The Power of Environment in Business Success: Featuring Michele Tonkovitz, CEO/Founder of Green Onion Creative

AG45 Soul Aligned Strategy Podcast

In this episode of the Ag 45 Soul Aligned Strategy Podcast, host Katherine Breuss speaks with Michele Tonkovitz, owner of Green Onion Creative. Michele shares her journey from being inspired by her media-buyer aunt to owning a strategic and creative marketing firm. She emphasizes the crucial role of a positive environment in both personal and professional life, recounting her experiences with a less-than-ideal advertising agency and the importance of surrounding oneself with uplifting relationships. Michele discusses achieving business alignment, the impact of intrinsic motivation, and the significance of building a supportive team. She also offers advice for business owners about the value of networking, hiring the right people, and focusing on one's ‘why’ to make the entrepreneurial journey more fulfilling and successful.

Find Michele - https://www.greenonioncreative.com/

[00:00:52] Katherine Breuss: welcome Michele Tonkovitz to the Strategy Line podcast with AG 45. Uh, you are from Green Onion Creative, and I would love for you, Michele, if you could share with audience a little bit about you, but also your amazing business. Well, thank you much Katherine, for having me on the podcast.

[00:01:14] Michele Tonkovitz: This is very exciting. Um, I am currently the owner of Green Onion Creative. I started my strategic and creative marketing firm rooted here in Milwaukee back in September of 2013. But my passion for marketing and advertising started when I was eight years old because my aunt was a media buyer here in the Milwaukee area, and we got to go to the Wisconsin Dells theme parks.

Um, the lucky Admirals games, she always got tickets to events. She got to meet Mr. T and Jay Leno back in the eighties. And as a child of the eighties, I was this is the coolest thing ever. You get to do this for your job. I want that to be my job when I grow up. Yeah. And I took my passion for creative writing as a child and had that man out my career path as I was going through high school, going through college.

Going through the different jobs until one day I sat at my table after leaving an advertising agency and going, I don't know if I wanna do this anymore, because I didn't enjoy that last advertising agency environment that I was in. Hmm. I thought about taking a career shift until my phone started ringing and people were asking, Hey, can you write a flyer?

Hey, we have somebody going out on maternity leave. Can you fill in, do our social media? We need public relations, media relations, and that's how the green onion started growing. It's from people in my network who I worked with, either as clients or colleagues along the way, and it's through them and their belief in me that the onions here today.

[00:02:50] Katherine Breuss: The onion. I love it. And and funny, Mr. T, I have not heard that name in a very long time, but I remember that the A team. Yes. Oh my God. For those of you who are too young to know that you go online and look up the A team. Well, who doesn't know who that is. Yeah, I know. Um, gee, I I'm glad you brought up something.

Because this is, how I see it's a key component to being aligned. You mentioned your environment and the, the environment of the last place you worked in, the last agency you worked in didn't align with you. So can you share a little bit more in terms of the impact of our environment and how that can create or destroy what we want?

[00:03:44] Michele Tonkovitz: Absolutely. the environment that you're around, whether it's personally or professionally, impacts every bit of your being. Because if you are in a place that makes you feel icky, that you can't focus, that you feel restricted, that that people are talking outta both sides of their mouths, you are not going to feel good within yourself.

You're not gonna feel good within the work that you're doing. I am such a relationship builder, right? And if I don't have a good relationship with my coworkers, the space that I'm in, the people that we're doing the work for, I'm not proud of the product that I'm pushing out. the same thing holds true in our personal lives.

Sometimes it can feel more of a. Oh, you're being tied to certain environments because of tradition or family or your ability to financially get out of the situation. But you also need to step back and look at yourself, and this is a journey that I'm also going on from a personal level of there are brighter things, better things, things I deserve, that I want, that I need and I can get them.

And Basically with your personal life and your professional life coming together and making sure that you're having positive environments in both. I, I know for myself that anything is possible in my future.

[00:05:16] Katherine Breuss: Yeah, and, and you're a hundred percent on when you talk about that alignment between personal and professional.

And I to use this, metaphor of. When there's, I, I say toxicity, whether, whatever level that is, whether that's a person, whether that's a group of people, whether that's even, where we are hanging out. Is an anchor, and it's you're swimming through the ocean of life, whether it's your life, your business, whatever, and you've got this anchor that is making it hard to move forward.

And even though you are wanting to move in that direction of more soul alignment and getting what you want, if you have that anchor tied to you, it's, it's impossible to, get there. And it's hard to make the decision to try to untie or cut off the anchor. Yeah, it is hard. It is not easy.

'cause you, a little bit about mine as that, there was an anchor that, I had to let go of. Um, in terms of. So environment is key. So having, good relationships and a, a positive or, and I don't using the word positive 'cause then some people think we all mean oh, we gotta show up all happy and whatnot.

