Your Seat at the Table - Real Conversations on Leadership and Growth

The Craft of High-Impact Event Design with Carol Galle

• Mike Maddock & John Tobin

Share episode

Stop treating conferences like lectures and start treating them like catalysts. We sit down with Carol, a Detroit-based entrepreneur who left a secure GM career to build a national event agency that designs gatherings people still talk about years later. For decision-makers dealing with disengaged audiences—and for any leader who’s ever felt alone in tough calls about budget, flow, or impact—Carol reframes event design through a question-driven lens. She believes the real ROI happens in hallways: those unscripted, peer-powered moments where ideas stick and new partners meet.

Carol walks us through her proudest builds, including a centennial celebration for the Kresge Foundation that brought Detroit’s culture to the stage and quietly welcomed President Obama. She opens the curtain on production truths: why you should thank the AV crew when nothing goes wrong, how to rehearse for the “what if” moments, and how on-the-fly recoveries often become the most human stories attendees remember. There’s humor too—live tigers, accidental blackouts, and the delicate art of making a big entrance that actually works.

At the center of this conversation is impact. Events generate waste, especially food. Carol shares a simple, scalable tactic: redirect catering minimums into pre-packaged items and donate them to local food banks. No new budget. No extra logistics. Just asking the right question at the right time. That one shift sparked national interest and reflects a broader mandate: design gatherings that feed minds and communities.

We also unpack resilience. When COVID shut down live events, Carol split a lean team, earned virtual certifications, protected the brand, and later folded those skills into hybrid strategies for global niche groups. Earlier downturns pushed her to launch a consulting arm that transforms corporate anniversaries into yearlong engines for culture, PR, and growth. For anyone ready to challenge their comfort zone in leadership or creative industries, Carol’s story shows how to run toward the roar when uncertainty hits—and how clarity emerges when you decide what’s not your problem.

If you care about event design, audience engagement, sustainability, or leadership under pressure, this episode is full of practical plays you can use next week. Real leaders. Real stories. Real action. Listen, share with a teammate, and tell us your best hallway-moment tactic—and if you try the donation move, report back so others can follow. Subscribe for more candid conversations with leaders who build things that last.

🎙️ Enjoyed this conversation?
Subscribe to Your Seat at the Table for more candid discussions on leadership, growth, and the real stories behind the decisions that shape great organizations.

💬 We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments — or let us know what topics you'd like us to explore next.

👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@YourSeatatTheTablePodcast
👉 Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1826002539
https://open.spotify.com/show/0fDDb1gvrvsttm4nInRL8Y

👉 Connect with us:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmichaelmaddock/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-tobin-a54225/
https://flourishadvisoryboards.com/
https://www.mike-maddock.com/

Pull up a chair. There’s always room for your seat at the table.

Carol Galle:

I think if people walk in a room, sit in the back of the room, or walk into a especially a conference, sit in the back of the room, listen to a speaker, walk out, and have never engaged with anyone else because they're on their phone or they're doing this, like we've lost. That's a loss. Cause true learning and engagement comes from, I think, what happens in the hallways a lot of the time, where you say, Oh, I heard that guy say this, or I heard this woman speak on this, and what did you think? So that's a loss. As far as what not to do for events, I don't know. We've had live tigers and that worked out pretty well.

Mike Maddock:

Welcome to the Your Seat at the Table podcast with your hosts, idea monkey Mike Mattock, and ringleader John Tobin. We're two founders, a serial entrepreneur and a billion-dollar operator to talk to leaders about how, when, and why they made their most pivotal decisions in life. Join us as we share wisdom, mistakes, and a few laughs learning from the brightest minds in business today. Hey, lucky us, we're here with Carol. Carol, hi. Hello. Welcome, Carol. Thanks for joining us at the Your Seat of the Table podcast. Um, it's good to have you at the table a couple days before Thanksgiving. This is the I'm at Grandmother's House Home Edition. So welcome.

Carol Galle:

Thank you. Happy to be here.

Mike Maddock:

Um so Carol, tell us you you're an entrepreneur. Um, give us how did you get there? You went from uh a bacon smelling waitress. That's what your LinkedIn account says. I didn't just make that up. You said it. I'm just repeating it. Tell us your story.

