The cavnessHR podcast – a talk with Anna Hoobler

The cavnessHR podcast can be found at the following places:

The cavnessHR Blog: https://cavnessHR.silvrback.com
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-cavnesshr-podcast/id1289104534 
Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/cavnesshr/the-cavnesshr-podcast?refid=stpr
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-119338849/the-cavnesshr-podcast-10
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7JkiVaIfHY

Social Media links for Anna Hoobler!!
www.facebook.com/seattlebenefitsconsulting

www.seattlebenefitsconsulting.com

www.linkedin.com/in/anna-hoobler

Office: 206.556.2993
 
 Seattle Benefits Consulting LLC

Free Resources Below!!!!!!

One of our partners that we work with, is offering a special opportunity right now through the end of the year—where we can actually offer every single employee in their organization the option of either; a free fraud - protection; an accidental death and dismemberment benefit; or a telemedicine option.

JASON: Hello and welcome to The cavnessHR Podcast.
I'm your host Jason Cavnesss. Our guest today is Anna Hoobler.
Anna, are you ready to be great today?

ANNA: I am Jason.

JASON: Anna Hoobler, along with her husband Brandon, are the principals and co-founders of Seattle Benefits Consulting, located in Seattle, Washington. Seattle Benefits Consulting is a hyper-local employee benefits insurance agency serving all of Washington state. Coming from a family of entrepreneurs has given her unique insight, perspective and knowledge that's been invaluable to
her ability to solve her clients’ problems, and proactively anticipate their needs. She believes that employees are a vital part of every business. Anna created Seattle Benefits Consulting with the vision of optimizing all employer and employee relationships.

JASON: Anna’s positivity and ambitious attitude, coupled with Brandon's problem-solving skills and work ethic make them a dynamic power couple. Complementing each other’s strengths and weaknesses, they work seamlessly as a team to serve not only their family's needs but their clients’ as well. Anna Hoobler is a quintessential people person. Empathetic and creative, she truly loves to teach, mentor, and help the people around her. She believes that failure is not an option, actions speak louder than words, and dreams should always be bigger than your fears. Anna studied business administration management and operations at Boise State University. When she's not working, Anna loves to travel, is an avid reader, treasure spending time with her family, enjoys swimming and kayaking on the lake in their backyard. Anna, thank you very much for being here.

ANNA: Thank you Jason.

JASON: You sound like you’re doing a lot. You sound like you're doing your best to do the work/life balance. But I know I'm probably missing important things you're working on right now. So, can you talk a little bit about what you're working on and how your company is doing right now?

ANNA: Yeah, thank you Jason. So, you know really one of the challenges right now and one of our passions is helping business kind of navigate and going through some of the challenges right now in industry with employee benefits. A lot of my clients right now are currently experiencing certain key issues. So, it can cause some concerns with turnover. You know, we engage in a workforce and how do you engage those employees to help them perform their optimal results. How do we increase productivity, or attracting and retaining some of the top talents? You know, those are some of the key concerns that a lot of employers and a lot of my clients have said that they're experiencing currently.

ANNA: What I found is with small business owners is that they are oftentimes challenged or sometimes frustrated with how do they compete against large organizations? How do they find and leverage and optimize? What they can do for the employees on there. So really that's kind of our passion with our business, is really coming up with some creative solutions to help small business owners, and give them a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Because I feel that they have some strengths that businesses can leverage on those challenges.

JASON: So Anna, when you hear the word ‘benefits,’ what comes to mind for you?

ANNA: You know, benefits can look at a lot of different forms. So obviously, most people think immediately of major medical insurance. But there are a lot of ways that employers can offer benefits to an employee. Benefits can be in many different things. First and foremost, what are their primary valuesof the business, what's important to them, and how do we transfer that to the employees on there. So, it can be anything from major medical, to income protection to life insurance—even to education and access. Most people don't think of that as a benefit that they're offering to their employees, but taking the time to allow their employees to be informed to make crucial decisions for their personal situation—it can be key.

JASON: From your experience, do you think most small business owners realize what a great tool benefits can be, as far as retaining and recruiting good talent?

