi-Exit Entrepreneur Donald Thompson

 Jackie - 00:00:10:

You're listening to the Diversity: Beyond the Checkbox Podcast brought to you The Diversity Movement. I'm your host, Jackie Ferguson, author, speaker, and human rights advocate. On this show, I'm talking to trailblazers, game changers, and glass ceiling breakers who share their inspiring stories and insights on business inclusion and personal development. Thank you for downloading this episode. I am truly grateful for you. Enjoy the show. You're listening to the Diversity: Beyond the Checkbox Podcast. Today, I have a very special guest for you all. Author, speaker, award-winning, multi-exit entrepreneur. And my husband, Donald Thompson. Hi, Don.

Don - 00:00:58:

Hey, I am glad to be here. I'm smiling. I was saying earlier that this is the first time I've been on your podcast. You have a very high standard. I had to sell a company and do all kinds of different things to get an invite. So I'll let you continue. I'm glad to be here.

Jackie - 00:01:14:

I'm glad to have you. Don, let's talk about The Diversity Movement. So you talked about selling a company. Your company, The Diversity Movement, was recently acquired by the global employee well-being organization, Workplace Options. Will you tell us a little about that?

Don - 00:01:30:

As an entrepreneur, you're always hopeful that you'll build a business that does a couple things. Number one, it creates value for your clients. Number two, you survive, right? You create something that's profitable enough that you can grow a business, treat your employees well, and be successful in the market. And then the third tier is you have that hope that one day a larger organization will see enough value that you'll have an exit, that you'll have the ability to significantly monetize what you're doing. And that happened for us at The Diversity. First, we're very fortunate in that our co-founders, which you are one of my co-founders, and Kurt Merriweather and Kaela Sosa, what we started out to do in our business at DEI is privatize the DEI journey. So when it came time for larger organizations to look at us, to evaluate us as an ongoing concern and something that could add value to their business, they saw the technology, the training we provided, and the team. And so the exit has been successful. And we're very fortunate to be able to do that. And we're very fortunate to be able to do that. And we're very fortunate to be able to do that. We weren't looking to get acquired this early in our existence, but workplace options saw something special and unique in us, and things came together over the last few weeks.

Jackie - 00:02:40:

And Don, this isn't your first exit. In fact, it's your fifth. Many people start businesses and many people claim the title, you know, serial entrepreneur, but they don't build businesses that other organizations want to buy. Tell us what your secret sauce is.

Don - 00:02:59:

So, secret sauce is a great way to phrase it, because I love food and spaghetti and all those good things. One of the things that has been a pattern to all the businesses where I've been a part of an excellent event, is there is a team in place that the larger organization believes can scale as a unit, number one. Number two, is that you find a niche to where you have brand excellence in that space. A lot of times companies try to do too many things, right? For too many people. And one of the things that I've found is when you have a niche and you own that niche, right? Now, all of a sudden you have a customer base that is loyal to you. You have a team that is superior to those in the market. And then you have innovation as a part of your DNA that allows you to continue to grow. And quite frankly, the number one thing when I look at companies that have been successful is the quality and caliber of the clients that you serve. If you are able to, as a small organization like we are at The Diversity Movement, to serve startups, enterprise organizations, hundreds of thousands of people. If you are able to work with companies in manufacturing, associations, the legal community. Now, what a larger acquirer can do is look at your business and see how you can scale within theirs. And so those are a couple of the elements that we've seen over the course of a handful of successful businesses. But we're very excited about The Diversity Movement and what we're accomplishing together.

Jackie - 00:04:30:

Awesome. Don, entrepreneurs are the movie stars of this generation, right? It's so glamorous to start a business in your garage and then magically you're a multimillionaire, right? That's the social media version, but that's not how it works, is it? There's a lot between the once upon a time and the happily ever after. So for our listeners who are considering starting a business, what do they need to know? About being a successful entrepreneur.

