Author: Fotis Georgiadis

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

We build the best solutions for our clients. Having teammates worldwide allows us to collect diverse feedback to create the best products for our clients. We wear many hats at Regpack. One of those hats is a Q&A hat. We are responsible for testing our products and services and giving feedback so we know we are creating the best outcome possible.

As a part of our series about “How Diversity Can Increase a Company’s Bottom Line”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Edgar Carrasco.

Edgar Carrasco is the Vice President of Business Development at Regpack, an online payment management platform. An outstanding professional with a passion for success, Edgar brings more than 20 years of experience in client service and banking to Regpack. He holds a BBA from Northwood University, and continues to draw on his talents for strategy and communication to mediate, analyze, and resolve complex business challenges. He also has grown the company’s payments volume from several thousand dollars per month to over $100 million annually.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive into the main part of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you share a bit of your “backstory” with us?

I live in San Diego, California, but my story began as a first-generation American with parents born and raised in Mexico. I was born in Chicago in a predominantly Mexican neighborhood and attended public school through middle school.

In high school, I left Chicago and attended an all-male Catholic boarding school in Wisconsin called St. Lawrence Seminary. I was coming from the city and was suddenly surrounded by farmland, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. This was a big culture shock for me — moving away from home, doing my laundry, and working odd jobs made me grow up.

I attended a small private college in Michigan, where I double-majored in International Business and Business Management. I was one of the first people in my family to go to college. This was another culture-shock moment — surrounded by the Michigan woods, free enterprise leaders, and some other amazing people. It was one of the best experiences of my life.

After college, I went back to Chicago, where I entered the world of finance — first at HSBC and then at Northern Trust. In 2012, my wife and I moved to California for an opportunity, which brought me out here, where I met my partners at Regpack. Since then, we’ve built a global organization with clients worldwide and a pretty super team.

Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? Can you tell us the lesson or takeaway, you took out of that story?

Growing up on the Southside of Chicago, we lived in our own world. You could see downtown from a distance, but it felt so far away. Being only 9 or 10 years old, I didn’t understand what happened in those tall buildings — but ever since I can remember, I dreamed about working in one of those tall buildings downtown. I didn’t know what I would do, but I wanted to be in the middle of it all.

When I worked in the suburbs of Chicago, I got a call from a recruiter wanting to work with young people like myself. After some back and forth, I asked where the position was located, and I still remember him clearly saying, “the 50th floor of the Sears Tower”. It’s called the Willis Tower now, but we Chicagoans still call it the Sears Tower. I remember sitting there at my desk, totally flabbergasted. I had a chance to do something I’d always wanted, and it came unexpectedly. On that day, I learned to always focus on my goals and never give up on them, even if that meant taking baby steps. If you focus, what you wish for will come true in some aspect. It was definitely worth the wait. I ended up working there for two years.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you tell us a story about how that was relevant in your own life?

So, for most of my professional life, I have had this little plaque that I earned while working in one of my first jobs at HSBC. It says, “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” This is a lesson I learned early on in my career, especially when I wasn’t having a good month — you know?

Working in business, working in sales — there are a lot of ups and downs. There are a lot of negative influences around us. While we can’t control those situations, we can control how we react to them. How we respond to challenging conditions is what dictates our future. So I always say to keep your head up, shake it off, and have a good attitude. It will make a big difference in your life.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are?

I would have to say my friend Lisa comes to mind.

Going back to one of my first jobs after college, I was an outside salesperson selling paper subscriptions — pretty much going door-to-door to businesses. I knew it was temporary, but I had an attitude that everything would work out. I entered a local HSBC office in the suburbs of Chicago, and Lisa greeted me. She listened to my pitch and entertained me for a few minutes even though they were already under contract with another supplier. Afterward, she told me that she admired what I was doing and how I was doing it and encouraged me to apply for an open position in their office. That night, I applied for the Account Executive position. Three weeks later, I worked next to Lisa in that same office.

She was a fantastic coach and mentor who helped me become a better human and salesperson. She taught me how to create opportunities even when it appears that your opportunities have run out. She always treated people with respect and integrity because you never know what crosses people carry. I’m still grateful for these lessons and have taught them to others.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

People of diverse ideas and backgrounds have led Regpack from the beginning. And even when the odds were stacked against us, we had a combined drive to make something great. We saw a gap in the market, and we made a fantastic online registration and payment management software that penetrated the onboarding and payment space. It didn’t happen overnight. It happened by listening to our clients and hiring great people who shared our passions.

This is what makes us stand out. We don’t hire anybody or build things, just hoping people will use them. We use data to understand what will help our clients succeed. We make tools that will increase registrations and profitability. We hire people who will take ownership of their roles and push us to become better.

I recall a story from when we first built our auto-bill tools — a payment management tool that allows any client to customize how payments are collected over time. The idea was small at first, but when introduced to our staff and clients, it was like fireworks. People don’t like to collect bills or be forced to manage their account receivables in a certain way.

With all the feedback and data we received, we created a first-class auto-bill system where any client, with no dev needed, can create an auto-bill plan to meet their company’s needs — from how they are charged to how many payments are in a plan and more. This created a functional game-changer for thousands of organizations automating their daily billing.

Are you working on any new or exciting projects now? How do you think that might help people?

I lead the sales team at Regpack, and sales have changed a lot throughout the pandemic and my career. Our CEO has a motto, “always getting better.” We are always encouraging our team and ourselves to take on new projects and challenges that will make us better than the competition. Because everything is online, people can make decisions about a company now without ever talking to a sales rep. I’ve been working on a sales process where we can humanize the interaction between a prospect and a salesperson, where it’s not “us against them.” We work together to achieve mutually satisfying outcomes.

This is something I’ve learned over the years as a salesperson and buyer of many things. By studying and practicing various sales processes and methods, I hope to help more businesses quickly achieve the results they are looking for in their organizations.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

I’m the oldest brother of seven, and my mom taught me to lead by example. I’m a big advocate of volunteering my time to make the world a better place. You need to give a lot back when you’re blessed with a lot. I’ve spent my time helping build homes in Ecuador, tutoring inner-city high school kids, coaching my daughter’s softball team, and donating my time where I can make an impact. I find ways to give back without expecting anything in return. It sounds easy to do, but it’s easy to make excuses and find reasons we “can’t” help. But you can always find some way to give back.

Ok. Thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the main part of our interview. This may be obvious to you, but it is not intuitive to many people. Can you articulate to our readers five ways that increased diversity can help a company’s bottom line.

Well, first, I would like to convey that company diversity creates a strong company brand. In the world of business, people are always trying to achieve recognition. I’ve learned to believe people are looking to buy from others. A diverse team helps a product reflect a sense of welcome and inclusion. This is very important. At Regpack, we aren’t looking for a particular segment of people. We’re looking to do business with anyone who needs to improve their billing and registration processes.

Diversity also helps you attract the best talent and keep them. At Regpack, we have the privilege of working with people from all walks of life. We work together, learn from each other, and have fun together. Onboarding new employees isn’t an easy or inexpensive task. Diverse company culture is an attractive model contributing to our low turnover rate. We are slow to hire, but the people working at Regpack have mastered their roles, grown within the company, and become team leaders. What’s great about working at a bootstrap company — there are always opportunities to create something new and take ownership. Having previously worked in a corporate environment, I can say this is not always the case. It can be challenging to be noticed and promoted in those environments.

We build the best solutions for our clients. Having teammates worldwide allows us to collect diverse feedback to create the best products for our clients. We wear many hats at Regpack. One of those hats is a Q&A hat. We are responsible for testing our products and services and giving feedback so we know we are creating the best outcome possible.

With our focus on diversity, I firmly believe that we’ve created product offerings and a work-life balance that fits the variety of our employee and client needs around the globe. Whether that’s the billing needs of a client in another country or the work-life balance needs of an employee juggling work with continued education or children, we know that everyone has a diverse life outside of the office. We encourage healthy work-life balance so that we can do more with our days. It’s not about the hours you work but the work you do within those hours. It’s about liberating people from the norms to create the best versions of themselves.

Diversity allows you to do more with less and create a more resilient organization. Surrounding your company with people from different backgrounds and knowledge pools will enable us to do more without needing to experience it all ourselves. We all have gaps we aren’t able to fill ourselves. Allow your organization to fill these gaps with diverse individuals. You don’t always have to agree, but you can learn to work together and become resilient when faced with difficult situations.

What advice would you give to other business leaders to help their employees to thrive?

I’m a big believer in teaching people how to fish for themselves instead of just giving them fish. It’s easy to give people answers, especially when working remotely. Instead, take time to help employees understand why they are asking the questions and develop solutions for various outcomes. This way, if a familiar (but slightly different) situation arises in the future, they’re equipped to handle it.

It sounds easy, but it isn’t. It takes time to develop these logical skills, but it’s worth the payoff. Clients and prospects want to interact with people who can consult and provide them with solutions to their problems. Business leaders should invest the necessary time to ensure their team members have the knowledge and confidence to provide an expected level of service.

What advice would you give to other business leaders about how to manage a large team?

It’s not easy to coach for every situation, so I would suggest having resource docs for everything. We can’t be in two places at once, so create a process document to manage various situations when a problem arises. Especially if you and management aren’t around, your team should have a resource they can rely on to assist in their decision-making processes. Another piece of advice would be to delegate responsibilities. I can be a bit of a control nut and, at times, take on more than I can handle. Learning to let go and empower those around you responsibly will be highly beneficial when managing large teams. You reduce the failure points and create a culture of ownership in your organization that can be transferred amongst a group.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this 🙂

I just finished reading Green Lights by Matthew McConaughey. I was a big fan of his work before reading his book and became an even bigger fan afterward. How he has overcome challenges in his life and career is admirable, and how he stopped and recognized green light moments in life was inspiring. We all have these moments where we must stop, identify what’s happening, and grow from it. I would love to have lunch and a whiskey with Matthew so I can ask him how I can make the most out of these moments in my life.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

I never shy away from a good conversation or building bridges in life. You can always find me on LinkedIn. Connect, and let’s chat about what is happening in our worlds.

Thank you for these excellent insights. We wish you continued success in your great work.

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Edgar Carrasco Of Patterson Consulting Group On Why Diversity Is Good For Business was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Meet The Disruptors: Chantel Scheepers of OakTree Power On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Don’t be afraid to fail, that is how we all learn.

As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Chantel Scheepers.

Chantel is the CEO of leading climate tech startup OakTree Power with over 15 years’ experience in senior leadership positions within global utilities, sustainability, and other clean technology solutions providers. She is an advocate for the global adoption of clean technology solutions and wants to establish an open collaborative working approach with industry, policymakers, and co-opetition. Her goal is to empower companies to build a sustainable world.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I am originally from South-Africa — a farming town in the middle of nowhere — and came to the UK straight after school as I wanted to explore the bigger world and how I could possibly fit into it. It’s now been 17 years and I am still here.

It was a bit scary coming to a country where I didnt know anyone, although I quickly discovered that my work ethic — distilled in me from a young age — allowed me to excel at most jobs and quickly move up the ranks. I happened to fall into a very niche area of the energy sector, however I’ve been involved with a lot of energy and sustainability roles in the past.

It was during my time at KiWi Power, a leading global energy technology company, that I really felt I was making a difference. Being part of one of the first companies pioneering the virtual power plant (VPP) industry made me realise that I had the abilities to make a sizable change in the world.

Although it wasn’t easy at the start, we made the impossible possible. Back in 2012 the VPP industry was valued at £200m — now the industry is £8 billion and growing fast.

All of this brought me to OakTree Power, where I have created an offering that puts us at the forefront of the ongoing paradigm shift in the energy sector, positioned to become the global interconnected cross-border flexibility leader.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

Countless SMEs around the world are struggling to cope with soaring energy prices. At the same time, Britain faces an incredibly important environmental challenge as the country aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and meet net-zero targets by 2050.

With these challenges in mind, our purpose at OakTree Power is to enable businesses to reduce their overall energy consumption, ultimately cutting electricity costs and CO2 emissions. We’ve developed an IoT device supported by AI-based software that identifies a commercial or industrial property’s non-essential energy consumption, and then modulates usage for short periods of time without impacting performance whatsoever.

OakTree Power then uses these saved kilowatts to balance countries’ electricity networks at times of peak demand. The entire scheme not only reduces energy costs and CO2 emissions, but generates a new revenue stream for businesses.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I’m sure many people can relate to this one. It was very early on, working in an office role for the first time. Pushing to get things done, I hit the ‘reply all’ button with internal comms included.

Needless to say it didn’t go well for me, although it taught me to double check emails and slow down. It was a very good lesson to learn early on.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

This often comes up and when I think about it, certain bosses did inspire me along the way. Every now and then we all come across a boss that will teach us something that we’ll remember forever.

For example, I used to think that if you train employees and give them all the tools to succeed, they should all achieve great results. Now I understand it doesn’t always go this way, but it used to frustrate me.

Many colleagues gave me advice on these situations, but just one comment stuck with me: We cannot all be good at everything — if you don’t have someone licking a stamp, you won’t get your post.

Since then, I try to understand how each person fits into the company puzzle and how best to empower them.

Separately, I’ve learned to take a step back when faced with a problem. It’s like when you are doing a puzzle and can’t seem to find the right piece. Take a step back and walk around — you might discover the piece you were looking for fell off the table. So now, when I am faced with a big challenge or project, I always try to book time off to go and climb a mountain. Changing my perspective in a different environment allows me to look at the issue from all angles and put the right plans in place.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

For me, disruption starts with a question: is this the most efficient way of doing this, or is there a smarter, cheaper, faster way of doing it? The phrase “it’s just the way it’s done” has always told me that there is room for improvement.

Most of the time we don’t create workplace cultures that encourage people to think outside the box, so I believe in disrupting from within and involving many people in an initiative to ensure each component of the project is as efficient, streamlined and cost-efficient as it could be.

Can you share five of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

1. Early in my career I read a lot of biographies to find inspiration. I learned about many great stories, but somehow didn’t quite find the inspiration I was looking for. Then someone told me to write my own story, so a couple of years ago I took a career break and traveled around the world for two years. At that time, I actually started writing that book. It’s all about my life experiences and the lessons I learned from the people I met along the way. If you can’t find inspiration, then it’s time for you to do something inspirational.
2. It is my personal belief that everything is possible. When faced with a seemingly impossible task, I start by doing the things I can do, taking one small step at a time. Over time, and sometimes even without noticing, I find myself within what was considered impossible before.
3. Being South African, this one quote from Nelson Mandela always stuck with me: “There is no passion to be found playing small — in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” If you have the gift and skill to do something, then you should do it, or at least you should try.
4. Bring everyone along on the journey, you can achieve much more as a group. That’s part of our ethos at OakTree Power. In order to save the planet, we’ve invited on our journey the most prominent young professionals in the energy sector, as well as a host of companies and partners. After all, if we manage to establish the appropriate collaborative networks to tackle energy issues, we’ll certainly be taking steps towards a more green and sustainable future.
5. Don’t be afraid to fail, that is how we all learn.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

Our ultimate goal is to make electricity networks more sustainable to help save the planet. This clearly is a very ambitious objective, but we’re confident that our startup can play a key role in making this happen as long as our solution becomes increasingly robust and scalable. That is why OakTree Power’s new offering will combine four innovative products under one solution, which will create a streamlined and sustainable model designed for growth.

Fighting climate change is a mission that transcends countries’ borders, which is why we aim to help as many companies as possible reduce their carbon footprint and support countries’ grid operators.

After all, the number of people across the world without access to electricity declined from 1.2 billion in 2010 to 759 million in 2019. With electrification enabling internet access and free education, it’s crucial that these numbers continue to fall. We’ve come a long way, but there’s still much more to do ethically, responsibly, and sustainably. We have a duty of care to empower new generations in developing countries with sustainable power.

Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?

It was a Podcast by Ulla Suokko at TEDxBigSky. The host said something along the lines of:

“How much longer will you go on letting your energy sleep? How much longer are you going to stay oblivious to the immensity of yourself? Don’t lose time in conflict; lose no time in doubt — time can never be recovered. And if you miss an opportunity, it may take many lives before another comes your way again.”

Since then, I make a conscious effort to listen to the soft voice inside. If the world is too loud and I can’t hear the voice, I know I need to find a quiet place to listen. Often this will be hiking in the mountains somewhere.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” This mindset has given me the opportunity to transform the way we consume energy, and ultimately contribute to saving our planet.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Try and create a ripple effect, that way you inspire the people around you, and they inspire the people close to them. With that you have a continuous never ending loop. For me it is not a single action, but more a collection of smaller actions along the way that feed that ripple as often as I can.

How can our readers follow you online?

They can find me on LinkedIn!

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

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Meet The Disruptors: Chantel Scheepers of OakTree Power On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Future Is Now: Ryan Esparza Of EspriGas On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

No matter what you think you know, stay curious and never stop learning.

As a part of our series about cutting-edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ryan Esparza.

Ryan Esparza is the Chief Technology Officer at EspriGas, leading the technology strategy for the company based on his 20 years of diverse experience in technology leadership roles. He is focused on integrating and advancing EspriGas’ technology platform. He is committed to driving innovation at EspriGas keeping the focus on the customer and supply partner experience.

He joined EspriGas after spending over four years as the Chief Information Officer of Jackson Healthcare, LLC. Prior to Jackson Healthcare, Ryan worked for some of the leading brands in Atlanta including The Weather Channel, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Cox Enterprises, and The Home Depot. An active member of the Atlanta community, he currently serves on the board of Inspiredu and is a member of the 2022 class of Leadership Atlanta. Ryan holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin and studied at Tecnológico de Monterrey in Monterrery, Mexico. He is a licensed pilot, scuba diver, avid traveler and resides with his wife, Brittany, and two children in Brookhaven, GA.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I like to say that I took the logical, direct path to the industrial gas industry… from big box e-commerce to online media, hospitality, TV, then healthcare and finally EspriGas. Isn’t that how everyone got here? Really though, my story of career progression is all about other people introducing me to different opportunities and me keeping an open mind enough to hear them out. Getting to EspriGas was no different, and what excited me was the opportunity to make an impact in a company and industry by bringing what I’ve learned from my previous positions to my current role as Chief Technology Officer at EspriGas, a technology-driven industrial gas company.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

I’ve been fortunate to work on innovative, cutting-edge projects throughout my career, and there are definitely a few pivotal launches and moments that stand out.

The first would be early in my career when I was at Home Depot and helped relaunch HomeDepot.com on a new, modern technology platform — after too many trips to remember between Austin and Atlanta, the countdown, final click to refresh, and subsequent reloading of the webpage with years of work on display was both exhilarating and extremely rewarding — I think it was in that moment that I was hooked on solving big problems.

Similarly, while at The Weather Channel, I helped oversee the upgrade of the network’s proprietary localization system and relaunch of the television network. The stakes were high; The Weather Channel was in 100 million households, and accuracy was measured to one-thirtieth of a second — we needed to ensure the transition, while live on air, was seamless and without a single frame of black… kind of like changing the tires on a car while moving at 70 miles an hour down the highway. No pressure, right? We stayed through the night, and after yet another countdown and successful launch, there were cheers, maybe a few tears and some much-needed sleep. Again, I felt that exhilarating feeling of watching years of work from a lot of really talented people come to fruition.

Another interesting project that I oversaw was the launch of the first mobile key at the InterContinental Hotels Group. We, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express, were the first major hotel company to pilot this kind of technology. Now, the timeframe is important context… this was 2010 before everyone had a smartphone in their pocket and could simply hold up their phones to unlock a door using NFC like you can today. Imagine trying to solve for an Android, iPhone, AND a flip phone all at the same time. With this early-stage innovation, hotel guests would dial a phone number from their cell phone, hold it up to a modified door lock at their room (and only their room, an important detail about which I was often asked), and a dial-up modem like sound would unlock the door. Gen Zers, if you don’t know it, google that sound — it’s unmistakable and was the sound of opportunity in the early days of the internet. Back to mobile key — I helped run a pilot program at two hotels in Houston and Chicago, where I was lucky enough to do everything from install demo locks, man the front desk, explain how the innovation works to arriving guests and even take calls directly (day and night) when the batteries of the door died, and people needed to get into their rooms. I relived that familiar excitement from past launches every time I watched a guest successfully open their door using their cell phone.

There have been a lot of interesting and exciting moments in my career where my team and I were on the cusp of an innovation or launch that was monumental for a company or industry — it was exciting to be on the front lines of all these efforts.

Can you tell us about the technology innovation that you are working on? How do you think it will help people?

At EspriGas, we’re supplying industrial gas, medical grade oxygen, bulk CO2, beer gas, and more to our customers — our innovation here looks a lot different than some of the other B2B projects I’ve worked on; however, it’s all relative. We’re hyper-focused on meeting our customers where they are and how we can improve their experience with EspriGas. For our beverage sector, that means building a beverage portal that makes ordering beverage-grade CO2 from EspriGas easier. We’re applying best practices and lessons learned from e-commerce in the B2C space to our operations, giving our customers a quick and convenient way to buy gas quickly.

Another area that I am excited about is the idea of predictive ordering. We’re furthering our promise of “making the complex simple” by removing the need for manual order placement altogether and by proactively notifying customers when it’s time to order. We’re expanding on some preliminary models where we use machine learning to look at gas usage to determine when the next order might occur and send a text message to customers with a quick option to re-order.

How do you think this might change the world?

We’re changing the perspective that consumer experiences should only be expected in B2C interactions. As digital natives continue to enter the workforce, they shouldn’t have to learn what carbon paper is or how to use a fax machine to complete an order. At the end of the day, everyone is a consumer — we should be giving our customers the same customer-centric experiences they get at home at work.

The experiences we’re focused on creating at EspriGas will impact people’s lives at work to apply innovative practices from the consumer space to our gas supply efforts — it’s something that we are holding ourselves accountable for at EspriGas to improve our customers’ day-to-day operations.

Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?

There wasn’t necessarily one tipping point, but there was an accumulation of different experiences and seeing commonalities throughout in terms of what’s successful. What I’ve learned across the board from the various medical, beverage, and industrial verticals that I have worked in is that empathizing with our customers should be our top priority — it’s an everyday journey that requires a ton of focus, testing and re-testing and willingness to get it wrong, adjust and try again.

What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?

As with all industries, there needs to be a shift in the gas industry overall for widespread adoption of the types of technology we’re working on. Right now, there’s still a lot of manual work and effort taking place to get gas in the hands of folks who need it. We’re working to educate our customers and the industry at large on the value and benefits of embracing innovation to improve operations and systems.

None of us can achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I am grateful for many people who have given (and continue to give) me opportunities throughout my career, but David Tai is at the top of the list. I started at Home Depot with nothing more than a six-week contract, and he quickly saw potential in me — so much so that he helped turn the six-week contract into over three years of full-time employment. David advocated for me and ultimately convinced me to move from Austin to Atlanta for the first of many opportunities to come at The Home Depot. He even went as far as to store my boxes in his garage while I looked for a place to live. In addition to giving me this first opportunity, he also let me fail like crazy — he gave me hard challenges — challenges to which he already knew the answer, mind you — and (at times frustratingly) ‘encouraged’ me to get to the finish line on my own. David pushed me beyond what I thought was possible, letting me fail and learn along the way, and for that, I’ll always be thankful.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started”?

1. Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you.
2. Strong relationships are key to your future success.
3. To get to where you want to be, you have to put in the work and be patient.
4. No matter what you think you know, stay curious and never stop learning.
5. Don’t take yourself too seriously.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”?

“Do the right thing even when no one is looking.”

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.

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The Future Is Now: Ryan Esparza Of EspriGas On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Steve and Linda Blamer Of Blame Her Ranch: 5 Things You Need To Become A Highly Successful Airbnb Host

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Extremely private and exclusive.

Unique surroundings with 70-mile views.

Special and Unique activities, both on-site and nearby.

Multiple venues for different activities at different locations.

Star accommodations, but also on-site glamping.

Many people dream of becoming an Airbnb host but don’t know where to start. In this series called “5 Things You Need To Become A Highly Successful Airbnb Host” we are interviewing successful Airbnb hosts who share lessons from their experience about how to run a very successful Airbnb property.

As part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Steve and Linda Blamer.

Steve and Linda Blamer are the owners of Blame Her Ranch — a 2,000 + acre luxury ranch located just outside of Santa Fe, N.M. They have turned their exclusive property into a coveted Airbnb and wedding destination.

Steve worked in advertising for more than 25 years with some of the world’s largest and most respected client organizations such as Procter & Gamble, Mars, Panasonic, and Olive Garden.

He ran Grey Worldwide North America, a results-driven full-service agency with eight offices across the US and Canada and the largest agency in New York City at the time. Before that he was the CEO to Grey’s second largest international office — Grey London and Managing Director of Grey LA.

Linda Foster Blamer’s background includes operations, sales, and marketing for some of the most prestigious companies in the United States. For over 25 years, she has worked for a wide range of companies including Lord & Taylor, Toy R Us, Motherhood Maternity, Polo-Ralph Lauren, Nutrisystem and Great Expectations.

Linda has always been a highly motivated team leader with unique entrepreneurial skills managing teams and departments of up to 900 employees. She is not afraid to get her hands dirty while always being a problem solver. Linda is currently a guest columnist for Weddings and Honeymoons Magazine.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”?

After 42 years of marriage, we are still going strong. We know a lot about working together and staying married.

What led you to first start becoming an Airbnb host?

We became Airbnb hosts by accident. Our daughter got married at Blame Her Ranch 2017 and we discovered that a lot of people enjoyed the location and staying with us and that led us to market the property on Airbnb to groups and as a wedding destination. We also recognized that many venues were not very customer-oriented with too many restrictions and limitations; we thought we would offer a better product.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this?

Without question it is the different family dynamics that come into both the planning and execution of the wedding itself. We have seen both arranged weddings from India as well as couples who have known each other for years, but always the relationship between the couple and parents (who are typically paying) can be filled family drama. You try to help but are limited in your response.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I am not sure it is funny, but we did have a good learning experience when of the main water lines that lead up to the house, burst. You can never plan for that kind of disaster, but we quickly responded and had a crew out to solve the problem within a couple of hours. But it also made us realize in an exclusive and private location like Blame Her Ranch, you must be prepared for anything, and we are now installing a completely separate back-up water system so this never happens again! Problem Solved!

What are some of the common mistakes you have seen people make when they first start hosting with Airbnb?

Two things come to mind. One, is not enough supplies on hand to solve any problem. We make sure the ranch is fully stocked, but we also help the couple know the things they need to bring and plan for. But given our size and location, we have an on-site manager (which most Airbnb’s don’t) to deal with those things that unexpectedly arise!

What are some of the things that can be done to avoid these errors?

Noted above.

Can you share with our readers about the innovations that you are bringing to the Airbnb experience? In your opinion, what makes you different from the rest?

Location, Location, Location. When you come to Blame Her Ranch, you have got to want something that is private and exclusive. If you are looking for the supermarket around the corner, you won’t get it at our location. But you will get your “own” ranch for the duration of your stay with few limitations or rules that can stifle your event.

Wonderful. Here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share “5 Things You Need To Become A Highly Successful Airbnb Host”? Please share a story or example for each.

1. Extremely private and exclusive.
2. Unique surroundings with 70-mile views.
3. Special and Unique activities, both on-site and nearby.
4. Multiple venues for different activities at different locations.
5. Star accommodations, but also on-site glamping.

You are a “travel insider”. How would you describe your “perfect vacation experience”?

Total turnkey with great pre-planning for the guests to take advantage of the ranch manager expertise!

Can you share with our readers how you’ve used your success to bring goodness to the world?

We are very committed to conservation at the ranch. Both for water conservation and wildlife. Anything to protect our environment and the animals.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

We have written many stories for wedding publications about “green weddings” and love to help couples make wise decisions about how they can help our planet during their wedding activities.

How can our readers further follow you on social media?

We have an active Facebook and Instagram accounts, not to mention our monthly articles in Weddings & Honeymoons (that are also on our website) to help couples with all aspects of their wedding planning.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

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Steve and Linda Blamer Of Blame Her Ranch: 5 Things You Need To Become A Highly Successful Airbnb… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Imagination is your best friend — not only in creativity but in problem-solving .

As a part of our series called “Making Something From Nothing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing IB Oyerinde.

IB Oyerinde, born in Nigeria, and raised in the US is the founder of Lola Tara, a contemporary womenswear brand. After modeling for many years, she obtained her degree in Marketing Management from New York University. Upon graduation, she embarked on her journey into the other side of the fashion world as a designer.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?

I was born in Nigeria and raised in the US. However, I spent the beginning part of my childhood as if I had never left Nigeria. I was always creative, painting, designing, singing, dancing, and sewing. My imagination was vibrant and limitless.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Closed mouths don’t get fed. I am very vocal about my needs and asking for help, and I think this is one of the most important life lessons. Don’t expect people to read your mind and the worst you can get is a no.

Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

It’s very difficult to choose as I have so many books that have shaped who I am today. But if I must choose it would be my latest read, The Laws of Human Nature by Robert Greene. I find this book incredibly fascinating. The biggest part of maneuvering the world is understanding the people you come across and since we all have our own background story having a little bit of insight into why people are the way they are helps a great deal in life, generally.

Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. There is no shortage of good ideas out there. Many people have good ideas all the time. But people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. Can you share a few ideas from your experience about how to overcome this challenge?

It boils down to personality and knowing yourself very well. Some people are filled with ideas, but when it comes to execution they struggle and others can get things done but don’t have ideas. And depending on where a person falls in this category you have to know how to manage yourself and get the help that you need to fill the gaps. Execution and ideas work hand in hand to help get any business off the ground. The way I have tried to overcome us by recognizing my weakness and delegating these tasks to those who possess those strengths

Often when people think of a new idea, they dismiss it saying someone else must have thought of it before. How would you recommend that someone go about researching whether or not their idea has already been created?

It really doesn’t matter if it’s been done before. No one is going to do it the way you do it, and you have a different angle from a different perspective, and there’s always a way to make it different. For example, the woman who created a business by simply covering fortune cookies and chocolate. Yes, fortune cookies already existed at that point but she managed to find a way to make it different. Obviously, research is important to understand the market you’re entering as the more competition you have, the more the challenge you will face.

For the benefit of our readers, can you outline the steps one has to go through, from when they think of the idea until it finally lands in a customer’s hands? In particular, we’d love to hear about how to file a patent, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer to distribute it.

I wish there was an outline, but it just boils down to research, luck, and timing. I know many people who have followed outlines and didn’t reach success and others who interpreted the conventional process and made waves. Get a good lawyer and ask around within your network for contacts. You never know who knows who.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started Leading My Company” and why?

● You need patience — everything takes time. It may take less than you expected or it could take longer, but it takes time.

● Realistic persistence.

● Celebrate the big and little wins.

● Imagination is your best friend — not only in creativity but in problem-solving .

● Constructive criticism is your best friend.

Let’s imagine that a reader reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to invent. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?

Research research and research some more. See what’s out there & what could be better. See who’s doing what you like and what you don’t like. Become a mini expert in your field.

There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?

I always believe that it’s good to hear others’ perspectives because it might make you think in ways that you never entertained before.

What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?

It depends on your own personal financial situation and how much you need and how fast you are prepared to grow the company. I think even if you start by bootstrapping at some point in order to properly scale the business you will need to seek outside money so it’s a matter of “when” not “if”.

Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

By sharing my knowledge, being kind and helpful to others, and bringing a bit of sunshine into this sometimes very dark world.

You are an inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

I’m a big believer in being the change you want to see in the world. Big or small actions are steps towards making a better and more beautiful world.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

Diane von Furstenburg has always been an inspiration to me in what she was able to do with her business and how she did it with such grace and beauty. I would love to hear her words of wisdom and her experiences.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

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Making Something From Nothing: IB Oyerinde Of LOLA TARA On How To Go From Idea To Launch was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Meet The Disruptors: Dean and Melanie Flintoft Of SUNSET LOVER On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Find your purpose — this one is significant for us and something we have finally found with Sunset Lover.

As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dean and Melanie Flintoft.

Sunset Lover may be a new brand; however, its founders Melanie and Dean Flintoft, have a lifetime of experience and success in the industry, having launched seven fashion brands over the past 25 years.

Melanie Flintoft (Creative Director) owned a fashion retail chain, later becoming a designer. Launching her own Australian-made and nationally distributed fashion label set the groundwork for Melanie to gain world-class experience as a Creative Director, launching seven brands culminating in her passion project Sunset Lover.

Dean Flintoft (Managing Director), who was academically and professionally skilled in Economics, launched the early stages of his career in accounting, sales, marketing and design in multiple industries. His professional focus on international sales, global sourcing and distribution proved vital when he and Melanie decided to launch their brands.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

Melanie — Having parents that were retailers and fashion agents set my career path early. As soon as I could, I went into the industry by opening a fashion retail store that grew into a chain of 12. This ignited my passion for design, and I eventually started my Australian-made label, which was the seed for many fashion labels and brands to follow.

Dean — I was roped into the industry by Melanie. On our first date, Melanie had me meet her at the pattern maker’s house, and I spent the evening cutting rolls of fabric and making tea for the girls. Certainly not what I had in mind, but I was hooked from the start! Having worked in white goods and furniture, I found the possibilities of the fashion industry (and my relationship with Melanie) far more exciting, so we ended up going into business together…and getting married.

Previously to Sunset Lover, we owned a global house of fast fashion brands. The business relied heavily on wholesale customers and particularly department stores. With the onset of Covid-19 and the subsequent loss of $35m in revenue, we put the company into administration and subsequently for sale. On reflection, we had struggled to find ‘our why’ and our purpose with fast fashion, and we only became aware of the catastrophic consequences of the fast fashion industry in the few years before Covid, which proved to be a catalyst for what was to come.

We understood that the fashion industry is the second most destructive to people and the planet, and we had time to deeply consider whether we should go back into such a catastrophic industry. As we saw, the world didn’t need another trend-based seasonal fashion label. So the golden question was: what do we do now that we are getting older and this is all we know?

The past was reflective of polyester and plastic bags, massive overproduction, wasteful inventory, weekly deliveries of newness and a whole lot of churn-churn-churn!

So the decision was easy — use what we know in an industry we love but use it as a vehicle to make a difference and leave the planet better than how we found it. The model is very different, something our team and we are thoroughly alive for in every sense of the word. ‘Being part of a powerful solution that will impact the present and future generations makes you proud beyond words.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

Our goal is 100% compostable and sustainable luxury fashion!

We are unique, and it has its challenges, but we are committed to seeing this through and making it happen. Currently, we are at around 95% compostable and working towards 100%. The many components of a garment, rather than just the fabric, present sustainability challenges that must be considered, such as thread, lining, padding, stretch, printing, dyes, buttons and zips. We are scouring the globe and working with scientists and universities to help with this.

Whatever we take from the land, we want to put back into the land to keep the circularity going.

Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

In our early beginnings, many years ago, we took working from home to a new level — as we were trying to save cash and raise a young family, we decided to keep the office at home for as long as possible. By the end, we had 19 staff coming to the house each day, and it was when we had staff members having meetings in our bedroom that we decided it was probably time to get an office!

It was like having 19 messy kids at home each day, and not only was it a relief when we finally got an office, but productivity improved exponentially, giving us the ability to scale.

The lesson and key takeaway — you can take trying to save money too far, which can be detrimental to the business.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

I doubt they realise it, but Melanie’s stepfather John Goldberg, a commercial lawyer, and her mother, Deb Garland, a fashion wholesale agent and retailer, have been great mentors for us. I am sure they have been very frustrated with us many times over the years as we did not always follow their advice, but they have been a great source of calm during many difficult times.

Putting our previous business into administration and losing everything during Covid was a challenging time full of emotion. Still, John and Deb managed to keep us sane during our most turbulent times.

John Goldberg: “It is how you handle yourself during this time that people will remember”.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

The invention of polyester fabric for clothing in the 1950s appeared to be a positive disruption for the industry, introduced as a miracle fabric that was cheap and could be worn, pulled, and washed without any wrinkling or signs of wear and tear. At the time, these attributes made it a great disruptor but created an environmental catastrophe as the clothes will be in landfills for thousands of years, with toxic microplastics that now permeate the entire planet and food chains.

Can you share five of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey?

Watch your cash — obvious one, but this has been tricky to manage during periods of high growth in the business. Saying no to opportunities can be a difficult thing to do but sometimes necessary.

Don’t grow for growth’s sake — this is related to the previous one. Getting caught up in the excitement of opportunities and growth is easy.

Find your purpose — this one is significant for us and something we have finally found with Sunset Lover.

We enjoyed our previous businesses and brands and learnt a great deal, but all of them lacked purpose.

Purpose creates uncompromised passion.

Be passionate about your storytelling — understand and build your community. Having a purpose for us and the brand led to a more profound use of the brand for storytelling. We have collaborated with the passionate teams at the South Australian Museum and The Adelaide Botanic Gardens to utilise their archives for print inspiration. This means we go through the millions of objects in the archives to inspire our unique and exclusive prints, bringing to life stories of the past.

Just keep going. No matter what — Despite our experience in scaling our former labels, at times has been frustrating to grow Sunset Lover when we are underfunded. However, the slower pace has given us room and mental bandwidth to consider decisions carefully. We have sacrificed so much to get through when most would quit and get a job. Determination coupled with a passionate vision has powered us through. And it gives us an absolute sense of pride!

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

Proving that 100% sustainable and compostable products are commercial will lead us to work with and develop solutions for the industry. We must prove they work first; then, we can commercialise the solutions.

There are so many ideas that will be fun to explore and commercialise:

-Mushroom mycelium

-Seaweed fibre

-Converting polyester textile waste into usable products (not clothes that create microplastics)

-Evolution of waste

Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?

Yes, a few. In summary, these are:

Movie — The Biggest Little Farm

Documentaries — Kiss the Ground, Seaspiracy, Cowspiracy and Dead White Man’s Clothes on ABC Foreign Correspondent

Book — The Blue Economy by Gunter Pauli

Many years ago, a friend recommended we watch The Biggest Little Farm. It excited us about the possibilities of regenerative farming practices for growing fibres that improve soil health and the environment while providing resources we can use. Then at the end of life, we return them to the soil as compost.

We were particularly motivated by the idea of taking dead soil that has been killed by chemical farming practices, bringing it back to life, and improving our environment. All our clothing is made from natural fibres grown in the ground. Imagine if the clothing you wear is working in harmony with nature, helping to improve our planet rather than creating microplastics and landfill that take thousands of years to break down.

This gave us purpose!

Can you please give us your favourite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

We have had a great and exciting life in the fashion industry, which has led to many challenges in business, including rapid growth and cash flow challenges; the decline of department stores globally and a global pandemic led to the administration and sale of our business. It is during the challenges that quotes provide motivation:

Melanie

“If it was easy, everyone would do it”.

“Success is not final, and failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts”. — Winston Churchill.

Dean

“Never give up, never give up, never give up”. — from a Microsoft ad in the nineties.

“Learn from your mistakes, don’t lose the lesson”.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

A movement targeting the evolution of waste and working in harmony with nature.

There is no such thing as rubbish as everything has a purpose and can be reused, recycled or upcycled into something useful while minimising the impact. Nature provides us with all the solutions we need; we are just not listening, although we can be continually inspired by nature. There is no waste in nature. It is really about optimising opportunities for the entire ecosystem.

How can our readers follow you online?

Dean — I welcome new professional connections on LinkedIn and invite readers to connect on Instagram (@mens_edit).

Melanie — You can join my professional curated network on LinkedIn, and you can find me on Instagram (@melanieflintoft) where I share life on the go and behind the scenes at Sunset Lover.

You’re welcome to visit our life’s work and passion at www.sunsetlover.com and follow the label on Instagram (@sunsetlover_rise)

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

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Meet The Disruptors: Dean and Melanie Flintoft Of SUNSET LOVER On The Five Things You Need To Shake… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Under promise and over deliver — Running my own agency allowed me to quickly learn that “wowing” customers, especially early on in the relationship, is the key to a long, fruitful relationship. When starting off, set your promises low and take that as an opportunity to go above and beyond to “wow” them. This strategy helped us impress and positively influence every client with our ideas.

As a part of our series about the five things a business should do to create a Wow! customer experience, I had the pleasure of interviewing Steve Martin. As CMO, Steve leads Act!’s global marketing team overseeing the planning, developing, and execution of the company’s marketing strategy. Bringing over 20 years of experience to Act!, his success in generating revenues by increasing sales has led to successful marketing initiatives throughout his career.

Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

I started my career (many, many years ago) working nights in the data center of a large New England bank. I had been into personal computers for a few years — my Dad brought home an Apple II in 1980 and an IBM PC shortly thereafter — and “stepping up” to mainframe operations seemed like fun. After 10 years in IT, going from PC Support to networking, I ‘graduated’ to selling tech solutions, which soon became a career in software marketing, where I’ve happily spent the last 20 years at places like American Express and IBM as well as smart startups and growth-stage SaaS companies. I do think that a deep understanding of how systems work together enables me to better grasp and articulate the real value for users. I’m “pretty tech for a marketing guy” and “very marketing for a tech guy”.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting?

My first real job was working nights, where I didn’t have as much supervision as the day shift had (no suits around). Plenty of opportunity to roam around this expansive ‘raised floor’ data center, which housed a plethora of intriguing devices, not all of which we used. In the back of the room, was a button (on the floor!) which I kid you not, was labeled “do not press”. So I didn’t. But one night, it was slow and I was young and dumb, and I thought “what could possibly go wrong?”, so I pressed it. Everything went wrong. It took hours to reset all the systems and I never owned up to pressing the button (I’m not even sure that anyone knew there was one).

We also used a pretty basic control language (JCL) to move jobs around the data center, and I once, when trying to pause a laser printer (about the size of three refrigerators) for maintenance, I instead accidentally restarted a million line print job, which wasted hundreds of pages of check stock, and several hours of operations time, which was a really big deal. Lots of explaining ensued, and it taught me that syntax matters (and not to press just any button).

Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

Yes! Never press a button that says “do not press this button”. Take it from me. I can honestly say I have successfully resisted that urge ever since. I also still find myself double checking input commands — syntax matters. Although operating systems are a lot more forgiving (who doesn’t love Ctrl Z ?), I’m still more cautious than most when issuing system commands.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are?

There are more than a few, and at the risk of sounding cheesy, I’d say my Dad probably had the biggest positive impact on me. While he and I didn’t see eye to eye on much, he (strongly) encouraged me to go to a private high school, which because it was far away (and all boys), wasn’t exactly on my wish list at 15. I think he recognized that I was drifting a little in middle school and ignoring much of my potential. That push led me to a school that prioritized critical thinking and had me studying rhetoric when I was 16 years old. That experience, more than any other, has shaped how I think and how I evaluate what others are saying. I’m glad I went, but he made me go (and he paid for it) so kudos to him for forcing that issue and guiding my development.

Thank you for that. Let’s now pivot to the main focus of our interview. This might be intuitive, but I think it’s helpful to specifically articulate it. In your words, can you share a few reasons why great customer service and a great customer experience is essential for success in business?

Providing great customer experiences is essential for driving growth today. Now more than ever, people are willing to pay for good customer service, and many are highly motivated to let the world know when they feel they didn’t receive it. They want to feel seen and heard by their favorite brands, and they recognize when companies go out of their way to serve customers well.

This means businesses can not only see real ROI from the work they put in on the customer experience side, there’s a persistent and public price to be paid for failing to meet expectations.

Consumers can easily jump to a competitor and tarnish your reputation on the way out the door. So, yes, absolutely — great customer experience is foundational for success in business and it always has been, but the stakes do feel higher now. Superior customer experience is key for building loyal client relationships and creating more long-term value for your company.

We have all had times either in a store, or online, when we’ve had a very poor experience as a customer or user. If the importance of a good customer experience is so intuitive, and apparent, where is the disconnect? How is it that so many companies do not make this a priority?

To me, the underlying problem is that many companies don’t realize how much is involved in creating and delivering a “superior customer experience.” We often think all that matters is the initial interaction, the final conversion, or the customer service response. Too many fail to realize that all of this is connected.

In reality, every engagement, every chat, every call, every website visit — these are all opportunities to engage customers. In addition, no interaction happens in isolation. For instance, we have to stop seeing customer service requests as short-term problems that need solving rather than as valuable opportunities to nurture long-term, personalized relationships. This is what the best customer experience teams are doing. To answer your question directly, the front line teams are, in many cases, overworked, underpaid and occasionally under siege. Companies should not expect to balance their entire CX strategy on the backs of these teams if they are not properly supporting them.

Do you think that more competition helps force companies to improve the customer experience they offer? Are there other external pressures that can force a company to improve the customer experience?

Competition can absolutely motivate companies to innovate or fix issues with the customer experiences they offer. The businesses that deliver the best customer experience are the ones that constantly evaluate what their peers are doing and ask what they could do to improve, which creates an “arms race” to bring a better experience to market.

As far as external pressures go, customer feedback is obviously important to consider. Businesses should go back to their customers regularly to learn what their challenges are and how their needs have changed over time. It doesn’t have to be as formal as an NPS survey, but assumptions drive a stagnant status quo and direct feedback can provide a wake up call. Conditions in the broader marketplace can certainly cause organizations to revisit their customer experiences. Unfortunately for many, we saw this move in the wrong direction during COVID — companies had to cut budget on the customer experience side, leading to a decline in service quality. Fortunately, things are turning around.

Can you share with us a story from your experience about a customer who was “Wowed” by the experience you provided?

When I ran my own agency, I learned quickly that “under promising and over delivering” was the key to delighting customers and eliciting a “wow”. It took a little time to learn this, but I soon took to making a deliberate effort to keep customer expectations low, and then delivering everything you could think of. A common request was building brands for companies that were just starting out. We would gather information and tell the customer, we’ll back in a week with a few logo outlines that we can discuss and iterate on. Instead, we would fall back and develop a handful of logos and type treatments that we loved, and then quickly reproduce them in a variety of ways to help clients envision them in action. We’d show renderings on coffee cups, print ads, billboards… the impact of a ‘logo in action’ was exponentially greater than a lone logo on a white background. They came into those reviews expecting a slide show of 3–5 treatments and we showed them 40 images of those same logos on shirts and sites and trade show booths. We certainly didn’t win every job, but we were overwhelming most every client with our ideas.

Did that Wow! experience have any long term ripple effects?

Well it definitely became a part of our culture. It was a small shop, maybe 10 people at its height, but this idea that we should strive to exceed our commitments started to surface in our internal interactions with people over delivering or delivering early because that’s how we entered every RFP or prospect engagement. Of course, this does mean that more effort goes into every iteration and that’s not everyone’s mindset all the time. Sometimes you just want to knock something out and move on to the next thing.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should know in order to create a Wow! Customer Experience. Please share a story or an example for each.

1. Under promise and over deliver — Running my own agency allowed me to quickly learn that “wowing” customers, especially early on in the relationship, is the key to a long, fruitful relationship. When starting off, set your promises low and take that as an opportunity to go above and beyond to “wow” them. This strategy helped us impress and positively influence every client with our ideas.

2. You don’t need a full-scale customer experience team in order to deliver exceptional service — Incredible value can be gleaned from leveraging software solutions, like CRM and other martech solutions, to streamline client communications and create a seamless customer experience without a full staff. For example, Hal Hanstein, President at Cardinal Realty Group and Act! customer, runs a small real estate firm, but with the help of Act!’s CRM platform, he is armed with the resources he needs to run his business like an enterprise.

3. Nurture, Nurture, Nurture — Don’t underestimate how many steps and engagements are involved in creating and delivering superior customer experience. The truth is, every engagement, chat, call and website visit are all opportunities to engage customers. In the financial services industry, Ron Buck, President of Performance Insights, finds that customer profiles change daily and that leveraging a CRM platform helps his team retain customers and keep up with client communications, enabling them to take a proactive approach when his clients face major life events like a job change or inheritance.

4. Remember that no interaction happens in isolation — For example, business leaders need to stop viewing customer service requests as short-term problems that need solving (ticket closing mentality), and instead treat them as valuable opportunities to nurture long-term, personalized relationships.

5. Earn loyalty everyday — It is always cheaper to retain customers than it is to acquire new ones. Therefore, it’s critical to find time to invest in client relationships that build brand loyalty and create more long-term value for your business through a “wow!” customer experience. For example, in today’s marketing landscape, consumers are willing to pay for good customer service, and feel motivated to let the world know when they don’t receive it. By maintaining regular touchpoints with clients and continuing to build the relationship with them even after you’ve closed your first sale with them, you will build repeat customers, and they will recommend your brand to their family and friends.

Are there a few things that can be done so that when a customer or client has a Wow! experience, they inspire others to reach out to you as well?

I highly recommend that customer experience teams reach out regularly and have real conversations with actual customers. This is where you learn about how people actually experience your brand, probe for what more you might be able to do, and unearth new brand champions. These conversations will reveal the advocates among your customers and recognizing, rewarding and encouraging them to share their experience is key to create an authentic ‘knock on effect’ to realize exponential returns from your CX efforts.

It’s not uncommon to offer customers incentives for helping you grow your business. We’re all familiar with these tactics — discount codes, referral bonuses, etc. — in exchange for getting others to try your service or for sharing on a review site. These devices really do work, especially with your most loyal and passionate customers, who may be happy to help.

My particular expertise is in retail, so I’d like to ask a question about that. Amazon is going to exert pressure on all of retail for the foreseeable future. New Direct-To-Consumer companies based in China are emerging that offer prices that are much cheaper than US and European brands. What would you advise retail companies and eCommerce companies, for them to be successful in the face of such strong competition?

I want business leaders to understand that they don’t have to have a full-scale customer experience team to deliver exceptional service. Most companies (99%?) will never be able to compete with the Amazons of the world in terms of the resources and staff they can allocate to customer service (not to mention the price pressure they exert).

But that doesn’t mean businesses can’t delight patrons and meet their unique needs in a way a “big box retailer” simply doesn’t take the time to. Where I see a lot of opportunity today is in the connection point between customer relationship management (CRM) software and marketing automation. This is where the magic — i.e., the “wowing” — can really be amped up. It’s how companies are bringing back personalized, concierge service to every encounter. And it’s how they are competing with powerhouses with tremendous economies of scale and lower prices. As mentioned earlier, most people are willing to pay for great customer experience, but those of us competing with titans need to make clear the additional value we bring to every transaction.

You are a person of great influence — if you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Well, I don’t know about great influence — my dog doesn’t even listen to me! Since the dawn of the internet, I have been infatuated with the idea of disintermediation. The idea that a new system can streamline an existing process by removing “middle men” — the stops along the way that can add great expense, but little value. When the ‘net first hit, the promise was no more car dealerships — people will look at cars online, build their preferred package and get one delivered to their home. Twenty five years in, and we’re almost there with services like Carvana, but of course there are still dealerships everywhere. To me banking seems ripe for this kind of disruption and the blockchain (not crypto!) seems like the means. Smart contracts on Ethereum hold the potential to make transactions between parties easier and more economical without the involvement of “big banks”. I would love to see a movement that brings banking to the billions of people who don’t have conventional accounts because they’re poor — the four billion people at the so-called “bottom of the pyramid.” It’s not that these people have no money, they just don’t have much money, and therefore the traditional banking systems are open to them, but a blockchain based, mobile first banking experience might enable them to transact (and save) safely and more easily (without extortionate fees).

How can our readers follow you on social media?

I post fairly regularly on LinkedIn and would welcome followers, connections and interaction there: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bostonstevemartin/

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

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Steve Martin Of Act! On 5 Ways To Create a Wow! Customer Experience was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Avoid the Curse of Knowledge: Have a relevant, relatable, and audience-focused message. This happens all the time. People launch into their talk with an assumption that the audience is in their head or knows as much as they do — enter the Curse of Knowledge. The more expert we are in our field, the harder it is to see things through the lens of our audience. The truth is, we often don’t even realize it. We jump in with what we want to say and hope it lands.

