Mike Willingham, VP, and COO of iPawn Arkansas and president at Willingham Diamonds speak on using leadership to influence persons to be their best self and work towards their dreams.
[00:24] Mike is an entrepreneur, passionate about leadership, investing and pawnbroking
[00:46] VP and COO of iPawn Arkansas, president at Willingham Diamonds and serves as a board member of National Pawnbrokers Association
[01:07] His true passion is influencing younger men to realize their leadership abilities
[01:54] Mike started pawnbroking with a friend of his, where they used items from their garage
[02:34] Mike currently has 2 stores
[02:46] Before August 2017, Arkansas had no regulations regarding pawnbroking. The law now states interest of 25% per month with a holding period of 30 days
[03:21] Mike pawns jewelry, general merchandise, boats, cars, RVs and much more
[03:29] He opened his first store 8 years ago
[03:47] Finding passionate and ambitious employees is one of the hardest situations Mike has experienced
[04:44] He pays above-average wages, gives employees health care, free gym membership, and other benefits, just like a large corporation would
[05:25] Employees are kept active and also marketing themselves and the company (while they wear iPawn shirts)
[06:49] Why is personal branding important? "Your employees are going to make more money, which means you are going to make more money."
[08:17] When you become a better leader, it challenges your team to want to become better leaders
[09:44] "If you don't let salespeople set their own goals, they're gonna set them much higher than you would usually"
[09:22] "Leadership in its purest definition is influence"
[10:53] Becoming a better leader improves your bottom-line
[11:36] People set goals, but don't have a plan for achieving them
[13:23] You must commit, by investing time and money, to anything you want to become great at doing
[13:44] Mike read and became involved in mentorship at radicalmentoring.com to become a better leader.
[15:43] "If you don't have enthusiasm about what you're doing then you're wasting your time."
[16:58] Mike started Willingham Diamonds from something that he loves to do
[17:38] He separates the pawnshop and Willingham Diamonds so that each entity makes its own profits
[18:39] Mike used events that would lead persons to his social media pages
[19:27] You must use social media as a platform to educate, not just sell
[20:18] Even if you utilize different styles, leadership can be portrayed at home and at work
[23:05] Your staff can determine whether or not you get business based on their customer service
[25:53] Lack of vision and know-how can prevent a pawnbroker from building their staff to make themselves better leaders and improve the viability of the pawnbroker
[27:03] iPawn core values:
[28:40] In the pawnbroker business, we've become so transaction-oriented that we don't pay attention to our customers. Forming a relationship with the customer can upgrade them to a client
[30:20] "Employees are the backbone of your business"
[30:42] Training employees gets them to where they need to be in the business
[31:02] The TTS report focuses on emotional stability, making decisions, leadership potential and best-fit job roles for employees
[32:12] 'Be Obsessed or Be Average' - Grant Cordone https://www.amazon.com/Be-Obsessed-Average-Grant-Cardone/dp/1101981059 talks about sales and leading people
[32:33] 'Smart Business Management"...
[33:08] "Invest in your staff and invest in yourself. Pay your staff more money, give an opportunity to earn more money"
[33:32] Contact Mike at:
