Phillip K. Naithram: All right. So, Reeba, Reeba Magulick D eight
Reeba Magulick: correct d eight group.
Phillip K. Naithram: D eight group that has a very specific meaning. What is that?
Reeba Magulick: Oh, this is fun. I love to talk about, this. so, in the game of chess, there are many pieces correct. and every space, on the chess board has a title, the space where the most powerful piece in the game sits. Philip is on D eight. It’s the piece that can move in any direction. And that happens to be, do you know what it is the queen, the queen, can move in any direction and it’s a little you know, cute marketing gimmick. Uh It’s um, a little girl power there, but really the analogies to government contracting are real. So, when I meet people, I say, hey, I’m arming you with, the most powerful piece in the game to help you get to check mate. and in our business, that means helping our clients win government contracts ethically and within the bounds of the, federal acquisition
Phillip K. Naithram: yeah, so does that mean you’re the queen? You’re the queen peace.
Reeba Magulick: No
Phillip K. Naithram: You’re the one that goes anywhere on the board.
Reeba Magulick: D8 Group is the queen, you know, da group is your partner to help you win.
Phillip K. Naithram: How’d you come up with that? Like where did this, did you play chess as a, as a kid? Or are you big into that?
Reeba Magulick: I did. I won’t say that I’m an awesome chess player. It’s funny. When I was trying to come up with names for the business, I kept thinking about because it’s true in this day and age, it’s so competitive Philip to win a government contract moves and countermoves strategy planning, you know, four to five steps down the board. So, to speak, to get to check There is so much strategy involved that originally, I had thought of counter countermove consulting.
That was my original name. countermove consulting. I thought that was cool. But honestly, I did have some help. I had a branding expert who came in and said, all right, let’s work with this chess theme. Uh, how about D eight? you know, and, and keeping with two syllables, easy to spell all of those things that checked all the boxes. And it’s a great story when I share it. Isn’t it?
Phillip K. Naithram: Yeah. It’s a pretty awesome story. It’s a pretty awesome story. So, Dan, how, how long have you guys been around? Are you relatively young?
Reeba Magulick: We’re relatively young. I like to say we’re the teenagers of the pack You know, we’ve been around for years. Um, in this time we’ve had 50 clients, believe it or not, some of the top. names in the business and the government, contracting space, small midsize, large Silicon Valley, firms, product companies, service companies, you name it? So, um, the last four years has been, uh, a very, very fun experience as an entrepreneur. and, uh, we’re here and we’re growing. I believe we’re offering something that people really need and are seeking us out for those
Phillip K. Naithram: Yeah. Is that you say you identify yourself as an entrepreneur.
Reeba Magulick: Oh, for sure yeah.
Phillip K. Naithram: What does that mean to you? Like when you say entrepreneur, what do you, what do you feel like? That means?
Reeba Magulick: Well, for me, it’s so empowering. Phillip It’s so empowering. It’s the ability to, create something out of nothing, something that didn’t exist, da group didn’t exist. Right. The branding the services, the offerings, the pricing, the messaging, all of that. And the fact that. there are paying and the model that the hypothesis has proven itself, an idea that was in my mind that hey, I have this idea. I wonder if this could be a valuable offering to society, to our industry and the fact that yes, indeed it was, and it’s growing and there’s even greater demand. So, to me, an entrepreneur Is that um, person that can take a concept, you got a lot of visionaries out there. Am I right? But it’s few and far between that can take a vision and breathe life into it and make it. a reality. That is an entrepreneur.
Phillip K. Naithram: How did you go from having that vision to becoming the entrepreneur?
Reeba Magulick: I love this question. So, I, uh, over the last 16 years in the federal government, contracting space, I found my special niche in business development. So, business development and capture, I hate to say it, but it’s probably as Close as you can get to sales, if you will, although technically, you can’t really sell to the federal government, but I would say it’s as close as you can get to your solutions and so, um, how I got there is I personally, had a lot of success in business development. So, what I did previously was I was working for a number of different government contractors and I was successful in helping the team win government contracts.
