Thought Leader Valerie Bowden On How To Find World Class To Grow Your Business (#253)

Jeffrey Feldberg: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Deep Wealth Podcast where you learn how to extract your business and personal Deep Wealth. 

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With over a decade of experience living in East Africa, Valerie Bowden has helped some of the most recognized brands in the world do business and investment in Africa. She helped launch Ethiopian Outsourcing Association and works in partnership with a top tech outsourcing companies in Africa. She is the founder of cradle, the most diverse B2B marketplace that connects African [00:02:00] brands to global customers. 

Her advice and experience in African countries has been featured on PBS, Huffington Post, NBC News, Yahoo, and the Washington Post before launching her career. She backpacked the entire length of Africa by herself. 

Welcome to the Deep Wealth Podcast, and for all you business owners out there, a rhetorical question, do you want to create a market disruption?

And of course he said, yes. Do you want to do social capitalism? Take what we're doing, helping people, making a difference, and take it to the next level? And I'm assuming, of course you're saying yes. How do you do that? Is it even possible? Is it fact? Is it fiction? That's what we're gonna be talking about today, and I promise you, you're gonna be coming out knowing a whole lot more.

You're gonna be loving what you're hearing. So I'm gonna stop there. Valerie, welcome to the Deep Wealth Podcast. Absolute pleasure to have you with us. And I'm curious, Valerie, before we get going, there's always a story behind the story. What's your story? What got you to where you are today?

Valerie Bowden: Thank you for having me. My [00:03:00] story starts when I decided to backpack. Africa, I was 25. I took a one-way flight to Cape Town. I thought I would travel for six weeks, and I ended up having such a good time that I traveled for seven months, nine days, across the entire continent by myself with a tens and a backpack, and that's what got my whole story in business.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Valerie, that's amazing. So to go to Africa on your own backpack, how did that come to be? Did you just wake up one day and say, Hey let's do this. It sounds like a good idea, or was there something to that?

Valerie Bowden: There was definitely something to it. Before my trip, I had done a three month volunteer program in Ethiopia and that was that it can do a lot of damage. And I started to see kind of the dark side of charities that have been really well documented that are AIDS not helping.

So that part was really enlightening because I was a social work major, but at the same time, because I was in Ethiopia and that was my first time in Africa, I had such a good time. It was so [00:04:00] different than what I expected. I love the food, the people, the culture, the coffee. And so when I went back to the US I was like, I have to see more African countries.

I have to see what the continent's and because of my social work background, I was like, what is working and what's not working? And because I was out of grad school, I didn't have a lot of money. That's what prompted me just to take that one wave flight to choose South Africa and just think I'm just gonna figure it out.

I'm just gonna see things. And that's what really started it.

Jeffrey Feldberg: You know, It's amazing, and I gotta ask you this because here in, let's call it North America, we hear what the media wants us to hear about East Africa. Africa, just the region in general. And it's probably not the entire picture, and we're probably getting more of a negative view than a positive view. If I had to guess.

What's really going on there? And I know you just came back stateside very recently, so what's been going on? What should we know? What do you want us to hear?

Valerie Bowden: It's so different than what we know. And because after my backpacking trip, I lived in Ethiopia for eight years, [00:05:00] and so you're right. What the media says is just all the negative. So if you only heard the negative all about the US or European countries, you would think the worst. And that's kind of what we think about the African continent.

But all the countries are really different. There's, I think, 20 countries that rank higher on the Global Peace Index than the US. So the safety is there and it's becoming a huge center for business. And Americans are really missing out because I've seen Europeans and Chinese and Middle Eastern doing business in Africa, but Americans were really behind the game in that area.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And I know this is one of the reasons that you started your company, cradle, C R D L E. And for the listeners, we'll have all this in the show notes. You can check it out. So what was the auspices for Starting Cradle? How did that happen? What was that day where you said, you know what, I'm gonna do this.

Valerie Bowden: It's been in the making for a while because when I was backpacking the continent, I went through 13 countries and I was stopping by charities, nonprofit schools, tech hubs, businesses, and what I found is what's working is creating good [00:06:00] jobs, and that's what's creating a sustainable impact out of poverty.

