Speaker 1: 0:16

Welcome back to Market it with Atma, where we give you the tips, tools and strategies to help your business succeed. I'm your host Story and today we have on the show Makima Waller with Ultrasound Imaging Concepts.

Speaker 2: 0:30

I'm happy to be here.

Speaker 1: 0:31

Wonderful. Well, you have a wonderful story and we may not be able to touch on all of it, but I would love to start with hearing more about how you began this journey and how you became a business owner of an ultrasound imaging facility.

Speaker 2: 0:50

Well, my journey began in the US Navy right during Desert Storm. I was with the Marines in Camp Lejeune, north Carolina. My husband was a Marine. I was in the Navy and at that time I was a hospital corpsman and it was tons of active duty females getting pregnant thinking that that would prevent them, which it would have, from going into Iraq, and also it was dependent wives who thought, by getting pregnant, that that would stop their husbands from going to the war. And it was a wonderful doctor, ironically, that lives in North Texas I'm going to call him Dr K that went around the clinic asking anyone if they would be interested in learning ultrasounds, and the acronym for NAVY is Never Again Volunteer Yourself. And I decided I'm going to take this plunge because I literally got tired of checking for protein you know when pregnant women go in to check their babies and so that's how my journey began in sonography.

Speaker 1: 1:50

Wow. So it's kind of a this is the place I am and this is what I'm going to make of it.

Speaker 2: 1:55

Yes, kind of experience.

Speaker 1: 1:56

That's wonderful. So you've been in business now.

Speaker 2: 2:00

25 years yes.

Speaker 1: 2:01

Can you tell me what has helped you, helped or motivated you and made you passionate throughout your journey?

Speaker 2: 2:08

Well, that's a really good question. My journey 25 years ago didn't begin because I wanted to start a business. I was dealing with a lot of microaggressions and I've been a sonographer for 31 years and, to be very authentic and transparent, at that time it was not very many people that looked like me in this industry and so when I was working at one very robust clinic, I was the lead tech and, prior to starting at that facility, I had to have all of my registries, all of my different licenses. I had to have all of my registries, all of my different licenses. I had to have all of my experience before being hired, and we were extremely busy. They needed more help. I had a friend who didn't have experience and was not registered, and she did not look like me and she was hired on the spot.

Speaker 2: 3:02

So what I did was basically pin that situation just pinned. It didn't say much about it until later on I was told that she needed to be trained and I said you know, I don't mind training her, but I need the money to train her. You know, you've got to increase. And they basically refused to. You know, increase my salary. And I did bring up that situation and because we were a very busy facility. They needed more help. And one young man said hey, you need to start working at this staffing company. And I had the idea of why not just start my own staffing company? And that's how I started.

Speaker 1: 3:44

Wow, that's incredible and I'm sorry for that. I mean, it happens so much in the workplace, even in schools. Yes, the micro aggression is something I don't think a lot of people are familiar with, but it's huge, exactly.

Speaker 2: 3:57

Right, it's real.

Speaker 1: 3:59

And everyone needs to be aware of it, if you don't already know. Wow, so you mentioned the microaggression and pretty much discriminatory behavior as a part of the journey. How has that experience shaped the way you run your business?

Speaker 2: 4:12

today. In the beginning, because I was only staffing and when I eventually opened up the brick and mortar, for the first three to four years I did not have my name on my website. I had my initials and I didn't have my face on my website because I had to prove to society to judge me on my skill set and not what my name sounded like and not what my skin looked like Right. So that basically gave me the unction, the push, to be a better leader with young women and even men who may not think that they are capable of being in this field. So I basically began to mentor and that's something that I still do to this day.

Speaker 1: 4:58

Wow, that's wonderful.

Speaker 2: 5:00

And this is all within the DFW area Outside of the DFW area, when in ultrasounds there's a thing called elective ultrasounds, that's the 3 and 4D ultrasounds. So about five friends around the United States. We collaborated together and what we did was we would do marketing together and because of my skill set with sonography, I would go to the different cities and states outside of Texas and I would actually train some of the other you know clinic owners to help them in the facility. And I've met some wonderful people.

Speaker 1: 5:34

Wow, so you enjoy traveling. Oh, that's wonderful. I wish I could, but you know kiddos. So you've achieved a lot of certifications your MBE, sb, wbe and HUB certification, and now you're working toward your disabled veteran certification. How these certifications helped you grow and establish your credibility and why the intrigue into the disabled veterans.

Speaker 2: 6:03

Well, for one, I am a vet and my husband is too as well as disabled vet, and so it allows great opportunities, like currently I have four amazing young women that goes inside the federal prison and we offer our diagnostic ultrasound services to the women within the federal prison system here in the North Texas area services to the women within the federal prison system here in the North Texas area and what I enjoy so much about that is that the team that I have that actually goes on the inside. These are trusted women that goes to the prison and I have shared with them before joining my team that this is somebody's mother, aunt, sister, and so we give them the best care, no different than the care that we would give someone on the outside.