Don - 00:05:01:

So a couple of things I'll add commentary to that thoughtful question. Number one, you have to really be committed to a work ethic that is second to none because you set the pace, the tempo for your organization. That doesn't mean you don't take PTO. That doesn't mean you don't connect with your well-being. But it does mean that you're not clocking in nine to five. It means that you have to be willing to be that catalyst for change and motivation and enthusiasm for an entire organization. The second thing that is most important as an entrepreneur is how do you get those first 10 clients? There's plenty of people that have great ideas. Phenomenal. But if you can't turn that concept into something that someone is willing to pay cash for, right? So it's really creativity entrepreneurs have. Then they have a concept or an idea, but how do you commercialize that idea? And when you can get 10 clients, what typically happens as an entrepreneur is you can look through those 10 clients and there's years worth of learning in those first 10 clients for your business. Then you can take that learning and now figure out what parts of your products and services need to be retooled, what's working, what's not working. And then you try to take it from 10 clients to 100 clients. And that's exactly what we did at The Diversity Movement. When we started the business before we even thought it was going to be a full-time thing, it was really a side hustle for many of us. But when we got our first 10 clients, we started to learn what was missing in the marketplace. And then we transitioned those 10 clients to that fast growth that led us to over 100 clients and growth.

Jackie - 00:06:39:

Wow, that's amazing. Don, you were invited to attend EY's Strategic Growth Forum as a Southeast winner of EY's Entrepreneur of the Year. And we're currently recording from Palm Springs. Tell us, what did you learn from attending the conference this year? And what's your perspective on the value of networking?

Don - 00:07:04:

So, number one, I'm so thankful to EY for being a part of their entrepreneurial ecosystem now and being selected as a Southeast winner. And one of the things I learned through the process is, number one, there's a lot of brilliant entrepreneurs doing some phenomenal things across the country and across the globe. And so the competition was really significant, and we're really honored to be here. In terms of learning from the conference, a couple things stand out. Number one, successful people want to help. And we've had some, you know, we had a 20 minute breakfast with a gentleman that was a savant, if you will, in the brand building social media thought leadership space. And over the course of the breakfast, right, he gave us a 10 to 15 minute TED talk that is worth probably 20, 30, 40, 50 thousand dollars worth of consulting. And it was all about being in the same space and using networking to share information amongst one another. There is a very strong esprit de corps in this room of the 2000 attendees of how do we help others win? And that's number one. It's super important. And the second thing is we had the opportunity to hear from some of the most phenomenal speakers in the world. Reese Witherspoon, actor, producer, entrepreneur, was one of the keynote speakers. Tracee Ellis Ross, an actor and entrepreneur and CEO in her own right. And a couple of things that they said that aligned between those two talks is, number one, they said the quiet part out loud. That even though being an entrepreneur and a CEO is glamorous, you've got to do the work. And then number two, your brand, your name can get you in the door, but if you don't provide value, you don't get to stay. No matter who you are, what you do, who your parents are, that value linkage between what you do and what you deliver as an outcome for your clients is the critical element for what you're doing. And then the third thing that I learned is that I can do and be more. I was really, really inspired by the handful of companies that were a billion dollars and above in valuation, but started small. But they kept dreaming and believing and growing until they created the scale to where they did some tremendous things. Think about the number of employees that they hired and take care of. Think about the number of clients that they serve. And it was all under the umbrella of an entrepreneur with an idea that said, I'm going to take that idea. I'm going to push through the resistance and create a phenomenal business.

Jackie - 00:09:31:

Awesome. And then Don, as underrepresented professionals, how do we get in those rooms? So often we're locked out. So what's your advice to those of us who don't know how to open those doors and get into those rooms?