And it's definitely the more, I would say, ethical and enlightened approach to working in the countries. And so when I was working in Ethiopia, I was working strictly with products. So I'd help farmers find buyers or leather craftman ships, like find stores to sell to. And then right before Covid hit, I started getting into outsourcing.

And then covid hit and everything boomed in a positive way because suddenly companies around the world were open to fre remote workers. And that kind of showed me there's so much potential in Africa with the developers and the virtual assistants, and you don't think about the continent as a tech outsourcing hub, but it's quickly becoming that.

So when I moved back to the US I was like, I'm gonna start CRDLE and I'm just gonna promote why we should do bigger and better business on the.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Yeah. What a terrific origin story, a narrative. And so help me out with this, because I'm probably not alone. So when I think of Ethiopia, when I think of East Africa, just in general, Tech and [00:07:00] virtual assistance isn't necessarily what comes to mind. You know, I'm thinking more kinds of products and goods and coffee as an example, some of the things that we're talking offline.

So what's been going on there from a technology side of things and the people behind that.

Valerie Bowden: Yes, so great question. I think as the Philippines and India, they're becoming a little bit more saturated in outsourcing. And so that's really opened up a space for other emerging countries to do well in this. And Africa has a billion people, the youngest population, and so there's all these really young, fresh graduates that speak great English, have good.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Mm. 

Valerie Bowden: And countries like Ethiopia, you're right, you don't think about it as a tech outsourcing hub, but already McDonald's, Intel, Charles Schwab MasterCard, all of these 500 companies are already outsourcing to the continent. It's just not well known. But there's certainly a lot of call centers and remote teams starting there and doing really.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And in [00:08:00] those areas, again, when I think of Africa or Ethiopia, east Africa, that whole region again, the media. So I'm thinking, okay, well, do they have power all the time? Is the internet gonna be there? Are they gonna have the right kinds of computers and equipment to do what we're doing here? How would you respond to that?

Valerie Bowden: Those are valid concerns. One of the advantages we work with both outsourcing companies and freelancers. So outsourcing companies are really good when you wanna do if you have a big team because they do have those like built in power backups, inverters and things that you need. And the internet is good.

Some countries in Africa actually have faster wifi than the us Like mad gas cars breaks really high for that. When we work with freelancers who are often like the virtual assistants that we place, we either have to pay them to work out of co-working space, or we just make sure that they have some really good battery packs so they can swap in and out if power goes out.

So it's definitely a concern, but it's one that people are already navigating well.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Wow. So it sounds like [00:09:00] really and correct me if I'm on base or off base with this, you're like a matchmaker it sounds like. So I'm a US based business, and if I want to do some ethical kinds of sourcing, I don't know, with tea or coffee, you can do that. I know leather is one of the things that you're doing as well.

But then on the people side, you can be the matchmaker as well. Am I getting that right?

Valerie Bowden: Yes, exactly. And probably 80% of our work is with the talent side. And so African countries are really different and they each have their own strengths. So if you want someone that has American leaning accents, I would say Ethiopia is great. If you want some really affordable young talent, Rwanda is becoming really prominent.

If you want French, then you'd go to a French speaking country. So every country has their own kind of advantages. And so we kind of help companies walk through what they need and then we map them with B P O companies and freelancers that meet their criteria.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Got it. And so how would it work, Valerie? So I'm US based, I hear this podcast. Okay. This sounds [00:10:00] interesting. I'm gonna contact you. What's your process like? Can you walk us through that?

Valerie Bowden: So we always start with a discovery call to make sure people understand, what is it like to outsource to Africa and we understand what their needs are. And then we put it out into our network and BPO companies and outsourcing companies and freelancers who meet the criteria send us their resumes, and then we shortlist it for the candidate.

And then we usually set up a group interview. So they get through, the client gets to speak to people who work at an outsourcing company as well as freelancers from all over the continent. And then they choose who works best. And then after that, it's a month by month contract, but nobody's locked in, said to anything long.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And Valerie, does your company, do you handle the payments? So as a US based company, am I paying your company and you in turn are paying the talent?

