ZEN RABT - Trista's PL8STORY Podcast Plate 31- with Lori Saitz of Zen Rabbit

ZEN RABT Interview

[00:00:00] Trista, Host: [00:00:00] Welcome to this week's episode of Trista's PL8STORY Podcast. I'm Trista Polo from iwokeupawesome.com and I am your host.

Each week we learn the story behind that vanity plate. The one you saw driving down the road, what did it say? What did it mean? Why did they choose it?  

This week, we meet Lori Saitz from Virginia, her license plate, ZEN RABT represents a childhood treasure and a professional brand she built so successfully it has followed her through two very different companies. Laurie works with entrepreneurial professionals to improve their relationship building abilities so they can find more clients, strategic partners and career success.  

Laurie's insight comes from more than 25 years of experience in marketing and communication. In addition to her successful coaching business, Laurie is a strong proponent for increasing literacy worldwide. She has served as a pre GED teacher and an adult literacy tutor.  

[00:01:00] You can often find Lori in the weight room at the gym, or you might see her running outdoors because she also loves eating and baking. Laurie shares her plate story today, as well as some great tips on building a powerful network in a virtual world. Now let's meet Lori.  

Welcome to this episode of Trista's PL8STORY podcast. I'm with Lori Saitz. Her plate is ZEN RABT, which I absolutely love welcome Lori and Lori 's cat.  

Lori Saitz: [00:01:32] Thank you. Trista great   to be here.  

Trista, Host: [00:01:34] You have a co guest with you. You want to introduce your friend.  

Lori Saitz: [00:01:38] This is Karma. She likes to appear whenever a camera comes on,  

Trista, Host: [00:01:43] Well it will give us good karma for this conversation.

Right. And if anybody's wondering, karma is a black and white cat, mostly black, right? A little bit of black, tiny bit of white on her belly. She's adorable. She's roaming around. You can see her on the video [00:02:00] version of this podcast episode. So Lori, tell us about your license plate, ZEN RABT.  

Lori Saitz: [00:02:06] Yeah, Zen Rabbit is the name of my company.

And I, the original version of the company was Zen Rabbit   Baking Company, which I started back in 2003. And, uh, it's since evolved into something different. But, um, but when I was looking for a name for that company, it was, I was coming, going through a whole bunch of different names and trying to come up with something good that would be good for branding. And, uh, landed on Zen Rabbit. It kind of just came to me as, Hey, this would be a good name, but then I had to, you know, then people are like, well, where did you get the names Zen Rabbit? So I had to back up and kind of make up a story about where the name came from, but [00:03:00] there is truth in where it came from. It just was it, maybe it wasn't part of the conscious thought process, but it was subconsciously there. when I was a baby, my mom bought this stuffed pink rabbit and put it in the crib with me and figured out that she could take all the other animals out. But if the rabbit wasn't in the crib, I wasn't sleeping. And as I got a little bit older, I would rub her ears for comfort.

It's just, she was actually my, my Zen rabbit. And this is the part that I said maybe unconsciously came into the creation of the name, but yeah, so she was my Zen rabbit. There's a picture actually on my, on my website.  

Trista, Host: [00:03:44] I love it. My version of that, his name was Charlie and he was a quilted. I'm not sure. Now if looking back, if he was a horse or a dog, cause it was like a quilted sort of, you know, four legs and [00:04:00] whatever, but boy, he was very important to me.

You said you had one particular thing you were really known for, with that company. Can you share about that?  

Lori Saitz: [00:04:09] The whole basis around which I started it was the gratitude cookie and the gratitude cookie was kind of a cross between a butter and a sugar cookie based on a family recipe. When I would make them for friends and family, people would say, Oh my gosh, these are so good. You should sell these. So I came to a point in my career where I had an opportunity to do that. I came up with the idea of packaging them in customized packages, the way for business people to say thank you to their clients and to people who sent them referrals and other partners.

Trista, Host: [00:04:44] I love that. And that was a very successful venture for you.  

Lori Saitz: [00:04:48] It was, it was. I ran it for 11 years and I got it to a point where I couldn't scale it the way I wanted to. And it just became so difficult to just keep going at the pace that I was going [00:05:00] without getting the results that I really wanted.

And so I closed that business down in 2014, but it was, uh, it had a great reputation and is a great product.  

Trista, Host: [00:05:11] Yeah. I mean, it sounds very cool.

Like, you know, you'll always want to look for a really tight niche and I think you definitely did that. And I think every business that's growing comes up with up to that spot. Yeah. I either have to be okay with where I am. I have to re think how my business works so I can scale it or I have to set it aside.

And so I think any business that's successful, they come up to that  

Lori Saitz: [00:05:38] crossroads. Yeah, for sure. For sure. And I just, at that point, couldn't figure out how to get past it and yeah. So that was a difficult decision.  