But an environment where people are lifting you up versus pulling you down. You, you would say that that's key in terms of that first step of being aligned. Absolutely from, again, both the professional and the personal standpoints with my clients. Anytime I get a bit of positive feedback that they had a great experience with one of the members of our team, I may ensure that I'm passing that along because those little lifts along the way can change the trajectory and brighten somebody's day and give that, that environment of I'm feeling supported, I'm feeling empowered.

[00:07:31] Michele Tonkovitz: I'm doing the things. I'm in the place with the people. Mm-hmm. I know by, from a personal perspective, I'm an aunt of five nieces and nephews, and I know it annoys the crap out of them, but I'm always I love you. I'm proud of you. You're good. And they're I know. And I'm but I need you to know that I feel it in my heart and soul.

And they do. So even those little things of telling your, your neighbor Hey, thanks much. Like your flowers are beautiful. Thank you for sprucing up my yard. By having that beauty in your backyard, those little things can mean very, very much. Absolutely. It's, you're celebrating their wind and you're happy for their wins.

[00:08:13] Katherine Breuss: Not feeling I don't know, overshadowed or, or jealous of the, wins. You you want the people around you to do Mm-hmm. Which is huge. Which is huge. And in terms of, then, what we talk about here at Ag 45 of Soul Lineman is this, marriage or two sides of the coin.

It's, it's getting the results you want. And it's enjoying the journey and it's having both, and of course it's, nothing's gonna be perfect. It's not gonna be a perfect balance. Um, what for you do you find is easier, in terms of if, if one or the other, more of that enjoyment piece or the results piece, or how do you even see that?

[00:09:07] Michele Tonkovitz: The results are what you have to work for. And sometimes that's going through the muck, right? Mm-hmm. Look up the sleeves. It's not always great trying to get those results because you have to put in the work. But my grandpa used to say, if you plan the work and work the plan, you're gonna see the results.

And I have a lot of belief in mindset and approach and strategy. By working to get those results with my team, with myself, with my spirituality, with others colleagues in the area, seeing those results brings me the enjoyment, right? Mm-hmm. And even the littlest wins, you were saying, can mean much.

And then when you have a big one, you're heck we are going to celebrate. We're going to eat tonight. Right? Um, but even the little wins. And the hard work that you have to put in in your personal life too, whether it's you're saving up to buy a new car, or maybe you do wanna take that vacation, even if it's Hey, I've done a couple extra walks the last two months, and now my summer clothes are fitting a little bit better than they did last year.

Those are things that I find enjoyment in too. I try to look at all the things and try to be as positive as possible.

[00:10:30] Katherine Breuss: And what do as in terms of for, for someone, a business owner? 'cause that's who we're speaking with a business owner to be truly aligned. How do the impact of a business owner knowing their own personal power and harnessing that?

What do the impact of that?

[00:10:55] Michele Tonkovitz: there's a lot of impact in that in the fact that business owners myself, our professional life trickles into our personal life. So very, very much, and I'm gonna give an example of that recently. Um, I'm the president of the Milwaukee chapter of the American Marketing Association, and we had one of our biggest annual events.

It's a networking, social, happy hour. I invited my cousin and her boyfriend to come. They are not in marketing, but they need to see what I'm doing they can understand what makes me me, and what brings me the success. What gives me the ability to have the flexible schedule, to be able to travel, to buy the things, and also what keeps me up at night when your personal life can be seen by your.

Uh, professional life and vice versa. It, it helps you make, it helps me become a more well-rounded person and then they can understand both ends, whether it's my employees or my family, where maybe some of the stresses and the struggles and my lack of time at times can come from, and you take what you're good at in your professional life.

And also look at how that can apply and impact your personal life. So I have in communications in general, telling you I love you, showing the support, doing all of those things, inviting you to the events you can see what I'm doing. that helps me get that soul alignment. It's not always easy.

[00:12:37] Katherine Breuss: No, it's not. And it's interesting, one of the things that I hear as we're talking is that communication and relationships have come up, for you, quite a bit. And I see that. Something around that is your superpower is one of your superpowers, and regardless of what you're doing, whether it's green onion creative, whether it's with your family, whether it's with friends, whether if it's something completely different, that you bring that, that personal power, that superpower with you no matter what is on the external.

[00:13:16] Michele Tonkovitz: The joke is, I've always said from the movie Clueless. I'm the social director of the crew. So it, it is very much, I'm a planner and that's where my business mindset and my strategic mindset from work and project management and. The creativity also trickles into the personal life. I'm going, getting ready to go on a trip with my niece and, another family member goes, what's your entire itinerary?