Valerie Bowden: That's how most of our clients prefer it because a lot of them really don't wanna deal with foreign labor laws. And so as a US based company we take that on. There are for some companies who are bigger and they're looking at a hundred [00:11:00] seats or a large volume, then sometimes the direct approach is better and then we just kind of help match big that we stay in it for a few months, make sure the onboarding goes well, and then we back out.

So we're quite flexible.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Got it. And you know I know not just with what you're doing in East Africa in general with the outsourcing industry, a lot of myths are there. And one of the myths is, Well, if I'm outsourcing, I am not supporting Americans and I'm taking jobs away from the country and research tends to show otherwise.

And in some cases, yes that's happening, but in a lot of cases it's for positions that perhaps we don't wanna do here and can't find the talent here. Can you speak to that for our listeners? Just to put them at ease?

Valerie Bowden: Yes. I think that's great. We were really inspired by the 15% pledge. I'm not sure if you're aware of it, but it's a call to action for retail stores to take on 15% of black-owned businesses, products because African-Americans make up 15% of the population in the us. And so we took like that model and we said, you [00:12:00] know what, Africa makes up 16% of the world population.

So what would that look like if 16% of your remote jobs were filled by African?

Jeffrey Feldberg: Mm-hmm. 

Valerie Bowden: Gives you lots of priority for us or, your local country's team. That way you're supporting local jobs. But 16% of the jobs really can be filled by you know, African teams. And that's gonna give you a great cost saving because the talent is more affordable.

It also helps your de and I, cuz you're adding more diversity. And a lot of companies will tie it into like their corporate social responsibility as well and call it a digital transformation. And so I think that's a good balance between you're getting some support, it's affordable, there's some clear business advantages, but you're also prioritizing local jobs as.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Yeah. Thank you for expanding that. And so for our listeners, what does it mean? So when they're working with someone who's now part of the remote team somewhere in East Africa, what does that mean for that person's life in East [00:13:00] Africa? How are we helping to make a change? I mean, The business is profiting from it, but how are the people profiting?

Can you share with us?

Valerie Bowden: Yes. I think anybody understands that when you get out of college and there's no good jobs, that is so discouraging whether you are American or Ethiopia. I mean, College grads want jobs and there's so much good talent there. And so what you're doing is you're just helping African talent, access the global talent economy, and you're giving them an opportunity to use their skills and build a meaningful career.

And for them they make more money. There's not a lot of local opportunities. And my favorite thing is when we place someone, I always get a text that is I just doubled my salary because of you. I'm taking my mom out shopping. I'm now paying for my brother to go to a better school.

And so there's definitely you know, the social impact of what happens when people have good paying jobs.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Yeah, no I, I hear that. And again, for our listeners, perhaps we can talk about how the exchange rates, so the US dollar relative to whatever the local currency is going to be, we're not exploiting people. We are taking advantage. We're leveraging the [00:14:00] differences in exchange rates to make a huge difference in people's lives.

Valerie Bowden: Yes, exactly. So when I lived in Ethiopia, the cost of living was significantly lower when I moved to Pittsburgh, my rent is 10 times higher here in the US than it was in Ethiopia. So the advantage is you can pay people really well because their cost of living is lower. And because of Upworks and the fact that people can get good jobs it does not help you to pay the lowest anyways because if you pay super, super low, they will go on and get other jobs and other side hustles.

And so you're paying lower, but you're still not paying dirt cheap prices because in today's global world, that doesn't work anymore for.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And so in terms of, and I know it's tough because it's, well, Jeffrey, depends on the company, depends on the position, it depends on the scope of what's being done. But generally speaking, let's say for a virtual assistant as an example what would that look like on a monthly basis, dollar-wise?

Valerie Bowden: It depends again. Like you said, with a different country, different experience, but I would say virtual assistant is anywhere from maybe eight to [00:15:00] 14 an hour. And maybe a cold caller is around, let's say $2,000 a month. And a developer can be anywhere from like 1500 to 3000 a month depending on experience.

