Episode Notes

Who doesn’t love hitting a home run in business? It’s the feeling of pure excitement, accomplishment, and success all rolled into one. Achieving our goals and exceeding expectations is what every entrepreneur dreams of. Let’s dive deeper into what it takes to hit that home run and make your business the best it can be.

When you hit a home run in business, it opens the floodgates of opportunities. This was the case for one of my clients, who permitted me to share their story with you. The work began in July 2022, when their business was still finding its footing. I then met Mahomud Ali and Saido Ali Jama at an annual MEDA meeting. MEDA is an international economic development organization that creates business solutions to poverty.

The First Strategy for hitting home runs in business is to make sure you have someone you trust who has your best interest at heart to talk things through and help you clarify what you want.

Before attending the MEDA annual meeting, I discussed things with my husband, Matthew Foli, as usual. To have someone you trust to talk things through and help you clarify what you want is priceless. It takes time to get to the heart of what truly matters to you, and having someone invested in your best interest to witness your journey and provide valuable feedback can empower both of you.

I went to the annual MEDA meeting with clear intentions. I first wanted to learn more about how they are helping minority-owned businesses and how the organization is evolving. Additionally, I wanted to meet and mentor at least one business owner and connect with potential guest mentors for my podcast.

After the meeting ended, I spoke with a few people before scanning the room one last time. As I was leaving, Mahomud and Saido introduced themselves, and Mahomud mentioned that he needed help with marketing. Though I am not a marketing expert, I have been involved in marketing since 1992 and offered to meet with them to see how I could help them achieve their goals. At the very least, I could provide them with valuable resources.

Second Strategy: Understand that the Universe works on our behalf.

Even when we feel alone, we are not. There is a spiritual realm of Guardian Angels and spirit guides waiting for us to invite them to help us. The Universe collaborates to bring our dreams into reality when we know what we want. That’s why people say, “Be careful what you wish for.” Or, more commonly now, “Be mindful of your thoughts and words.”

Many times, the Universe delivers beyond our wildest dreams in unexpected ways. What we achieve at Midwest Bakery fits my understanding of how the Universe pleasantly surprises us. If this isn’t the case for you, refine what you think, say, or what you put out into the Universe. Let go of the outcomes and ensure your intentions are not from a place of fear or avoidance. The Universe keeps giving us the same lessons in different ways until we get the lesson. Permit yourself to keep experimenting with the Universe.

Third Strategy: recognize the value of your contribution to a project and negotiate from that standpoint while considering what the other party needs. This is the first step towards developing good communication skills and building solid relationships. Begin by having an honest discussion about money and showing respect for both yourself and the other person.

I met with Mahomud, and we co-created a working agreement. I left our strategy session with a healthy supply of whole wheat and white loaves of bread and hoagie rolls, which are now a staple in our household.

Initially, I hesitated to charge $300 per session, considering the costs of starting and running a business. Mahomud told me a story about when he began his first job at an auto repair shop in Boston. After a few years, he wanted to learn how to fix trucks and semis at a different auto repair shop down the street.

Mahomud met with the auto shop owner and stated his hourly rate. The owner said he wasn’t sure he could pay Mahomud’s hourly rate. Mahomud agreed to start at the rate the owner offered but told him he would expect a raise once the owner saw how good he was at fixing larger vehicles.

Mahomud’s first paycheck reflected what he had asked to be paid. This was the beginning of a great working relationship. He shared this story with me because he wanted me to know that he believed in paying people for their work and that I deserved the fee I had asked for. Mahomud pays each invoice with gratitude and often includes a tip.

Fourth Strategy: Do your best and see what happens.

We are in a world of unknowable possibilities/innovation. Give yourself room to explore. I knew intuitively that I could get a meeting at Cub Foods; I couldn’t promise what would happen afterward.

Next, Mahomud is clear that he wants to grow his burgeoning bakery. I knew that he needed help expanding outside of his current niche. He had a contact within Cub Foods but didn’t have time to follow up because Midwest Bakery is his second business, and he didn’t have time. I told him I was the country’s #1 telesales fundraiser for the Minnesota Special Olympics many years ago and would get us a meeting with Cub Foods.

A few weeks later, Mahomud, Saido, and I were bringing loaves of bread and hoagie roll samples to the new business developer at Cub Foods. I compiled a FLYER with the following background information and how Midwest Bakery has grown since I began working with them in July 2022.

“Minnesota HALAL Breads – With Love Baked In”

Mahomud established Midwest Bakery Inc. on November 21, 2017, to provide the Somali community with healthy Halal bread options as a staple in their daily diets. In just a few years, we successfully built a commercial kitchen. We began supplying fresh loaves of bread and hoagie rolls to over 36 local immigrant-owned restaurants, coffee shops, and daycare centers.

By 2022, we expanded our deliveries to include four Cub Foods grocery stores and added four Kowalski’s Markets locations in 2023. We can make 2,000 loaves an hour, which allows us to expand to larger grocers offering healthy plant-based bread options to all ethnicities. Why not spread the love?!