Speaker 1: 6:47

Wow, is this something that isn't as prominent, getting this type of help within the prison system for the females?

Speaker 2: 6:55

Well, I can't say it's not, but I'm grateful that I have the opportunity to take my clinic not my clinic, but my business into the facility.

Speaker 1: 7:13

Okay, so how you're offering services that other competitors don't have or aren't qualified to deliver, right? So how do you continue to innovate and differentiate what you do from others?

Speaker 2: 7:21

For one is most of the other facilities. One is a stone's throw away from me and what I'm able to do is offer diagnostic services. So it's a lot of people who own these small clinics, ultrasound clinics. They cannot offer the services that I offer. So most oftentimes when people think of sonography they're thinking of a pregnant woman. But at our facility we do anything from testicular ultrasounds to rule out testicular cancer on men. We do breast ultrasounds, liver, gallbladder, vascular. So we do all aspects of ultrasounds that I know that my competitors can't do. They have no skill set in doing it. So that's one of my man, that's wonderful.

Speaker 2: 8:04

That's one of my bombs I have. Your little sneaks in the back of the pocket.

Speaker 1: 8:11

So do you accept people with insurance and no insurance? Is that one of your?

Speaker 2: 8:16

Well, I was accepting insurance and recently I stopped. That had become a huge headache. So now I accept no insurance under insurance cash pay and I've partnered up with a couple of nonprofit organizations because we do not discriminate. So we are here to serve the community, so we're not judging anyone on what country they came from. We're just trying to serve and help.

Speaker 1: 8:45

That's wonderful, such a mission statement. It's almost philanthropy, more philanthropy than it is an actual business that you're trying to get revenue from.

Speaker 2: 8:55

I look at it more as a ministry.

Speaker 1: 8:57

Okay, I like that. I like that. I like that. So what are your plans to re-engage an audience or engage a new audience to grow your online presence I know you'd mentioned that earlier and has different marketing channels, different digital marketing channels like social media platforms specifically. Have they helped you grow, have they hindered you and how have you overcome those?

Speaker 2: 9:23

Yes, most of my growth is through word of mouth, partnering with local physicians, local midwives, and I'm going to be honest, when the pandemic hit, I kind of backed off on social media, which was a mistake. Now I'm back and I'm on TikTok and some of the other social medias and I have, you know, websites and whatnot, but a lot of it is by word of mouth.

Speaker 1: 9:47

Oh wow, which is always a good referral right.

Speaker 2: 9:49

You always want to have word of mouth because those are pretty solid for sure.

Speaker 1: 9:53

Okay, so you kind of use the awareness, engagement, conversion, delight and advocation, the same kind of foundation we have. So the customer journey often starts at the front desk, right, mine does, anyway. How do you train and empower your team to create a positive first impression for your patients, right?

Speaker 2: 10:13

So that is an amazing question. I have two of the most outstanding front desk personnel, and one has been with me for about three years. She's dynamic and her strengths is a soft voice, a kind word and, I think, the skill set and the leadership of my husband. I have to commend him because he's taught me this. My skill set is being in a dark room and empowering in a dark room. My skill set is not at the front, and so I have someone that's much more effective in the front than I, and I give her and my husband all the credit for that.

Speaker 1: 10:55

Oh, that's wonderful. You have to have the right team to be successful. I've realized watching other businesses you can't be a one-man team. You can't grow like that.

Speaker 2: 11:06

So that's incredible that you appreciate and recognize that Exactly and treating the people that come in as if they're your family member. That's number one.

Speaker 1: 11:14

Because I mean, I'm sure they're scared. Yes, they're nervous, so I would love to meet her. By the way, beyond the initial interaction, though, how do you ensure your patients leave with not just a service, but with a thoughtful word or a thoughtful heart?

Speaker 2: 11:31

Oh, I love this question. If anyone goes to any of my Google reviews, most comments will be they came for an ultrasound but they left with something more impactful.

Speaker 2: 11:45

So, yes, it's about delivering an ultrasound service, but someone might come who just lost a father or someone. I have an attorney that came many years ago, very stoic lady from Africa, and we just got on the subject of the power of forgiveness. I had no idea that she was walking in unforgiveness and I was able to communicate with her about the power of forgiveness and how we don't have a right to tell our body how to accept unforgiveness. And this wonderful lady invited her father, who she eventually forgave, came from Africa to meet me, and so those stories are things that I remember. That's most impactful. Yes, the ultrasound is something impactful, but it's the relationships.