Carol Galle:

Yeah. So I was fortunate enough to go to work for General Motors um when I was about 20 years old and intended, that was the brass ring. If you grew up in the Detroit area and you worked for one of the big three, that was going to be the end all be all. So I was gonna be this good corporate citizen um, you know, for the rest of my life. And I was fortunate enough to be um allowed to coordinate what was called at that time the Dealers Sons School, which was the sons and daughters of cardmillers who came to Detroit to learn how to take over the parents' business. So what that did is it taught me how to coordinate training and conferences, and it also put me in the room with world-class um, you know, business experts who taught me how to run a business. So it was amazing, um, great opportunity. And I decided I was gonna walk away from that breast ring and uh leave my company or leave my General Motors and start my own agency.

Mike Maddock:

Okay, hold on a second. So uh did you just say Sun School? Yeah, is this before PC? Yeah. At what point was it rebranded to son and daughter, or is it still the same?

Carol Galle:

I mean, hopefully after I've gone. I mean, some point after I was gone, but you know.

Mike Maddock:

Oh well. I remember talking to this um John uh John, who's the CEO of Ace Hardware, and it's Ace is a place with a helpful hardware man. And they change it to folks. I'm like, folks, John? He's like, I know, but we had to. So okay. So you started your.

John Tobin:

You don't say folks, Mike. You you don't say folks.

Mike Maddock:

I say folks because I'm folksy, but I grew up with how hardware man. No, I know, I know the Midwest.

John Tobin:

I say folks all the time. I don't know if that's like a Chicago thing or what, but yeah, I like the I think it's a southern thing.

Carol Galle:

I don't know, but I say it too.

Mike Maddock:

Oh, interesting. You say y'all? That would be a southern thing.

Carol Galle:

Yeah, that is, but I don't say it, but I say folks.

Mike Maddock:

So you say one syllable words with two syllables? Like, well, that's a southern thing. Bless your heart.

John Tobin:

Um so Carol, Carol, you were at GM for like uh six years-ish, right?

Carol Galle:

Six, seven years, yeah.

John Tobin:

And so, so obviously seeing how to run a business, like you said, as well as getting into event planning and training, what was the spark though that made you feel like, oh, I gotta do this on my own? Or I, you know, was there was there a spark? Was there an a person that will you really looked up to? How did you get the guts to do it? I think is probably where where I'm what I'm curious about.

Carol Galle:

Um well, first I just I recognized that when you walk in a room for a business event for the most part, you're gonna walk out of there hopefully changed in one way. I mean, the people, at least one way, the people that were there for GM were gonna come out and be able to run a business and and do great things. And there just should be something good and positive that comes out of that. And as much as I love bringing people together in the room, I wanted to do it for something other than to sell cars. Right. And I couldn't do that staying in General Motors. So I love the idea of helping people gather together to solve a problem, to, you know, help the community, to, you know, raise funds for something, you know, worthy. So I had to leave to do that.

Mike Maddock:

But do you think that your experience at GM or your experience experience as a waitress helped you more be with customer creating customer events?

Carol Galle:

I might have to say General Motors, because really, I mean, I was around some wonderful, brilliant people when it came to customer satisfaction and just so many lessons I learned from a hospitality standpoint, even though it was cars that I've taken. Um it just sort of ingrained in me now.

Mike Maddock:

Yeah, I would have gotten that one wrong. I would have I would have bet you would have said being richest. Yeah. John, did you ever do you ever uh were you ever a bus boy or a waiter?

John Tobin:

No, I I I was a caddy. That was my very first job. And then I worked at a drugstore, like a local drugstore. If you and um I did that all through high school and even I think my first year out of in college, I I did it for that. So very you know, service oriented, but not and then I mowed lawns a lot, like you know, that then helped my dad do roofing, but never, never actually work at a restaurant.

Mike Maddock:

I was a bartender, Carol. And so I got a chance to you know throw beer quarter draws in school, but anyway, for customer-facing stuff and working at 31 Flavors all through high school really helped me with understanding people. Um, so you're talk talk about your favorite event ever that ever put on.

Carol Galle:

I have to say last year, so we do a lot of work with uh foundations like Kreske, Kellogg, Ford Foundation, and um we also do a lot of work with organizations celebrating milestone anniversaries. So the Kreske Foundation celebrated a hundred years last year, and we brought together this amazing event here in Detroit with so many local uh musical artists and poets and performers and the community, and um the surprise guest was President Obama. Oh, cool. It was very difficult to keep that secret. Um we did, and it was just it was it really represented the community and it had such life and um it was really exciting.