At some point in our lives, many of us will have to give a talk to a large group of people. What does it take to be a highly effective public speaker? How can you improve your public speaking skills? How can you overcome a fear of speaking in public? What does it take to give a very interesting and engaging public talk? In this interview series called “5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker” we are talking to successful and effective public speakers to share insights and stories from their experience. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Karen Laos.

Karen Laos, Communication Expert and Confidence Cultivator, teaches women leaders how to be influential communicators and speak up with confidence in the boardroom and beyond. Through practical strategies that outline what to say and how to say it, Karen is fiercely committed to eradicating self-doubt in 10 million women within 10 years. With 20+ years of public speaking experience, Karen has graced stages all over the world and coached corporations and individuals with the concrete skills to transform self-doubt and missed opportunities into empowered growth, more clients, job promotions, and negotiated deals. She specializes in presence and direct messaging through an approachable and engaging manner, equipping women to stand out through declarative, impactful speech and leaving them empowered with practical tools they can apply immediately. Tapping into her background in human resources, Karen incorporates introspection and the power of trusting our own voices, taking her clients on a journey where they’re no longer dependent on others’ opinions. By breaking down perfection-induced communication barriers, Karen is able to build trust and credibility quickly and has worked with giants like NASA, Google, Netflix, Facebook, Sephora, Sony, and more. At age 52, Karen left her corporate career, where she led a team of facilitators and traveled the globe consulting professionals on their communication skills. Her passion started with her love for people and discovering the field of HR, through which she moved into corporate training with a focus on leadership and trained people on strategies that ultimately impact the bottom line. Whether people decide to buy from you, do business with you, trust you, etc., can all be traced back to the words we use and how we use them, which is at the heart of her work. Karen is the author of a guidebook called Trust Your Own Voice: Growing Your Influence Through Confident Communication, as well as the podcast host of Ignite Your Confidence, through which she helps women to stop holding back and start taking their seat at the table. When she’s not equipping women in business, you can find her exploring a new city, living and working like a local anywhere she goes. She’s been to all 50 states, traveled to many countries including Dubai, Israel, and The North Pole, as well as chasing her dream of living in Manhattan by renting an apartment for a month to celebrate her 50th birthday.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

When I was six years old, my dad taught me to negotiate at flea markets. He handed me a few dollars and told me to never pay full price. That’s how I got confidence to ask for what I want. He also taught me that “the squeaky wheel gets the grease” and “you don’t have because you don’t ask.” He taught me that with enough persistence and determination you could do anything you want. I learned the payoff of working hard and smart.

On the flip side, watching my parent’s marriage, I learned that you have to submit to a man or the one in charge (in my case, my dad was both). As a result of this, I learned to be a compliant little girl who was always trying to please her dad. My mom was submissive in the household, but a powerhouse in the community. My dad wouldn’t let her get a job, but she was head of a bunch of organizations. Service to the community was important in our family.

She started several ministries at church and received an award for her work with the Little League organization. She raised nine kids, and I was the baby. Two of my siblings passed away, so our family was no stranger to grief. I was too young to remember those deaths, but I watched my mom be a positive force no matter what. She started a grief ministry at our church, too. Her faith was critical to her and she always taught me that you can talk to Jesus as your best friend.

Ever since I was little, I loved people. I would come home from first grade and ask my mom if I could either have someone over, or go to someone’s house — a classic extrovert. I played tennis, flute, and sang at our church and in choir. I was the class president in high school, and competed in speaking events through DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) like sales and marketing, traveling nationally to do so.

I was raised in the suburbs of Minneapolis but always had a passion for travel and adventure. I had a dream of going to Manhattan and also San Francisco. At 16, I chose to take German, as that was the one language that had an upcoming trip overseas, and I spent two weeks with my class in Germany and lived with a host family there who I am still in touch with.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be speaking on a stage. Fast forward to my first HR manager role, I remember participating in an offsite training and salivating over the facilitator’s job. I couldn’t have imagined a career like that (corporate trainer and speaker). You get to travel around and talk to people, while having fun and making teams build better relationships? I approached her to ask her advice on how I could start doing that. I was so disappointed when she told me to “just start.” I didn’t know what she meant. Soon after, I realized you have to speak anywhere you can, and eventually opportunities start opening up. It takes a lot of intention and vision boards! It worked.

When I was first starting out, people used to say, “Do what you love, and the money will follow.” I never liked that because the money wasn’t following quickly! I’ve adapted it to “Do what you love, and the money will follow…eventually!”

I kept staying attuned to new opportunities and eventually was on a clear path to my speaking career. Fast forward to Sept of 2019, I put a stake in the ground to go full-time with my speaking and created a formula from that called the 3D’s: Decide (what you want to do), Declare it (tell everyone you know), and Do it (take action!).

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

This speaks to the power of knowing and owning your worth. In February of 2020, I secured the highest executive coaching contract I’ve ever had. I was thrilled. Then COVID happened, and the company decided against it. I continued to follow up every few months, and I had just about given up on the business after a year of following up. Out of the blue, the person within the company that was looking for coaching reached out to me over a year later. She was desperate for my help and said the CEO had approved the coaching. When I looked back at the contract, I was surprised at how low it was compared to my then current rates, as well as the length of the contract. I decided to take the risk and ask for nearly three times as much with a slightly longer contract. They said yes! I shared how I continue to learn that sustainable change takes time, intention and support, along with the fact that I’m in more demand now, so my rates have increased.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I remember way back in high school when I had given my first speech. I thought I did amazingly well, and when the teacher shared her feedback with me, I was shocked. She said, “Well, the speech was good, but you looked up at the ceiling the entire time!” I learned that you need to look at people and connect with your audience instead of the ceiling!

Fast forward to my corporate training job in 2006. When I had to present in front of my boss so she could sign off before I could present to clients, I was super nervous, but had diligently prepared and knew the material well. After I was done, I thought I nailed it. When she gave her feedback, I was astonished. She said, “Well, if I really listened, the content was practically perfect. But, you looked mad the whole time!” I was so surprised, but here’s what I learned that’s still a powerful lesson today: we can’t sacrifice connection for perfection. It’s okay if you’re not 100% perfect with the material. If you don’t smile or lighten up in your facial expression, you can look unapproachable and uninviting, so they won’t hear much of your content anyway!

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Dennis Del Valle, executive coach, therapist, and Townsend Leadership Director has been invaluable in my growth journey. When we first started working together, he was teaching me the power of feeling my feelings. As a high achieving corporate woman, I didn’t have time for feelings. Yet, I was stressed about something and he asked me to put my hand on the spot on my body where I was feeling the tension. While I had my hand on my stomach, I was a little annoyed. I said, “I’m paying you $150/hour to put my hand on my stomach?” He kindly chuckled. Because I trusted him, I trusted the process. I learned how powerful it is to recognize your feelings and feel them. This gives space for those feelings and then allows them to pass, creating space for new things to blossom, and it’s incredibly healing to experience the feeling and then move forward.

You have been blessed with great success in a career path that can be challenging and intimidating. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?

Yes! It’s both exhilarating and exhausting. I have two favorite F words: Fun and Failure. Failure is the path to success. You have to recognize that you need to go through it — without risk comes no reward. You don’t want to play it safe. It’s so much more fun to risk failure and to learn from it. I will remind everyone that it’s never going to be easy, but I’d rather live with knowing that I tried rather than not trying at all. And remember — it’s all about how you look at it. Failure is actually to be celebrated because it means you learned.

Your dreams are waiting for you, and the only one holding you back is you. You are brilliant, beautiful, and brave. Get support so you have people around you, and surround yourself with experts who you can learn from. Immerse yourself in learning about your craft. There’s always someone who has gone before you who has done it before. Ask for help; talk with anyone you can. People are willing to help but you have to ask. You are worth it.

It’s important to remember that YOUR voice is powerful and important. The world is waiting for you! Start with one step today.

What drives you to get up everyday and give your talks? What is the main empowering message that you aim to share with the world?

My mission is to teach 10 million women to overcome self-doubt, speak up with confidence, and empower themselves to get what they want. No more missed opportunities! I want women to be free: to speak up without hesitation, to stop holding back, and to share their ideas without worrying about what people think or without needing permission.

A recent client was working as a consultant and had a hard time speaking up for herself. There was no contract and there were a lot of gray areas. She wanted to do a good job for the client, but she was being taken advantage of. Yet, part of it was her fault. She kept taking on more work without getting paid for all of it. She had been feeling resentful, knowing that things needed to change. After two sessions with me, she spoke up for herself. Here’s what she told me: “I stood up for myself. I held my ground. I now have this power I didn’t know was available to me. You gave me permission to ask. I didn’t have role models before.”

One of my favorite “right-after-stage” moments was one of the best compliments I’ve ever been given: “I felt like we were in my living room and you were talking just to me, even though we’re in a room of 200 people!” When I hear stories like this, I know I’m touching people; making an impact, and the work I do matters.

The main message I aim to share with the world is: Your voice is powerful. Trust it!

You have such impressive work. What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? Where do you see yourself heading from here?

I’m working on a confident communication hotline show where people can call in with everyday questions such as “How do I negotiate when the person says, ‘No thanks?’ Can I turn that around?” or “What is the best way to interject in meetings? I want to speak up, but it’s challenging for me,” or “I’m having a conflict with my boss. How do I speak my truth and still keep the relationship intact?”

My dream is to be the main event at the Chase Center in San Francisco within the next 10 years. I can’t imagine anything more powerful than a stadium full of women being inspired and equipped to communicate with confidence. At a women’s faith conference back in 2021, the speaker had us do a vision exercise. She said, “Let the Holy Spirit take over your pen.” While that may seem odd to some, it was exactly what I was meant to hear. I asked God to speak to me, and the vision that came into my head was me speaking at an open air stadium at dusk filled with women. I was wearing a white t-shirt and a warm summer breeze gently flowed over us with the most empowering feeling ever!

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Be direct, honest and kind.” My mom lived by that motto, and I do, too. When you keep those three things at the forefront, life is better. You have stronger relationships and peace. Also, my mom always said that if you’re invited to a party, go! That philosophy has served me well, too. I’ve had so many unexpected opportunities because I said “yes” to adventure! One of the best examples of that is when I was in Bangkok, and the host showing me around asked if I wanted to ride an elephant. Of course I said, “YES, please!” And had the time of my life. Life is filled with opportunities — we have to look for them and if we pay attention, we create experiences worth memories for a lifetime.

Ok, thank you for all that. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker?” Please share a story or example for each.

1. Mindset: Be prepared and do the growth work needed. Remember that you can do this. It takes time, intention, and support. One of my clients worked for years toward getting a TEDx talk. She spent hours working on her signature talk, refining and refining it. Her humility and openness to look at her blind spots was an inspiration. She would record herself on video and we would review it together. Her tendency was to get into what I call “presenter mode” instead of being her conversational self. She worked hard to be as conversational as possible and it paid off! She got her first TEDx, and it was amazing!

2. Have a clear point to your message: Too often we bury the lead of our story and it falls flat. We give too much detail and end up losing people because they’re confused. One of my client’s jobs as the head of finances for an energy company in Texas was to present to the board of directors every year. He would typically present a bunch of slides with the financial performance — usually on Excel spreadsheets. It was SO tedious and boring. We worked together to craft a story instead. At first he couldn’t think of anything and almost gave up, but I kept pushing him to find something. We talked about his interests outside of work, and then it came to him! This is the analogy he used that was a huge success: “What’s the first thing you do when you walk into a football stadium, after you get your beer and popcorn? The scoreboard! That’s what we’re going to go over today.”

3. Recognize the power of connection. People won’t listen to your content if they don’t feel a connection with you. The key to doing this is through your eye contact and your facial expressions. Many years back, I was about to facilitate a corporate training on presentation skills. As I greeted people walking in the room, one of the participants shook my hand and my immediate impression was,”This guy is going to be challenging.” simply because of his facial expression.

He came across unfriendly and almost a little intimidating. It turns out he was a nice guy with a great sense of humor. When we played back the video recording of his presentation, we looked at it together and he said, “Whoa! I look so rude and intimidating.” I said, “I know, that’s exactly what I thought of you when I met you this morning!” Ha! I would’ve never said that had he not seen his video. Him seeing that for himself was the connection. I could’ve told him directly, but the power came in his own discovery. The bigger “aha” for him was that how he was coming across didn’t represent his personality. I said, “I agree. My first impression of you was very different from how you actually are.”

• His big takeaway: “I’ve got to intentionally smile so that I bring out my personality when I meet people; especially for the first time. Same thing goes for how I am around my team. I don’t want them to think I’m intimidating or rude.”

4. Demonstrate Credibility. Know your stuff and also recognize that your voice is critical to someone deciding if they think you’re worth listening to. Speak with conviction in your voice and pause to show control and avoid filler words like “um” and “ah.”

On January 9, 2021, I joined Clubhouse (the social media chat room app), and my world shifted. It became extremely obvious that our voices influence quickly. I know that people decide within seconds if they think you’re credible, trustworthy, and likable, but wow, this app made that abundantly clear. There’s a button called “Leave Quietly” which allows you to leave the virtual room. I used it a fair amount!

Here’s what was sobering: the amount of women misrepresenting themselves. It was mind-boggling and reminded me that there is much work to be done.

For example, I have a friend with 25 years of experience in her field, and she was hosting a room for the first time (leading and moderating discussion). Marlene is a strong, well-spoken woman; a leader in her field.

She started that room so tentatively in her speech and I thought, “Oh my gosh, this doesn’t even sound like her.” She came across so timid and meek; halting in her voice with lots of awkward pauses. She wasn’t taking charge or leading us in the conversation.

That was a reminder of how many women are walking around misrepresenting themselves. I was shocked at how different she sounded compared to how I know her.

5. Avoid the Curse of Knowledge: Have a relevant, relatable, and audience-focused message. This happens all the time. People launch into their talk with an assumption that the audience is in their head or knows as much as they do — enter the Curse of Knowledge. The more expert we are in our field, the harder it is to see things through the lens of our audience. The truth is, we often don’t even realize it. We jump in with what we want to say and hope it lands.

Our job is to translate the knowledge in our heads to the audience in a way that’s understandable, relatable, and memorable.

The Curse of Knowledge is also when we use jargon or buzzwords that people don’t understand. For example, I had a physical injury a few years ago and the doctor kept saying, “The calcaneus this, the calcaneus that,” and after several minutes I finally asked, “What’s the calcaneus?”

He said, “Oh, it’s your heel bone.” That’s when I said to myself, “I wish I had known that when you first started talking, Doc.” Too often we don’t take time to think about who our audience is and what matters to them, and adjust our message appropriately.

This desire to prove ourselves makes us feel like we need to convince someone and share all that we know or have done. The truth is, we don’t need more content. What we need is simplicity. Focus instead of fumbling.

As you know, many people are terrified of speaking in public. Can you give some of your advice about how to overcome this fear?

Physiologically, there is no difference between nervousness and excitement. You can trick your brain to channel this energy by simply saying, “I’m so excited to speak” instead of saying, “I’m so nervous.” This changes up the neural pathways in our brains so we can move toward overcoming those fears. Also, record yourself on video and watch it back with a coach (like me!) or someone objective who can encourage and challenge you.

You are a person of huge influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

I would inspire a “Be Kind” movement and it would be called the Flo Movement (Florence was my mom’s name and this was her motto and how she lived her life). What it would be in action is for every person on the planet to be intentional about kindness; to be attuned to others. What that would look like is to set aside differences and have a “for” stance with others. It would mean we might have to let go of being right and value the relationship more. It would be focusing on others instead of ourselves (except we still need to have boundaries, which is being kind to ourselves!). It would mean kind self-talk.

Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!

Yes! I would love to have lunch with Mel Robbins. Her story of overcoming hardship is transformational, and she is changing so many others’ lives because she is consistently encouraging people to take action. Her message is empowering and inspiring. I love how down-to-earth and real she is.

Are you on social media? How can our readers follow you online?

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarenLaosConsulting/

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/karenlaosconsulting

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenlaosofficial

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenlaos/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Karen_Laos

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEwQoTGdJX5eME0ccBKiKng/videos

Clubhouse: @karenlaos

This was so informative, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!

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Karen Laos On The 5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Makers of The Metaverse: Laurel Boyd Of Mediahub Worldwide On The Future Of The VR, AR & Mixed Reality Industries

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Build a team of completely different mindsets and interests. The more similar a group of people, the more similar their ideas will be. Differing opinions and backgrounds get you to the most interesting and unique ideas.

The Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality & Mixed Reality Industries are so exciting. What is coming around the corner? How will these improve our lives? What are the concerns we should keep an eye out for? Aside from entertainment, how can VR or AR help work or other parts of life? To address this, we had the pleasure of interviewing Laurel Boyd, Chief Creative Media Officer, Mediahub Worldwide Bio.

A 19-year Mediahub veteran, Laurel has worked across pop culture brands including Netflix, Fox Entertainment, Fox Sports, Chipotle, MTV, and Zappos. Her passion for creativity and innovation compelled her to start the Radical + Disruptive Lab, a discipline solely focused on developing creative media activations that pierce culture and disrupt the industry. The R+D team’s work has won countless accolades including Cannes Lions, Effies and Best in Show at Adweek and Omma award shows. Laurel has also been named Ad Age Media Planner of the Year and was recognized as one of Adweek’s Creative Top 100 in the country.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory and how you grew up?

I was born in Minnesota and spent my first nine years there before moving to Texas where I went to high school and college. I had always been drawn to the East Coast and loved Boston in particular, so I moved out here for grad school and have been here ever since. From a young age, I thought I wanted to be a classical musician (I played the violin until I was 22 and played professionally for a couple years) before completely pivoting and starting a career in advertising.

Is there a particular book, film, or podcast that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

I’ve always loved A prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. Each character is so well developed and unique. I also love the notion and theme that we’re all here to fulfill a specific purpose.

Is there a particular story that inspired you to pursue a career in the X Reality industry? We’d love to hear it.

When I was a graduate student at Boston University, a futurist from Harvard came to talk to us about the future of technology. She talked about how we’d be walking down the street one day, and our sunglass lenses would flash offers from a nearby store with discounts on jeans because the glasses would also be connected to our calendars and would know we’re going to a party on Friday and were in need of a new pair of jeans. Obviously, we’re much closer to that reality now, but at the time it sounded particularly magical and something I wanted to explore.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this fascinating career?

My team was promoting a sci-fi series on a major streaming platform and the client brief was to do something unique with their key art. So we created lifelike human bodies that were so anatomically correct that they had human hair and motors inside their chest cavities that gave them the illusion of breathing and created heat so that they were warm to the touch. We put them inside bus shelters in a prominent LA location and people were so intrigued that they stopped and pulled their cars over (in rush hour traffic in LA) to take pictures and poke at the bodies.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

A client had purchased a homepage takeover on MSN. I forgot to send a click tracker to the publisher, so the day it launched we had no data on how many people engaged with it for the first few hours (for people who were around in the peak days of portal homepage takeovers, these were quite expensive). At that point, I think I realized I was more inclined for more creative endeavors vs. roles that required any kind of operational expertise.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

My music history professor in college. In typical music history classes, you’d learn all about the work itself, how it was composed and the thought process of the composer. But she took it a step further and stressed the importance of how the political and cultural landscape influenced the work. It not only created a deeper understanding of the music but the notion that an artistic output is so intertwined in the cultural landscape is obviously highly applicable to advertising too.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

I can’t disclose the exact details, but my team is working on a project that will make space travel more equitable for women. We hope it inspires more women to get involved in space-related fields by breaking down a key barrier in a male dominated field.

Ok super. Thank you for all that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. The VR, AR and MR industries seem so exciting right now. What are the 3 things in particular that most excite you about the industry? Can you explain or give an example?

1. Creatively, there are limitless possibilities because you aren’t tied to the laws of physics like you are in real life experiences. I love what Gucci did in their Gucci gardens Roblox experience because it pushed the boundaries of what’s possible on an actual runway where the virtual pieces would morph depending on what was around the avatar.
2. I love that marketing and advertising opportunities haven’t been determined in many of these environments. There is opportunity for thought leadership and for media agencies like us to help shape what those opportunities become.
3. Finally, these platforms have the opportunity to bring unique communities together. I like what Decathalon did with the Swift virtual cycling platform where prison inmates could be on an eCycling team to help them acclimate to civilian life outside of prison. The industry always talks about how these technologies bring people together, but this is an audience that’s totally unexpected and the experience created real value for them.

What are the 3 things that concern you about the VR, AR and MR industries? Can you explain? What can be done to address those concerns?

Doing things just for the sake of headlines. Anyone can create a virtual storefront for their brand for example. What’s truly interesting is figuring out how these virtual environments can enhance the brand and focusing on that

Ensuring these tech platforms are accessible to more people. A lot of the hardware you need to experience some of these is expensive and not available to everyone. Remembering to embed ways for underrepresented audiences to engage with the tech is super important

I think the entertainment aspects of VR, AR and MR are apparent. Can you share with our readers how these industries can help us at work?

There are so many interesting ways to think about team building in these environments. Post pandemic, so many companies have remote employees where it’s much more difficult to have in-person events. Things like VR create so many more opportunities for interaction when IRL mingling is impossible, like having VR headsets in another office location where employees at a company party can interact and engage with employees from an office in a different country

Are there other ways that VR, AR and MR can improve our lives? Can you explain?

I love the work that’s being done (particularly in VR) that creates empathy and understanding for people unlike ourselves. Being able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes through VR is so much more powerful than trying to explain or convince someone verbally, like this great example that enables you to experience what it’s like to lose your home due to diminishing resources

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about working in your industry? Can you explain what you mean?

Two big ones:

• That nascent technology platforms, especially things like VR and/or metaverse platforms lack longevity. We’re in the very early stages of these platforms, but they aren’t going anywhere, they’re just going to keep evolving. The key is experimenting early and learn so that when these platforms are mainstream, we’re prepared, and we’ve prepared our clients.
• My team is responsible for creative ideation in these platforms, so I’d like to dispel the myth that not everyone is creative. I love that at Mediahub, the people in disciplines you’d least expect come to the table with amazing ideas. For example, some of our coolest work has come from our video investments team.

What are your “5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career In The VR, AR or MR Industries?”

I lead a creative media team at Mediahub, so these are all related to ideation within these environments:

1.Experiment early in new platforms. This is a space where new partners and platforms are in development all the time. Although they might lack scale, there’s an opportunity for big learnings at a lower investment level. And because a lot of these platforms are still trying to figure out how to monetize their technology, there’s room for deeper collaboration that’s mutually beneficial.

2.Build a team of completely different mindsets and interests. The more similar a group of people, the more similar their ideas will be. Differing opinions and backgrounds get you to the most interesting and unique ideas.

3.Make a mental collection of interesting things you come across. There might not be an immediate application, but at some point, there will be an interesting use for them. I have a running list in the notes app on my phone and refer back to them when I’m stuck on something or when I’ve hit a roadblock and am looking for fresh inspiration.

4.Don’t forget to have fun! We’re fortunate to get to play and create in emerging environments and if we’re lucky, it’s with people that we love collabing with. In my opinion, that’s the best part of the job.

5. Find the experts in these spaces and create deeper partnerships with them. We recently entered into a partnership with LandVault, a prominent builder in the metaverse. They significantly augment our metaverse offering and enable us to be much more nimble and agile in the space given their long-standing track record of building in these environments.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Everyone should learn how to play an instrument. I’m obviously biased, but it teaches so many important lessons, like the importance of careful listening, personal expression and self-discipline.

We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂

I just listened to “professional troublemaker” by Luvvie Ajayi on audible and loved her advice for living with conviction and courage both professionally and personally. She had such fascinating stories growing up as a Nigerian in America and delivered it with so much vulnerability and humor. I think she’d be incredibly interesting to talk to in person and I’d also love to get a first-hand look at her extensive shoe collection 🙂

Thank you so much for these excellent stories and insights. We wish you continued success on your great work!

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Makers of The Metaverse: Laurel Boyd Of Mediahub Worldwide On The Future Of The VR, AR & Mixed… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Always remember I am there for them not me. I need to deliver my message efficiently enough to get them to move and to walk into their purpose.

At some point in our lives, many of us will have to give a talk to a large group of people. What does it take to be a highly effective public speaker? How can you improve your public speaking skills? How can you overcome a fear of speaking in public? What does it take to give a very interesting and engaging public talk? In this interview series called “5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker” we are talking to successful and effective public speakers to share insights and stories from their experience. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Kim Wilson.

Kim Wilson, Nurse, Business Owner of a Multi Six Figure Healthcare agency and International Speaker and Self Improvement Expert. Have traveled from the US to Canada speaking into women lives just like you. She helped hundreds of people of all walks of life just like you achieve their goals, overcome their struggles, and take control of their lives.

The pail experience was her life for years. At first, it was just a little bit of discomfort. Then it grew into something much bigger — a full-blown nightmare that turned me into something She did not recognize anymore: someone who from time to time struggled with her own personal power and purpose.

She had no idea what was wrong until one day when she realized that she wasn’t living my life; my pain was living me. And then one day — after years of suffering and feeling like there was no way out — She started doing things differently. She made some changes to my mindset, committed myself to taking action every single day, and worked really hard on myself until She finally broke out of my own pain cycle and found my purpose in the magic of self-improvement.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

I grew up in a small town called Hopkins, SC. Raised by my grandmother in a small 3-bedroom home where several family members lived. I used the bathroom on a bucket until I was about 17 years old. I would carry the bucket outside and empty it at a field that was near our home. There was no heat, air, or plumbing (no running water). At around age 10 I started having really bad stomach pains at the time I did not realize the pain was coming from depression and anxiety. Being a child and not understanding what was going on around me led into what I now call the pail experience. The pail experience is a state of being in a psychological place a place of pain, disconnect and loneliness. A place where I didn’t feel whole. I felt like something was missing. I didn’t feel fulfilled.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

As a child I somehow I knew I was meant to take care of people. I felt a great love for everyone. After graduating high school, I started taking classes in the medical field. At the time the college I was trying to attend had a waiting list for the nursing program. So, I took classes that related to the medical field. After becoming a nurse, it felt great. But I started to feel like I was meant to impact the world on a higher level. I wasn’t sure how. I prayed and asked God to show me. He showed me signs and one of my cousins out of the blue one day stated you have a story to tell. From that day forward I started getting coaching lessons. I realized during the coaching that it felt good, it felt like home.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career

My family would call me after each face book live. They gave advice on how to capture the audience more. Even though they weren’t trained to do so. But it made me feel supported. I had no idea that some of my family supported me at that level. To take the time out of their day to call to give advice from an audience’s point of view. I really appreciated them for that it made me look deeper. I felt the love.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

During my coaching sessions my coach would teach a land, touch, plant and engage process. This process would help me to capture my audience and to meet them where they were. I remember after studying I thought I had it figured out. So, one day during a session she stated are you ready to show me the land, touch, plant, and engaged process. I was so… excited. I told myself oh… this is easy boosting my own ego. I Started reciting my story to her and she stated oh… No Kim stop right there. No, NO, NO, NO, NO. (laugh) You do not have it. So let coach show you how to once again. It was so funny you had to be there to hear her tone and me sitting in the meeting looking like What?? I was shot down quick, but it taught to always be sure. I thought I was about to blow it out of the ball field. I learned to be sure before saying I got this it’s ok to say let’s go over it again.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Yes, my daughter. She has been by my side helping me from day one. Through all my endeavors. She’s very creative and tech smart. She did what I couldn’t do to make things easy for me. Creating logos, business cards, whatever I needed she was there through long days and nights putting just as much work in as me to help me be at my 100. She allowed me to train her how to do home health so that she could do fill in work when workers didn’t show up for work. She pretended to be my patient through nursing clinicals. What a partner. She can run the health care business with her eyes closed.

You have been blessed with great success in a career path that can be challenging and intimidating. Do you until have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?

To stay focused, take classes, attend seminars. Anything that relates to where they are trying to go. Be prepared to be alone on their journey. Alone is good it allows us to be our best. Never worry about what someone else thinks or say. Their path is not yours. Stay in a group of like-minded people. Never take no for an answer. If it’s been done before it can be done again. If not, they can always be the first to do something. I have this quote I love to use when it comes to fear that helped me a lot. (The fear that stands beside me guides me and the fear that tries to hold me molds me.) Fear is a guide to be your best you and to help into your purpose.

What drives you to get up every day and give your talks? What is the main empowering message that you aim to share with the world?

My love and compassion for others. Wanting to see them succeed and to be the best version of themselves. Being grateful to God for choosing me to help others to self-improve. My message would be, to be your true authentic self. Not what society says we should be, just be yourself. We all are uniquely made. To understand that means the sky is the limit.

You have such impressive work. What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? Where do you see yourself heading from here?

I’m currently finishing up my e-book. Which has a great 4 step process called A.C.T.S. that I created. That helps us to self- improve. Some magazine interviews and I’ll be a part of a conference in Atlanta in November of this year. Everything is timing so, I’m waiting on the day to be able to travel globally to make a mega impact in the world.

Can you please give us your favorite quote or Life Lesson quote? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

It is what it is… Allow to day to be today and tomorrow, tomorrow. Allow the process. I remind myself all the time about being patient because it’s human nature to want everything in a hurry.

Ok, thank you for all that. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your 5 Things You Need to Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker? Please share a story or example for each.

1. Confidence: to be confident in delivery of whatever it is I’m doing. I know what you know.

2. Passion: always remind myself of why I’m doing what I’m doing. Why I love what I do and let that love be shown through my work. This is what I do.

3. Ability to share a story. I Share my experiences that led me to where I wanted to be. Stories help people retain information so I get them to relate to something that might be going on in their life.

4. Audience awareness: I like to know who my audience is and what they do these things help me better connect with them and present to them. This is way I get them to respond to me.

5. Always remember I am there for them not me. I need to deliver my message efficiently enough to get them to move and to walk into their purpose.

As you know, many people are terrified of speaking in public. Can you give some of your advice about how to overcome this fear?

I usually try to look at fear as a friend. The friend that pushes you into situations that feels uncomfortable but it for my best interest. Try to look at fear as your motivator to be the best you. Besides who really wants to leave earth and not feel as if they didn’t live their life because of what people thought or how they felt. We have to pay attention to our own thoughts and feelings of not being happy with where we are. Make yourself happy by all means necessary.

You are a person of huge influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

Unity: we are all one.

Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!

Sarah Jakes Roberts I love how she tells her story. One is about when she had her first child how she felt uncomfortable about going to church because this one lady kept looking at her. How she felt she was being judged because of it. I too carried a lot of shame and embarrassment for things in my life. Thinking one way about a situation and it turned out to be totally different. I love her strength through all things. Seeing where she is and how confident she is helps me to grow stronger in who I am every day.

Are you on social media? How can our readers follow you online?

Facebook: StepN2 Purpose

Instagram: StepN2Purpose

Website: www.thekimwilson.com

Publicist: Desirae L. Benson | [email protected]

This was so informative, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!

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Kim Wilson On The 5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Making Something From Nothing: Sydney Sherman de Arenas Of Montie & Joie On How To Go From Idea To Launch

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Know your limits. What are you not good at? Hire that person first, ask for help in that area, or ensure it’s not the make-it-or-break-it to your ultimate success. It is incredibly important to know our limitations and blind spots. Everyone has them, so why not be aware of them and plan for them?

As a part of our series called “Making Something From Nothing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sydney Sherman de Arenas.

Sydney Sherman de Arenas is the CEO and Founder of The Etho, an online marketplace connecting conscious consumers with ethical brands and artisans. While at The Etho, Sydney started Montie & Joie, a clothing and home goods brand she now runs with Terrell Sherman. Montie & Joie supports artisan women around the world. Sydney is a founder of Rocket Closet and also a founding member of The Helm, actively investing in female entrepreneurs. Sydney’s first business, Admin Boutique, is still operating and links administrative assistants to start-ups, nonprofits, and individuals across the U.S.

As of 2020, Sydney and her husband became involved in the hospitality industry through their eco-hostal and luxury eco-hotel on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, their beach property in Monterrico, Guatemala, and their numerous restaurants. Sydney has been featured on 6 podcasts on ethical consumption and business, spoken at conferences on social impact in business, technology, and fashion, and made Mogul’s list of the top 1,000 companies with the strongest female leaders. She has volunteered with environmental and wildlife conservation organizations in Cambodia and throughout Texas and Mexico. She also mentored high school students through ChickTech, a non-profit dedicated to increasing the number of girls pursuing technology-based careers, and Restore, supporting human trafficking survivors who want to start businesses in New York City.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?

I was raised by entrepreneurs in Houston, Texas. We had a ranch, so I grew up riding horses and dirt bikes. I preferred horses, but can still ride a dirt bike if I want to! I dream of having horses again and have been looking into rescuing some in our town in Guatemala. I always played sports and starting in middle school I played volleyball very competitively. I was supposed to play in college but realized in time that I had lost my passion for it. Recently I have enjoyed playing again, which has been really fun. I was shy and still am, although I’ve been told it’s hard to tell. I loved reading and was always interested in other cultures. I studied in Spain and Austria, eventually traveled to 40 countries, and now live in Guatemala with my family.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Trust but verify,” and “This too shall pass,” are two quotes that I have lived and think about often. “Trust but verify” is something that I have had to learn the hard way. My dad has always said it, but naturally, I am very trusting. When I had a really bad business experience during the pandemic with my former business partner, I learned to live this quote. I like being able to trust people, but it’s important to first verify that they are trustworthy. It’s a great way to avoid being paranoid but to protect yourself at the same time. “This too shall pass” has always been a constant, but with a one-year-old, pregnant, and with 6 businesses between my husband and me, I have to remind myself often that “this too shall pass”, normally related to my extreme exhaustion! Life can be challenging, so when you remember that whatever you are dealing with will shortly be behind you, it can ease some of the temporary pressure, even if just mentally. The only constant is change anyway!

Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

I listened to a podcast a while ago called Women and Money by the Life Coach School podcast. I haven’t heard another of her podcasts and I don’t even really remember what was discussed but I walked away with a feeling that was important to me. I was raised by business people so discussing money isn’t uncomfortable to me at all, I actually enjoy it. I feel strongly that women should discuss money with other women more regularly. We should know what our friends are making and have money goals that are big and brave. Yet most people shy away from this conversation and even think it is rude or inappropriate so listening to this podcast encouraged me that yes, it is important to discuss it more because, without it, we are at a disadvantage for many reasons within our societies and cultures. And this goes for nearly every culture including places like where I live now in Guatemala.

Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. There is no shortage of good ideas out there. Many people have good ideas all the time. But people seem to struggle to take a good idea and translate it into an actual business. Can you share a few ideas from your experience about how to overcome this challenge?

Starting a business is extremely time-consuming and normally requires spending money instead of making money for the first bit of time. I have a whole list of business ideas and a few that may be really good, but there is a reason I haven’t acted on them yet. We need to evaluate thoroughly at this stage to see:

1. Is now the best time based on customer interest and other market factors?
2. Do we have the resources it takes?
3. Can we spend the amount of time it will take to set up this business?
4. Do we have the right relationships to support us?
5. Do we LOVE this business and will we enjoy thinking, talking, and working on it constantly?
6. Are we the right person for the job?
7. Are there real customers that are truly interested in the product or service?
8. How are you different from what already exists in the market?

These are a few of the questions we should ask ourselves before getting started and we should really reflect on the answers to be honest with ourselves. If you have trusted people in your life to discuss this with, ask them for feedback. It will be important to have trusted mentors once you get started, so start looking for these people in your life now.

For The Etho, there were a few areas where I didn’t answer these questions as I should have. For one, I did not have the resources I needed to create it. To do it like I wanted to before I started, I would have had to have access to tens of millions of dollars, which I did not. I also did not have the right relationships and was not yet the right person to build it! Now keeping this in mind, I started anyway and was able to pivot and learn. I will continue to pivot until I figure out the right model for my skillset. It is okay to not say yes to every question on the list and still move forward, but it is always better to be aware of our and our businesses’ faults before we step into something. It was a particularly hard lesson for me to learn that I wasn’t the right fit at that time for The Etho that I wanted to create. I cared more than anything, but I didn’t have the right experience to deal with the challenges that were coming up. Because of that, I made decisions that I would have made differently had I seen my faults before.

Once you are sure now is the right time, you are the right person, the right resources are available, and the right customer set wants your offering, you can get started lining out your business plan. Don’t feel overwhelmed yet. At some point, especially if you are raising money, you will need a formal business plan, a deck, and projections, but for now, you just need to get the basics out. Write out your 10-year goals, your 5-year goals, and your 1-year goals, and then break them down by the quarter you are in and then the week you are in. Also, write out some basic back-of-the-napkin math on what you think your business can achieve financially. Numbers must be a part of the goals you are writing out. At this stage, things will change often, so you don’t need to aim for perfection. You just need to get clear on your idea and your goals. Start there and each week write out what needs to get done so that you can stay on track. The weekly goals must tie to the annual goals, which will tie to the 5 and 10-year goals, which will all tie to financial goals. That is how you will know you are moving towards the future you envision.

This process should help you feel prepared to start a business. Breaking the massive to-do list into pieces prevents the immense feeling of overwhelm that can keep you from moving forward. Just remember to take it one step at a time and focus on only what is essential to success.

Often when people think of a new idea, they dismiss it, saying someone else must have thought of it before. How would you recommend that someone go about researching whether or not their idea has already been created?

Researching is very important. Before you get started, you should do a market and customer analysis. I have started 7 businesses and some of them are not that different from existing businesses; they just take a different angle with customers or there are enough customers that aren’t being served that as long as I am serving them well, I have a place in the market.

I would start with competitor research. List out your competitors and find common themes between all of them. From there, nail down how you are different or what you offer alongside them so that you will have a secure place in the market, too. I would spend a significant amount of time on this to be really sure. My brother started a business once and didn’t know a competitor existed. Shortly after raising funds, he realized the competitor could put them out of business. . Luckily he was strategic and sold his company to that competitor before they developed the product he was working on. Not everyone can do that, so make sure you look at competitors that might not seem like competitors at first. Who could easily create your product or service and put you out of business? What areas might you pivot towards in the future that could create a new segment of competitors? Once you are sure you have a place in the market based on competition, research what the market needs and how big your market is. For our hostal, we are one of many in our very touristy town in Guatemala. However, we are the nicest option at our price point. This secures our spot in a relatively small market with a lot of competition. We are vastly different from the current offerings. It’s not that we have a never-seen-before-idea, but we just execute on it differently than others have until now Your idea doesn’t need to be original, but you do need enough customers to grow, to only produce high-quality work, and to price correctly.

For the benefit of our readers, can you outline the steps one has to go through, from when they think of the idea, until it finally lands in a customer’s hands? In particular, we’d love to hear about how to file a patent, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer to distribute it.

Follow the above exercises (ask yourself questions, develop your goals and back-of-the-napkin math, and analyze the market) and even expand on #1, those aren’t all of the questions that you could ask yourself before getting started. Once you have done that, you will have a good idea of what needs to be done every week. For all of my stateside businesses, I have started with legal formation, legal documents, and my online presence. This involves registering the name of the company, opening a bank account, finding a website, setting up social media accounts, contracting an accountant if necessary or opening a Quickbooks account, opening credit cards, and so on. Some businesses need insurance, an attorney, and policies to get going. There are many resources online that can help you determine what you need to do to start your business. I would read a few resources and make a list using your best judgment (i.e. not including every single thing). For many of my businesses, I did not contact an attorney or accountant and did all of the registering myself. I even found contracts online for my first hires for Admin Boutique. It essentially cost me nothing but time to start that company, which was great, because I was 23 and didn’t have funds to invest in my business.

Once you feel like you have what you need to formalize the business, it is time to focus on what is most important for your particular industry and business. For example, Montie & Joie needed suppliers to start producing products to sell to customers and generate revenue. Finding the producers was challenging. We had the original artisans we met and started the project with but expanding our producer groups once we were actively running M&J as a business wasn’t easy. We are a sustainable and ethical brand, so we had to ensure fair wages and safe environmental production practices. We also needed high-quality work and solid response rates. For whatever you are looking for, make sure you have a list of your deal-breakers and nice-to-haves. If this is clear to you, you will know how to weed people out much faster, as you speak to producers, manufacturers, employees, etc. Of course, it will still require trial and error, as some people know how to pass a test but not deliver on their promises, so another good policy is to hire slow and fire fast. At Admin Boutique, we like to run tests with people before they’re officially hired to ensure a good fit before investing too much time and money.

Once you are clear on what you need before committing to a relationship with a producer, you will go into production and after that, you will focus on sales. At Montie & Joie, we first used social media, our website, and a paid marketing agency to try to drive sales. We had some success with SEO, but not enough to keep it going at the price point. Now we are working with a highly experienced sales representative to place our products in stores and we are hoping that is our ticket to sales. For you, it may look different. Come up with a plan on how you intend to get your products into your customers’ hands as well as a backup plan. Make sure you give it enough time, which can take anywhere from 1–6 months, depending on what you are trying. If your initial plan doesn’t work, pivot quickly to your backup plan, so that you don’t waste too much time and money.

After trying digital marketing and starting to sell through wholesale, we have discovered that we need to shift our product focus so again I am looking for producers. I do a google search, post in groups I am a part of, and talk to my network, and then once I find producers that could be a good fit I set up a call to have a conversation. For me, I do little tests along the way. How long does it take them to reply? Do they have the answers to my most important questions? Can they send a calendar invite? These might seem silly but after many years of working with contractors through Admin Boutique, I found that these seemingly minor accomplishments say a lot about how the business is run. Next, I will visit them all in person and get samples of what we are looking for before making my decision. Make sure you know in advance what your strategy is.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started Leading My Company” and why?

I am sure I read these somewhere or someone gave me advice related to each one before I started my businesses, but they really sank in once I was actively leading my companies.

1. Less is more. There are a million ways you can connect to customers in today’s digital world. For example, I can focus on email marketing, PR, connecting with people in small groups, social media marketing, SEO, product demos, markets, etc. Decide what will have the ultimate impact and stay focused on that until it is either not working or you have reached the limits of that one thing and have the capacity to add something else in. But remember, the more you start to do, the less focused you will be on each initiative, which normally means a lower success rate.
2. Know how to prioritize. Once you get started, you will most likely have so many things to do that you just keep your head down and try to tackle your to-do list item by item. It is much smarter to stop regularly and evaluate the most important things you should be doing and remove or delegate everything else from your list. I do this every Monday for Admin Boutique & Montie & Joie. Sometimes things still feel important, but when I reference my goals there is no real connection. Learn to cut those things early.
3. Ask for help. I am terrible at this! Now that I have so many businesses, a baby, and a baby on the way, I have no choice and I realized I should have implemented this a long time ago. Have your core group of friends and mentors and ask them for help when you need it. Hiring recommendations, industry connections, pitch practices, etc. are all great ways to invite your tribe into your journey and to also get feedback and the support you need to make big things happen. We are better together.
4. Know your limits. What are you not good at? Hire that person first, ask for help in that area, or ensure it’s not the make-it-or-break-it to your ultimate success. It is incredibly important to know our limitations and blind spots. Everyone has them, so why not be aware of them and plan for them?
5. Spend money like you don’t have any. This is the best advice I can give anyone starting a business. It doesn’t matter how much money you have to create this business, as you could always use more than you are given. Even if you are a millionaire, a business is only successful if it can make more than it spends, so start with this mentality and spend wisely. Being financially savvy will be immensely powerful for your ultimate success.

Let’s imagine that someone reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to invent. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?

I have never invented anything from scratch. If I were about to try it, I would follow the steps above on starting a business. I would focus on talking to real customers to figure out if my efforts are worth it. Do customers really need what I have? I like to educate myself as much as possible, so I would then probably research steps to take before inventing a product and talk to people in my network who have done it before. If I didn’t have anyone within my network, I would ask my network to reach out to people in theirs. I love running tests, so I would get something out as soon as possible and see what the market says before going through all of the trouble of legal work and product perfection. I imagine this is not a good idea for some inventions, in which case you may need to speak to an attorney first.

There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?

I would always suggest talking to customers before hiring someone who might tell you what a customer is thinking. Keep in mind that a customer doesn’t always tell the truth or know themselves well enough to give an accurate answer, but if you talk to enough of them, you will know what to look for and get the answers you need. There is the famous Quickbooks story where they followed their customers to their homes to see how they were using the product. Because of that, they adapted the product to service small business owners who didn’t have accountants and became the company they are today. You may not be able to follow your customers home, but how can they interact with your invention in a way that would be truly telling on whether or not it fits their true needs? I would start there, and if you still feel like you need a consultant after that, then go for it and try to find someone who is recommended to you. Consultants can be great, but in my experience, the good ones are hard to come by.

What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?

I would always start with bootstrapping when possible. The Etho raised capital and it was really time-consuming and the money always seemed to go faster than we anticipated. With both The Etho and Rocket Closet, we raised from friends and family and haven’t gone to venture capital opportunities yet. However, at both companies, we started speaking with VC firms immediately when we started raising our seed rounds in order to form relationships with the right people. We send them our quarterly investor updates so that they can keep an eye on the business and see our management style and progress over time. I can’t advise on what to do past the stage I am in, but I know that it is expensive to raise money, both in time and equity. If you can prove your concept first, you will be able to raise more and give less in exchange. It will also take less time to raise the capital, as people will have more confidence in you and your idea. With The Etho, I ended up giving away a lot of equity because I needed the capital to prove the concept. I didn’t have another choice and I don’t regret it, but it is important to understand that the earlier you raise capital, the more diluted you will be in the end, as everything comes with a price. To know which path to follow, I would determine if you can make progress without the capital. If so, nothing is holding you back! I would also consider your network. Women have a harder time raising capital than men, especially women of color, so if you don’t have the right network and support, it might be a dead end, no matter how amazing you and your business are, so this is something to consider. Investors also like to see that you were willing to ask your friends and family to support you. It builds confidence that you believe in your business. So when you do need to raise capital, start there. There are other factors to consider, but for me, these are the most important.

Now for some final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

Making the world a better place is baked into all of my businesses. I believe business can and should be a force for good in and of itself. We pay fair wages and focus on the environment in one way or another through all of my companies. Through our hostal, Moon & Sun, we go above and beyond by also focusing on community initiatives outside of our business like cleaning up the lake and helping the stray dog community. My family and I also have initiatives that we give to every year. We are generous and understand that we have been given a rare opportunity to have what we have, one that not everyone is privy to.

You are an inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

I would ensure every business pays fair wages to its workers. We have room to grow in the developed economies, but ideally, I would focus on the developing ones. Most people don’t truly understand this issue, but very literally, people are not paid enough to feed themselves or their families. If we could eradicate extreme poverty, we would have more brains contributing to a better world. When one lives in extreme poverty, they are not able to contribute beyond basic survival in most cases, and this is a massive loss of human potential.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in business, VC funding, sports, and entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

I think Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus would be fascinating to speak with.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

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Making Something From Nothing: Sydney Sherman de Arenas Of Montie & Joie On How To Go From Idea To… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Meet The Disruptors: Janine Nicole Dennis Of Talent Think Innovations On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

“Never be afraid to fire a client.” This was advice I was leery of taking until I was faced with my first troublesome client. I had to remind myself of why I started Talent Think Innovations. I had experienced being used, abused and going above and beyond to please people who were never going to be pleased for a paycheck. It was freeing to politely let that client and some further down the pike that I would not be able to continue serving them and in some cases returning money paid to free myself of ongoing headaches. I know now that I owe it to myself at this point in my career to enjoy the work I do and who I choose to do it with.

As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Janine Nicole Dennis.

Janine is the Owner/Chief Innovations Officer for Talent Think Innovations, LLC, a multidisciplinary business strategy and management consulting firm. She is also the author of “The Absurdity of Doing You: Rebel Elegance for the Evolving Soul.” Janine is a globally-recognized figure who has been quoted by HBR, Thrive Global, Bustle, The Cut, Atlanta BlackStar, Newsday, SHRM, USA Today and has been featured by Entrepreneur, Fast Company, Black Enterprise, and Ebony Magazines.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

Initially, my aspiration was to become a biochemist working in a lab. Somewhere between calculus kicking my behind and chemistry labs sucking my soul, I switched over to psychology. In switching over to clinical psychology I thought I would be happy and fulfilled diagnosing people in a clinical environment daily. I was great at diagnosing but diving deeper into that lane let me know it wasn’t for me. In speaking to a dean at a university I was applying to for a Master’s, I had some questions about other facets of psychology. She pointed me in the direction of industrial psychology which is the study of how people think and behave at work. I was hooked after my first course and went full speed ahead pursuing a career in Human Resources in 2005. From 2005 to 2014, my career in human resources took me through healthcare, staffing, pharmaceuticals, home care, and R&D filling various roles. In 2013, I started Talent Think Innovations to free myself from the corporate rat-race while giving myself the opportunity to build a practice that allowed me to express the full spectrum of my interests and talents. As Talent Think Innovations approaches its 10th year in business, my focus has pivoted some as I am embracing some of my earlier ambitions and gifts of writing, teaching, my love of science, psychology, and philosophy and employing them to help my clients see life, society, and its intersection with work differently. Today, I help companies create business strategy that encourages businesses and leaders alike to take a humanistic approach to how they create and sustain their workforces.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

When I first started Talent Think Innovations, I thought I was being disruptive by merely focusing on the talent management lifecycle which is comprised of the candidate experience, the hiring process, internal mobility, training and development up to and including succession planning. After about a year of business, I started asking myself why I was limiting myself to this one box of HR. I had to be honest with myself that I was afraid to fail and in effect I chose to do something that was tried and true for the sake of comfort. The other salient truth I have handy today is I would have surely been out of business years ago had I not been willing to respond to what the market wanted from me early on which was branding, PR, marketing, executive coaching and technology analyst work. These things allowed me to live another day so I could eventually do the work I initially set out to do.

Since that time, I have pivoted at least twice that I can count to accommodate and support the work I was most happy doing and the work that I have been called to do. The work I am doing is disruptive because I have always stayed true to myself, my calling, utilizing the cadre of skills that is most unique to my talents. I am using my spiritual calling and practice as a medicine woman, education in industrial psychology and human resources, plus my lived experience as a futurist and professional in business to provide my clients with custom solutions to their most pressing business challenges. I have worked hard through the years to pick apart the challenges inherent in the running of business and the wild card of human transformation. I have taken all that I know about those things and grounded my work in the whole-human, wellbeing, future of life and advocacy for equity where applicable. Whether I am building trainings or revising operational strategies, systems, and structures my approach is always boutique and multi-disciplinary in nature.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I don’t know if it is the funniest mistake, but I will share that early on I would go to these networking breakfasts where they offer you a free breakfast on the house but then thereafter, you essentially pay a fee to remain part of the network. I legitimately hoped these breakfasts would serve as a way for me to not only get my name out their locally, but to hopefully garner business. In the end, it was a great free meal that got me zero business and lots of free samples from the resident Arbonne sales lady who continued to try to convince me that Arbonne would in effect make me a successful and wealthy business person. I share this with no malice or shade to those who have made a career out of the MLM business world, but to simply say that this type of networking was a waste of my time and efforts. The ideas and problems I was interested in solving were lightyears ahead of what I would hear in these meetings over pancakes. In hindsight, I was already known nationally and, in some areas, globally and garnering work with big companies. I felt silly that I was doing business in so many areas outside of where I laid my head that I made it a goal of mine to try to drum up business by any means necessary locally. I even spent some of my early returns on local advertisement. That didn’t work either.

The point is I was trying to make my very macro trajectory micro and that just wasn’t my path. I think we all have thrown away a few dollars on the way to figuring out what truly works for us and our respective businesses.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

Mentors for me are fated guides and friends that show up for us along the way. Quite simply, my parents are both go-getters in their own rights. They have been diligent workers in whatever they put their minds to. My grandparents on both sides serve as beacons for me as well. There would be no me or any accomplishments had they not taken the chance to come this country when they did sacrificing all they did for the greater good of their children and future grandchildren.