ANNA: You know I think they are aware of it, and I think they know. I just sometimes think they get frustrated with exactly what strategy is out there. In my experience a lot of business owners are so busy operating their day-to-day operations. You know, they're challenged with wearing a lot of different hats and trying to leverage as much as they can to optimize their business. They just don't have the time or the energy to really go and find those creative solutions. That is where a benefit advisor can really come in handy, and be key to helping it guide that small business owner—to save them time and energy, and simplify and navigate through that whole process. Especially with the complexity that it has become a little bit more today than it used to be.

JASON: Yes, exactly. What would you say is the pretty much most common benefit you see out there right now?

ANNA: You know health insurance is definitely one of the most common benefits that's out there. But with a lot of small business owners, they have creative ways they can do it even if they can't offer health insurance. You know there are strategies out there to do a defined contribution. Even if somebody can't offer health insurance, bring in a benefits consultant and help your employees get enrolled on the health exchange. You know most employees just want somebody to guide them and give them access to information and help them with some of those crucial decisions in their life.

JASON: Now going to the other the spectrum, what's the craziest benefit you've seen?

ANNA: Craziest benefits . . . I don't know if it's crazy—where they give away a turkey every year to every employee for Thanksgiving time. So, I don't know if it's crazy, but it’s definitely creative.

JASON: I’ve heard that one before.

ANNA: There are definitely a lot of trends and people are looking for more and more creative stuff in a marketplace right now.

JASON: So does your business focus on small businesses, or can any kind of business come to get help from you?

ANNA: Small business— that's really where our heart is at. We can help with large corporations as well. We do have affiliate partners that we can help with some of their key concerns as well. It just kind of depends on the scenario; on what they're looking for. If we're not able to help them, we usually have people that we can refer them to.

JASON: Now moving on to something personal. What is someplace that you have not yet traveled, that you want to go to?
ANNA: Oh man! I would love to go to Costa Rica. I think it's kind of one of my next goals. I've been to some of Europe but I definitely would like to go to England as well. I think those are the two that are kind of on my next . . .

JASON: Do you get to travel as much as you want to?

ANNA: Yeah, you know obviously running a business . . . you still got to come home and run a business. But you know, that's one of the advantages of being self-employed is a little bit more freedom and flexibility: kind of one of the reasons we get into small business.

JASON: So, next Anna, talk about a time you were successful, what you learned from the success and what we can learn from this.

ANNA: I had a situation recently, I'll talk about it—kind of a case I had that I think was a great learning lesson for all employers. This was an employer that could not offer major medical. She owned a restaurant that was a pizza joint on a limited budget. Traditionally it has a demographic of employees that can be challenging because of turnover and things like that. It can be difficult to get engaged in any kind of benefit offerings. I met with the employer originally and just kind of talked about what her goals were, and it was really clear that she really cared about her employees and wanted to do as much as possible.

ANNA: So, what we did in that case is we implemented a voluntary benefits strategy. She had looked at it before and had seen very little participation. So, I educated her on that. Really it was her attitude that really could make a difference. She's seen that it was of value and I coached her and said, then tell your employees. Tell them how much this means to you. Tell them what your experience has been. Don't be afraid to say and talk about what you can do.

ANNA: Don't focus on what you can't do—focus on what you can do, and have that positive attitude and be confident about it.’ We did a new meeting—again very, very minimal participation before the results—and with kind of that change in direction you know we've seen the participation go up almost 75% in the group. Really it was just kind of getting to that key attitude of being proud of what she could do, and making available and having access to education, and just providing access to resources even though she couldn't necessarily pay for the resources—just providing the access meant a lot to her employees and they took advantage of it.

JASON: I'm seeing you get a lot of satisfaction when you do that too, don’t you?

ANNA: Yes, you know I love helping small business owners.

JASON: That's great. Next tell us about something you failed, what you learned from this failure and what we can learn from your failure.

ANNA: Wow you know failure is always a difficult thing to talk about for sure. You know, early on in my career, you know sometimes when you get a new client . . . you're really excited obviously. Sometimes though, through the process you'll start realizing that they maybe have a different perspective or a different agenda than what your experience and what your knowledge knows that will work. I had a situation where really it was kind of the way they wanted to go about educating their employees on the benefits. They really did not want to take any time to communicate or educate the employees on something they were paying for! Typically benefits can make up to 30% - 40% of somebody’s total compensation. And they didn't really want to allow communication. I knew that was not a great goal.