Mike Maddock:

It's amazing. Do you have any like what makes an amazing event and what is on your don't ever ever do this in event list? You stole my question, Mike. Oh, dang it. Sorry, man. No, it's good. You can see we we just make this up as we go along, Carol.

Carol Galle:

You're just on this thing right. It's okay. Um, you know, I think if people walk in a room, sit in the back of the room, or walk into a especially a conference, sit in the back of the room, listen to a speaker, walk out, and have never engaged with anyone else because they're on their phone or they're doing this, like we've lost. That's a that's a loss. Because true learning and engagement comes from, I think, what happens in the hallways a lot of the time, where you say, Oh, I heard that guy say this, or I heard this woman speak on this, and what did you think? So that's a loss. Um, as far as what not to do for events, I don't know. We've had live tigers and that worked out pretty well.

John Tobin:

It really worked out for Siegfried and Roy, huh? What was the context of the live tiger? Was it like uh for a um uh a circus uh convention?

Carol Galle:

It was a gift to a retirement gift to a CEO. Oh wow, it was not he didn't get to meet the tiger, it was just a cob. Um but he was going on uh the the company gave him a very special trip, a retirement trip, and it was a safari and all these things, so they wanted this to be presented on stage with a tiger. And we had to measure the tigers to make sure that they were within the hotel's allowed limits for tiger size, which we did that prior to, you know, several months prior, and then they grew and then they showed up on site and they were over the limit, and that was a whole thing, but it worked out.

Mike Maddock:

That's amazing. Do you have a question? I don't I have other questions, John, but it I don't want to steal another one. So what do you mean?

John Tobin:

Just feeding feeding off of you know the the company itself and special D events and what what what makes it special in your mind? Is it is it very focused in the Detroit community, or is it broader than that? And maybe just any differentiators you you would want to point out?

Carol Galle:

Yeah, so we have managed events in all 50 states. That's not something we've physically been on the ground in 50 states, and that's something that not a lot of other agencies could say. When we started when I started the company, Detroit was not necessarily a destination city for business events, and that's all we do, by the way, is a business. We don't do social. But it has grown into such a wonderful uh place to do business and to, you know, physically bring people um that a lot of our business is in our backyard now, which is great.

Speaker 1:

Nice.

Carol Galle:

Our employees actually go to how go to parties and people know who they are and know who they work for, as opposed to, you know, when we didn't do a lot around here.

Mike Maddock:

I um John and I both do a fair amount of speaking and I always um make friends with the people running the board. And I always go and thank them when nothing goes wrong. Because I feel like they're that's like the IT guy of a company where the only time they ever hear from anyone was when something didn't work. And it they're they're supposed to be invisible, like and and actually getting all that stuff to work.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Mike Maddock:

But you know, the keep the pace of the show and the videos and the mics and the and no feedback and all that stuff when it works seamlessly, you've got a really good crew. And with that, tell me your biggest horror story when it didn't work.

Carol Galle:

What's um well, everything that happens in real life happens at events. So we have had babies born, we've had people pass away, we've had people get very, very drunk and do things that they should never do. Um, we had one organization that sent their uh HR executive to the event every year, and her sole responsibility was, as she said, to make sure no one does anything that gets them fired.

Mike Maddock:

Yeah. Did did she get fired?

unknown:

Yeah.

Carol Galle:

You know, I mean, stuff happens. People, you know, to the best of our ability, we try and make sure it doesn't. But um, you know, just a couple of weeks ago, we were at doing an event in Mississippi and um the catering staff had a little moment to breathe and they were fascinated by what was going on on stage. It was a really it was a topic relevant to them. And they leaned back on the wall and they plunged the room into darkness because they leaned on the little switches.

Mike Maddock:

Yeah, yeah. And that was fun. So that's too bad.

unknown:

Yeah.

Mike Maddock:

Do you have you had any this is a tough question, but I maybe you do it. Well, I'm gonna ask it anyway, because do you who have you ever had someone who um disappointed you? In other words, like uh a celebrity that you thought was really nice, but when you met him in person, it was just like, oh my gosh, how rude, what a jerk. Um, I I know I'm putting you on the spot. I I but I asked this question to people be backstage, and there's always somebody like, oh my gosh, what a diva, you know?