And I say team because it’s never a one-person thing, but I can sit here. look you in the eye and tell them. a hundred percent, this, like the deal wouldn’t have happened without certain things that, uh, I made happen. for that deal. So, after having success and then finding that this was a very sought-after skillset said, hey, this could be something that we could offer too multiple.
companies. And, and it was a gamble, just like every entrepreneur has to gamble because the gamble. was, are people really going to buy into this? Are they really going to outsource something so um, personal you know, to, to their company? Um, but like I said, the model has proven So that, that’s how this all came to
Phillip K. Naithram: Did you go through a period of time where you had to convince yourself almost that this was a good idea?
Reeba Magulick: Yes.
Phillip K. Naithram: What did that look like? Were you journaling? Like, were you going to motivation conference? It like that, that transition from, I have this idea because a lot of like a lot of people, like you said, a lot of people have ideas,
Reeba Magulick: but they can’t breed them into life
Phillip K. Naithram: And a lot of times it’s fear that stops us from doing that because I think it’s very easy for folks to think of all the reasons why something won’t work out and harder to think of all the ways and all the action items that are required to make something happen.
Reeba Magulick: No, there’s definitely a story behind it. And, um, hopefully this will bring comfort to a lot of people out there who are, who think similarly to me, I will say, I always envisioned the entrepreneur. Like my father is an entrepreneur.
He has a very high, risk, a risk tolerance. I do not. So, it was a very interesting when I tell you what it looked like for me, being the, planner, the Uber planner down 10th degree, this was a huge step for me to go out and do this. I was scared. I, did a lot of praying. on it. but I will tell you, I didn’t just jump off the cliff.
So, because I am a planner, I call myself, the chicken entrepreneur. I was a chicken. I had plan a, B and the other part of the original question that you asked. me is I was leaving a very good situation, Philip, a good situation, salary, Great company. So, it’s one thing. If you’re you’ve got nowhere to go but down, but I was already on this upward trajectory and I’m like, why, why, why would you stop and do this? The pain has to be great enough to motivate you to look for something better. So, what it looked like for me was like I said, praying, talking to my husband, going and finding out, confirming that I would have one or two clients on the other side of this.
to start. And then, like I said, chicken entrepreneur contingency plan. B. If I fail within this timeframe, I gave myself a deadline. in six months, this doesn’t happen. I’ll go look for a job plan. see if this doesn’t happen, you know, I’ll go get a job. So, it, it, it, it looked like that. It was very, um, uh, it was tough. And, and your question about how did I prepare
journaling, et cetera? I in a way I hadn’t really thought about this until you just asked me this in a way. I’ve been preparing for it. My whole. cause. Um, this is going to sound very nerdy, but like my passion actually is business, pure business. And my brother and I argue about this all the time. It was like, ah, business degree is a waste of It’s so generic, but I actually may lover of business for businessโs sake, the profitability, the management, capital management and motivation.
The marketing, the sales, all of it has fascinated me. So, for many books that I’ve read. um, I had an undergraduate at UVA you know, school commerce went on and did my MBA. So, I don’t think I realized it, but I actually was prepared as a business person to know what to do as an entrepreneur
Phillip K. Naithram: So, you had a baseline of confidence just based on your experience and education that you, you at least knew what it should look. To be in business, maybe not necessarily your specific business, but you had a framework
Reeba Magulick: that’s such a good way to describe it. Yeah, it was that when I think back to UVA, and the comm school, they were training many CEOs. They were training you to think like CEOs from all these different angles, all the Harvard business cases like I said, I didn’t think about it until you just asked me that. But uh, in a way I think that has helped me, um, more than I realized that I always had that baseline in the background and good to great books like that. Like, I, I love books like that.
Phillip K. Naithram: Are you a big reader? Is that your process?
Reeba Magulick: I am, I love to read, love to read. And I’m one of those few that will take something that I’ve read and actually experiment and put into practice Some of the suggestions. there’s a lot of people will read, but I often say, oh, this book changed my life, that book changed my life and I, after a while, I was like, I’m saying that a lot. And I think it’s because I allow it to
Phillip K. Naithram: Yeah. What’s one of those change your life books.
Reeba Magulick: So, I have some favas. Um, I have so many, but like I said, good to great was one of those and you know, the whole concept of making sure that the people are on the right. having the right people on the bus to begin with on this journey. and then making sure they’re in the right seats, wonderful book by James. Collins, 48 laws of 48 laws of power, kind of interesting.
Phillip K. Naithram: you. So that’s one that you can actually like, give me one of those that you apply to your life and like what it did for you. And I’m sure it had personal and professional, uh, benefits.