My Aunt Bev was the first in our family to get an advanced degree. She was the most business-focused of all of my mother’s siblings and so I looked up to her as a child. She put me through college and has guided me to the best of her ability through every shift in my career. She and my mother gave me the startup to start my business in 2012 and when I had to spend it to cover unforeseeable costs I incurred as a result of Hurricane Sandy that fall, they gave it to me again. Since that time wherever I have needed her or my mom to show up they have as I have grown my business. I’m blessed to have them both.

There are a few others to name like Ron Thomas and Dr. Janice Presser who put the battery in my back to get out of the corporate rut and start my business, Not only did both Ron and Dr, Janice nudge me to get out of dodge, but they have opened their networks to me and said my name in rooms that opened countless opportunities for me.

Last and certainly not least, another mentor of mine is my significant other and divine counterpart, Terrence L. Williams. From the very beginning of our relationship, he has taken an interest in my business and my work. He is the CEO of Human Resource Consultants where he has built a firm that is not only simplifying the recruitment process so candidates can not only get the reskilling and coaching they require to support their job search, but he has made it simple for employers to access these skilled professionals. He is brilliant and has served as a trusted advisor and investor for the last two years in my business.

Every single one of the people I have listed here deserves their flowers for assisting my development as they have.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good?

I don’t believe that disrupting is always good. I have seen so many companies disrupting for the sake of seeming innovative and it has resulted in poor outcomes or unsustainable shifts. There is a delicate timing, intentionality and purpose to being disruptive that I try to honor in everything I do.

When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’?

As an innovator, I’m not of the opinion that all things “tried and true” are inherently archaic or of little use. There are many companies that have figured out the secret sauce of connection to their customer bases and as a result they have garnered varying semblances of success. A great example of this would be Disney. Disney has forever been in the business of taking the unimaginable and making it tangible for the dreamers of us. As a result, we have seen their brand expand from a cast of characters and stories homegrown within Disney to their expansion into acquiring the arguable zenith of all things fantasy and fantastic, Marvel. While I am certain there have been many pivots along the way, the way they serve their guests from their parks to their ever-expanding brands seems from the customer perspective to be unchanged. They create joy through experiences.

We can safely say something has “withstood the test of time” when both the customer remains excited about the product or service and revenue remains steady relevant to the times without much deviation from the original intention or approach.

Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

The notion that something is positive or not-so-positive is rather subjective, but I can say that disruption which the greatest number of people can get behind is usually something that creates conveniences, lessens the impact of a problem, eliminates it altogether or contributes to creating an experience people desire, want or need to have. It is worth adding that the populace usually needs to be ripe for the shift the disruption will cause or at a minimum believe that crossing the chasm from where they were previously to where the disruption has led them was worth the trouble because some aspect of life feels exponentially better as a result.

As far as negative disruption goes, call me an altruist, but I believe that innovation should do the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people possible. Any time we are creating new systems, structures, products and services that will serve to further marginalize or disenfranchise people by limiting or eliminating their access to food, shelter, water, rest, healthcare, healthy environmental conditions or currency such that they are no longer able to care for themselves and their loved ones adequately is disruption that needs a moral intervention. The systems and structures created to keep a few at the top and many at the bottom are too many to mention, but I feel we should have a different consciousness around how we get on with creating what comes next.

A brief and maybe controversial example of disruption that remains arguable in terms of the good it is creating is cryptocurrency. While some economists have been calling the demise of the US dollar as we know it for decades, it is still here and still viable for all that it is worth even as a fiat currency. While crypto brings exciting hope for a more transparent and certainly transportable means of currency it hasn’t proved that it can consistently meet the necessary prongs of a reliable currency some of which includes being a sensible and stable unit of account and store of value to name a few attributes. For these reasons, the concept and viability of cryptocurrencies continues to disrupt conceptually and in certain arenas (as it should) but has yet to garner the complete trust and buy-in of everyone.

Can you share five of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

1. “Never be afraid to fire a client.” This was advice I was leery of taking until I was faced with my first troublesome client. I had to remind myself of why I started Talent Think Innovations. I had experienced being used, abused and going above and beyond to please people who were never going to be pleased for a paycheck. It was freeing to politely let that client and some further down the pike that I would not be able to continue serving them and in some cases returning money paid to free myself of ongoing headaches. I know now that I owe it to myself at this point in my career to enjoy the work I do and who I choose to do it with.
2. “All money isn’t good money.” In the beginning of my journey with Talent Think Innovations, I wanted so badly to land every client I spoke with, and I would even take some work that was incongruent with the remuneration I was receiving to build rapport. Sometimes seeing those projects through led to bigger rewards and other times I found myself frustrated with myself because there were red flags early on that I overlooked that became ever more glaring as time went on. I have learned that the most rewarding money is tied to work you love and that compensates you adequately for the quality of the outcomes and output.
3. “Doh watch people!” I particularly love this piece of advice, because it came from my Grandma Marie and it is written to reflect her Trinbagonian patois as she hailed from the twin islands of Trinidad and Tobago. She would always tell me this to alert me to not be so caught up in what other people are doing, but to stay focused on the lane I was creating for myself. I would argue that this piece of advice is a guiding force in everything I have done.
4. “You have outgrown the pond you’re swimming in.” This was a piece of advice given to me by a few mentors/friends when I was unknowingly building a reputation and a brand that was not going to be adequately supported by the employer I was working for and was limited by my own vision for how things were supposed to happen. At the time, I had come online and made a name for myself through blogging via my Blog “The Aristocracy of HR” which led to webinars, major brand partnerships, and speaking gigs internationally. I had envisioned starting my own consulting firm in the future after my then husband (we ended up divorcing by 2019) retired and I apparently garnered more experience climbing the ladder in HR. This advice was the catalyst to me thinking about my life and professional trajectory differently.
5. “You need to stay in one lane, you’re doing too much!” Reading this you may be thinking, how is this good advice for a disruptor? It is actually the best advice you could be given, because it is a sign that you are shifting the atmosphere from the status quo to something unique and different. The person who shared this with me early on in my business was confused by the myriad of ways I was seeking to serve the market and felt I should keep it simple. I knew the type of consulting firm I was interested in building and ultimately this was my career not his. Talent Think Innovations has not only been a business for me, but fertile ground for me to challenge myself both personally and professionally. Building my business as I have has allowed me to parlay my talents in arenas where I felt my voice and my ethos should be known. He ended up being one of my very best friends in life and business and one of my loudest supporters.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

I am shaking up things next by stepping into the title of author. I have been writing my memoir “The Absurdity of Doing You: Rebel Elegance for the Evolving Soul” slowly and methodically for the last six to seven years. The main title was something that got shortlisted during one late night breastfeeding session and while talking to a friend in 2015. From that point on, I would write bits and pieces of it via Evernote when traveling or when inspired. In 2020, I was approached about taking it to the next level and going after a publisher. I spent the entire pandemic deciding what I wanted to tell the world about myself and my experiences both in life and business.

Fast-forward to 2022 and “The Absurdity of Doing You: Rebel Elegance for the Evolving Soul” is a collection of several anecdotes, recollections, and reflections that are based on my life’s journey to date. Each chapter is an intimate conversation between myself and the reader as I share some of my most intimate thoughts and experiences while in return asking you, the reader to consider your own journey, mindsets, behaviors and the characters that inform this screenplay known as life. Every author has a goal in mind when writing a book. As a New York born and bred, first-generation American of Guyanese and Trinbagonian descent, I want to be a beacon and example from my culture, but more importantly for every human. It is my ultimate goal to illustrate in my own absurd and rebellious way that you can transmute generational trauma, weather a spiritual awakening while raising three children, go through a divorce, and graciously learn from every person and circumstance in between while marching valiantly towards the pursuit of living an expansive existence.

As a society, we can use a shift in perspective as a human race, I hope to be an integral part of the human renaissance that is afoot. “The Absurdity of Doing You” debuts on Atmosphere Press via paperback October 25th and November 25th for Hardcover globally.

Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?

Other than the book I have written about my life and all of the painstaking moments leading up to its completion, I would say one of a few books that shifted me in a fundamental way is Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. For the better part of my life, I have been most interested in understanding human transformation and all of its underpinnings. I think about why we are here, how we got here, and the trajectory of evolution for humanity. This is the reason I have gravitated towards science, psychology, and even became a philosophy minor in undergrad. In Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harari sets out to unearth the truth of humanity from a historic perspective and in doing so, beautifully illustrates how integral and unique we are as homosapiens while also highlighting that much of how we think of ourselves is possibly due to a genetically inflated ego and a lack of tolerance for anything too different from us.

I have kept the notion of our evolution top of mind. The fact that we caused the extinction of four other instances of homo erectus to extinction since our emergence is not only sobering, but fascinating when juxtaposed against the backdrop of us being the last human species who is now seemingly giving our humanity over to technology and artificial intelligence.

It is my belief that if I am not steering humanity towards the end I wish to see while also giving credence to the natural order of our evolution, I am working in vain. So much of what is done in business and society is based on self-interest of a group rather than doing the most good for the most people. I do my best to help my clients see that while they are concerned with the economy, politics, societal afflictions caused by racism and all other “isms” there is a broader story for us all. I try to connect that broader story of humanity to the humanity in the individuals they serve so they can be better stewards in business and beyond.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

One of my favorite quotes comes from the book “The Prophet” by Khalil Gibran. The quote is from Chapter 22 which in the practice of numerology the number 2 amplified in this way often lends itself to lessons on duality and love. The quote is: “You are good when you are one with yourself. Yet when you are not one with yourself you are not evil.”

When reading this quote, I took this to mean that the goal for us all is to be at home and in alignment with ourselves, but to the extent that we are not we still serve a purpose in the grand web of life. I try to remember this when I feel judgmental towards others or have a hard time justifying the existence of others based on the nature of their deeds. We don’t have to always understand the purpose of things, but I have come to believe at a minimum we have a duty to respect it without labeling a thing “good or bad”. I must admit this isn’t an easy life lesson for any of us, but I try my best to employ it.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I think our thinking and reasoning as a human collective needs an overhaul. I would love to see us indulge in what I am calling my version of prismatic thinking. What prismatic thinking offers us is this ability to see everything as they are through the prism of life. If you choose to see life as linear and monochromatic, it will give you just that. It doesn’t discontinue bending in technicolor, but your lens will never cheat you from your own limited perspective. At its core, prismatic thinking is the ability to see a single human or occurrence from multiple sides, giving each their right to their respective expressions. There is no good or bad in the prism, just different speeds of light, necessary distortions, and a lot of spectrum.

There are many critical conversations happening now, but we aren’t reasoning, critically-thinking, or hearing one another well. I hope this snippet of my concept of prismatic thinking catches on.

How can our readers follow you online?

I can be found online as @MzJanineNicole on Twitter and Instagram. I am on LinkedIn as Janine Nicole Dennis. You can also learn more about me and connect at talentthinkinnovations.com.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

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Meet The Disruptors: Janine Nicole Dennis Of Talent Think Innovations On The Five Things You Need… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Future Is Now: Taleb Alashkar Of AlgoFace On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Don’t follow the rules. Not all rules are good rules. If I followed the rules, I would not have ventured outside the box in creating a new approach to face AI technology.

As a part of our series about cutting-edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Taleb Alashkar.

Taleb Alashkar, Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder of AlgoFace.

As a global expert in face AI and AR technology with a PhD in computer vision and artificial intelligence, Taleb conceptualized AlgoFace as he saw a need for ethical AI that was unbiased, inclusive and accessible by all.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Growing up in Syria, doing my grad school in France and Italy, moving to the US to work on AI in academic and industrial projects made me aware of the inequities and biases in AI especially when it comes to human face detection and analysis and wanted to create a more equitable and ethical system. What really solidified my career path was my PhD work in computer vision where I saw a real need for inclusive, unbiased, ethical and privacy protecting solutions that did not store data and could run in any environment — from low power to having no internet available.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

In addition to my studies, it was my work with AlgoLabs that further reinforced the need to develop more inclusive AI technologies. What became apparent to me was that current face technology identified the user and was server based in which the user’s information was stored forever in a database, most likely located in China and accessible to the Chinese government. I wanted to create good uses for facial analysis which did not identify individuals nor did it stream or store data on a server. AlgoFace’s technology utilizes edge computing which means that the data stays on the end user’s device and does not get transmitted or stored to a server.

Can you tell us about the cutting-edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?

I am working on what we call Face AI which uses computer vision to detect and analyze human faces. Facial analysis is often used synonymously with facial recognition but the two are different. Facial recognition captures a person’s facial scan in order to find their ID but facial analysis doesn’t.

Facial analysis is the opposite and is not designed to identify the person. Instead, our facial analysis technology utilized edge computing which means it stays on your device and was designed with privacy first and foremost.

It detects facial landmarks, features, skin tone, age estimation and eye gaze but does not identify who you are. It can be used in numerous cases, one of which is virtual try on for makeup, hair color and extensions. Other use cases are to monitor driving or for cashierless checkout. We can estimate the users age with regards to buying age restricted products. We can also track shoppers’ gaze to monitor what products they are viewing.

How do you think this might change the world?

Facial analysis has many, many benefits to society. We are finding new use cases daily when talking to prospective clients. What is most important is that our technology ensures privacy as we do not store data and it is also unbiased and inclusive in which it works across skin tones and types. It can be used across a multitude of industries and will play a key role in the booming Metaverse as we can create real looking avatars as opposed to the cartoonish version currently used today.

Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks of this technology that people should think more deeply about?

We developed this technology for that specific reason. We believe technology does not have to be dystopian. We built AlgoFace’s AI enablement engine to be the exact opposite. We believe in technology for good designed to be ethical, accurate, private and inclusive. We purposely designed it so we cannot store data, nor identify the person. We also designed it to be accessible to everyone, everywhere running locally on devices using edge computing which also functions in low power environments.

Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?

AlgoFace was incubated by AlgoLabs, a company that develops automated, data driven solutions for a variety of industries. It was my work with AlgoLabs that I realized the need for computer vision driven technology that was ethical and inclusive in its approach while maintaining the user’s privacy.

What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?

First and foremost we are working hard to inform consumers about the difference between facial analysis versus recognition. As I mentioned, the two are often used interchangeably but are very different. The main reason most customers hear about us or find us is that they are looking for solutions that are designed to maintain the user’s privacy. We are one of the few companies in our space that uses edge computing with no data storage in developing face AI solutions.

What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?

Our go-to-market strategy covers three product lines in which we see a fit for our technology:

• B2B and B2G (government) for corporate R&D.
• Raw tools: 2D SDK for developers, data annotation and labeling (we have one of the most comprehensive libraries with more than 100,000 images).
• Applied solutions: Virtual try on for makeup, hair and hair color, 3D Avatars Animation etc.

In terms of innovative strategies we are utilizing, we are working from a grass roots level to educate developers through blogs and partnerships. We are targeting B2B through events, partnerships and content to include bylines, blogs and articles. Lastly, we want to build a consumer presence around AI for Good in which privacy is a priority.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

That would be Amjad Hussain and Ramesh Raskar, both have been instrumental in my career. Amjad is the CEO of AlgoLabs. I could not have come this far without his confidence in me and my direction in designing technology that values privacy. The other would be Ramesh Raskar who is a professor with MIT’s famous media lab. He has been an invaluable resource.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

I am an innovator by nature. I want to stay on the path of developing ethical AI.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?

1. Doing the right thing is harder than doing the wrong thing. Creating ethical AI is very time intensive but worth it.
2. Innovation is not a straight line. It takes many trials and errors to find the right market fit.
3. Be patient. Which is a reference to both 1and 2.
4. Innovation is about the present as much as it is about the future. It all starts with identifying a present day need which can be improved upon to evolve with the user’s needs.
5. Don’t follow the rules. Not all rules are good rules. If I followed the rules, I would not have ventured outside the box in creating a new approach to face AI technology.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I believe in giving back. I want to provide others, particularly minorities, with access to the opportunities that I had. I kept this in mind when building my development team which is comprised of men and women from diverse cultures and backgrounds. I also believe we should always err on the right side in developing inclusive, unbiased and privacy-protecting technology.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity,” Albert Einstein

Some very well-known VCs read this column. If you had 60 seconds to make a pitch to a VC, what would you say? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂

AlgoFace is a computer vision venture client studio with a passion for Face AI enablement using advances in computer vision to power trusted and ethical Face AI ambitions. Our technology fosters accurate facial landmark tracking, face analysis, eye gaze estimation, data labeling and annotation tools, synthetic data generation and deep fake detection with privacy and inclusivity at the forefront. Our B2B and B2G Face AI enablement engine can be used to develop 2D and 3D Face AI solutions across mobile, desktop, embedded systems, AR/VR, the Metaverse and Web 3.0. AlgoFace’s team of Face AI experts are committed to designing technology that is inclusive, ethical, accurate and private.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

https://www.linkedin.com/in/taleb-alashkar-a40a491b

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.

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The Future Is Now: Taleb Alashkar Of AlgoFace On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Making Something From Nothing: Bridgitt Haarsgaard Of The GAARD Group On How To Go From Idea To Launch

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

You will fail. Expect to fail and learn from it. Failure is synonymous with growth. Early on, there were several failures — script failures, video shooting failures, wardrobe malfunctions, and client bloopers. All were opportunities to learn and improve. Get comfortable failing.

As a part of our series called “Making Something From Nothing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Bridgitt Haarsgaard.

Bridgitt is the Founder and CEO of The GAARD Group, a management consulting firm focused on helping organizations and individuals reach their full business potential. Bridgitt and her team of experts are passionate about fusing psychology best practices with critical business skills to create real and lasting behavioral change in the workplace and beyond.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?

The best way I can sum up my childhood is in song. Like the Donny and Marie song “A Little Bit Country, A Little Bit Rock ’n’ Roll.” I spent the school year in the suburbs of Houston, Texas, leading a very normal and wonderful suburban life. June through August, I spent time with my father. He was an outfitter, which means he took people on horseback into the mountains to camp during the summer months and hunt during the winter months, thus the “little bit country.”

The summer months taught me the power of nature and the importance of grit and resilience. I never went with him on hunting trips, but we made trips to the mountains to camp. We packed and rode horses up the trail, pitched tents, fished for our dinner, and cooked on an open campfire. The majesty and peace of nature, the quieting of the mind while immersed in the beauty of the Rocky Mountains, and the awareness of how small you were in comparison to the vastness of Mother Nature was truly incredible. This extraordinary gift trained my mind to see the bigger picture and the broader view, which has helped me tremendously in business.

I rode the Little Britches Rodeo circuit too. Yes, I can barrel race and calf rope! A partnership with a horse teaches you the value of collaboration. My bedroom one summer was the top of a horse trailer, and my restroom was an outhouse with no plumbing. It was a bit frightening at first, but it was a remarkable experience. I learned to trust myself, face my fears, and push through those fears. The experience conditioned me to be an entrepreneur willing to listen to her instincts, trust herself, and persevere when things get complicated. Thanks, Dad and Eileen for the “little bit country” and Mom and Tom for the “little bit rock and roll!”

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

My favorite life lesson came from my paternal grandmother who remains my best friend. She is no longer with us, but I can still clearly hear her words. She’d say, “Bridgitt, be kind and brave.”

Her words and her actions have guided my life, personally and professionally. Every day, we have the opportunity to lead with kindness. As I tell my children, I do not believe anyone wakes up in the morning to make you miserable. Lead with kindness and do not take the words or actions of others personally. If you need to address something, be curious and collaborate to fix it but do not respond with negativity. Do not meet negativity with more negativity. That never works. We all have a choice — every day — to respond with kindness and show bravery. Thank you, Grandma Rosie, for your example and your wisdom.

Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

So many books have resonated with me and impacted my life that it is difficult to select just one. Instead, I can choose an author — Brene Brown. Dr. Brown’s books have touched my life, made me think, and guided me in new directions. The Gifts of Imperfection was the book that guided me most during my entrepreneurial journey. Her words and lessons helped me to embrace myself as an entrepreneur, follow my own path, and give up on what I was expected to be.

Daring Greatly made me a better leader. It taught me to step in, be vulnerable, share stories, and be authentic. Vulnerability is courage! To lead, we must step in and not fear failure. If our team makes mistakes, we must embrace them as learning opportunities. Adopting this mindset will help you grow your business.

Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. There is no shortage of good ideas out there. Many people have good ideas all the time. But people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. Can you share a few ideas from your experience about how to overcome this challenge?

You are right on the nose. There is no shortage of good ideas. A good idea is just that, an idea. The saying, “bringing an idea to life is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration”, is absolutely true! To translate your idea into action and start a thriving business, here are three lessons I would share:

1. Believe in and trust yourself. Without belief in yourself, it is almost impossible to take action on your idea. You must block out the negativity and listen to your instincts. You had this idea for a reason. What problem does this solve? How does your idea improve lives? How does it save time? Even if the idea has been done before, remember you bring a unique perspective.
2. Go early, go ugly. Just start! Your first effort will never be exceptional. Know that your first attempts will likely be riddled with mistakes. It’s okay. Starting will allow you to learn what works and what doesn’t. This will earn you the knowledge you need to make adjustments. If you never start, you never learn, and you will never get better.
3. Shift your mindset. So many of us are locked in negative thinking patterns. You must shut down your inner critic to bring an idea to life. You know, that inner voice that speaks to you and says, “Your idea will never work. Who do you think you are? You will never be a success.” Shift to what is called a growth mindset. You need to believe that you will succeed, not because you know everything, but because you know that you will never stop learning and growing. A belief that says, “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” is a mindset that lets you take the shot and translate your idea into action.

Often when people think of a new idea, they dismiss it saying someone else must have thought of it before. How would you recommend that someone go about researching whether or not their idea has already been created?

Of course, no matter your idea, chances are there have been many people who have done something similar. But you are unique, and so is your vision. If Mr. Lamborghini (originally a successful tractor manufacturer) had taken Enzo Ferrari’s words to heart, “Let me make cars. You stick to making tractors.”, we would never have the Lamborghini.

You must ask yourself, “What are the differentiators? Who would benefit from my idea and why?” Don’t dismiss your idea because someone else has had that thought or executed the idea. Do your research. Talk to your network. Scour the internet. Comb through online marketplaces. This is a good starting point and great information on what and how to build your business.

For the benefit of our readers, can you outline the steps one has to go through, from when they think of the idea, until it finally lands in a customer’s hands? In particular, we’d love to hear about how to file a patent, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer to distribute it.

My product is unique, but it’s not patentable. While I knew that similar development products existed, my method differentiates my product in a way that makes it more beneficial to organizations and individuals. So, the question I can answer is, what steps do I recommend for getting your product into the hands of companies and consumers? Here are ten steps I took:

1. Define the idea and identify differentiation. What are the specifics of your idea? What makes your offering unique, and who would benefit from your product or service? Getting clear here is essential.
2. Gather feedback from your network and listen. Once you have your idea defined, gathering feedback and insights from your network is essential. What are their thoughts? What would they add to make your idea better? The trick here is not to get defensive. Listen, absorb, and act on what they say if it will make your product or service better.
3. Talk to your current clients. Gather intel about the products and services your customers would like to see. Ask what pain points they want to solve. Do your products help diminish that pain? Discuss your idea and gauge their interest.
4. Find an early adopter. Find an individual or organization that is interested in testing your product. These are your early adopters, and they can help you ideate and create your product.
5. Create your initial offering. Once an adopter is established, go into design mode and get your product or service designed and created.
6. Build your team. You will quickly recognize that you need help bringing your idea to life. Fill your team with people who not only believe in your idea but people who help to overcome your weaknesses. Focus your energy on using your strengths and superpowers.
7. Gather feedback again! Once you have created your initial product or service offering, go for another round of feedback. Reach out to your network and current customers. What do they like? What would they enhance? How would they position the product in the marketplace? What do they believe makes your offering unique and different?
8. Adjust. Based on the feedback received, make the modifications and necessary adjustments. You will find that if you cycle through feedback and adjustment, you never stop learning and improving.
9. Expand your team. Once you have traction, do not assume you can handle the increased workload. Now may be the time to expand your team and your reach. There is strong talent all over the world. My branding team is in Bulgaria. My web team is in Mississippi. My video editing team is in Lithuania. And I film with an incredible crew in Texas. They are all highly trained, wildly talented, and invested in the team’s success.
10. Vocalize the offering. Once you have experience and success with the product or service, even if small, talk about it. Do not be embarrassed or resistant to talk about what you do and what you offer. People cannot buy what you have to sell or recommend it to others if they have no idea that it exists.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started Leading My Company” and why?

1. You will fail. Expect to fail and learn from it. Failure is synonymous with growth. Early on, there were several failures — script failures, video shooting failures, wardrobe malfunctions, and client bloopers. All were opportunities to learn and improve. Get comfortable failing.
2. There is no finish line for a good idea. Start with the 80/20 rule and constantly adapt, evolve, and stretch to do more. You should never be 100% satisfied with your product or service. Continuous improvement is the name of the game. We are constantly looking for new ways to improve our products and services. It can be something as simple as adjustments in the editing process, our research strategy, or improvements to a current course. Never stop improving.
3. Leverage your network feedback loop. Those you trust are a source of great feedback, inspiration, and challenge. Lean on and leverage your network. My business would not be where it is today without the guidance of my personal Board of Directors. This is a small group of professional women who have helped each other over the last 15 years. We brainstorm, share best practices, give advice, and hold each other accountable for our goals.
4. Surround yourself with positive people who have a growth mindset. Having team members who want to learn and grow will improve your business! Some of the best team members are the ones who are open to trying and doing new things. They are not afraid to raise their hand and say, “let me take that on.” By doing this, they are growing, learning a new skill set, and you are expanding the bench strength of your team. Our team at The GAARD Group wears many hats. Some are web specialists who have strengthened their writing skills by helping with blogs or script editing. Others are branding experts who have learned animation software. Look for talent that gets excited to learn and try new things.
5. Do what you love. I live and breathe my work almost 24/7 because I love it! It energizes me, and I love to hear the feedback and see the results. I want to make a difference, and knowing that my passion has helped someone brings me joy and pride. Do what you love and love what you do!

Let’s imagine that a reader reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to invent. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?

I’ve said this before. The first few steps are the most difficult. You must crawl before you walk and walk before you run. Take small steps and make sure to celebrate your successes along the way, even if they are small. Here are the small steps that I would take:

1. Know the benefit you offer. What will your finished product provide your client? You do not need all the particulars, but you do need to identify the broad strokes. What is your personal North Star for the idea? And, don’t be afraid to evolve or change it.
2. Create your board. You need a board of trusted, diverse “coaches” that can give you ideas and feedback. They have the objectivity that you may not. Having a variety of trusted perspectives can help you highlight issues you will need to consider.
3. Map out how to get to your North star. I have whiteboards up and down my hallway. Here, I constantly map out my ideas, goals, and processes. I use these whiteboards daily. They help me to capture my thoughts visually and see where I need to grow and evolve to stay focused on my North Star.
4. Block out negativity from yourself and others. Believe that you will be successful! Do not listen to negative thoughts.
5. Be ready to really work. You will have many sleepless, stressful nights. Success will require sacrifices. You may have less time for family, friends, and travel. Ensure you are okay with trade-offs, and then get ready to work!
6. Jump in. Learn. Adapt. Your first efforts will be okay, but you need to celebrate those efforts because you jumped in and did something! Take time to celebrate but also reflect and learn. What went well? What should you improve? What are the improvements in order of priority? Then take those lessons, adapt your idea, and seek continuous improvement.

There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?

We often need a thought partner as we flesh out a new idea. There are many great invention development consultants, but before you hire externally, I would suggest first looking at your network. Who do you know that has taken an idea to market? This could even be a friend who set their company on a new path, product, or process. What did they do? Who did they engage? What process did they follow? I am blessed with a robust and vibrant network and did not need to hire an invention development consultant. I was surrounded by people who gave me extraordinary advice.

If your network is not equipped to give you advice or provide direction, do your homework before you hire externally. What exactly do you want them to do? What is your definition of success? What can you realistically afford? Researching to understand your goals will help you hire the right consultant if you choose to go in that direction.

What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?

This question boils down to how much control you want over your idea and business. I chose to bootstrap and get creative. While seeking venture capital is a great option, it was not for me. I wanted control over company values, culture, and overall direction. I was unwilling to give up control of the core business elements. If you want to grow fast, have multiple advisors, and infuse capital, then the VC route may be for you.

Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

The GAARD Group strives to make a difference and help people become the best versions of themselves. We know that when people feel respected, appreciated, and seen, they become unstoppable. Helping others is our passion.

In addition, as a person, I focus only on the positive. People spend so much time focusing on what is wrong. This is exhausting! The world would be a better place if we could focus more on what is going right vs. what is going wrong. Look for opportunities to compliment someone. Even if the compliment is small to you, it can make their day. Flash a smile, and say, “good morning!” Hold the elevator door and have some fun. Employing a positive attitude makes a difference in all aspects of life.

Offer a helping hand in schools, hospitals, nursing homes, children’s homes, community efforts, etc. These groups will benefit from your efforts and expertise. I have been partnered with my “little” from Big Brother/Big Sisters for 27 years. I have helped him grow, and he has taught me many lessons that will last a lifetime. Always look to help others.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

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Making Something From Nothing: Bridgitt Haarsgaard Of The GAARD Group On How To Go From Idea To… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Customer Experience. Listen to your customers, solve their problems, probe for opportunities to heighten loyalty, and make it easy to do business. And always remember you’re dealing with human beings — it’s essential to have empathy for their situations and perspectives.

As a part of our series about the five things a business should do to create a Wow! customer experience, I had the pleasure of interviewing Hunter Croft.

Hunter Croft is President, Chief Executive Officer, and Member of the Board for ACT (Advanced Call Center Technologies, LLC). Hunter joined ACT in 2003 as SVP of Sales and Operations, and played a primary role in propelling the business from $20M in revenue and 300 employees, to more than $400M and 12,000 employees. He was instrumental in transforming the company from a PE-funded entity to 100% employee owned as a strategic decision to differentiate on employee experience and create even greater value for ACT’s clients. Prior to joining ACT, Hunter led operations for Penncro Associates, leading growth from 100 to more than 2,000 employees through organic expansion and new client acquisition. Before that, he held various leadership roles in financial services and lending firms, driving operational transformation and excellence for his clients. He is passionate about creating outstanding customer experiences by employing a “total experience” approach to service delivery.

Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

I have to be honest, I’m not especially funny when I make a mistake. Don’t get me wrong — I believe a sense of humor is one of the most important things in life and the secret sauce to happiness. And believe me, I’m the first person to laugh at myself. I guess I just look at “mistakes” as a natural part of continuous improvement and personal growth.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

My wife. Period. We have a true partnership that has enabled each of us to contribute to our family and professional growth while raising four daughters. Over the course of my career I have worked many long nights and spent years traveling 50–75% of the time. Through her strength and dedication, we have been able to provide a loving home environment that has endured through thick and thin, while she also advanced in her own career as professor. She is a constant source of inspiration.

We have all had times either in a store, or online, when we’ve had a very poor experience as a customer or user. If the importance of a good customer experience is so intuitive, and apparent, where is the disconnect? How is it that so many companies do not make this a priority?

I don’t think it’s so much a matter of prioritization as execution. I think many companies want to deliver a great customer experience but don’t take into consideration the full spectrum of “total experience” — the many facets of experience that contribute to positive customer interactions. To excel in customer experience, you have to optimize the user experience for every touchpoint; you have to provide multi-channel experiences so customers can engage with you in the way they want to, and of course you must deliver best-in-class digital experiences. But most importantly, you have to prioritize the employee experience. I think that the employee experience component is what many companies overlook, because they don’t make the connection that happy employees ensure the best customer experience across the board.

Do you think that more competition helps force companies to improve the customer experience they offer? Are there other external pressures that can force a company to improve the customer experience?

To a certain extent, of course. Competition imposes a level of accountability and a “do better” mindset. But I think focusing on your competition is not setting the bar high enough. When companies spend their time simply reacting to their competitors, all they end up doing is reinventing old ideas. What we have seen for ourselves and our clients, is that real innovation occurs when you listen to your customers and listen to your employees about what their experience is and what they would like it to be. Harnessing the voice of the customer and “employee customer” opens up a world of new ideas that significantly elevate how we define and deliver outstanding experiences.

Can you share with us a story from your experience about a customer who was “Wowed” by the experience you provided?

One of our clients is among the nation’s top 3 largest student lending organizations. They came to us as a start-up organization, with complex requirements for a very small project of 3 full-time employees. They were seeking a customer experience delivery partner that could provide highly skilled employees and a high-touch relationship. Unfortunately, they had been unsuccessful sourcing a partner who was willing to provide the attention they deserved given the small size of the project. We’ve always operated under the philosophy that no deal is too small — we’re confident in our ability to help our customers grow and prove our value. Taking on this project was an investment in our own growth as well as the client. We met with the client team to understand the needs and define key performance indicators. We then sourced the talent to support the project and placed them in our own corporate headquarters. Mind you, the corporate HQ had never served as a contact center before, but we were able to pull together the necessary resources for the project. To this day we are still the top service delivery partner for this client and continue to expand our scope and footprint with them as they have grown exponentially over the past several years. I think the story really underscores the importance of investing in your customers as much as they invest in you.

Did that Wow! experience have any long-term ripple effects? Can you share the story?

We were there when they were a tiny start-up of a dozen or so people. They were a legal entity and that’s pretty much it. Since then they’ve become a top US lending institution servicing more than a billion dollars in student loans. They’ve also made a huge impact on the student lending market as a whole, as a major disruptor with an innovative business model also predicated on the importance of delivering the best experience. They’ve forced their competitors to do better in meeting their clients’ needs as well. Throughout the years, we’ve ramped our services alongside them to continue meeting their needs, and we take pride in the fact that we’ve been able to support them and play a role in their continued success and expansion.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should know in order to create a Wow! Customer Experience. Please share a story or an example for each.

I can make it even simpler than that. It’s really one thing — and that’s total experience. But to be fair there are 5 parts:

1. Customer Experience. Listen to your customers, solve their problems, probe for opportunities to heighten loyalty, and make it easy to do business. And always remember you’re dealing with human beings — it’s essential to have empathy for their situations and perspectives.
2. Employee Experience. Happy employees mean happy customers. The people who interface with your customers every day have their own needs and challenges — they want to be successful at their job, they want to be valued, and they want to make a difference. We have mapped every touchpoint of our employees’ experience with our company and placed feedback mechanisms to ensure we’re delivering the best experience as an employer — that their equipment works, that they have the tools to get their jobs done, that they know who — and how — to ask for support. It may seem basic but it is absolutely essential to their success and engagement.
3. Multi-Channel Experience. Meet people on their terms on their favored turf. In today’s digital world, there are so many vehicles for engagement, and everyone has their own preferences. In our business it ranges from delivering customer support across SMS, chat, email, social media and voice, to offering the option for our clients to either bring their own platforms to us, or leverage our own technology platforms for their programs.
4. Digital Experience. We’ve talked about the importance of optimizing digital experience across many channels. But there’s more to it than offering your service across different digital channels and technology platforms — you need to ensure that those platforms work, that they offer a seamless experience, and that they don’t create disruption. As a case in point, part of our employee experience mapping uncovered challenges employees faced in accessing online resources for technical reasons, and we promptly addressed those to improve efficiency and relieve employee frustration. These types of disruptions can have a substantial cumulative impact on experience and must be given consideration as a critical element.
5. User Experience. It goes hand in hand with all the others but boils down to the question of what we want the experience to be for any given stakeholder in any given channel, and how do we create a consistent experience across the entire constellation of user touchpoints and interactions? From customer–employee interactions, to an employee engaging with our website or social media properties, to a customer accessing an AI-powered database of our client, we must consider the entire spectrum of experience as a whole entity that is bigger than the sum of its parts. And that leads us back to the concept of Total Experience.

Are there a few things that can be done so that when a customer or client has a Wow! experience, they inspire others to reach out to you as well?

The most important thing is execution. If you have experience, common sense and a strong team around you, you’ll always be able to come up with great ideas and plans to get there. True differentiation, however, always comes down to doing what you say you’re going to do. Execution has to be flawless, or the best plans mean nothing. Commitment and follow-through are how you drive reputation and motivate customers to be your advocates. When people trust you to deliver, they will trust you to recommend to their peers and colleagues. As a company who has grown from 300 to 12,000 employees entirely organically, we have learned that the best customer loyalty program and word of mouth strategy is reliable, consistent performance.

My particular expertise is in retail, so I’d like to ask a question about that. Amazon is going to exert pressure on all of retail for the foreseeable future. New Direct-To-Consumer companies based in China are emerging that offer prices that are much cheaper than US and European brands. What would you advise retail companies and eCommerce companies, for them to be successful in the face of such strong competition?

First and foremost, never let yourself get dragged into a price war. “Always sell value” is over-used for a reason — it’s true. Retail businesses have more opportunity than ever to differentiate based on experience and to set themselves apart by listening to their customers and addressing their needs. And don’t just do it quietly, shout about it! Define what makes your experience superior to the alternatives and then embrace it, promote it, live it. In the business process outsourcing industry, there is tremendous price pressure that can often result in a race to the bottom. At the same time, many of our competitors have figured out that they should be trying to differentiate on quality customer experience. Those claims are just marketing fluff if they don’t have proof points to back it up. In our case, we have made a conscious decision to prioritize outstanding employee experience at the center of our total experience strategy, because we know that positive employee experience leads to better customer interactions and better business outcomes. We believe this so profoundly that we became 100% employee owned in 2021. This means our employees’ motivations are aligned to our clients’ success because they will benefit personally from creating value and driving business growth. Not every company has the privilege of being employee owned, but every company can commit to investing in delivering the best experience for their customers and their own people.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I would call on everyone to place a higher value on experience in a very literal sense. I would challenge people to concentrate on creating as many authentic interactions as possible. Sign out of social media, put away their phones, turn off the television, get out into nature, sit down and have a talk with someone they care about. In today’s world of so many choices and so much constant stimulation, it’s easy to overlook that there are many extraordinary experiences to be found in ordinary life.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/139110/ or Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ACTJohnsonCity

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

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Hunter Croft Of Advanced Call Center Technologies On 5 Ways To Create a Wow! Customer Experience was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Sunk cost bias is real: No successful product came out of its original idea. While building our company, my co founders and I pivoted three times. And each time I felt like I’d failed. But I realized most good ideas evolve, and that great founders can do it fast.

As a part of our series called “Making Something From Nothing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Shubhi Nigam.

Shubhi Nigam is a Senior Product Manager at Carta inc, where she builds products for early stage founders. Prior to her role at Carta, she was the co-founder of Insight Browser (YCW19) and a product lead at Newgen Software Inc. Shubhi is passionate about taking products from zero to one, early stage customer acquisition tactics and continuous user discovery.

Shubhi has been featured in Forbes, Tech Crunch, Mind the product & more, and is a member of the Forbes Technology Council. She currently mentors early stage founders through accelerators such as Techstars, Founders Institute and the AWS Impact accelerator.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?

I grew up in India, among a family of entrepreneurs where making new things was always encouraged. I watched my dad build products out of what seemed like a few lines of code. And then those products would be used by thousands of people. It was a fun yet humbling environment to grow up in. I thought it was amazing, and if you asked me what I wanted to be when I was three years old, I would have said, “Computer Scientist!”

I took my first coding class at age ten so I could build stuff too. I don’t get to code anymore in my day job. But I still love building products for thousands of people to use.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Wayne Gretzky said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” To me, the downside of not trying is worse than the downside of getting rejected.

Do you want to apply to that program you think you can’t get into? What’s the worst that could happen? Getting rejected. And I have been rejected so many times. But for every ten rejections, I’ve also gotten the thing I really wanted. So “Shoot your shot” is the life quote I live by.

Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

During the pandemic, my co founders and I were planning a challenging pivot to our company. To escape my tiny apartment, I started running every morning. I hadn’t tried running before, so a friend recommended I read Endure by Alex Hutchinson. Alex writes how recent scientific research suggests that the seemingly physical barriers of endurance are set as much by our brain as by our body.

In other words, your brain has the same, or maybe even more, say in what you can and cannot endure. And the thing is you can train your brain; you can push it a little further every time. It helped me reframe how I thought about not just running, but also stress.

Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. There is no shortage of good ideas out there. Many people have good ideas all the time. But people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. Can you share a few ideas from your experience about how to overcome this challenge?

An idea by itself is meaningless. It is the execution that matters. In my experience, your best chance at success is to understand your space deeply or to have felt the problem yourself. So if you’re looking for problems to solve, find a problem that annoys YOU.

Often when people think of a new idea, they dismiss it saying someone else must have thought of it before. How would you recommend that someone go about researching whether or not their idea has already been created?

Google it, or go talk to 10 people. If those people all consider it a pain, then it’s still worth building.

Figma is a great example; they didn’t invent the space of design tools. Sketch and Adobe were already successful tools. Figma differentiated themselves from desktop apps like Sketch and Photoshop by being an online collaborative design tool. And they put in the effort to build a superior web-based design experience that was on par with a desktop app.

Find your problem, and then find the angle you want to tackle it from.

For the benefit of our readers, can you outline the steps one has to go through, from when they think of the idea, until it finally lands in a customer’s hands? In particular, we’d love to hear about how to file a patent, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer to distribute it.

From idea to launch is a long process. But at a high level you need to:

1. Conduct user research to validate your idea. Also analyze the competition to see what’s in the market.
2. Prototype it and get feedback from users. You’re looking for that aha moment where users really, really care about what you’ve built.
3. Test and experiment with customer acquisition channels to get your first 100 customers.
4. Once you have some amount of product-market fit, scale.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started Leading My Company” and why?

1. Send that cold email: While warm intros are helpful, our first ten users came from cold emails, and our advisers came from cold emails. Take the time to draft succinct, actionable and personalized emails. A lesson I learned is that if you make it easy for people to help you out, many will.
2. You want angry users: In the early stages, you want strong opinions from users. It’s nice to get good feedback, but you don’t want apathetic users. If your users don’t care about your product, it will die. Fun story, I once did a 60-minute user interview where our user couldn’t stop raving about the product. When we went and looked at the analytics, they had only used it once and never came back.
3. A perfect MVP is a late MVP: If your first product out the door is perfect, that means you’re late to the game. In the early days, it’s very important to get feedback from as many people as possible, as quickly as possible. Focus on getting “something” out the door.
4. Sunk cost bias is real: No successful product came out of its original idea. While building our company, my co founders and I pivoted three times. And each time I felt like I’d failed. But I realized most good ideas evolve, and that great founders can do it fast.
5. A big fundraise doesn’t make a great company: Stop reading TechCrunch articles about massive fundraises. Capital is helpful, but it doesn’t predict success. Raise only as much as you need to, and then focus on building your business.

Let’s imagine that a reader reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to invent. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?

1. Start by talking to 10 potential users before you commit to the idea. If the problem isn’t excruciatingly painful, stop right there — people will find workarounds.
2. Once you have some indication of the problem, run painted-door tests to test viable solutions. These can be things like a fake landing page or a Facebook ad. Anything to get a larger sample of users in that space to validate your solution.
3. Then start prototyping. Build mocks or low-fidelity prototypes that help demonstrate your solution or unique take on the product. Take them to potential users and get validation.

There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?

To be candid, the only place you should spend money in the early days is building. I’m a big believer in coaches and having someone to help refine your pitch or keep you accountable. But only you can do the work of thinking about your problem deeply.

In the early days, you should be spending your time and money living the problem. Go into the weeds. Don’t get distracted by throwing money after other things.

What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?

In some ways it’s a false choice because not everyone has access to venture capital, and not everyone can afford to bootstrap. But if you have the options, I would ask four questions:

1. Do you have a scalable business that could be worth a billion dollars? Venture-backed businesses work when they’re scalable and disrupt an industry in a meaningful way.
2. Can your business hit the gas pedal immediately? Venture-backed businesses need to operate at a high velocity. You don’t really have the luxury of slowly figuring the kinks out. If your business is a slow burn or if you need more time to get that hockey-stick growth, bootstrap.
3. Is it hard to copy your business? Venture-backed businesses need significant moats. All good ideas will be copied, but you need to have a significant advantage over competitors.
4. Are you willing to give up control? I work every day with founders who are shocked by how much their company has been diluted and how little is actually left for them to run. If you’re not okay with giving up that control, bootstrap.

If you said yes to all of the above, you can consider raising venture capital. But in most cases, I would still bootstrap until the extra capital could be significantly helpful to me or my company.

Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

The main reason I wasn’t scared to build a startup was because I’d seen people do it around me. Now, I make it a priority to talk to early founders and women in tech to show them they can do it as well. Especially if they didn’t grow up in Silicon Valley or don’t come from families where quitting their job is looked upon kindly.

Because of that, I spend a lot of my time working with founders, both at and outside of work. I do a lot of talks, mentor programs and accelerator app reviews.

You are an inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

Try to put your phone away for blocks of time. It’s so easy to live that ‘hustle’ lifestyle and forever be checking your email. But there are so many distractions in the world. If you’re doing something, give it 100% of your attention, whether it’s a meeting with your team or just dinner with friends. Put your phone away and be present.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

Ben Thompson, who writes the Stratechery newsletter. His breakdowns of how tech works have been instrumental in helping me understand the industry. Silicon Valley has so many gatekeepers, and it’s been invaluable to have someone break down concepts. He also seems like an unpretentious and stand-up guy who would be fun to get coffee with.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

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Making Something From Nothing: Shubhi Nigam Of Carta On How To Go From Idea To Launch was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Non-Fungible Tokens: Federico García Of Qurable On The 5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

I would love to know them, for now I can tell you that our recipe includes: teams, strong knowledge of technology, daily analysis of the requirements of different industries, a lot of trial and error and above all questioning and challenging the model on a daily basis. The collections that made history, like BAYC, opened a super interesting path- now it’s up to the rest to continue building in order to (in 2 or 3 years) be able to list the 5 things required to be successful. Today the successes are few and in many cases ephemeral.

Many have observed that we are at the cusp of an NFT boom. The thing is, it’s so cutting edge, that many people don’t know what it is. What exactly is an NFT and how can one create a lucrative career out of selling them? To address this, as a part of our interview series called “5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Federico García.

Federico García, is Founder & CEO at Qurable. He has more than 20 years of experience in the business and technology market. His vocation is to create projects from scratch and make them scale.

Passionate about technology, music and sports, he has an academic background in Software Engineering from Argentina´s National Technological University, was a juror for MIT, member of several organizations such as the Argentine Union of Young Entrepreneurs and he actively participates as a mentor to entrepreneurs.

During his professional life, he spent time at several large companies and led his own company: Lagash, which was acquired by MercadoLibre in 2020. During his time at MercadoLibre he was Product Director within the Marketplace in Fashion, International Purchase, Supermarket, Ads, Motors , Real Estate and the entire search and purchase flow.

Qurable empowers interactions between brands, creators and their audiences creating memorable relationships thanks to the power of Web 3.0. We supercharge membership and loyalty concepts, targeting specific audiences through tokens and adding unlimited value for the collectibles communities.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory and how you grew up?

There has been a common thread throughout my life: the obsession with innovation and design. I´ve been a sneaker collector ever since I was a young kid, always on the lookout for something different, new, or even disrupting. Majoring in computer sciences enabled me to be a part of innovation- of course at first, I did not innovate much as a programmer, but my objective was to prepare myself and do so.

Is there a particular book, film, or podcast that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

Let my people go surfing, by Patagonia´s founder Yvon Chouinard, is a book that reflects many of the things that I have always questioned about traditional business models. Retelling the Patagonia experiment, Chouinard shares his view on management, leadership, teamwork, constant innovation, and always daring to defy the status quo. As an entrepreneur, I emphasize the importance of constantly revising business models, the importance of clear objectives, committed teams, and the importance of a definition for success that goes beyond the economy. In 2022, and situated in this current worldwide state, I idealize Yvon for his conviction and consistency, sustained throughout his life- it is the reflection of everything that is good and aiming to help the world.

Is there a particular story that inspired you to pursue a career in this new industry? We’d love to hear it.

The wonderful thing about working with exponentially growing technologies is that it´s not just one inspiring story, but thousands of them that inspire us daily to create new user experiences. We were fascinated by the irruption of CryptoPunks on the NFT market and the announcement of Facebook´s name becoming Meta- yet we were constantly interpellated by the existing conflicts as regards the acquisition of these NFTs (that was maybe the most inspiring point). Generating value in the NFT market by creating tokens that generate a unique relation between physical and digital assets, while reducing the existing obstacles for users to a minimum- that’s how Qurable was born. Focusing on connecting the physical and digital worlds through NFTs and fixing upon user experience, one of our first features was allowing clients the purchase of NFTs without requiring a crypto wallet.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this fascinating career?

After selling off our first company to Mercado Libre (March 2020), due to issues regarding contracts, I became a part of Mercado Libre´s direction for two years, during which the whole world went through the pandemic and Mercado Libre grew in solely one of those years 71% of it single, active users. I was lucky enough to lead the M&A process (which was an accelerated MBA)- I would never have imagined I would be negotiating a buy-sell contract with Latin America’s first unicorn and one of the world´s most important marketplaces. I really am fortunate.

My own company (employing over 500 people) and the years at Mercado Libre, impacting through a product hundreds of thousands of users along the region. The best is yet to come!

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

The funniest mistake was allowing a client to choose an event, a moment, somewhere for us to go and get acquainted (like an after-office). The client chose a baseball game, to which I went alone, joining the client and four others. It was fun, mainly because back in my country we are only concerned about soccer, Messi and Maradona, so I honestly had no clue about baseball´s rules or dynamics whatsoever. Therefore, we spent the afternoon trying to get me to understand the game and it´s social dynamics instead of business.

Besides the funny anecdote, the most important lesson (which I thankfully encountered pretty fast, as mistakes frequently rise in start-ups) is the importance of counting on a team that is not only committed but also diverse. I consider different approaches to the same issue extremely valuable, as they usually offer faster, more approachable solutions for which — of course — commitment allows successful implementation.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I believe every person we encounter has an impact in our path. Many people have shaped me. My current associates (who were also my partners in previous companies) are an example of this, but there are three people outside of my organization that I would like to mention.

People like Alejandro Scannapieco (Managing Partner Business Hacking Studio at Globant ex CFO Globant), helped me understand the importance of scaling the business and various other relevant insights about the VC world which is now capitalizing so much. Daniel Ravinovich, COO at Mercado Libre, who during my time there made a better professional out of me by fixating on every detail of the products (obsessed with pixel perfect), still considering that MVP must be generated, where the minimum (the M on MVP) is needed to reach the success we aim for with the product´s next iteration. Matias Wolosky (CTO & Co-founder at Auth0), who without realizing it inspires us with every talk at NewTopia Community, shedding light on Product-Market fit and the ups & downs of enterprising.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

We are currently working with UNHCR, from Argentina, creating the first model for a tokenized NGO, which will allow the organization an efficient and transparent management model, where all the donations they receive can be registered in the blockchain, guaranteeing traceability. This is an example of an NFT project with high social impacts, which will allow UNHCR , among other things, to decentralize and expand the scope of the organization, thus having a greater impact on the communities that contribute to its cause, since they will be able to give benefits (token rewards) to these people, highlight them as members and make them part of the election process of certain activities. We are taking the technological model of NFT to the extreme, making it dynamic, meaning the NFT evolves as the person becomes more committed to the cause that UNHCR pursues.

Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. I’m sure you get this question all the time. But for the benefit of our readers, can you explain in your own words what an NFT is, and why people are spending so much money on them?

We are facing a new kind of internet. NFTs are part of web 3 but not the whole of it. As it happens in times of transformation, some components stand out more than others in the initial phase, promoting change and leading the first wave of adoption.

