Faith-Based Leadership
Queen of the Trades
What if leadership wasn’t just about systems and results? What if it was about being a spiritually minded leader and managing with soul? In an industry as tough and gritty as the trades, that idea might seem out of place. But I’ve learned firsthand that being spiritually grounded can completely shift how you show up for your team, your business, and yourself. I didn’t always see our business as a calling, but over time, it became clear. The path was never perfectly mapped out if anything, it was full of unknowns. But there was a purpose behind it, something bigger than just making a...
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Replay: Bringing Passion Back To The Trades With Alexis Aranda
Queen of the Trades
Please enjoy this replay of my very first episode! I'm your host Alexis Aranda. Today, I'm sharing my story with all of you, listeners. I was born in a suburb outside of Chicago and had a fantastic childhood. My parents were supportive. We had a lot of love and a lot of great memories, but we didn't have a lot of money. At a very young age, I strongly desired to create wealth for my family. I knew this was what I was called to do. I also had a passion for working. From babysitting to working at a local grocery store, I was always earning money. My best friend's dad was a tradesman....
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Avoid Burn Out
Queen of the Trades
Spring’s hectic pace hits hard in the trades and lately I’ve felt the pressure myself. Long hours, tight deadlines, and family commitments can drain every bit of energy if we let them. In today’s episode I open up about the moment I realized I was saying yes to everything except rest, and how that wake up call pushed me to build habits that protect both mind and body. You’ll hear why real burnout statistics in our industry matter, especially for men who still feel they have to tough it out. I’ll walk you through five practices that keep me grounded, from carving out a true day...
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Extreme Ownership Part 2
Queen of the Trades
A few weeks ago I shared some thoughts on extreme ownership and the response was overwhelming. It’s clear that a lot of us are ready to stop pointing fingers and start stepping into real leadership. So today, I want to go even deeper. Specifically, we're talking about how to take ownership without getting defensive. If you've ever felt your ego kick in during a tough conversation or found yourself making excuses instead of taking the hit, this is for you. We’ll break down what it actually looks like to let go of ego, build self-awareness, listen with intention, and communicate with...
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6 Functions of a Professional Manager
Queen of the Trades
Do you ever feel like you're juggling a million things as a manager and still wondering if you’re doing it right? I get it because I’ve been there. In this episode, I’m sharing the six core functions every professional manager needs to master in order to lead with clarity, confidence, and purpose, especially in the fast-paced world of the trades. These aren’t just generic leadership tips. This is the real, practical framework that changed how I run teams, build people up, and keep our business on track. Whether you’re brand new to management or you’ve been in the game for a while...
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Emotional Intelligence
Queen of the Trades
It’s easy to underestimate just how powerful emotional intelligence can be, especially when you're managing a business, leading a team, or simply trying to keep it all together. But what if mastering your emotions was the key to transforming frustration into growth, and conflict into clarity? In this episode, we talk about what emotional intelligence really means and why it's one of the most underrated leadership tools in the trades. You’ll hear a real story of what happens when emotions start to take over, and how a moment of self-awareness changed the course of an entire...
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Extreme Ownership
Queen of the Trades
There’s a moment in business where everything feels like it’s falling apart—a job goes sideways, a customer’s upset, and your first instinct is to say, “This isn’t my fault.” Been there? Me too. But what if I told you that the most powerful thing you can do as a leader is to say, “This is on me—let’s fix it.” That mindset? It’s called extreme ownership, and it has completely changed the way I lead my team, run our business, and show up every day in the trades. In this episode, I’m breaking down what extreme ownership really means, how Jocko Willink, a former Navy SEAL...
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Navigating Conflict Keeping the Peace
Queen of the Trades
Properly navigating conflict builds trust, strengthens relationships, and turns challenges into opportunities for growth.Whether it’s with a customer, an employee, or even a competitor, conflict is bound to happen. And let’s be real, when you’re pushing for growth and making big moves, you’re going to ruffle some feathers. But here’s the thing, conflict doesn’t have to be a disaster. In fact, if you handle it right, it can actually help you build trust and strengthen relationships. In this episode, I’m sharing a real-life situation where I had to step in and de-escalate a tough...
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The Power of EOS: Breaking Through Business Plateaus
Queen of the Trades
When I first started implementing the Entrepreneurial Operating System, or EOS, in my business, I had no idea just how much it would change the way we operated. At the time, our leadership team was all over the place—juggling too many projects, struggling to finish what we started, and feeling like we were just maintaining instead of truly growing. Something had to change. That’s when I came across the book Traction by Gino Wickman, and it felt like it was written just for us. Today, I want to take you inside our EOS journey, share how we’ve used this system to create more clarity and...
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My Biggest Leadership Mistakes
Queen of the Trades
Leadership is not about avoiding mistakes; it is about learning from them and growing stronger. In this episode, I want to share with you the three biggest mistakes I've made as a leader in the trades. I'm sharing these with you because I want you, as fellow leaders in the trades, to learn from my mistakes and avoid these pitfalls. As leaders, growth comes from learning, evolving, and improving ourselves, our teams, and our companies. Remember, leadership is not about being perfect. I'll explain how I wrongly assumed that all trade operations functioned identically, undervalued the...
info_outlineWe’re constantly told that culture is everything, what does it really mean to build a healthy business culture? Over the last five years, this has become a significant trend. There's been a lot of talk, countless books written, and even some extreme approaches to creating the "perfect" culture. However, in my opinion, going to extremes isn't always healthy.
I've seen both ends of the spectrum firsthand. For example, our business coach walked into our call center only to find a Disney movie playing, with people relaxing and putting their feet up. It was an extremely laid-back environment, which had been bothering me for some time.
I had discussed this with our call center manager, but she insisted that the work was boring, and allowing employees to watch movies was necessary to keep them engaged. She argued that without it, their performance would suffer. To me, this sounded more like excuses than solutions for improving performance.
Our business coach pointed out that there are two types of cultures: the "country club" culture, where anything goes, and the "prison" culture, where nothing is allowed. We had to laugh because we'd experienced both extremes in our call centers. But this realization made it clear that we needed to find a balanced, healthy culture because what we were doing simply wasn't working.
I’ll share tips on how we decided to create a healthy and winning culture that benefits the team and business while making work enjoyable and profitable.
Episode Highlights:
[04:21] My husband Andy is an i personality according to his disc profile. He wants to have fun and wants people to be excited and energetic. I'm a D and C. I'm direct and like numbers. Making money is fun for me.
[05:26] We went on a quest in order to create a great culture for a team. Highly engaged employees outperform their peers by 147% in earnings.
[06:03] When working on your core culture, you should clearly define your values and have a mission statement.
[06:26] A winning culture is the first most important thing for a home service business. There's no amount of fun stuff a team can do to create a healthy culture if they are losing on a daily basis.
[07:11] Make sure the goals you are setting are attainable. Everyone should have a goal or number that they're responsible for.
[08:23] Winning as a team builds a bond with the people that you're winning with. Daily wins create abundance and value.
[09:02] Make it fun and gamify your business whatever that looks like.
[10:29] Don't bring down everybody else's mood when you're faced with the challenge.
[11:14] It's extremely important to recognize team efforts. Give credit, recognition, and bonuses.
[12:49] People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care.
[15:35] Create a healthy culture of inner department collaboration.
[19:38] Collaborate in a problem solving fashion so that departments can work together.
[20:12] 1. Create a winning culture. 2. Make it fun. 3. Recognize efforts. 4. Show people how much you care. 5. Foster healthy collaboration between departments.
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