Trista, Host: [00:05:49] Yeah. I bet  

Lori Saitz: [00:05:50] I had to do it. So  

Trista, Host: [00:05:52] do you ever regret closing it?  

Lori Saitz: [00:05:54] Yeah. Sometimes I do, because honestly I think back I'm like, well, if I knew now [00:06:00] maybe what, I didn't know, then I could have made it work or I at the time would think, well, I, you know, somebody else could come in here and run it with the knowledge they have and they could've made it work, but I just couldn't do it at the time.

Yeah.  

And you know, a lot of pieces fell into place at the very end, but it was kind of too late.  

Trista, Host: [00:06:20] Well, anybody who's ever owned a traditional business, especially can probably relate the kinds of things you had to face and the challenges that you faced. And I think it's why so many businesses don't last to the long term.

Lori Saitz: [00:06:34] I think, especially for entrepreneurs, the message never give up is so drilled into your head that you feel you're. If you close, you just keep looking at every Avenue. How can I keep going forward? How can I keep moving? How can I keep? But at some, but sometimes that's not the best way to proceed.

Sometimes you have to stop beating your head against the wall and go, okay. Well, [00:07:00] maybe I need to turn around and, and try something completely different. And maybe that involves shutting this down and pivoting into doing something that is more worthy of my time and effort.  

Trista, Host: [00:07:11] Well, that's what I was going to say is I certainly don't look at that venture ending for you as a failure, except maybe the lessons you learned. I think nobody can really judge how a business owner decides to move forward because they're not in your shoes. Right. So I acknowledge you for having the courage to close because I'm sure that was probably as hard a decision to make as keeping it open.  

Lori Saitz: [00:07:36] It was, it sure was because my whole identity was in that business.  

Trista, Host: [00:07:41] Yeah. Well, and you did pivot and you now have a thriving coaching business and you actually created a brand that stuck with the Zen Rabbit. So share a little about the transition from Baker to coach.  

Lori Saitz: [00:07:54] Yeah. I have a background in marketing and corporate communications and a little bit in [00:08:00] broadcast. So, so I understand marketing and I did such a great job. I'll Pat myself on the back. Yeah, yeah. With, with some help from some team members too sure. ...of branding that company. With that name, Zen Rabbit, because it's so memorable that people would remember the name. They wouldn't necessarily remember my name, but they would see me and they would say Zen Rabbit. So when I came back to my entrepreneurial venture that I'm involved in now, I actually started this company with a different name and after a little while it became apparent that I needed to change that name. It was too restrictive. So I came back to the names Zen Rabbit because everybody's still associated me with that name. A lot of people in my network still knew me because of Zen Rabbit. So, okay, fine.  

My company is [00:09:00] still called Zen Rabbit. Informally I call it Zen Rabbit, 2.0 is not, it's not the baking company anymore, but, and, and I still had the license plate. Like I was like, Oh, I don't want to have to change my license plate  

Trista, Host: [00:09:11] there you go. I mean, that works.  

So share a little about what exactly you do for your client.

Lori Saitz: [00:09:16] Yeah. So now I work with clients to help them strategically build a business network. When I started Zen Rabbit, the baking company, I had to go to networking events, to meet clients, to meet referral partners, strategic partners, all that kind of thing. And it was really intimidating for me as what I will refer to as a quiet person, to walk into a room full of people that I didn't know. And break into a conversation, start a conversation with somebody I didn't know. That was really difficult for me. And so I learned how to do it better and how to build a business network. And that's, so now that's what I do, helping other business professionals [00:10:00] specifically more in sales, but all the other business professionals learn how to do. Because a business network is the most valuable asset a business person could possibly have no matter what happens in your business, in your life. If you have a strong network, you have access to opportunities that you might not otherwise have. And this became really apparent when I closed that business.   My network was strong. when I started this business, it was easier because that network was still in place.  

Trista, Host: [00:10:38] Absolutely. And I think we have another co-star. I see a second cat's not black. What's her name?  

Lori Saitz: [00:10:46] Panther .

Trista, Host: [00:10:47] Oh, that's awesome. Now you help people who are nervous. Maybe I'm going to say the word shy. I like your term quiet to be able to be out there and create a network.

[00:11:00] I really believe your network is your net worth.   It never occurred to me. I'm a gregarious, outgoing person. I like the stage, the spotlight I've done improv. Like I'm a very out there person, but for somebody who's not, and having to exist in groups of people where you're a stranger and everybody else that you walk into this room and everybody else seems like they're great friends and they known each other forever.

And you're the outsider. Yeah, I can imagine that. That's how it feels when you're going into a new networking setting. So what, what kind of tips would you have for somebody who's walking into that scenario?  