We could spend hours talking about the applicability of NFTs, but the important thing about this is to understand that these technologies are in continuous development and that we must analyze in which business models they can be applied and in which they cannot or what use we can give them in our daily lives. A Token-Gated that enhances interactions between brands, creators and their audiences is not the same as collectibles or tokens that can serve as proof of attendance for concerts or events, also different to those that we can use in virtual worlds or Metaverses, where a Nike shoe can dress my avatar in that metaverse, and even me, if Nike would send me the physical model at the time I buy the NFT version for my avatar.

In the next few years we are going to witness radical changes in the use of these technologies. The way in which we relate to physical goods today will no longer be the same, as physical goods will be able to have their digital twin. Our identity will be both in the real world and in the metaverse.

Today, we combine fungible and non-fungible tokens to enhance people’s digital identity and generate engagement between brands and creators with their audiences. Nowadays, all of us who interact with web 3.0 and NFTs are early adopters- we have to start talking about value and cases of use; the speculation is over.

The NFT industry seems so exciting right now. What are the 3 things in particular that most excite you about the industry? If you can, please share a story or example for each.

Web 3 is the next important leap in the way we consume and share information online. It will have a wide variety of uses, that are even hard to imagine today, but I highlight:

• Decentralization. The storage of data that cannot be censored by any entity, such as governments or corporations. On our platform, one of the user cases that we see growing the most is that of NFTicket, where decentralization and ownership transfer allows for a rediscovery of this business model.
• Token-Gated scenarios. Democratizing, empowering and growing exponentially the economic model of small creators, artists, influencers, streamers or large content generators who live off the value of what they showcase to their audiences- but today they monetize only 10%/ 20% of the total value they generate due to the existing platforms that take advantage of centralization. This type of Token that we have in Qurable allows these fantastic creators to unlock exclusive content to their most loyal audiences.
• Usability. Today web 3.0´s NFTs are only for a few. This technology has many setbacks, and companies like mine seek to massify these experiences — and there is no other way to achieve that without thinking about the user. The experience we had with Adidas is a clear example: the marathon´s finishers were able to get an NFT with or without a crypto wallet. We minted more than 8,000 tokens in a couple of hours, enabling those finishers to get their NFT Medal in a single click, reducing web 3.0´s setbacks completely.

Just as web 2.0 was exponentially adopted- thanks to service-based platforms, web 3.0 will be exponentially involved in the way we relate to assets, what we use them for, what they enable us to do and to whom they belong.

New business models will be enabled; where small creators will become companies, where companies will launch only in the metaverse and where today’s large companies will be forced to understand their audiences 1000 times more for now, regardless of the age or name of the consumer, what really matters is their behavior. This is where a digital address fulfills an important function in the understanding of a person’s digital identity.

What are the 3 things that concern you about the industry? Can you explain? What can be done to address those concerns?

Although there are many questions, among others, about decentralization issues, user experience and scalability of these technologies- I understand that these are to be expected, given the changes we are witnessing. We have a great opportunity to make a better internet, based on years of experience and I think that we have ahead of us as web3 users more advantages than disadvantages as we focus this new process on the real needs of users.

My focus and that of my team is to generate value, not to force cases where the use of this technology is counterproductive for the user. Above all things, we consider how these new tools that are being enabled can solve today’s problems. My witness user is not me, but my daughter. GenZ has a different logic and we have to start studying its behavior to get ahead.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about NFTs? Can you explain what you mean?

Wow, there are many myths that are created day by day, about the value of collections, economic profitability, usability, that NFTs are only for a few and I could go on, however I like to think of myths as stories belonging to the past, and web 3 is the future- a future that is being built will surely have areas for improvement ahead, still, I trust that we will be able to solve and overcome each of them.

What are the most common mistakes you have seen people make when they enter the NFT industry? What can be done to avoid that?

The biggest challenge we face in this transition stage is to really experience the paradigm shift- to stop thinking about what we know and believe today that can be done on the internet, in order to really project the new experiences that can be achieved on the web. 3. To focus on users and communities is something that is heard daily but not always applied. The challenge that we who are in this space have is to raise that value so that the common people do not see an NFT as a JPG of several thousand dollars, but rather see the utility or even better see how these uses get into their day, as it happened with social networks in web 2.0. This is our mission; to democratize and accelerate the adoption of these aspects through real cases.

How do you think NFTs have the potential to help society in the future?

Of course, we already talked about what we are doing with UNHCR, but there is also a big change for the way small and medium-sized enterprises approach their business in developing economies. Blockchain-based payment solutions can bridge a gap and open up new markets, as blockchain -by its nature- connects groups of entities and allows data to be synchronized between multiple independent stakeholders, bridging the financial gap that exists today for this type of company, since they do not need to resort to centralized databases to which they do not have access to due to lack of scoring for their online management.

What are your “5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry?”

I would love to know them, for now I can tell you that our recipe includes: teams, strong knowledge of technology, daily analysis of the requirements of different industries, a lot of trial and error and above all questioning and challenging the model on a daily basis. The collections that made history, like BAYC, opened a super interesting path- now it’s up to the rest to continue building in order to (in 2 or 3 years) be able to list the 5 things required to be successful. Today the successes are few and in many cases ephemeral.

If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I believe that everything related to education generates the greatest impacts. Decentralized organizations require a great responsibility on the part of individuals, but at the same time, they allow more people to be part of communities in which they still cannot participate by themselves today. We can build healthy and sustainable systems that provide access to education to many people . The technology is ready and available for all of us to use and be part of this transformation.

We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂

If it weren’t with Yvon, who I already mentioned, then without hesitation I would say Michelle Obama. I admire her deeply for various reasons, but if I had to mention only 3 words: Leadership, impact and Empathy.

Thank you so much for these excellent stories and insights. We wish you continued success on your great work!

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Non-Fungible Tokens: Federico García Of Qurable On The 5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Katie Sullivan Porter Of Marin Software On How to Effectively Leverage The Power of Digital Marketing, PPC, & Email to Dramatically Increase Sales

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Get Gritty — I was starting a new role at a highly competitive and successful digital agency, and my 90 day review DID NOT go well. It was probably the worst feedback session I’ve ever had, and my kind but firm manager (who’s still a great friend and mentor to me today) quite simply told me I was not cutting the mustard. He encouraged I read “Grit: the Power of Passion and Perseverance” by Angela Duckworth and it completely changed my outlook on work, hustle, and being resourceful.

Marketing a product or service today is easier than ever before in history. Using platforms like Facebook ads or Google ads, a company can market their product directly to people who perfectly fit the ideal client demographic, at a very low cost. Digital Marketing tools, Pay per Click ads, and email marketing can help a company dramatically increase sales. At the same time, many companies that just start exploring with digital marketing tools often see disappointing results.

In this interview series called “How to Effectively Leverage The Power of Digital Marketing, PPC, & Email to Dramatically Increase Sales”, we are talking to marketers, advertisers, brand consultants, & digital marketing gurus who can share practical ideas from their experience about how to effectively leverage the power of digital marketing, PPC, & email.

As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Katie Sullivan Porter.

Katie has over 12 years of experience in the marketing industry including hands on and strategic management in event marketing, paid advertising, email marketing, social media, content, influencer marketing, PR, and SEO. She spent 6 years in the agency space, and 6 years in-house with companies like Verizon, IdealFit, and most recently Marin Software. Some of the enterprise brands she’s collaborated with on omnichannel digital marketing campaigns include Shell Energy, Ascential, Cricut, and Conga. She presently oversees the digital content strategy for Marin, a global leader in paid media management software.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

My journey into digital marketing was not a direct path by any means. I actually studied Theatre Arts Management in my undergrad, of all things, and in a roundabout way this led me into the event marketing field. I was managing trade shows and corporate events, and I found I had a real interest and passion for marketing at large, but I felt there weren’t a lot of marketers doing both traditional and digital work. Event marketers, traditional marketers, and digital marketers at that time were all still quite siloed. So I set out to become a well-rounded expert in all types of marketing. I developed my writing skills and focused on content and social media, which eventually led toward more experiences in advertising, demand gen and growth. Now I’ve done a little bit of everything, and I tend to focus on work that is truly omnichannel across digital and traditional channels.

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?

I had a terribly embarrassing snafu when I was working in the agency space. In order to pull some CRM reports I needed for a client, I had inadvertently connected my agency email into their CRM system. No one caught it for weeks, until the client found it directly that he had access to hundreds of agency emails. It was a bit horrifying and I was certain I was going to be fired that day. Luckily, I was working for great and understanding people who knew it was an honest human error, and they completely handled it and defended me. What I learned through that experience was that great leadership who supports their employees cannot be valued highly enough; and the devil is in the details for every single action we take as marketers.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

When I was working for the Salt Lake Tribune as part of their digital agency, our VP Kelly Roberts had been in the newspaper business for many, many years. He knew the power of advertising and to him whether it was print, email, digital ads, or a billboard…what was most important was the message. He knew the power of a headline, and for Kelly…the right message to the right person at the right time was all that mattered. Learning that under him was a great training for me of what makes up any kind of impactful marketing.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

While I’m relatively knew to Marin Software, I can already say with confidence they are a company that has exceptionally high standards of quality. I am surrounded by professionals with incredibly impressive backgrounds and education, multiple decades of experience in digital marketing, and a constant culture of improvement. The MarinOne tool has been built and continues to be improved by some of the best marketers and software engineers I have ever seen. Our CMO Wesley MacLaggan’s recurring catchphrase is, “How can we do this same thing…but make it even better?”

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

Hunger for Learning — As far back as I can remember, a thirst for knowledge has defined my progress in any setting. I remember someone asking me in college, “When do you plan to graduate?” And I responded by saying, “I’m not sure it matters because I plan to be learning my whole life long.” While I did eventually graduate, my curiosity for learning has never stopped. And I think my constant curiosity has brought me a great deal of success.

Collaborative Spirit — I was running the influencer marketing program at IdealFit, a fitness supplement company, when I started asking peers in other departments to give me cross-training on their jobs. One colleague was stunned by this as the culture of the company was to keep channels fairly siloed and he asked me, “Why do you keep doing this?” And to me it was quite simple…I wanted to understand what each person does to the best of my ability so I could be a better teammate. This started a bigger conversation within the company that led to a more formal cross-training program. It was a great feeling to see my peers open up about their future goals simply because I was brave enough to ask.

Willingness to Fail — Finally, I have always approached business with a “Why not me?” kind of attitude. I know there is risk every time I try something I’ve never done before, but to me that is part of the challenge and excitement of being a marketer. We get to solve complex jigsaw puzzles with creative answers every single day. My first full-time position in digital marketing comes to mind. I was working for a Verizon retailer that had never run regional events before. I was willing to say, “Let’s try it and see what happens.” We ended up growing that program to be over 125 events each year because it was such a successful approach for our target demo.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Marin is currently in the process of adding several very innovative features to the MarinOne tool, as well as improving the existing features we already have. There are sophisticated solutions to help advertisers save hours of time, take shortcuts that make sense, and automate a vast majority of their campaign management. I believe that great marketing leads to a winning company, and winning companies then have the means to support happy and successful people. There is something so satisfying to see our tool help businesses grow and how that benefits our clients. Many advertisers we work with say since using Marin they have a better work/life balance, they’re reaching their business goals, and they feel successful in their individual roles.

Ok super. Now let’s jump to the main questions of our interview. As we mentioned in the beginning, sometimes companies that just start exploring with digital marketing tools like PPC campaigns often see disappointing results. In your opinion, what are a few of the biggest mistakes companies make when they first start out with digital marketing? If you can, please share an example for each.

I was working with a prominent crafting company that had a great deal of notoriety in their space and strong brand equity, but they were not optimizing their paid media strategy properly. There was very little audience segmentation, custom messaging, or unique creative going on. By identifying data-driven buyer personas, creating unique messages for each persona, and then making fun and exciting creative assets to capture those personas…we were able to more effectively bring in thousands of new customers for them while nurturing existing prospects down and through the funnel. We ultimately multiplied their paid media spend by 10x that year because it was producing great returns.

If you could break down a very successful digital marketing campaign into a “blueprint”, what would that blueprint look like? Please share some stories or examples of your ideas.

1. Use data or research to identify your core audience. So many marketers take their best guess or go off of a “hunch” as to what their target demo wants, and I have found that when true data analysis or market research takes place…the marketer often was way off the mark. Don’t guess, let the customer tell you what they want.
2. Hone in on the channels that will meet your core audience where they are, and don’t be afraid to experiment. There is no one right answer when it comes to determining the right mix of channels and tactics for a campaign. When I was working with a professional climbing equipment company, they were certain influencer marketing was not going to work for their business. There was a stigma that professional climbers only use the products they’ve been using for decades, and marketing in their industry was all word of mouth. By convincing them that influencer marketing was in essence digital word of mouth, through trusted testimonials and authentic first-person experiences, we were able to run a test pilot of relevant influencer partnerships. With just 15 great influencer collaborations, we increased their social media followers and engagement over 25% in six months.
3. Take care when developing messaging and aesthetics. Your creative assets matter. I was helping an HRIS company with their website. After an expensive and much-needed rebrand as well as website update, after seeing months of lagging organic numbers, their organic traffic increased 50% in just one month and has progressively grown every month since. The first impression new prospects had been getting before that update simply was not professional. Their customer service and work was top notch, but the exterior was not reflecting the interior. By investing in the “cover” of their brand book, the company has seen immense growth.
4. If things aren’t working, it’s okay to start over or completely change direction. Some marketers get really focused on what “they’ve seen work in the past.” While experience is valuable, the reality is every day in marketing is not like the last. Sure you may have used such-and-such tactic that worked great a year ago, but it may not be working now due to a multitude of reasons that are happening right now. Never stop testing. And look at all the factors in front of you. Is your audience segment still relevant? Are you saying the right things based on industry or societal challenges taking place today? Is there some part of your customer journey that was working before and is now broken? Step back, take a breath, and don’t sit on your laurels of what “should” be working.

Let’s talk about Pay Per Click Marketing (PPC) for a bit. In your opinion which PPC platform produces the best results to increase sales?

While Google Ads is by far the leading PPC option for search marketers, I have also seen great success with Microsoft Advertising and Apple Search Ads. If paid search is the driving tactic, do not underestimate the value of having a multi-channel approach. Test several audience sets on multiple platforms at once. If we’re talking PPC for social, TikTok is definitely leading the charge this year for e-commerce brands…but Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and Pinterest are all still doing really impactful things to drive traffic and sales. Lifestyle products particularly should have an on-point strategy for every visually driven advertising platform.

Can you please share 3 things that you need to know to run a highly successful PPC campaign?

Audience segmentation, bidding, and content marketing. The only way to be truly successful in PPC advertising is to get the right content at the right price to the right person. If one of those factors is off, you will not see conversions.

Let’s now talk about email marketing for a bit. In your opinion, what are the 3 things that you need to know to run a highly successful email marketing campaign that increases sales?

Email marketers have to delicately handle the most personal bridge marketers have to a potential customer. The precious resource that is an email address must be handled with respect and care. The best email marketers I know understand this and focus on 3 things: content, design, and user experience.

Email experts must be great content marketers that understand what the most important messages are in order to justify a recipient receiving said message direct to their inbox. They also need to be skilled at identifying what messages ought to be weeded out. Email is the time to feature the “cream of the crop” amongst the content your company has to offer.

Great email marketers also have a keen eye for design and they know how to edit. Cluttered or overly complicated emails produce very little in terms of actions. The right email guides a user through a thought process, without taking an excessive amount of time to read and without getting too complicated.

And finally user experience…email UX is not only important in every email that a contact receives, but it’s also crucial to understand the contact’s complete journey with your company emails. If drip campaigns are not set up correctly, automated actions fire improperly, or audiences are not segmented as they should be, the result can be catastrophic for your brand. If users are receiving too many emails, the wrong kinds of emails, or are getting stuck in an endless loop of content that is not relevant to them, there can be a quite damaging effect to your unsubscribe rate but also to your brand reputation.

What are the other digital marketing tools that you are passionate about? If you can, can you share with our readers what they are and how to best leverage them?

I have always been a huge proponent of connecting the digital experience to an in-person experience. Tools like Cvent, Momice, or Akkroo assist greatly in managing in-person events and automating as much of the end-to-end digital process as possible. Services like Sendoso, Goody, and Postal make personalized gift giving easy and directly integrated into your sales and nurture pipeline. Any time a digital connection with your brand can translate into an IRL memory, I’m all about it.

Here is the main question of our series. Can you please tell us the 5 things you need to create a highly successful career as a digital marketer? Can you please share a story or example for each?

Get Gritty — I was starting a new role at a highly competitive and successful digital agency, and my 90 day review DID NOT go well. It was probably the worst feedback session I’ve ever had, and my kind but firm manager (who’s still a great friend and mentor to me today) quite simply told me I was not cutting the mustard. He encouraged I read “Grit: the Power of Passion and Perseverance” by Angela Duckworth and it completely changed my outlook on work, hustle, and being resourceful.

Focus on Organization — Marketing is interesting as there are many, many approaches and none of them are “wrong” per se, but some methods of working are certainly easier than others. Save yourself a lot of headache and heartache by making things clean, organized, and simple whenever possible. With so many different types of contributors working on a single marketing project — left-brained, right-brained, creative, analytical — it is very easy to get lost in the process of how to do something and never get anywhere because everyone has a different approach. Let your campaign objective be the guiding North Star keeping everyone aligned, and divide tasks clearly so each person can do things how they’d like on their own, as long as they bring back the result the group as a whole agreed upon. Striking the right balance between autonomy and teamwork will help you arrive at the best possible final product.

Have Empathy — Regardless of what kind of marketing you’re doing, the key to reaching your audience is by recognizing and understanding what they need. If you don’t yet have the skill of empathizing or at least sympathizing with perspectives outside your own, you’ll never be very successful at marketing to people who aren’t just like you. And that makes for a pretty small target demo. I learned this firsthand when I led the rebrand of an alcohol subscription box company. The brand voice was dark, moody, manly, and masculine…and I don’t really consider myself any of those things. I had to get deep in the weeds on my research to understand what would resonate with this audience group that was so distinctively different than myself.

Be Proactive — For the first few years of my career, I got caught in the cycle of being a ticket taker. “We need a blog post.” “Draft an email.” “Come up with something for this radio ad.” I was simply receiving requests from those around me, but I was missing the big picture on how all the pieces were coming together and how they should come together. When it started to click for me that my peers were looking for collaboration as much as deliverables, my professional trajectory started to take off. I learned that thinking ahead, imagining what the end result could be, and building the framework backwards from there can be a game changer in how others perceive you professionally, how you perceive yourself, and how successful the results of your efforts are.

When in Doubt, Don’t Sell…Tell a Story. In order to be memorable, creativity is just as important as any technical or strategic skill. A storyteller can tell a marketing strategy that will engage an audience instead of just giving them more data. Figure out what your unique “take” on a conversation is and drive that perspective home with your audience through real testimonials and stories.

What books, podcasts, videos or other resources do you use to sharpen your marketing skills?

I’m a bit old school in this way as I personally can still never get enough blogs or written content. I’m a very visual learner, so reading about new ideas, seeing imagery conveying facts and figures, really helps cement those ideas in my brain and helps me retain the information. Some of my favorites are:

https://searchengineland.com/

https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/

https://www.searchenginejournal.com/

https://www.forrester.com/bold

https://www.insiderintelligence.com/

Thank you for all of that. We are nearly done. Here is our final ‘meaty’ question. You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

For some time now, I have felt that losing close, supportive, local communities is one of the greatest threats to modern society. With all the good that a global economy and instant global communication has brought us, it also has de-emphasized the importance of nearby, in-person community for many people. I am always looking for ways to help people connect with their neighbors or become more involved with their local community. For me, this takes the shape of volunteering at my kids’ school, getting involved with local performing arts groups, and enjoying all the local festivals, concerts, and community events I can.

How can our readers further follow your work?

I engage with others most on LinkedIn @ https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-sullivan-porter/ or catch some of my writing on marinsoftware.com

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this!

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Katie Sullivan Porter Of Marin Software On How to Effectively Leverage The Power of Digital… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Everything is a design for learning. Every day is a continuation of expecting the unexpected and simply dealing with it. When you’re focused on innovation for a product, an industry, a ‘new normal’ even: you need the ability to go from one place to the right place, and we do this every day. While I am taking these leaps every day, all of our teams in the business are too. It’s a collective effort and belief.

As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Paul Peros.

CEO of RÉDUIT and its parent company WELLFULLY, Paul Peros has over 30 years of experience under his belt of disrupting the beauty-tech sector and the wider wellness market. Prior to RÉDUIT, Paul led a number of successful luxury consumer brands, including his time as CEO of Swedish beauty brand FOREO which he saw turn into a global market leader with over USD 1 million in revenues in just 5 years. Paul plans to expand the beauty-tech market far beyond what we know of it today and in turn empower others to use their initiative and be brave, just as he has done each step of his journey.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

Physics has always been a huge passion of mine, it’s actually what steered a lot of my career decisions. I was fortunate to be able to obtain an MBA from IMD, Lausanne, and a BS in Physics from UCLA.

Prior to RÉDUIT, I was at the helm of several successful luxury consumer brands including Swedish beauty-tech brand FOREO. I also spent over 10 years in management consulting roles in different places around the world including Dubai and Perth, before moving to Switzerland, which is where I live now.

My background in physics coupled with my experience in the beauty world and my keen passion for nature’s own principles, particularly magnetic fields is what led me to believe that there must be a way to improve the current beauty sector. Particularly in the area of beauty application devices. I applied the principles of physics to introduce enhanced delivery systems to the beauty industry that in fact already exist in the pharma world. This led to the creation of the revolutionary beauty innovations we have at RÉDUIT today.

My mission has always been the same, to empower others to be brave, take initiative and learn from mistakes along the way, which are inevitable. I now spend my time leading the charge at RÉDUIT where I still have a very hands-on approach. I like to be involved in the day-to-day decision-making of the brand and have a good overview of what is happening at every level.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

We are focusing on providing different technological solutions in the field of ingredient delivery to optimize the active ingredients in our consumer’s skincare while also ensuring we are matching the fast-paced, ever-changing market trends and demands. To be more precise, at RÉDUIT we are creating technology to deliver your active beauty ingredients precisely where you need them most, giving you better performance and increased effectiveness in your daily beauty regime.

Our parent company, WELLFULLY, has been growing its know-how in advanced drug delivery technologies and applications across the last 20 years, finding ways of getting active ingredients to where they are needed in a controlled and effective way. So it felt fitting to bring this technology over to the beauty world and see the shifts we could bring to it.

A great example of our ‘disruptive’ work is RÉDUIT’s newest product, the BOOST. With BOOST we have coupled our enhanced delivery systems with ultimate personalisation to create never-before-seen technology that works in tandem with our consumer’s existing skincare routine. Each BOOST device is programmed specifically for the user, taking into account their age, gender, location, climate factors, skin concerns, skin tone, skin type, and more. All of these factors create a personalized profile that allows BOOST to deliver the best active ingredients to your skin that it needs the most.

For us at RÉDUIT, in order to be always ahead of the curve, one of the most important things is research. We must always be on top of the latest and most current trends, to the point where we can predict future ones and what is coming around the corner. This allows us to be ahead of our competition and have time to develop our products and truly bring forth new, trail-blazing innovations to the market. The same can be said for other industries too, not just beauty. We were able to spot the trend for enhanced delivery in the pharma market which enabled us to apply these features to the beauty world. Innovations in one sector can spill into other sectors and the same applies to hot trends.

Furthermore, like in physics and the great leaders before us like Eisenhower and Einstein — once you have created, invented, and launched something special — there is no limit to what is possible.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

It was probably the wrong assumption of equating our products to the traditional beauty products that are already present on the market. When you are designing and creating a completely new product using new features and technologies, it’s simply not possible to follow “old” patterns of doing things, such as packaging, technology or development. Without considering every possible outcome, this can lead to more hours spent in the laboratory or manufacturing site at a later stage, which can compromise the whole product launch process.

The key to learning was — the importance of learning itself. We adjusted the organization and our processes to make sure we were maximizing the exploration of “unexpected phenomena” when designing products at RÉDUIT that nobody had ever seen or created before.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

I was fortunate to always have had amazing mentors. At GEA my mentor was Mario Consiglio, one of the firm’s founders from 1965 with over 50 years of experience that included directing Confindustria — Italy’s chamber of commerce that was led by legends such as Benetton, Agnelli, and Pininfarina. During my time at FOREO, I also worked closely with Filip Sedic, the company’s founder and one of the most astonishing entrepreneurs I’ve ever had the chance to meet. Additionally, I was blessed to have support from Steven Schapera, an expert in luxury beauty and the founder of Becca Cosmetics.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

Disruption is the new normal, and every business has to make the choice for itself whether it will be disrupting or being disrupted. This also isn’t a one-off challenge, it’s how a modern business scene operates. Moreover, from an entrepreneurial point of view, disruption is needed, if not essential, in order to constantly evolve along with the market, making sure you don’t get left behind and bringing bigger and better things to consumers. It’s always a good thing for businesses to be reminded that they need to evolve. Staying still isn’t an option if you want to progress and thrive.

Can you share five of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

1. Innovate. And never stop innovating.
2. Failure does not exist.
3. Always expect the unexpected…

and

4. Be ready for anything.

5. Start your day with a clear idea of what you need to achieve and how to make that happen.

Explanations:

1. Everything is a design for learning. Every day is a continuation of expecting the unexpected and simply dealing with it. When you’re focused on innovation for a product, an industry, a ‘new normal’ even: you need the ability to go from one place to the right place, and we do this every day. While I am taking these leaps every day, all of our teams in the business are too. It’s a collective effort and belief.
2. Every failure brings some success as long as you learn from it. It brings you somewhere more along the path, and even if that is a path you weren’t planning to take, sometimes these mistakes take you to where you need to be. You must go past the limit. For example… you need to spin out a few times in the car before you learn how to avoid it right.
3. & 4) In business, but also in life in general, you have to always stay up-to-date and on track with all the possible outcomes, so you can prepare in advance and react promptly. You can keep learning and putting all the effort in the world, but if you’re not ready to react appropriately to let’s say emerging trends and show your hard work, you simply won’t make progress.

Time is the most valuable asset we have. They don’t say for anything that time is money. For this reason, make good use of it. The way to do it is to have a defined set of goals and mini-actions every day.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

If you want to be disruptive and innovative, the cogs have to always be turning! All I will say is…watch this space!

Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?

I really liked the late Hans Rosling. All of his speeches are phenomenal, “The Magic Of the Washing Machine” in particular is a favorite of mine. Putting things from the world around us, and our activities into perspective.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Don’t be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart.”, but also “You are your own worst enemy.” which ties in with the first quote really nicely in my opinion.

At the end of the day, how we live our life and the attitude we want to adopt is totally up to us. Just like all of the big disruptors in the world so far, it takes courage to bring something completely new and unheard of to the market, but if it was that easy, everyone would be doing it!

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

The discipline and practice of critical thinking. As simple as that — the rest will follow.

How can our readers follow you online?

Please, you can check out my career journey here: LinkedIn

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

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Meet The Disruptors: Paul Peros Of RÉDUIT On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Makers of The Metaverse: Erin McDannald Of Lighting Environments On The Future Of The VR, AR & Mixed Reality Industries

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Optimism: Embrace the most exciting parts of the learning and development process. Keep sight of your mission and lean into that motivation when you need it most. Set your eyes on what’s possible for the future of your industry, and don’t be afraid to make even bigger goals.

The Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality & Mixed Reality Industries are so exciting. What is coming around the corner? How will these improve our lives? What are the concerns we should keep an eye out for? Aside from entertainment, how can VR or AR help work or other parts of life? To address this, we had the pleasure of interviewing Erin McDannald.

Erin McDannald, CEO and co-owner of Lighting Environments and its sister company, Environments, has been guiding clients throughout the entire lighting design and construction process for over two decades. Now a pioneer for IoT integration and building and workplace management, McDannald is leading today’s workforce through powerful digital transformation with Environments’ Workplace of the Future solution. Environments is elevating physical spaces to allow for cutting-edge interaction and collaboration within the digital twin, metaverse, and beyond.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory and how you grew up?

Growing up, I was never a big fan of the structures of school, but my inquisitive nature led me to seek knowledge all around me. This made me realize that the world is small enough that anyone can make an impact as long as you ask questions and you’re not afraid to break the mold. I attended the University of Wisconsin where I received my interior design degree. However, when I graduated, I realized that path didn’t quite fit me, so I pivoted more to the business side of the industry.

For many years, I worked with architecture and interior design firms across the country to sell lighting solutions. Throughout this journey, I became passionate about learning how to communicate with electronics and lighting and tailor them to any circumstance and environment. I eventually realized that once you can do that, you can apply it to other aspects of design.

My father was an architect, which sparked my interest in the architecture and design space from an early age. He was a creative and inventive person, qualities that I admired and that he luckily passed along to me. I’ve always had a “sky’s the limit” mentality, which helped me when I was faced with the possibility of starting my own business — something that I never expected to do, but am so happy I was open to the possibility!

The pandemic caused a widespread disconnect among classrooms and businesses who were suddenly working from home for the first time. This brought about the need to connect to coworkers and schoolmates as seamlessly as if they were sitting right next to them, for the sake of both productivity and happiness. This, coupled with the experiences with my daughter, whose illness left her isolated, inspired the creation of Environments.

Is there a particular book, film, or podcast that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

Thank You for Being Late — Thomas Friedman.

This book helped me understand why things are the way they are, clarified human motivation, and explained how real humans react to technology. The book asserted that Mother Nature is the most sustainable environment. One thing that is consistent on this planet is evolution, and Mother Nature has always adapted to those changes. The same could be applied to technology in the modern era, as it isn’t going away, it’s only going to evolve. This past May, I had the pleasure of participating in The New York Times’ Debate at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where I got to argue against the metaverse being an “opium of the people’’ in the making. Thomas Friedman was the moderator, and it was great interacting with him in person.

Is there a particular story that inspired you to pursue a career in the X Reality industry? We’d love to hear it.

My journey to Environments was inspired in part by my experiences with my daughter, whose illness left her disconnected from her friends and classmates. I saw the need in real-time for her to digitally connect with her teachers and classmates, but also to create a space that she would be safe in. On a larger scale, I saw that this applied to the workplace — both during the pandemic and beyond. When in the physical office, occupants should feel comfortable, safe, and confident that they are breathing clean air, drinking clean water, working on disinfected surfaces, etc. And when they are out of the office, they should be able to connect with their coworkers as seamlessly as if they were right next to them, for the sake of both productivity and happiness. And so, the idea for Environments was born.

I believe over the next ten years, companies who choose to integrate the metaverse, embracing its value, will see great success. With the societal changes brought on by COVID-19, many workers realized they don’t need to be solely dependent on the physical workplace anymore.

The metaverse is being increasingly adopted in the workplace, but will continue to evolve over the next decade. Because the metaverse is relatively new to employees, businesses are having their virtual office completely mirror their physical office to make it more familiar and to get more buy-in from employees who may have initial skepticism. This allows employees and leaders to not only see what’s happening in their offices but communicate with those in-person or working from home. Looking ahead to 2030, mimicking the “real” office won’t be necessary because people will have already adjusted to the metaverse. The metaverse office will be seen as an extension of the physical office and will be its own environment, eventually eliminating the need for a digital twin.

With Environments, I’ve made it my mission to create healthy and human-centric spaces that operate with intuitive compassion to keep people well, and I’m excited about the potential next-gen technology can offer to achieve that.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this fascinating career?

The most interesting thing that has happened to me since beginning my career in technology is getting to participate in The New York Times 2022 World Economic Forum debate, arguing against the metaverse being the “opium of the masses” in the making. It was quite fun getting to discuss the science behind human touch and how important it is when it comes to stimulating the production of the body’s natural opiate receptors. I loved getting to meet other leaders in the space as well.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When renovating our office, we decided the best way to understand the market was to upgrade the control system ourselves. We purposefully ordered a control system we didn’t have experience with, and didn’t know how to program. Now that was a learning experience. We learned how to manipulate firmware on electronics, how to write our own software, and what it took to successfully tie it into our other building systems, creating a seamless digital system in the universe that can mimic the actions of the metaverse. We gained a new perspective on what our clients go through and we are so grateful to see integration through a new lens.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

My grandfather Russell set a wonderful example and, in many ways, set the trajectory for my career and business. A commercial duck farmer, he taught me so much about leadership and ethics. My grandfather lived with so much passion for his craft, traveling often to Hong Kong to study the best duck-farming practices. He was truly a leader ahead of his time, and I am thankful for the example he set.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Environments is on the precipice of launching a metaverse offering where companies of all kinds will be able to better communicate and collaborate. This will be a holistic toolkit that will create better outcomes for business, people, and the planet.

Integrating the metaverse into a company’s infrastructure streamlines employees’ ability to stay connected without having to step foot inside the building unless they want to. Now, workers may choose to work from the office, work from home, or work in the metaverse, working remotely but still maintaining the physical and interpersonal sense of an office. The metaverse creates an inclusive environment where employees of all needs and work styles can equally interact at the workplace, wherever that may be.

When in the physical office, occupants should feel comfortable, safe, and confident that they are breathing clean air, drinking clean water, working on disinfected surfaces, etc. And when they are out of the office, they should be able to connect with their coworkers as seamlessly as if they were right next to them, for the sake of both productivity and happiness.

Amid the pandemic, many companies thought the physical office might be a place of the past, but the hybrid workplace is being solidified as the work style of the future. While the future is not certain, one thing is: there will be an office for many businesses, especially given the advent of the metaverse.

At Environments, we always implement and interact with technology ourselves before promoting it to our customers. This is a really exciting way for our teams to test new technologies and abilities, then offer the best of the best to our clients. It’s important to us that as a tech company, we’re confident in our offerings. As such, the onus is on us to troubleshoot and identify ways in which we can improve how we interact with the metaverse.

Ok super. Thank you for all that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. The VR, AR and MR industries seem so exciting right now. What are the 3 things in particular that most excite you about the industry? Can you explain or give an example?

1. Workplace of the Future: The metaverse in the workplace allows employees and leaders to not only see what’s happening in their offices but enjoy genuine interactions with one another regardless of physical locations or limitations. We think the metaverse has the potential to eventually replace video conferencing and perhaps even internal emails and chats.
2. Evolution of the Design Showroom: Lighting and design product companies now have more ways to optimize how they show off samples. Sales teams can present products to potential clients all from their laptops on the metaverse. This will not only save money on production for sales samples, but also really optimize showing how the product could potentially be seen or used in the desired space.
3. Merging Digital and Physical Environments: Our ultimate goal with the metaverse is to offer a solution that intuitively connects and blends digital and physical worlds. We are designing ways to bring metaverse assets and connections right into physical spaces for a seamless way to work, from analytics and controls to interpersonal interactions.

What are the 3 things that concern you about the VR, AR and MR industries? Can you explain? What can be done to address those concerns?

• Privacy: There are concerns that the metaverse in a work environment opens employees up to constant scrutiny from leadership. This isn’t the case if business leaders cultivate an environment that makes employees feel safe and supported. Once the culture is put into place, employees feel more comfortable operating as normal. Employee information should be and can be kept safely within their current working organization, reserved only for appropriate and fair use. The metaverse is capable of marrying privacy and cutting-edge functionality, catering still to every business’ needs.
• Security: When people think of the metaverse, they think about an open, expansive place that completely mimics the “real” world, but it’s not explicitly the same, especially in a workplace context. That being said, companies do need to keep biomarkers and personal identifiable information anonymous and enlist access policies, geofencing, VPNs and two factor authentication to ensure that their virtual work environment is secure. Companies should already have a dedicated person or team with security at the top of their mind. If not, a security and privacy expert would be a great addition to any company considering or designing a metaverse environment.
• Cultivating buy-in from employees: Remote work can create isolation between teams. This inherent siloed structure has resulted in a decrease of information sharing between groups, leading to less innovation and more confusion. A successful experience with the metaverse begins with a healthy relationship and trust between employers and employees. While some employees may be hesitant to adopt the metaverse at first, it’s important companies develop transparent and informational training sessions to gain the buy-in that is so important for this technology.

I think the entertainment aspects of VR, AR and MR are apparent. Can you share with our readers how these industries can help us at work?

As we approach year three of the hybrid work era, one obstacle is still present: the lack of collaboration and mentorship. If the office is good for one thing, it’s having easy access to co-workers to talk about ideas or challenges a worker is facing. Environments calculated that the pandemic cost them 10% in lost ability to collaborate during the pandemic. To solve this challenge, Environments is in the process of onboarding their team into the metaverse. I believe the return on investment onboarding team members will pay for itself in less than a year, without employees having to return to the office. By using the metaverse to increase collaboration and will lead to higher happiness and productivity.

The metaverse also allows for increased employee engagement, ease of communication, time for post- and pre-meeting decompression, and a more immersive work culture (without being too immersed).

The need for the physical office will never go away, but a digital alternative to video conferencing via the metaverse is necessary. A physical component, a digital component, and a backbone powered by analytics are all components needed in the future of the workplace.

Are there other ways that VR, AR and MR can improve our lives? Can you explain?

• Healthcare: Nurses and patients could better track where doctors are in their rounds and identify where in a hospital their much-needed equipment may be located. More sophisticated technology can allow for even more healthcare workers to work remotely and conduct more successful telehealth appointments.
• Retail: Retail stores could use heat mapping technology to show company leadership which sections of their stores have the most foot traffic. For example, a store could utilize this technology to determine that men’s accessories has the most traffic in the store, and men’s shoes has the least. The technology then alerts the business to investigate the underperformance of the men’s shoes department and make adjustments to improve shopper experience.
• Education: A metaverse-enabled educational environment not only enables students with different needs to learn the same material from anywhere, but it also offers the opportunity for an immersive learning experience. Think The Magic School Bus coming to life; the opportunities are endless when it comes to the hands-on learning capabilities the metaverse brings to education.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about working in your industry? Can you explain what you mean?

The metaverse isn’t just a flashy technology. It can truly help people and affect lives in a positive way. Many people associate the metaverse with the use of AR/VR technology, but headsets and glasses aren’t essential to the full metaverse experience, especially in workplace settings.

What are your “5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career In The VR, AR or MR Industries?”

There are many important elements and building blocks for a successful career in these industries, but a few are crucial:

• Persistence: As these industries grow, develop, and pave new possibilities, our companies must be prepared and willing to do the same. Those in the industry must be ready to come back stronger after every lesson or hurdle.
• Optimism: Embrace the most exciting parts of the learning and development process. Keep sight of your mission and lean into that motivation when you need it most. Set your eyes on what’s possible for the future of your industry, and don’t be afraid to make even bigger goals.
• Feedback: While developing a solution or cultivating a career in the VR, AR, or MR industries, remember to seek new perspectives and information. Feedback from within and outside of your immediate team will help you to learn, adjust, and find new opportunities to deliver the best results.
• Supportive and Flexible: Your infrastructure is a crucial part of your trajectory. Understand that while harnessing your existing infrastructure is essential, you may need to hire vendors and personnel to help with things like programming.
• Optimization: Ensure that your product or solution can be optimized for several different sectors. Aim to optimize income from accounting all the way to marketing, touching every section of a business balance sheet.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

With the ability to share the physical office with remote workers, the metaverse is becoming a valuable tool for businesses to connect all employees and increase collaboration, accessibility, and communication. The most competitive offices of the future will feature well-connected digital and physical assets. That being said, I would inspire a movement to create a “responsible” metaverse. Science dictates that touch has been shown to stimulate the production of the body’s natural opiate receptors and cause the brain to release oxytocin. Recent evidence indicates that dysfunction of the oxytocin system could underlie the pathogenesis of heart disease and diabetes. With this in mind, a fully immersive, all-consuming metaverse could potentially be detrimental to the human race. This is why it’s vital that business leaders approach the metaverse from a scientific, compassionate standpoint. I am passionate about approaching the metaverse in a humane, socially sustainable way, while exploring what the workplace of the future will look like and how the metaverse could contribute to a healthier work/life balance.

We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂

Melinda Gates. I am forever inspired by her initiative and her mission to prove that women indeed have a seat at the tech industry’s table. She truly believes in designing a better world for tomorrow, and her example has guided much of my own decision-making as Environments moves forward with our software.

Thank you so much for these excellent stories and insights. We wish you continued success on your great work!

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Makers of The Metaverse: Erin McDannald Of Lighting Environments On The Future Of The VR, AR &… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Diversity is good for business because it enables equality of opportunity. As society becomes more diverse, workplaces that reflect it will reap the benefits of increased collaboration, innovation, creativity, and productivity.

As a part of our series about “How Diversity Can Increase a Company’s Bottom Line”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jen Patterson.

Jen Patterson is an experienced HR leader and business consultant in the Human Resources industry for 20+ years. From talent development to executive leadership, Jen has experience creating workplace cultures centered on putting people first, working with clients to identify gaps in their HR programs, and creating talent and succession planning and retention strategies.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive into the main part of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you share a bit of your “backstory” with us?

I started Patterson Consulting Group in 2021 to help companies learn how to engage their employees through creating cultures where people want to come to work and know their company understands their value. Our team works with companies with HR strategies, programs, and plans to help companies enhance their HR team and humanize their workplace.

Before starting Patterson Consulting Group, I worked at a large book wholesaler for six years and held a dual title of CHRO and CXO and oversaw more than 250 people, and was directly responsible for HR, Sales, Marketing, and Products. I’ve also worked for Gap, Inc., and Limited, Inc., where I was a district trainer that coached leadership on employee engagement, created labor management strategies and assisted with managing low-performing stores.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? Can you tell us the lesson or take away, you took out of that story?

When I was coaching a new leader early in my career, it became clear that they were not invested in their role. Sadly, I had to let them go because of poor performance and lack of activity on the job. However, let’s fast-forward to meeting up again 5+years later! The individual reached out to me with thanks for being honest about expectations from day one, as well as accountability. That moment of responsibility and honesty propelled them to make some changes personally and professionally. They are now thriving in their career and credit that uncomfortable moment as why they grew as a leader.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you tell us a story about how that was relevant in your own life?

One of my favorite quotes from Simon Sinek is, “Managers work to see numbers grow. Leaders work to see people grow”. I love this quote because it embodies an important life lesson that I have learned through my experience leading people. This perspective has been incredibly helpful to me in my journey as a leader, and I am excited to share it with others.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are?

It all started with a wonderful woman, my former boss. She taught me to put people first, and that’s where my passion for being a great leader stems. I would not be here if it weren’t for this incredible leader who dedicated so much time teaching her team about leadership skills, which inspired yours truly to become an even better person than before!

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

PCG is all about putting people first! We help leaders drive business through people by supporting them with the resources they need to succeed. We’re excited to be able to offer our clients the best possible service and help them achieve their goals. We implemented an employee engagement program with a large client. The program was successful in increasing retention by 25%. We’re excited about the program’s positive results and the difference it’s made for their employees and the bottom line.

Are you working on any new or exciting projects now? How do you think that might help people?

We’re lucky to have helped a client with over 10,000 employees in the US. We are developing programs that will put people first and prioritize their development by helping managers lead through organizational values while also working on an onboarding process for new hires who need help adjusting to their workplace culture — and finally, we developed a talent management system so they can identify their top performers easier than ever before!

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

PCG is committed to spreading goodness throughout all of the work we do with clients. We also often volunteer or make donations in support of charities that are important to our team or clients, ensuring a positive impact on those around us as well!

Ok. Thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the main part of our interview. This may be obvious to you, but it is not intuitive to many people. Can you articulate to our readers five ways that increased diversity can help a company’s bottom line.

Diversity is good for business because it enables equality of opportunity. As society becomes more diverse, workplaces that reflect it will reap the benefits of increased collaboration, innovation, creativity, and productivity.

Diversity strengthens leadership accountability and capabilities. When leaders are held accountable to diverse employees, they must be more aware of their actions and words. They must also be competent in communicating with and relating to people from different backgrounds so companies can conduct diversity training with leaders and managers. I have seen this lead to better decision-making and overall improved business outcomes.

To have a truly diverse workforce, employees must feel safe and valued in the workplace. They need to know that they are included regardless of their differences, so when businesses embrace diversity and inclusion, they create a clear advantage in the workplace. Companies should create an inclusion council or group to meet to plan diverse events and celebrations and discuss strategies to increase diversity in their company.

Mentorship programs are an excellent opportunity to provide employees the opportunity to spend time with leaders they might work with and interact with regularly. Additionally, have events and opportunities for conversation between departments and teams to help spur creativity and connection. Diverse conversation is valuable and brings together employees with multiple experiences and perspectives. I’ve seen teams approach a project differently after having discussions with other, more diverse departments.

By ensuring that their workforce reflects the changing demographics of society, companies can reap the rewards of a more productive, innovative, and collaborative team. So, if you want to improve a business’s bottom line, start implementing diversity and inclusion initiatives!

What advice would you give to other business leaders to help their employees to thrive?

Company culture is one of the most critical factors contributing to a positive, thriving employee experience. A company with a strong culture will have staff who feel like they belong and are aligned with the organization’s values.

A positive work environment is another important factor in creating a great employee experience. Staff who feel happy and comfortable at work are more likely to be productive and satisfied with their job. You can do many things to create a positive work environment, such as providing flexible working arrangements, promoting teamwork, and encouraging open communication.

What advice would you give to other business leaders about how to manage a large team?

Leaders of large teams must take the time to create a positive employee experience by offering opportunities for growth and development, providing feedback, and recognizing employee contributions.

While leaders must ensure their recognition is meaningful, they can also encourage employees to recognize each other. This can be done through formal programs or simply by creating an environment where employees feel comfortable acknowledging and thanking each other for a job well done.

Leaders should also set realistic goals. Make sure your goals are achievable so your employees can feel successful in meeting them. If unrealistic goals are set for a team, they can quickly become discouraged.

Lastly, lead by example. Show your employees that you are motivated and committed to doing your best, and they will follow suit. Just because you manage a large team doesn’t mean you don’t set the tone for the team.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Feel free to visit our website and social channels, read our blog, and reach out to us online if you have any questions.

Thank you for these excellent insights. We wish you continued success in your great work.

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Jen Patterson Of Patterson Consulting Group On Why Diversity Is Good For Business was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

“Commit yourself and then figure it out”. It was the advice from Bob Jenkins (LBS) and it basically means that you need to feel comfortable with the unknown or else you will never start the quest.

As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sergio Álvarez Teleña.

Before founding SciTheWorld Group, a start-up focused on algorithmic end-to-end technology and algorithmic research where he is Chief Innovation Officer, Sergio Álvarez Teleña was Global Head of Data Science and also Global Head of Algorithmic Trading at BBVA. More recently, Sergio has been appointed by the Spanish Ministry of Economy as an expert on AI Innovation & Marketing to the OECD-based Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) and he is a vocal member of the Spanish group of the forthcoming ISO on A.I. and Big Data.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I come from a humble origin in a sea-side town from the North of Spain, Gijón. Rough, but I loved it there. I actually was a cabinet maker back then (working at my father’s workshop) but I was also good at studying. As such, I had the chance to enter the Master of Bank of Spain with a fellowship. So I moved to Madrid.

After finishing the fellowship, I moved to Japan to study the role of bots in Finance (Kyoto University). It sounds great today but it looked like a crazy move back in 2005. While in Japan I understood they were very advanced in industrial robotics in terms of automation not in terms of thinking. In fact, the “intelligent” part was only industrially unlocked in the 2010s, after big data brought the right infrastructure.

I then went back to Madrid and worked for Santander — fixed income with exotic coupons. We did so well that I was called by a former employee to join him at Morgan Stanley’s equity trading — custom baskets. We quadrupled P&L before Lehman’s collapse. The opportunity cost of leaving the industry fell massively and I went back to academia. Again focusing on bots in finance. Interestingly enough 2009 was a completely different landscape — the explosion of big data and open source had triggered the possibility to apply science at a completely new rate. Lucky for me, the UK Doctoral Training Centre for Financial Computing (UCL, LSE, LBS) was just starting so I joined the first cohort. I was able to get Renaissance Technologies’ CEO in Europe to be my industry supervisor for the MRes and PhD Thesis. So I enjoyed a highly steepened learning curve.

After finishing my MRes, I received offers from some of the best hedge funds in the world; but, I wanted to have more than a job. I wanted to transform a company. BBVA asked me to join as an equity trader and, looking crazy to the eyes of many again, I agreed to join. The transformational experience was awesome. If traders are typically aggressive at work, you can only imagine how much they are when it comes to their change resistance. I loved it, and as I didn’t plan to spend the rest of my career there, when they weren’t ready for the amount of professional risk I was willing to take to push the frontier forward I moved on.

That was the early-mid 2010s where, again, transformation wasn’t really a thing yet. I managed to pivot upon a few smart senior managers (very especially, the Global Head of Markets, Toño Ordás, as well as two senior managers Fran Clavero and Julio Sobremazas) and eventually, we got the prize for the best trading platform in Europe. That proved my point both professionally and academically: “the Machine in Machine Learning” (the M in ML) is the real product — pretty much what Elon Musk calls nowadays “The factory is the product”.

Meanwhile, the Thesis got several recognitions; it became the backbone of an early book on algo trading upon it (2012); it introduced “Avatar Calibration” technology very much in vogue nowadays due to the metaverses…

I soon left BBVA to build SciTheWorld. Then I was called back to help at a key phase and became Head of Global Data Science for almost a year before I finally left for real. At SciTheWorld we spent 6 years evolving the M in ML and became pioneers of several things, amongst them, Federated Algorithmics. We work for some of the most relevant players out there — from SMEs to hedge funds and national entities.

So — and sorry for the long intro — if you asked what led to my particular career path, I would always say the same: humble origins in a great town where I couldn’t really develop my career. The humble side makes me value any economic outcome positively hence, I ‘ve always been more willing to take risks than most of my colleagues. The fact that I already had to leave my city, my folks, meant that I was already out of my comfort zone, so I had the whole world to recycle if things went wrong — not just one city, one culture.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

When it comes to disruption, I like conveying a warning first: disruption sounds great but, commercially, it is a burden. In order to sell, you rather go down the path of incremental innovation.

So, why do we still go for disruption, then? Well, when it comes to technology it all boils down to legacies. If you create your company technologically wrong you will definitely suffer. A lot. If you do it right, though, it can definitely become your major competitive advantage out there. We used to say that we focus on the M in ML (the Machine in Machine Learning). But Elon Musk is lately saying it more eloquently: the factory is the product. So, to get the product right, you need to get your factory right. We spent 6 years developing ours as we wanted it to be very special.

Special in what sense? Synergies. There’s a lot of people talking about exponential technologies but they mostly refer to selling the same to more and more people. That’s ok. But that’s not awesome. And definitely not the backbone of the whole exponential concept in Microeconomics. Exponential has much more to do with the way a company is structured. In our case we create algorithmic technology that can reach all departments (E2E) and thus, it unlocks incremental innovations that couldn’t have been done before. For that we often have to create extended production architectures (EPAs).

So the technology is disruptive itself (barrier to entry to our competitors) and generates unseen incremental innovation. That side is the commercial one. The way we have to avoid the aforementioned burden that kills many innovative companies — none of the companies we considered peers when we started are still open.

So, we create disruptive technology development towards incremental innovation sales. Don’t we sell disruption as well? Of course we do. And it’s the funniest part, actually. As of now, we are pioneers of several disruptive things. Let me give you 3 examples.

In finance, we have one of the most efficient platforms for algo trading. That’s great but not disruptive — it was the top end hedge funds like Renaissance Technologies who disrupted the industry. But, since we started with less legacies than most agents in the markets, we can reach levels of E2E coordination not known before. For instance, we can let the risk department track the behavior of live trading strategies and, if they find one that is misbehaving, launch a new strategy that travels within the platform and clicks itself to the trader’s one to take over. We use it as a trigger for discussion at sessions with the managers of the risk departments in energy across Europe.