ANNA: But because I was newer in the industry, didn't really voice my opinion. I went along with what the business owner wanted and ultimately, we didn't reach what their goals were. We really struggled with getting participation. Employees weren't reading their emails and the communication that was getting sent. It took a lot longer to get everything wrapped up and taken care of.

ANNA: Kind of what I learned from that is you know . . . I'm there you know . . . having a professional consultant to be . . . you have them for a reason. They're wanting your experience and your knowledge and your insights on doing this every day to be that consultant and help coach them on what can optimize their results—because this is a huge investment for a lot of businesses. So really learning to help coach our clients is kind of where to help optimize what their goals and their results that they're wanting and not being afraid to say you know ‘hey that's a great idea but that's not going to work and here's why,’ was a big learning lesson for me that luckily, I learned very early on and helped out with the rest of my career as well.

JASON: So now that you’re more established, other times have you maybe you disqualified potential customers based on this previous experience?

ANNA: You know sometimes you do need to turn customers away. Sometimes it's not the right fit. You know I have learned . . . finding customers that have values that align with yours really creates for an optimal partnership. If you don't have it and it's not the right fit, you're going to be disappointed. The client’s going to be disappointed. You're just trying to put—you know that old saying of—putting a round peg in a square hole. It just doesn't work. You have to be true to your values and really take the time to understand what your client’s values and what their goals are—and do that kind of at the beginning. I always tell them, ‘I’d rather turn you down now than let you down later.’

JASON: That's a very good one right there. Now Anna right now you're just consulting in Washington state. Do you have plans to move out of state in the near future?

ANNA: We do a little bit. Some of the surrounding areas on a case-by-case basis. We are licensed in a few other surrounding states like Idaho, Oregon, California. But again, we like to under-promise and over-deliver. So, we want to make sure that we have the ability to scale correctly to help serve our clients’ needs on there. So, it is a goal to kind of really be more of the western territory but for now you know, we want to focus close to home. We are big on education for not only the business owners, but the employees and a little bit easier to do when it's nearby.

JASON: Anna, now you were talking about this a little bit, but expand a little bit on this right here: talk about how you add value and solve problems.

ANNA: You know, a lot of how we add value and solve problems is kind of in the initial discovery: finding out what people's objectives are, and what their goals are. What are they looking to do? What is their pain point in their business? What I found and the reason that motivated me to get in and then be a benefits consultant, is I found so many brokers out there that were just pricing products and just throwing product to the wind and not really making sure that it was the right fit or that it was really solving the problems that that employer was experiencing. You know, are they experiencing turnover?

ANNA: Are they experiencing low productivity or unengaged employees? It's a big investment to get into benefits of any sorts, and it takes time away from the business. So, we want to make sure that the employees fully understand the employer—the value that the employer is bringing. But it's really kind of finding out and taking the time at the beginning to find out what their objectives are and then meeting at the end so make sure everybody got their objectives filled, and their goals filled. And you know that they're there seeing the results for the investment and what they are committing to.

JASON: Anna, next talk about someone who's helped you in the past and how they helped you.

ANNA: So I'm going to do a shameless plug here for my husband. Really, I think you know when you're in a business and you're in an entrepreneurial role having an advocate of any sorts is so crucial. And you know I really am blessed that my husband is constantly trying to empower me. He's not intimidated by my leadership and my visions. But also, not afraid to kind of . . . when my visions get a little too lofty . . . to help coach me back into reality sometimes. To make sure it’s something obtainable and that you know that we can commit to it, and really balancing and supporting that. And I think you know, whether it's a friend or a mentor or family member or spouse it’s so important to have that advocate for your business. That person that’s going to help be your best cheerleader, to help coach you on. And for me that's you know, I’m blessed that that's my husband.

JASON: I have a cousin who into business with their husband and it actually made their marriage stronger.

ANNA: It has. You know really where our strengths and weaknesses are very different than each other. And when you stop getting frustrated at how they’re different or how they do things not like you, and realize that can make an optimal business partner —along with a life partner—it just makes for such a great experience that you really can pull from each other’s strengths and weaknesses to become a better team than one individual on there. So, for us it's been positive but there’s definitely the challenges some days I will admit that.