Reeba Magulick: that one is a tough one. That was a tough one. because, um, it was very eye-opening and raw, right? I mean, there were things that you read and you’re like, this is evil, this isn’t right. But then at the same time, you’re like my God every person in power that I know exhibits these, like, this is real they’re on, they’re on point with some of this. So, I had to electively say that, hey, I’m not going to. adopt, uh, you know, the law that says, hey, I’m going to take credit for other people’s work. I didn’t like that one. I reject that but, um, I’m trying to think one,
off the top of my head here, but the one that seems to stick with me as a beware. of the beware of envy. Um, and you know, I won’t say that it dramatically changed my life, but it’s one of those things to be humble in and just don’t take for granted. I hate to say, watch but do, be very aware of how your people around And, um, you know, it’s not that you have to change your behavior, but it’s very important to be cognizant. Don’t assume that everybody is like hurrah. Yay. succeeding I’ve got his back a just be aware that success breeds envy sometimes
Phillip K. Naithram: have you had to deal with that? Have you lost friends or colleagues because of it?
Reeba Magulick: I wouldn’t say so. only because I’m an Extreme diplomat
Phillip K. Naithram: it’s come up. It’s been a part of the process.
Reeba Magulick: I believe that I have sensed it sure. And uh, it doesn’t hurt my feelings. It’s all part of the game. Right. And that, that’s one of those things that it’s just being aware of Um, these types of elements, um, just being, cognizant of take some of that emotional uh, reaction away. because you don’t want to be, uh, emotionally reactive. and then of course, I’ll name one other book, which it might be dated now because this was so long ago that it’s probably not, even relevant anymore, but it’s play like a man, but when like a woman by Gail fun title. Right. Um, and without going into too much detail that the premise of that is you cannot win a game. just like chess. that we talked about earlier, you can’t win a game the rules and if the rules were established by us, then you got to at least be cognizant of those rules. Otherwise, you’re bumping into walls and not realizing how to navigate the space. So that book definitely helped me in my career, all these books, have helped me in my career, but that in particular being vocal, being noticed, making an impression, not being shy to ask for the corner office or not being shy to ask or the next um, because that’s how the, game is played.
Phillip K. Naithram: yeah, let’s lean into that a little bit. So, you, asking for what you want is hard, right? So, I
Reeba Magulick: for many
Phillip K. Naithram: right. Or it can be right because, and I think a lot of it is fear, fear of rejection, fear of success also, because what if I get it and I’m not actually qualified
Reeba Magulick: qualified
Phillip K. Naithram: You know, that sort of thing.
Have you felt any of that? And if so, what do you do about it? How do you overcome it?
Reeba Magulick: I Love, love this question. So, I’m going to actually, mention one other book lean in by Sheryl Sandberg. I think that she is right on point with saying that, her. opinion, that women will tend to wait until they believe that they’re fully ready for a position before they ask Whereas a guy will be like, hey, I’m going to reach for the brass ring. And if I fall down, I fall down. And that was one of those rules that I had to realize.
that if you don’t put your hand up and say, I want it and be ready for them to and accept that, because guess what? happens the You’re not playing for this round. You’re playing for the next round Now they know, oh, shoot. I turned this person down once, but hey, they’ve exhibited a desire for leadership and growth. You’re on their mind, like you, you’ve moved, you’ve advanced the chess piece, so to
if you don’t ask, you don’t get that is my core philosophy
Phillip K. Naithram: well, and it could just be that the other people around you or the universe as a whole or whatever may just think that’s not one of your desires. Because you didn’t ask for you. Didn’t ask for it.
Reeba Magulick: And you Sometimes I feel that we can be ego centric in our Um, I don’t know if it’s because of how our, parents coddled us or what it might’ve been, but you If you’re egocentric, you have to assume that the you are also in the sense that They’re focused on their universe You’re not going to be able to read my mind and know that I would like this. next if you knew that you might say, hey, Reeba, you should go read this book or go take this course or go talk to such and such. mentor. They can You have to put it out there. And I’ve definitely made that a part of my life even more so now as an entrepreneur, because your question about fear, love that Fearlessness, fearlessness. There’s only one way to become fearless is that you have to face it. and overcome it. You have to ask
be rejected, get your feelings. and then try again. And it’s like, you know, it’s the third, fourth, fifth. time that your skin gets tough. And you’re like, okay, no, no. could mean maybe or not yet. You know, I can’t let that. hurt my feelings. I’ve got to keep moving
Phillip K. Naithram: I love how you just framed that. If they could read your mind, they wouldn’t just give you something. They would direct you too somewhere. You can go a mentor, take this course. Here’s how you better yourself to get what you want. Cause that already says a lot about you. That it’s not about just having something it’s about being prepared to get there.
