Teresa Reynolds is the Director of the Dedman Institute for Business Leadership and the Sandhills Community College Small Business Center based in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Brian Sykes has had countless opportunities to provide lectures and classes at the school over the past decade, and so he did a phone interview with Teresa to attempt to answer the question as we launch this podcast called JumpStart-U – “Who is Brian Sykes and why does that matter to me?”

Teresa Reynolds, MA
Director, Dedman Center for Business Leadership
& SCC Small Business Center
101 Van Dusen Hall
910.695.3938
reynoldst@sandhills.edu

Teresa Reynolds Interview

A: Small Business Center, this is Teresa; may I help you?

Q: Hey, Teresa; this is Brian Sykes.  How are you?

A: I’m doing well, Brian.  How are you doing?

Q: I’m doing great.  Is now still a good time to touch base?

A: Yeah.

Q: Awesome. Okay.  Well, to get started, I’m just gonna ask you a few questions, and I wanna wrap up with a chance for you to let people know more about the SBC and how it can be of benefit to the businesses locally.  So we’ll just kind of jump into this and you answer as you got it.  So first question is what would’ve been an obstacle that would’ve prevented you from using Brian Sykes of AdJourney for teaching or consulting at the SBC?

A: Well, I don’t think there’s ever been an obstacle.  When I took over the Small Business Center about four years ago, I wanted to use as much local talent as I could to teach our business seminar.  I knew about Brian, so I communicated that to him, and the rest was easy.  I guess if there would’ve been any obstacle at all it would’ve been if Brian had not been available; but that’s not ever been an issue.  Most recently, now during this pandemic, Brian is one of our guest counselors helping our clients figure out how to restructure their marketing strategy in this unusual time that we’ve got.  So all I have to do is ask him, and he makes himself available.  So it’s pretty easy.

Q: Awesome.  Thanks so much.  Number two, what results or positive outcomes did you experience as a result of Brian Sykes of AdJourney providing lectures and consultation to the students at the SBC?

A: Well, I know how much his attendees love him.  Sometimes I sit in his classes, and I always learn a lot myself.  Other times, I’m in my office, which is next door to the classroom, and I can hear how much fun they’re having.  That’s always – I always love to hear that.

Q: Thank you.

A: He makes it very interactive with the students.  He gets excellent evaluations and comments.  People tell me and they’ll e-mail.  For example, recently we have hired him as a guest counselor, and I’ve got two e-mails back from two clients that he’s worked with as a guest counselor for this pandemic funding that we have.  One of them said, “Well, I can’t believe how much he gave me to work with.”  And the other one said, “After working with Brian, I know I can do this.”

Q: That’s awesome.  That’s awesome.  Yeah, the last lady I worked with in counseling, she was just giddy almost when we got off the phone.  So that was good.

A: I could tell.  I actually talked to her on the phone, too.  She was beside herself.  She was so happy.

Q: That’s great.  With her, the thing she needed was just confidence, and somebody coming along behind saying, “You can do this,” was kinda just…

A: Right.

Q: …the prompt she wanted.  Number three, what specific feature or detail of the service did you find most valuable about Brian Sykes’ process or style of teaching and communicating?

A: Well, one of the things I noticed early on just from sitting in the classes is that Brian has a very sharp memory.  He tends to remember his students’ names.  He goes around and asks them, “Tell me your name and what your business is or what you’re planning for your business to be.”  And he retains that information throughout the class, which I think is pretty incredible.  And then what’s great about it is he makes the content relevant on the spot based on what their needs are – the different needs of the students in the class.  He never shies away from their questions and giving them really good examples.

Q: Thank you.  Yeah, that’s something that I enjoy doing ’cause I wanna make it relevant.

A: Exactly.

Q: Number four, what are three other benefits you discovered while working with Brian of AdJourney that sets Brian apart or pleasantly surprised you?

A: When I started working with Brian, I asked him to create a hands-on branding workshop which he did.  We talked on the phone about it and through e-mail and so forth.

Q: Yeah.

A: I’m a visual learner and a hands-on learner, and that’s what works for me.  I think a lot – not everybody I know has that learning style, but…

Q: Right.

A: …it worked out great.  He went right to work putting together the workshop for Logo Design Branding and telling your story.  And the Logo class is my personal favorite.  I’ve sat in it a couple of times.  And what Brian will do is he’ll work with each student’s logo.  Or if they don’t have one yet, but they do have an idea, then he’s got so much experience at what he’s doing that he can pretty much visualize a logo right on the spot.  He’ll draw it on the whiteboard, and he’ll work with it.  And another thing that I enjoy about his style is he’ll ask them what their colors are – or maybe he knows what certain colors go with, you know, the feel or the nuance of the business.  You can tell I don’t know what I’m talking about, but watching him is pretty incredible because he can just literally come up with it right on the spot with the shape of it, the font, everything.  It’s great to watch.