Carol Galle:

No, and you know, we had a for a short period of time, Michigan had St. Michigan gave away a lot of film uh credits to filmmakers to try and bring business to Detroit. And we had the unique piece of the business where we would uh meet them at the gate or meet yeah at the gate and get them to their car, or vice versa, when they went out. And so we and it was just this brief moment where we had to make sure that nothing happened to them along the way and they knew where they were going. And we, I mean, I got to meet Whitney Houston and Miley Cyrus and all kinds of people. And honestly, they were all delightful. There was really no one, they all had crazy stories. I mean, Wesley Snipes and you know, crazy things that happened in that 30 minutes between the gate and the like, you know, and Tommy Lee and oh my gosh, like crazy things that happened in that period. Um, yeah. I had a flight attendant dropped on her knees and asked Wesley Snipes to marry her.

Mike Maddock:

Yeah, that that sounds right. It sounds like did he say yes? What happened?

Speaker 1:

No.

Mike Maddock:

What about um what about really strange? I everyone's heard the story about the the blue MM that was just a um, it was a uh it was a what was it? It was like a red herring to make sure that the c people were paying attention to the details. Um, do you have a crazy request that you're like, you gotta be kidding me? You don't have to say who it was from.

Carol Galle:

Um I had a sports caster once try to bring food through security at a airport, and he he he they weren't gonna let him do it, and I thought he was gonna be really upset. And he goes, honestly, he says, My wife makes me eat this stuff. It's healthy. She says, when I travel, like I don't really want to take it. Just throw it out. It's fine. It's fine.

Mike Maddock:

That's awesome.

Carol Galle:

So that was kind of but the Greenlands things is real. I mean, there are a lot of details in that contract, and that is one way to make sure people are paying attention.

Mike Maddock:

A friend of mine that you probably know um told me this story about Tony Robbins, who um who wanted to slide down on a cable to the stage, and he told his people that's what he wants. Have you heard the story?

Carol Galle:

No, it's reminding me of a war story that a lady never tells about, but yeah, a meeting planner never tells about, but yeah.

Mike Maddock:

Well, tell your story. Go ahead.

Carol Galle:

No, they're no entrances.

Mike Maddock:

All right. Well, I'll tell the story. So Tony Robbins goes to his team, he's like, hey, I got an idea. I want to run, I want to slide down on a cable um onto the stage. And um they're like, Well, that's not easy to do. And he's like, Come on, make it happen. So they he's he comes in, ladies and gentlemen, Tony Robbins, you know, the the spotlights, and the and all of a sudden the spotlight goes up, and here he comes on a cable, and he comes about halfway down to the audience and and gets stuck on this cable. And he's got like he's got the big hands and the jet, you know, and the microphone. He's like, Okay, my my guys like to mess around with me. Keep going, guys. Let's go. And they're just like, so they have to call the fire department. There's no way.

Carol Galle:

Somewhere a meeting planner just you know passed out and threw up in the hallway.

Mike Maddock:

I think there's a best of show spinal tap movie to be made about motivational speakers because I've been behind the stage and you're like, who is this guy? And they're completely different. And then you get up on stage with the jazz hands, the sparkle fingers. And I think a meeting plan can you imagine how funny that would be? And it was just it's just real stories. Talk about what happens.

John Tobin:

Yeah, that's a really good idea, Mike. Actually, thanks. Carol, I want you to remember.

Carol Galle:

So we just um every good event planner has a book in him or her. So I'm telling you, yeah.

John Tobin:

So we so we just had our big um client event in New York, and uh we had about 2,000 clients and maybe 20 uh 250 slalom people that were there.

Mike Maddock:

Appreciate the invite, John. Thanks. I I was probably busy.