In companies, what we do is Algorithmization. We take them from a digital stage and create new on-platform protocols, E2E, for every employee to start cooperating. As said, we often provide them with EPAs to break silos maximally so that departments become horizontals rather than verticals. Where is the disruption here? Augmented Machines. Along the process we give new roles to the experts in order to help the machines overcome their limitations in novel ways. Once the change resistance is properly managed, the company flows at a completely different speed.

Across companies, what we do is Federated Algorithmics. From the beginning of those 6 years of development we were also obsessed with IP protection towards open industries — the stage where partnerships across players becomes their new competitive advantage.

Many people were impressed with the fact that we had Avatar Calibration technology already 10 years ago when metaverses are starting to grab everyone’s attention just now. But, to be honest, it is far too disruptive to keep evolving it just yet. So we are just waiting there.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I lost half a million dollars in a day. While I was working for Morgan Stanley there was this day when the father of all operational risks came to see me. I had this screen where I received trading orders (flow) from our clients through our sales. I took one of the orders and started trading it. A few minutes later someone from the sales department called me sort of embarrassed. He wasn’t too clear about what happened and simply said something like: “Hey, Serge, I have had an issue with my computer and I had to change something… do you see my order on the screen? Everything ok?”. And I said: “Sure mate, all is ok”. His trade was there, nothing had happened and I was trading accordingly.

But then, as time went by, I enjoyed a bit of coffee, a chit-chat here and there with my colleagues.. I realized something’s wrong. I thought, ‘too low flow’. So I checked “what’s going on today with the flow, mates?”. And the answer from my boss, Matthew Tagliani, great professional, was something like “nothing, just you being a bit lazy today, probably”. What? Lazy? I worked crazily — we were already more than doubling the P&L from the previous year. So I checked and, to my surprise, that screen for flows was frozen from the early morning. Once sorted I saw I was losing money but didn’t quite manage to figure it out as I had to catch up with the activity. I kept losing money until I raised my hand for Matt’s help. After the markets closed we found out — the fuzzy action from the sales was that he changed its side! I was buying when I should be selling. And his client was right so my deviation made me lose a lot of money. Matt’s boss, Geoff Craig, wasn’t too happy with my loss, obviously. But none had the courage to say I was an idiot. First, because operational risk is the worst of them all. And second, because within months I already had proved my value in the firm. So, guess what, instead of being sad and worried at home that night we went out for dinner to celebrate that it happened at that confident stage.

Now, going back to the disruptions I mentioned earlier you can understand why SciTheWorld has these algorithmic strategies for the risk department. Because machines should be helping traders avoid operational risk in a systematic manner.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

Mentors are very much in vogue nowadays. I love it. I looked for them for many years until I realized that I had already developed my career without them. It’s a bit sad when you have to fight your way through alone but that’s life, I guess. And further, it actually means you are autonomous, robust. So, my hats off to all the readers who haven’t had a mentor in their careers.

That said, I have had a lot of quasi-mentors. People from whom you learn how to work, how to think, how to react… I keep learning from a lot of interesting people — whether nice or rough, by the way. Amongst those I can proudly name Antonio Álvarez Pinilla and Maria Victoria Rodriguez Uría (from uni), Adolfo Lagos and Giso Van Loon (from Santander), Matthew Tagliani (from Morgan Stanley), Philip Treleaven and Stefano Russo (from my PhD Thesis — UCL and Renaissance Technologies), Enrique V. Iglesias (from IDB), and Ismael Fernández Viña, Ivan Gonzalez Lago and Eduardo Álvarez (from Principado de Asturias). Interestingly enough, one of the persons included in this (incomplete) list was fairly rough with me while I was a junior. But I still learned a lot from him. It is important to distinguish quasi-mentor from friend.

Of course, now I try to be a mentor to our employees at SciTheWorld and a quasi-mentor to PhD students who approach me seeking advice. I think it is crucial as a society that we detect and boost talent so that we can move forward.

But let me finish with the same message: it’s ok if you don’t have a mentor. You’ll have a rougher career, that’s for sure, but a freer one as well. And freedom is key in optimization.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

As said, disruption is a commercial burden. Most of the things that are pitched within the disruption halo are mere incremental innovation. But, ok, let’s dig a little and see what’s good about it and what’s wrong.

There are many dimensions to be disruptive but let’s focus on the main two: your factory and your product. Being disruptive in the latter is the troublesome side pointed out before. Being disruptive in the former is where the competitive advantage lies. And that’s utterly good.

When you run your company like no other competitor you can start building competitive advantages upon competitive advantages — another dimension of exponential. At that very moment you can keep unlocking products and internal best practices like no one else in the market. For instance, that’s why we can create tactical technology so fast upon our platform or why we can go beyond the state-of-the-art in algorithmic risk management, etc.

But there is one thing to take into account: industry secrecy. Do you want to disrupt the industry by saying out loud what you are doing differently? Well, not always. In our case, we are keeping to ourselves other disruptions. Those that are key, those that allow us to likely have the fastest turnaround time on advanced algo tech projects. Actually, not only advanced but also ad-hoc, which is quite a feature.

Can you share five of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

One: “Double-check, triple-check, quadruple-check”. It was the advice from Matt Tagliani (Morgan Stanley) when it came to trading. It has to do with operational risk — when you are dealing with so much money in the markets you cannot allow yourself to be wrong. As stated from my previous anecdote, operational risk finds its way through…

Two: “Commit yourself and then figure it out”. It was the advice from Bob Jenkins (LBS) and it basically means that you need to feel comfortable with the unknown or else you will never start the quest.

Three: “Go big or don’t bother”. Philip Treleaven (UCL) is one of the most ambitious professionals within academia I have ever met. When I thought I was smart leaving the industry after Lehman to retake the research of bots in Finance he had already convinced the Government to put significant money on the UK DTC for Financial Computing & Analytics.

Four: “Listen to all parties”. When it comes to change resistance I never pontificate, I use Enrique V. Iglesias’ (IDB) advice on how to deal with a lot of stakeholders, each one with her own reality.

Five: “Maximization is smart. Optimization, an art”. There is a massive difference between what one wants to achieve and what one can achieve. The latter is bounded by the realistic bit — it is the difference between ideal and optimal. Marta Díez-Fernández (SciTheWorld) always says that if you get your client to understand it, significant impact is just round the corner.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

We have spent the last 6 years developing our factory, our M in ML. Not only are we not done, we are just at the beginning of the journey. A very special one as we have quite an asset to leverage.

We’ve just moved from SciTheWorld to SciTheWorld Group. Why? We want to keep SciTheWorld as a Centre of Excellence while having every business that we are going to develop isolatedly in terms of resources — laser-focused companies are regrettably optimal given how the markets are structured. It is not ideal but it is optimal.

So, innovation will belong to the group and the development will be done by our data engineering/science arm, 41OPS. The algorithmic technology (EPAs and the likes) will be sold by another company, we internally call it 41TEC, and we will be creating a number of spin-outs like robot advisors or agro strategies, through joint ventures (as said, we love the idea of open industries) or, directly, new startups (whenever we find one suited for our employees to grow as entrepreneurs themselves). The most important bit — we are not rushing. Rush never helps and we have nurtured our company in a way so that we can play the long-run game.

Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?

When it comes to books, I wish I could say one related to trading or AI — it would be easier to explain. But I can’t. Because, by far, the one that has resonated the most in my life has been the Tao Tse Ching from Lao Tsé. It is a very open set of ideas posed as food for thought. Love it. Got me thinking a lot while I was a teenager. My Twitter account is somehow similar — it is mostly thought of as a database of ideas for my kids rather than marketing. I wish it will serve me to have discussions with them around relevant things that I have learned along life. Again, open — food for thought rather than daddy’s pontification.

When it comes to talks, honestly, I would go for the commercial pitch of Renaissance Technologies. That’s the one that got me thinking that the M, the factory, is the most relevant bit…

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Very interesting. Ok, here I would have to tell you about a couple of my tattoos. I have some that are for me because I like them. And, again, some for my kids. So that they keep thinking. So I picked two that are relevant as life lessons.

First, a sentence: “I sometimes reach but I always try”. I’ve reached a lot in life. But I have tried a lot — again, as said, because I had more freedom than most of my peers to take risks, and that allowed me to have very unique training, basically. So, not succeeding is just part of the process. In fact, here I am, writing about what we are doing and what we are going to do and knowing that part of that plan won’t happen and that, on top, I can become massively successful or ask you for a job in 5 years time. And… so what? Surely I will have quite a ride on this thing called life.

Second, I have a diagram that summarises my career. Basically, an arrow from Zero(i) to Hero(i), meaning that you have to give your best in any field in order to reach the top. Not too interesting yet. But then, I have i++ and another arrow from Hero(i) to Zero(i). And that’s the beauty. I have seen very few people leaving the comfort zone of the Hero in a field, i, to explore new fields, i++, where they have to be, again, the sloppy junior, the no one cares about, the one without a network, without credibility… But then, as said, you give your best and move to Hero. And that’s how you become “wise”. People confuse it with “genius”. Because you are robust to the learning process and you have state-of-the-art judgement across fields. And that allows you to propose new processes, whether disruptive or incremental innovation, in a very realistic way. You unlock innovation at ease.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Always meritocracy. My book starts with a sentence: “If there was more meritocracy, there would be less crises”. Love it. Big believer whenever we define meritocracy as achievements per unit of opportunities.

Very idealistic though so… let me be more practical here. If I had enough influence I would inspire people to recycle themselves — which requires employers acceptance of recycled profiles. I am a great use case for the fact that you can get anywhere if you commit enough. It seems rough, yes, but it is not so much. As said, I am not a genius, I am a very well trained individual, and/because I’ve achieved a lot — note the beauty of the and/because. The thing is, everyone can do it.

In fact, now that I reflect on it, I don’t think I need to go deeper on it now, after all the insightful questions that you have asked. Probably, the reader has even figured it out by herself already. Basically, it is all the same hence, one could simply say that: “my career path is my factory hence, my product”. I’ve focused on it in an abstract manner rather than on any position in isolation. As a result, my value add at any job has been a mere instance of my cross-fields abstract experience.

How can our readers follow you online?

If they are professionals, through my LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scitheworld/

If they are my kids, through Twitter: @satelena (warning: Spanglish!)

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

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Meet The Disruptors: Sergio Álvarez Teleña On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Choose teammates by skill, not their resume — an impressive resume does not mean that a person will be a great fit for your company. What you really need are outstanding skills and even better characters.

As a part of our series called “Making Something From Nothing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jurica Barac.

Jurica Barac is the Chief Executive Officer at HIGHLANDER, known as the ultimate hiking event and adventure of a lifetime. Jurica built the HIGHLANDER team from the ground up, while establishing the national face of the global brand and its business, and now further expanding the adventure on a global scale. With Jurica’s guidance and leadership, people of all ages can venture on trails while being immersed to beautiful scenery and the most breathtaking views during their experiences. Before devoting his work fulltime to HIGHLANDER, Jurica worked at Red Bull for six years as their Country Sports Manager, responsible for all strategic operations for national athletes and the event program. Additionally, Jurica was a professional cyclist for almost 10 years, where he was able to explore the world and experience thrilling adventures and the world’s natural beauty — which then inspired his philosophy behind the HIGHLANDER brand. Born and raised in Croatia Europe, Jurica studied Economics and graduated from COTRUGLI Business School with an Executive MBA. On his spare time, Jurica enjoys traveling, adventures, and connecting with new people along each of his journeys.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?

I was born in the ’80s in the middle of the Croatian War for Independence. During that time, my hometown, Osijek, was constantly under attack. This was a very difficult time for my family and I, we had to sleep in the basement to protect ourselves from shelling’s during the night; but, together we got through it and I’m so grateful the war ended and I was lucky enough to have a ‘normal’ childhood.

After the war, my friends organized a post-war BMX and skate club for the whole region, and I found myself falling in love with extreme sports. Next thing I knew, I became a professional BMX rider. I saw it as an opportunity, and the only way to get out of the challenging post-war situation. I became a pro athlete for Red Bull and met amazing people who helped opened doors for me, and I learned how to fight for my dreams. Today, I’m still fighting hard, but to achieve a new dream: helping people around the world improve their lives through long-distance hiking by expanding HIGHLANDER around the globe — and I’m lucky to have amazing friends and an amazing team by my side, which makes all the difference.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

I like karma, so my favorite quote is, ‘what goes around comes around’. This quote taught me that there are no shortcuts in life and life’s energy is like a boomerang — throw it in a good way, and it will come back more powerful and better to you — and the same goes for the opposite direction. I am always positive and I think of the world as a good place with good people, and good things always happen to me. Every time I help someone, I receive help in return that is ten times greater. I’m also trying to learn more from my older friends, because their wisdom truly guides me through life.

Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

There are plenty of great books and movies, but if I have to choose, it would be the book Spartan Up!, written by one of HIGHLANDER’s investors and my friend, Joe De Sena, Founder and CEO of Spartan Race.

It’s about how you can change your frame of reference to improve your life. The book discusses how we have become too soft, nervous, picky, and impatient because of the “easy“ lives we are living today in comparison to the past. We are simply too used to receiving instant gratification. This book teaches you about how challenges can help you to become a stronger person, and can make going through life’s future challenges much easier. You have to challenge your mind from time to time — and I love it! The book resonated with me so much because it teaches the same ideals that I’ve dedicated my life to sharing with others, in an effort to help improve their lives. Being out on a mountain encourages the same mindset the book talks about. Through HIGHLANDER, when you’re experiencing nature while away from society, away from electronics, away from work and distractions, you realize you do not need ten pairs of shoes, you appreciate a warm shower and cozy bed. When you remind yourself about all the great things you have, and you shift your mindset, life becomes better and better.

There is no shortage of good ideas out there — but people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. Can you share a few ideas from your experience about how to overcome this challenge?

I think that if you have a passion for something and really want to do it — you need to sit, craft a plan and jump right into the water. It is really about commitment and starting your plan. It will be hard, and results will take time, but it’ll be well worth it in the end. It’s like when you start going to the gym and the first month is super tough and you may not initially see significant progress, but suddenly there’s a huge difference the next month. It’s good to take advice from intelligent people, but your final decisions must be based on your own gut feeling. Nobody can live your dream better than you.

Often when people think of a new idea, they dismiss it saying someone else must have thought of it before. How would you recommend that someone go about researching whether or not their idea has already been created?

In my opinion, it’s more about how you want to do it than just the idea itself. There are plenty of similar ideas and concepts, but there has to be strong commitment, passion, vision, and energy to make it work or make it better. There is always room for something better, so simply do it. Great people have built MySpace, and then a few years later — Facebook was created with a different approach, and look at where they are today.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started Leading My Company” and why?

1. Trust your instincts. Even if you’re young and not as experienced as others may be, it’s your company and your vision, so go with your gut. I made several big mistakes because I didn’t listen to my gut. These decisions weren’t the right moves to make, but I listened to other colleagues’ opinions who were older and more experienced than I was at the time, and I ended up making the wrong decision.
2. Make sure you establish clear expectations on all sides. I always try to address expectations upfront — and if I don’t, I find myself facing more challenges and complications later on.
3. Never bid, always make win-win situations when doing business. Business is about creating value for all parties and for yourself. There is no good business if you’re the only one benefiting from it. This is my number one rule. When the COVID pandemic first hit, my business was saved and even prospered because I never bid — I was always looking for my partners to be happy as well.
4. Spend more time planning, and plan ahead for the long-term. Over the last 10 years, I learned that good planning, research, and reviewing your options could save your life. It will take more time, but you have more options later on.
5. Choose teammates by skill, not their resume — an impressive resume does not mean that a person will be a great fit for your company. What you really need are outstanding skills and even better characters.

Let’s imagine that a reader reading this interview has an idea for a product or company that they would like to invent. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?

Put everything on paper, make plans, calculations, SWOT analysis, think about risks and solutions, think about the steps you will take — do everything in your power to be prepared for anything, and jump in the water. And of course, secure the trademark.

What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?

I think a combination of the two is the winner. You start with what you have and create value. In the beginning, my friends helped me a lot in this aspect. Also, choose strategic partners who can foster the business, and that help you to prosper together. Once the business is big, good investments from VC’s could be the next logical step, if it would benefit all parties. I always want my partners to be happy, which in return — makes me happy too.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

By dedicating my life to launching HIGHLANDER events around the world, with the mission to help people improve their lives through the benefits of long-distance hiking. I used to work for Red Bull, where I organized over 500 events, and I loved it because its my passion; however, I knew I needed to make a change. I liked my friend’s idea of organizing 5-day hiking adventures designed as outdoor festivals where people could go to recharge from the bustle of the city, rather than competing against one another. I liked it so much that I decided to organize it all around the world for people who need to refresh and motivate themselves to reconnect with nature. Our vision at HIGHLANDER is to make stronger and better people, and make the earth a better place for living.

If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

This is a perfect description of every HIGHLANDER event. We motivate people to climb out of their comfort zone, release stress, become more powerful and educate themself about sustainability and protection of mother nature.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

I would love to meet with Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, to hear his thoughts on HIGHLANDER and our mission. We share the same values, like respecting the planet, appreciating adventure and understanding the importance of disconnecting and spending time in nature, and I’d love to discuss potential synergy between our brands as HIGHLANDER continues to expand around the world.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

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Making Something From Nothing: Jurica Barac Of Highlander On How To Go From Idea To Launch was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Stay in touch with your current friends. It’s natural that you may lose some friends. Maintain as many of your good relationships as you can. Divorce requires starting over in many ways, but that doesn’t mean you have to start over from absolute ground zero.

As part of our series about the “5 Things You Need To Know To Survive And Thrive After A Divorce Or Breakup” I had the pleasure of interviewing Jennifer Perri.

Jennifer is a coach, consultant and mentor and has helped hundreds of women manage their toughest seasons victoriously: divorce, loss of a spouse, career transitions, and retirement. She has spent over 20 years equipping and empowering women to live financially fearless,embrace their true worth, and be the hero in their stories. Jennifer has been featured in the media as a thought leader, appearing in publications and on ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, Vanity Fair ( February 2022, Atlanta Woman Feature), The Tycoon Magazine, The Boston Globe, Newsweek, Fortune, and Forbes.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to ‘get to know you’. Can you tell us a bit about how you grew up?

Sure! I grew up in a small town, Eddystone, Pennsylvania, about twenty minutes outside of Philadelphia. I have an older brother, Joe, and was raised in a middle class family. My mom was in healthcare and my dad was in manufacturing.

Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Empowering women to transform their lives has been a lifelong passion of mine. I became a Divorce Coach because I have been through divorce myself and can relate to the challenges that come along with it. You feel helpless and alone and don’t know where to turn to get the help you need. We all know that it’s a legal process to get divorced, but what was missing, when I needed it, was someone to guide me on what to do next. That is why I have created a team of professionals, the Divorce Divas, as well as a divorce aftercare process, to help divorcees confidently walk into the next chapter of their lives.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?

I think the most interesting thing that I noticed is the assumption that women just glide through the divorce process and immediately know how to move on and what to do next. It couldn’t be further from the truth. I have helped hundreds of women navigate the divorce process and there has not been one of them who knew each and every “next move”. Divorcees get stuck at different stages in the recovery of their divorce. Whether it’s an emotional or financial hurdle, it’s not a smooth transition. It takes time, patience and finding the right people to help you move toward your new life.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I can’t really think of a funny mistake, but a funny story I can share. When I decided to create the Divorce Divas, a community of female experts who help women navigate divorce, I was sharing what I do with a colleague of mine. He was so impressed with what we had created and desperately wanted to be part of the group. I explained to him that the community we created was all female by design as most, if not all, of the women who come to work with us prefer to work with other women. He understood and jokingly stated that when we expanded the group to “Divorce Divas & Dudes”, he wanted to be first on the list to be contacted.

Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life or your work?

Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life or your work? My favorite quote is “ You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” C.S. Lewis. I love this quote because it teaches us that no matter where we start our life story, we can always change how it ends. Some of us have had pasts that have been filled with hurt, betrayal, abuse and poor choices. Our pasts don’t define us nor do they automatically dictate how our story ends. You hold the pen, you can write the ending however you want.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Yes, I am actually! I am officially launching my new coaching firm, Shero Coaching & Consulting. I also am releasing a new book, Quiet & Badass, and I am creating an online academy that will provide resources for people in the areas of money, mindset, personal empowerment and divorce. I think it will help to educate and empower people in areas of their lives that they might be struggling with. It’s often difficult for people to ask for help directly. The online academy will allow people to get information they want and need and work through it at their own pace, privately. It will also give them the opportunity to connect with me for 1:1 coaching and accountability partnerships.

Ok. Thank you for that. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. Can you tell us a bit about your experience going through a divorce, or helping someone who was going through a divorce? What did you learn about yourself during and after the experience? Do you feel comfortable sharing a story?

A divorce is one of the most stressful experiences anyone can face and radically changes a family if children are involved. There can be great financial pressure. Your self-esteem can take a hit. You might feel embarrassed. You might have a lot of doubt and fear regarding the future. It’s a lot to manage and overcome. When I went through divorce, I learned a lot about myself, my strength and my resilience. It certainly wasn’t easy, but I knew that my life was in my hands to make the most of it that I could. Life is about choices. You can choose to be bitter or make your circumstances better. You are 100% responsible for those decisions and how they shape the outcome of your life.

In your opinion, what are the most common mistakes people make after they go through a divorce? What can be done to avoid that?

The most common mistake I see women make after divorce is staying “stuck” in the trauma of the process. When you undo a marriage, there are many things that need to be addressed, some more timely than others. I meet women all the time that are just in a fog and don’t know how to move forward. It’s important to find someone who can encourage you to move forward and help you pick up the pieces.

People generally label “divorce” as being “negative”. And yes, while there are downsides, there can also be a lot of positive that comes out of it as well. What would you say that they are? Can you share an example or share a story?

The best part of a divorce is the opportunity to start over and create a new life. Difficult times are often ripe with opportunities. Decide that you’re going to get everything you can out of this experience. There are benefits to a divorce. One of the most important things is to learn from it. For example, you can make positive adjustments to your approach to dating and marriage. What did you like or dislike about your spouse? What mistakes did you make in your relationship? What characteristics do you need in a partner? What characteristics can you simply not tolerate? Learn everything you can from your previous relationship and figure out ways to use that information to your advantage in the future.

Some people are scared to ‘get back out there’ and date again after being with their former spouse for many years and hearing dating horror stories. What would you say to motivate someone to get back out there and start a new beginning?

Just take it slow. There is no need to rush right into another relationship. Take some time to re-evaluate what went wrong in your previous relationship and lay out specific expectations you have for the next. That being said, I encourage you to find activities that will give you the ability to meet new people.

What is the one thing people going through a divorce should be open to changing?

Their mindset. Going through the divorce process can be emotionally overwhelming and financially challenging. Very rarely can you come out of it and feel 100% satisfied with the results. Often divorcees live with a scarcity mindset and feel that the resources they will have post divorce won’t be enough. You need to take time to take an inventory of your life and finances and work with someone who can help you retrain your mindset into one of growth and abundance.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. If you had a close friend come to you for advice after a divorce, what are 5 things you would advise in order to survive and thrive after the divorce? Can you please give a story or example for each?

1. Celebrate. You did it! You survived what was probably the most challenging situation of your life. You can expect the majority of your life to be easy, relatively speaking, by comparison. Any challenge you successfully navigate will make you a stronger and more resilient person. Surviving a divorce can give you the confidence to conquer other obstacles.
2. Stay in touch with your current friends. It’s natural that you may lose some friends. Maintain as many of your good relationships as you can. Divorce requires starting over in many ways, but that doesn’t mean you have to start over from absolute ground zero.
3. Make some positive changes. It can be easier to make some positive changes, since you have all this momentum on your side and a new life. Many people find divorce is a great time to: Join a gym, go on a diet, get a new wardrobe or haircut, learn a new skill, or start a business.
4. Drop some dead weight. With all this change going on, take full advantage of it. It’s the perfect time to cut out the undesirable activities and people from your life. We all accumulate people and activities that drain our spirit, patience, or bank account without a reasonable return on our investment. Where possible, let these things and people go.
5. Forgive your ex and yourself. You might be totally justified in the seething hatred you feel toward your ex when you think of them, but you are only making yourself miserable. No one is without blame in a divorce. You probably believe that you made your share of mistakes, too. But everyone makes mistakes. The best you can do is to learn from your mistakes and forgive yourself.

The stress of a divorce can take a toll on both one’s mental and emotional health. In your opinion or experience, what are a few things people going through a divorce can do to alleviate this pain and anguish?

Divorce can be terribly difficult and take an emotional toll on everyone involved. In addition to getting through all the moving parts that divorce entails, you may also feel abandoned, cheated on, and alone. Here are some proven techniques you can use to overcome the negative emotions and move forward.

1. Seek out professional help. Find a therapist and a life coach who can help you work through your emotions. Just knowing that you have help in getting through this tough time makes it easier to remain calm as you tackle your challenges.

2. Practice stress-reducing techniques. Activities like meditation, positive self-talk, and taking part in activities that you enjoy can help alleviate stress. Schedule this time for yourself just as you would any other important activity.

3. Build an ample support system. Utilize friends, neighbors, or relatives for a sounding board if you need to. They may also want to help with various other needs, such as daycare for children or helping with the household chores until you get a new routine in place.

4. Join a support group. A support group can offer many benefits. The members of the group have been through the same thing as what you’re going through. They will have all kinds of information to share on what they did to overcome different situations in their divorce.

5. Remain cooperative with your ex-spouse. This is especially important if there are children involved. It is beneficial for all of you if you can be civil to each other. If you can’t remain cooperative at all, ensure that you have ample legal help for any difficulties that might arise.

Overcoming divorce is a difficult process. Know that you’re not alone, and you’ll be able to get through it and move on.

Do you have any favorite books, podcasts, or resources related to this topic that you would recommend to our readers?

I would definitely recommend to the readers to check out the resources available on The Smart Money Gal Alpha Academy. There are divorce resources as well as other assets they might find beneficial. I host two podcasts, “The Smart Money Gal” and my new podcast called “Conversations that Connect Us” both are available on Spotify, Apple and Buzzsprout.

Because of the position that you are in, you are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

If I could inspire a movement, especially amongst those who have experienced divorce, is that each person could truly find a renewed happiness and joy in their lives. There are over 750,000 divorces each year and so many people remain trapped in the experience and don’t see the ability to reinvent themselves and the new opportunities that surround them. You can survive divorce and live joyfully again!

We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂

I would love to have coffee with Brené Browne. I love the messages that she shares about courage and vulnerability and I find her to be very inspirational in my own life.

Thank you for these great insights and for the time you spent with this interview. We wish you only continued success!

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Jennifer Perri On 5 Things You Need To Know To Survive And Thrive After A Divorce was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Keep learning about life. Life is about living. Through living we acquire experiences that yield stories for sharing and engagement. At least 98% of my content is derived from living and learning. No one said life is easy but it’s worth living!

At some point in our lives, many of us will have to give a talk to a large group of people. What does it take to be a highly effective public speaker? How can you improve your public speaking skills? How can you overcome a fear of speaking in public? What does it take to give a very interesting and engaging public talk? In this interview series called “5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker” we are talking to successful and effective public speakers to share insights and stories from their experience. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Sasha Laghonh.

Sasha is a Founder and Entrepreneur of an educational and entertainment platform that integrates self & professional development into nurturing meaningful outcomes. As a speaker, mentor and author, she partners alongside different clients, from individuals to organizations, to capitalize upon their talent. She is the host in residence for KreativeCircle.com and Global Ambassador for Style My Soul, a Lifestyle & Interests Community. To learn more, please visit www.sashatalks.com.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

I grew up in a nurturing multicultural environment surrounded by family members representing different lifestyle interests. I recall my parents’ home was always inundated with books and newspapers at any given moment in time. Witnessing my parents engage in their respective hobbies encouraged me to pursue my interests. This allowed me to start competing in art and literary competitions from an elementary age. This continued for years until I started competing in business competitions which formally introduced me to the realm of entrepreneurship. One of my ideas was chosen by a major telecom provider which led them to buy out the idea and develop it. To sum it up, I grew up in an environment where innovation and taking healthy risks were encouraged. It has brought me this far in life which now allows me to create opportunities for other people to engage in their development.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

After investing many years in various sectors of business, I felt there were more avenues to explore for how I can better apply my skill sets to increase my overall return on investments. This is when I decided to leverage upon my prior managerial, leadership, teaching and communication skills. I was already well versed with speaking before academic, social and business audiences due to my professional & extracurricular commitments.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

It’s hard to extract one story since they are many that have left an imprint in my path. In the context of speaking and interviewing, I had an opportunity to conduct a face to face interview in person with a three time convicted felon. I knew he was armed and dangerous but I was safe because the inner voice told me I would be fine. Also security was present although they were situated out of sight. The interview was conducted at a public location therefore we didn’t want to startle any passerbys wondering if their safety was at risk. The interview covered the felon’s life history from the time he was adopted at the age of six months through the different chapters of his life laced with drugs and crime landing him in prison a few times. This interview was initially scheduled for forty five minutes, instead it ran for three hours. The subject shared stories covering his childhood, witnessing the MLK riots and Attica prison riots, the reasons behind his prison transfers, his reaction to learning all his friends were dead and ultimately his general views on life today. I appreciated his insights because he offered sensible tips on how I can navigate the crazy world today as a woman. How can a three time convicted felon offer sensible tips? Well…only the audience present that day would understand the context of the conversation.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Ask third parties, individuals and businesses, on how they would like to be addressed. I’ve co-existed in environments where people have nicknames that have nothing to do with their name, or identity in any sense. I’ve met an individual who went by their pet’s name (note — not a pet name), this resulted in spending more time and energy on seeking this personality out. I have a rule if one can’t be reached within three minutes, cancel the request and move on to the next matter. If people truly need you, they’ll seek you out through the channel you extend to them.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Eugene. A ‘thank you’ is extended to my drama and writing instructor. I was always amazed how he made time to meet with us individually, as students and working professionals, to discuss our work. His guidance on how we approached our individual work aligned with the evolving demands in the speaking realm. He was generous with his praise, even more generous with how he provided raw critique which granted us a healthy space to make mistakes so we can learn from them. Foremost, I credit him for teaching us about the virtues of generosity through sharing anecdotes of Job from the Bible. I recall when he passed away, a few of us members reconnected through our Alumni group to dedicate a toastmasters event in his memory.

You have been blessed with great success in a career path that can be challenging and intimidating. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?

We all have to begin from somewhere. Life is about taking risks. There is no perfect moment to get started unless that’s an excuse people are hiding behind. My advice is, ‘give it your best, and see where you land’.

Keep refining your abilities and don’t hold your breath thinking someone will come rescue you. Take accountability for what you desire and make it happen. If you find it hard to follow these simple realities, then perhaps it’s time to change the company and the environment you surround yourself with — no one likes to hear this, the only one getting in the way of your goals is you. If you can’t sell yourself the idea, don’t expect others to buy it. Eliminate the whining and complaining from your rhetoric, work on yourself and the rest will start falling into place.

What drives you to get up everyday and give your talks? What is the main empowering message that you aim to share with the world?

I’m continually inspired to deliver talks because everyday brings new life experiences in my path which allows me to refine my perspective on things I’ve known and not known. It grants me an opportunity to reaffirm, question and release ideas that no longer serve my higher self. My main message to audiences is that they are responsible for creating the life of their choosing regardless of how their life story started out. If they’re drowning in a mess, take ownership and learn to change things around. If things are going well, continue doing well without taking things for granted.

You have such impressive work. What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? Where do you see yourself heading from here?

I’ll be presenting new content through new networks permitting Sasha Talks to connect with untapped audiences. I look forward to learning how these engagements unfold over time.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Don’t be an askhole.” — Unknown

It’s a wise quote because people have a tendency to ask a million questions about things then they fail to take any action to actualize their goals. Asking questions has its merit but taking it too far will make you another askhole in my books. This is why I don’t entertain askholes nor any of its derivatives. Less yapping, more working with purpose. I know you can do it!

Ok, thank you for all that. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker?”

1. Know Yourself. Investing in yourself — it’s simple. Learn what makes you thrive in life. These answers are going to come from within, not any external source that may want to program you or manipulate you in the process to become a person that is not aligned with your divine self. Growing to know yourself and learning to be comfortable in your skin will make a significant difference when you make decisions in life.
2. Keep learning about life. Life is about living. Through living we acquire experiences that yield stories for sharing and engagement. At least 98% of my content is derived from living and learning. No one said life is easy but it’s worth living!
3. Be true to yourself. Because an individual may know themselves, it doesn’t automatically mean they are true to themselves. Speaking is no different than any other craft, if something doesn’t feel right, refrain from acting upon it. Focus on what you do well. This will help abandon any doubts lingering around and within you. If you want to try new things, create bandwidth to develop yourself in that area.
4. When in doubt, say no to ideas and activities that fall outside of your speaking mission. You’re a speaker with a purpose. Refrain from becoming a jack of all trades and a master of none.
5. Focus on the message. This will prevent all the posturing that speakers do on stage because they are focused on themselves more than the audience who is present to extract value from your message. It also helps with relieving the jitters and butterflies in the stomach.

As you know, many people are terrified of speaking in public. Can you give some of your advice about how to overcome this fear?

I’m a work in progress in this department. I do my best to remember to focus on the message. When the speaker is distracted, the audience becomes distracted. Remember, you know what you will say which should help you manage your situation.

You are a person of huge influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

I encourage people to tap within their speaking skills. I believe most people have an applicable message that can benefit people in their respective lives. Anyone, from the young to the elderly, can leverage their life experiences by teaching others.

Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!

I think lunch with Oprah would be interesting because she appears very down to earth that I have no expectations of what she would be like. She is well versed with life experiences that I suspect a hello can lead to learning something new about life.

Are you on social media? How can our readers follow you online?

Readers are welcome to visit Sashatalks.com and connect through the Contact page.

This was so informative, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!

Likewise. Thank you very much!

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Sasha Laghonh Of Sasha Talks On The 5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Non-Fungible Tokens: Francisco Quartin de Macedo Of STAGE On The 5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Question the lenses through which you see the world; position yourself as close to the truth as possible and don’t be limited by your past influences. Then you have a real chance of doing something with a genuine impact.

Many have observed that we are at the cusp of an NFT boom. The thing is, it’s so cutting edge, that many people don’t know what it is. What exactly is an NFT and how can one create a lucrative career out of selling them? To address this, as a part of our interview series called “5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Francisco Quartin.

Francisco Quartin de Macedo is the CEO and co-founder of STAGE, a company looking to change the future of music through fairer distribution of revenues, decentralization — allowing music fans to have a say on who becomes a star and be rewarded from their success — and transparency. Previously he led the trading desk at blockchain.com scaling it to over 600+ employees. He first started out in his career completing algorithmic modeling for sports at Bet365. Francisco holds a Double PhD degree in Data Science.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory and how you grew up?

I was always a curious child but I ended up going with the flow and following the career path I felt was expected of me, so it took me many years to realise that there was a lot more to life, beyond living up to the expectations of others. My career, which had been mainly about maximizing wealth, was not bringing me fulfilment. I was lucky to be involved in crypto from 2018, when the hedge fund where I worked was bought by blockchain.com, which gave me more financial freedom and connected me to blockchain technology.

In 2020, that inquisitive inner child began to question things more, and something was starting to feel off about the path I was on. I started to work with a coach who challenged me in different ways. Little by little, I started to see the bigger picture and how my personal vision had influenced my choices. So I shifted my perspective to search for a broader meaning to life and, in 2021, I started to work on a project that aimed to generate this change in others through music: STAGE.

Is there a particular book, film, or podcast that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

I actually keep a list of those that impacted my life the most, as it is always good to be able to go back to them!

Firstly, M. Scott Peck’s The Road Less Travelled has been a huge reference for me in the last two years. It forced me to rethink all the wiring I was living by, all the automatic programs I had in my routine that I did not consciously decide to engage with. It suggests that most of the time we are unwilling to see the truth about ourselves and do something to change our unhealthy traits. Becoming more in touch with this reality led me to acknowledge that working like a machine, which had turned me into a source of inspiration for many of my friends, was mostly just a nice narrative for my ego. Now, I can turn the efficiency of my work into true effectiveness, doing things for a purpose that is more real and loving.

I was also inspired by 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It is, as the name suggests, a book about effectiveness, but it applies to all areas of our lives, not just the professional. It makes us question certain paradigms so that we can build towards a scenario of synergy with others. Through my life’s influences I saw the world through a dog-eat-dog lens, but now, each day that goes by I explore the true meaning of sharing and trusting — all the synergy that can come from interdependence.

I also appreciate the values and different perspectives I get from listening to some podcasts, including Jordan Peterson’s. He lives by the principle of dedication to reality. He is happy to have serious confrontations to defend his values. People usually become children in the body of adults (as he very well explains), wanting to live in a peaceful pseudo-community where hard topics are avoided, and end up never leaving their comfort zone and failing to grow as a result. Jordan Peterson teaches us that if we want to change the world, we must be ready to confront and be controversial if needed. To do this, we must have opinions.

Is there a particular story that inspired you to pursue a career in this new industry? We’d love to hear it.

The idea of decentralization is something that attracted me from the beginning. The world is dominated by a minority of very powerful people, while there is an idyllic scenario where the world is less centralized and each individual is more empowered. Hopefully one day there will be far more social mobility than there is now. Fighting for equality in opportunities for all humanity is a very important motivation for me. When I joined blockchain.com in 2018, this was what drove me to embrace a career in blockchain; the principle of the company around each person being their own bank, which can be generalized to different areas.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this fascinating career?

This is a key part of the context of my daily fight to change the paradigms I mention above. One day in 2021, my coach told me that I was clearly taking too much responsibility for solving the problems of the world and was not living at all, so he suggested I should leave my house for 30 minutes at lunchtime and go for a walk. I got nervous as I don’t usually stop work even for lunch, but I went with it. When we talked again later in the day, he asked me why I felt much more stressed than if I had just kept working, and I then realised I panic and feel guilty when I take time away from work to enjoy life. He said ‘The funny thing is that you are feeling guilty about the only special 30 minutes you had this week: everything else was just autopilot, and when you challenged this and went out of your comfort zone, you felt guilty. Instead, you should be extremely proud.’ I never forgot this as it shows how our patterns of behaviour can be so ingrained that they determine our whole world view. I was completely misled before I took that walk. It was months before I acknowledged the full significance of what he had told me!

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

There are definitely many! We learn every day, and such mistakes are usually our most powerful learning steps.

One that I could highlight is a story that showed me how sometimes things are just meant to be, and we just need to be open to embracing moments of grace. I moved to London to work in a startup hedge fund, where I was meant to be a trader, and the day I arrived in London with all my bags, I got told that the company was going to be sold to blockchain.com. I had literally moved to a new city for a new opportunity that, in reality, did not exist. I call this a mistake because I should have done my research into the company’s prospects. Had I done so, it would have been apparent that it wasn’t making any money, and had already been planning for an exit like this. And yet, ultimately, this is what got me into blockchain!

When I started to investigate whether I actually wanted to stay in the traditional finance world or move with this company to blockchain.com, I realised that this was a huge breakthrough for me.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

It is not easy to mention just one person because, although my “machine mindset” would have me believe that I did it all by myself, I am deeply aware that, without the people who extended themselves to raise and help me, I wouldn’t be here now. My mother, father and sister, my grandparents (my grandfather in particular worked all his life to be able to pay for my education), my godfather (an example of perseverance I took inspiration from).

There is a particular story that has made me grateful lately, and that concerns the importance of my wife in changing my mindset and finding a better balance. I would say that the person you marry needs to be someone that challenges you and encourages you to be the most authentic version of yourself. This is exactly the case with her. One question I asked myself for years was ‘how can she enjoy life while being successful?’ In my head, it was either machine-like work, or enjoyment, and there was no space for fun while I was being productive. This was part of my process of questioning my methods and aiming to be a less obsessive person, while maintaining my determination, just with a different energy and a bigger sense of the importance of the present. Past and future only exist in our heads. This is not just about being happier as a person, but also allowing space for creativity as when we only focus on execution, we miss out on the planning capability which is a crucial part of good leadership.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

I am now the CEO of a music project that is using blockchain technology to change the recognition that musicians get for their labor, and to help discover new talent. It will be an app where users vote for their favourite artists with the potential to profit if such artists become famous later, in a gamified, competitive environment, inspired by music shows like The Voice and The X Factor. The aim is to enable upcoming artists to showcase their talents and receive the majority of the amount spent by the fans who voted for them as payment. Ultimately, the goal is that ordinary people have a say in who becomes famous, which isn’t currently the case. Right now, many musicians can’t afford to focus on their art as their only income stream. While they produce art that carries beautiful messages to millions of people, they aren’t getting the right recognition for it. Ultimately, music deserves to be valued and supporting it with this project is one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done. I’ve therefore fully committed to bring this idea forward.

Aside from this, I am deeply focused on personal development, in the quest for becoming a better, more effective person through continual self-reflection and pushing myself to leave my comfort zone. I also share this process as much as I can with the people around me, while aiming to guide them — simply reading books is not enough. I have had multiple private conversations with people and challenged them on their own specific autopilot tendencies. When we read books, we don’t actually want to apply their contents to our own lives, content simply to congratulate ourselves for going through the motions of turning the pages. Having these direct conversations requires each individual to let go of all the comfort and routines they have lived by for years. Doing this is scary, so supporting people on the same journey of self-discovery is not only something that I believe is necessary, but also a genuine pleasure.

Ok super. Thank you for all that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. I’m sure you get this question all the time. But for the benefit of our readers, can you explain in your own words what an NFT is, and why people are spending so much money on them?

Trying not to get too technical, I would just say that NFTs are assets that have identification codes which make them unique, and contain data, called metadata.

The applications of NFTs that are changing the world are related to the tokenization of tangible, real assets, or of rights more generally. A specific example from my STAGE project, is that some users that vote for an artist in one of our competitions will get an NFT that will contain the right for the user to claim a prize (e.g. a Zoom call with the artist). The biggest advantage of using them is that the ownership is clearly determined, and the associated rights and all of the associated information is intrinsically linked to the NFT. This makes it a lot harder to commit any sort of fraud with these assets.

People spend money on them because in some cases the NFT has an intrinsic value, as in the cases mentioned above, and in other cases trading is part of a speculation game that people love to play. Those are the two extremes of it, but both can involve big amounts of revenue.

The NFT industry seems so exciting right now. What are the 3 things in particular that most excite you about the industry? If you can, please share a story or example for each.

• Decentralization is very exciting — as mentioned, anyone can check who owns an NFT, and the owner has full control over their owned assets, with no possibility that some authority manipulates it.
• Smart contracts make the world cleaner and more transparent — they are programmed rules that can be used to define logic and drive transactions, making sure that there is no problem with certain parties failing to fulfil their commitments. Under the current system, this would have to go to the courts and people spend years reaching a resolution.
• Power of tokenization — already covered.

What are the 3 things that concern you about the industry? Can you explain? What can be done to address those concerns?

Some of the main advantages discussed above can also be seen as disadvantages, especially in these formative years, when most people are not yet fully educated on how NFTs work.

• Irreversibility of transactions and no resetting of accounts — if a transaction is not properly done, or someone loses the credentials for their accounts, there is no one who can fix it. This is the consequence of people having full control over their possessions, but people are used to relying on a ‘recover password’ option, where ‘someone’ can solve their problem.
• Potential for scammers to exploit the vulnerable — the current lack of education in this field allows people with bad intentions to take advantage.
• Sustainability — it has been broadly discussed how there is a huge consumption of energy associated with keeping all these systems running, but the fact is that there is more and more work being put in to change that, as Ethereum’s recent research into proof-of-stake reflects; we could not expect an optimal solution from day one, and this needs to be seen as work in progress.

Most of the above problems will be solved with time, as people become more confident with the industry. That is always the natural sequence as new, improved solutions take over! Sustainability concerns are also being prioritized by the leaders of most projects, and it has been predicted that those who fail to change their systems for the better will disappear from the market..

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about NFTs? Can you explain what you mean?

I would say the most damaging myths are around the idea that NFTs are playing cards with no intrinsic value, associated with images of irrelevant figures (such as random smoking monkeys). In reality, there are many very useful NFTs. This does not mean that people cannot use their potential to also create gambling, hype-based ones. It is up to each person to get involved with the right type of project! Seeing crypto or NFTs as platforms for malicious scammers to take your money is wrong and limited. It is a perception created mainly by greedy people who tried to chase quick profits and got involved in such projects, and are now bitterly spreading this perception, having lost their own money.

This is unfair, given the seriousness and hard work that a lot of people, including myself, have dedicated to improving the world through this amazing new reality.

What are the most common mistakes you have seen people make when they enter the NFT industry? What can be done to avoid that?

The main mistakes are usually around trusting dishonest traders. The classic example is inexperienced people investing in overhyped projects that have no actual content. Unfortunately there are a large number of people reaching out to me on a weekly basis, who have been scammed. In general, it comes down, once again, to education and, on a more common-sense level, questioning what you’re paying for before blindly trusting someone.

How do you think NFTs have the potential to help society in the future?

I truly believe that if everyone has access to a platform where they create value, be that through music, art or even new solutions for problems, then there is a huge potential for this value to reach the right people. We’ve watched as, every day, more and more ordinary people can have an influence on others. For example, YouTubers are increasingly becoming known for the useful content they provide. Of course, there will always be the problem of regulating what is out there, but we have to constantly reconsider how we balance that with enabling freedom of speech. It is the same adjustment that each of us needs to focus on with decentralization — to explore the source and judge if it is supported by well-intentioned people who are allowing the creation of new opportunities and value. Giving people the chance to have the visibility they need to influence the world can be a wonderful thing. Imagine buying tokens with paintings or designs from an artist that lives across the world from you! The access that you have to it through NFTs is something that the average person couldn’t otherwise hope for.

Ok, fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry?”

I will not focus specifically on the NFT industry for the most part since the main principles are about human characteristics overall, and apply to individual behaviour — specifically leadership across all fields.

1 . Question the lenses through which you see the world; position yourself as close to the truth as possible and don’t be limited by your past influences. Then you have a real chance of doing something with a genuine impact.

One example for me was having to accept that the obsessive machine I have been in the past did not make me special, and actually the process of adjusting myself from that extreme has been much more relevant and rewarding than just running the old program. I am becoming a more settled and joyful person in the process, but also, at a professional level, a more creative individual, rather than a thoughtless machine of execution.

2. Acknowledge that nothing stays the same. We are brought up to believe that there is a moment in our lives when we reach the pinnacle of success and are able to finally relax. Realistically, we need to keep improving and adjusting, and we can’t act like children that separate work and play time. Work will become a form of play if we are truly passionate about what we are doing at the moment!

The example concerning how I was taking all the stress of the world and not being able to stop for even 30 minutes at lunch time is a very good illustration. Back then, I thought I was sacrificing my happiness in the present in order to achieve something in the distant future and now I know that was simply a lie I was telling myself to allow myself to continue in a routine that felt comfortable.

3. The present moment is the only thing that is real. Past and future do not exist, except in our heads. The only utility of the past is to teach us about what we should not do again — it should never paralyse us with fear. Finding stillness is incredibly challenging but it is the only way to feel fully free and creative. The journey is more important than the destination, despite us living constantly for the future, for the next big thing.

The example of the 30 minutes at lunch time is again very good to illustrate this. I was working with all my focus on the achievement, living for the destination and, in reality, not living at all. Achieving goals while having no pleasure at all was my main characteristic, and this led to frequent burn-out. I used to memorise complete books with mathematical proofs from start to finish, so that I could put it all down in an exam. I forgot to enjoy the way that each piece of the puzzle made sense in these logics, and to appreciate the little eureka moments. Right now, my passion for mathematics has still not fully recovered from all those years spent racing through the studies to achieve things faster.

4. Always think win-win. Our world is characterised by a win-lose mentality in which people have internalised the idea that, in order for them to succeed, someone else needs to lose, that there is only space for one at the top. This implies that, for our personal satisfaction, we should surround ourselves with people that don’t really want to leave their comfort zone as they are easy to beatand that could not be more wrong. Ultimately, people seek validation, and most of the time this also implies a self-centered mindset, forgetting the value that can be generated when people work together. If we surround ourselves with people who are ambitious and want to help and challenge others, there will be a very powerful synergy effect. We struggle to see the problems in ourselves, so it is crucial that we have people to confront us and be straight with us; this adds immeasurable value to one’s growth, and this sense of community is something I aim to build more and more, alongside people who share my mindset!

5. Mission first, financial rewards later. This advice is more specific to crypto, since there is a big tendency for people to get lost with the potential upsides and forget why they got involved in this field in the first place. As someone who has been around for a couple of years, I have seen how the best time to build and improve is exactly when the markets are down and there is a negative feeling, as there is less distraction and people focus on what matters. This should be the attitude even when the market is going up: this new world we are building is for the long-term!

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Right now, I am the CEO of STAGE because I can’t stand that artists are changing the lives of so many without being properly rewarded for it. Art can help open people’s minds and allow them to look more deeply into themselves, so it’s definitely a catalyst for good. Personally, I always loved to sing, and it was the only way for many years that I could get in touch with and express my deepest feelings.

More generally, my mission is to help others achieve more extensive goals and experience real joy through awareness and mindfulness. I truly believe that if we act more to serve others, our attitude will have a knock-on effect. The impact of this sounds quite utopian but it’s what I feel we’re here to do. I try to face my own fears daily, and I am humbled when I can help others in their parallel journeys. Ultimately, I want to be a positive influence on others and I hope that this can work like a chain movement where gradually everyone can take more ownership of and responsibility for their identities, and then work together in an interdependent way, each contributing with the best they have to offer; this would most likely be enough to solve most of today’s most serious problems.

I would love to be more and more immersed in an environment where the people surrounding me have similar intentions and are willing to go against the norm and the comfort of the usual routine to solve societal problems, making the world a better place. That is what I am here for!

We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂

I would have to say Jordan Peterson because, despite being a controversial voice on many topics, I really appreciate his ability to move between logical soundness and intense vulnerability. His belief in each of us taking responsibility for our own path has been a strong influence on me. Things don’t happen out of thin air, we make them happen and I would love to speak to him about how we can change the world for the better, for more people. I know that he is a controversial figure, I see his influence with balance and, although there are things I disagree with, I appreciate the challenge to look at things from different perspectives.

Another figure who has inspired me as much through his actions as through his words is Roger Federer. He seems to be extremely calm in the most emotional moments, and achieves the best results as a natural consequence, not by obsessing and dissociating from enjoying living in the moment. He obviously worked extremely hard, but he made things look simple, even relaxing. This moves me, and is something I look up to on a personal level. Although I struggle with my own vulnerability, I did cry when he retired and, who knows, maybe he would be up for crushing me in a tennis match after lunch!

Thank you so much for these excellent stories and insights. We wish you continued success on your great work!

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Non-Fungible Tokens: Francisco Quartin de Macedo Of STAGE On The 5 Things You Need To Know To… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Data-Driven Work Cultures: Ahmad Shakora Of Cloudera On How To Effectively Leverage Data To Take Your Company To The Next Level

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Managing Profits — tracking financial, sales, and marketing KPIs, analysing data derived from marketing campaigns or business management tools can help keep track of any numbers fluctuations in profit-loss margins and so on.

As part of our series about “How To Effectively Leverage Data To Take Your Company To The Next Level”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ahmad Shakora, Regional Vice President — Middle East, Turkey & Africa at Cloudera.

With a degree in Computer Information Systems from the prestigious University of Houston, Ahmad forayed into the IT sector with BMC Software. He led the brand as Regional Sales Director for over a decade, where he diligently strategised sales operations to suit markets. He moved on to take over as the Managing Sales Director for KSA, Kuwait, and Bahrain to further optimise market opportunities for BMC Software.

Ahmad’s stint with Cloudera began in 2018 when he came on board as the Regional Head-Middle East. Armed with an experience of 15 years in the IT industry, Ahmad set new performance benchmarks with a steady track record of delivering beyond expectations. Be it by overachieving sales targets or adding value to the customer experience through innovation and service improvement, he bought in only positive results. While working with and recruiting new talent, he focused on brand growth.