Don - 00:09:47:

So one of the things that was done for me and I try to do for other entrepreneurs, and I'll give an example at EY Strategic Growth Forum, how we did this, is when you get in the door, leave it open to crack for others. Right. Don't be so selfish that you don't think about the next leader, the next entrepreneur, the next dreamer. Right. That can benefit from what you know. The second thing is, even though you don't have a lot of folks that look like you in the room with you, you can carry that information back to your network. So one of the breakout sessions or one of the things that was done at this conference was a matchmaking session to where people could reach out to you and their host at the event would set up a meeting for you all to talk, network, brainstorm connections. So there was a black owned media firm that wanted to talk to us. So we sat down with them and lo and behold, the business that they're in, where they're a marketing agency plus a technology agency, was the same type of business. That myself and a good friend of mine, Greg Boone, worked at, called ICI Digital that was then sold to private equity. And so as a part of this, I was able to give them some nuggets, some insight, not from a book I read, not from a seminar I went to, but from lived experience in the waters that they're swimming in. And so it created a level of connectivity where I could give back to them. And then that reciprocation is they then shared some things. They could help us from a brand build, from a technology, a client acquisition. So my point being networking, right? Your network is your net worth. And so I think entrepreneurs, self-included, need to pay more attention to people that are already in your network, how to be valuable to them, and then how to grow your network, whether it's events, whether it's conferences, because that is going to be something that you carry with you no matter what field of endeavor that you're in.

Jackie - 00:11:44:

Great advice, Don. You authored a book that is a combination of an autobiography leading up to your first acquisition and business lessons. The book is called Underestimated: A CEO's Unlikely Path to SuccessWill you share with us one or two of the lessons in the book that you still lean on today?

Don - 00:12:05:

One of the lessons that I lean on today that I share in the book is that mentorship and having mentors is critical. My good friend and mentor, Grant Willard, who really opened the door for me in the technology space when I was in technology sales and grew. We would go around and go on these walks around the corporate complex where our offices were. We were a small company, but we were in this big corporate complex. And one of the things that Grant told me that I'll never forget is no matter how busy you are, no matter what you're chasing, make space and time to think. A lot of times your pattern recognition of new ideas, your ability to connect and solve problems on your own, even if you don't have that advisor or board or things that are helping you, is because we don't as entrepreneurs slow down to think and reflect so that we can take smart and decisive action after doing that. And so that's one of the critical things that I learned from Grant. When I talk about my parents and my mom and dad, what I learned and I'll share with you is that, you can't change the cards that you're dealt. You have to learn to win anyway. And there are so many of us that have varied backgrounds that didn't grow up with that per se silver spoon in our mouth. And we want to still reach and chase, right? The gold standards of excellence. Well, you've got to figure out how to create success where you are today with what you have, and then you can build on that success and grow faster. But you have to realize that your limitations should not lower your expectations. And that's something that I learned from my mom and dad that I share in the book.

Jackie - 00:13:46:

Thanks for that. Great lessons. As I said in the intro, you and I are married, right? Most people cringe at the idea of spending your time with one person, no separation, power dynamics, et cetera. From your perspective, how have we been able to make this work?

Don - 00:14:06:

The power dynamic is you're in charge. And once I got that straight, the relationship was smooth. It was the same thing. In all seriousness to that question, although that part is true. Um, we found a way to cheer for one another as individuals and then collaborate with one another as a team. Right. And that balance is critical. And so one of the things I'll share with your audience is they've gotten to know you as Jackie Ferguson. It was very important to you, thus it was important to me, for you to keep your name, uplift your family, create a brand image independent of me as an entrepreneur so that you could grow and shine and thrive in the business marketplace. That's an area where I've cheered for you. An area of collaboration is when we decided that we were going to start this new business in the pandemic, The Diversity Movement, and build out our first product vision. And I had some ideas and some things that I thought were critical. And then you added that follow through, that get things done mentality to actually create something that clients would value. And so I think it's a balance of cheering for and collaborating with. And then the other thing I think is super important, and we've learned this even more lately, is really take that time as a couple. And one of the things that you can get so caught up in the business dynamics of what you're doing that you forget that the number one thing is that how you relate to one another in that personal level and lift that up the same level of intensity, the same level of thought as you do the professional. And that's something that I would share with folks that decide to work together. It's not always easy. Sometimes one wants to talk about business. The other one wants them to shut up. And like it's it's a different dynamic for sure. But I wouldn't change the thing. Right. Like you are my true partner for life. And I just don't see doing life without you. And so that means that even if we're not working together on a project at the office that day, but I see you in the office and I see your smile or overhear what you're doing, that creates energy and motivation for what we want to do for our kids. The legacy that we want to leave and certainly the financial impact. We want to make for our lives and the things that we want to do.