Reeba Magulick: Absolutely. And also, it’s okay to fail. Like you said, you might get there and realize, oh wow, I’m ill qualified You know, be Um, one of my mentors and I’ve had at least four really great mentorsโ life. One of them, your former guests, John Munn, Gucci you know, CEO of CACI. Um, youโve got to be it’s okay to sidestep. It’s okay to go, what is it? Uh, he said it was a rock climb, you know, sometimes you have to go sideways to get to the top and that’s okay.
It’s okay, to fail. what’s the worst that can happen, you know, be, be honest about it and move on because those are the people that make it top
They have to be, brave
Phillip K. Naithram: yeah.
Even Sandberg. She talks about how it’s a jungle gym, not a, not a ladder.
Reeba Magulick: And I’ll go on to say that you know, sometimes. I don’t want to Make distinctions But, um, sometimes rejection on known, and sometimes we fear it. I know I’ve seen it. among my, colleagues oftentimes in sales, it’s a male You won’t see as women because to be able to face
Phillip K. Naithram: well, we get rejected by women all the time.
Reeba Magulick: You
Phillip K. Naithram: So
Reeba Magulick: yeah, you’ve been built up for
Phillip K. Naithram: yeah, we’ve been doing that since back it. Yeah. That’s been going on since back in elementary
Reeba Magulick: welcome
Phillip K. Naithram: yeah. You guys have been chased in like, yeah. He’s, someone’s going to like me
Reeba Magulick: but it’s. hard. It doesn’t because when it’s time for you to chase, you have to have the guts to
Phillip K. Naithram: yeah. It’s hard. And that’s one of those social things that just,
Reeba Magulick: it’s reactive versus proactive. I mean, there are ways to, I guess, cast that net, but I agree it’s for men. I mean, I just think that’s such a scary thing. Especially as you’re going through adolescence to have
Phillip K. Naithram: uh, Tina, you’re already kind of weird and it’s
Reeba Magulick: you’re already feeling so Awkward, but you know, it’s, the exact same analogy that you yeah, get over it and you it’s, it’s a means to an end. It’s exactly the same thing. It’s like, I always say that, um, so many analogies can be drawn to dating You know, if you want that job, that next thing, whatever, you know, what it feels like to want you put your blood, sweat, tears, imagination, creative energy, everything in. And, And I, I say, business development it’s fun.
You know, you’re in the hunt, you have to enjoy that hunt. And it’s like, whoa, this thing is coming out in eight How do I get myself into the crosshairs? how do I get myself into the wind zone, for this particular opportunity? I find it fascinating.
Phillip K. Naithram: Yeah, sometimes it’s just about being in the room.
Reeba Magulick: being in the right place, right. Time
Phillip K. Naithram: Just start by getting in the room. Right. Once you’re in the room, now you can meet the people in the room. Once you get to know the people in the room, you’re going to eventually start to do business with one person in that room once you, but it’s like, but if your goal is to let me just go from here to all the way over there winning that, but it’s like, you didn’t even set yourself up for success because you had an unreasonable
Reeba Magulick: correct Correct
You know, like I said, I loved your question about fear. If there’s one piece of advice I would give to young people school, um, who have that Fire and ambition, overcome your as early as you can. I was lucky.
Phillip K. Naithram: Well, so yeah, I ask everyone that’s been on the show and that’s, that’s great that we’re going to talk about that now the jumping off point, right. And it’s, it’s kind of like a two-part question. Um, the jumping off point where you ever at a time in life, either personally, or professionally, where you were unsure about what to do next, but you knew you couldn’t keep doing what you were doing. And you were probably like, you know, a moment of fear or something that you look back on that was probably hard and
Reeba Magulick: but it was the catalyst
Phillip K. Naithram: Right. That changed
Reeba Magulick: Yeah. And it’s continuing to change everything. It’s it’s actually quite remarkable. and fun to look back on it. There was a jumping off point, for sure. And as you can tell, I’m, you’ve known me a short while here, Philip, I’m a positive person. I’m a glass half full person I’m a happy person it’s very, and sometimes it works against me because I don’t see the flaws. I don’t see the problems. And I just keep Surging ahead, with that positive energy, but, but you know, in life, sometimes you do have to stop and say, wait a what am I doing?