And that's a big range. So it's definitely more affordable. But again, we work with a lot of like governments and I c t parks and things like that, and African countries don't wanna be known for dirt cheap prices. They wanna be premier. And so they are good prices, definitely more affordable, but you have to pay people well to get good results.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And so it sounds like it's not going to be, like you say, the lowest or the lowest is not gonna be the highest of the highest. It's ethical, it's fair, it's competitive, and you're getting someone who's smart and who's hardworking.

Valerie Bowden: Very talented, very capable for the job. And just like it's a great part of your team. I know before we hopped on this, we were talking about the different values from when I lived in Ethiopia versus here, and you're adding people to your team who do have different values and they're things that you need as an American company or an international [00:16:00] company.

It just adds to your culture and your diversity in a very positive,

Jeffrey Feldberg: And so speaking of diversity, that's a big topic now and we're hearing more about this and Valerie, the challenge typically has been when I speak with companies and business owners. Yeah. Jeffrey, we're signed up for that. But I, I can't fill the seats, I can't find people who, I can check the boxes of what we're looking for.

Nothing can do with their race or background or anything else. It's simply okay, do they have what we're looking for? So help us on that side, Valerie. How through what you're doing with the CRDLE on the diversity side, we can do what we want to do and expand into those areas.

Valerie Bowden: Right. I hear that a lot. I have a lot of friends who are the DEI space and they hear that a lot as well. I mean, I can confidently say that we definitely have. Jobs that would fit any corporation's needs because from data entry to customer service to developers we are super happy to help people source the talent that they need.

And I would say the biggest theme is that sometimes you do have to change [00:17:00] policies to include diverse candidate. And so what happens is we have a lot of companies who will say we only hire in the us we can't hire foreign workers. And that's when we say, but you probably are working with other consultants or contractors in the us and so we set it up in the same way.

So you can hire us as the contractor or consultant, but the talent really is based overseas. And for all, you know, your other consultants could be overseas and you wouldn't know, like they could be traveling, there, there could be so many other things. So I think a lot of it is talent is there and sometimes it is about changing policies to make.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And Valerie, you said something interesting. The talent that you're bringing on board, they are diverse and they have different backgrounds that they can give different insights to the business. Help us become better. Any success story and from, looking back o of what you've been doing that you can share with us of how, hey, yeah, once this company brought on these people, here's what happened.

Valerie Bowden: I think my favorite part is we work with lot of different companies, but when it comes to nonprofits or social [00:18:00] impact companies, To me, it doesn't make sense to build a school in that community or to do projects in Ethiopia or Uganda if you're not hiring talent from that country. So my favorite success stories are when impact oriented companies hire and then their projects are better because they actually have locals working on it.

And it's not just a bunch of Americans saying, this is how build the wells or donate their shoe boxes. You actually have people from the countries who are giving their advice as well. And then that's twofold as far as the impact goes.

Jeffrey Feldberg: No. Fair enough. And then Valeria, on the flip side, nothing's ever perfect. And there's I would imagine there's some adjustments. So when I'm working with someone from Ethiopia in a remote role, what do I need to know? What perhaps needs to change or what may be in the beginning? I don't wanna say stumbling blocks, but things I need to adapt, change, incorporate to make.

Valerie Bowden: That's a good question. We did have some challenges in the beginning because I feel like American companies are maybe more time sensitive than some of. [00:19:00] Ethiopians were, and so they'd roll into the meeting a few minutes late and, you know, there was some cultural differences. And so on our end we have like a half day program that we put all of our candidates through that goes over these cultural differences, showing up on time, converting the time zones correctly, those kind of things that we did notice over and over.

And so we try to catch a lot of these problems before a Kennedy is place.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And speaking of time zones, and again I suppose it depends on where you're gonna be and what that's looking like but from a time zone perspective in Ethiopia as an example, what's a differential?

Valerie Bowden: So Ethiopian are about seven or eight hours behind us in time zones. But most of our talent will work whatever hours the client is working. So a lot of them are working us time zone. And if they are working us time zone, then we do specifically work usually with an outsourcing company that can give them a ride home at the end of the night because that's 1:00 AM their time.