Jackie - 00:16:31:

Absolutely. The thing that I would add is just learning to value each other's strengths and So you and I are not the same, right? We have a lot of things that are similar, values that are similar, but a lot of things that are different. And so understanding how to value value, and lean on each other's strengths, I think, has been a really valuable learning experience. And then also making each other laugh. It gets intense, right? Building a business together with your partner and, you know, a little bit of laughter is good in the day, I think.

Don - 00:17:11:

I will continue to expand on this because I think it's as people get to know us. And one of the things is we didn't really broadcast this. We didn't hide it. Right. Obviously, we didn't broadcast this to a national global audience like we are now. I would say that we that we also we don't compete with each other, but we compete to hold a standard high of what we're doing. There's a respect in what each other bring to the table that we don't wanna let each other down. And one of the things, and I'll share this secret, and something I've learned recently, And Reese Witherspoon confirmed this when she was doing her talk and talking about exiting her company for $900 million. She was talking about one of the things that drove her is to make her grandmother proud. One of the things that drives me is to make my granny proud, my mom and dad proud. My wife's proud. And so when we think about motivation, One of the things people need to think about is who are you lifting the standard for? Who do you want to look back at you in your life and be proud of you? And that sense of connectedness will drive you through tough circumstances because there's people in my life that I just didn't want to let down. Certainly money is a motivator. But when we really step back and what pushes us through the hard times, it is those people that we want to be proud of us or those people that we want to protect. And when we think about those things, we can tap into how do we get that elite level work ethic, that elite level thought process? Because now we're fighting for someone or we're lifting that standard for others that we care deeply to be proud of us. And that, I think, is that pure truth serum of motivation.

Jackie - 00:19:08:

I love that. Don, you're an executive coach to business leaders around the globe. What do seasoned leaders trip over, get wrong, or not understand in today's business?

Don - 00:19:24:

You know, most leaders are drivers, right? And they have a big vision. They are willing to carry and shoulder lots of responsibility and are achievement junkies in many ways. But in today's environment, many leaders are struggling how to have that high octane goal structure in an empathetic world. How to make that transition from the command and control leadership structure that many of today's leaders have grown up into now that expectation that you're creating a personalized work experience, right, for each of your employees at scale. It's really daunting in that you're measured as a business leader by the fiscal numbers. But if you don't get the people side right, you can't meet the numbers. If you have a retention problem, it hurts your bottom line. If you have a morale problem, it hurts your productivity. If you don't have the right level of diversity in your organization, your innovation suffers. So when you think about leadership into your question, what do I help executives do is take a step back and look at the full picture of who they are, what they're doing and what their impact statement is, and then work through how they can achieve that. Not by lowering standards, but by measuring those standards within a profit context, a people context, and a planet context. So people, profit, and planet.

Jackie - 00:20:51:

Don, what have you discovered about yourself over this past year? A lot has happened. You've won lots of great awards. You've sold your business, right? What are you walking away with from all of these experiences over the past year?

Don - 00:21:08:

So thank you for the question. And I am what I would describe a competitive learner. So I'm always looking for that next level of knowledge and insight so that I can be better. No matter who you are, what you're doing, you can change and improve and be better. And so for me, this year was about that personal journey to be the leader that I needed to be for my team, to not look at things that were happening that I would maybe want a little bit better and pointing the finger out, but really looking within and trying to get better. Number two, that I still, even at the age of 52, have the ability to navigate change, to lead an organization and to push through. Because when you get older, you have to manage and lead differently. You don't have the same energy. You don't have the same push through walls and to be the bad guy in the meeting. You want to be liked a little bit more. And so as a more mature leader, I've become more other-centered. And let me give a specific example of what that means. Instead of going in the meeting and conveying ideas I may have, I go into the meeting to pull the ideas that my team may have. And those are things that I had to intentionally do because I like to have the right answer, just like anyone else. I like to solve problems. I like to fix things. But in order to build an organization to where great people want to come to work with you and stay working with you and be productive while they're working with you, you've got to pass the baton. You've got to give people space to do what they do great. That's the biggest thing I'm learning how to do more and more this year for sure, but as a leadership pillar for what I want to take forward into the future.