Speaker 1: 12:34

Right, that was a core moment in your life that you completely had involvement with and encouraged and that's wonderful, because sometimes it's those memories in the dark times that really bring people out of the dark, and that's wonderful. So how do you encourage your patients to advocate for you? You said you're primarily referral basis and share their positive experiences with others. So how do you share testimonials on your website?

Speaker 2: 13:03

I share testimonials. Sometimes I'll do reviews. I take lots of pictures, tell them to go back and tell their doctors or their providers about their experience.

Speaker 1: 13:16

So you do encourage them to leave reviews because, of course, you want other people to know, right?

Speaker 2: 13:22

Of course.

Speaker 1: 13:23

And so many business owners I've realized forget to ask. I mean they know they gave them a positive experience but they forget to ask for everybody else to see it.

Speaker 1: 13:32

So that's a good point. I like that. So Advent Trinity uses a build growth scale method and, um, some businesses I've talked to kind of work off that method and some don't. You seem very structured in the way you do things and it's it's very similar. So you've had success in the build and grow phase right. So, even operating multiple clinics, what lessons did you learn from operating multiple clinics at once, because that can be hard as a business owner.

Speaker 2: 14:05

Yes. Well, one of the greatest lessons I've learned is that timing is extremely important. So when I had three centers going at the same time one in Tennessee, one in Addison and Arlington it's not that it wasn't a good ideal to start them all at the same time. It wasn't. It just wasn't the right time. And I think what's most important especially for mothers who are starting business what is most important is balancing family. What is most important is balancing family, because you can get caught up in that rat race of trying to make that dollar and you lose focus on what's most important, and that is your children and your spouse. Because what I've realized is that you can't make up time with your children. Children, they don't care about things in the. You know what you've given them. When they become adults, they're going to remember the time that you spent with them, and I felt in that instance that I lost three years of time with my youngest and it wasn't worth it. So the business, the ideal, was good, but not the right time.

Speaker 1: 15:11

So making sure that all of your key points that make you you you are focused on while you're doing your growth phase. That's great advice. I had someone a therapist tell me one time you will never regret time spent with your kids Never. And that is so true Because you cannot get it back Absolutely not. That's a good point to remember as well, Okay. So now that you're focusing on the skill phase, you're trying to grow again.

Speaker 2: 15:41

Well, I wouldn't so much say trying to grow this young lady that's working at my front desk, that is someone that I'm trying to mentor to become a sonographer, and so my focus, my next phase, is coaching women, training them to open their own companies and become sonographers. That's my greatest goal right now, just to coach.

Speaker 1: 16:05

What makes you so passionate about mentoring these women to be the best versions of them?

Speaker 2: 16:12

Well, because schools, they're getting them in but they're not spending the quality time. Sonography is a hard skill set. It's not like being a front desk person. That's considered a soft skill. This is a hard skill. So they're too focused on the schooling but not the technical side. So you have these people who are spending $60,000 and $70,000 to become sonographers and they cannot find a mask or a cancer. Yes, they have a degree, but they can't scan. I need to know that when you work for me, like the women who work for me at the federal prison, I need to know that you know how to find a fibroid or a mass in someone's breast. I'm not focused on your degree. I'm focused on your skill set. So that's what I'm more focused on when I'm mentoring and training young women.

Speaker 1: 17:00

Absolutely. That is kind of a thought because I know, when I've gone to a doctor's appointment, the impact and the release of pressure that someone gives you from comforting you.

Speaker 1: 17:11

Almost makes their job easier it seems like, and so it is important, especially in your field Well, in any field, right? Just giving that mutual understanding is important to me, right For sure. So thank you for making that accessible to women, because it's rare. Believe it or not, you made me cry, okay, so you mentioned you never let the word no discourage you, right? Can you tell us about a time when perseverance helped you overcome a challenge or significant obstacle?

Speaker 2: 17:42

Of course, even with starting off my business, it was no such thing as Google, it was no such thing as the Internet. I got a lot of business books, read those books and I would run from clinic to clinic introducing myself and trying to get through past the gatekeeper.

Speaker 1: 18:04

And.

Speaker 2: 18:04

I would hear no, no, no. And what I realized is no does not always mean no. It might mean not at this moment, because if I can get my business card and sell myself to that front desk person in such a way, oh, they're going to remember me. It might not be that day, but maybe six months, and so that's something that I share with a lot of colleagues Don't let no discourage you. Keep pushing through.

Speaker 1: 18:31

Absolutely not, and sales and being an entrepreneur almost work hand in hand, especially when you're starting off, and if you can't be told no and walk through that, then we've got to find a different route for you. Right, and acknowledging that, is important. I feel like anyway. So who inspires you in your life right now and continues to inspire you and give you that strength to keep moving forward?