You know, is this good? Could it be better? So, I believe that my positivity actually worked against me oddly for many years because I really now looking back think I could have done this much earlier in um, but I just didn’t see the problems. I’m not a person that easily sees problems I’m always looking for the solution. So, the jumping off point for me, I remember distinctly I’m in a,
in a conference room, bunch of people around me, and, I’m like I said, I’m fearless and I love to pitch. I love to pitch my, case for, hey, we need to pursue this deal for XYZ reason. You know, I know how to do that effectively. um,
but I think it was after the 10th was a voice in my you cannot This is ridiculous. You know, trying to play defense around a deal. that I’ve lined up beautifully. And and at that point I said, you rebuilt all the blood, sweat, creative thoughts that you’ve put into fulfilling someone else’s mission It’s time for you to invest that energy in your own damn dreams, you know, like what could you do if you were actually uh, putting forth?
something that is yours entirely yours, something that you believe in and you love and you grow like a child, you know?
Um, So, yeah, that, that was the jumping off point for me. It was a very clear moment, Phillip, a very clear voice in Now, second part of your question. Did I know exactly? what to do? No, but that moment of discontent was the catalyst for me to start thinking. and I have to tell you the frustration once I had actually put it out into the universe that I’m frustrated with this situation, it’s almost like it kept growing and getting worse. and I couldn’t ignore it anymore Yet being the planner that I am, I did have a couple of, um, impulsive moments,
where I thought, you know just going to jump. Um, but, uh, through some prayer and, thinking it through I was like, hang on. So I ended up hanging a full year beyond that. And in that time, similar to what you said earlier, I use that year to prepare the base that was necessary, that made it easy to launch. So, I would tell people out there embrace that moment of, discontent as your catalyst, but be wise and be prepared. Don’t be you might have to grit your teeth and suffer through another six months to a year, but take everything into have your plan ready so that when you go, you’re ready to soar.
Phillip K. Naithram: So, do you look back on that time? And you’re actually grateful for it. You’re, you’re happy that it happened.
Reeba Magulick: Absolutely.
Phillip K. Naithram: How does, how do you practice gratitude now?
Reeba Magulick: So, I would say I’m a gratitude fanatic these people that. thanking God thanking God, I’m always thankful, for the but how I do it now is more than just saying, thanks.
Now, that I’m older and wiser, I really am. trying to look for those ways to give it back, you know, the universe was good to me. I had some how can I help others, how can I show others the way or make ease their pain or burden if they have some baggage that they’d like to unload, how can I be that good listener and friend?
Phillip K. Naithram: Because gratitude is an action word. I, I think a lot of people have said that,
Reeba Magulick: like that,
Phillip K. Naithram: you know, it’s, it’s not, you know, it’s not a thing that you have and that you can lose its. Yeah. It’s a way that you act, it’s a way that you carry yourself, give to other people, that kind of thing. So that’s cool. So, you know, along with gratitude, I always talk about the way that we speak with ourselves. And I think the way we speak to others is also representative how we’re probably communicating with ourselves.
Do you practice, I am statements or affirmations or anything like that to get yourself in this state of gratitude and this state of readiness to be able to do the things you do.
Reeba Magulick: to be honest with you. I wouldn’t say so. I mean, not, not I don’t have a, I am I would say deep in my heart, I’ve always felt that, hey, I am worthy. I am loved, in my private thoughts, you know, I’ve, I’ve never had an issue with, uh, am I good enough? I’ve always felt like, hey, I I’m loved and I’m, I’m worthy to pursue good things. And I know that’s not the case for everybody, but I feel blessed that I had that. my, I am statement. now I am going to give back
Phillip K. Naithram: Did you learn the idea that I am worthy? I am loved all those things from someone else. Did you as growing up, was that coming from your parents?
I donโt know how
Reeba Magulick: to explain it. No
Phillip K. Naithram: I donโt think
Reeba Magulick: so
Yeah. I think I was always had that Yeah. Those
Phillip K. Naithram: Do you think that your dad being an entrepreneur has anything to do with your ability to be an entrepreneur and go from visionary to actually creating something?