And so we have to set that up on the back end, [00:20:00] but a lot of our talent is also going to grad school during the day, so they really prefer us time zone. And so yeah, there's something to think about, but there's so many people who want jobs that the time is like the least of their concern and they make it work.

Jeffrey Feldberg: So whether it's midnight in Ethiopia, but it's 8:00 AM New York time, the talent is working around our schedule and being there for when we need them There.

Valerie Bowden: Exactly. And some people, some clients actually prefer more of a split shift. And so they'll work half Ethiopian hours, half American hours. And the beauty of that is that when the US team is clocking out, they can put on, okay, do this, and then it's ready by 9:00 AM their time, because the Ethiopians start four hours early.

You can do it different ways, but I think that's like the least of people's concern is it's so easy to work on.

Jeffrey Feldberg: I know Valerie, you read my mind. I mean, The power of, okay, lights out here. If we're calling it a day, everyone's heading off as they should, but we have our team who's, it's now their regular time. They're up at, they're at, we're gonna come back. And I would imagine the productivity from that perspective just goes through [00:21:00] the roof at that point.

Valerie Bowden: Yeah, because you're working, it's like an 18 hour work cycle then for you. There's so much work being done. And another advantage also is if you are an American company, but you're trying to service Europeans, then because your hours are closer to African hours, you can actually have them work their time zone and then they're servicing your European clients.

So whether that's with developer work or just customer service, you're able to add people to get more hours done.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And Valerie from that perspective, and again, I'm gonna ask a question and you can say, well, Jeffrey, look, it really depends. There is no typical or average on the talent side. Is there one position that you find you're helping to match people up with more than others?

Valerie Bowden: I think we do the most virtual assistants, and part of that is just because we work with a lot of smaller businesses and they just need that support or like an administrative assistant. When it comes to bigger companies, there's so much bureaucracy and we have to get the HR team, the legal team.

We have to get everybody to say yes. So those take a lot [00:22:00] longer. And then those are the companies who want developers or customer service. And so it's a bigger amount of people. So the virtual assistance we can place faster because it's just more of an agile position.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Terrific. So I'm a business owner. I want to take some things off my plate, spend my time where I should be spending my time. I could work with you, Valerie, you and the team help me find a virtual assistant. What would you say to our listeners who are gonna be bringing on a VA for the first time, never done it before.

What should they be thinking about? What you know what should they do? What shouldn't.

Valerie Bowden: That's a good point. So my favorite client is the one that comes in with their SOPs already written down. And so they have step-by-step directions. They have a video tutorial on how they wanna do things, and it's really more about like the busy and repetitive task being replaced by someone who can do them.

So I think it's all about those really clear guidelines, clear expectations, and making easy for someone to take over by showing them how to do it.

Jeffrey Feldberg: So, here at Deep Wealth, that's one of the four points of [00:23:00] clarity, which we should all be doing. The documentation, of our centered operating procedures, our KPIs, it's written or it's in video, makes it very easy to train and onboard people.

Valerie Bowden: Yeah, it's really important because sometimes we have clients who, I think they just expect the virtual assistant to figure it out on their own and that's really hard for anyone to do, especially if it's someone who's overseas and they're not in your office with you. So the most successful placements are those that are really clear on what needs to be done, and they have the time estimates and everything, like you said, is documented and then that works so well.

Then it's just such an easy placement.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And again, I wanna chip away some of the myths that are out there, Valerie. And you know, at one point in time with the whole outsourcing movement, whatever country it was in, it was an English speaking country. But either they didn't get the nuances of being in America. And that's hard. It doesn't matter what school you go to or you know how well educated you are, if you don't live in that country, you can miss some of the nuances or they found that.

Accent, even though they spoke English was a little bit hard to [00:24:00] understand. I know you touched on the accent a little bit earlier, but to put our listeners at ease. So what's that like? We're bringing somebody on from Ethiopia as an example, or East Africa, wherever it may be, to now interface even forward facing with clients or even our internal team.