John Tobin:

Um But uh it was it was really well attended, well received, and we had some amazing speakers. But um we had uh George Bush and Bill Clinton come up and talk, and um Brad, our CEO, interviewed them. But to start that, Mike talking about gaffes, um uh Clinton had it had his like look a little laPal microphone, so he was all fine. For whatever reason, George Book didn't want to do that. He wanted a mic, so he had an actual mic, you know, he had he had the mic, and um when he came out, he inadvertently went like this, like to tap it to start it, and it actually turns it off. And so, and so he's like talking and he's trying to get everybody's attention, and it was this awkward like five minutes of like back and forth, and it wasn't, and then the they brought him out a new mic and he did the same thing and he hit it again, and it it turns off, and so they finally pinned it on him. But um, he was actually super funny the the way he handled the whole thing, and he was kind of getting mad at Brad, like pretend mad at Brad. Like, uh if you didn't want me to talk, Brad, you should have not invited me up here. And he was super funny, actually. He don't know if you guys ever met him, he was so quick and funny. Uh it was it was really, really interesting. But I do think like some of those moments and how you recover from it, it makes actually more memorable, frankly.

Mike Maddock:

Yeah so Carol, I know this is a show. Uh far sorry for another story, but I have to tell it. Um I met President Bush and I and I shook his hand and I said, Hey, listen, I I didn't always agree with your policy, but I really thought that you believed in your policy, so thank you. You're always an integrity. He goes, Well, I had really good parents. I told him about uh my dad, who Carol is John's father-in-law, who's out golfing right now. Um, and I told him he was a navy, and I go, you know, if you have a chance, I'd really like to get a picture with you. This is backstage in an event. And he goes, Well, sure, you know, your dad served, I'd love to do that. So he got off stage and they were rushing him out, like rushing. You've been you've seen this, Carol. Oh, yeah. Rushing him out the door. And he stopped me. He goes, Wait, hold on a second, hold on a second. Where's Mike? Where's Mike? I promised him a picture. And he came back in the room and said, Mike, let's get a picture for your dad. And and he like I it was such a sweet thing, you know, because it was a gift that I get, and he goes, Tell your dad, thank you for me. So that I I love stories like that. Like I that that's yeah. So, so um, okay, so if you could, if you had a billion dollars, Carol, and I'm not suggesting that you don't, I mean it's kind of presumptuous, and you could make your own, like do anything you wanted to with your company with a billion dollars, how would you make it different?

Carol Galle:

I want the event planning industry to be more sustainable and to take advantage of what they can do, the opportunities that they have to help food insecurity. In the last couple of months, I've been really involved in that. I've always been passionate about that. But if you you go to meetings, right? You go to trade shows, at the end of the day, there is so much excess left over. I mean, a trade show is a sea of cardboard and things, right? But a lot of events, it's food. It's just and there's just a lot of confusion over what can be done at donated and what's allowed and federal laws, you know, but local laws. And um, we had a really good experience recently, for instance, where when you commit to when you rent a venue, you commit to a certain to spend a certain amount of food and beverage. Our client booked this venue, then brought us in later, and their food and beverage minimum was never going to be met. They couldn't put enough people in that room to eat that much shrimp. I mean, there was just no way. So um rather than just leave money on the table, my event planner said, why don't we take that money and can the venue give us pre-packaged things, uh, you know, snack bars, water, whatever, and then can the client donate that to a food pantry? The venue said yes. All they had to do was be asked. They were grateful to do it. We'd already spent the money. Um, the client was already spent the money, the client got to do something good, and it was simple. It was just so simple. And I put that on on LinkedIn and it was the most successful social post we have ever had. I had 150,000 people view it, thousands of likes and shares, and hundreds of people, food banks run shout out to me because it there's a lot of simple things we can do like that. And if I could just stop and make all my people work on that and work with planners across the country, we could make a huge difference.

John Tobin:

I love that. That's brilliant. That's a great idea. It makes so much sense. Like you said, it's kind of simple, no brainer.

Carol Galle:

All the in the last couple of weeks with the government shutdown and the flights and things, there were people who were guaranteeing hundreds of meals that never got served. And so I was so excited that we got that message out there in advance of some of that because some government planners and things wrote back and said, I can do this. I can and a lot of venues, you know, they're not going to offer it, but if you ask, they'll do it. And so we might have made a tiny little difference in the last couple months. And I, you know, I would love to do that full-time.

Mike Maddock:

Did you um I have friends that are meeting planners and professional speakers and uh catering companies? You probably know Andrea Herrera. Yeah, I love Andrea Herrera. She's a good buddy of mine. She's in one of my flourish groups. So I get to I live through COVID with her. And and my friends, how did you get through that? I mean, that was like talk about a black swan event. Like, oh, we plan events. Sorry, no events, except for virtual ones. What how did you make it?