Lori Saitz: [00:11:39] Yeah, well, I, I look at networking as having three parts. What do you do once you're at the event? And then how do you manage the follow up piece and the building and the, the nurturing of the network, which I think is actually the most important part, but once you're so an event, what I would advise [00:12:00] people is figure out how you're going to answer the, what do you do question?

Cause it's the worst question in the world to ask, like, never ask the question because it doesn't really tell you anything. But people somehow have been trained to ask this question. And so, you know, you're going to get it. So instead of standing there like a deer in headlights, prepare an answer ahead of time so that you can answer it and then pivot the conversation into something more interesting, such as.

So my favorite question for asking people at networking events is what are you excited to be working on right now? You get into such a more interesting conversation and people are usually really excited to answer that question and it can be answered in a variety of ways, whether you're talking about something going on in your business or in your personal life, in, in a community, whatever it is, it just [00:13:00] leaves the door wide open.

Trista, Host: [00:13:02] You know, what I love about that question is it sets you apart because you're not asking the same question that everybody else is.   it allows you to see a more authentic side of a person because they are not prepared and they're, you haven't memorized it. And they haven't said it 50,000 times before. So it's like you're plugging into the real them. Cause   they can't give you a stock answer cause they don't have one.

So I love that.  

Lori Saitz: [00:13:27] Well, and that's the beauty of it of asking other questions that are not, let's say normal networking is that you get to know the real person. And that's really what networking is about. It's about making a connection with a human.  

Trista, Host: [00:13:46] Absolutely. Now we are in a weird time . Everything is virtual nobody's in the same room. So how do you advise people in this situation in a virtual world [00:14:00] to build a network, add new people to the network, expand a quality  

network.  

Lori Saitz: [00:14:07] Yeah. Yeah. That's a great question. And I I'm in the same boat you are because I do a lot of in house workshops at companies and speaking at conferences and a lot of what I do is teaching people how to do in person networking.

So, yeah. Uh, but I've been doing a lot of virtual digital workshops on this very topic and. The way to manage right now is  

we've all been to in person events in the past six months or eight months or a year where we've collected contact information, business cards, other kinds of contact information, put it on our desk and it sits there gathering dust.

Okay. So now is the best time to follow up on those connections and connect with [00:15:00] them through social media.  

LinkedIn is. The best business, social media, uh, for my purposes, I guess it really depends on what your business is, what social media platform works for you, but connecting with people there and then connecting with them, uh, to set up phone calls or video chats with them to just kind of get to know them.

And because people are a little more. Uh, laid back. They're not so much in business mode. I mean, you got cats coming into the,  

Trista, Host: [00:15:36] Oh, it's barking kids running behind you naked. I've heard.  

Lori Saitz: [00:15:40] Right. I've seen those videos. And so, so people are a little more informal and it gives you again, another opportunity to get to know people on a more human level.

Which is where you really start building the relationships.  

And then. Thirdly asking people that you already [00:16:00] know for introductions to people that you don't know. And again, I think people are more open to making connections now more than ever. So I've been telling this is such a fantastic time for networking actually. And for building your network.  

Trista, Host: [00:16:15] Yeah, I agree with that.

I have an online business and we're exploding right now. And typically I'll say like, who do you know, that's entrepreneurial or looking for an additional stream of income. And the person's like, I don't know. I'll have to think about it. But now with 30 million people on unemployment with everybody doing things remotely with so many people taking on extra gigs, Side hustles to fill in the income gaps.

Yup. I'm getting referrals so easily now.  

Lori Saitz: [00:16:46] I don't think that virtual is ever going to replace face-to-face like a lot of people are saying now, well, everybody's learned how much they can do virtually, so they will continue doing it. And, and in [00:17:00] person events will be effected and they won't, they won't happen as much. I don't agree with that. We still, as humans are wired to connect interpersonally and that is never going to go away.

Trista, Host: [00:17:11] Yeah, I think you're right. In fact, we are, as I said, we've moved everything virtually. We are not doing any in person events right now. I think when we go back to the in person events, people will be going in even larger groups and numbers than before, because it's like, I, you know, where are my people? I need to be around some people.

Lori Saitz: [00:17:35] Yeah. Yeah, right. This time has actually emphasized what I've been talking about for a couple of years that the in person is so important.  

Trista, Host: [00:17:46] I was just thinking, when you were talking about walking into a room full of strangers, it's almost like, you know how people, their first fear is public speaking.

It almost feels like a small microcosm version of public speaking.  

[00:18:00] Lori Saitz: [00:18:00] Yeah, it's interesting because I'm, I am a professional speaker as well, and I belong to the national speakers association and I've found that a lot of professional speakers are completely fine on stage when they're up on stage they're in control, but put them down networking and mingling with the audience and they freak out. It's really interesting because people are, they think that, well, if you're on stage, then you should be fine talking. No, that's not the case. So yeah,  

it is interesting.  