Anything we should be concerned about or easy peasy? What's going on?

Valerie Bowden: Yes. It's a valid. For people who want in the a hundred percent American accent because they're customer facing or doing cold calling. I really have only found success in Ethiopia. We've tried to find candidates in the other countries. Yeah. Ethiopians have the best accents. And so it is important we have to take that into consideration.

If you just want a virtual assistant that probably has more international experience and you want good English, but it, they're just working with you, then we'll play someone with like Uganda or Rwanda, because they have more international companies in their country. So they've had more international exposure but they probably wouldn't do well, you know, cold calling.

You know, there's obviously acceptance to that, but yeah, so it's something to take into consider. And I [00:25:00] would say that the young graduates that I know and have worked with, they're almost so Americanized, like the amount of Hollywood movies that they have seen and the amount of clients that they've worked with I think they do really well.

I think the culture is are more similar. And yeah, we haven't had that issue.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Valerie, it sounds like you take the guesswork out of it. So if I'm gonna become a client, you and I speak, we have this meeting you're doing it an assessment. Okay, what does Jeffrey need? Where are the skill sets that I know of that could best check the boxes to not only have it done but have it done successfully?

And so you're gonna save me time and effort in that way.

Valerie Bowden: Yes, exactly. And that's also, I guess I would say why there's not as many cultural issues is because we are kind of always there in the background. So if there is an issue, we're like quick to hop on it. Or if we're working with an outsourcing company, a lot of them have a US founders or a US partner, or they're just used to us clients, so they already kind of know that.

 We really like bespoke. So we're not you don't just go on to our website and say what you want. We just match you. Like we do a whole thing where we're [00:26:00] talking to you, we're meeting your team. We know what you want. We do our own shortlisting on our side. My favorite part is we do like a zoom call where we call the candidates in and you interview them one by one and you can see them side by side.

And it is so clear who the client likes. It's really obvious to see who's the good fit and we're on that call with you. And so we're also saying, oh I, yeah, I like that person. You're right, that person did not do well. And so where they have a full time and it's a really fun process.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And it sounds like this whole process because people talk the talk, but walking it is sometimes challenging. Even best of intentions, we don't know how to do it. So it sounds like here we can really do all the things, help the business solve our problems, reach out to a country that is looking for quality jobs, change the standard of living for the better for a particular individual or a group of individuals with that.

And so I'm wondering from when you started CRDLE to where we are today, and as you look out two years, three years, [00:27:00] five years from now, what kind of changes for the better are you?

Valerie Bowden: We're seeing more people open African talents.

More people open to remote positions. I think that's something that Covid started, that's going on. But our overall mission is to really inspire bigger and better business. And so, what we wanna do is really show businesses that African countries they're not what you think they are.

My end goal is to get you such good talent that you wanna like, go on a vacation in that country afterwards because you're so impressed and like to really help change the way Americans are working and thinking about the continent. And so two years from now, if we can be part of a movement that's changing that I would be really excited about it.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And Valerie, what's nice about this, and you can tell me if you agree or not. This isn't like what you had referenced earlier, just when we began. This is not like a charity where you write a check, you have no idea what's gonna go on. We hear all these horror stories. This is helping our business, it's solving a problem, making our lives easier.

But it's a win-win because we can see the difference, we can see the change [00:28:00] real time on a day over day basis would you agree?

Valerie Bowden: A hundred percent. In fact, I would say don't even donate to African charities unless you know them so well because. After a decade on the continent, even the most well-known ones are so bad on the backend. I could tell you so many horror stories, which I won't, but when you're hiring someone from the continent, you are creating the social impact that you'd want.

You are giving someone a job so that they have money so that they can provide for their kids and doing all of that. But because it is a business proposition, it's sustainable. So you are saving money because it does cost less. You are adding to your diversity, you are helping your c s r you are getting better hours and good English speakers.

So it's sustainable and it does make an impact.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And Valerie, you know, I'll throw this out there. And again, it is me probably being just like so many of us, we just see what the media wants us to see. Some of the countries that you've mentioned, when I hear the name war torn images flash across my mind and I'm thinking to myself, do they even have the infrastructure?