Carol Galle:

So, you know, as business owners, you go, you know, wake up every day and think, what if? What if this happens? What if that happens? Never did I think I was gonna wake up one day and what I do is suddenly against the law. Because if you remember, there were literally, you know, laws against gathering people in the room, whether it was a baby shower or a 2,000-person convention. I just, you know, I gotta admit, I did not see that one coming.

Mike Maddock:

But I also knew that on your bingo card.

Carol Galle:

No. I also knew it wasn't a short-term thing. I mean, I'm an optimist by maintenance by nature, but I'm also a realist. And so many people in our industry were just, it'll be fine, just give it a few months. And I'm like, nope. I distinctly remember sitting down with my senior leadership team and saying, you know, 2020-20 is done. 2020 is done for us. It's just done. We got to start thinking about a bridge to 2021 and maybe 22. I mean, it I knew, you know, so I just I did what we do with events. Like events have a lot to do with live theater. Everything, you know, you roll with it, right? Things happen that are unexpected, and you just got to assess where you are and and pivot. And so that's, you know, that's what we did. And we um, you know, I had to lay a ton of really good people off. And um, I was able to keep some thanks to the PPP, and I divided them up into sort of two teams, and I said, all right, this is what we've got, right? What can we make money at? These are our skills, these are our assets. And half of the um team went after can we focus on virtual means events? And the other half focused on a subsidiary, which is celebrating corporate milestones in a way that's above and beyond getting people in a room. So kind of split everybody up, got together, they were part of the solution. And in the end, we went all in on virtual and we had we had to teach ourselves how to do virtual, right? Because I wasn't about to go out there to the world and say, oh, we're the best at this, right? We've never done it. So fortunately, the industry responded and there were lots of certification programs out there. So we went to school, we went back to school. We used those PPP funds and we learned how to do it well. And the idea was, I want to keep this company alive. We're smart, you know, we're gonna do this. At the end of the day, we're gonna be left standing, and we're gonna bring back everybody that we can after this is over and just let's keep the brand alive. And we did it.

Mike Maddock:

That's amazing. What percentage of your business is virtual now?

Carol Galle:

Very little. I would say 10%. And I'm I'm kind of surprised at that because there were some opportunities, I think, that like we had an organization we work with that was a real niche. Um, and they had a, you know, probably a couple hundred people around the world that were involved in this particular medical situation. And they never had the funds to meet in person, really, because I mean they did a very small group, but they didn't have the funds to bring everybody in globally. And um they, you know, we went virtual and suddenly this whole community was able to interact online and and, you know, share best practices and learn. And um, you know, there were opportunities like that that I think they should have kept in some cases.

John Tobin:

Carol, how big is your team roughly? I'm trying to, and then I want to get into a little bit um some of the things that the focus of this podcast is about, about making decisions and things like that and different pivots. And you just talked about a huge one in terms of, you know, dealing with COVID. But roughly can you can you explain a little bit maybe how you're structured and a little bit uh the size of the team?

unknown:

Yeah.

Carol Galle:

So I have 12 full-time, um, two part-time, and the rest are all independent contractors. A lot of contractors are specialists, um, some maybe specialists in trade shows, some in auctions, plan auctions, and then they come and go depending on the project.

John Tobin:

Yeah, that's kind of what I guess. I guess it was pretty pretty lean mean team that's and then you you you sort of flex with different events and depending on what you're doing. That makes tons of sense. So as you as you as you think about that and think about different things that you had to do over, you know, the 30, 30 years or so, what were there big pivot moments where it's like, oh, I don't know if I could take this big thing on? Or, you know, you mentioned COVID. Were there other times like in let's say 2009 after the financial real estate financial crisis, were there times that were really hard? Maybe just talk about some of those moments and then then maybe the framing for how you made decisions or who you who you interacted with to be able to get you through those.