Trista, Host: [00:18:34] I want to, um, hook into LinkedIn . I think LinkedIn is a mystery to a lot of people I don't really see LinkedIn as a valuable resource, but I know other people who get a lot of work from it.

So can you give some tips? On using LinkedIn too, especially now. Right? Cause we're virtual. It's a perfect time to dive into that.  

Lori Saitz: [00:18:55] Right, right, right. It's really, yeah. About engagement in getting [00:19:00] on and engaging in other people's posts. What are they talking about? Can you leave a comment, a like a comment, a share.

And getting involved in the conversation just as if you were at an in person networking event, you were just standing on the side in a corner watching what's going on. You're not going to get as much benefit as if you step into the room and get involved in some conversations, same thing on LinkedIn and the same thing in terms of asking for introductions.

Say, if you were at an event you could potentially go to the event organizer or go to the person that you see is involved in a lot of conversations and ask that person for an introduction. Could you introduce me to whomever it is that you want to meet? Who's your ideal client?

Who's your ideal referral source. Is there somebody here that you think I should be talking [00:20:00] to? You can do the same thing on LinkedIn.  

Trista, Host: [00:20:04] I like that. Why would I choose LinkedIn versus Facebook groups, which are very popular now?  

Lori Saitz: [00:20:12] It's not necessarily one over the other. It really depends on who again, who do you want to meet?

LinkedIn is very business oriented. You know, you're not going to see pictures of people on, um, spring break necessarily, uh, over on LinkedIn, but. Uh, so the conversations are focused a little differently, but if you're looking for, I don't know, um, school teachers, let's say they might be more on Facebook than on LinkedIn.

And so it's really just a matter of who are you looking to connect with and where are they? Because they may be on Instagram. They might be on TikTok. I don't know. It really, it [00:21:00] depends, but again,   that's why it's so important that this piece before you go to a networking event. So what do you do before you get to an event?

Part of that strategy is figuring out what is it that you're offering and to whom so that you can know who to ask, where to find them one. And then second, who to ask for introductions.  

Trista, Host: [00:21:21] That makes perfect sense. And that's great using it as a connector tool. Like, Hey, can you introduce me to these types of people?

I really like that. Now you said you have some digital courses. Is there anything coming up that you think would really help people in this kind of environment that we're in?  

Lori Saitz: [00:21:38] Yeah. I have a video course that I've just completely revised and updated and it's, it's called Business Connections Mastery. So that is a great, uh, learn on your own tool.

Trista, Host: [00:21:53] And who would you say is a good, um, candidate to take that course? Like who would get a lot of value [00:22:00] from that course?  

Lori Saitz: [00:22:01] The people I'm finding are really getting a lot of value from it are sales people who have zero to 10 years of experience. Business people in general, but a lot of salespeople, because in order again, in order to be successful in business, you need to have this asset.

You need to know how to build this asset.  

Trista, Host: [00:22:30] Yeah, absolutely. How can someone have access to your course?  

Lori Saitz: [00:22:35] Yeah, that is at www.ZenRabbit.com/BCM, which is Business Connections Mastery.  

Trista, Host: [00:22:43] Nice. That's easy enough. We'll make sure that's in the show notes and the blog and the video description and everything so that people can get to that easily.

Um, is that live now?

Lori Saitz: [00:22:55] It is  

Trista, Host: [00:22:56] awesome. Okay, great.

I like to turn the tables and just have you [00:23:00] asked me a question if you have one. So do you have a question for me?  

Lori Saitz: [00:23:03] Yes. If you were stuck on a deserted Island and could only listen to one musical artist, who would it be?  

Trista, Host: [00:23:13] That's a tough one. I will say I have a couple of playlists that have collections of music that really pumped me up and get me feeling positive and happy.

And Most of the songs on there currently are Megan Trainor. she's very bold and strong and powerful, and she doesn't apologize for who she is and she owns her greatness and she has a good poppy upbeat, you can dance too. So I guess I would have to say at this moment, Megan Trainor.

Lori Saitz: [00:23:43] Okay, cool.  

Trista, Host: [00:23:44] Good question. Good question. I want to thank you so much for being on with me, Lori. This was super fun.  

Lori Saitz: [00:23:50] Thank you for having me.  

Trista, Host: [00:23:51] Awesome. Thanks so much.  

Lori Saitz: [00:23:54] Take care.

Trista, Host: [00:23:55] Thank you for joining us for this week's episode of Trista's PL8STORY [00:24:00] podcast. Please subscribe to Trista's PL8STORY podcast to get the story behind all those vanity plates, driving with you on the road. And if you would like to nominate the owner of a license plate, including you... Or visit any of our partners and sponsors come and see us www.pl8story.com. That's P L number eight story.com and give us the details.  

If you enjoyed this episode, please drop a review and give us a share. I'm Trista Polo wishing you well on the road to your next adventure.