Reeba Magulick: Yeah, more ways than Um, of course, you know, I have such a close relationship I admire him and, and like I said, he has a much, much higher tolerance for risk than I’ve ever had. and, you know, somebody who witnesses that somebody going after there it’s very admirable.
So, him being an entrepreneur definitely. And because we have that close relationship, you know, you always want your parents to be proud of you. You want to impress your dad. My dad and I actually have uh, somewhat similar. personalities. Um, So I think that, that, had a great influence on my path.
Phillip K. Naithram: How many kids do you have?
you’ve got three kids. How old are they?
Reeba Magulick: 16, 13, eight boys, boy, girl.
Phillip K. Naithram: So, yeah, I mean, especially for the girl, I suppose, but how, how do you think you being an entrepreneur, running your own company successful the way that you’ve been practicing this gratitude, doing your best to give back to other people, how do you think that’s influencing their thoughts and ideas of what’s possible for them?
Reeba Magulick: what a great question, you know Um, I don’t know
I don’t
Phillip K. Naithram: you guys talk about it?
Reeba Magulick: We talk about. They say things
Phillip K. Naithram: What do they say?
Reeba Magulick: That every now and then make me Smile or make me aware that I’m influencing the world differently. Versus how I grew So for example, they’ll say little things like mom, you’re the boss or mom, you know, hey, well, ma mom you know, the statements that you would typically hear somebody say about their dad, kind of like when we were growing. up, they’ll say that as if it’s very natural, you know, it’s not like they take it in stride You know, mom is a boss. entrepreneur, she’s building her business, doing a podcast. Like these are normal things for them that they witness. I should probably ask them, but we haven’t overtly had that how is this But I do see that my boys are growing Pursuing her dreams. And, and we talk about it very, openly. I’m like, you know, doing this podcast now because it scratches itch that I have. Um, so they’re seeing me do that. I’d like to believe that that does give them the uh, to believe that they can do it too.
Phillip K. Naithram: I asked because if your dad quit halfway through, do you think you’d be in the position you’re in now?
Reeba Magulick: Wow. That is a Solid, solid. question. Uh, because my dad never quits and without getting into, without airing too much baggage, but you know, he, he has faced some real tough times ups and downs and he to this day hasn’t quit. so, I don’t know. had he quit halfway? Maybe, maybe it would have had a different
Phillip K. Naithram: and I mean, likewise, seeing you create something that didn’t exist and find yourself in a position where you no longer want it to be doing what you were doing, the way it was being done and doing it, something different, doing it a different way. You know, what example is that setting for them when they reach a point where they’re either in a job or in a relationship or in a circumstance that they don’t want to be going a certain way, they’ve got the example of that. It can be successful a different way or that they’re allowed to do it a different way. Uh, and then others, um, you know, if we’re constantly told that we’re not enough, uh, in, in many different forms or whatever different ways wouldn’t have that thought, because we would inherently feel like we’re not enough,
Reeba Magulick: That’s not possible
Phillip K. Naithram: right. Or we have an example, not that one parenting is worse than the other, but just that, you know, if you have a parent that maybe didn’t do that. Um, but that could also be the catalyst. I I’ve I’ve interviewed someone who said that, you know, it was because her mother chose to be something that she didn’t really want to be, but she played it safe that that person took more risks in their life because they learned, they learned that lesson tonight.
Reeba Magulick: It’s all what you take out of a do with it. Like anybody can sit back and be a victim. We’ve all had bad things. happen to us. We have all had, bad things happen to Um, you know, I could go on and on and about negative or painful stories, but it’s what you focus on. And how you take? that adversity and turn It’s a mindset. You really have to adopt that that, Hey, I’m not a victim. Let me go put myself into proactive something positive with this life lesson, with this energy
Phillip K. Naithram: did you play sports when you were younger?
Reeba Magulick: Not really. No, but I am very competitive.
Phillip K. Naithram: I ask because there seems to be a theme in our yeah. Of like, and, and I got that from team sports. I got that from coaching. That we’re coaching team sports is really where I got that from,
Reeba Magulick: I probably got it from a debate club and you know, I was academically competitive.
