Meet the Team: Bella Monty | The Real Franchise Episode 49

Rhiannon Hello and welcome back to another episode of The Real Franchise, a podcast that goes where others simply want an unfiltered view of franchising, business mindset, and everything we stand for when it comes to supporting a community of small business owners. Join me, Rhiannon, the CEO for James Home Services Australia, as we unpack it all with no topics off limits.

Today we actually get to meet one of the newest members of our Head Office team. This is very exciting for us. In the last two months, we have doubled the size of our business coaching team and doubled the size of our information process team as well. So if there is any indicator that we are growing in a really healthy and exciting way, it is that.

And today you get to meet the newest member of this team, Bella. Bella. Welcome to the real franchise. For the very first time. Thank you for sitting in the chair today with me and having a chat. I want to start us right at the very beginning.

Bella What?

Rhiannon Tell us a little bit about you. Tell us a little bit about your background. Pre James HomeServices.

Bella Well thank you Rhiannon. It is great to be here. I actually started in an area quite different to my job now. I first out of high school joined the Army. I was a driver for the Australian Defense Force for a few years. And then I moved into veterinary nursing, which was my passion. I grew up around animals.

I loved my job as a nurse. However, you did get to a point where, I just was looking for a bit of a change, and that’s kind of when I stumbled across James. Ethics and values are very important to me as a nurse. You know, you show a lot of compassion. Caring for things is the main job as a nurse, and I found that.

Yeah, I kind of stumbled across James, and it actually aligned so well with my views and on ethics and values and. Yeah, that’s how I’ve ended up here.

Rhiannon Amazing. Oh my goodness. In the first one minute you have given me, like a thousand different questions that I want to ask you and dive into, before we do. And we will. But before we do that, just for anybody who’s listening, I probably should have actually introduced what you do for us in the head office team.

So for anyone listening, Bella works with, with Justin, one of our co owners, as a new business consultant. And essentially all that means is that if you’re interested in joining James and you’re doing your research and you happen to make an inquiry, then it will be either Justin or Bella who will contact you. And Bella exists in our team because there are so many people, showing an interest in joining our network at the moment that we just needed to help Justin out before he drowned.

So, so now that we know what you do, take me back to take me back to Army. You said army for a couple of years.

Army to vet nursing, to helping people make a life changing decision.

Bella This is, a hell of a journey.

Rhiannon That you’ve crammed into not very long. What was it about the Army that made you interested in joining?

Bella It was. It was the opportunity that I saw. Just the ability to, I guess, get my independence after high school, travel around, get exposure to so many different things that you probably wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to if you don’t go through defense. And I think it was just a to be honest, it was a bit of a spur of the moment decision for me.

I saw an ad on, on, yeah, on the TV and this was literally maybe three months before I was supposed to graduate. And I knew I wanted to do something different. And I saw the ad and I just went for it. And it was a life changing experience. And yes, it was scary, but, and I think this is where I can resonate a little bit, too, with people that are coming through our process as well is, you know, the, the sometimes opportunities come up that maybe you’re not completely aware of.

And to lean into that, you know, and to really explore it. And I did and that’s what I did with defense. And I had a life changing experience. And it actually got me exactly where I wanted to go in the end. And yeah, it was it was kind of just the unknown, I guess, that I was, that I went into and, that’s what kind of intrigued me to learn more and then I just fell into it.

And before I knew it, I was, on the bus to basic training and then marching out and becoming a private in the defense force. So just kind of happened. Kind of,

Rhiannon Isn’t that so often how it goes in life? We make those decisions and we feel like, oh, it kind of happened. Oh, I fell into it. But actually, when we look back, we’re not giving ourselves a lot of credit because it did kind of happen. But you also were faced with multiple points during that road before you got on that bus, where you chose the decision that felt hard and you chose the decision that was confronting and uncomfortable where the outcome was unknown.

You know, you chose to enter into a process where you knew no one, you knew nothing about that life or what it would offer you or where it would lead you. That’s really ballsy.