Midwest Bakery Inc. is a certified Halal bread bakery, meaning the process and ingredients used to make the loaves of bread and hoagie rolls are permissible under the laws of Islam. Halal bread is bread that meets the Muslim definition of Halal, which means the bread-baking process and ingredients are permissible to eat for members of the Muslim faith and don’t contain alcohol or pork-derived products.

Mahomud’s Entrepreneurial History

We were young immigrants with hopes and dreams of succeeding in this country through hard work, ambition, and business ownership. I married Saido Ali Jama in Boston, where our families had immigrated from Somalia. Eventually, we settled in Minnesota to raise our five children, a state full of opportunities. On May 9, 2008, I founded Midwest Auto Repair, Inc. From the start, we focused on providing comprehensive car repairs and towing services, which helped us build a loyal customer base. Eventually, I purchased a building on Stinson Blvd. in Minneapolis.

We realized in 2017 that we could expand further by creating a bakery in the other part of our building. Today, our building houses two successful enterprises: Midwest Auto Repair Inc. and Midwest Bakery Inc.

Our mission is to serve the needs of our local communities by fixing cars and making HALAL breads with love baked in. We are proud of our strong commitment and entrepreneurial spirit, allowing us to provide quality services that our customers trust. Our energies are on serving the everyday needs of our Minnesota communities and expanding beyond our borders.

What We Do: We fix cars and make Halal breads.

Mahomud and Saido have lived a life of doing their best and seeing what happens. It seems to be working for them.

Fifth Strategy: Look for opportunities for both clients and yourself.

Recently, I discovered an excellent opportunity for minority business owners to win a $10,000 grant. I applied for it on behalf of Midwest Bakery Inc., and we won! We will receive the grant from Elevate Together, which recognizes the winners this week. Their win is my win. Mahomud and Saido earned this home run. Filling out the paperwork was like giving them a bat to hit the home run, and that feels awesome!

This success led me to my sixth strategy for hitting home runs in business.

Sixth Strategy: Be flexible and renegotiate terms as the work shifts, and it always does.

This strategy could lead to many business home runs. With growing businesses, flexibility is the key. Allow for flexibility in every contract you draft. Where you start with a client is not where you will end up.

Let your contract reflect your client’s needs and clarify why changing the original contract for both of you makes sense. This strategy helps you practice integrity and respect the critical work you need to do together.

I renegotiated my contract with Mahomud from hourly to monthly earlier this year. The hourly rate was hindering our work progress, so I decided to leverage my acquired skills and experience to help Midwest Bakery Inc. in a significant way. And it is working. Our work together feels like we have many more home runs in our future. I will keep visualizing. 

In the spirit of flexibility, I am thrilled to share that the frequency of my podcast episodes will go from weekly to an open-ended format that allows me greater flexibility. Since its inception in January 2016, I have been producing meaningful conversations weekly, and it has been surprisingly incredible and intense and has opened my world to new opportunities. I am grateful.

When I started, only 22% of the population listened to podcasts, and most people had no idea what they were. However, over the years, the podcast industry has grown exponentially, and now 79% of the population listens to podcasts. Projections for 2024 estimate that over 100 million people will be regular podcast listeners, which is incredible!

As the industry expands, I’m excited to keep participating and contributing to it. We have already tracked over 250,000 downloads of WeMentor Mondays with Nancy, which is a testament to the show’s progress. I’m confident that my podcast will continue growing despite the frequency being less. I’m excited to see where it takes you and me!

Starting now, I will change my podcast format from weekly shows to publishing on Mondays only when I have something important to share. This new open-ended format will feature some Guest Mentors, and we’ll see where we go.

I hope you understand and continue listening when I post the next episode. I promise to continue providing meaningful conversations that will help you redefine how you lead while redesigning your business through Dual Innovation Leadership. It is possible to evolve and innovate on purpose.

The reason for the change in strategy is this. I see the opportunity with Midwest Bakery Inc. to collaborate to realize their dreams entirely. We are excellent collaborators, and as you know, it takes a great team and focused energy to achieve greatness.

This also fits with WeMentor’s mission to be part of the change you wish to make in the world. We lead by expanding an entrepreneurial leader’s capacity to lead. We mentor by collaborating with you to co-create a plan. We role model equality, inclusion, healthy relating, resiliency, wealth creation, and accountability.

We value wholehearted living and leading (compassion, courage, and grounded confidence). When WeMentor, you design an integrated life and an interdependent future:

• As a Resilient Leader/Innovator,
• As a Competent Business Owner/Practitioner,
• As a Mentor/Role Model, and
• As a Spiritual Being and Self-Leadership Master!

We started with one entrepreneur and will continue to help thousands over a lifetime. Our work together will continue for those of you who are also clients. It is the podcast that I am changing, not my work with you. You know where to find me if you want to work with me. I want you to hit home runs, too! 

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