JASON: I'm sure there is like I’m seeing you 24/7.

ANNA: Yes, yes. So just you know, trying to create that balance as well is key to kind of you know to getting long-term results on there.

JASON: Next tell us something that most people don't know about you. I’m sure your husband knows, close friends— but people don't know this about yourself.

ANNA: This kind of goes in the hand with your last question too. Most people don't know . . . well I'm the oldest of four children. I was raised by my mother, who was an entrepreneur herself and is legally blind and has no sight. She actually gave up her license when I was two weeks old and really one of the best advantages, you know, I ever had in my life is seeing and being raised by somebody that really helped persevere through setbacks and hardships and not let things define her. She ran a business and they ran a multi-million dollar commercial construction company. She just did not let having a disability set back her goals in life. She had raised four kids—that in itself is a challenge. That would be something that people don't know about me: is kind of having that influence and that background really set me up for success, to not be defined by any setbacks that you have.

JASON: That's a great story, and I bet it's kind of hard to give up and stop with that, you know, your background right there. It’s kind of hard to tell you mother, ‘hey I'm going to stop and quit.’ I can just imagine what she’s would tell you.

ANNA: Yes. No she doesn't. In fact she’s actually . . . they're filming a documentary about her and my uncle because they lost their eyesight as children. So yeah that they're about to be featured, their life story is about to be documented. I'm really excited for her on that.

JASON: that's going to be a great story. So Anna we’re coming to the end of our talk. I understand you have something for our listeners?

Free Resources Below!!!!!!

ANNA: Yes I do. So again, kind of with my passion to really help small business owners leverage anything they can, and optimize their benefits package, and give them a competitive advantage in the marketplace over large corporations. One of our partners that we work with, is offering a special opportunity right now through the end of the year—where we can actually offer every single employee in their organization the option of either; a free fraud - protection; an accidental death and dismemberment benefit; or a telemedicine option.

ANNA: So, this is a really great opportunity that employers can use this and leverage. Even if they don't offer any benefits, there's no cost to the business on it and there's no cost to the employees. We can help leverage that and get them access to even some benefits on there. Some benefits are better than no benefits, and we can help them optimize that for them.

JASON: Thank you for that, Anna. That can be really a good use for them.

ANNA: Yeah! Especially with the new Equifax data breach—free fraud protection. Trust me your employees are looking for solutions for this right now.

JASON: Anna, can you provide us some ways to reach out to you on social media? Either LinkedIn, Facebook or whatever social media platform you might use?

ANNA: Yeah so you know we follow me on LinkedIn under Anna Hubler. You can friend me on LinkedIn. Also, Seattle Benefits Consulting: we have a Facebook Page, as well as a LinkedIn page on that as well. If you are interested in taking advantage of the promotional offer that we have right now through the end of the year, you can contact me. You can send me an email at anna@seattlebenefitsconsulting.com or visit our website at seattlebenefitsconsulting.com.

JASON: For our listeners, all these links will be on our show notes. Anna are coming to the end of our conversation. Do you have any last words of wisdom or advice for listeners?

ANNA: You know, just never let your dreams be bigger than your fears. And your actions— always make sure they're louder than your words. And you know, if you want to help make your benefits better contact us at Seattle Benefits Consulting— we will definitely do everything we can to be the right partner for you.

JASON: Anna, thank you very much for being here today. I know your talent is valuable and I really appreciate all you are doing for us.

ANNA: Thank you so much for having me here Jason, I really appreciate it.

JASON: To our listeners thank you very much for being here. And remember to be great every day. Thank you.

Social Media links for Anna Hoobler!!
www.facebook.com/seattlebenefitsconsulting

www.seattlebenefitsconsulting.com

www.linkedin.com/in/anna-hoobler

Office: 206.556.2993
 
  Seattle Benefits Consulting LLC

Free Resources Below!!!!!!
One of our partners that we work with, is offering a special opportunity right now through the end of the year—where we can actually offer every single employee in their organization the option of either; a free fraud - protection; an accidental death and dismemberment benefit; or a telemedicine option.