Phillip K. Naithram: So, you were competitive in some sort of way
Reeba Magulick: Oh, from a young age. Yes So,
Phillip K. Naithram: What, do you think that’s done for you throughout your career of looking at, I, I don’t want to answer the question for you, but what do you think that’s actually done for you being in a competitive environment from a young age, whether it was academics, sports, what have you, what do you think that does to us as people?
Reeba Magulick: So, you know, you can take positive or negative out of it. I take positive, I believe. And I’ll share this let’s say as a piece of advice to young people coming everything’s a competition and better for you to be aware of it. Even if you appear to be in a benign it’s not overt competition, you’re competing against yourself, you’re competing against what you. did What you did this year, what can And I’m not a proponent of adding stress or anxiety. no competition is fun. It’s gotta be healthy fun and for new entrance into, the workplace. And really, they don’t even have to be new entrance, even existing. You know. I Let’s say I work at, um, one large systems integrator.
I moved to the next, my mindset has always been that you’re always competing against somebody. So, focus on your results and be mindful You know, being, uh, uh, I might be likable. I might be fun to be around, not good enough. what results am I producing? So, I think a competitive mindset makes you think that way. and I, for whatever reason, I’ve had
that competitive I like to it’s fun. I think that’s why I enjoy business development because somebody wins the government and somebody loses, like It’s it’s very clear. Cut. There’s a very clear goal. So yeah, that competition you’ve got to be aware of it in my humble opinion from day one, that you’re always somebody. So, you’ve got to focus on your results at all points. And even if it’s just you alone. How are you challenging yourself, to be better?
Phillip K. Naithram: are you focusing on the actual results or the process that goes into creating those results?
Reeba Magulick: Now that’s kind of like a chicken and egg. And it’s funny, it was, my father always brings this up. He’s like, do your duty, don’t focus on, the results. He said that from day one, and it’s like, well, wait a How can you not focus on the results? you know, if you focus on the results, then you reverse the process to get to that result. So that’s a, that’s a tough question for me to answer, but, uh, but if you’re looking at the result, the process is it has to be there. It’s like what we talked about at the beginning, being a visionary versus being somebody. who can get their hands dirty and that vision into a?
Phillip K. Naithram: so, you have an idea of where you want to go. You’re focusing on where you want to go. Right. and you’re getting there.
Reeba Magulick: Yes. maybe and, you know, allowing for some surprises along the way, you know, life, life is a joy ride, right? There are things that are unexpected, um, and you have to unexpected things where we can’t know it. We might be planners, but we may not always have the best, um, ideas, uh, on how to get there. And sometimes the, universe surprises expect.
Phillip K. Naithram: What, what advice can you give to an aspiring either entrepreneur or visionary or even someone who’s like say mid-career, doing something that wants to, wants to do, wants to get off on their own. That wants to, you know, even someone who is technical in their experience, but wants to be in a leadership position. How do they get there?
Reeba Magulick: so, I view leadership let’s say, I’m working for a big company and I want to move up and there’s a specific answer around that, and EQ versus IQ emotional intelligence, person that doesn’t mean that, you don’t have high EQ but I would say that if that’s the scenario your mid-career, you were a single contributor. Now it’s you have got you’ve got to your emotional quotient up. There are many ways to go about, doing that. I mean, some of us are born with that. we can people’s We can you know what I mean? Others cannot, and hey, not, one is not better than the other. Um, it’s just how we’re but it’s understanding If you lack that then you do want to, there are ways that you can go about building that up so that when it is motivate a crushing them. you’re actually motivating them, uh, to uh, to satisfy the mission without you having to push them You’re not pushing the rock up the hill on the entrepreneurship side, I would say, have a plan, you know, have a plan, think it through and, um, one interesting other little thing that I’ll as I’ve observed people who have gone on. And done consulting maybe it worked, maybe it didn’t is that recognize whether you are the hunter versus the farmer or, or I guess put a different, way. Recognize are you the operator? Like, are you the person that, actually wants to develop the software and be left alone? you know, if that’s the case. get your sales partner, get your person who is the outward facing, or are you the person who’s better out there because you know, people love you. Uh, you can communicate well, are you the sales arm, then find somebody else to be your operator. and I think oftentimes people, mix it up or they try to do both. Um, and if you can’t sell, I mean, that is going to be hard, damn hard to So, um, that’s just the, like a little side note that I have My own observation of why some consulting. practices who can sell versus who can’t and who has found plug that gap.
