A Comprehensive Guide to Choosing the Right Certification for Your Business Journey

OBM and DOO have their own pros and cons, but which is the right one for you?

As I reflect on three years in business, I share some things to consider when deciding between these two certifications.

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Podcast Transcript:

Kiva Slade: [00:00:01]

Hello, and welcome to Collab With Kiva. I'm your host, Kiva Slade. From the marbled halls of the US Congress to my racing-themed office chair, I've learned that there is no perfect path to the life of your dreams. My journey over the past 20 years has included being a legislative director for a member of Congress, policy director for a nonprofit, stay-at-home mom, homeschooling mom, jewelry, business owner, and now the owner of a service-based business. Whether your journey has been a straight line or full of zigs and zags, join me and my guest as we share insights, hope, and lessons learned from our female entrepreneurship journeys. May the collaborative sharing of our stories be the tide that lifts your boat. Let's dive in.

[00:00:55]

Hello, and welcome to another episode of Collab With Kiva. I'm your host, Kiva Slade. Today I am going to talk about the Online Business Manager Certification and the Director of Operations Certification Programs. And the reason I'm going to talk about these two programs is because, A, I'm certified in both. But B, as I approach three years in business, I've been reflecting on different aspects of being an entrepreneur. And I get PMs about these programs being that I am certified and have gone through both certifications. So, for a history lesson, I became a certified online business manager in 2020 and I became a certified Director of Operations in 2021. And full disclosure, both of these programs have since undergone major changes since I completed the certifications.

[00:02:09]

So, I want that to be clear. The OBM program is now six months long I understand. They worked with an adult learning specialist as part of their overhaul. The DOO program has two tracks in their upcoming overhaul that looks at those who want to work as employees and those who are looking to work as service providers. So, again, full disclosure, I have not looked at either of these programs since their overhaul. Both Tina Forsyth, who is the creator of the International Association of Online Business Managers that does the OBM cert, and Natalie Gingerich, who is the DOO certification creator, are amazing women with vision leadership. They have both built supportive teams, and have amazing businesses.

[00:03:01]

I respect both of them so highly. And I think after my OBM certification, I did a series of YouTube videos on online business managers. So, I get messages from that, people who are looking at these programs. I get PMs on Facebook from people who have seen me talk about either program, have seen a video that I've done for either program. And so, I really want to just answer questions that you may have but have not known. You're like, I didn't know. I could just ask you, Kiva, or someone else. There are tons of other amazing, brilliant women who are certified in both as well. So, let's just dive in. Because one of the first questions, people are like, So why did you do both? And that's a really valid question. I totally respect it.

[00:04:03]

And when I did the OBM certification, it was a three-month program. And at that particular time, I can recall March of 2020 when it was starting, my cohort started. I really felt that the certification week was totally kick butt. That certification week, the projects that they take you through, oh my goodness gracious, I was like, pins and needles, felt like I was back in grad school trying to complete a capstone. And it was definitely intense and really just you had to be focused and paid attention, I'll say that. So, at that time, when I finished the program, I did feel like, I don't know if I fully know enough.

[00:05:03]

And I think that was one of the reasons, that and FOMO if I'm honest, I went into the Director of Ops program. And I will say that the Director of Operations program for me took a deeper dive into human resources at that time, and that was primarily based on Natalie's experience, I think, in that area. So, I did feel more complete when it came to team management after that portion of the DOO program. However, as you grow and your business grows, you're going to start to realize things just as I have as I reflect over the last three years. One of those things that you'll start to realize is you can pretty much call yourself whatever you want. I'll just say that again. You can call yourself whatever you want. People, we give a lot of weight to titles. Rightfully so in some areas, and maybe not so rightfully so in others.

[00:06:10]

I think it becomes important what outcome do you deliver and for whom. That is what at the end of the day, where the rubber meets the road. Your clients want transformation. They really don't care about your title. I don't really use either title now. I use Fractional Chief Operating Officer. So, at the end of the day, though, your title is not the thing that is attracting people to you. It is what outcome ... What's the transformation ... What will be different in their life after working with you.