Carol Galle:

Yeah. So um when the original recession hit, um we so what happened was, you know, you know that when a recession hits, people sometimes are the first thing to go as far as their training or their incentive, you know, incentive the incentive incentive trips or you know, celebrations are the first thing to go. So we sort of knew that was coming. We could see that. But we had had the opportunity to help a couple of large organizations on their um anniversary celebrations. So we had a Fortune 500 company that hit 50 years and they threw a great party and it was fun. But at that time, most of my team had more of a marketing HR comms background and things, and they said, God, there were a lot of other opportunities that this company had that they could have really used that anniversary year in so many different ways. I mean, not only thanking their employees, but there could have been, you know, things they could do from a marketing standpoint, PR, you know, so there are there's opportunities left on the table. So what we did is we figured, all right, with this recession, if events are going to be, you know, pushed aside, if you're gonna be a hundred years old as a company, you're probably still gonna do something. So we launched what's called the anniversary company, which is a division of our company. So that was born out of the first um first recession. And that is much more of a business and consulting or um niche consulting firm. And we're one of only three in the country that really specialize in that.

Mike Maddock:

Do you know that that that is uh Tiffany's positioning, sort of? That the uh the reason why Tiffany has lasted so long is because their their purpose is to memorialize the greatest events of a person's life, and that's why they're not a jewelry company. It's also why they make awards and Oscars. So where other people are selling jewelry, they're like, what are the greatest moments in someone's life and what what can we do about that? That's that's how they've lasted. I love that. I love that.

Carol Galle:

Yeah. So that was one thing. And then so back then, um, that was pretty much all me. Um while that was happening. Unfortunately, my mom, my dad, and my um father-in-law all passed away within like a series of a year and there were sessions, so it was crazy. It was just me trying to figure out what to do next. When COVID hit, by that time I joined EO, which entrepreneurs organization I think you guys know about, which is a great and um had a lot of um, you know, people that I could lean on through COVID, which was was great.

Mike Maddock:

Yeah. Nice. It's a great community, Carol. I was the learning chair for YPO during the pandemic. And so I got a chance to do virtual events for hundreds of people, and it was just like, oh, how do you do this? Who the good news was though though, we had some budget and could uh share money with people that were looking to do something. You know, they were so desperate to get out and teach or communicate or connect. So but it trying times.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Mike Maddock:

Um d is there anything you ever had to change about yourself as a leader before your company could change?

Carol Galle:

I think I've had to learn to hire slow and fire fast. That advice that you get along the way that it takes for me took a while to s to sink in because it's really, in the end, the right thing to do for everyone else there. Right.

Mike Maddock:

Wait a minute, that's what's supposed to happen.

Carol Galle:

That explains everything.

Mike Maddock:

I got it backwards. It's like yeah. Oh man. Um so any other like you seat at the table. You've you've I mean, you've checked a lot of boxes. It sounds like you've how hard how did you grieve um those people in your family and still run a business? I mean, did it take longer to grieve or were did you compartmentalize? How did you get through that? That's a lot in one year.

Carol Galle:

Um my dad told me that I was born to run a business. And with or without him in the room, I remember them.

John Tobin:

Yeah, that's sweet. That's sweet. Like, did did he literally say that when you were an Eskimo?

Carol Galle:

So I mean he was you know, he was always full of happy things.

Mike Maddock:

Yeah, well, you get that from your dad, right? You said you're an apple.

John Tobin:

Was that something though that he really shared with you, like as you as a younger person or younger adult, or like can you remember as the specific moment, or was it always like, oh, you're gonna run a business someday?

Carol Galle:

Nope. Um when I opened my first physical office space and we had an open he sat behind my desk and looked around. And um, you know, I hadn't hit a home run. I'm not, I'm not his his uh, I didn't meet his little league dreams, but I did this and he sat there, and that's his epithet says, You were born to be here. You were born to be in this chair, you're born to do this. Whereas my mom is like, dear God, you just left General Motors. What are you thinking? Like, that is security, right? That's like a pension. What are you thinking?

John Tobin:

How did you feel at that time when when he sat in that chair? What was what were you feeling?

Carol Galle:

Um grateful pride that, you know, um, yeah, I mean, it was just a really great moment. I'm gonna cry if I talk about it, so I'm gonna do that. No one's I haven't thought about that in a very long time, or at least talked about it, but yeah.

Mike Maddock:

Yeah, it's that's awesome. Yeah, John and I both lost our mothers in the last year, and um I keep a picture of my mom on my desk right behind the man in the arena um post, and I look at her every day, just like, you know. So I feel like our parents are always with us and they plant these seeds of um possibility in us, and you know, we're always trying to make our parents proud, whether they're here or looking down on us. So thank you for the sharing that. That's good. The question, John. Um okay. So can I give you some rapid fire questions? Are you ready? John, jump in if any of these rapid fire questions um spark. Uh let's see. Um coffee order, simple or diva?