Jackie - 00:22:48:

Awesome. Now, Don, you've achieved a lot of success, but in success, there have to be failures and there have to be mistakes. Can you tell us one or two of the mistakes that were big, right? For those of us who are trying to work through our different things and you know, continue to mess it up and we're feeling a little disheartened. Can you give us one or two examples of times you've messed up big time and what you did to recover?

Don - 00:23:21:

I will give you a genre because I don't want to be too specific in a spectacular failure for litigation elements. And it wasn't immoral or anything like that. But earlier in my leadership journey, I was too harsh with people. And you hear people say the phrase, well, I just want to tell the truth. I just want to be authentic. All of those things make sense and are good. But I, early in my career, didn't really think thoughtfully through how my message would impact the individual in a long-term way. And so I had to figure out how to keep the standard of excellence high, but be more thoughtful in the way I gave and received feedback. And so that's one huge, spectacular failure, right? Because I was growing businesses in spite of myself. In spite of bad retention numbers, in spite of morale that could have been better. I grew in spite of those deficiencies. But when I was working with a business coach, the big thing that got me to change is what could you be? If you were a more empathetic leader. And that scared me because I was leaving opportunity on the table and I was hurting people when I could be helping more people. And that was my heart, but my outward delivery of it was not as good as it could be. So the number one thing is my delivery and my communication style with people and with individuals. The second thing that I would say, and this is a little different, I was sitting with Kishor Patel, the CEO of KPIT, one of the organizations that acquired a firm that I was leading a few years back. And I said, Kishor, you've evaluated me. You've researched me. You've talked to folks that work with our company, but gotten to know me as a leader. What am I missing? And he looked at me and he said, what a great question, what a thoughtful question. And he paused for a minute. And he said, Donald, you're a very strong leader, a world-class sales professional, an innovative product leader. But you don't dream big enough. If you dreamed big enough, we would never have been able to acquire your company. And that hurt me. I was like, yo, what are you talking about? I'm the biggest jerk. Like I was defending against that answer. But what Kishor was trying to teach me is that you are more than. And so the next things that you do, put another set of zeros, put another comma against what you're doing, that you can do more than you thought. And that bigger dream will change the way you move, the change, the kind of people that you recruit. And I said, Kishore, how do I do that? And he said, one of the ways to upskill you yourself as a leader, but also your business is the clients you go after. If you change the level of clients you chase, it will force you to change the business that you're creating. And it's wonderful wisdom that I have never forgotten. And that's one of the reasons why after really three and a half years of our small little fledgling boutique DI agency, right, has been acquired in what people would call pretty quick because our goal, right, was to put a dent in the universe, right, to use a Steve Jobs quote. And because our goals were so big to change the world, to create a better working world for everyone, We built a global brand in three and a half years where TDM is one of the top DEI product and services firms on the planet. And I say, we did that because we have a bunch of DEI Avengers that have joined our team to help make that vision a reality.

Jackie - 00:27:16:

Absolutely. So Don, you've talked about mentors. You've talked about your parents. You've talked about great advice that you've gotten. But to what specifically would you attribute your success?

Don - 00:27:32:

You know, there's a lot of factors to winning in today's marketplace. But one of the things that I feel like I do pretty well is to be able to take an emerging set of products and services and get larger organizations to believe with us while we're creating it. So that means you get a little bit of money, But more important, you get business level validation from organizations that will work with you to create your vision with products and services that can also help them over time. And so the big thing that I would say to try to coin that simply for your audience is I've been unafraid to fail at something new while I was learning to be an expert in that new area. Most people allow their current status to keep them from future greatness because they're not willing to relearn as a child would and have the fun, right? The falling down, scraping your knee and getting up and then being able ultimately to ride that bike with no training. And so if I think about all the different companies that I've worked in, they've been different industries. I've worked in an exit, a marketing tech company, a engineering technology company. Marketing organizations, and now The Diversity Movement. I didn't start out as an expert in any one thing, but I've always been willing to, number one, read, learn, and study. And then, number two, find mentors and experts in that space that were willing to help me and sit at their feet, notepad in hand, and try the things that they suggested. And those are the things that have allowed me to kind of create a success pattern over a handful of companies, over a handful of years, and excited about sharing that insight with other people.