Bella I, I.

Rhiannon Absolutely, wholeheartedly admire anybody who can make hard decisions that get them to where they want to go. And even if they’re making those hard decisions, not exactly knowing where they want to go, but making them anyway. Because sometimes we know in life that the path we’re on isn’t serving us, and we’ve got to do something different and shake it out.

So that’s incredible. That’s straight out of high school.

Bella You,

Rhiannon You were already in a position where you were willing to make those sorts of decisions for yourself. Incredible. And so how did you go from army to vet nursing? I mean, you mentioned that vet nursing was a passion. How did you actually jump from 1 to 1 to the other?

Bella Yeah, I, I think I always knew I would end up working with animals right from, you know, a kid growing up with horses and dogs and chickens and cats and guinea pigs. You know, I’ve always been surrounded by animals. And I knew that eventually I would want to end up working with them and I yeah, I did about three years in defense full time.

And then I just again, I just was looking for a change. I just needed something that was filling my cup in a different way. And I think that I always knew that animals were a passion. Looking after them was a passion of mine. And yeah, I got to a point where, you know, the full time defense wasn’t wasn’t serving me, like it was right in the beginning.

It kind of it fulfilled me that I had traveled, I had met some amazing people. I had done some amazing things. And now I was just looking at a different path to serve me at that different point in my, my, in my life and my needs have changed. And yeah, that’s when I started studying veterinary nursing. And then just became a vet.

nurse Rhiannon And so I’m already picking up a theme here is, helping and serving. You know, obviously the Defense Force is about service, but also vet nurses caring for animals. And it’s still a service, you know, providing, the service of care to that animal, but also so importantly, to the owner.

But the other thing that I’m picking up is that, it seems that both decisions have been big decisions for you. You’ve you’ve been at a fork in the road, and the to continue on the same road was not going to get you where you wanted to go when you’ve gotten to those points because, you know, then also you have now started with, with James, which is again very different to vet nursing and defense.

So, you know, we’ve talked in detail about two of those forks in the road, but indeed there was a third one more recently that led you to exactly where you’re sitting. What is it about those walks in the road? What does it feel like to be faced with these big decisions? What? You know, because I feel like, there’s a lot of relevance to anybody listening who’s thinking, oh, do I start a business?

Do I not start a business? Do I choose a franchise network? Do I go it alone? There could well be quite a lot of people listening to this who are at their own fork in the road. What is it about those folks that you know? What what sort of think, thought process, guidance do you have for people?

Is it scary? How does it feel to meet one of those forks and and choose a path?

Bella I firstly think the hardest part about the fork is firstly deciding that something has to change. I think that is the biggest hurdle that you can face when you’re in a position where things aren’t serving you. Once you’ve made that decision that something needs to happen, it’s just about deciding which path to take. But once you get to that stage, I think that’s for me.

That’s when I once I made the decision to change, that’s when the, the, my path kind of opened up. All my options kind of came about. And then to me it was just logically, well, what do I need from this, this opportunity? What am I really looking to get from this opportunity? And then just pursuing that, that option that I can potentially see gets me where I want to go.

But to be honest.

I’m reflecting now on all of the decisions and all of the changes I’ve gone through. It kind of it’s like, well, yeah, I just kind of I’ve made these decisions, but I know that in the moment it took it took a bit of reflection to, to realize and a bit of like self, I guess, talk to get myself to that point of changes.

Okay. And to, to be comfortable with that idea. And once I got to that stage and I realize all the opportunities out there, it’s kind of for me that everything just kind of fell into place once I really made that commitment and that decision to change for myself. But I yeah, it I’m someone that doesn’t take change lightly, and I, I am someone that despite all of the things that we’ve gone through, it’s one of those things that until I actually make the decision to change, it’s really hard to to.

I guess. See any differences in, in your lifestyle or in how things are in, within whatever you’re doing. So it it it changes. Never easy. But for me, yeah, just getting to that point of being like, something has to happen and then everything opens up.