Because all I see in the media, [00:29:00] very, basic villagers and they're, you know, in a war torn area. And now we're talking technology, we're talking corporate America. And I'm thinking, is there even a fit here? How does that work? So can you dispel some more myths maybe for me and, the listeners?

Valerie Bowden: Well, one thing I always like to say is would you go to a country where one person is murdered every four minutes? No. Right. But that is like the FBI statistics for the United States. if you look at our own US statistic, it is super scary and it is super shocking. And so if you think about it in that light that we've only heard those super scary statistics, and when you actually get to see the country in a holistic way, that there's a lot of good that also balances out.

So yes, so many African countries have had struggles in the past, but most of them have been 20, 30 years.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Mm. 

Valerie Bowden: And even countries like Rwanda, which have, a genocide in the past, I would say Rwanda is one of the best countries in Africa to work with. Their government is so good. The country is so clean, the people are so skilled, it's so affordable, and [00:30:00] it's like exactly the opposite of what you would picture.

So, yeah,, the African cutters are really different than what we know about as a.

Jeffrey Feldberg: So really it's following your very courageous lead of coming in with an open mind. Forget what we've seen or believe or heard. It's a new day, it's a new era, and one for the better.

Valerie Bowden: Exactly, and that's why we also place people on 30 day contracts because I know that people have those fears and worries. And so we say like, you can cancel anytime the first month. No worries. After that 30 day written notice. And let me tell you like our retention rate is like 98% with clients.

And so it's super, super weird that we don't have a good fit. And I think that tells you a lot of what you need to know is that taking the first step is always the scariest in whatever you're doing. And then once you get going, you realize it's not that bad, it's not that different. And then you realize that people are just the same everywhere around the world.

You.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And Valerie, what I love about your story of what you're enabling us to do. So we donate to a charity because we have good intentions, but you're saying, hey, in a [00:31:00] different way, become your own charity that has a productive end result. And it really isn't charity because, charity to us may sound good, but to other people who are on the opposite end of it, it could be very demeaning.

And so here we're becoming enablers of our own, working with you, finding the talent, training them for our positions, what needs to be done. It's a win-win.

Valerie Bowden: Exactly. Yep. And lemme tell you like I live there and nobody wants charity. Nobody wants to not be able to afford clothes or shoes for their kids. They wanna work and they're talented. They just don't have access to the opportunities. And because of the remote world these days in technology, we finally have access to what big companies have always done, which is outsourced.

And now even small businesses can do that. And it does have, yeah the total wind you'd want on the impact side, but also the business proposition is there.

Jeffrey Feldberg: So we're changing lives, we're giving dignity, we're solving our business problems together, collectively, we're just doing it.

Valerie Bowden: Yep. Exactly.

Jeffrey Feldberg: What a great news story that is.

Valerie Bowden: Yeah. It is it's exciting.[00:32:00]

Jeffrey Feldberg: And so, Valerie, as we begin to wrap up, one quick question for you. So coming out of today's episode a business owner is thinking of some kind of outsourcing, whether it's on the talent side or perhaps on a matchmaking for some kind of ethically sourced. Product or item, what could be one action that they could take today before this episode finishes, before they go into that next meeting, that phone call, that email to begin that journey?

Valerie Bowden: I would say to reach out to our team and schedule a discovery call. I have on calls all day long with people all over the world, and I can tell them very easily if it's good fit or not. And so people can reach us at our website or on my personal LinkedIn and I'm happy to walk people through what it would look like, if it's possible, if it's not.

And I think that's a good first step just to get more information from someone who's based there.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Terrific. And again, for our listeners, this will all be in the show notes. It'll be a point and click won't get any easier than that. And so Valerie, I mean we can go on of how you're changing lives, how you're changing the, literally the social fabric of society and you're putting [00:33:00] American businesses together with local talent, which is incredible.

And that's just a wonderful story. That said, though, we need to start wrapping up for for better or for worse. So I'm gonna ask a question. I'm gonna set this up. It's a fun question, a little bit of a thought experiment. So think of the movie Back to the Future. And in the movie you have that magical DeLorean car that can go to any point in time.