[00:06:59]

And I share that because when you're getting started, when you're finding your footing, you don't realize that, and not many people will tell you that. So, I'm here today to let you know it's not so much about what you call yourself, it's what outcome and transformation are you able to deliver, and for whom. Because those are the people that you need to be talking to, that you can make these differences in their life. I think the second thing that I've come to realize is you need to think beyond the program, think beyond the certification. Neither program is cheap, so to speak, so I need you to think beyond the program. What else do you want or need at this stage of your business? What else do you want? What else do you need?

[00:08:05]

You have to ask yourself those questions because if not, FOMO or some other thing will definitely set in. And it hurts my heart when people make impulse purchases and they did not do their homework. So, what happens beyond the program? At the end, once you are certified, what is next? For example, the OBM program has an association, so it has dues for like $297 for the year. You have a members-only Facebook group. You have job RFPs, monthly blog articles, and social media posts that they give you to use. Two calls a month with Tina and her team to work through problems.

[00:09:03]

There's a monthly guest expert call. A resource library of all kinds of tools and goodies. Recently, they totally revamped all of their launch documents based on launches that are happening now. And oh my goodness, there was a training for it, and the worksheets and the spreadsheets and all the sheets that came with it were truly mind-blowing because of just the high quality that they were. And I'm not a person who is a fan of launches, I don't mind laying out the plan, I just don't want to be the person doing the actual project management of it. And with the checklist and the other things that they created, I was like, Hey, maybe I don't dislike launches as much as I thought. And there are probably other things that I'm forgetting.

[00:10:00]

The Facebook community is supportive and helpful. There are, though, additional trainings that are special that come up, that have additional fees. And there's the yearly (It's been virtual. Thanks, COVID) conference that's two days of completely actionable goodness. And that's like, I don't know, 197, $97. I don't know. There's an early bird pricing and then it goes up obviously from there. And it's a business write-off. So, the other special trainings, I know currently there's a training being shared for financial management services with a CPA. Because some people, let's be real, there are some businesses that are cash poor, and you want to be able to help them in that area so that they can have money instead of just constantly having it go out the door. So, at any rate, that's one aspect of what is beyond the program, beyond the certification.

[00:11:03]

So, does any of that stuff interest you? Is that stuff that you want? Because you should think about that. The DOO has an alumni group on Facebook as well. Job opportunities are shared there and I believe also via email. There's also, though, the Ops inner circle, which is a paid community for DOOs, and there are monthly mindset coaching calls, bi-monthly mentor mind sessions, a monthly marketing coach call, a monthly marketing strategic advisory training. There's a different Facebook community for that, and obviously, there's the library of resources. So, I think you can join that for six months or 12 months. If you do six months, it's $2497 paid in full or $497 a month. 12 months is $3,997 paid in full or $397 a month. So, again, what do you want in need at this stage of your business?

[00:12:06]

You might be attracted to one of those more so than the other one. You might be attracted to neither of those, and that's okay. But these are things that you should take into consideration as you consider any certification program. What comes after it? Is there a community that you're a part of? Is there a way to bounce ideas off of other people? Are there ways for people to get together? If those things are important to you, then that leads to my third point, which is to ask the hard questions and don't yield to FOMO. Don't be afraid to ask hard questions of each program and of yourself. Ask to speak to graduates. Those that did well, those that didn't. Ask yourself, Hey, why do I feel that I need this, and am I going to commit to using this?

[00:13:07]

Because again, it saddens my heart to see folks make the investment and not see the return on investment. And yeah, I get it, there are reasons and circumstances beyond the program's control that at times are a factor. But also in some cases, there are misaligned expectations and results are also at play. And I think that is attributable to many courses and things that are out there nowadays. You can not exactly ask the hard questions, and therefore you're thinking that you're getting A, and then you're served up C, and you're like, I'm upset over this. But if we ask the hard questions on the front end, again, not just of the program but of ourselves, that can help alleviate or at least reset those expectations and those results to make sure that they're in alignment.