Rhiannon You know, there’s a saying that I really love. I heard it years and years ago, and I don’t I don’t remember the source of where it came from, but it’s stuck with me ever since. And I think about it often, if you get out of bed every day and you do the same thing, you get the same outcome.

If you want something different in your life, in your relationship, if you want something different in your career, if you want something different for your financial situation or your circumstances or your living arrangements, if you want something different, full stop, you have to get out of bed one day and make a different decision for the decisions you made the previous day.

And I really love that because you and making that decision to make a different decision is really hard, and it feels confronting and uncertain. And actually all it is is the fear of uncertainty. I’m making a different decision. I don’t know what this is going to lead to. And you said earlier, you know, it’s it’s about leaning into everything that that is and allowing it to take you where it takes you.

That is the perfect segue to talking about your role with James, because indeed, it is then really quite poetic that after your three big changes already that you’ve made in your life, that the role that you do with us is helping people to decide whether making a big change is something they should do or not. Can you talk us through just a little bit about what your role with our head office team is?

Bella Yeah, absolutely. So as people, considering this new opportunity or considering whether they want to change it is my job to provide all the information that they need to help them in making that decision and basically walking people through the process as they gathering research and as they’re deciding whether or not this is something they want to pursue.

And yeah, after, I guess, going through a few big decisions, career wise myself or, you know, just in life, I and also with my, you know, background in, in providing care and helping people and animals, this job quite aligns very well with everything that I stand for and and everything that, yeah, I believe is really important. And so I love being able to just help people in the, well, not help people decide, but just helping them in the process and just giving them everything that they need to make sure that they are comfortable with whichever decision that they make.

So I love my job.

Rhiannon That’s so lovely to hear. It’s, I think every member of a one, one thing, that I’m really proud about is that every member of our head office team, I think last time I checked in, really, genuinely loves their job. And it you know, that natural level of commitment and dedication, it’s not like we, you know, have to demand dedication and commitment from our head office team.

Every single person who sits as part of our team is such a willing participator at an exceptional level every single day in their roles. And, it’s a privilege to work alongside people who operate at that level. It really is. So when we’re walking people through the process, I just want to, you know, we’re all about transparency and honesty.

So for the discerning listener, I want to I want to just sort of call out something here in that we are talking about when somebody makes an inquiry with us taking you through the process, which would lead to a decision at some point about whether or not you wanted to purchase a franchise business in the James Network.

Now, for the discerning and astute listener, really what we’re talking about is a sales process. And Bella, you and I have had so many really wonderful conversations about our perspective on sales

And for anybody listening, you may have seen one of our previous business, franchise The Real Franchise podcast episodes where we talk about, ethical sales. But Bella, for you, what is this role is sales in the very typical, you know. Non modern sense of the world. It is sales.

Bella How.

Rhiannon Do you what is your perspective on sales?

Bella So I first initially like before I truly understood the purpose of sales and how sales can be used for good. Before I understood that I totally associated sales with that icky car salesman kind of vibe. That’s exactly. That’s where my head went. As soon as anyone said sales, it kind of is, you know, a red it was a red flag for me.

However, I have been through certain, I guess, points in my life where sales has actually me being on the receiving end of sales has actually changed my life, and a lot of my perspectives. So some things that stop that, that I guess were pretty prevalent for me when I was making big decisions and some things that could have potentially stopped me, well, self-limiting beliefs that really, you know, stop a lot of people from being able to achieve things that they genuinely want.

It’s the limiting beliefs and the self-doubt that truly stops people from breaking barriers and actually getting where they want to go. So sales can actually be a helpful tool to not just it’s not about convincing, it’s about showing people a different perspective and helping people move past those limiting beliefs and those self-doubt and actually open doors and opportunities for people that they wouldn’t have otherwise gone through.

So this is my role. Yes, it is sales, but it’s not about it’s not about convincing. It’s literally about, for me, helping people see other perspectives, shedding light on a different way to help people. I guess. Yeah, make decisions based on where they want to go, not where they are now.

