The Role of Empathy in Leadership with Teresa Johnson

**SPEAKER_2** (0:03)
The Bliss Business Podcast, the show about empathy, connection, and consciousness in business. Today's episode is brought to you by Zero Company, your paid search, social media, and programmatic ad experts.

**Stephen Sakach** (0:17)
Welcome back to the show, everyone. I'm Stephen Sakach with my co-host, Mike Liwski and our special guest today. So research on workplace culture continues to show that empathy is a powerful performance driver. And studies have found that employees who experience their leaders as genuinely empathetic are far more likely to report higher engagement, innovation and loyalty. And at the same time, many leaders still treat empathy as a soft skill or a personality trait rather than a core discipline that shapes how decisions get made. So the question for leaders is not whether empathy matters, but how to practice it in ways that support both human well-being and business performance. So today we are exploring what empathy and leadership looks like in the real world, especially in consumer facing community oriented businesses where every interaction can shape trust for years to come. Mike, introduce our special guest today.

**Mike Liwski** (1:14)
Well, Stephen, I'll be delighted to. So our guest with us today is Teresa Johnson. You may know her as the CEO of Color Me Mine, the industry leading paint your own pottery franchise.
I'm sure we're all familiar with them. Teresa began really her career in HR and in marketing for several companies before even taking a leap back in 2005 and purchasing her first paint your own pottery studio. It really was a place that she was a frequent customer prior to that with her daughter. Then despite having no prior experience, really just jump right in into running a business. Then within a few years, she had grown to four studios, co-founded a boat manufacturing business, believe it or not, and was holding down the fort as a single mom. She later became a franchisee with an industry-leading paint and sip brand, painting with a twist, adding yet another chapter really to her life as a serial entrepreneur. Then on top of that, in 2021, probably right at the height of COVID, there are Teresa. Following acquisitions and leadership changes, Teresa became the co-owner and the CEO of Color Me Mine. Since then, she's led a refresh of the brand for the next generation of franchisees, driving really unprecedented growth in both sales and studio expansion in that timeframe. She likes to describe her true calling as really helping future entrepreneurs discover their passions and guiding them towards success. Teresa, we are absolutely delighted to have you on the show with us today. Welcome to The Bliss Business Podcast.

**Teresa Johnson** (3:01)
Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate the opportunity to be here and share a little bit about my story. Thank you.

**Stephen Sakach** (3:08)
Teresa, when you think about empathy and leadership, what do you wish more leaders understood about what it actually looks like in practice?

**Teresa Johnson** (3:16)
I think the thing that always comes to mind is, is the easiest thing I think you can do as is incorporate empathy in your leadership. I guess I start with what is empathy? What is the definition?
Because we can call it a lot of different things, but it's really just so simply defined and common sense approach is just that really that ability to understand and feel and really appreciate someone else's experience or perspective, but without having to agree with them or take those feelings on as your own. But just being able to see that, so it's very simple. I think that's the thing that I always like to talk about is, it's really very common sense, very easy to think through and it can change your life and your organization and your employees and your team of people that are around you, so.

**Mike Liwski** (4:07)
And with leadership, that what you just shared there can be a very unique form of thinking. And so I'm curious, Teresa, perhaps maybe where you've seen lack of empathy in leadership and how perhaps you've maybe treated things differently, right? You've built and led businesses in different industries and stages, right? From a single studio that you love visiting with your daughter to this large multiple venture large system.
And then so kind of looking across your experience, where have you really seen instances perhaps of lack of empathy in leadership? That obviously I'm sure maybe creates some real damage. Like where have you seen that and then maybe in your own leadership style, what have you done differently because of that?

**Teresa Johnson** (4:54)
Yeah, that's a great question. I again, I think it's the very simple things in life, but some of the stories that I've heard from peers and leadership roles or from not even peers, but just people who have worked in organizations, right? I had a friend recently, I was talking to him and I knew he had left his job and I said, gosh, it was a great position at a great company that I did business with and I said, what happened? He didn't talk about the things you would normally hear from people. It was different strategy or compensation plans or benefits or anything. It really boiled down to the fact that his brother died. After that event in his life, he got a call from his boss and that was not the first thing that his boss asked him about. It's just, wow, that ended a career with a company that he had been at for a very long time. That story will never change for him because that was the end of the story. What two-minute conversation that he had with someone and didn't say, hey, how are you doing? How's your family? Is there anything I can do? Again, the simple real conversations, just being real with people.