Q: Well, thank you.  Yeah, 21 years of anything, you should get pretty proficient, right?

A: That’s true.

Q: Number five, would you recommend Brian or AdJourney for consultation or marketing support?  And if so, why?

A: Yes, absolutely.  I have recommended Brian to all of the Small Business Center directors in North Carolina.  There are 58 of us.  I feel certain that he has worked with some of them maybe that are not so far away.  I also recommend him to my clients.  I know that several have contacted him and have worked with him.  The breadth and depth of his marketing experience in design is incredible, and so he can do a lot of – he’s done a lot of good for some of our clients and I’m very grateful for that.  And they are, too.

Q: Well, thank you.  Is there anything else that you might would add – other thoughts you might have about me or the business?

A: Other than Brian being one of the nicest and easiest to work with people I know and just always being there.  I contact him every semester about doing seminars for us in the classroom, and he’s always available.  He has great ideas.  He comes up with things for new classes that I don’t even think about.  And something that we’re in the process of doing is transitioning our in-class seminars to webinars.  Brian and I have not gotten a chance to talk about that yet, but we will get around to that maybe in the next month or two.  And I feel like we’ll be able to work out some online resources and webinars for folks to be able to attend soon, hopefully.

Q: Sure.  That sounds awesome.  Now from your side of things, Teresa, what are some things that the SBC makes available through Sandhills Community College and how can people kind of get in touch with you for future opportunities?

A: Well, I’ll start out with my contact information.  My e-mail address is reynoldst@sandhills.edu.  My office phone number is (910) 695-3938.  And the website for the Small Business Center is easy to get to.  You just simply type in sandhills.edu/sbc.  So here’s what we do: annually, we offer somewhere between 50 and 100 in-class seminars.  Now that has turned into webinars which…

Q: Right.

A: …makes it even better because more people can attend since they can do it from home or from work or from their device.

Q: Right.

A: And we hire experts from all over the state.  Brian just happens to be a local expert; and as I’ve said, I wanted to pull in local talent for their benefit and for ours as well and for our client’s benefit.  I do one-on-one or one-on-two counseling for business startups.  I work with entrepreneurs or people who have an idea.

Q: Yeah.

A: And we work towards getting that business started.  And I also work with those who are already in business.  And maybe they’ve been in business for 20 years, but they’re not savvy in social media or maybe they need some marketing, and I’ll refer them to Brian.  Or maybe they need to work on a business plan or they have an idea for a second business.  And I’ve worked with people who have not opened a business.  I’ve been doing this for about four years.  I’ve been at the college 27 years, but I’ve been doing the Small Busines Center for about four years.  And I’ve got about 350 clients.

Q: oh, that’s awesome.

A: Not everyone has started a business.  Not everyone will.  Some people aren’t ready yet even from four years ago.  Some people are in the military; they’re not gonna do it till they retire.  But we try to make available at no cost to the client or to the seminar attendee every resource possible to help them get what they need to get their business started or to continue to sustain it.

Q: Right.

A: Right now, the Federal Government – we’re funded through the state, but right now the Federal Government has given all of the 58 community colleges in North Carolina some extra funding to hire guest counselors.  I’ve never had money…

Q: Right.

A: …to do this before.  And so, as you know, Brian, I’ve hired you to work with several of our current clients right now…

Q: Right.

A: …for marketing.  And the list goes on.  I’m working on some other projects this month, but I’m hoping to get in contact with more people and offer this resource to them.  And we’ve marketed it through several different ways.  I’m sure you’ve told people about it,..Constant Contact (12:53), the web.

Q: Yeah.

A: The Pilot did a news release on it, so we’ve been able to reach quite a few people.  And we want to continue.  This money’s timestamped so we’ve got to spend it as quickly as we can.  So anyone in Moore County or Hoke County who’s in business, if they could talk to an expert in any topic related to their business, if they’ll just get in touch with me we’ll talk first, and then I will get them in touch with the expert.

Q: Right.  That’s awesome.  I know you’ve been a valuable resource here in Moore County, and I’ve referred many businesses that are in that start-up phase to contact you and take classes that are available through the college.

A: Thank you.  We appreciate it.

Q: Well, Teresa, thanks so much for your time.  I appreciate your kind words and looking forward to continue working with you guys in the future.

A: Absolutely.  Me, too.  Thank you so much, Brian.  It’s been great talking to you.

Q: Thanks.  Bye, ma’am.

A: Bye-bye.