With hard work and consistent performance, he moved on to take over Cloudera’s responsibility as Regional Vice President-Middle East and Turkey in early 2021. Today, Ahmad is a recognised industry authoritarian with 20 years of competitive journey in the IT industry, covering various aspects of the business locally and internationally. Ahmad has led Cloudera in the Middle East and Turkey over the past 2.5 years, where the brand has witnessed solid growth reaffirming its continuous investments and commitment to this market. The African markets were recently added to his profile of responsibilities for brand expansion and market penetration.

Ahmad enjoys playing or watching sports, fine dining, leisure travel and socialising during his downtime. Highly decorated with many awards throughout his career, Ahmad has consistently overachieved expectations and transformed organisations into hypergrowth.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

I was born in Kuwait and brought up in the US. My parents had migrated from Palestine and growing up, I learned a lot from them. My parents always encouraged me to focus on what I believed in and therefore, perseverance is the key message I have always focused on.

I have been in the technology industry for over 20 years now and began my journey with Cloudera almost 4 years ago as the Regional Head for the Middle East. This was exactly during the merger between HortonWorks and Cloudera. I have believed in the potential of this brand and the grateful for the opportunities that Cloudera has offered me.

From my ideology, when I believe in something, I give in all my hard work and efforts and hope for things to pan out the right way. I had faith in the idea of two competing technologies coming together to build something great.

I am now working as the Group Vice President of Emerging Markets across the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

I’m not sure if this categorizes as a funny mistake, but definitely an interesting incident that happened! A little early on in my career, when I was working for a company in the USA, I had a meeting with a client based in Ohio. It was snowing, due to which the Senior Executive who was supposed to attend the meeting with me had to cancel. On my way to the meeting, I got a flat tire and was stuck in the middle of a snowy route.

What I didn’t realize was that because of the weather conditions, the client had shifted the meeting to an online session, which called for an awkward moment between the client and myself. However, I chose to make the best out of this awkward moment, owned up to an honest mistake, and held myself accountable for the error in communication. We ran the meeting online as it was planned and fortunately that resulted in a successful win for us! Although the incident turned out to be unpleasant with the snow situation, but it ended up being a meaningful experience.

My takeaway was that such things happen, humans make errors, but how you work toward fixing your errors, tells a lot about you, your personality, and your approach to challenges, both, personally, and professionally.

Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

A film that made a significant impact on me I would have to say is Rocky. Needless to say, everybody loves an underdog, but the thing that spoke to me from that film was simply the fact that the character had a ‘never give up’ attitude.

The movie resonated with me to a huge extent, because it highlights how everyone has their own stories to share, their own experiences that they go through, and everyone needs that one opportunity to prove themselves. So it’s about you being ready to grab that opportunity when it arrives in front of you.

Even in terms of my professional life, this film resonates with me, whether it’s when we’re interacting with different people, or working with customers on complex projects that need to drive some kind of value. Being able to manage the success of the projects, with the intensity at which we get them, can become pretty exhausting at times if you don’t have the right motivating factor or the right attitude. Handling tasks under high volume is now second nature to me given my years of experience within the industry and I love the rush.

Are you working on any new, exciting projects now? How do you think that might help people?

Yes, I am in a personal capacity. I’m currently working with a charity across remote areas in India. The charity helps provide clean water across these areas by building water wells and giving them access to clean and fresh water.

I believe that it is always important to give back to the community and create opportunities in any way you can, even if it is through a minor contribution. Keep in mind that everyone needs an opportunity at some point in their lives, including you. Creating that opportunity for someone else when you’re able to is important.

Small contributions from our end can make a huge impact on someone else’s life. Helping others gain basic necessities in life and potentially helping them with the opportunity to live a better life can be quite rewarding.

I need to give a shout out to an initiative we run at Cloudera called Cloudera Cares. This initiative basically empowers employees like myself to help out and contribute to local communities in their areas of living and working. The Cloudera Cares initiative hosts volunteering opportunities lead by our ambassadors offering donations, learning opportunities, and more through NGOs and NPOs.

Last year Cloudera cares raised 23,507,10 AED for over 700 NPOs, and provided resources to hundreds of volunteers to assist over 60 organizations across the world.

Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion about empowering organisations to be more “data-driven.” My work centers on the value of data visualization and data collaboration at all levels of an organisation, so I’m particularly passionate about this topic. For the benefit of our readers, can you help explain what exactly it means to be data-driven? On a practical level, what does it look like to use data to make decisions?

Being data-driven simply means that the business effectively uses all of its data consistently in its decision-making processes. This could include implementing changes, developing new products or software updates, or even internally enhancing employee productivity through results derived from data. On a practical level, an organisation’s data can be used for absolutely anything employees and employers wish to use it for. Let’s take enhancing customer experience as an example. The developer of a banking app, for instance, could easily run a survey to understand customer satisfaction. The data derived from that research could help identify which areas need improvement. Or even internally, when trying to boost employee productivity, data can help you identify what makes employees happier, motivating them to perform better.

In today’s work environment, we have the privilege of working with a diverse customer base across industries. Regardless of the number of sectors or areas of expertise, every business has three common themes:

• Customer experience
• Managing multiple channels of engagement
• Providing a unified view

These themes are prevalent across financial services, manufacturing, and service industries. Moreover, they are crucial to innovation in how we live, how we build cities, how we manage our transport, and how we will engage with businesses and governments going forward.

Understanding and anticipating needs are core to building a successful business but also making sure the channels of engagement are frictionless and easy for both the customer and the organisation to scale and maintaining consistency in how you refer to the customer. In regulated industries knowing your customer is critical to managing compliance, while in others, it is as simple as ensuring they receive the goods or services you offer. To be data driven is about aligning an overarching data strategy and building data and decision-aligned teams. Data is a strategic asset; making decisions at every level is improved using data.

So when we’re thinking about data as a strategic asset, let’s think about how we apply that strategy to help us understand and define challenges, policies to lead to learning and improvement.

Let’s make it practical. When thinking about visualisation and data collaboration, consider collecting data (metrics) on use: who uses the tools the most, what datasets do they access, how do they navigate the visuals, and so on. Consider how to be proactive by designing visualisations that align with needs, or better, enabling teams to self-serve what they need. Ensure feedback loops, for example, show when the data was extracted, provide the details of where it was sourced, indicate its quality, and offer methods for dataset review and commentary, which will help improve trust and reliance on datasets within the business. In turn, this helps feed into a culture of shared beliefs and values around data, leading to better decision making.

Which companies can most benefit from tools that empower data collaboration?

We would argue that every company within every industry can achieve countless benefits from data collaboration. It’s never a bad time to start working towards a shift to building a data-driven culture. However, three key industries that benefit from data collaboration include:

1. Travel agencies — statistics help them provide the best possible services for their clients. For example, information about peak travel times of the year, the most visited destinations, preferred flight timings, and so on.
2. Finance — within the fintech space, numbers mean everything. Data can help in a lot of ways in terms of consumer satisfaction, such as getting insights into which aspects of the platform clients use the most versus what factors can be improved, and how. Paying attention to even minor data can make a massive difference within fintech.
3. Retail — within the retail and eCommerce industries, understanding consumer behaviour online and suggesting suitable offers for consumers is what keeps them loyal to the company. Identifying times at which consumers are most likely to buy something, what products they buy the most, and so on, can be key to building a positive relationship with them.

We’d love to hear about your experiences using data to drive decisions. In your experience, how has data analytics and data collaboration helped improve operations, processes, and customer experiences? We’d love to hear some stories if possible.

Data analytics and collaboration can significantly contribute to any business’ improvement. For example, data can help improve customer experience, companies can improve operational efficiency, and they can use the data to identify potential risks with a particular decision and take preventative measures accordingly. Moreover, data analytics can also help innovate new ideas. The critical thing to keep in mind is how you use your data. To determine how a business wants to use data, you first need to identify the business problem you’re looking to solve. Then, you would need to structure your data. Finally, as an organisation, you would have to turn your structured data into visual data to create your model to generate insights for you to come up with your ideal solution.

Within Cloudera, several systems help us make decisions based on data. Let’s take two examples. Firstly, within our Cloud platform, we collect anonymised data to inform us of how users interact with the tools. This helps us understand which features are most useful. For example, we have added data discovery into our machine learning tools, and we can see how adoption has grown. We can also see how many users retain the discovery feature and how many users choose to hide it. This enables us to reach out, explore that utilisation, and help optimise the product for our users.

This is a fine example. A more high-level model is the order in which we roll out our data applications by deployment. Again this is driven by adoption and direct customer consumption.

Another example we discussed recently on a roundtable of CDOs is marketing attribution. It is to understand better how each Dollar of investment in marketing can be attributed to a customer discussion, opportunity, and lead to new business. This has helped drive more productive use of our assets. This initiative was driven by our CMO and helps demonstrate how a data-driven culture can impact customer engagement.

Has the shift towards becoming more data-driven been challenging for some teams or organisations from your viewpoint? What are the challenges? How can organisations solve these challenges?

With regards to businesses today, having a data-driven approach to decision-making is more significant than a traditional approach. When organisations are looking to shift to a data-driven culture, they will encounter a few challenges. However, when thought out thoroughly, it’s not much of a tedious process. Potential challenges could be transferring your local data onto a private cloud, creating a hybrid model, the speed of the process, and so on. The initial process of the cloud shift can be prolonged. However, it is definitely worth the effort. Firstly, it’s important to note that an organisation’s data belongs to everyone. That being said, it is crucial to maintain confidentiality with the organisation’s data. It is key to identify where vulnerable data is stored, who has access to it, and how that access can be controlled.

Secondly, it would be beneficial to go through a ‘multi-cloud’ approach regarding the data-driven journey as that would help create a more flexible data structure. This approach helps build better performance at lower costs and greater efficiency and innovation. A multi-cloud strategy means adopting the public cloud and cloud-native data frameworks. Once that is done, you would need to connect both the cloud frameworks to create a hybrid cloud, which would give the user greater flexibility over how, when, and where they can access the data.

Lastly, the main motive here is to get tools that make it possible to automate. That would be the only way workers can truly gain the upper hand in their ability to access data at their fingertips.

Hardware, capacity, cloud, and regulations with the volume of data are continuing to increase.

Ok. Thank you. Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are “Five Ways a Company Can Effectively Leverage Data to Take It To The Next Level”? Please share a story or an example for each.

Well, based on my experience, a company can leverage their data in many ways, provided they optimally utilise the data. Five of the many ways for a company to effectively leverage data would be:

1. Customer Satisfaction — tracking customer acquisition allows you to measure the success rate of any marketing tactics you use.
2. Implementing upgrades — gathering data to incorporate improvements is another way. Use your data to identify what aspect of your business engages with customers the most and which areas require improvement.
3. Increase sales revenue — use your data to identify what products consumers use the most and why, and you can either decide to increase the production of that specific product or rework other products accordingly.
4. Managing Profits — tracking financial, sales, and marketing KPIs, analysing data derived from marketing campaigns or business management tools can help keep track of any numbers fluctuations in profit-loss margins and so on.
5. Evaluating Market Trends — region-specific data can help identify what is going on in the market enabling businesses to make brand-development decisions accordingly to keep up with trends and attract more consumers.

Modern data platforms can be used for multiple purposes when transforming or optimising your business. Data can help with financial services and insurance, consumer analytics, network analytics, clinical trials with real-world evidence for the medical industry, or even remote monitoring and predictive maintenance for manufacturing businesses.

For instance, our client, a large bank in MEA, faced challenges in understanding customer expectations. Consumers were looking for faster digital services, so the bank had to upgrade their architecture to accommodate a digital transformation. We recommended that they adopt the Data-as-a-Service platform, which enables rapid data-driven decision-making. Through this, they could send out 10 million real-time alerts and notifications, improve their customer engagement and segmentation, and reduce dead cash holdings at ATMs, which meant that they could redirect excess cash for additional revenue generation. We supported the bank’s vision to consolidate its entire data inside one platform to create a streaming data warehouse where real-time information is available for processing without delay. And this is just one of many examples.

The name of this series is “Data-Driven Work Cultures”. Changing a culture is hard. What would you suggest is needed to change a work culture to become more Data Driven?

The cultural change within the organisation through the data-driven journey would simply suggest that the Lines of Business and IT would need to collaborate to identify how the data needs to be managed and who would be liable for which data and what processes. It is also important to understand that an organisation’s data belongs to everyone within the organisation. The key to success is through unison.

The future of work has recently become very fluid. Based on your experience, how do you think the needs for data will evolve and change over the next five years?

Over the next five years, the need to organise and analyse data will become much more prominent. We’re already in a world that is embracing a technological revolution. We’re revolving around new concepts such as living and working in a metaverse, the growth of cryptocurrencies, NFTs, etc. Keeping that in mind, it’s very likely that most of our interactions will be through technology, which is already happening. In such times, it is difficult to truly understand the human aspect of things to create something better that would benefit people. Our only approach to analysing what works and builds engagement within consumers is through what we can learn from any data we draw. Information will be the key factor in drawing any conclusions when it comes to the improvement of an app, product, or the organisation as a whole.

Does your organisation have any exciting goals for the near future? What challenges will you need to tackle to reach them? How do you think data analytics can best help you to achieve these goals?

We have a few things in the pipeline that we are excited about. One of the projects we’re currently working on are translations of our Children’s AI book, targeted at kids aged 8–10 years old. The book is already available in different languages across some of our key locations. The book is about why data is important and how it can help in improving processes. It shows simple ways of problem-solving with data in a way that kids can understand. It’s never too early to start teaching data literacy! It’s even more important to expose kids to it who otherwise may not have the opportunity. Through our partnership with the Boys & Girls Club and education company Ready AI, we have been able to create a tool where the adults in children’s lives can teach them skills for the workforce of the future. A small ‘working group’ of parents and kids at Cloudera have been reading this book at home and so far, the reviews have been good! We will have more exciting local news to share later this year.

Other than the AI book, with analysts suggesting that the total amount of data is expected to triple by 2025, our sights are firmly focused on hybrid data. We think that this is a huge and exciting opportunity but also a tough challenge. Luckily, we’re right at the forefront of hybrid data, which is somewhat of a ‘back to the future’ moment for us, now that big data is cool again.

We’re primed and ready to help businesses capitalise on this moment, as we possess the ability to help them harness the value of all that data, no matter where it is. Our technology strategy that blends the integration of multi-function data analytics, with secure and governed data management, for hybrid and multi-cloud data, built with open source technology operating as a cohesive system, is exactly the modern data architecture industry experts recommend companies adopt.

We remain committed to our vision of making data and analytics easy and accessible to everyone and our mission to be the leader in hybrid data. We believe that data can make what is impossible today, possible tomorrow.

How can our readers further follow your work?

You can follow our work through our website blog or follow our company page https://www.linkedin.com/company/cloudera/

You can also connect with me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahmad-shakora-18b38113b/

Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!

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Data-Driven Work Cultures: Ahmad Shakora Of Cloudera On How To Effectively Leverage Data To Take… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Giving consistent feedback so you don’t end up giving disruptive or unannounced feedback to employees.

As a part of our series about “How To Give Honest Feedback without Being Hurtful”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jen Patterson.

Jen Patterson is an experienced HR leader and business consultant in the Human Resources industry for 20+ years. From talent development to executive leadership, Jen has experience creating workplace cultures centered on putting people first, working with clients to identify gaps in their HR programs, and creating talent and succession planning and retention strategies.

Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

I started Patterson Consulting Group in 2021 to help companies learn how to engage their employees through creating cultures where people want to come to work and know their company understands their value. Our team works with companies with HR strategies, programs, and plans to help companies enhance their HR team and humanize their workplace.

Before starting Patterson Consulting Group, I worked at a large book wholesaler for six years and held a dual title of CHRO and CXO and oversaw more than 250 people, and was directly responsible for HR, Sales, Marketing, and Products. I’ve also worked for Gap, Inc., and Limited, Inc., where I was a district trainer that coached leadership on employee engagement, created labor management strategies and assisted with managing low-performing stores.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

PCG is all about putting people first! We help leaders drive business through people by supporting them with the resources they need to succeed. We’re excited to be able to offer our clients the best possible service and help them achieve their goals. We implemented an employee engagement program with a large client. The program was successful in increasing retention by 25%. We’re excited about the program’s positive results and the difference it’s made for their employees and the bottom line.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

When I was coaching a new leader early in my career, it became clear that they were not invested in their role. Sadly, I had to let them go because of poor performance and lack of activity on the job. However, let’s fast-forward to meeting up again 5+years later! The individual reached out to me with thanks for being honest about expectations from day one, as well as accountability. That moment of responsibility and honesty propelled them to make some changes personally and professionally. They are now thriving in her career and credit that uncomfortable moment as why they grew as a leader.

What advice would you give to other CEOs and business leaders to help their employees to thrive and avoid burnout?

In today’s fast-paced, high-stress workplace environment, it’s more important than ever for leaders to create cultures where employees feel seen and heard. There’s nothing more powerful than a human being who believes they matter, so facilitating conversations with employees and giving them a safe space and a voice can go a long way in increasing engagement and motivation.

When you help employees feel like they belong, you create a chain reaction of positive change that can impact every aspect of their lives. This can tremendously impact an organization’s bottom line; when employees believe they matter, they are more likely to go the extra mile for their company.

How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?

Leadership is about so much more than just giving orders or being in charge. It’s about inspiring and motivating your team to reach their full potential. It’s about supporting and guiding them through challenges. If you want to be a truly great leader, you need to be passionate about helping others reach their highest level of success.

In my work, I often talk about how to release and relieve stress. As a busy leader, what do you do to prepare your mind and body before a stressful or high stakes meeting, talk, or decision? Can you share a story or some examples?

When preparing for a presentation or meeting, I like to ask myself these questions. Will this make any difference? What is the end result of my presentation, and how can it help us achieve our goals as an organization?” It helps me stay focused on what’s important and ensures everything doesn’t get lost in translation.

Ok, let’s jump to the core of our interview. Can you briefly tell our readers about your experience with managing a team and giving feedback?

For a business to be successful, it is essential that the employees are performing at their best. I believe this can be accomplished through consistent feedback. Regular feedback allows them to learn from their mistakes and improve their performance.

In my experience, having a system in place for consistent feedback is crucial. It is important to follow it consistently so employees can benefit from it and relationships have time to be built! Regular meetings between employees and their managers to give and receive feedback create regular communication and relationship-building time between them. That way, when you have to give challenging feedback, you do so without being hurtful.

This might seem intuitive but it will be constructive to spell it out. Can you share with us a few reasons why giving honest and direct feedback is essential to being an effective leader?

Feedback is crucial for the workplace as it manages expectations and allows employees to learn from their mistakes and become better at their jobs.

A successful manager understands how to give constructive feedback and help employees grow professionally and personally. Providing regular feedback helps managers get a better understanding of how their employees are performing. It can help improve communication between employees and managers. When done correctly, feedback can be a powerful tool that helps businesses run more smoothly!

One of the trickiest parts of managing a team is giving honest feedback, in a way that doesn’t come across as too harsh. Can you please share with us five suggestions about how to best give constructive criticism to a remote employee? Kindly share a story or example for each.

Constructive feedback allows employees to learn from mistakes or missteps and improve their performance. My suggestions for giving feedback to remote employees would include:

• Giving consistent feedback so you don’t end up giving disruptive or unannounced feedback to employees.
• Getting on video calls for your regularly scheduled meetings so you can read non-verbal cues like facial expressions, gestures, etc. These cues are especially important when creating a rapport with an employee.
• Ensuring your constructive feedback is delivered with honesty, clarity, and sensitivity so employees don’t misunderstand the feedback.
• Giving actionable advice, direction, resources, etc., emphasizing the positive results and outcomes.
• Encouraging communication between you and the employee so they can share feedback and ask questions.

Can you address how to give constructive feedback over email? If someone is in front of you much of the nuance can be picked up in facial expressions and body language. But not when someone is remote.

How do you prevent the email from sounding too critical or harsh?

Communication is key, whether in person, online, or via email. Email is fickle because people can add emotion and tone to words or the lack of words in your email. If you’re giving constructive feedback, my suggestions would include:

1. Starting by saying thank you, being friendly, or appreciating them for something they have recently done before giving feedback.
2. Being honest and straightforward in your email wording yet kind and empathetic. Avoid elaborating on what went wrong but provide specific and actionable direction on what is needed from them.
3. Asking questions and their thoughts and ask if you can clarify anything for them.

In your experience, is there a best time to give feedback or critique? Should it be immediately after an incident? Should it be at a different time? Should it be at set intervals? Can you explain what you mean?

Depending on the incident, feedback might be necessary immediately or a manager might have to talk with other leaders and departments before giving feedback. Each employee is unique and the most successful managers are those who have a strong emotional intelligence. They are able to put themselves in other people’s shoes, understand their feelings, and respond in a way that builds trust. A manager with high emotional intelligence will know when and how to give feedback to an employee.

It is important to have a system in place for employees to receive consistent feedback. This could involve setting up regular meetings between employees and their managers or having a designated time each week for employees to receive feedback. Whatever system you choose, it is important to follow it consistently so your employees can benefit from it!

How would you define what it is to “be a great boss”? Can you share a story?

Being a great boss means being a great leader, listening to your team, and helping them succeed. A great boss knows the difference between winning on their own or with help from others; it’s all about leading with empathy and clear communication so that people feel trust in you, as evidenced by how much success they achieved while working for this type of person!

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

If I could inspire a movement, it would be one that encourages empathy in both our professional and personal lives. I believe that leading with empathy can create a more compassionate world where everyone is respected and valued.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

One of my favorite quotes from Simon Sinek is, “Managers work to see numbers grow. Leaders work to see people grow”. I love this quote because it embodies an important life lesson that I have learned through my experience leading people. This perspective has been incredibly helpful to me in my journey as a leader, and I am excited to share it with others.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Feel free to visit our website and social channels, read our blog, and reach out to us online if you have any questions.

Thank you for these great insights! We really appreciate the time you spent with this.

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Jen Patterson Of Patterson Consulting Group On How To Give Honest Feedback without Being Hurtful was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Transforming the mindsets of our people away from financial and business goals to dreams and having this innovation principle around dream fulfillment — if we can achieve that, then the financial and business goals will come.

As a part of our series about “How Diversity Can Increase a Company’s Bottom Line”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Hagan Kappler.

Hagan Kappler is the CEO of Threshold Brands, a home services company with a portfolio of brands including FlyFoe, Granite Garage Floors, Heating + Air Paramedics, MaidPro, Men In Kilts, Pestmaster Services, Plumbing Paramedics, Sir Grout, and USA Insulation.

Hagan is a seasoned business leader with experience operating billion-dollar franchise operations in residential and commercial services.

She has experience advising Fortune 500 CEOs on strategy and acquisitions, having held positions at Trane, Pratt & Whitney, Starbucks, McKinsey & Company, as well as Goldman Sachs. Hagan holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Williams College and an MBA from the Darden School at the University of Virginia. Hagan has four children and lives in Newport Beach, California.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive into the main part of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you share a bit of your “backstory” with us?

I joined Threshold Brands from ServiceMaster Brands, where I was the President for ServiceMaster Clean and Merry Maids, brands that generated over $1B in system-wide sales. We sold that business — all ServiceMaster brands — to Roark Capital. That’s where I fell in love with helping franchisees grow their businesses and improving the experience of the consumer and the customer. I also learned the value of having a private equity partner invested in the business. That’s a really fun balance for me to operate and help grow a business but also get the support and team that a private equity investor provides.

I started my career at Goldman Sachs doing investment banking and was also a consultant for McKinsey. After McKinsey, I worked for Starbucks and I have a real love for consumer-oriented brands (and coffee!).

I also am a mom with four kids which is a pretty big part of my backstory. My husband and I have been navigating our careers while also raising our kids. That’s why the end consumer at Threshold Brands resonates very strongly with me. She’s married, she has a career, she’s got kids, she’s got pets, and she needs more help around the home.

Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? Can you tell us the lesson or take away what you took from that story?

In the process of raising those four kids, there have been a lot of funny stories.

When my second child was two years old, my husband was at work and he had a big meeting that day. At the time I was working for United Technologies and I also had a presentation that day. My nanny arrived but as I was getting ready to leave the house, my son was toddling around, and it was just a freak accident — he fell and split his chin open.

I picked him up and now I’m covered in his blood. I took him to the hospital so that he could get stitched up. He was fine and I still had time to make it to my meeting, but I’m covered in blood. So I called my husband, and I said, “Can we switch places?” And he said, “Sure, no problem.” I asked him to stop by the house and pick me up some clothes and then we met halfway at a Starbucks. I gave him the baby, all bandaged up with a lollipop, and he gave me a bag of clothes and took off with our son.

I go into the Starbucks bathroom and look in the bag — keep in mind it’s been two years since I had this baby — and there’s a giant maternity dress and shoes that don’t match! Nothing fit or looked right or was at all put together. It looked like I was wearing a giant garbage bag to this meeting, but I put it on. What was I going to do? I didn’t have any other choice.

I drove to the office, delivered my presentation, and received approval for our project.

The takeaway is that I know what it’s like to have to balance the joys and the demands of home and work while progressing through a career and raising a family. I empathize with our franchise owners, our consumers and our employees. I also know that I need a strong, diverse team to ensure we represent a diverse set of experiences. And the other lesson is that it is important to laugh along the way!

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you tell us a story about how that was relevant in your own life?

The life lesson quote that has always stuck with me is something that my dad told me when I was running track in high school and college. “Shoot for the moon because if you miss, you’ll land among stars.” On the track, that meant setting really high goals because even if I missed, I’d still do well. And sometimes I surprised myself and achieved the goal, but if I set the goal too low, I would never know what I could have actually achieved.

That is a real core mission of Threshold Brands. Our mission is to open doors for franchisees, customers, and employees to pursue their dreams. I think that it’s really powerful to have a conversation with a prospective or current franchisee and say, “Hey, what’s your dream?” And “Okay, let’s figure out how you can pursue it. It’s not going to be easy, but we’re here to support you.” Why not shoot for a dream? Because even if you miss, you’ll probably still achieve great things along the way.

None of us can achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful for who helped get you to where you are?

I am really grateful to my husband. He is also a CEO of a private-equity-backed company. He and I went to business school together as a married couple and have always supported one another in our dreams. We’ve done that in both our career dreams and our family dreams. And that has shifted for each of us throughout our careers, but his support both physically — like taking care of the kids when I need to travel — and emotionally is incredibly helpful.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

I think that what makes our company stand out is that we stand for something that goes beyond business and financial success. We are looking to help franchisees achieve dreams, we’re looking for team members to pursue dreams, and I think when you start to talk about dreams and less about numbers and targets, there’s something really powerful in that notion.

The story to accompany this sentiment is one of a MaidPro franchisee. When she started, she and her husband were raising three girls. She liked to clean and was looking for a break from her kids. She offered to clean the homes of elderly church members. Word got around that she was a really good cleaner, and so she started to make a living. Her husband said, “You know, there are companies that can help you take this to the next level.” Lucky for us, she chose MaidPro and is now running a million-dollar, fast-growing business. She is an amazing leader.

It’s a perfect example of how supporting an owner’s dream of getting a little break from kids has shifted into an amazing, growing business.

Are you working on any new or exciting projects now? How do you think that might help people?

We have some exciting franchise development offerings and programs that we’re working on and that we think will entice some non-traditional owners to join our team. Diversity in teams and diversity among franchisees is really important to us. In order to attract a diverse set of owners with a diverse set of experiences, we’ll need to be really creative in terms of the offerings that we have in the marketplace. We are excited to help people pursue their dreams.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

I think it goes back to this theme of dreams. This is probably the time in my career when I feel like if I can help franchisees and employees achieve their dreams, then I’m bringing goodness into the world.

Transforming the mindsets of our people away from financial and business goals to dreams and having this innovation principle around dream fulfillment — if we can achieve that, then the financial and business goals will come.

What advice would you give to other business leaders to bring diversity to their teams and help their employees to thrive?

Making sure that business leaders have diverse teams with diverse experiences and that the leadership team represents your employees, franchisees, and their employees is really critical. Without those experiences, you can’t represent your customer or employee because you just haven’t had those same experiences. So you need to make sure that you’ve got voices around the table who speak from a whole host of experiences and backgrounds.

As an example, many of our company store and franchisees’ front line workers are female. If any of those team members were to go on our website and did not see themselves reflected in the leadership team, I would wonder how they would think we could best represent their needs.

What advice would you give to other business leaders about how to manage a large team?

Whether you’re managing a large team or a small team, I think that you need to know your individual team members really well. You have to know their dreams. You have to be able to listen and to make sure that you’re reflecting all of those voices and insights into the decisions that you’re making.

Overall, know people’s dreams and where they want to go, and figure out a plan to get them there, whether that’s within your existing organization or elsewhere. I think providing an environment where people feel comfortable talking about dreams has helped us make sure that we have strong and effective teams.

Is there a person in the world or in the U.S. whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why?

Gwyneth Paltrow!

She is creative, an entrepreneur and a successful businesswoman. It would be fantastic to get her advice and see if there are ways we could partner together. I think she’s helping women be successful, and she’s really interested in providing consumers with the resources they need to live better, healthy lives.

Thank you for these excellent insights. We wish you continued success in your great work.

Thank you for sharing my insights.

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Hagan Kappler Of Threshold Brands On How Diversity Can Increase a Company’s Bottom Line was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Flexibility: Knowing things don’t always go as planned, being flexible makes it so you can still move forward.

As part of our series about the five things a business should do to create a Wow! customer experience, I had the pleasure of interviewing Pam and Sean Kesterson.

Pam and Sean Kesterson are a mother and son partnership. Both creatives, but function in different roles of the business of wearing many hats.

Hanging a holiday wreath signals the start of the year’s most beautiful season!

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Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

It all started in 1980 — Pam and her friend were hand-painting window signs at a burger restaurant for Halloween. While they were painting, a Property Manager from next door approached them. He asked, “Do you decorate for Christmas? Our mall next door is vacant, and we’re in need of holiday decorations to liven up the space. We want the mall to stand out on the map for other merchants to open their shops here. Interested?”

“Of course,” Pam said. “I’ll come by the mall and give you a bid.”

That night, Pam decided to go for it. She designed out the entire mall for the first time. Pam hand-painted every store window in that mall, while getting help to hang garland and lights on the building. It was a wild success.

Having discussed this idea, she knew different decorations needed to exist. There were already holiday decorations, sure. Holiday lights, too. Yet, nothing out there spoke to them. The current manufactured look of bows and wreaths were safe and unexciting. She envisioned bright, heartwarming, unforgettable experiences for the holidays. She wanted to showcase her own unique style to the world. That winter she started offering decorating services that included design and installation.

Each year, word spread. More projects came in and this idea was now a fun new business. She started decorating for the Portland Trail Blazers and Luxury Theater. It was wild!

As a “Thank you” to each client, she gifted them a holiday wreath to bring home to their families. Year after year, this gift turned into a tradition for each client. Soon enough, they wanted to buy wreaths for their own clients, family, and friends. This extension turned into Oregon Holiday Wreaths.

Today, we continue this tradition. We love this idea and hope our fresh holiday wreaths can bring together fun and happy holidays for the whole family.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

Oooof that’s a great question. Ha! There’ve been a lot of mistakes, some quite frustrating, but I think at the end of day, you end up laughing once the chaos settles.

The ‘funniest mistake’ was overlooking a FedEx pickup. We had the whole house full top to bottom with boxes. I mean, every room. Living room, kitchen, bathroom, and back deck was full of fulfilled wreaths waiting for shipping. It looked like a castle and two of our workers were poking their heads out like kids playing hide and seek. It was hilarious.

That mistake equaled no space to sleep that night until FedEx finally came and picked up the goods. The frustrating part was thinking the truck would come at a certain time, but then realizing later we never set up the appointment with FedEx like we thought we did. They were flexible and arrived later. Thank you FedEx!

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

For me (Sean), I was always looking up to my parents to their will and drive. Those values pushed me to help create Oregon Holiday Wreaths with my family. When we all took the plunge to turn this from hobby to business, I harnessed my parents’ drive and their values. My dad was the business thinker, while my mom (Pam) was the master creator. Without those two, the idea of success wouldn’t have been baked into my head.

I think a cool story has been watching my mom think of these ideas to create. You talk with her in any situation and you can see the engine pistons firing off on all cylinders. Then hours later, a new prototype or invention pops out into reality. Seeing all of these creations from my mom over the years gave me a drive to try and bring in recognition and success for her. Very grateful to watch that blossom over the years.

Thank you for that. Let’s now pivot to the main focus of our interview. This might be intuitive, but I think it’s helpful to specifically articulate it. In your words, can you share a few reasons why great customer service and a great customer experience is essential for success in business?

We’ve always felt community is a big part of our business. Our model is based around the holidays to bring joy to family and friends. When a customer buys from us, they are buying an experience for their homes. A sense and aroma that brings in nostalgia for the holiday season. That’s warm sweaters, a fireplace, candles and family. Our experience extends that feeling of coziness of bringing the family together and welcoming everyone into their homes.

When families are buying from us, they are sharing with us the experience they are looking for. Without customer service before and after the purchase, they may be lost. We strive to have the best customer service and experience possible to help bring in the holidays for everyone.

We have all had times either in a store, or online, when we’ve had a very poor experience as a customer or user. If the importance of a good customer experience is so intuitive, and apparent, where is the disconnect? How is it that so many companies do not make this a priority?

We continue to learn from our mistakes. We’ve had some poor experience first hand and fixing those mistakes for future orders has always been a great learning experience for us. Sometimes a good experience for you isn’t good for the next. We think the disconnect is just that.

We’ve also taken customer feedback as a priority to better enhance the next experience that worked. Some companies overlook this, but customer feedback is very important in learning more about your own company. Both the good and the bad.

Do you think that more competition helps force companies to improve the customer experience they offer? Are there other external pressures that can force a company to improve the customer experience?

We’ve always felt competition is good. It’s confirmation you are creating a good product that folks want. That affirmation is great for us. If it turns into an oversaturated market that is producing bad outcomes, that’s when the experience can get poor.

Sometimes the external pressures of fast returns (free shipping and getting something that exact day) can add to some anxiety. Not every company is Amazon and we feel that creating a premium product takes time. That elbow grease is our bread and butter.

Can you share with us a story from your experience about a customer who was “Wowed” by the experience you provided?

Our ‘wow’ experience seems to happen on arrival. When you are looking around online or even in person to buy a wreath, the price difference can be pretty big. If you buy from a big box store, those wreaths can be very cheap, but the quality is poor. They refrigerate wreaths to preserve them but the wreaths aren’t very full. By full, we mean how thick and lush the wreath is.

When folks receive our products at home, the ‘wow’ is typically, “I can’t believe how beautiful and full the wreath is! We are blown away.”

Those moments have brought back repeat customers year after year. Once you see it in person, you are hooked.

Did that Wow! experience have any long term ripple effects? Can you share the story?

It’s had a long-term effect for us. Our whole business has grown from repeat customers and word of mouth. One family has a holiday party, and the, “where did you get this wreath?” had an effect that has rippled down to more customers buying. It’s been monumental for us.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should know in order to create a Wow! Customer Experience. Please share a story or an example for each.

Perfection: Have the freshest cedar boughs cut at the optimum time so they won’t wilt. This helps all our products to last the entire season for our customer’s enjoyment. This perfection is our top priority.

We also strive to have all the greenery and all the decorations flawless without wires poking out, ornaments misplaced, tails falling off a bow, or anything just thrown together.

We want all of our products to bring holiday joy to friends and family. That keeps us going every day 🙂

Goals and Teamwork: Creating company goals and forecasting. Before the partnership between Sean and Pam was created, Pam had goals, but they were all in her creative head. Sean brought them to reality by forming the business, complete with forecasts, budgets, financing, company meetings, networking, and full-on project management. Business forecasting helps goal-setting and for us to flow as a team.

Gratitude: Practicing thankfulness daily primes the pump for unlimited ideas. To be thankful for the smallest thing seems to make more ideas grow. This is the thankfulness effect. It’s a ripple of appreciation and acknowledgment that bursts forward, changing and inspiring us, refining our purpose, and pushing the boundaries; allowing us to do the right thing.

Compromise: Learning how to listen to both sides and develop a compromise if need be is a helpful tool for growth and functioning as a business where everybody is a valuable part of the team and has so much to offer by his or her gifts and special talents.

Flexibility: Knowing things don’t always go as planned, being flexible makes it so you can still move forward.

Are there a few things that can be done so that when a customer or client has a Wow! experience, they inspire others to reach out to you as well?

It all starts with the website or advertisement. The quality of the pictures and words captivate the viewer and they are compelled to act.

Any communication before or after a sale will reinforce that this is a great company to work with from the get-go.

We feel once the wreath box arrives, all of our customer’s expectations are confirmed as they open the box and the fresh aroma of cedar and juniper wafts out filling the room with the season! Along with the wreath, a personalized note stands out as a warm touch. If the wreath has a bow, then its tails are rolled up and tucked inside bow loops so creases and wrinkles cannot happen during the shipping process. Lastly, a beautiful hand-designed instruction sheet tells the recipient how to unleash the bow tails for a stunning effect, and how to keep the greens fresh all season long.

The packaging is simple, but crucial because as the recipient opens the box our goal is to instantly create a “Wow!” experience. The wreath or greenery is in perfect shape. The aroma reaches out and transfers a piece of the great Northwest into a fresh fragrant experience. The handwritten note connects the person to another in a captivating way. Lastly, the instructions walk them through step by step how to release the tails of the bow and twirl them down the wreath as if they had just been made. We love different venues like Etsy where customers can leave a review with pictures and their “Wow!” experience. We also have clients and customers that send out a live Christmas card each year. It seems like our repeat customers’ Christmas cards list grows each year as the word gets out. It’s a great way for them to send a personalized note to the giftee and create many, many wows. It’s the most organic way we’ve grown our business — the wreaths and word of mouth.

My particular expertise is in retail, so I’d like to ask a question about that. Amazon is going to exert pressure on all of retail for the foreseeable future. New Direct-To-Consumer companies based in China are emerging that offer prices that are much cheaper than US and European brands. What would you advise retail companies and eCommerce companies, for them to be successful in the face of such strong competition?

From a shipping perspective, we’ve felt pressure from Amazon from day one. The “free-shipping” mentality that we’ve all grown accustomed to has directly affected us and our pricing model. Shipping is so expensive, we can’t offer that to our customers. This model can push future customers away as they have to pay extra for shipping.

For us price and quality are hand in hand. If there is an outside competitor producing cheaper products, it typically means they aren’t as premium. For us, all of our products are grown and produced locally here in Oregon. Outside companies abroad can produce synthetic wreaths, but the fresh quality and experience we offer, outperforms all outside competitors abroad.

That being said, we don’t mind competition. We feel competition is good for the economy and helps weed out the good and the bad. Over the years, that strive for perfection has helped build our brand from the ground up.

Our advice is to build community and a premium brand. If you create a premium product that folks love, cheaper, knockoff brands will only live in the short term. We always recommend looking 50 years into the future to build something great.

We feel there is no substitute for the real thing, hand made from greens in the Northwest. There is no way to “knock off” something that is real and fresh.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Outside of our company ethos of sustainability, we strive to live that firsthand in our daily lives. The closest movement we live by is ‘go green,’ with a zero-waste attitude. The simplest way we’ve found to utilize this in a fun way is a neighborhood garden. Years back, Pam started a front-yard garden to grow her food. The neighbors were so impressed they began a garden as well. Years later, the whole neighborhood started planting gardens in their front yards.

It’s been a really fun way to build community in the neighborhood, along with growing our food and building new friendships. This going green mentality helps in a small way, but everything counts. These zero waste ideas and attitudes also follow into our business culture and ideals.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

The best way is to sign up for our newsletter on our website, along with following us on Etsy. We like to email out promo codes and new products that we release to our subscribers first hand.

Website: https://oregonholidaywreaths.com/

Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/oregonholidaywreaths

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oregonholidaywreaths/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oregonholidaywreaths

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

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Pam and Sean Kesterson Of Oregon Holiday Wreaths On 5 Ways To Create a Wow! Customer Experience was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Every business looks for loyal customers because they know these people will eventually bring more revenue into their business. You might sell once through your marketing and selling efforts, but building a loyal customer base will allow your business to stay profitable even during those “low” seasons.

As part of our series about how to create a trusted, believable, and beloved brand, I had the pleasure to Interview Diana Jakubcova.

Diana Jakubcova is the Founder and CEO of Deeply Rooted Studio, a branding and consultancy firm that serves female founders worldwide. Diana graduated from Fashion Design & Business in Denmark which is what inspired her to start her journey as a brand strategist & designer. With her branding and marketing background, Diana is a trusted expert and works with some of the most influential female founders and growing brands within the space.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I always used to settle for less. I was known as the shy and quiet girl who didn’t know how to express herself. Someone who chose to make everyone else happy, except for myself. I used to hustle for what is rightfully mine.

Growing up with a single mom, having little to no choices was something that felt normal to me. Which resulted in feeling closed up and to some extent, angry and frustrated. No matter what I did or which career path I chose, I always felt like I was falling into similar patterns and nothing seemed to help me express myself the way I wanted it to.

After finishing my degree in fashion and working in the industry for a few years, my partner suggested that I help him build his company so that we could become digital nomads and move to Bali. Although the idea sounded amazing at the time, I quickly fell back into feeling unhappy and unsatisfied. This wasn’t my dream and this wasn’t my choice. I still didn’t feel like I was living up to my full potential. Now more than ever, what I truly wanted was to be seen, to feel heard, and to express myself in the ways that I choose.

Our move to Bali meant that we would need to shut down our business in Slovakia. A business that was “secure” and had almost 300 students enrolled and learning through the courses we had built. But what other choice did we have? If we wanted to move to Bali and live this new lifestyle, we had to make tough decisions like this. Although this time we still had no choice, the difference was that I decided to create my own path.

They say living a happy life isn’t about money, but money gives you the power of choice. You can’t choose to live in Bali if you don’t have the resources.

Deciding to use my own skills, knowledge and discipline to start my own business gave me the ability to make my own choices. It opened new doors to a life where I could be the one who makes the decisions. The bumpy ride has never prevented me from sharing my expertise with others, if anything it’s what makes me unique and has always pushed me forward in business. This journey has allowed me to work with some of the leading names in the industry and help them build brands that support the growth of their business in the most aligned way. I made the choice to choose myself and since then I have never looked back.

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I don’t really use the term “mistake” as I believe everything happens for a reason. Nothing happens to you but it does happen FOR you. I think every business owner knows that lessons are what comes with running a business and they are here to show us a better path.

But some of the lessons I’ve learned could include running ads to cold audiences and not having solid foundations before pressing the publish button.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

I started Deeply Rooted Studio to help female founders be seen and heard. This mission has now evolved into a bigger vision where the passion I have for design is now connected with everything we do. Most of our clients work with us because they trust us to build their brands and turn them into their biggest asset. I believe that the true passion I have for design combined with my experience, skills and industry knowledge is what makes Deeply Rooted Studio stand out. We focus heavily on client experience and building strong, long lasting relationships which has resulted in over an 80% client retention rate, which is the ultimate goal when building a strong brand.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

As a matter of fact, I am actually working on building a Directory and certification platform called Ethical Coaching in Diabetes Care for one of our clients, Lissie is a founder of Needles & Spoons Health and Wellness Coaching. Lissie has been with Deeply Rooted Studio for over a year now and I couldn’t be more excited to bring this project to life. This directory runs with a certification program that focuses on teaching coaches in diabetes care how to ethically run their businesses without sacrificing their values.

This is a sign that the coaching industry is changing. I believe it’s time to say goodbye to old marketing and selling tactics, and welcome new ways of offering our services, programs or products which are led by values not the society’s norms.

Ok let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

It’s simple: Branding gives your product something to advertise.

Branding helps you communicate your message which is then translated into an advertising campaign where you are able to sell your product or services through that message. This message can only be fully understood and expressed if you have strong brand foundations and you know who you’re selling to. This is done through getting clear on who your target market is and what speaks to them most.

Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?

I read this amazing book by Marty Neumeier called “The Brand Flip”. In this book Marty talks about the “traditional” way of building brands and what needs to change in the brand building process so that you can retain more clients and attract more aligned clients into your business.

To put it simply: Investing in your brand is crucial. A lot of online entrepreneurs jump into marketing and selling their products/programs and services without the foundations that only your brand can provide you with. And the cost is high! If you are spending way too many resources on actually selling your products or services, you need to come back to your branding.

It’s the branding aspect of your business that will help you build long lasting relationships with your clients and audience. Something that can only be done through creating a strong brand presence (brand touchpoints) that will help with client retention.

At the end of the day marketing and advertising is a form of selling your products. Branding gives your product something to sell.

Can you share 5 strategies that a company should be doing to build a trusted and believable brand?

Everything in your brand building process is connected. And by everything I mean EVERYTHING. Let me explain and you’ll know exactly what I am talking about.

1. Brand Strategy
   Please don’t skip this part. Ever. I know it’s tempting to start selling and marketing your offers right off the bat, but the purpose of your brand strategy is to solidify your brand’s purpose and mission. This is where you set the foundations for years to come. At Deeply Rooted Studio we came up with the Deeply Rooted Method that helps us build timeless, personality infused brands for our clients through full-circle brand approach. This approach helps us cover all parts of your brand so that we can connect the dots between your business and your ideal client.
2. Brand Direction
   This is the fun part! The trick to this is to make sure you do NOT skip the first step which is Brand Strategy. Your brand direction consists of several brand assets such as your Logo Suite, Typography, Moodboard and Color Palette. These assets are connected to your overall brand strategy and long term business goals. The aesthetics of your brand are here to tell us a story without using any words. This can be done through a strategically designed brand direction that is, to some extent, a reflection of you.
3. Creative direction (Photoshoots)
   The Creative Direction goes way beyond just using high quality images and studio headshots. If done right, your brand photos will act as the glue between your brand’s message and direction. At Deeply Rooted Studio we focus on all brand touchpoints and our client’s brand photos are one of them. This is how you’ll be able to seamlessly communicate your values and attract the right people into your business. If you want to go all in, hire a Creative Director to help you pull the vision together because as simple as it sounds, your brand photos can make or break your messaging.
4. Client experience
   As mentioned before, when building brands for our clients we look at all aspects of their brand. Your brand consists of different touchpoints that affect your brand’s client experience overall. Now, the client experience starts WAY before someone pays the invoice and signs their service agreement. Your client experience is reflected through your visuals, messaging, content, DMs, marketing, website, emails and beyond. All of these touchpoints show your audience/website visitors what you stand for and who you are as a business.

Every business looks for loyal customers because they know these people will eventually bring more revenue into their business. You might sell once through your marketing and selling efforts, but building a loyal customer base will allow your business to stay profitable even during those “low” seasons.

5. Find and stick to your own values
Lastly, I’d like to talk about values. This is how you can build an authentic brand everyone keeps talking about. This isn’t done through following the “norms” and other people’s opinions, It’s done through sticking to your own values and opinions. This is what will help you build a brand and movement where you’re the one leading the way. You don’t have to do this in the obvious way by listing all of your values on your company website. Although that isn’t a bad idea, what you want to do is simply just STICK to your values. Your values should be reflected in your copy, design, creative direction, brand voice….everywhere. Your brand is a reflection of a unique set of values that only you possess. This is the key to standing out.

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job building a believable and beloved brand. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

One of our clients, Melissa, is the perfect example of creating a brand that is not only believable and beloved by others, but a brand that stands time. Melissa is founder of Litchfield Media, a full service digital advertising and funnel building agency for small businesses and online entrepreneurs.

From the very beginning she has focused on building a solid brand presence through strong visuals, messaging and networking with other like minded online entrepreneurs. Deeply Rooted Studio has been a part of this journey for 2 years now and throughout our time together, Melissa has implemented all of the 5 steps we discussed today. In doing so, she has been able to secure many high level PR opportunities simply because she has built a believable, beloved and TRUSTED brand.

In advertising, one generally measures success by the number of sales. How does one measure the success of a brand building campaign? Is it similar, is it different?

The ROI on brand building is priceless. But how do you measure it? The ROI on branding will always be a question for many as it’s not measurable through the usual metrics, or at least not that quickly. Brand building is a long term process that requires a lot of research and specific tracking in order for you to determine its success. I also think that each business measures the success of their brand differently according to their own individual goals. However one of the best ways to measure the success of your brand is through brand loyalty/client retention. Whilst advertising brings you sales, it does not guarantee your business’ success. It’s a short term plan when one focuses ONLY on sales. Branding helps your audience create an emotional connection with your business which will result in a shorter sales period and more loyal/returning customers.

What role does social media play in your branding efforts?

Social media is a medium to spread your brand’s message. It’s a place to connect with your audience and it’s, most likely, the beginning point of your client’s experience. No matter if you love or hate social media, this is where you’re always going to look for customer reviews, services, previous product uses or simply who is the person you want to buy something from. And there is nothing wrong with that. But this is why it’s so important to build a strong brand presence because that is what allows you to communicate your message effectively.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I’d love for us to be more mindful of what we’re putting out there. There are some brilliant ideas out there and there are also ideas that don’t really have a positive impact on others. Before I share something with my audience I always ask myself if it’s the “ego” part of me talking or if it’s the real message I want to share things that inspire others. I have learned a lot throughout my life and judging others is only a reflection of our own fears and desires.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

I don’t really do quotes but I love this verse from The Road Not Taken poem by Robert Frost:

“I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.” — Robert Frost

I’ve always been a person who wanted to do things differently and this usually comes with a couple of lessons. But the reward is that you truly build something that is only yours and no one else’s. I love showing others that there is another way. There is more than just one strategy. There is more than just one method. There is always more than one way to succeed.

We are blessed that very prominent leaders in business and entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world with whom you would like to have a lunch or breakfast with? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂

I don’t follow or consume a lot but I would absolutely love to have lunch with Regan Hillyer and Juan Pa! Their programs have been transformational on my own personal development journey.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

My main social platform is currently Instagram. But if Instagram isn’t your thing, you can also connect with me on Pinterest for a daily dose of inspiration, Linkedin and through my Website if you’re looking for some Branding resources!

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.

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Diana Jakubcova Of Deeply Rooted Studio: Five Things You Need To Build A Trusted And Beloved Brand was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

“Your job isn’t to ask a client what keeps them up at night, it’s to tell them what should be keeping them up at night”. This allows you to truly add value for your clients by highlighting potential blind spots that they may not have even considered.

As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Daniel Larson.

Daniel Larson is an entrepreneur with over 15 years’ experience in technology and labor market solutions. In previous roles at SHI One Platform and Field Nation, he built two nine-figure revenue programs from the ground up, resulting in eight-figure revenue streams for each company during his tenure. This year he launched, Kyros, the first of its kind digital platform for recovery services, that harnesses the power of technology to connect and empower clients, providers and organizations. The company’s mission, to increase positive outcomes for the millions of Americans managing their own recovery, is already proving itself with Kyros’ seeing 90% percent growth quarter over quarter since launching.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory? And what led you to this career path?

