Who am i?
My name is Gabe Offermann and I am a business geek. Your friendly neighborhood nerd. Am currently a Sales Coach, Process Auditor, Systems Mechanic, Vehicle Photographer, and Content Specialist who loves seeing individuals and businesses succeed beyond what they have imagined. I use my accounting/analyst mojo and talent/development/organizational behavior studies to hack sales processes, tweak and troubleshoot systems, and reveal dysfunctional organizational roadblocks in order to build profit and eliminate talent leaks. I made this site to share a little about myself, what I’m learning about, and how I hope to add value to those who connect with me on both a personal and professional level. Am always looking for opportunities to listen, learn, and add value. Would love to hear about your situation and see if I can help (personally, I strive to never be too shy to ask the dumb or obvious questions that shoe-string many a meeting or think out-side-the-box to find an unconventional solution). Sometimes it helps to just get another perspective, challenge assumptions, or simply have someone cheer you on.
What is my personal mission?
My personal mission is to use my gifts of intuition, adaptability, analysis, and out-of-the-box effective problem-solving to lead through influence while effectively using coaching and process implementation to ensure myself and others excel beyond what was believed possible. Every day I seek to make others laugh, enjoy their work/life, and succeed in their endeavors while building profit and lifetime customers. It is my firm belief that a coach or consultant shouldn’t charge unless he/she has proven that their suggestions, coaching, and influence add value to their clients so am usually down for a coffee or a meal to hear out what you’re doing and hope to change. There is a limit to how much “free” coaching one can realistically provide yet my goal is to just start helping and only charge if there is an identifiable project for me to help implement rather than you simply needing a conversation, learn about resources/ideas, and implement things yourself at your own pace. I don’t know everything and am always looking to learn and grow.
Some of my favorite quotes…
“To be unclear is to be unkind” - Dave Ramsey
“You will get all you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want” - Zig Zigler
“Can’t you be too vulnerable?… no … the problem would not lie in the admitting of so many weaknesses, but in the having of them” - Patrick Lencioni
What I am like?
Am personally often called a Swiss-Army- Knife, Utility Player, or Jack-Of-All-Trades due to my broad background and skill set. My boss likes to call me the “catchall department” because I tend to see and resolve issues others fail to see. If something needs to be fixed or simply needs to be done folks tend to give it to me and get out of the way. I tend to be extremely positive and sure a team I’m serving can conquerer whatever problem it is facing or that together we can make the changes needed to succeed if we’re willing to be vulnerable, admit our mistakes, and grow. Personality-wise according to the Myers/Brigs (MBTI) assessment, I'm a close cross between an INTJ and an ENTJ with a lean towards ENTJ. In other words, a strength of mine is making decisions and leading through influence with a bent toward experimenting with new ideas and I am easily able to get lost in enjoying my work (my inner Geek mode) when the work is in my wheelhouse of discerning, inventing, or simply getting things done (tenacity). If someone is reluctant to make a decision, I’m generally glad to help them make it or help them clarify their options through evaluation. Tend to work well both independently and as part of a collaborative team (prefer being part of a team) and am adaptable to the work needed. Additionally, the DISC profile would classify me as a high-D and high-C person so I can come across as rather confident and assertive yet my teammates would testify that it is my goal to always contribute in whatever ways I can to help the team to succeed and do my best to enlist their perspectives as much as possible (I can be a bit nerdy to that end).
Dreaming big, often big enough for many people (as my co-workers remind me daily), is a habit of mine because I enjoy seeing people, businesses, and ideas reach their full potential blowing past their lids. So what if that would just be the ideal world; that's how things change. We dream of what we want to accomplish and we figure out how to get there by getting past what stands in our way.
Am a self-diagnosed problem-solving/trouble-shooting junkie. The harder the problem and the more collaborative the better as far as I'm concerned which may reveal my Enneagram type as 8 - if you want to get me to overcome something simply tell me it’s impossible and watch me try as hard as I can. Am also a rabid reader focusing most recently on culture building, intentional team building, salesmanship, and process alignment with company/personal values. It’s amazing what happens when a team is clear about what it wants to do, knows what’s important, fleshes out disagreements, and works together to find solutions.