Rhiannon Yeah, I think that’s a really beautiful way of looking at it. And absolutely one of the reasons why you’re part of our team and we had to have you missed because because that is your perspective. And, you know, Justin and I talk so often about what sales is and what sales isn’t. And I feel like sales in our network has a very different meaning to what a lot of people initially think.

Yeah. And that sort of that icky car sales feeling. Yeah. I mean, most people do think, oh, I if I make an inquiry, I’m going to speak to a sales person, and that sales person is just going to try and sell me on all of the benefits and get me to sign up. And actually, our process.

Bella Is.

Rhiannon I mean, I would say almost the.

Bella Opposite.

Rhiannon You’re actually not trying to sell you on the benefits. How would you describe our process?

Bella It’s very much a two way street. We’re not trying to pull you in and get all the benefits from you. In fact, it’s like you mentioned, it’s quite the opposite. We need to make sure that this is going to serve you and that this will fit your lifestyle. And this is going to be a good decision for you purely because of the way that the model works, is that you need to succeed.

Your business needs to succeed. For us to succeed. So essentially it is about giving you all the information and just making sure that we align. Most importantly, and that it is going to be a right fit for both of us. So it’s not about convincing you and pulling you along and getting you to sign up and getting all of your money.

That’s not that is not part of it at all. It’s purely to make sure that this could align with where you want to go when it where you’re wanting to go and who you are as well. We need to make sure that everything fits.

Rhiannon Yeah, absolutely. We’re definitely moved to a model that is highly, highly focused on finding people that really fit with, what it is we have learned is successful in our business model. And actually, I wouldn’t mind you also just explaining, I mean, it’s all well and good to say that we don’t convince them. We don’t pull people through our process.

Right. But I think probably the biggest demonstration.

Bella Of.

Rhiannon Ethical sales for us is, is what happens when we get to a point in our information process with someone and it just becomes apparent that it’s not the right thing to do for us to offer them a business, either for financial reasons or, you know, we just don’t assess that they’ve got the particular skill level that we’re going to need or the particular, you know, the willingness to work within our system and our network.

What happens for anybody listening? Because a lot of people might be listening, thinking about, do they make an inquiry or not? And I think probably a big concern for people, and I think maybe a big barrier to people actually making an inquiry is that thought of if I make an inquiry and and I’m talking to someone, are they just trying to convince me?

And so if we get to a process where it’s becoming evident to us that it’s not the right thing for us to do, to offer somebody a business in our network, what do we do? Do we try and continue to pull them through? What happens.

Bella Now? Like we are very open and transparent about everything, and if it gets to that point, you know, whether it be, you know, if it is a financial thing that is going to, you know, put people in a detrimental position because they don’t have enough finances to support them. We will be upfront and transparent and say, you know, it’s it’s not a no, but it’s it’s a not now.

And then we revisit that later. If it’s something that is, you know, we see that we’re not going to align, that this wouldn’t work for that particular individual. We will let them know and we will. We won’t just drag you along and waste your time. It’s a very it’s a very upfront conversation about, you know, how we work and why we feel this wouldn’t work out.

So it’s not like we’re just going to, yeah, drag you along and just take you through the process just because, we’re very serious about making sure that we’re aligned.

Rhiannon Yeah, yeah. There’s, I think that one thing that we try and do so much in our process, particularly early, when someone first reaches out and where, you know, we’re having that initial call or that information session when we’re when we’re really early in talking to somebody, I think one of the things that we try and do in our information process is just take the pressure off completely, like there is no pressure for you to be making a decision today, tomorrow or next week, next month.

You make a decision when you feel ready. There is no.

Bella Pressure.

Rhiannon For you. You know, we don’t ever run sales or promotions or discounts because that is selling through, you know, time scarcity, which is a great sales technique, but it’s just not aligned with what we how we operate.

Bella And.