I go, the beauty is I didn't have to plan this trip. And they were whoa, are you gonna be okay? Letting go of control and I'm, I'm gonna go in with a curious mind and relax, knowing I didn't have to do everything. Mm. Which is probably nice because you still know that you've got that superpower of yours that's all about it sounds connection and relationship and communication, and that's still there, even if the planning's not

So then I don't have to feel I am communicating, here's what we're doing, this is what's next. I can go and give help, give the joyful commentary and embrace the beauty and the moment in which we're living in. Now I hear a lot of times, owners and even, non-owners equate their experience with results.

[00:14:42] Katherine Breuss: So their their journey or enjoyment with results. So what happens though if the results don't show up the way you'd them to? How does that impact the journey? So this is interesting that you're talking about how if the results show up, but not quite I had expected because, I was speaking with an advisor currently who I posed that same thing.

[00:15:08] Michele Tonkovitz: I said the things that I want, I'm getting them, but they're slightly off. And, she said to me, are, am I focusing on the why? It's not what. I want, but why I want it. Bingo. And, and I sat back and go, no, I, I've been fo focused on what we're trying to achieve, that the Y hasn't been brought up as an equal partner, if not greater.

[00:15:40] Katherine Breuss: The strategy. And that bit of my mindset from a personal and perspective, personal and professional perspective is changing. And I'm excited to go into the next few months with some of these new clients that we're bringing on, great clients that we've had before that are renewing contracts, looking at the results exactly from, from the previous year or up until where we are today and saying.

What was good? What did we do to get those results and why? Mm-hmm. Yeah. And why, even greater in terms of how we show up. And where I to challenge, or point, I guess might be a better word, people, is to go, results are very important. They are, I'm all about results. The enjoying the journey though. Comes from, when it, when it's not dangerous, should come from intrinsically inside versus outside. So when we have that, I'll be happy when that always is a flag for me going, Ooh, danger. Danger. Because if that when doesn't show up, then what happens to your experience?

Mm-hmm.

So. Finding and harnessing our personal power starts within. And then what's interesting is the flow happens and the results come. Of course, you gotta do work for it. It's not you sit back. Um, is there a time, Michele, that you have found that you were connected with? Who you are and your own why that even when the results didn't necessarily show up the way you liked it, you were still no, I'm good, I'm

[00:17:39] Michele Tonkovitz: Absolutely. Uh, from a, from a business perspective, examples that make me come or that came to mind for me about that, it makes me think of a lot of our public relations and media relations efforts. So we work hard with our clients to identify what media outlets, bloggers, influencers, would be great in, points of connection and picking up their unique story.

But sometimes you don't know what else is going on in the world. And what you think would be a great pitch to get out there, maybe up against some more timely news, perhaps not some great things. Um, and You may not get the, the, the volume numbers, right? So when we're looking the data of those greater results.

But a case in point, we did a bunch of media efforts for, a nonprofit in the Milwaukee area. They were doing a summit. And again, in a time where there's a lot of other news stories happening. There was one reporter for the local TV station who was very, very interested and she scheduled multiple interviews with them and invited them to the station to do an on air interview.

And while we didn't get the volume of pickup that we had initially anticipated, the quality of that one. Story and the experience that the client had, that whole journey for them was fantastic and they were very pleased with it and said that they would be coming back to Green Onion Creative for more of their public relations and media relations needs in the future.

So again, when you look at it from a data standpoint, maybe it wasn't the the most fulfilling plate, but that bite that we had was satisfying.

[00:19:38] Katherine Breuss: So is it was more about the quality versus the quantity in that particular piece?

[00:19:43] Michele Tonkovitz: Yes.

[00:19:44] Katherine Breuss: Um, if you were to give, one piece of advice because being a business owner can feel, it's lonely, it can be very lonely and, there's a lot of listeners who are in our position.

What would be looking at it from a soul line strategy piece, what would be the one piece of advice or suggestion that you would want to share with fellow business owners?

[00:20:16] Michele Tonkovitz: Interesting that you said the word lonely, because I've recently been talking to a business owner on the east coast, and in our conversations he has said it's lonely at the top.

Speaking to you makes me feel I am with somebody else who understands, and that's one of my pieces of advice is as much as our family and our employees and our colleagues love us, or we hope that they love us and they're cheering us on, I do believe that the networking component of finding other like-minded business owners is important that you don't feel lonely at the top.

They don't have to do the same business as you. Mm-hmm. Other people who share similar mindsets, and then also with that being lonely at the top. If you are a small business and you're wearing all the hats, the best advice I can give that I wish I would've done even sooner than I did it was to hire. Like employees, subcontractors, trusted advisors.

You don't have to do everything because when you're wearing all those hats, the pressure on your shoulders is immense and it doesn't allow you to give focus and strength to the real reason why you started your business, because you're awesome and amazing at doing that one thing. And that's where your heart is and why you got to this place today.

So don't let all the other pressures feel they're bogging you down and preventing you from continuing the passion that you had to start the business in the first place. Go out there and spend the money. Have a belief in that these people are the people because the law of attraction and the returns can be great.