Early in my career I worked at a company called Field Nation where I focused on contingent workforce solutions. During this time, while my professional interest in business development and disruptive technologies was being ignited, I was also struggling with substance use disorder. When I started my own recovery journey in 2019, I saw an opportunity to take the skill sets that I’d learned from working at these disruptive labor platforms and bring them into an industry underserved by technology. Throughout my life I’ve seen close family members fight addiction and sadly several of them did not make it. During my recovery journey, as well as those of family members, I saw people stumble because of administrative obstacles to finding support services and recognized a desperate need for technology-led improvement. From my past experience I knew that incorporating technology could be a game changer.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

The addiction medicine industry is only 30 or so years old and there is still significant stigma surrounding it. While significant funding goes to small organizations and nonprofits in the form of donations and grants, there isn’t the same level of accountability to achieving specific performance metrics as would generally be required by private investors. These organizations do incredible work but there is little incentive to modernize the industry to offer services that are more effective and efficient at achieving long-term recovery. When someone goes into recovery they generally go into a program, after which they are on their own and given a list of support groups and services. They are not supported in any way by medical professionals, agencies or any other services. While this support often exists and is even within their reach through insurance, they either don’t know about it or don’t understand how to connect with it. This is where Kyros’ marketplace comes in– we do all the heavy lifting and connect them with a support team to reduce barriers to recovery. This is how we are disrupting the industry.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Or can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I was born and raised on the east side of St. Paul, which is a lower income area with a diverse population. Our original office was in a house where we all worked together and lived together in extremely close quarters; you can imagine what five guys all working on Zoom and living in the same, small space was like. We were all doing interviews and onboarding employees on Zoom with everyone basically hearing everything. We would joke that every meeting or call was a group therapy session with three or four guys adding their comments and suggestions. While not a mistake per se, this was a happy accident and it led to the formation of our corporate culture. From day one we have had an open door, collaborative culture where everyone is encouraged to weigh in with their opinions and ideas.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors and can you share a story of how someone made an impact?

What’s different about my background is that I don’t have any formal training and didn’t go to college or business school. I rely heavily on mentors because they have been my “teachers” throughout my career. One such mentor was the former CFO at Field Nation who helped me view things realistically through a pragmatic business lens; learning to separate the “pie in the sky” ideas from the more tangible ones. He also gave me excellent advice on how to negotiate in both funding and legal areas. It has been incredibly helpful to have him as a resource since the beginning. I have been lucky enough to have others who I continue to rely on as we grow.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective, but is disrupting always good? Do we still celebrate a system or structure that has stood the test of time? Can you articulate to our readers when disruption in an industry is positive but also when it may not be a good thing?

We built this company in the wake of one of the most predominant examples in recent times of the difficulties of scaling technology to support mental health. In mental or behavioral health, especially when you have a platform that’s prescribing, this is a system that almost literally and identically mimics addiction. People are in essence hitting all their appointments and markers which give the impression of success. From a technology perspective your adoption rate and your stickiness factor are both excellent which is what is measured. Yet without the contextual understanding of the recovery industry, you would never know there is inherent danger here.

This is a main reason the industry has not been entered in earnest by many technologists; many things that are inherent in most other industries just aren’t in our field. In most other industries a technologist can come in and solve your problem without knowing much about the industry. They know what to develop to make services better; how to get takeout food into the hands of a driver, how to aggregate suppliers of furniture and books and ship them to your house. They can do this without knowing anything about books, furniture, or take-out food, they just need to understand the assets of technology. With substance use disorder, you must understand the behavior of the people you are serving and the desire and the drive behind the providers. This is an example of how disruption is good but must be done carefully and contextually.

Can you share five of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey, please give a story for each

I have some key `pieces of advice that have guided me since high school. I attended a Charter High School specializing in business where classes were taught by executives from around the Twin Cities — many who were leaders at Fortune 500 companies. My marketing and business management teacher was a Senior Vice President at Target Corporation and I remember walking in as a sophomore in high school, into my first business class ever. He explained what he considered to be the golden rule of business; Don’t just bring up a problem, but also bring a solution. When you start with, “I can’t bring up this problem unless I have the solution” then you’re already thinking ahead. You’re constantly in problem solving mode which allows you to break down barriers quickly.

I also love this quote about sales which I learned from a former colleague; “Your job isn’t to ask a client what keeps them up at night, it’s to tell them what should be keeping them up at night”. This allows you to truly add value for your clients by highlighting potential blind spots that they may not have even considered.

Another one of my favorite quotes is one I picked up from an early mentor regarding negotiations. “In the absence of logic, you look for motive” and you will see what they want. It’s very easy to walk into a conversation and understand the logic behind something. When it starts to not make sense, if you switch over to tracking their motive you can figure out what they are thinking and what they really want. When we started building this marketplace for recovery where the odds of return-to-use has historically been very high, it can be difficult to follow the logic. Much of the work we are doing at Kyros is emotional and motive driven. Why do they want to help these people? Why is it important to them? Looking for motivation helps you step outside of the business of an operation or of a platform or a technology, and it gets you to the essence of why something is needed.

We are sure you’re not done. How are you going to shake things up next?

There are a few things we’re focusing on at the moment. How we navigate our expansion is at the top of the list. We want to be in more states to help more people. We will be launching in two more states this quarter and then in ten in total within the next year. We are also working to create technology solutions to help gather and consolidate the data, in this case the notes from treatment providers, family members, and support services. Being able to share this data, will give anyone in substance use disorder treatment a more holistic view of what they are being challenged with and what they are accomplishing in the recovery process. We are developing tools that will take this all into consideration.

Okay, do you have a book podcast or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story about that with us? Why it resonated?

I really love the podcast, The Jordan Harbinger Show. The host finds the world’s most interesting people, from all walks of life, and asks them questions about how they got to where they are. I like it for many reasons but primarily because his cross section of guests. His guests run the gamut from a CIA spy to a former drug kingpin, to a groundbreaking surgeon. On paper they have nothing in common but hearing how they critically think, what led them to where they are and the lessons, they have learned along the way reveals some interesting commonalities among people while also providing a new perspective and empathy for people from all walks of life.

We generally seek opinions from people in our own circle which typically results in the responses we expect. I think it’s important to be able to take any conversation that you have and to find the value in it, regardless of how you relate to someone at face value.

Can you please give us your favorite life lesson and how it is relevant to you?

For years I have lived by the saying “I will never be as stupid as I am today”. It may seem negative at first, but it keeps consistently in the mindset of humility and open to continuous learning. If you’re making the same mistakes tomorrow that you did yesterday, then you are not learning from them. When I’m unpacking my day, I make sure I understand the key learnings and mistakes and hopefully I don’t have to learn the same lesson twice.

You are a person of great influence, if you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most people, what would it be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

Today things are very black and white in this country. You are either a Republican or a Democrat, a conservative or a liberal. You are immediately categorized and put into your lane which means you generally don’t collaborate with anyone outside of that lane. I’d like to see people look beyond their cultural and political divides to listen and try to help one another solve some of the pressing issues of our time. Today many people immediately reject any ideas or solutions that come from outside their existing circle. This type of thinking does not foster collaboration or problem solving. I would like to see a movement where people are encouraged to collaborate and trust one another regardless of their beliefs, to help solve some of the serious issues we are all facing.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

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Meet The Disruptors: Daniel Larson Of Kyros On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Ivaylo Yovkov Of Rewards Bunny On The 5 Things You Need To Understand In Order To Successfully Invest In Cryptocurrency

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

They need to know how blockchain works and the problems it solves.

Over the past few years, the Cryptocurrency industry has been making headlines nearly every week. Many people have gotten very wealthy investing or leading the cryptocurrency industry. At the same time, many people have lost a lot investing in the industry. In addition, more people have been scrutinizing the ecological impact of crypto mining, as well as its potential facilitation of illegal activity. What is being done and what can be done to address these concerns?

In this interview series called “5 Things You Need To Understand In Order To Successfully Invest In Cryptocurrency” we are talking to leaders in the cryptocurrency industry, as well as successful investors, who share insights from their experience about how to successfully invest in Cryptocurrency. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ivaylo Yovkov.

Ivaylo Yovkov is COO and co-founder of Rewards Bunny. His passion for marketing enabled him to climb all the way to CMO of a FinTech Company specializing in P2P instant loans using smart data. He successfully sold two e-commerce businesses for over $150k in profits and, in 2021, began work on his innovative Web3 project alongside Rewards Bunny CEO and co-founder Jacky Goh.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a little about your backstory and how you grew up?

I started making money on the internet at the age of 14. I’ve had a passion for online business even back in the days when it was mysterious and unknown to most people. I started out in the web/graphic design niche for a few years, then pivoted into the digital marketing world, and later began coaching other people on web design. After that, I took the role of CMO of a top-tier FinTech Bulgarian company. Since last year, I’ve been working with my co-founder to build an extremely exciting Web3 project called Rewards Bunny.

Is there a particular book, film, or podcast that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

I’m so glad you asked that question! The book that comes to mind right away is “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki. I read it in high school, and it made a huge impact on my life and my thinking. In my opinion, it is one of the best books for young kids and teens with entrepreneurial spirits. It’s also great for parents looking for ways to awaken financial and creative thinking in their kids.

Is there a particular story that inspired you to pursue your particular career path? We’d love to hear it.

The first time I made money online was a crucial moment in my life. This happened way back in 2006 when I was 14 years old. During that summer, all my friends were working some pretty heavy labor jobs. We were all trying to make enough money to go on a vacation to the beach together. I found a small online forum looking for moderators, applied, and was chosen. I earned $250 a month — the same amount my friends were making. The difference was that I was chilling at home reading threads and comments with the AC on while my friends were sweating under the sun lifting heavy construction materials. I felt I was getting money in a smarter way, and that was when I was first inspired to dive deeper into online business.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I made my most memorable mistake back in the days when I was drop shipping. At the time, I was creating the same product with different prices on a few listings because I hadn’t learned how to set up proper tracking. One of my products was a sample meant only for influencers.

One night, I was burning the midnight oil to create new Facebook ad campaigns and accidentally used the link to the free sample product instead of the one with the correct price of $29.95. I set the campaign for $300 per day and went to sleep.

When I woke up, I was ecstatic to see 200 orders, but when I looked at the numbers more closely, I found I had sold 200 pieces of free product — and paid $300 to do it. You wouldn’t believe the raging reviews I received from customers, but I inevitably had to close the store. Back then, I wanted to cry, but now it’s one of those things I look back on and laugh about.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Trust me: when you’re starting out, you won’t get anywhere on your own. Back in the days when I was trying different businesses, my friend Tony was always there for me, motivating me and cheering me up when things went south. Now, it’s my fiancée Mariya doing the same. The moral of the story is that you always need a shoulder to lean on when things are not going your way.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Yes, Jacky Goh and I are the co-founders of Rewards Bunny, a marketplace that connects users and brands and introduces them to the Web3 space through crypto rewards and payments. We help users earn crypto rewards for online shopping by partnering with brands they love. It’s a great opportunity for people who are new to crypto.

Ok super. Thank you for all that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. The cryptocurrency industry seems extremely dynamic right now. What are the 3 things in particular that most excite you about the industry? If you can, please share a story or example for each.

Things are definitely happening quickly in the crypto industry today. The three things that most excite me in the space are decentralization, the Metaverse, and the ETH Merge.

I don’t think people realize the power of decentralization yet. Yes, they know what it means, but we have tapped maybe 5% of its potential. It was the same when the internet came out a long time ago. People were only building sites to display some text information — they didn’t know what could be done with that power — but look at us now! Imagine a DAO country where the smartest people and biggest holders in a nation are the ones making decisions, compared to a handful politicians. Imagine a voting day on the blockchain where results are completely transparent. Fake numbers when “counting votes” would be history. I can’t wait to see how Web3 evolves.

The Metaverse is something everyone is so hyped about, but we have so little to work with right now. All the tech giants are working on their own metaverse projects. It’s going to be chaos when they start releasing them. Think about what Zuckerberg said: the Metaverse’s potential is about combining and syncing all of these different virtual worlds. If you own virtual Nike shoes in one world, for instance, you will be able to wear those same Nikes in other worlds, too.

And we’ve already witnessed the ETH merge; it’s done, it’s all good, and we are all calm now. This was the biggest event in crypto history to date. Now that it’s over and done, everyone can relax. If there had been an error, though, things could have gone badly for the whole blockchain world.

What are the 3 things that concern you about the industry? Can you explain? What can be done to address those concerns?

While things are really exciting in the crypto space, there still are a few causes for concern. The three things I’m watching most closely are legal developments, decentralization, and news coverage.

We still don’t have clear legal terms and rules for our crypto assets. Countries around the world are still sorting out how they are going to deal with cryptocurrency. Most of them are scared to do anything because they’re worried about screwing it up. With so many unknown legalities in the crypto space, people are cautious about making big moves or discussing their assets with other people. We have yet to see how the whole world adapts to this new technology.

I’ve shared a bit about my opinion on decentralization. This new technology has so many great use cases, but it has its flaws, too. It’s sad to say, but certain things need to stay centralized. When something bad happens, people need to know what their rights are and who they can talk to. I think people realize that we need to exercise caution when implementing decentralization on a grand scale.

One of my biggest concerns stems from the news giants and the “not-so-independent” outlets people read every day. Most governments have connections controlling these outlets. The news they feed the public influences people and nations on a remarkably large scale.

Just look at how — seemingly out of nowhere — a huge number of outlets will share the same news, on the same day, about the evils of crypto and blockchain technology. People need to do their own research, have their own opinions, and make their own decisions. It’s a free world, after all, right?

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about cryptocurrency? Can you explain what you mean?

The myth I would most like to dispel is that crypto is the riskiest of all investments; it’s not. Cryptocurrency has a similar risk to any other investment. It can be steady or volatile, it can go up or down in price, it can make you a ton of money or lose it all. It’s all about your own research. If you take the time to research what you’re investing in, you will be successful.

You don’t have to have loads of technical knowledge or be a professional trader. With the internet, you have the superpower to search and read about the whole world. Don’t make investments based on online videos or tips you hear from friends. Take time to do your own research and due diligence.

My advice is to view cryptocurrency as a long-term investment. Yes, crypto is volatile if you check your investment value every day. However, if you look at the big picture over the past 3, 5, or 10 years, you will see that the value of crypto is rising and that it’s here to stay. It’s a long-term investment. You have to be patient.

How do you think cryptocurrency has the potential to help society in the future?

I’ve already shared a few ideas for implementing blockchain in the political world. Cryptocurrencies are decentralized — no bank can take away your crypto assets — they are yours, and yours alone. We all have bank accounts, but banks can go bankrupt or get hacked online. What happens then? Most banks don’t keep all their customers’ money on site. If something goes wrong, you can lose everything, even if you are not at fault. In the decentralized crypto world, however, you are the only one responsible for your funds. You own your money, you own your “bank account,” and you own the “bank.”

Other benefits may seem obvious, but crypto payments are fast, secure, transparent, and anonymous. The transactions made on the blockchain stay there forever. There is full transparency, but on the other hand, if you don’t want to share your address, nobody has to know it was your transaction. You can choose who has access to your personal information. On top of that, these transactions are almost instantaneous. You’ve got a new SEPA transfer? Don’t worry; it takes 3–5 days. You’ve got a cryptocurrency transfer? Check it in a few minutes.

Recently, more people have been scrutinizing the ecological impact of crypto mining. From your perspective, can you explain to our readers why the cryptocurrency industry is creating an environmental challenge?

Actually, cryptocurrency is not an environmental concern. This is one of the monopoly news trends designed to make crypto look dangerous. Mining was all about Bitcoin. Ethereum has just switched from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake. To put it simply, Ethereum does not need to be mined anymore.

Anyone can research Bitcoin mining. All the information is publicly available. Bitcoin mining’s electricity mix for the second quarter of 2022 is estimated to be 59.5% sustainable. That means bitcoin mining is ranked as one of the world’s most sustainable industries. By comparison, only 12.5% of US electric energy use comes from renewable sources. What about toasters or Christmas lights? Both of these consume more electricity than the 0.16% of total energy production that bitcoin miners consume. Christmas lights and toasters might even be considered “frivolous”, but would we ever dream of banning them? Of course not.

From your perspective what can be done to address or correct these concerns?

It’s simple — people and especially governments should actually check these reports before selling fake news. If it’s such an issue, it can easily be fixed by looking to countries like Norway, as an example. Norway ensures that bitcoin mining is 100% renewable by tapping into hydroelectric power.

Recently, more people have been scrutinizing cryptocurrency’s impact on illegal activity. From your perspective, can you explain to our readers why cryptocurrency, more than fiat currency, is seen as an attractive choice for criminals?

People are more susceptible to criminal activity in connection with crypto because the technology is still new. They just don’t know as much about blockchain and cryptocurrencies as they know about paper money. There will always be scammers and people trying to take advantage of you — not just in the crypto world, but in general. It’s a lot easier to lure someone into a trap when they’re in unfamiliar territory. Why don’t people click on the “You’ve won an iPhone!” emails anymore? Because they have been here for a long time now. Have people clicked and got scammed by it? In the beginning, a lot of people clicked and were scammed. This is how we learn, adapt, and improve.

From your perspective what can be done to address or correct these concerns?

To address these concerns, read, learn, and understand. As soon as you understand how blockchain technology works, the risks involved, and how to prevent yourself from becoming a victim, the better you will feel. There are a ton of articles, videos, courses, and information in general. You just have to ask Google. If you want to be safe, educate yourself. Nobody can do it for you.

Ok, fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview. What are “The 5 Things You Need To Understand In Order To Successfully Invest In Cryptocurrency?”

There are five things everyone investing in cryptocurrency should understand. First, they need to know how blockchain works and the problems it solves. Second, they need to know how to research a project properly. Third, they need to know the investment rules applying to cryptocurrencies. Fourth, everyone needs to educate themselves on how to stay safe when making investments. And finally, people should keep sight of the fact that this is a new technology. We are still in the early days of figuring it out.

What are the most common mistakes you have seen people make when they enter the industry? What can be done to avoid that?

I think the most common mistake I see people make is being impatient. You can’t get rich overnight by investing in cryptocurrencies, at least not in the beginning. Practice makes perfect. Be persistent and patient. Just like other investments, investing in crypto is long-term. Invest today — not to get rich tomorrow, but to have a better financial future in 5, 10, or 15 years.

Another common mistake is Ignoring security suggestions. Stay safe. It’s a new technology in a dangerous world. And please, don’t screenshot your password or seed phrase. I’m hearing about more and more people who take screenshots when creating wallets. These are probably the same people who take photos of their credit cards so they don’t have to pull them out while they’re shopping. Take your cyber security seriously. The criminals are getting smarter and inventing new ways to lure you in. Don’t be their sheep.

Do you have a particular type of cryptocurrency that you are excited about? We’d love to hear why.

Yes, I’m most interested in Ethereum and our future Rewards Bunny token. It will be really interesting to see how ETH continues to evolve after the merge and its switch to Proof of Stake work. I’m also really excited about what our future token will offer.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I’d want to start a movement in the distribution of company salaries. I’d set a rule where 2% of our salaries are donated every month to people in need, especially children born in difficult circumstances. A lot of employees may not agree with this, but since we aren’t being generous on our own, simple kindness needs to be required of us. Trust me; even if you feel like you are stretched thin feeding your family, these kids are in worse financial spots. They eat less than you and your kids, and may not even have a family to rely on. With all this digitalization, we have forgotten how to be kind, how to help, and how to live together. This is something I’m really worried about.

We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂

Yes, I would love the chance to sit down with Marshall Mathers (aka Eminem). He’s not an investor or tech innovator, but this guy has had to deal with a lot. He’s been challenged with losing a best friend, family issues, and fighting drug addiction. A person has to be increcdibly strong and resilient to overcome all of this. In my opinion, he’s an incredible motivation for anyone who is struggling. I can’t say how much I admire him for his impact on the music industry and his influence as a magnificent human being.

Thank you so much for these excellent stories and insights. We wish you continued success and good health!

Thanks so much for allowing me to share. It’s been a pleasure!

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Ivaylo Yovkov Of Rewards Bunny On The 5 Things You Need To Understand In Order To Successfully… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Reduced human error — Reduce human error and other predictable risks when you simplify and modernize processes and workflows using applications that are fully customized to your teams’ needs.

As a part of our series about “How To Use Digital Transformation To Take Your Company To The Next Level”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Alice Redmond.

Alice Redmond, Ph.D. is the Vice President of Europe Operations at Commissioning Agents, Inc. She has more than 29 years of experience in the lifecycle management of pharma facilities inclusive of regulatory compliance, facility & process design, technology transfer, commissioning, qualification, and validation. Previously Ms. Redmond worked for Sandoz/Novartis in Basel, Kundl, and Ireland in the areas of quality, validation, and technical operations. Following Novartis, Alice led the Global Regulatory, Commissioning, and Qualification Group for a Global Engineering Company for 13 years. Alice has large global project experience in green field facilities including fill finish, biotech, gene therapy, medical devices, small and large molecule API, and OSD from design through to operational readiness.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

I’m an engineer, scientist, lifelong learner, and all in all a biotech “nerd.” I earned my degree in Biotechnology and Chemical Engineering, and from there, I grew a passion for all things engineering and biotechnology. Throughout my educational career, I pursued the path of cancer research, eventually finding a niche interest in multiple drug resistance in human tumors (lung and ovarian cancer). This experience is what ultimately led and inspired me to pursue a career in the pharmaceutical industry. Since then, I have never looked back, working across the globe in various different sectors and modalities of drug products. Mostly, I geek out about all the new modalities that are now becoming the norm and mapping the future of how patients are treated.

I’ve also spent a great deal of time promoting STEM throughout my career. It’s a passion point that I have fostered, both during my undergraduate and postgraduate studies, and then through different leadership levels. I’m a founding member of Women in Technology and Science (WITS), and on the ISPE Women in Pharma (WIP) steering team. ISPE WIP provides women in the pharmaceutical industry a forum for genuine collaboration and connection on technical and career advancement topics, and it’s an honor to work with and meet amazing, hard-working, intelligent women across the globe. Through this community, I’ve been fortunate to harness the power of networking, mentoring, and tapping into resources across all levels to gain and help foster balanced professional growth.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?

Early in my career, I was tasked with the responsibility of executing a Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) audit for the entire manufacturing site I supported at the time. Once I finalized the audit, my supervisor asked me to send a detailed email to the full site leadership team, inclusive of sensitive information regarding the site’s process, testing, training, and personnel. And while my supervisor asked me to copy a specific list of people, somehow I managed to send the email to the ENTIRE company. From then on, I always check…and recheck the target email addresses. It’s important to be careful when handling reports of a sensitive nature!

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful for who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

While completing my Ph.D. program, I met a female oncologist who had a very successful clinical practice. She did an inspiring job of balancing both a busy work life and a personal life — raising four children — while concurrently supporting many young female engineers like myself. To me, she was like Superwoman. Through drive and perseverance, she forged her own inspiring and successful career path and was always eager to learn and grow. She was a very influential person and I felt lucky to meet her during my undergraduate program. To me, her success was built on many fundamental skills and characteristics, but what struck me as a 21-year-old was her ability to connect with people of all cultures, ages, and all levels within healthcare, industry, and academia. Her communication style was customized, factual, diplomatic, and appropriate. Her feedback was spot on. When you asked her opinion on something she would always challenge you to think of many different aspects of the same scenario. I’ve carried this experience and interaction with me throughout my career, and today, I am grateful for the guidance she provided me so early on in my adult life. Even now, occasionally I ask myself that question, “what would Maeve say?” and attribute much of who I am today, both professionally and personally, to her. For other young professionals, I highly recommend making as many professional connections as possible throughout your career. There is so much to be learned from others’ experiences and beliefs.

Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

John Crowly’s story continues to inspire me. He is an American biotechnology executive and entrepreneur, currently chairman and CEO of Amicus. When his children were diagnosed with Pompe disease, John moved the family to be closer to the right doctor and got a job at Bristol-Myers Squibb to immerse himself in health research. Later, he co-founded Novazyme Pharmaceuticals then acquired by Genzyme, and was able to provide the enzyme replacement therapy for Pompe disease to his children. In 2006, he was profiled in the book The Cure: How a Father Raised $100 Million — And Bucked the Medical Establishment — In a Quest to Save His Children, and was then the inspiration for the movie Extraordinary Measures.

John’s story is one of true perseverance, science, and honoring the voice of the patient. A good friend of mine has two children suffering from Pompe disease, and ever since, John Crowly’s story has continued to inspire me.

Extensive research suggests that “purpose-driven businesses” are more successful in many areas. When your company started, what was its vision, and what was its purpose?

Since our founding in 1996, CAI has had one main purpose: to accelerate our clients’ path to success. We put the client’s interests first. We don’t stop until it’s right. And we’ll do whatever it takes to get there. We’ve developed and changed over the years to better serve our clients, but have always stuck to our core values and main mission.

At CAI, we believe that world-class operations successfully plan and integrate three areas: product, process, and end-user requirements; people; and equipment, automation, and facility technology. We focus on integrating these areas, as applied to regulated manufacturing, mission-critical facilities, energy-efficient buildings, patient-critical facilities, and complex operations.

Our clients demand technical and project management expertise, attention to detail, tenacity, innovation, and responsiveness to meet a wide range of requirements and overcome a broad range of contingencies. And since the beginning, we’ve tried our best to deliver consistently, expertly and completely.

Are you working on any new, exciting projects now? How do you think that might help people?

At CAI, we have seen a shift in BioPharma Services requirements toward operational workforce support, due to a combination of market talent challenges. Our strategic positioning of an integrated Operational Readiness (OR) best-in-class early engagement model and Operational Excellence (OE) approach includes the support staffing plans and operational scheduling, SOPs development & Batch Record drafting, development of Training and Qualification programs and content and human error deviation closure & reduction.

We are conducting speed-to-patient OR workshops early in the project lifecycle, ideally during basic and front-end design. This helps to further develop key interactions, stakeholder management, and deliverables timing. The OR model deployment helps our client improve their comprehension of the activities necessary to achieve their goals. It is like putting together a jigsaw that has removed organization and process barriers and all the pieces mesh together.

Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion about Digital Transformation. For the benefit of our readers, can you help explain what exactly Digital Transformation means? On a practical level, what does it look like to engage in a Digital Transformation?

Absolutely! In simplest terms, Digital Transformation is the process of evaluating and implementing innovative technologies into business processes to transform the operations of an organization. If done right, it can provide a competitive edge that will ultimately lead to better services, both for customers, employees, and the communities the organization serves.

Digital transformation is the primary driver of the 4.0 stage within the manufacturing/pharmaceutical industry. There is a huge call for a mix of emerging technologies that tackle age-old industrial objectives: boost production, improve quality and reduce equipment downtime. Among the IT developments, manufacturers hope to harness include cloud and edge computing, 5G networks, and AI rank.

In our experience at CAI, we help our clients through the everyday challenges of digitally transforming — from identifying business processes ripe for transformation to rapid application design and implementation, business integration, and quality support and maintenance.

We work closely with our clients, existing technologies, legacy systems, and processes to streamline complex engineering and mission-critical project management workflows. Strategically leveraging the latest technology is imperative, not only for our client’s business growth but for survival in today’s fast-moving market and to stay ahead of the competition.

Which companies can most benefit from a Digital Transformation?

As we progress further into the phase of Pharma 4.0, the amount of companies within the industry that would benefit from the digital transformation has drastically increased. Many more industry sectors are able to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) technology and digital twinning to get over hurdles and provide the public with better products more efficiently. For example, there is now use in check transfer, in programming, in modeling, and in data analytics. With use in the developmental stages and now the following stages, we are able to experience a holistic digital transformation within the market.

We’d love to hear about your experiences helping others with Digital Transformation. In your experience, how has Digital Transformation helped improve operations, processes, and customer experiences? We’d love to hear some stories if possible.

Digital technology and this transformation have impacted the industry from the point of facility design, product design, clinical trials, and the patient experience. For example, CAI and our clients are using digital twinning technologies for employee training and for process optimization. We have a human performance element to what we do, and a lot of that is based on the use of online technologies for training, specifically AI technologies for training. We are only tipping the iceberg now. For us, the use of these technologies of AI, machine learning, and blockchain have to be a part of the strategy to be able to compete tomorrow, but also to integrate and work with others from a global perspective.

Has integrating Digital Transformation been a challenging process for some companies? What are the challenges? How do you help resolve them?

In this day of digitization, manufacturing companies struggle to navigate their way through the digital transformation process. It’s challenging to introduce new technologies into your organizations, as the transition from the tried and true legacy systems and processes is difficult.

However, the macroeconomic forces and cost pressures along with technological improvements will result in inevitable digital transformation in the years to come and soon businesses will require a data-centric architecture.

At CAI, we have incorporated digital platforms, streamlined complex engineering, & mission-critical project management workflows to enable the clients with both a faster time to market and cost efficiencies, now with reduced risk and improved productivity.

Ok. Thank you. Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are “Five Ways a Company Can Use Digital Transformation To Take It To The Next Level”?

1. Regulatory Compliance — Fast track regulatory compliance and site management tasks and issues with customized applications that automate the process for you
2. Use cloud technology as a competitive advantage — Deliver new drugs, MedTech, and other devices to market faster than your competitors with a digitized core.
3. Reduced human error — Reduce human error and other predictable risks when you simplify and modernize processes and workflows using applications that are fully customized to your teams’ needs.
4. Modernize your data management program — Take advantage of cloud flexibility and scalability by transforming how you manage data security and data protection and use real-time data dashboard analysis tools.
5. Manage operations more efficiently — Improve productivity, automate manual and repetitive tasks, and track your operations more efficiently.

In your opinion, how can companies best create a “culture of innovation” in order to create new competitive advantages?

CAI has always, first and foremost, been committed to our people. We are a global company that prides itself on fostering and supporting a diverse workforce of people from different backgrounds and experiences. Because we work in the office spaces and factories of many of our clients as we serve them, we often find ourselves in many diverse places and among many diverse people. At our core, we are built on relationships with the people we serve inside and outside of the organization.. Providing the best customer service through our talented team of employees is core to our value proposition. We recognize that great service is built through trusted relationships. An organization can establish this by fully understanding who they’re serving, clients knowing the organization on a deeper level, and then providing a high-level performance. Through trust, an organization possesses the power to integrate both its talent team into other varying corporate cultures and geographies and the ability to adapt quickly. We stand firm with the belief that a positive experience with a client will blossom if these global learnings are applied, but on the flip side, it can also quickly deteriorate.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“The journey of your success will always begin with the small step of taking a chance. In business, in relationships, and in life, it all begins with a small step grounded in a desire and determination to be better and do better.”

Each small step I took in the journey helped me to grow and learn from those experiences. Each small win and mistake was what I needed to grow in my career, and I’m grateful for it all.

How can our readers further follow your work?

Those who would be interested in following me can do so on LinkedIn. If you are interested in others outside of just me, I’d encourage you to check our CAI resources page. There you can read the latest and greatest sources written by our team of experts — with everything from role-based talent planning for operational readiness to industry survival in the face of an evolving workforce — case studies of our client success stories and more. We also have a company blog where we share our newest ideas and thought leadership hot takes!

Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!

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Alice Redmond Of CAI On How To Use Digital Transformation To Take Your Company To The Next Level was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Simplify everything. The sales process, the set up of the product, the product itself. The easier the product is to buy, adopt and use, the better, more sticky and successful it will become.

Startups usually start with a small cohort of close colleagues. But what happens when you add a bunch of new people into this close cohort? How do you maintain the company culture? In addition, what is needed to successfully scale a business to increase market share or to increase offerings? How can a small startup grow successfully to a midsize and then large company? To address these questions, we are talking to successful business leaders who can share stories and insights from their experiences about the “5 Things You Need To Know To Successfully Scale Your Business”. As a part of this series, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Ross McCaw.

Ross McCaw is a software entrepreneur who founded Cap2 solutions in 2009, which was acquired by Jonas Software (part of CSI) in 2011. Ross then went on to found team communication and engagement platform, OurPeople, in 2016 to help deskless teams navigate their internal communications. Since its inception, OurPeople has raised $3.75m and has worked with a number of high-profile clients including West Ham United Foundation, Virgin Active UK, Paulton’s Park and Serco Leisure.

Thank you for joining us in this interview series. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’?

“Prior to setting up my own business I lived a pretty normal life. I went to university and was running a web design business outside of those hours. In 2009, I founded the course management system, Cap2 solutions and grew it exponentially across the globe. In 2014 I was able to sell it to a North American firm, Jonas Software and then focus on my next venture — OurPeople.

“OurPeople was founded in 2017 to fill a gap in the market. I found that there was no safe, secure or efficient communication platform available for deskless workers. I wanted to provide a central platform for businesses to engage, manage and train their remote teams — no app required. And provide business leaders with the certainty that their messages have been delivered and seen by their employees.

“The need for such a platform was highlighted during the pandemic. While desk-based workers could work from home, most deskless workers remained on the frontline. Having a strong internal comms infrastructure proved critical to keeping teams intact during this busy, unpredictable and unprecedented period.”

You’ve had a remarkable career journey. Can you highlight a key decision in your career that helped you get to where you are today?

“As a British entrepreneur the done thing is to stick by the ‘made in Britain’ tagline. But the turning point for me and my business was when I recognised the opportunities that other markets presented. The US market is ten times the size of the UK market and has an audience who are considerably more receptive to trying new technologies in a shorter period of time due to their quicker buying cycle. By recognising this, I was able to scale and sell my first business and OurPeople is following in its footsteps.”

What’s the most impactful initiative you’ve led that you’re particularly proud of?

“The most impactful was noticing that the industry really needed a platform like OurPeople. However, the government isn’t doing enough to get platforms like OurPeople into the hands of people and businesses that need it most.

“The UK is on a mission to be the leader in innovation and home to the very best talent. One of the ways we can collectively put our best foot forward is by supporting our tech innovators to roll out their solutions to the masses, helping them connect with potential customers.

“One initiative introduced by the UK government is G-cloud 13. While on the face of it this seems like a great initiative to encourage and enable mass innovation, instead it is doing the complete opposite. We have been on a personal mission to call out the government on this and for better structures to be put in place in order to connect the UK’s greatest developments with councils to do their best work.”

Sometimes our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a mistake you’ve made and the lesson you took away from it?

“My biggest mistake was that I was blind to the opportunities presented by other markets for way too long. Realising that the American market is quicker, less risk averse and more willing to try new products is when I started to see real results and it’s something I wish I knew earlier on.

“However, it is worth noting that it is almost impossible to sell to the American market as a Brit. While American’s do trust and respect UK tech companies, it is crucial to have feet on the ground selling your product for it to succeed.”

How has mentorship played a role in your career, whether receiving mentorship or offering it to others?

“I’ve been lucky enough to meet some incredibly successful software entrepreneurs and software acquirers over the past 10 or so years. These are the kind of people you won’t have heard of, because they focus on their work and not on their personal brand.

One of these early mentors made it incredibly clear to me that work is about the people that you meet. They said, “If the fit between the people isn’t right, it’s never going to work” and this advice has definitely stuck with me over the years.“

Developing your leadership style takes time and practice. Who do you model your leadership style after? What are some key character traits you try to emulate?

“Nowadays young people are fed information online that to be a ‘successful entrepreneur’ you need to wake up at 3am, run 50 miles, read 5 books and then start your highly productive work day — while this is possible, it’s not realistic and it most definitely does not define success.

“Characters like this sell the ‘vision of a visionary’ when in fact, what you really need to focus on is communication with your team and how to actually get the work done. The days that make me happiest are when I deliver something meaningful — specifically working on the great product we are building. Social media is full of people talking about themselves and how they are the best but it does make you wonder — what are they doing that is actually meaningful within the company? What value are they delivering? It should always be about what you are building, not about building your own personal brand.”

Thank you for sharing that with us. Let’s talk about scaling a business from a small startup to a midsize and then large company. Based on your experience, can you share with our readers the “5 Things You Need To Know To Successfully Scale Your Business”? Please give a story or example for each.

1. Differences between US and UK purchasing culture: By noticing that there are advantages in other markets can help grow your business to new levels. I was able to sell my business seven years after it was founded because I ditched the ‘made in Britain’ tagline and explored other opportunities
2. Make sure you are building something that people need in order to do their job properly. In the early days of a software startup, it is very easy to listen to your loudest customer and end up building something that is only really useful to that one company. It’s really important to get what you are building into the hands of as many people as possible. Often founders are worried about how their idea might be “stolen”. But just consider how hard you are working to get your idea off the ground in the first place.
3. Simplify everything. The sales process, the set up of the product, the product itself. The easier the product is to buy, adopt and use, the better, more sticky and successful it will become.
4. Don’t be influenced by what you see online. Just because Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn are telling you that you need to get up at 3am, run 50 miles and read 5 books to be a successful entrepreneur doesn’t mean you have to listen to it. You can be a success story without having to abide by these outlandish routines. Simply believing in yourself and your product is enough to get you there.
5. Communicate well with your team and trust them to do a great job. In the early part of my career, I found it incredibly difficult to delegate and trust the team that was working with me. Fast forward a few years, I have learnt to stand back and trust the great people we have in the business.

Can you share a few of the mistakes that companies make when they try to scale a business? What would you suggest to address those errors?

“One of the biggest mistakes that I see happening time and time again is businesses taking investment too early. Before you give any of your business away, it’s important to build as much value in the company as possible. Most entrepreneurs are too eager to take money from investors too early on, forgetting that when they do so, they give away a proportion of their business which comes with risks during the early stages.

“Many businesses also don’t prioritise cash flow and break even as a goal, often putting significant growth at a huge cost, ahead of building a lasting, sustainable business.”

Scaling includes bringing new people into the organization. How can a company preserve its company culture and ethos when new people are brought in?

“As OurPeople operates in the deskless space, it is even more challenging to ensure a good company culture and ethos. Colleagues have less face-to-face interaction as most of their communication happens through technology.

“Therefore, your internal comms infrastructure will be the core to maintaining a real sense of community, identity and purpose as employees can not benefit from the same environment provided by an office. You should have a platform that has features specifically designed for harnessing company culture amongst a deskless workforce. OurPeople allows business leaders to send short questionnaires to employees where they can provide anonymous feedback on working practices. This makes employees feel valued and listened to. Your digital platform should be used to enhance the in-person relationship between employee and employers — this can help build trust and rapport which is key for the long-term success of the business. Having high levels of engagement with deskless staff can reduce staff turnover and help build a recognisable and attractive company culture.”

Many times, a key aspect of scaling your business is scaling your team’s knowledge and internal procedures. What tools or techniques have helped your teams be successful at scaling internally?

“This is an area where we have focused heavily on over the past 12 months. Taking sales as an example, when a new sales rep joins the company and you have a small team, that new rep becomes a huge drain on the time of others, and there is always the possibility that the same problem will replicate in other areas of the business too.

“We have spent a significant amount of time working on internal documentation, internal inductions and processes to ensure new people are brought up to speed as quickly as possible. I never really used to see the value of this but now that we have it, it is invaluable and means that when new people join the team, while there is always an inevitable period where things will slow down, they grow into their role quicker and feel more confident.”

What software or tools do you recommend to help onboard new hires?

“Onboarding new employees plays an important role in setting the tone of the company, its values and what it expects of every team member. A thorough and positive experience will ensure staff feel prepared for what they’ll face and better equip them for work. This means giving them the resources and documents needed to start, provide training for their roles and ensure they have ways to communicate with other teams and management.

“Being able to do all of this on one platform, allows you to keep it in one place. Through you can create a staff onboarding process that’s easy to follow, understand and complete from start to finish. You can include engaging content that makes everything clear for a new starter and share the files and documents they need to read, complete and use in their role.”

Because of your role, you are a person of significant influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most people, what would that be? You never know what your ideas can trigger.

“Think for a moment about how easily distracted you can become during a working day. Everyone wants a piece of your time. A single text message can interrupt the flow of the task you are trying to complete. Often the best work is completed when you just focus. I often actually find public spaces/coffee shops are a great place to avoid distractions. A pair of noise cancelling headphones and putting your phone away works wonders. I call it the get sh*t done movement. Stop talking about it and just get on with it.”

How can our readers further follow your work online?

You can visit our website and get in touch or connect with me on LinkedIn!

Website: https://www.ourpeople.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ross-mccaw/

This was truly meaningful! Thank you so much for your time and for sharing your expertise!

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Ross McCaw Of OurPeople On 5 Things You Need To Know To Successfully Scale Your Business was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Meet The Disruptors: Jack Lifton Of One World Lithium On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

You do not find truly disruptive innovations from very large companies. If you truly want transformative, disruptive innovations, that will be found from an emerging enterprise. The largest companies can’t simply put aside how much money they have already invested (sunk costs) in the old technology.

As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jack Lifton.

Jack Lifton began his career in 1962 as a physical chemist specializing in the ultra-purification of rare metals and the preparation of their chemical compounds and alloys for use in the solid-state electronics and energy storage industries. He coined the now widely-used term “technology metals” in 2007 to describe those metals whose electronic properties enable the miniaturization of electronic technologies. In addition to his Advisor — Physical and Chemical Engineer role with One World Lithium, he also serves as Editor-in-Chief for Critical Materials InvestorIntel.com and is the Chairman of the Critical Minerals Institute, www.criticalmineralsinstitute.com

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I was still in graduate school in 1962 when I first worked on the electronic properties of lithium on a contract with the then Lithium Corporation of America to look for electronic uses of lithium. It was the age of scientific advancement that began with WWII’s enormous deployment of capital to make marginal materials available not just for study but for use no matter (then) the cost. Uranium, plutonium, germanium, gallium, tellurium, and the rare earths, were all, for the first time, produced in quantity and used to create atomic weapons, portable radio and radar, practical electronic television, and right after the war, the transistor.

I was a Sputnik inspired student of science. We patriotic high school students were told that it was imperative to beat the Russians in rocketry after their German scientists beat our German scientists to deploying SPUTNIK, a MOUSE, A minimum orbital unmanned satellite of the earth. In college we were thrilled and inspired by John Kennedy’s admonition to “land a man on the moon in this decade and bring him safely back to earth.”

I later did my part in that program by developing a method to deposit cadmium sulfide in tubes the diameter of a human hair which allowed the construction of a solid-state image intensifier (used in night vision binoculars) for the Army and NASA.

Did I mention that my group made the first memory chip constructed in Michigan and that I actually made the first solid state memory cell that came to the market 50 years later as the SSD? My employer came up with the concept. My job was to produce an example.

You can see I like to reminisce, and I have a lot of stories about the development of modern electronics, energy storage, and critical materials’ processing.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

The critical elements of today were mostly laboratory curiosities up until WWII. What are critical elements? Energy critical elements (ECEs) are elements integral to advanced energy production, transmission, and storage. This category includes lithium, cobalt, selenium, silicon, tellurium, indium, and rare earth elements (REEs).

After WWII, there was a flowering of production of all these new critical element materials and the ones we know today are the ones that survived due to their utility. For example, today, you can make a mini magnet that is as strong as an iron magnet which was totally unknown decades ago as “researchers have created extremely small, thermally stable magnets. These nanoparticles have magnetic properties comparable to some rare earth magnets, the strongest permanent magnets ever created, but at sizes as small as 5 nanometers, a million times smaller than an ant.”

At One World Lithium, we are developing game-changing direct lithium extraction (DLE) technologies. How is DLE defined? The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) states: “DLE technologies can be broadly grouped into three main categories: absorption using porous materials that enable lithium bonding, ion exchange, and solvent extraction.

Scaling up any of these techniques to full production capability remains a challenging task. For example, developing a solid material that bonds with just lithium is a huge challenge for use in geothermal brine that contains many minerals and metals. Successful DLE implementation will depend on expanding innovation and creating new technologies.”

“It’s such a game changer. There are huge opportunities,” U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told an energy conference in April 2022 about DLE.

Lithium is the ‘driving’ force behind electric vehicles, but the industry is not able to keep pace with demand. In February 2022, the Biden administration announced plans to invest $2.9 billion to strengthen the battery supply chain and the production of advanced batteries. New technologies that will expand the sources of the supply of lithium must fill the gap.

As reported by The Wall Street Journal, new lithium extraction technologies are attracting attention as these “methods “could help increase supplies, while attracting investors for their potential to speed up production and reduce the environmental impact compared with most current lithium-extraction methods, are, so, far unproven at commercial scale.”

So, what’s disruptive about the DLE technology developed by One World Lithium? In March 2022, One World Lithium announced the signing a licensing agreement with the US Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) division for a patent developed by the NETL for selectively recovering lithium from solutions of mixed metallic ions.

One World Lithium Inc.’s option agreement with the US Department of Energy and its National Energy Technology Laboratories (NETL) is focused on the potential to profitably separate high purity lithium carbonate from a brine. The DOE patent is an advanced direct lithium extraction (DLE) process for the extraction of lithium from natural brines, rapidly generating a pure lithium carbonate.

The method uses a unique multi-step high pressure/temperature application of carbon dioxide injection-mixing to ultimately directly and selectively precipitate lithium carbonate from brines. One World’s DLE technology competes favorably vs. competitors since:

• The process requires no solvent, electrodes, membrane, or sorbents and only uses carbon dioxide which can be sourced commercially or from industrial waste streams or even ambient air.
• It significantly reduces capital and operation costs, process time, energy requirements, and, paradoxically, overall carbon dioxide emissions.
• The process is fully operational at the brine source, eliminating transportation of brine derived solids to a chemical processing facility to form pure lithium carbonate.
• Deployment of this technology will reduce dependence on foreign lithium sources.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

While the experience is not ‘funny,’ it was a great life lesson and speaks to lost opportunities and what can be learned from that. The catalytic converter (a device built in the exhaust system of a motor vehicle which includes a catalyst for converting pollutant gases into less harmful ones) was invented by Eugene Houdry, a French mechanical engineer in the 1950s. However, manufacturing development started in earnest after the Environmental Protection Agency’s emissions control regulations began in the early 1960s. The USA made the fitting of a exhaust emission control catalytic converter mandatory beginning in the 1976 model year.

The catalyst component of a catalytic converter is usually platinum (Pt), along with palladium (Pd), and rhodium (Rh). All three of these platinum group metals are rare but have a broad range of applications in addition to catalytic converters. Back in the 70’s, I contracted with a major auto manufacturer to collect and recycle used catalytic converters. However, timing is everything. While this proved to be an extremely lucrative business in the 1980’s and ’90s, with widespread use of the part beginning around 1975, before that there simply were not enough catalytic converters around to recycle as American cars are recycled, on average, once every 12 years. People I know who got into that business then made a fortune. Needless to say, I was correct that there was a huge market for catalytic component recycling, but I was ahead of my time.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

Stanford Ovshinsky, who was my first employer, and the inventor of the phase-change memory, the precursor of the solid-state memory that is used in computers today. Ovshinsky was an inventor, engineer and scientist who was granted over 400 patents predominately in energy and information. Stan transformed industries and made groundbreaking contributions to sustainable energy and information technology including the nickel-metal hydride battery, which has been widely used in laptop computers, digital cameras, cell phones, and electric and hybrid cars; continuous web multi-junction flexible thin-film solar energy laminates and panels; flat screen liquid crystal displays; rewritable CD and DVD computer memories; hydrogen fuel cells; and nonvolatile phase-change electronic memories.

I worked with Ovshinsky at a company he founded, Energy Conversion Devices, which was at the forefront as a development laboratory whose products built new industries, many which aimed to make fossil fuel obsolete. ECD continued (through joint ventures and license partners) to be a leading solar energy and battery production firm).

I was going to leave Stan’s company as I was looking to complete my master’s degree. Stan said to stop and told me that I would learn infinitely more working for him than in school. I believed him and I did just that I worked alongside him as he was developing the original solid state memory unit. Decades later, Samsung came out with a variation of Stan’s invention — 40 years is generally the time it takes ordinary folks to learn anything.

Stan was a 10th grade dropout who created entire industries who Smithsonian magazine dubbed the ‘most prolific inventor you never heard of. Their article says that “it’s hard to look around in today’s technology-driven world and not see something that exists because of inventor Stanford R. Ovshinsky. When you turn your flat-screen TV on with the click of a remote, when a Prius silently drives past, when you see solar panels powering a home, when you save a photo on your smartphone, you have Ovshinsky, in part, to thank.”

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

You do not find truly disruptive innovations from very large companies. If you truly want transformative, disruptive innovations, that will be found from an emerging enterprise. The largest companies can’t simply put aside how much money they have already invested (sunk costs) in the old technology.

Consider lithium processing. Here in the United States where we don’t recycle our valuable energy metals, we are now trying to get in the game and start lithium mining in force. For our world to reach its environmental goals, it is important to understand the necessity of acquiring an ample supply of lithium from geopolitically stable countries.

Chile and Australia are the largest current producers of lithium. Australia, China and Chile are currently cited as the top three reserves holders, eclipsing the rest of the world’s reserves and China dominates the global supply of refined lithium products. As EV demand is now skyrocketing, stable countries with major lithium resources are starting to play a greater role in the world’s energy shift, with the goal of creating a powerful positive feedback loop of stability, prosperity and industry leadership. The goal is to convert these resources to reserves and drive significant “new” production.

The United States holds about 8 million metric tons of lithium in reserve, ranking it among the top five countries in the world, reports the USGS. Yet it only currently produces about 1% of the world’s supply at one solitary lithium brine mine in Nevada called Silver Peak, run by Albemarle Corp.

Lithium is the clear incumbent metal of choice in the race to use rechargeable batteries as part of future energy consumption. The paradigm shift is accelerating, and as lithium-ion batteries are more widely used in automobiles and power storage devices, demand is accelerating as well.

Lithium extraction processes use a lot of water — approximately 500,000 gallons per metric ton of lithium produced. Mining can consume the majority of a region’s water, which negatively impacts the community and reduces the number of locations that are feasible. Lithium extraction technologies also have the potential for toxic chemicals to leak from the evaporation pools, or membrane filters, into the water supply. This includes hydrochloric acid, which may be created in the processing of lithium, and waste products that are filtered out of the brine.

This is why direct lithium extraction technology (DLE) will be the gamechanger. And, yes, the DLE innovation that takes hold will not come from a giant corporation, but a nimble upstart. You wait and see! DLE techniques dramatically improve lithium recovery rates, increase the concentration of lithium and eliminate 99% of impurities.

Can you share some of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

• “When a great genius appears in the world you may know him by this sign; that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.” ― Jonathan Swift, Irish Satirist. I think to my time working for the great Stanford Ovshinsky and he widely mocked the scientific community in his early career. Later, however, it was not unusual to see Nobel-prize winning scientists in his research lab. It’s a win when the dunces depart and the fellow geniuses take notice.
• Natural selection is called economic viability — I am continually approached by companies showcasing the next-big thing. However, these innovations are usually tripped up by the day-to-day realities of what it actually costs to bring that innovation to the market. Universities often shower money on scientists who generally have no business sense. When someone comes up to me with a new way to process lithium or any rare earths, I ask what will it cost to process kilogram.
• Retirement means doing what you have fun doing. — After my ‘retirement’ over twenty years ago, I became busier than ever, and having fun doing what I love. Helping companies understand the value and path forward for their critical elements/rare earth projects as well as plot out the most effective and low-cost extraction and refining processes continues to be a challenge I love and have decades of experience in.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

First and foremost, my goal is to see that One World Lithium’s Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology becomes the ‘gold standard,’ or should I say ‘lithium standard’ in the industry. Yes, One World Lithium is a nimble, emerging company, and having reviewed most of the available DLE technologies on the horizon, I believe that One World Lithium’s is the best.

My advisory group, Jack Lifton LLC, advises governmental agencies, both at home and abroad, on metals industries supply chain issues and engages in extensive due diligence on mining, refining, and the fabrication of metals for financial institutions globally.

I am a member of numerous professional societies and a frequent speaker at both professional and industry events on both the markets for technology metals and materials, and on the use of new and newly applied technologies for the extraction, refining and fabrication of rare metals and materials.

Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?

Because my mentor Stan Ovshinsky was among a very small list of American inventors who helped to shape the modern world over the past century, but yet remains largely unknown by the masses, I recommend that your readers review his personal stories and contributions as profiled in the book, Inventing Modern America.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“I hope climate science becomes a big thing. And then what I want is electrical engineers to solve the world’s energy problems, energy distribution problems. I want mechanical engineers to make better transportation systems. I want chemical engineers to develop better solar panels, and so on.” — Bill Nye, The Science Guy. As a scientist, engineer, inventor as well as a comic and author, Nye’s goal is to “help foster a scientifically literate society, to help people everywhere understand and appreciate the science that makes our world work.”