So, Valerie, the fun part is it's tomorrow morning, you look outside your window. And there it is. Not only is the DeLorean car, curbside door is open, waiting for you to hop on it. So you hop in and you can now go to any point in your life, Valerie, as a young child, teenager, whatever point in time that would be.

What are you telling your younger self, Valerie in terms of, Hey, Valerie, here's some life wisdom or some life lessons, or do this but don't do that. What would that.

Valerie Bowden: That's a good question. I would tell myself to enjoy the journey.

I think that's something I learned when I was backpacking, that it is the journey that matters more, and I wish I would've learned that, that lesson earlier. And I think I would [00:34:00] just tell myself to relax. Like things always work out even when you can't figure it out.

And even when it looks like all the puzzle pieces are a mess, the puzzle pieces eventually come together. So just to relax and enjoy the.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Awesome. Terrific advice. Thank you for that. And Valerie, again, we're gonna have this for our listeners in the show notes. I know you mentioned to book a call with you or the team, or they have questions. So where would be the best place online? And again, we'll have all these links in the show notes, but what would that be for you?

Valerie Bowden: People can go to our website, cradle.com, or I am on LinkedIn all day long talking to people and so even just my personal LinkedIn, Valerie Bowden is a great way to just message me and get ahold of me personally really fast.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Okay, terrific. And again, for listeners, it'll be there. It can't get any easier. Well, Valerie, it's official. This is a wrap. I want to thank you for paying it forward for educating us, enlightening us, and showing us, hey, there's a whole new world out there, and we can be a part of it. Truly make a difference.

And as we wrap this up, Valerie, as we say here at Deep Wealth, please continue to thrive and prosper and stay healthy and safe. Thank [00:35:00] you so much.

Valerie Bowden: Thank you. 

Sharon S.: The Deep Wealth Experience was definitely a game-changer for me. 

Lyn M.: This course is one of the best investments you will ever make because you will get an ROI of a hundred times that. Anybody who doesn't go through it will lose millions. 

Kam H.: If you don't have time for this program, you'll never have time for a successful liquidity 

Sharon S.: It was the best value of any business course I've ever taken. The money was very well spent.

Lyn M.: Compared to when we first began, today I feel better prepared, but in some respects, may be less prepared, not because of the course, but because the course brought to light so many things that I thought we were on top of that we need to fix. 

Kam H.: I 100% believe there's never a great time for a business owner to allocate extra hours into his or her week or day. So it's an investment that will yield results today. I thought I will reap the benefit of this program in three to five years down the road. But as soon [00:36:00] as I stepped forward into the program, my mind changed immediately. 

Sharon S.: There was so much value in the experience that the time I invested paid back so much for the energy that was expended. 

Lyn M.: The Deep Wealth Experience compared to other programs is the top. What we learned is very practical. Sometimes you learn stuff that it's great to learn, but you never use it. The stuff we learned from Deep Wealth Experience, I believe it's going to benefit us a boatload.

Kam H.: I've done an executive MBA. I've worked for billion-dollar companies before. I've worked for smaller companies before I started my business. I've been running my business successfully now for getting close to a decade. We're on a growth trajectory. Reflecting back on the Deep Wealth, I knew less than 10% what I know now, maybe close to 1% even. 

Sharon S.: Hands down the best program in which I've ever participated. And we've done a lot of different things over the years. We've been in other mastermind groups, gone to many seminars, workshops, conferences, [00:37:00] retreats, read books. This was so different. I haven't had an experience that's anything close to this in all the years that we've been at this.

It's five-star, A-plus.

Kam H.: I would highly recommend it to any super busy business owner out there.

Deep Wealth is an accurate name for it. This program leads to deeper wealth and happier wealth, not just deeper wealth. I don't think there's a dollar value that could be associated with such an experience and knowledge that could be applied today and forever. 

Jeffrey Feldberg: Are you leaving millions on the table? 

Please visit www.deepwealth.com/success to learn more.

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