[00:22:12] Katherine Breuss: Absolutely. And, and it, it inhibits. If you don't do that, your ability to grow. And to that point in terms of hiring people, the more clarity you have with who you are and what you want, that whole and your business is more soul aligned, you will know and you will attract the people who are supposed to be working with you.

Um, I've seen it, I've seen it happen where, there was misalignment and I've seen it happen when there was alignment and the people who showed up it, it's crazy. It's crazy. But you also know who you want as from a, a hiring standpoint,

[00:22:53] Michele Tonkovitz: and that goes back to that agency I was talking about at the very beginning, that it wasn't the fit.

Mm-hmm. I had known somebody who worked at that agency and I thought, oh, they're a cool person. This seems a cool place. Sure, I'll take the job. This will be cool if it ended up not, not being that at all, and I would have those icky feelings. Mm. Even though the environment was laid back and Right.

Everybody was chill and creative. It. It worked for them, but it didn't work for me. And you also need to know from your own perspective of when you're not in the place that's for you, that environment.

[00:23:43] Katherine Breuss: Absolutely.

[00:23:44] Michele Tonkovitz: I realized I needed more structure, which I never thought that I did until I had more freedom than I knew what to do with.

[00:23:54] Katherine Breuss: Which is interesting. Most people wouldn't equate freedom and structure, when there's more freedom, things can get chaotic for some. Uh, but in terms of knowing who you are and what you want and not ignoring those icky feelings, because my guess is, is that you are operating with a lot more resistance and now you're operating with a lot more flow.

[00:24:22] Michele Tonkovitz: Correct.

[00:24:23] Katherine Breuss: And when we're operating in more flow, which I call as we're, we're aligned when we are or more aligned, the results do come.

[00:24:34] Michele Tonkovitz: Mm-hmm. And I feel them coming. I feel them in my heart. Right. I, I know them in my brain. I see them within my eyes. The computer systems that we use, right?

The bank account, the, the emails, all the stuff, and. Again, it's the law of attraction and you plan the work, you work the plan, you be smart about it, you build your team and it will come. You have to be patient too, which is not my strongest virtue. Um, but there is a, a bit of patience that has to be mentioned in that whole equation too.

[00:25:09] Katherine Breuss: Yeah. And there's that piece about being clear about. Who you are and what you want with that and aligning that to the plan, which is key, in terms of getting that. Two sides of the coin. The enjoying as as the results.

[00:25:30] Michele Tonkovitz: Mm-hmm. So if and why.

[00:25:33] Katherine Breuss: Yeah. Yeah. And in terms of the, your next evolution as a person and as a business owner and or as, the business itself, what for you is that next evolution that you want to experience?

[00:25:54] Michele Tonkovitz: I would love in the next three to five years to continue to grow green onion creative that I don't have to wear as many of those hats that I was talking about earlier. I would love to, to get my agency to the point where it is more leadership driven, where I have. Dedicated chief marketing officer. I have a dedicated chief operating officer, somebody who's in charge of all the finance, all those things that I can focus more on the parts of the business that are very fulfilling to me and add a lot of value.

That's the networking, that's sharing the story, that's empowering, that's mentoring and coaching. I. Have such a belief in our young marketers who are in school now, or those who are graduating. I feel it's my responsibility and one that is not a burden, but a joy to share my knowledge with them. I wanna help preserve the integrity and see the growth of marketing versus doing much of the daily.

Business to business operational. I wanna be involved with the bigger ideas and pictures, but my powers, my superpower, you said, is that communication and relationship building. And when I build that great team of leaders, which I'm already working towards doing in the next three to five years, I want them to be in a place of total confidence and empowerment.

You go and be awesome at what you're doing. And I will continue to bring in the layers that keep the onion growing not only for our business perspective, but for our clients and our community, and again, the professionals that I work with. And that will also give me more freedom. Hmm. Perhaps in a time perspective financially.

I, I don't know, but I'm, I'm hoping it's gonna give me that more fulfilling freedom in my personal life as That I can grow beyond the onion

[00:28:01] Katherine Breuss: and it should, if you do it in a soul line way. Um. Absolutely it. And what we call it AG 45 is you're wanting to go from owner, run to leader run. And we work with businesses who, who do that.

And, and it can give you that freedom in your time, in your personal wealth, and it creates value in your business. Um, Michele, thank you. So much for joining us. It's always a pleasure, , and would love to have you back again.

[00:28:36] Michele Tonkovitz: I would love that too. I would be excited to share how the onion continues to go and grow and evolve.

Um, and if there's anybody, whoever wanted to talk about marketing or perspectives from my end, I'd be happy to have that conversation too.

[00:28:54] Katherine Breuss: Nice. All Michele, speak to you again soon.

[00:28:58] Michele Tonkovitz: Thank you.

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