Carol Galle:

Black. I need to have black coffee, bring it on.

Mike Maddock:

Her father's daughter. Um the diva on this call. All right. Um, if you weren't running a business, what would you be doing?

Carol Galle:

Um running for office? No.

Mike Maddock:

Yeah, let's do it. You'd be getting away. Would you like to make an announcement? Is it is it you want to make some news right here on this podcast? Let's do it. The world needs leaders, moderates, please. All right. Uh here's one, Mike. Yeah, go.

John Tobin:

Was there was there a movie about Detroit or filmed in Detroit that you most resonated with?

Carol Galle:

Not so much.

John Tobin:

I'm a big movie guy. And I the one that for me it pops up is Grosse Point Blank. And I'm just curious if that like resonated at all or if that was just kind of goofy.

Carol Galle:

But Working Girl with Melanie Griffith and Harrison film. There you go. That was the movie. And the moment when she connects Trask industries with radio, which wasn't necessarily, you know, a popular opinion at the time, and her looking at like her saying, Oh, I looked at this and I looked at this and put it all together, I think that's something that made a difference to me. I was really young and I'm like, all right, I'm gonna read different things, right? So today, like I'll read, I don't know, I'll read the Jewish news, I'll read Fast Company, like find ideas from everywhere, right? And see how you can piece them together. That I think is is all right, great.

Mike Maddock:

So here a book every CEO should read.

Carol Galle:

Oh God. Um, I mean, anything by Simon Sinek, um you know, uh setting the table by Danny Danny Meyer in the hospitality business, I think is just like required reading.

Mike Maddock:

So awesome. Um what is one word your uh team would use to describe you?

Speaker 1:

What is your CEO superhero power? Oh um paying attention.

Mike Maddock:

And your kryptonite? Look at I she's talking and I interrupt her on paying attention. The irony. I'm so locked in. Um, so it's paying attention. What's your kryptonite?

Carol Galle:

Having too much time. I'd rather I I'm I work well on deadlines. Awesome. Long drawn out.

Mike Maddock:

Well, Carol, thank you for spending time with us. That was great. I hope we were hope I haven't had too much coffee. That was a lot. And you can't do it.

John Tobin:

Let me let me put her on the spot. Let me she works great on deadlines, so what are you gonna do by the end of the year? Oof.

Carol Galle:

Um I'm gonna make more money.

John Tobin:

How? How are you gonna make more money? What's your plan?

Carol Galle:

I'm renegotiating a couple of contracts.

John Tobin:

There you go.

Mike Maddock:

So yeah. Hey, Carol, do you take when's the like I I know that um this is a super busy time for you. So thank you. Because I speakers, right? It's like all happening in the fall. Then there's a thing in the spring. When do you say, well, nothing's happening now anyway? So I'm just gonna take some time for myself and get out of town.

Carol Galle:

December, really. I mean, because like you said, everything happens in the spring and the fall, right? Nobody wants to do corporate events close to you know the holidays, Chris Christmas. So it is just quiet the last two weeks in December, and um, it's perfect, right? I mean, I'm in Detroit. You let the snow fall and you you know drink hot chocolate and sit in front of the fire and just do nothing. Awesome.

Mike Maddock:

Well, that is great. I hope I hope your Thanksgiving is amazing, like you, and your holidays. Awesome. Thank you for spending some time with us and the work that you're doing. I love your hunger idea. So thank you very much.

Carol Galle:

It was great chatting with you.

John Tobin:

It is a great great idea, Carol. I think you guys should be like almost known for that. I think it would be a good kind of separate, like almost embedded in mission statement or purpose statement that you can embed into the the business, and it might really take off. I I think it's a really good idea.

Mike Maddock:

And watch this, Carol. I think that John wants to be your corporate s sponsor.

Speaker 1:

I love it. All right, there we go.

Mike Maddock:

See what just happened. See what just happened. Thank you so much, Carol. All right.

John Tobin:

Thanks, Carol. Great meeting you, you too.

Head Shot

John Tobin

Host
Head Shot

Mike Maddock

Host