Rhiannon What we always want to do is ensure that we’re giving people all the information and all the time that they need to arrive at a decision that they have full ownership and confidence over. And I think that that’s probably one of the best summaries of what it is that you and Justin do is you really just walk this information process with people and, you know, it’s structured.

There are particular meetings that you know, where you give particular information, and then there’s a meeting where they get to meet the rest of the team. And, and there are meetings where you discuss the application. So it’s a structured process. It’s not a free for all. We we have a structure that we take people through, but it’s totally designed to completely take the pressure off that person from having from any feeling like, oh, I’m being pressured or I’ve got to make a decision or there’s a time constraint to this.

We want to make people feel just comfortable to explore. Because I don’t know about you, but I feel like sometimes there’s just as much value for someone going through our information process when they end up actually deciding this isn’t for them, because they’ve learned so much through our process about what they are looking for. And that’s okay that it wasn’t us.

And I mean, and so often actually, you know, if we’re chatting to somebody and it becomes really apparent that actually what they’re looking for isn’t the exact model that we offer. And, you know, one of our competitors does that better. We actually.

Bella Will.

Rhiannon Totally suggest that that person goes in contact, that competitor, and I just think there are so many little moments in our information process where we demonstrate that it’s not about a sale for us. It’s about a partnership and entering into a partnership is a big decision for both parties, and we take that seriously.

Bella Yeah, absolutely.

Rhiannon So a couple of, just maybe a closing question before we wrap this episode of the real franchise, if there’s anybody listening who’s really on the fence and they’re just not sure, should they make an inquiry? Should they investigate this? They’re feeling nervous. Maybe the path they’re on has disappeared. Maybe the path they’re on. They just know it’s not serving them anymore.

Maybe they’re feeling like they need a change, but maybe they’re really nervous and they’re not quite sure about what that would look like for them. Do you have any guidance for them and how they feel? Because that is no doubt the position you’ve been in at least a couple of the times that you’ve landed at a big decision to make a change?

Bella Well, first of all, I just, you know, we’re human and how lucky a way to be able to feel these emotions. It’s such a human thing to feel unsure, nervous, hesitant. I’ve certainly felt all of those before. And to me, information’s key. And to have just facts to to back up a decision, whether it be whether this is right for you or not, right for you, it it helps in all senses of making a decision, having information really, I guess makes makes it super clear.

And I think again, it’s just super important to to figure out what your why is and to focus on that first. And then if your why is big enough, you should just like going through information is only going to make it clearer for you. So reach out, have a chat. And like we’ve mentioned, you know we’re not here to pull you through the information process.

We’re here to help you and to walk you through it and give you as much information that you that you need, purely to help you in the research process. So definitely, I would just feel free, feel free to reach out and have a no pressure chat with me and we can see if we can. Yeah, we’ll walk you through the process and just help you in anything that you need.

Yeah.

Rhiannon That’s amazing. And I think a very natural place to leave this episode. Bella, I have absolutely loved this chat. You and I, our perspectives on so many things align. So it’s been so wonderful to sit down and talk about your perspective on sales and those big decisions that you’ve made in your life. And I hope that maybe just even somebody listened to this and thought, oh my goodness, that’s where I’m at.

I’m at a fork in the road. I’m not sure what to do. Should I make that inquiry? And do you know what? Make the inquiry? You you know, you have nothing to lose. You have information to gain. And as you just said so eloquently, Bella, information adds clarity. And we’re not looking for clarity that necessarily ends in a yes.

I want to join James. We just hope we can help you to clarity no matter what that looks like for you. So thank you, Bella, for joining me. I think, this was your very first, foray into the real franchise episodes, and I would love to have you back again at some point to chat more about what you do and, and how we help people through that information process.

So hopefully you’ll join us on another episode. And I hope for anybody listening that that has given you something to think about. Maybe we’ve chatted about something that has, you know, challenged your perspective on the way that you think about sales or big decisions. And I hope you feel just that little bit more empowered to tackle the hard decisions in life.

So thank you very much for joining me on another episode of The Real Franchise.

Bella Been a pleasure. Thank you.