I try to do meet and greets with key people whenever possible. In July, I was invited to meet with Vice President Biden and some other small-business owners who had benefited from the stimulus package. As part of the stimulus, we got a contract with the State Department to run the Foreign Services Institute, which is where all of our foreign services officers go for cultural briefings, language classes, and antiterrorism training.
To maintain cash flow, we have to constantly have new contracts in the pipeline. I usually have a dozen going at a time. Each one typically lasts five years, with the possibility of renewal. I oversee the requests for proposal that come in. We usually submit one proposal a month. My strategy is to be the most technically proficient company with the lowest prices.
When I'm at my desk, I drink Diet Coke all day long. I also have two chocolate chip cookies every day. The deli in our building makes them -- I used to have two dozen delivered daily, but my staff begged me to scale down. Now we get a dozen and put them in the conference room. You have to walk through the whole office to get there, so we call it the Walk of Shame. I just declare it as I go: "I'm going for my walk now!"
For lunch, I usually eat turkey chili at my desk. I do this so that when I do have the opportunity to enjoy a great meal paired with nice wine, I won't have to spend an extra hour on the treadmill. On Fridays, I do what I call Lunches with the CEO. I usually take three or four employees out to lunch to see how things are going. I pick a spot that's near the agency they are working for -- say, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or the Department of Defense. I ask about morale and how their superiors are treating them.
The types of people I hire need a very specific skill set. For example, we just hired an anthropologist who specializes in Afghani tribal clans. After we win a contract, people often seek us out. We also have a full-time recruiter.
A lot of what my company does requires top-secret clearance. For instance, I'm going to Afghanistan soon for the Army for something we do called weapons technical intelligence. After a roadside bomb, the military typically sends the pieces back to the U.S. for forensics. We're now training the Army to do the forensics out in the field. It not only saves time, but the data is fresh. I've had top-secret clearance ever since I was in the Navy, and my executive staff members have to have a certain level of clearance in order to work for me. We typically try to hire people who already have the right clearance for the job, because the clearance process can take a really long time.
I've got project managers for each of the projects we run -- there are more than a dozen now. I get a monthly report on how each is going. Some projects require more of my attention, such as our contract to help develop strategies for the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization. JIEDDO was essentially formed as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Prior to that, we didn't have a particular focus on these cheap weapons of strategic influence that our enemies are using. The IEDs cause both physical and psychological damage, because you don't know when the next one is going to pop up.
I'm probably most proud of winning that JIEDDO contract. It's hard to compete with the marketing budget of companies like Lockheed Martin. Last year, we beat a lot of big contractors for the JIEDDO project. Originally, we just wanted to be one of the large companies' subcontractors, but no one wanted us on their teams. So I said, "Let's bid on our own." We worked really hard to win the contract. Later, we found out that the next-lowest bid was about 30 percent higher than ours. That is proof that -- unlike these big bureaucratic companies -- a small business really can deliver better work at significant savings to the taxpayers. That's always my pitch.
On Wednesdays, I always go over the company numbers with the two part-time CFOs I hired. We spend the entire day looking at all our lines of credit, cash flow, and accounts receivable and payable. When it comes to our finances, one of the CFOs is more theoretical, and the other is more practical. I'm the ultimate decision maker. I think it's good to get two radically different perspectives.
I try to end my workday by 8 p.m. so I can meet my trainer for an evening workout. Even if I'm at a business meeting or a cocktail party, I'm pretty strict about leaving by that hour. There have been times when I've let my work totally consume my life, which does not make me a good CEO. No one's going to make my life a priority except for me.
I grab a salad at the deli before I go or make a protein shake at the gym and drink it on the way home. It's supposed to be an hourlong workout, but it usually takes an hour and a half, because I'm a difficult client. It's the one part of my day where I get to whine and bitch and try to get out of things. My trainer makes me do a lot of planks and pushups.
I usually get home around 10 p.m. I might respond to a few e-mails or do some administrative stuff -- nothing too intense. I read to unwind. I like business books and biographies. Right now, I'm reading Nemesis, about Aristotle and Jackie Onassis.
I'm really fascinated by politics. I got my M.B.A., and now I'm thinking of going back to school again to study public policy. The University of Virginia has a political school called the Sorensen Institute that offers an in-depth study of Virginia politics. I am interested in serving our country once again by either running for office or serving our government in another capacity. I've been very blessed, and I want to give back.