Jackie - 00:29:21:

And Don, by all measures, you are successful. You've achieved success. You can check that box, pun intended, right? But What's next for you?

Don - 00:29:34:

What's next is we'll become a part of WPO. I'm excited that I'll be reporting directly to Alan King, their CEO, and working closely with him to really bring DEI to the world. And one of the reasons that the acquisition was important is certainly there's a monetary component to it, and that's fantastic. But our team was built with meaning and mission in mind, and we're now going to be able to take our DEI expertise across the world. So my immediate what's next is to continue to support that vision as a part of workplace options and building out a great DEI practice that can span the globe. The second thing, I don't know. One of the things that I enjoy, and I'll answer that and I'll probably end up doing more of what I enjoy, is helping business executives solve real time problems. I use the phrase executive coach, business advisor, but really it's a partner in problem solving. And I love when executives bring me a problem that we can share the weight together, use our collective expertise and give them better insight to go back into their organization and win. That is really where my heart is because I've made so many mistakes across so many different industries that I have a unique perspective because of the diversity in the types of companies I've been a part of, the types of companies that I've run, the types of companies that I've invested in. And that is one area of that business advisory. The second thing is I'm very interested in continued board service. I have the unique advantage to serve on the board of ECU Health, which is one of the top 20 medical systems in the country. I am on the board of Easterseals North Carolina, a hundred million dollar organization that serves 20,000 families each year. And those kind of things make me really proud. I also am on the board of financial institutions. Startups. So I really enjoy that role of working with entrepreneurs and CEOs, whether it's advisory or board service. And those are things that I think I'm going to spend more and more time over the coming years.

Jackie - 00:31:37:

That's exciting. Don, this has been a great conversation. Can you tell us what is the message that you'd like to leave our listeners with today?

Don - 00:31:47:

Don't let your past dictate your future dreams and goals. We all have things that we are working on, that we're working through, that we have to overcome. These are things that create the environment for our story to impact others. And don't let that story lay dormant within you. Let that story be expressed in the outcome and the product that you produce so that you become a beacon of light for others. I think it's really important for those of us that are dream chasers, whatever that may be. That may be an entrepreneur. That may be an emerging executive in a larger company. There are people that are watching you. There are people that are watching you to determine if you are the right leader for the next project. There are people that are watching you to be inspired by you. And so you want to be able to be representative and a great example for those people that are watching you.

Jackie - 00:32:43:

Great advice, Don. Thank you. And then how can people get in touch with you, order your book? Get advice.

Don - 00:32:50:

So you can order the book on Amazon, anywhere, any of your natural booksellers. In terms of getting in touch, I'm very active on LinkedIn. If you reach out, I'll reach back. I think it's a great place for businesses to network and people to really share ideas and create long-term connections. And if you're interested in advisory, you can go to Donald Thompson.

Jackie - 00:33:12:

Don, thank you so much for a great conversation. Congratulations on all your success. This has been a really fun conversation. Thanks.

Don - 00:33:19:

Thank you for having me. I am honored and humbled in a very sincere way to be here. And I hope this was helpful for your audience.

Jackie - 00:33:32:

Thanks for listening to this episode of Diversity: Beyond the Checkbox. If you enjoy the podcast, please take a moment to share it with a friend, leave a rating and review, and subscribe so you'll be reminded when new episodes are released. Become a part of our community on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok. This show is proudly part of the Living Corporate Network and was edited and produced by Earfluence. I'm Jackie Ferguson. Take care of yourself and each other.