Phillip K. Naithram: It’s knowing your strengths and supplementing the weakness with someone who has that strength. How do you find that out? I think you’d probably know, but let’s say you didn’t know what’s an exercise or what, what do you think would be helpful for someone to figure out? Am I the operator?
Reeba Magulick: or, am I the its um, your joy versus your pain. You said it. you’ll know it Like operator? for me, for example, I’m the sales person. I love to sell I love to pitch. I love to be out there particularly now. because Something that I really, really believe in. So, it’s, it’s fun. It’s effortless. I enjoy it. so, I’m feeling the, joy. um, and that’s not to say that I’m not the operator as well.
I mean, I’ll pump out Every invoice, you know, I’m great at math. you can Figure out every dollar and cent where it goes, but am I having as much joy in You know, or if it’s, I’m doing the research, we always joke about this research is a big part of our business, but I’ve got a wonderful,
person who supports me, loves Let her have her joy in that moment. Let me have my joy out there, bringing and it’s a win-win scenario. so, think it’s when you’re feeling,
the pain, you’re like, ah, crunching this number. I’m am miserable right now. I’m bored. that’s your indicator. That you need to have somebody but you got to have both. I really believe if you’re going to go after a, be an entrepreneur, you can’t do it without somebody pitching your company. And if you’re uncomfortable, in front of your thing, you don’t like to brag or talk about you know, your strong suits, find somebody to do it because that is, that is critical for an
Phillip K. Naithram: So, what’s next for D eight or, you know, where, where are you guys going?
Reeba Magulick: Sure. um, so, so far, like I said, it’s been an evolution and I’ve had such a fun time because like I said, I’m pouring my blood, sweat, tears, energy, creative thoughts into my own dream and what’s so fun about this. Phillip is that, um, you could experiment, and course correct. And as we talked, we’re not afraid of failure, right. And each time you fail and it doesn’t hurt so much, you’re like, okay, that wasn’t a big deal. You know, let’s try something out, something else, but obviously staying within somewhat focused So we started off with. um, Pipeline federal develop uh, federal opportunity. pipeline development. We’re still doing that.
We have honed it, perfected it, shortened the process. Um, we’re doing capture management, but now we’re serving it up kind of like a Sue chef for the, for the capture the gourmet chef, right? So, we’re slicing and dicing those pieces and packaging it. And I love it because I understand what needs to be done to get from point a so it’s also an education process.
So training is the next that’s been happening a lot. It was something because in the course of they’re learning. And there is a What is it? What is do it? What is the Um, and then last but not least, I’m kind of like we talked about earlier, putting things out into the just going to put this one out I would like to find a. subcontracting position Supporting the A firms out there? I think that we have the same things that we’re doing and offer it up to you know, pipeline research on maybe even uh, because we’re so heavily customers and companies and, you know, it just makes it easier. So that’s, I would say that’s the next thing. is how do we become a support M and an activity
Phillip K. Naithram: Well, that’s good stuff. And you also have your own podcast.
Reeba Magulick: That’s right.
Phillip K. Naithram: out once a
Reeba Magulick: month, once a month. It’s a video podcast called a new way to and what I do on their Phillip, is that I will, enter, I will bring. a government you know, for example, Jose Arrieta, has been on wonderful But I like to ask them, the questions that on behalf of little bit, sheepish task, or because there’s always an agenda in but I always ask them how do you like to be pitched? What are the do’s and don’ts, how should we approach you? How can you do the things that people want to know? Um, and I just, it’s a fascinating topic. to me and I love seeing them open up and tell the truth about those types of
Phillip K. Naithram: where, where, where can someone find it
Reeba Magulick: They can find it? on my website. there’s a link to our YouTube channel and also the videos are loaded there as well, which is www.deightgroup.com.
Phillip K. Naithram: So that’s D the letter D and then the number
Reeba Magulick: correct the eight group.com. There’s a whole section. for our video podcast. So, thank you for mentioning
Phillip K. Naithram: Yeah, for sure. And what’s the name again,
Reeba Magulick: a new way to win
Phillip K. Naithram: new way to win. So very descriptive. They know exactly what they’re getting into. Well, listen, I appreciate you sitting down and chatting with us today. I think there’s a lot there to, it’s going to help a lot of people,
Reeba Magulick: Oh, I’m so grateful for that and thank you for this opportunity, Phillip. It’s been very, very enjoyable.
