LAWTON — Creating a team-focused work environment that allows employers and employees to work cohesively is just one of the goals for a local consulting firm.
Championing smaller businesses and nonprofits, Sara Paape, owner and director of 3Raptor Consulting, LLC, launched the firm in May 2018 to provide affordable guidance and resources to improve employer-employee relations and create policy and procedures unique to clients’ needs.
3Raptor’s Mastering Secrets of Great Leaders and Successful Organizations program focuses on developing leadership and learning the necessary skills to take a businesses to the next level. The program is designed to, “See growth and develop (the) skills needed to achieve both career and personal goals,” wrote Paape. The company’s Strategic Mapping plan directs clients’ steps to achieve long-term success. With many clients working remotely, 3Raptor has developed Learn to Lead from Home as a way for leaders, “To inspire, support and guide others.”
3Raptor offers customized training in professionalism and presentation, as well as resume and cover letter instruction to identify and augment the characteristics of career-minded professionals to help them succeed.
Paape earned her Bachelor of Arts in English literature from Rutgers University and holds two Master of Science degrees: one in social and community services from Capella University; and another in public health, concentrated on epidemiology from Kaplan University. She is a graduate of Leadership Lawton, Leadership Ardmore and Leadership Duncan.
Focusing on nonprofit management, standards of excellence and transformational leadership, Paape has taught for REI Women’s Business Center — a branch of the Small Business Administration; the Small Business Development Centers; taught English as a second language and helped raise awareness of one of her most passionate causes: the Alzheimer’s Association.
“For about 12 years, Mom, Dad and I were primary caregivers for my grandfather who died of dementia,” she said.
Paape admits that while taking care of her ailing grandparents, she and her parents were unknowingly preparing to work together as associates.
“Raising my kiddo and taking care of two sick grandparents is how my parents and I learned to work together – how we learned to what we call ‘divide and conquer,’” she said. “That’s how we learned our communication skills and whose strengths are whose.”
Paape’s father, Gus Orellana, was a banking leader, program manager and computer programmer for more than 40 years, she said. Now “he writes blogs, has learned social media, and has written business plans; creating where the breakeven points are, so we complement each other very well.”
“Mom, (Krystal Orellana) is the piece that keeps us all together,” Paape said. “She manages the finances, keeps up with our calendars and makes sure we meet our deadlines. She does every single bit of the administrative work.”
Agreeing that networking is one of the most beneficial acts one can do for themselves and for their businesses, as health concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic stifled many social events, Paape and the 3Raptor staff promoted several alternatives.
Networking can “create meaningful connections in less than five minutes,” Paape wrote. Those connections can “create the foundations of exciting partnerships and collaborations to maximize the growth and results of your company and/or project,” she added.
“We took for granted before the pandemic how many times we could get together,” she said. “We could bounce ideas off one another, meet new people, learn who had what we needed. And now, with the pandemic, we have to be very intentional in creating those connections and in building those relationships. But it can very much be done.”
Paape recommends using email, text messages and phone calls to build on strong professional relationships. She also stated that she met a few people while hiking Mount Scott. “I’ve gotten really good at texting different people and saying ‘Hey, I’m working on this project. Do you have this connection? Could you do an e-introduction?’ and we go from there.”
While working through the first year of the pandemic, Paape was contacted by Grady Brewer’s Bad Boys Boxing and Fitness center to go over a few documents. While at the gym, Paape was offered a few boxing lessons and accepted the invitation.
“It was exactly what I needed during the pandemic,” she exclaimed. “It was amazing. It was great therapy. Slowly and surely, I got stronger and made friends in the class. It was such a great break and I loved how much stronger I was getting.”
As entrepreneurs who see the benefits of physical fitness, and to promote boxing and physical training to area youths, 3Raptor and Grady Brewer’s Bad Boys gym have teamed up to host an amateur boxing exhibition Saturday, Sept. 11 at Grady Brewer’s Bad Boys Boxing & Fitness, 118 SW B Ave., Lawton.
Beginning at 7:30 p.m., several three-round matches are on the fight card. Each round will be two minutes long.
Proceeds from the sponsorships and most of the ticket sales go toward scholarships for any child who wants to take boxing or personal training classes.
After working for a children’s shelter in eastern Oklahoma, Paape said, “I’ve seen kids lose everything and get sent to prison for one or two bad mistakes. How can we empower kids, give them a taste of the future and get them to dream big?”
Limited admission tickets are $10 per person and are available at 3Raptor Consulting’s website: https://3raptorconsulting.company.site or by calling (580) 319-1795.