One of my personal goals is to be what Malcolm Gladwell calls a "connector": someone who works hard at investing his time and life in you (his network) by truly knowing you, who you are, what you do, your problems, your needs, and tying you to others/solutions for your mutual good. Am also a strong believer in the phrase that “to be unclear is to be unkind” as I’ve seen way too many scenarios where withholding feedback has damaged processes, individuals, or teams.
More than only business, I greatly enjoy getting involved in the community through organizations and ministries. To me, getting out of yourself and your own little world is the only way you'll be able to solve problems and ensure that you gain the perspective(s) you need to finally see a solution.
For fun, I enjoy lifting weights (always striving to push personal records), playing board games and sports, and watching/reading mysteries (always best with others and pushing myself to get better). These help me rebuild both mentally and physically. Might not always eat like I am focused on being as strong as I can be yet I do enjoy the process of pushing myself and others to reach something we'd only thought to be a dream.
Experience ...
In my 37 years of life, I haven't known too many times where I haven't worked in some way. So far I've been an umpire, soccer referee, newspaper and phonebook delivery person, quality assurance inspector, receptionist, food and steel manufacturing accounting assistant, university facilities distribution student co-manager (even did some graphic design work at an embroidery shop), assistant controller (for 5 years), digital sales manager (5+ years), and vehicle photographer. If there were two principles I learned growing up they were: 1) Always be working, 2) Always be learning.
Before and during my pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in Accounting I worked in manufacturing accounting /operations part-time off-and-on (what happens when you follow your father's footsteps into accounting). Learned about the basics by being a receptionist, shipment receiver, billing clerk, accounts payable clerk, and eventually, an accounting assistant helping with general ledger entries, bank reconciliations, cash flow statements, sales and use tax compliance, accounting process documentation, etc. Also helped create databases to streamline end-of-month and end-of-year inventory counts, sales quotes (converting manual quoting to database searches based on parts needed), and even worked on making collection calls to encourage customers to remember their bills and help them make progress.
Shortly after graduating with an MBA I started as a team member at Jim Barkley Toyota (Asheville, NC) in the accounting department as a manager [12+ person team] (September 2012). That initial role grew to touching areas like IT, marketing, e-commerce, purchasing, in-house warranty administration, and whatever else was needed in order to add value. Still at the same location nearly 5 years after a change in ownership but am now part of the Anderson Automotive Group switching over to the following in October of 2017: sales coaching, auditing variable operations processes, CRM management, vehicle photography, and vehicle pricing - will have been there a combined 11 years in September 2023. Am always looking for better processes, creative ideas, cost savings, and methods of bolstering our brand.
Did a cool side gig consulting on the launch of www.BarkleysMill.com. Enjoyed working with the team there on their initial web and packing copy, starting their initial social media and search engine advertising, and figuring out their initial e-commerce process setup (Shopify and Avalara are awesome tools and can be connected right into Quickbooks). Check it out. They've since added an awesome PR firm and found specialists for graphic design. Best grits on the market! Their goal is to make their family farm in Weaverville, NC a sustainable business for the future that adds jobs to the community while creating valuable products and services. Not every accountant or salesperson can say they were able to help start a foodie brand!
Speaking
Have had the opportunity to both arrange speakers and be one a few times in my role as part of the professional development programs provided by the Young Professionals of Asheville. My first participation was simply a section on growing and maintaining cooperation on your team by not succumbing to the “fundamental attribution error”. Such an important topic to me along with the broader topic of organizational health. My second opportunity came in presting a full workshop for the Young Professionals of Asheville at Hatchworks Coworking on “The Ideal Team Player” model by Patrick Lencioni (huge fan!). I’m currently working on other talks and a curriculum / curated overview of books where I can help you take your team through the writings of Patrick Lencioni, Adam Grant, Jim Collins, Marshall Goldsmith, Simon Sinek, and a few others with the tentative concept being “So, you want to be a leader? Masterclass in building and maintaining teams”. The goal is to help leaders and followers both get a better grasp on how to make their workplace get healthier whether you’re leading up or leading down within an organization.
Connect with Me..
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Gabe Offermann
Would love to connect, learn about you and your business, and perhaps see if there is a way I can add value to you, your business, or network!