[00:14:06]

The reality is our economy is going to continue to shift. Brilliant women like yourself are going to decide to pursue entrepreneurship. Don't discount what you already know. I'll say that part again. Don't discount what you already know. Make sure that any program certification is actually filling in gaps or enhancing some aspect of what you know in a way that you are looking for it to do that. And also, have a plan to commit yourself to selling this thing, whatever it is, for one year after you finish the program. For one year. Because the building of relationships and the amount of marketing needed are often underestimated.

[00:15:08]

And I'll say that again The building of relationships and amount of marketing needed are often underestimated. The expectation that you will finish this program, any program, you are going to become certified and people are going to be knocking on your virtual door in which to hire you, that may not be the case. So, are you ready to do what needs to be done after you made this investment in yourself to make sure that you do your part to help see that return on investment?

[00:16:00]

And that's something that really needs to be considered if you're making this four-figure investment, five-figure, whichever program mastermind, whatever you want to do in life, if you're going to make that commitment financially, you need to make sure you also make that commitment in all other areas so that the two things can actually meet and be in alignment. If it's your schedule that needs some reprioritization in order to make sure you attend sessions live, then you need to do that. Recordings may not hit it for you. And if you do miss the live session, what is the process for asking questions after you've watched the recording? That's something you might need to find out. And you should not be afraid to ask that question.

[00:17:01]

So, in closing, remember, you can call yourself whatever you want. I want you to think beyond the program, what is it that you need, and does the end of the program, what happens after that, support that? And don't be afraid to ask the hard questions. And don't yield to FOMO. Because the fear of missing out is serious. You're in certain circles, people are doing certain things, you're like, Oh, let me click on this. Ooh, let me do this. Oh, let me do that. And in many cases, we get analysis paralysis. We invest in something, we don't go all the way through with it, or we do and it wasn't what we thought it was going to be. And again, no shade to either program. I've invested in both of them. I want people who may have questions to not be afraid to ask those questions.

[00:18:05]

And you may not have someone in your circle who has done both programs, so you may not send a PM and just be like, Hey girl, I have some questions about this. And I just think that as we move forward, one of the beautiful things of the online landscape and our digital economy is that you are wonderfully gifted to fill a unique gap in the marketplace. You have experiences, you have training, you have education that makes you, you. So, I want you to trust yourself and do your homework. And you should trust yourself and do your homework before any investment, if we're honest, just to make sure that it is aligned with who you are, what you want, and what you're looking to accomplish.

[00:19:09]

So whether you decide you want to become certified as an online business manager, a director of operations, a cheetah wrangler at the local zoo, it doesn't matter. It really doesn't. What matters is, does it serve you, or are you doing it because you think that's something you have to do in order to do something else? So, with that being said, again, my take, my reflections as I look back over the last three years. And if you have any questions, feel free to reach out. If you find that one program is more your speed than the other, yay for you. I'm excited for you. Go forth and conquer.  Again though, remember, set yourself up for a year of talking about this thing ad nauseam because relationship building and marketing take time. So, all the best to you in whatever you choose to do that works for you at this stage of your life and your business journey. And I will see you next time on Collab with Kiva. Bye.

[00:20:37]

Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Collab with Kiva. Each of us has a different path and I hope that this episode gave you some takeaway that has left you inspired and motivated to keep pressing forward on your unique path. Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss out on any future episodes. And of course, your reviews on Apple are greatly appreciated. If you're a small business owner ready to start making data-driven decisions in your business, and you know that without the data, you're really just guessing, make sure to visit my website the516collaborative.com, and let's schedule a time to talk to make sure that you can harness the power of data in your business. I'll see you next time. Bye.

Meet Kiva Slade - the Founder and CEO of The 516 Collaborative. With a unique background in high-power politics on Capitol Hill and sixteen years as a homeschooling mama, Kiva found her calling in the online business world as a trusted guide for entrepreneurs looking to build the business of their dreams.

Kiva's work began behind the scenes, orchestrating the back end of businesses and managing teams. But her inner data diva couldn't help but notice that small businesses needed help harnessing the power of data for growth. So she and her team set out to uncover and tidy up the data required to enable clients to grow their businesses confidently and easily.