Speaker 2: 18:57

Besides, because I am a big believer. So besides, you know my relationship with Christ my husband, my number one, I mean this. He is amazing, amazing, so I have to give him a lot of credit. And then my mom. My mom was an entrepreneur in her own right. She will be 80 years on Christmas Day, so she owned a salon and I will have to give my dad some credit. He's no longer here, but he retired at 50 years old on property and was wise with his money. So sometimes I think that most people look at education as knowledge, but it might be knowledge book-wise, but I look toward them for wisdom. Wisdom supersedes that. It was just what some of the things that they instilled in me is why I'm really inspired and why I'm still doing very well.

Speaker 1: 19:57

Wow, real world skills and advice are so important, especially with AI integrating into the school system. Now, are we really learning the meaning behind things that we're supposed to be learning right?

Speaker 2: 20:11

It's a lot of pros and cons with it.

Speaker 1: 20:14

Definitely, definitely so. You mentioned using your initials on your website initially as your first and last name. How has your approach to presenting yourself evolved over the years?

Speaker 2: 20:27

I am in your face, shameless, shameless. I am everywhere. I'm proud to use my name, which is Mekiba, named after Miriam Mekiba out of South Africa. Very proud of that. And not only am I on my website, my husband is on my website and I think it's very important for, especially today, for women of color to see people like me as sonographers. And if I you know, like on my TikTok page, there's tons of people all over the country. It's like, oh my God, you've been doing ultrasounds for this long. I didn't know black women were doing ultrasounds. Well, yes, I'm one of them, and so I basically shattered a glass ceiling for those young women to walk through.

Speaker 1: 21:19

Thank you, because we need people like you in this world to keep it growing and keep it evolving, right? Okay, so I won't take up too much of your time. I know you have patience today. You're soon to become a first-time published author, is that correct? Can you tell us a little bit more about what inspired you to write the book Of?

Speaker 2: 21:38

course, bit more about what inspired.

Speaker 2: 21:43

you to write the book, of course, and the book name from Rough Soundwaves to CEO A Comprehensive Guide to Starting Out an Ultrasound Company. I get tons and tons of women, you know and when I say all women, you know it might be someone dealing with microaggressions, who is overweight in the workplace, you know might be too short. Whatever the case may be, this is a guide for people who are in the field of sonography, who wants to start their own company. We have what? 8 billion people on the planet. It's plenty people who need an ultrasound, and so the first part of the book is basically telling them about my journey on why and how I got into sonography. The other part of the book is basically telling them about my journey on why and how I got into sonography. The other part of the book is teaching them a step-by-step plan on how to start an ultrasound company, and what's great about the book is that this guide can be used to start any business because, business is business.

Speaker 1: 22:36

Absolutely. As long as you have a framework, your values, and you know where you're going, then that's what builds a business right. So we plan Advent Trinity plans to remember in different phases of owning a business. It's ever changing, it's ever changing. Education is so important, would you say.

Speaker 2: 23:08

My favorite quote is all you know is not all there is to know. Oh, I like that. Yes, so you have to continue to step outside of your comfort zone, get at the table, serve, meet new people, because that one person that you might meet at the table might take you to your next field or destiny.

Speaker 1: 23:32

Absolutely, and I mean, I think we're both great representations of that. Just follow your heart Right and you'll always be led down the right path right, so as you continue to grow. Ultrasound imaging concepts what's your ultimate vision for the company?

Speaker 2: 23:50

My ultimate vision is for me, because this risk I've been doing this for 31 years is to, if I maintain the brick and mortar is to basically oversee it. But my goal is I love the idea of having these federal contracts and partnering up with different hospitals and being this supervising. I do go in there and create the schedules, but just being a leader, that's it. Just being a leader that's wonderful.

Speaker 1: 24:19

It seems like you really like to mentor and teach and help I love it. That is great. So if the listeners want to learn more about ultrasound imaging concepts, or learn more about you or how they can be mentored any of those things how would they get in touch with you?

Speaker 2: 24:34

Well, great question. My coaching website is makiba, that's M-A-K-e-b-a-l-y-n-ncom, and that's for if you want to be mentored or coached and if you want to check out our other websites. That's ultraview imagingcom, um, ultrasound imaging conceptscom. That's all dealing with the brick and mortar and the staffing and, of course, I'm on all social media platforms from. Tiktok to Instagram. I am Makeba Lynn.

Speaker 1: 25:09

Wonderful. Well, thank you so much for joining us today, Makeba. Your journey is incredible and hopefully we'll have you back one day on the next phase.

Speaker 2: 25:17

I'll be right here.

Speaker 1: 25:18

Thank you To all our listeners out there. Thank you for joining us. I'm your host, Dori, and we will see you on the next Market with Atma.