Nye’s quote and life’s work resonates as he reinforces in a light-hearted way the true gravitas behind the scientific community and the work they do.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

In China, they have industrial policies to ensure that they have enough scientists, electrical engineers, etc. Here in the United States, we graduate very few people who are majoring in electrical engineering. We do not have enough scientists and engineers needed for lithium processing in the United States. If I could inspire a movement, it would be to encourage young men and women who have aptitude in the sciences to consider studying electrical engineering, geological sciences, chemical sciences, etc. For our nation, to be energy independent and begin processing our natural resources, we need a true commitment from the next generation to join this journey.

How can our readers follow you online?

Please follow One World Lithium on our website, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

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Meet The Disruptors: Jack Lifton Of One World Lithium On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Agile Businesses: Steven Lin Of Semarchy On How Businesses Pivot and Stay Relevant In The Face of Disruptive Technologies

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

If you don’t plan, you’ll never get to the next step of your dream. Be good at both. Ask yourself, “What are the immediate next steps?”

As part of my series about the “How Businesses Pivot and Stay Relevant In The Face of Disruptive Technologies”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Steven Lin.

Steven Lin is the product marketing manager at Semarchy, responsible for executing the go-to-market strategy for the awarding-winning data company. Prior to joining Semarchy, Steven was a Technology Strategy consultant at Ernst & Young advising large-scale data initiatives for global & national firms. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing & Technology Management as well as a Masters of Science in Information Systems from Indiana University — Kelley School of Business.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

I’ve always been interested in business. I grew up working at a restaurant with my parents, which has always been a part of my life. When I went to college, I decided to pursue marketing because it is one of the most general business degrees you can earn. I realized that I liked it and was good at it, so I ended up staying with it in college. Later, I realized I wanted to pursue technology-intensive fields, so I pursued a master’s degree in Information Systems.

After college, I ended up working at EY as a technology transformation consultant. During the latter half of my studies, I was super focused on the technology and strategy sides. Now at Semarchy, I have been able to marry these worlds with my passion for marketing more tightly. That’s how I ended up here as the product marketing manager.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

Probably my funniest mistake was not setting proper standards for myself. Without getting into all the details, I’ll say it like this: When you begin your career, you think everyone else has it all figured out, and you’re playing catch-up. And so you put everyone else on a pedestal. This can put you in a tight spot where instead of asking questions and figuring things out, you allow yourself to stay stuck in a cycle of self-doubt.

The key takeaway is to go into your career confidently, regardless of your rank, title, or the people you work with. You were hired based on what you offer — for many, at the beginning of their careers, you are hired because you are fresh, young, and have a brand new set of eyes to look at the industry. You offer a different perspective, and I think that is the key lesson to take away here.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

In eighth grade, my class took a tour of the focus areas we could choose in high school. The only two options available were biology and engineering because we grew up in such a small town. It was a given that if you were a boy, you took the engineering track, and if you were a girl, you took the biology track.

I actually wanted to become a doctor for the longest time, so I started taking the biology route, but I got lost on my way to that class and ended up in the basement. There was literally a light at the end of the hallway that happened to be the engineering room. Walking in and watching the teacher talk to his students about 3D printing changed everything for me. If I had not “gotten lost,” I may never have thought about pursuing technology, STEM, and ultimately, business. I am so grateful for that chance encounter with the engineering teacher who ultimately helped me develop my problem-solving and technical skills.

Honestly, every step of the way throughout college and my professional career, I had great mentors. I can’t thank all of them enough.

Extensive research suggests that “purpose driven businesses” are more successful in many areas. When your company started, what was its vision, what was its purpose?

One of the things that drew me to consulting was my passion for problem-solving. The prior consulting firm I worked for had a motto to the effect of “Asking questions and building a better world.” This was an inspiring statement for a fresh graduate because it points to the future. Later, what drew me to Semarchy was its creative page, which talked about embracing humor and humanity. At the end of the day, all of the problems we solve involve people. This is why I think it is such a powerful message.

Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you tell our readers a bit about what your business does? How do you help people?

We’re a master data management company. In a nutshell, we bring data together to make it easier for people to use. For example, many companies have data in 15 or 20 different systems, and they don’t know what is “the truth.” Semarchy makes sure that data all goes to one place where meaning can be made out of chaos.

Ultimately, data is very powerful, but what makes it that way is when people have access to it. Semarchy enables more people to derive power from data by making it easier for the people that have access to it. Data is powerful, but everyone wants to keep it to themselves. We help simplify data by making it more accessible, allowing companies to create more value out of their information.

Which technological innovation has encroached or disrupted your industry? Can you explain why this has been disruptive?

There are a lot of disruptive technologies, such as AI and machine learning technologies. I would say that the biggest disrupter to technological innovation in our space is new language and words that are not yet standard. New buzzwords, like data fabric, data mesh, data AI, etc. can be confusing. No one has a cohesive understanding of their meaning. The ever-evolving language throws people off because they are unsure of your company’s solutions.

We need to extract some of this noise and say what we are trying to solve. Technology is hugely disruptive, but how people bring up new buzzwords disrupts our industry in a negative sense. We must ask ourselves what actual value we bring with our technology and what kind of education we need to provide our audience.

What did you do to pivot as a result of this disruption?

The main pivot we have to make as a company is internally aligning our language and messaging. So we are beginning by internally aligning at Semarchy to determine what we mean when we talk about “data integration” or “data management,” for example. Companies need to focus on who they are, what they do, and determine common language when discussing specific topics.

If we can have a united front in our messaging and internally, we can better approach our prospects. For example, whenever a new buzzword appears, we can take it and see if it applies to us. Or, if new terms are accepted within the industry, we can pivot and shift our language as necessary. Operations are much more manageable when companies are aligned internally — and alignment begins with having a common language.

Was there a specific “Aha moment” that gave you the idea to start this new path? If yes, we’d love to hear the story.

Whenever you are hired into a new role, you come in with a big vision and grand objective of what you want to do. I’ve been with enough clients to realize that 90% of the time, their issues involve communication and people. That was my “aha moment.” So, I began asking questions about who we focus on as our audience, our value, and how we win in the market. Are we not communicating how we’re winning throughout the funnel? Where’s the friction there?

I’m coming in to facilitate and distill these conversations, which are going well. Now, we have a much better understanding of where we are winning. In addition, we have been seeing more success targeting specific personas after our pivot to improve our messaging. This internal communication exercise has proven to work so far in my career.

So, how are things going with this new direction?

Yeah, so it’s going well. We have worked together to analyze thousands of customer comments about what they like and don’t like about us. After that, we pare it back with what our internal team says about where we are succeeding and where we are failing. We toss all of this on a dashboard. We’re humans, and we love to see things tangibly, right? So when some kind of number is attached, things make sense because there is less friction. Data is clear. If you can show something simply on one slide or on a dashboard, you have already won. The rest of it is explaining how you got there.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this pivot?

Probably the most interesting thing that happened after pivoting our sales/marketing team to leverage this insight dashboard is how much more aligned and communicative we’ve become as a whole. We’re now less in the dark about our customers and competitors and more data-driven in terms of making decisions. A lot of companies don’t drink their own Kool-Aid so to speak — meaning they don’t follow what they preach. If you don’t evangelize your own products, services, and approach, how can you expect your customers to trust that you can actually solve their problems?

On a more personal level — I found it interesting that I left consulting just to be put into a more consulting role. It’s quite amazing the fundamental shift a company can have by simply having all their data in one place and a few pretty visuals or charts. Once this happens, you spend a lot less time digging up the past to understand and more time looking into the future to what’s possible.

What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during a disruptive period?

The role of the leader is to dream, guide, and plan. Of course, a good leader does all three, but a great leader understands the grand vision. It’s really easy to dream, but it’s challenging to plan the immediate next steps for an organization. The most important role for a leader in a disruptive period is to stay firm in those three roles. If you can’t do all of them, you will be the one disrupted and not the one disrupting.

When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?

Dream, guide, and plan. I think that’s the most important role of a leader to keep their team engaged during disruptive periods or times of uncertainty. It’s all about understanding the issues at hand, dreaming up the best-case scenario, and offering realistic solutions to get those employees motivated.

Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?

It boils down to communication. I see companies spend millions of dollars bringing in consultants just because they don’t know how to initiate a conversation between two important entities. During these turbulent times, everyone has thoughts on what can be done better, why they need more resources, and why everyone else is wrong. This is just human nature.

The less you communicate these issues in some capacity, the longer you will draw it out, and the more extreme things will get. You can quickly fix these problems and stay on track when you communicate. When you don’t, you end up putting a band-aid on a wound that will probably never close until someone says, “Hey, let’s spend a good hour understanding and communicating, and let’s see where we can go from here.”

Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make when faced with a disruptive technology? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?

One of the most common mistakes I’ve seen is when a disruptive technology is put on the market, companies will immediately purchase it without understanding why they need to. In some cases, companies don’t actually end up using these products. And then people ask themselves, “Why did I buy this again?” Don’t hitch your company to that wagon without knowing what you are hitching yourself to.

Another mistake goes back to communication. It occurs when one party decides that it is their way or the highway, dragging everyone else along. Difficulties arise when everyone is pulling their feet to move forward.

Lastly, I would say a big mistake is not being proactive enough. While some people can anticipate too fast, others may not anticipate enough. When we anticipate too early, we fail because we fail to grasp the larger perspective that comes with time. When we anticipate too late, we fail because we are playing catch-up. So be safe and pragmatic in what you do and have a good sense of what is out there. Being aware and understanding timing and when to act is key to making sure you can be the disruptor and not the disrupted.

Ok. Thank you. Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to pivot and stay relevant in the face of disruptive technologies? Please share a story or an example for each.

A business leader should:

• Communicate: If you can start a good cadence of communication with your team, you’ll be in a much better spot than 90% of your competitors.
• Dream Big: If you don’t dream, you’ll never reach your potential.
• Plan: If you don’t plan, you’ll never get to the next step of your dream. Be good at both. Ask yourself, “What are the immediate next steps?”
• Anticipate and Participate: Find the sweet spot for anticipating change. Don’t participate too early, but don’t anticipate too late. We’ve seen a lot of companies like Facebook do this. They’re not the first social media platform, and they probably won’t be the last, but they didn’t participate at the very beginning because everyone else had to work out the bugs first. Someone eventually has to be the pioneer and work out the bugs, but it brings me to my point — when something new and shiny comes, don’t just hitch your wagon there, but also don’t disregard it. If you blink, you might miss it, and your whole company might have missed the train.
• Be Human: Behind every disruption or wave of innovation is a human (or many humans) making it happen. If you only look at technologies without appreciating that people drive adoption or rejection — then you’re doomed to fail. Technologies don’t have KPIs, metrics or goals — humans do. Appreciate this and help educate people who buy and use your technology to solve their problems or make their lives easier.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

I think this is a Greek quote: “A society or civilization becomes great when the men who plant the trees don’t get to sit in their shade.” I may have butchered it a bit, but its meaning goes to that principle of dreaming. In business, you should be able to accomplish the dreams that you have set out to do. If you only want to build something for the short term and not for something you can’t see, you probably won’t create something that’ll make a lasting impact.

How can our readers further follow your work?

I am not a blogger yet, per se, but they can follow my LinkedIn. I don’t post much, but if people want me to post more, I can do that!

Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!

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Agile Businesses: Steven Lin Of Semarchy On How Businesses Pivot and Stay Relevant In The Face of… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Non-Fungible Tokens: Amr Samaha Of Tykes On The 5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Utilize your network. Your community has your biggest supporters and believers. If you can provide value to them, they will do the same for you.

Many have observed that we are at the cusp of an NFT boom. The thing is, it’s so cutting edge, that many people don’t know what it is. What exactly is an NFT and how can one create a lucrative career out of selling them? To address this, as a part of our interview series called “5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Amr Samaha.

Amr Samaha is a serial entrepreneur, multiple award-winning architect, and real estate developer, as well as the founder and CEO of seven figure companies SAMAHA Studio and Samaha Holdings. In addition to co-founding Tykes, Samaha has spearheaded commercial and residential real estate design and development projects in California, Tennessee, Arizona, New York, Kuwait, and more.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory and how you grew up?

I was born in Cairo, Egypt, and I moved to Kuwait City when I was 3 years old. My father was a real estate developer, and he developed many war-torn properties, inspiring me to get into the industry. I was an artistic kid and was very interested in design, so I decided to attend architecture school in Cairo, where I ended up getting my architectural engineering license and began my career in real estate. After that, I lived in New York for a few years working in venture capital, and I used what I learned during that experience to find my own company, Samaha Holdings, which is an architectural design and real estate development firm. It wasn’t until this year that I broke into the web3 space with Tykes.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I can’t say that there is one person who I am the most grateful for because I wouldn’t have been able to reach the point where I am today without my entire team. My partners and employees have been there every step of the way to support my vision and turn it into a reality.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

This year, I co-founded Tykes with my business partner Ryan Pineda, which I am confident will help many people, and it already has started to. Tykes is a web3 real estate company focused on community learning and real estate syndications. Tykes holders are granted access to an incredible community of real estate investors of all levels of experience. They have already started doing real estate deals together since we minted our project in August. We also provide weekly real estate, crypto, and business training. We have even more features coming out soon such as the Tykes Marketplace, where Tykes can list their services for other Tykes to utilize, and there will be a Tyke Tank, where Tykes will have the opportunity to pitch their businesses to our most prominent members for the chance to be funded by the community. These are just some of the ways that Tykes is providing value to its community, and I can’t wait for everyone to see what else we have planned moving forward.

Ok super. Thank you for all that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. I’m sure you get this question all the time. But for the benefit of our readers, can you explain in your own words what an NFT is, and why people are spending so much money on them?

An NFT is a non-fungible token, which is a unique asset on a blockchain with its own metadata and identification codes. Unlike a currency, an NFT is not interchangeable with other tokens. When an NFT is traded or transferred, its ownership is recorded on the blockchain. The reason people are willing to spend so much money on NFTs is that they act as a key to a community. Tykes NFTs, for example, provide access to a community of like-minded real estate investors. Bored Ape Yacht Club acts as a social club for high-net-worth individuals. If you own one of these NFTs, you gain access to a community where, in theory, your relationships with others in the community could prove more lucrative than the NFT itself.

The NFT industry seems so exciting right now. What are the 3 things in particular that most excite you about the industry? If you can, please share a story or example for each.

The first thing that excites me about the NFT industry would have to be the massive room for growth and application. The vast majority of NFTs right now are focused on artistic expression with very little utility in the real world, but there is a huge opportunity right now to merge the two. For example, I am working on another NFT project outside of Tykes that will act as a private hospitality group. Tykes, on the other hand, is a members-only real estate community focused on the innovation of real estate and web3. It’s amazing to see how we can utilize NFTs to create new opportunities for us as a business as well as for our community members!

The second thing would be the opportunity that NFTs provide to enter the tech industry by utilizing community support. Many NFT projects have been able to afford to sustain themselves and grow solely because of their community. Without this, these projects would likely have needed some other donor or they would cease to exist. Because of the community support of certain NFTs, there is a smaller barrier to entry into the tech industry. Ryan and I could have decided to create a tech company and done syndications online in a more traditional manner. Instead, we are financing by giving our community access to the utility we have, and we already have a baked-in client pool that is interested in what we are building.

The third thing that excites me about NFTs is the real-life applications of NFT contracts. From real estate syndications and transactions in general to holding ownership under an NFT-type contract, it is exciting to see all the new possibilities that web3 is bringing to the world, and NFTs play a huge part in that.

What are the 3 things that concern you about the industry? Can you explain? What can be done to address those concerns?

Firstly, security breaches are a big concern in this space. A great way to combat this that can be done immediately is to bring as much awareness around this issue to NFT communities as possible. Tykes, for example, teaches people how to protect their wallets and provides information on how to prevent being spammed to its community members through Discord, Twitter, and online courses.

Another concern is that the NFT space is riddled with volatility and speculation. The space moves fast, and if NFT projects aren’t delivering on their word, the communities don’t take kindly to that. For the creators behind the projects, this volatility is taken into consideration, but the stability of our project and seeing it through is what we are the most focused on. So in that way, the volatility and stability are at odds with each other as there will be stretches of time where a lot of work is happening but hasn’t materialized yet. During that time communities could create self-harming obstacles due to increased volatility for no reason other than that nothing new has come out in 2–3 days. The pressure of having a communications strategy on a weekly, even daily basis is highly unstable and very costly and it requires a whole team of people. Over time, I see this problem resolving itself as stronger projects with more utility find their long-term holders versus a small number of speculators.

High gas fees are also a concern when it comes to the Ethereum blockchain. A gas fee is a fee for the energy required to perform a transaction. While they have been historically high, the recent Merge promises to lower fees within the next year.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about NFTs? Can you explain what you mean?

That NFTs are purely expensive art. That is not the case, aside from a few art-focused projects, which is great! But projects become extremely expensive not because of the art, but because of what the NFTs themselves provide. Bored Ape Yacht club, for example, is a social club and gaming company. Doodles is involved in the music industry. Tykes is a web3 real estate company with community access that at this point is worth around 3 ETH for membership. So, while each NFT project does have fun and artful things that live through their story, that’s not the main focus.

What are the most common mistakes you have seen people make when they enter the NFT industry? What can be done to avoid that?

On the one hand, many projects over-promise and under-deliver. On the other, NFT holders have unrealistic expectations of milestones and product delivery. For founders, not separating and implementing short-term and long-term strategies is a huge mistake. A long-term strategy should help you achieve your overall goal, but your short-term strategy needs to help manage the community sentiment and expectations or your project will fall apart as your community loses faith in your company and leadership.

How do you think NFTs have the potential to help society in the future?

NFTs will digitize contracts and speed up bureaucracy by keeping track of all ownership data and credentials across industries. When it comes to real estate in particular, NFTs will digitize and store dynamic data and vastly improve the efficiencies of deals and transactions.

Ok, fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry?”

1. This is going to sound counterintuitive, but you need to do something outside of NFTs to do something successful with NFTs. NFTs are perceived as an industry on their own, but actually they area group of different industries coming together under one umbrella of similar technology. You would have to come from another industry and know how to utilize blockchain and NFT technology for your respective industry to create a successful NFT project. Whether it’s music, real estate, or finance, if you have a track record of being successful in your career, you should have a following of people who will believe in your project. If you aren’t doxed, you are less likely to be seen as credible. My advice would be to focus on what you know, and then see how you can apply it to web3.
2. Surround yourself with a great team. If you want to have a successful project with real-world utility, you need to have multiple departments. You need artists who can create the NFT art itself, as well as promotional art and materials down the line. You need a strong marketing team to constantly push out information and spread your message. You will need a legal team to ensure that you are protecting yourself, and even more importantly, your community. You need project managers to carry the project forward and ensure that all the departments are working together. You need experienced developers to build the code and designers to make sure that the front-facing products are user-friendly. You also will need community managers who will be constantly in contact with the community on Discord and through support channels. NFT projects are so much more than just a picture, so make sure you are equipped with a caring, detailed, and thoughtful team to make your project the best that it can be.
3. Utilize your network. Your community has your biggest supporters and believers. If you can provide value to them, they will do the same for you.
4. You need to have a purpose. A lot of people in the NFT space think they can just create the art and some hype and they will become rich, but this isn’t usually the case. People who buy those NFTs are going to figure out that there isn’t much to back them up eventually. If the purpose of your project is art, then that’s great. Go with that! However, if you are telling people that if they buy your NFT they are going to reap some other reward and you don’t deliver on your promise, your project isn’t going to succeed.
5. Strategize! Once you know the purpose of your project, you need to figure out a business plan to achieve that purpose. As I previously mentioned, the NFT space is volatile, and if you aren’t being transparent or communicative with your community, your project isn’t going to last long. Create short-term and long-term strategies that will help you fulfill your project’s purpose and bring value to your community, and you will succeed.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

The one we are doing right now with Tykes! We currently have about 1400 members, and we hope to continue to grow with time to provide real estate and web3 education to our community and bridge the gap between the industries to create more opportunities for people all over the world.

We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂

I would like to sit down with Jack Dorsey, both for his interest in web3 and for building one of the most reputable companies in the tech industry from basically nothing.

Thank you so much for these excellent stories and insights. We wish you continued success on your great work!

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Non-Fungible Tokens: Amr Samaha Of Tykes On The 5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Meet The Disruptors: Frank Toral Of ‘Neighborhood Kids Schools’ On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Teamwork– You cannot achieve your dreams by yourself. Bring others along for the journey. When you help them succeed, then you will succeed.

As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Frank Toral.

Frank Toral is an attorney, pastor, Founder and President of Neighborhood Kids Franchise Solutions and its affiliates. Prior to founding our franchise organization, Mr. Toral was CEO of Toral Law in Fort Lauderdale, Florida from 1995–2016. From 2016 through 2020, Mr. Toral was the Pastor of Promise Life Chapel, a non-denominational church in Wellington, Florida.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

My journey to owning and operating early education centers was improbable at best. Since I was 7 years old my only dream was to become an attorney. That too was unlikely given that I am a first generation Cuban American whose family never made it past high school and my own abysmal high school academic record. But I believed in myself and persevered. 7 years later I was holding my law degree. Within 3 years I would found Toral Law, a statewide boutique law firm that had a 20 year successful run. However, my heart began to change.

I wanted to devote my life to a greater purpose. Consequently, I became involved at a local church and eventually served on the Executive Leadership Team. A few years later our family would leave everything behind, move to an unfamiliar place and start a church. What I didn’t anticipate is that the church would be unable to cover our living expenses. Therefore, we took our retirement savings and invested them into purchasing two Wellington, Fl based preschools. That became the investment of a lifetime! After improving operations at every level, the schools quickly took off. We would open 3 more in the ensuing 2 years. Later, a providential meeting at an educational conference led to a new dream: franchising Neighborhood Kids Schools in neighborhoods across the US. Today, our mission is to give future franchise owners the same opportunity that was given to us of building a business that provides a better life for them and blesses their community.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

Neighborhood Kids is the first Faith-based Early Education Franchise in the US. We are a values-based Early Education School that emphasizes a biblical foundation and provides exceptional early education in a safe, fun and learning environment.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I somehow thought that a school with a good reputation would market itself without any need for a marketing strategy. For a while it appeared to be true. Until Covid hit. Within a month, we went from 250 students to 13 students. The lesson? You must advertise to be seen and heard. We did that counterintuitively during the pandemic and it worked. Amazingly well.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

My former Pastor, Troy Gramling from Potential Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fl taught me that we all have God-given potential. That it is our responsibility to discover, pursue and develop that potential with a sense of humility, honor and passion.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

Disrupting an industry can be positive when you add transformative value to the ecosystem. For example, by adding faith to an early education system in America you help transform the lives of little children by instilling faith, hope and love which are enduring values that remain with a person for a lifetime.

Disrupting an industry can have adverse consequences. For example, if you are selling a service cheaper than everyone else such as childcare you can damage the reputation and consumer confidence in the childcare industry. The early education industry is heavily reliant on qualified and caring educators. They are difficult to attract and retain with low tuition rates which would have an adverse consequence on the quality of early education.

Can you share five of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

1.Perseverance- It takes commitment and a consistent belief that what you are doing will succeed.

2.Faith- It will take faith in God and yourself to achieve your God-given potential.

3.Vision- you must see a future that does not exist and move toward that every day.

4.Teamwork– You cannot achieve your dreams by yourself. Bring others along for the journey. When you help them succeed, then you will succeed.

5. Leadership– devote yourself to continuous improvement.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

By partnering with franchise owners that want to change the world. There is a lot of work still to be done. Let’s Go!

Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?

My favorite bible verse is: “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength” — Philippians 4:13

I relate to this verse because I would not have the opportunity, I have today were it not for God guiding me every step of the way.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Favorite Quote:” Your attitude determines your altitude” This is relevant because I have discovered that a positive “can do “attitude can help you overcome almost any adversity in life.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

To instill in children and young families in Neighborhood Kids Schools across America that ‘God loves you and has a purpose and plan for your life’.

How can our readers follow you online?

www.neighborhoodkids.com or on LinkedIn : Frank Toral

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

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Meet The Disruptors: Frank Toral Of ‘Neighborhood Kids Schools’ On The Five Things You Need To… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Jordan Morrow Of BrainStorm On How To Use Digital Transformation To Take Your Company To The Next Level

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Learn Fast — Build a true culture of iteration and learning fast. If people feel that if they fail with data or digital technology, they may not want to use it. Empower them to know that they can use the data and technology without fear of reprisal. Let them learn.

As part of our series about “How To Use Digital Transformation To Take Your Company To The Next Level”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jordan Morrow.

Jordan Morrow is known as the “Godfather of Data Literacy”, having helped pioneer the field by building one of the world’s first data literacy programs and driving thought leadership. Jordan is Vice President and Head of Data & Analytics at BrainStorm, Inc., and a global trailblazer in the world of data literacy. When not found within data and analytics, Jordan can be found with his family or within another passion of his, fitness.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

I would say that I have had a love of mathematics for a long time, but my career in data and analytics got its foot hold while working at a large financial services company. I then had the pleasure of joining Qlik, where I helped pioneer and invent the entire field of data literacy. My first idea for data literacy, which no, I had no idea that’s what I was diving into, was when I was with the large financial services firm. While there, I would train users on the dashboards or things we built, but that is not training people on how to use data. I created a plan to teach them to do basic statistics or whatever else, it has been a while and I don’t remember the exact plan, but it was denied, I was told no. So, I did not build it there, but a job at Qlik opened the door and the rest is history, as they say.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?

This was a funny mistake during my time in data literacy, but not at the beginning. This was one where it was more in how I was traveling than doing things in data literacy. Over a 10-day period, I was traveling to three different continents and in five countries. The whole of the trips maybe have been 3 weeks, but in that 10-day period, I was very tired. I got home on a Friday afternoon, wanted to stay up, and before I know it, I was out. I did not know when I woke up again, maybe the middle of the night, but I was exhausted.

This was a humbling learning experience overall for me, not just this trip, but what my work with data literacy did. I got burned out; I went out too much. Through this experience, I learned to scale back, I hope, and to take better care of myself. I hope I’m better now at being smart with my time and doing things right.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

There is multiple. First, Kevin Hanegan, the Chief Learning Officer for Qlik. He is the one who hired me and gave me freedom to do my thing with data literacy. Second, Helene Kerper at Qlik. She is in marketing and helped push things forward for me. Helene getting me in front of the marketing there, and the marketing group did a lot for me…If I am not mistaken, she may have been the one who told me to be on LinkedIn and may have used the term “Thought Leader”. Finally, and certainly not least, but at the top is my wife. She dealt with constant traveling and still puts up with my hectic schedule at times, but throughout she has been wonderful and supported me in such a way to keep data literacy rolling for me.

Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

First, I would say it is the podcast “Trail Runner Nation”. I love to push my limits and see what I can do. It may have been through that podcast that I was motivated to run my first ultra-marathon. I am not sure I would have known of that world without that podcast. I have now run multiple ultra-marathons and fitness is an exceptionally large part of my life.

Second, there are too many books to share, but here are a couple to think about: the Freakonomics series, such an interesting set of books to help us think differently on data. “Can’t Hurt Me” by David Goggins, which, if you can get past the language, you may want to then run through walls. Third, “Steve Jobs” because, well, it is a terrific book.

Extensive research suggests that “purpose driven businesses” are more successful in many areas. When your company started, what was its vision, what was its purpose?

I think this is an interesting question, because “purpose driven” could mean many things. Let me speak to my world of data literacy, which for my career, is something I do through speaking, helping, and writing. The purpose was, and still is but bigger now, to empower those without data skills to gain data skills, while assuring people they don’t have to be data scientists in order to do so. When you are trying to help empower millions upon millions of people, and that is not exaggerating, data literacy is for all. That leaves a lot of ground to cover. No, I can’t do it all and there are other leaders doing similar initiatives to also empower within this space. However, the bottom line is loving what I do and having a positive benefit on the end of it, that’s a good thing for driving success.

Are you working on any new, exciting projects now? How do you think that might help people?

Things are usually spinning in my head and being worked on. I am currently writing my third book on digital literacy and how transformative the world of data literacy is especially as latest trends continuously get discovered or innovative ideas come forward.

Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion about Digital Transformation. For the benefit of our readers, can you help explain what exactly Digital Transformation means? On a practical level what does it look like to engage in a Digital Transformation?

Digital transformation is empowering organizations to be successful in using the digital technologies that are now present in the world today. It is simple to define, but complicated and complex to implement successfully.

To engage in a digitally transformation is to have a strategy that will tie the digital work you are doing to your business strategy. It is to invest in and go all in, strategically, on the tools and technologies you are working with. It is the not just buying tools and technologies and think that is going to get you there, you must set aside the time to train employees to become digitally literate. To achieve digital transformation, it is about true strategy and empowerment.

Which companies can most benefit from a Digital Transformation?

This is an interesting question. Certain industries that have not been technology or digitally driven would be where people would think, maybe manufacturing, but the answer is more generic than that. All companies who are laggards behind where they need to be, they will most benefit from digital transformation. That makes sense, but the reality is, if we went into organizations and looked at adoption rates of the technologies they have invested in, I would guess the adoption rates are not where they would like them to be.

We’d love to hear about your experiences helping others with Digital Transformation. In your experience, how has Digital Transformation helped improve operations, processes and customer experiences? We’d love to hear some stories if possible.

I have worked in what we may be able to call a specific area of digital transformation, and that is with data literacy. I have had the pleasure of speaking to numerous organizations across the world. I’ll give you an example of one:

I had the pleasure of working with a large military organization. I spoke to one area specifically this past summer and oversaw while they looked to change the mindset of its people, as it isn’t in their background or history to question things. However, data and analytics is at its most useful when we begin to question things. To see one of their leaders, I believe their direct leader, tell them to change their mindset is a wonderful thing.

Has integrating Digital Transformation been a challenging process for some companies? What are the challenges? How do you help resolve them?

Yes, it can be. Within the data and analytics space, the biggest roadblock to success is the culture of the organization. The easy answer would be technology, or the data itself, but the reality is the culture is the biggest challenge. Are people used to doing things a certain way? Does the company do things off gut feel instead of using the data or possibly technology? Well, that is hard! You must drive the evolution of the culture to use these tools and technologies for people’s benefit.

Ok. Thank you. Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are “Five Ways a Company Can Use Digital Transformation To Take It To The Next Level”?

1. Tie Your Digitally Strategy to Your Business Strategy — I think this may be thought of as a no brainer, but when I work with data, I don’t see companies using a holistic strategy to make it happen. Again, yes, they probably talk about it, think that is what they are doing, but use your business outcomes to drive your data and digital strategies.
2. Digital Fluency — Get people within your organization speaking the same language around the digital tools and technologies you are using and/or investing in.
3. Combine the Technology and the Human — Don’t let people feel they are going to be left in the dust through your digital transformation. Let them know their experience and background has a place at the table, they need to be a part of the discussion.
4. Learn Fast — Build a true culture of iteration and learning fast. If people feel that if they fail with data or digital technology, they may not want to use it. Empower them to know that they can use the data and technology without fear of reprisal. Let them learn.
5. Culture of Learning — Ensure you have the proper learning and tools in place to help people truly succeed with the learning. Make sure they have a purpose, know the why, but don’t just send them mandatory training emails. Do webinars, TED Talk like sessions.

In your opinion, how can companies best create a “culture of innovation” in order to create new competitive advantages?

Truly helping a workforce to know the “why” behind things is powerful. Buying tools and technologies is not a strategy. Buying “shiny” objects is not a way to drive digital transformation. Instead, build the strategy correctly and get people to understand the why, where they fit in, and help them find the places they can go to learn.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

One quote I am fond of and share often comes from a hero of mine, Nelson Mandela: “I never lose, I either win or learn”. What a powerful way to look at life! Don’t think you have failed, don’t think you have lost, but pick yourself up and learn from the experience.

Now, being a mountain boy, I like John Muir quotes:

“The mountains are calling and I must go”.

“And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul”.

“Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt”.

“Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world”.

How can our readers further follow your work?

I am an active voice on LinkedIn, posting regularly, please come find me there, give me a follow, connect with me. If you want to read up on my work on data literacy and digital transformation, my newest book Be Data Driven is out now and sold wherever books are sold.

Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!

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Jordan Morrow Of BrainStorm On How To Use Digital Transformation To Take Your Company To The Next… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Author Susan Merlo On How to Effectively Leverage The Power of Digital Marketing, PPC, & Email to Dramatically Increase Sales

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Flexibility is essential to have a successful career as a digital marketer. When it comes to digital, you must plan for things to go wrong because a lot can go wrong with every aspect of this job. When technology is involved, things can often take longer than expected. One tiny piece of data in the wrong place can throw off a massive project.

Marketing a product or service today is easier than ever before in history. Using platforms like Facebook ads or Google ads, a company can market their product directly to people who perfectly fit the ideal client demographic, at a very low cost. Digital Marketing tools, Pay per Click ads, and email marketing can help a company dramatically increase sales. At the same time, many companies that just start exploring with digital marketing tools often see disappointing results.

In this interview series called “How to Effectively Leverage The Power of Digital Marketing, PPC, & Email to Dramatically Increase Sales”, we are talking to marketers, advertisers, brand consultants, & digital marketing gurus who can share practical ideas from their experience about how to effectively leverage the power of digital marketing, PPC, & email.

As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Susan Merlo.

Susan Merlo, author of the forthcoming book The Digital Distributor and owner of Next Level iMedia and The Digital Distributor Program, is a digital sales and marketing strategist. She helps distributors digitally communicate their value to generate, then qualify, leads so that they can have businesses that are working for them in a way that their buyers prefer. As a consultant, Susan walks hand-in-hand with distributors as they integrate digital marketing solutions into their digital sales systems.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

Sure. I started my work career on a very traditional corporate path. I started as a secretary, taking night courses in college. Once I graduated, I worked in human resources for about 15 years.

In 2002, I went on maternity leave, which was right around when sites like eBay and Amazon were catching fire. At that time, Amazon was well-known for selling used books and CDs and eBay was known for selling everything else. So I started selling everything I could get my hands on via eBay or Amazon. I quickly discovered there’s nothing I like better than waking up to unexpected money in my bank account. From there, I built my first eCommerce store and sold small kitchen appliances.

I ran that business for about three or four years, and in doing so, I learned how to build websites. After that, the eCommerce business evolved into selling websites. And that was my first step into marketing, which, at the time, I knew nothing about.

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?

Oh my gosh, yes! During my time selling websites, there were various platforms available (this was before WordPress was around.) The platform I worked with allowed the site owners to add various elements for the site such as the title and subtitle of the website, the content for the about page, contact information, etc. One of the fields where you could contribute were the keywords. When my clients asked me what they were supposed to write in the keyword section, I would tell them it didn’t matter. Because I had never heard of a keyword before, I just assumed that if keywords were necessary, I would have heard of them. I know that today this sounds ludicrous, but back then, there wasn’t much published about search engine optimization or keywords.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

Yes, I have a few people to thank for helping me get to where I am today. But, the one who stands out the most is John Assaraf. In 2009 he created a program called “Having it All,” a program meant to improve every aspect of one’s life. The members of the program met with John every week. Some weekly guests brought knowledge that I never even knew existed. Friendships and connections were formed during that program, which are still invaluable. It was life-changing.

Then coming out of that program, I enrolled in John’s business coaching program, which taught me a lot of what I know about marketing today. I worked with John’s coaching group in one way or another for what turned out to be some very formative years for me. Between the Having it All program and the business coaching, it was a time that significantly shaped my future.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

For the past eight or so years, I’ve worked as a marketing consultant exclusively in the wholesale distribution industry. The wholesale distribution industry is unique because they’ve depended solely on face-to-face sales and traditional marketing for many years — until COVID. Digital was simply not in their DNA.

Needless to say, before COVID, serving this industry was an uphill battle. But I was determined because I knew what they didn’t know, and it was my mission to help my clients utilize digital marketing strategies. So what makes me stand out? Well, two things. The first is that I think I’m probably the only nut that stuck it out and continued to fight that good fight. Today, of course, there are a few others. The second is that I am a woman in a male-dominated industry, which added to my uphill battle.

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

The first character trait would be my ability to form lasting relationships with my colleagues, whether employees, clients, or mentors. I have a few of each that have stuck with me for close to 10 years.

The second character trait I would point to would be my resilience. When I started building my business, I had a newborn, and a few months before my son was born, my son’s father, my boyfriend, was diagnosed with cancer. So, suddenly, I was a full-time caretaker to both for three years until Ken passed away. After that, I was a single mom with no support whatsoever. But, because of the program I mentioned earlier, John Assaraf’s “Having it All,” I was able to bounce back from a very dark time in my life.

The third character trait I would say is resourcefulness. Building this business was tough but extremely necessary to keep a roof over our heads. Because I had a baby and a very sick man in my life, I needed to be able to control my time and my income, which was incredibly difficult at times. There were many “borrowing from Peter to pay Paul” situations. I could barely put food on our table at times, and my mortgage has been leveraged so much through these past years that it won’t be paid off until I’m 95! Nevertheless, I kept the business running, my clients happy, and my employees always got paid.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Yes, very exciting, in fact. I’m having a new book published next month by a very well-known publisher in the wholesale distribution industry. The fact that they are publishing it gives it a lot of credibility. I wrote the book to help distributors understand why and how they must implement digital sales and marketing strategies.

As I mentioned above, this is an industry built on face-to-face sales. But, because of COVID, customers no longer want to do face-to-face meetings, and they have learned that turning to the Internet for answers is a lot quicker than speaking to a salesperson.

Ok super. Now let’s jump to the main questions of our interview. As we mentioned in the beginning, sometimes companies that just start exploring with digital marketing tools like PPC campaigns often see disappointing results. In your opinion, what are a few of the biggest mistakes companies make when they first start out with digital marketing? If you can, please share an example for each.

A big mistake I see is a person’s lack of setting goals and measuring success. If you don’t measure something, you will never know whether or not it’s working. The nice thing about digital is that everything is measurable. People must take advantage of that to understand what’s working and what isn’t. This way, they can do more of what’s working and less of what isn’t. It used to be that people would say, “I know half of my marketing is working … I just don’t know which half!” That shouldn’t be the case any longer.

Another mistake I see is a lack of patience and poor budgeting. It can take a while to realize or recognize a good ROI on your marketing investment. New campaigns will always need to be tweaked. Again, because everything is measurable, if a campaign is not working or performing, you must isolate different aspects of the campaign to see what’s off. And this could take a lot of time. Companies need to budget for the time it takes to correct a campaign that’s not performing. It could take anywhere from 30 to 60 to 90 to 120 days. And when it comes to pay-per-click, that can get very expensive. So the best rule of thumb is to start slowly and test everything before diving into the deep end.

If you could break down a very successful digital marketing campaign into a “blueprint”, what would that blueprint look like? Please share some stories or examples of your ideas.

The first step of a successful digital marketing campaign begins with knowing who the target audience is. You’ve got to know their demographics, their pain points, their goals, the obstacles they’re facing, and what your company or your customer’s company can do to help. Helping your audience achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle should be the key focus of any campaign.

The next step would be to plan and create content to communicate to your audience that your mission is to do just that, help them overcome pain points and obstacles, and meet goals. But it’s more than it sounds.

When you’re face to face with your audience, it’s easy, but from a digital standpoint, you must use fairly sophisticated marketing automation to ensure your target audience sees those messages that convey that information. So a vital part of that blueprint is understanding the buyer’s journey, creating content that will appeal to a customer or target audience throughout their journey, drawing them closer to the bottom of the sales funnel.

The next critical item would be to ensure your marketing automation system supports the buyer’s journey you’d like to lay out. You’ll need a keen ability to recognize the difference between a sales-qualified lead and a marketing-qualified lead, ensuring a sales-qualified lead is passed to a salesperson at the right time. All of this falls under the umbrella of marketing automation.

The blueprint would include two other essential elements. The first would be a solid alignment between the marketing and sales teams, and the other would be the ability to measure the success of every step in that sales cycle. I don’t think any of these items I’ve named can be skipped, although I’ve seen many companies try to cut corners and ignore many of these steps. But, of course, these are the same companies that will say things like “marketing automation doesn’t work,” or “their CRM doesn’t work,” etc.

Let’s talk about Pay Per Click Marketing (PPC) for a bit. In your opinion which PPC platform produces the best results to increase sales?

My thought is that it’s a tie between Facebook and Google when it comes to effective PPC campaigns.

Google has perfected its ability to have users laser target market their audiences. Google provides the tools, KPIs, training, and everything someone would need to know to run a successful PPC campaign. Plus, Google has a tremendously far reach. We rarely see websites that host advertising but don’t run Google ads on their page. So when you combine all of that with Google algorithms, it’s a home run.

I’m also a big fan of what advertisers can do using Meta (formerly Facebook and Instagram). Especially with the ability to zero in on and re-market to an audience. Meta’s demographic data is gold for a B2C advertising campaign. I believe it can also be beneficial in B2B business because although people aren’t using Facebook or Instagram for business resources, they still go on it and see the ads.

Can you please share 3 things that you need to know to run a highly successful PPC campaign?

Those three things would be:

1. A clear understanding of who your audience is.
2. A good keyword strategy.
3. An understanding of the platform on which you’re advertising. For example, while Meta is incredibly data-rich, they keep changing their platform, which wastes precious time if you’re not keeping up with the changes.

Let’s now talk about email marketing for a bit. In your opinion, what are the 3 things that you need to know to run a highly successful email marketing campaign that increases sales?

I sound like a broken record but knowing your audience is critical for email marketing. There’s nothing more annoying than receiving and opening an irrelevant email. It wastes time when you send people things that don’t pertain to them.

The second thing I would say is to have a segmented list that is up to date. If your email list is outdated or stale, there’s a good chance that your email client, the company you used to send your email, will not send to your entire list because those outdated or stale emails will bounce. In other words, if you have too many undeliverable email addresses on your list, you will get penalized, affecting your ability to land in someone’s inbox.

The third key I will point to is to have a good copywriter. When your salesperson can’t get in front of a prospect, you may need your email to do the selling for you. With that in mind, you’ll want to have compelling email messaging with a strong call to action. It’s also worth mentioning that your customers are looking for value from you, so don’t send many sales emails. Instead, send them email that will help them with their business or a problem that you can solve for them, but don’t make it salesy. Use the 80/20 rule where you send 80% helpful information and 20% sales-related. Better yet, go for 90/10, and your email recipients will love you for it!

What are the other digital marketing tools that you are passionate about? If you can, can you share with our readers what they are and how to best leverage them?

Well, I’m incredibly passionate about marketing automation. Marketing automation can mean a few things, but in a nutshell, anything you can automate while still having your messaging personalized, such as email marketing or live chat on a website, is incredibly valuable to your marketing capabilities. It adds efficiency, saving time and money, and in many cases, extending your reach in your market.

Good marketing automation tools can personalize communications and track prospects throughout their sales journey, alerting the sales team when that prospect is ripe for a purchase.

A CRM is an essential digital marketing tool because that is where all of the data that your marketing automation system acquires is going to be stored and accessed by a salesperson. A salesperson’s job must be as frictionless as possible. Without sales, there is no business. So the more data collected about a prospect, the better prepared the salesperson will be.

Here is the main question of our series. Can you please tell us the 5 things you need to create a highly successful career as a digital marketer? Can you please share a story or example for each?

The first thing would be a plan. Your plan should dictate the direction you want to take your career and the path to get there. For example, digital marketers come in many different shapes and sizes. Some digital marketers only do social media, or perhaps they only do pay-per-click advertising for customers, or maybe they only do search engine optimization tasks or copywriting. Of course, many digital marketers will do all of the above. Still, in my opinion, when you specialize in one area or another, it’s easier to build your platform as an authority.

The second thing would be a passion for the industry. There are a lot of digital marketers out there, and it can be competitive and it can be frustrating. You can also have customers who make your job tricky. However, having that passion and love for doing your work will get you through difficult times. Remember that regardless of how many digital marketers are out there, there will always be plenty of work. A digital marketer’s job is never done.

The third thing I will say is knowledge. Digital tools, how they work, and what they can do, change constantly. You must stay updated and familiar with any changes that affect your customers or the work you perform. Knowing the value of the various digital tools is important as well. Try to find the tools from which you get the best ROI. Tools like Canva, WordPress, HootSuite and other social posting tools — there are so many that are free or require a small investment on which you can build an entire business. Choose wisely and stay up to date with all of them.

The fourth thing someone would need to create a highly successful career in digital marketing is confidence. While I said above that it’s important to stay knowledgeable, it’s impossible to know everything. Sometimes, a customer or a prospect will ask you a question, and you won’t know the answer. How you respond in this situation can be the difference between whether or not you land them or keep them as a client. So always be confident, be honest about what you know or might not know, and answer with a promise to get the information requested. Remember, when it comes to digital marketing, if you stay up to date as best you can, chances are you’ll always be the most competent person in the room.

The last thing I would say is flexibility is essential to have a successful career as a digital marketer. When it comes to digital, you must plan for things to go wrong because a lot can go wrong with every aspect of this job. When technology is involved, things can often take longer than expected. One tiny piece of data in the wrong place can throw off a massive project.

Digital marketing is not a nine-to-five job, but when you plan your time well, it’s a business that can give you a lot of freedom. For example, when I started, I would jokingly say all I needed was a phone and a computer. But, of course, you need a lot more than that. But once you do have the five things I mentioned above, you really only need a computer and a phone. And in many cases, in fact, you just need the phone!

What books, podcasts, videos or other resources do you use to sharpen your marketing skills?

My most valuable resource regarding what I do for a living is Google. I use Google for everything. Everything I wonder about or might have a question about, I go to Google. And I learn a lot from other marketers by doing so. I use Google to look up words, find synonyms, find shortcuts for different software or operating systems, check facts, find images, get ideas, and the list goes on.

To sharpen my marketing skills, I listen to podcasts and watch videos from David Meltzer, Roland Fraser, Joe Polish, and anything from Strategic Coach I can get my hands on. In addition, I read books that keep my mind sharp and organized, like Atomic Habits by James Clear and Limitless by Jim Kwik. I will also go onto the Clubhouse app to see what other marketers are up to. Some very forward-thinking marketers there share tremendously valuable information for free. It’s an outstanding resource for sharpening one’s marketing skills.

Thank you for all of that. We are nearly done. Here is our final ‘meaty’ question. You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I think the world today lacks kindness, so I would love to start a movement that would catalyze kindness in every human being, myself included. I could never understand why kindness is not an automatic go-to in our society. I think we all work too hard, we’ve become too materialistic and competitive, and I imagine the pressure that brings affects how we treat others. So with that, I would say my movement would be toward a mandatory four-day work week.

How can our readers further follow your work?

The best way to follow me would be via LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanmerlo/ . I have a newsletter there and share a lot of articles and tips about digital marketing. Please reach out and connect with me! I’d love to meet all of the readers here at Authority Magazine.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this!

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Author Susan Merlo On How to Effectively Leverage The Power of Digital Marketing, PPC, & Email to… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Data-Driven Work Cultures: Cision’s Chelsea Mirkin On How To Effectively Leverage Data To Take Your Company To The Next Level

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Connect Outputs to Outcomes: Data savvy organizations know to consider more than just outputs, or activity metrics. In the earned media world these outputs include volume, reach, sentiment and share of voice metrics. While these traditional KPIs remain an important part of any measurement program, leading communications teams go several steps further, connecting earned, owned and paid media outputs with metrics and datasets which indicate a specific behavioral or attitudinal outcome.

As part of our series about “How To Effectively Leverage Data To Take Your Company To The Next Level”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Chelsea Mirkin.

As the head of the Cision Insights Global Analysis, Chelsea oversees a team of 600 analysts, managers and directors in the delivery of research-based consulting to enhance corporate and brand reputation. The work she and her team provide fuels the world’s most admired organizations with actionable insights and strategic guidance to inform communications and marketing strategy. Prior to her role on the leadership team at Cision, Chelsea served as a senior research practitioner and consultant at PRIME Research, specializing in the design, execution, oversight and evolution of global research-based consulting programs across a variety of sectors.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

After graduating from the University of Michigan, I took on a data entry job for a small German start-up in a field I was not aware existed at the time — PR measurement. It turned out to be a great decision. I worked my way up from data analyst in 2005 to leading the US Operation by 2015 and watched the organization grow from a team of 5 to a team of 150 in the US. It was a blast to be part of such explosive growth and afforded me opportunities to get in front of senior-level, data-driven communications executives at major Fortune 100 organizations very early on in my career. I am thankful to have had wonderful mentors throughout my career who trusted me, believed in me, and taught me how to translate data into actionable insights.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

I can’t think of a great example of one specific funny mistake, but when I first started out one of the core ways in which our performance was measured was our efficiency in conducting content analysis. In other words, we were measured on how many articles could we “code” per hour. I was consistently at the bottom of the list. Being a competitive athlete all of my life, I found this underperformance to be extremely embarrassing. More than 15 years later, my manager has pointed out my strong preference to be “extremely thorough,” which I had never properly considered as a core tenant of my working style until now. The same quality that impacted my coding inefficiency has both propelled my success as well as held me back at various points in my career. For instance, this “perfectionist” mindset comes in very handy when you have been asked to interrogate the fidelity of the data in a report a customer is delivering to the board, but it can be a hindrance when you are trying to make decisions at speed. My learning: Sometimes 75% certainty or effort is “good enough.” There can be diminishing returns attached to that extra 25%. There are so many applications for this in the data world. For instance, we so often have to counsel clients facing budget restrictions that they can make the same decisions based on a sample of 2,000 articles that they can on a sample of 10,000 — so long as they choose the most impactful media outlets. Speed and accuracy/thoroughness are often a balancing act — in the data world, and in the working world — and I have learned that perfection can sometimes be a hindrance to progress.

Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

My deep appreciation for data as a tool to guide informed decision-making extends from my professional life into my personal one. As a mother of two kids under five, I have very much leaned on the work of Emily Oster, an Economist and author of books which leverage data to address common topics and questions that arise during pregnancy and parenthood. For me, her books have been the antidote to mom guilt and helped me ground my parental decision-making in sound research. And when I am not thinking about work or my small people, you can find me falling asleep 20 minutes into watching the latest binge-worthy Netflix show.

Are you working on any new, exciting projects now? How do you think that might help people?

My team and I, together with our customers, have been very focused on connecting media outputs to reputational and business outcomes. With communicators’ roles and the media landscape rapidly changing and evolving, data-driven consultants need to work harder to bring the pieces together. Most communications and marketing teams are swimming in data, and very often, this data does not link back in a material way to behavioral, reputational, or business shifts.

At Cision, we are trying to answer questions like “Which messages and campaigns have the potential to drive increased purchase consideration amongst intended audiences?” and “How can a company pivot and focus resources on the journalists and influencers that are most likely to reach these audiences?”. It is exciting to have the talent on our team and enthusiasm and support from top clients pushing us to dive further into this space. We are confident that this new product offering will help many communications organizations struggling to connect their function to the broader business conversation. Communications professionals have historically been at a disadvantage in the boardroom, but we believe that this does not need to be the case.

Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion about empowering organizations to be more “data-driven.” My work centers on the value of data visualization and data collaboration at all levels of an organization, so I’m particularly passionate about this topic. For the benefit of our readers, can you help explain what exactly it means to be data-driven? On a practical level, what does it look like to use data to make decisions?

In simple terms, organizations use data to accomplish one or both of the following objectives — to prove value or to improve performance. We have worked with many clients who look to data to validate a hypothesis or to tell a success story (prove value). When the data disagrees with the gut feeling or does not tell a positive story, some individuals and teams can be quick to dismiss the data and discredit its integrity. On a foundational level, being data-driven requires an openness to leveraging data proactively, and buying-in to the fact that data should be used directionally and iteratively. Companies who do this well feature data as a central part of daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly team meetings where planning occurs, ideas are discussed, and successes and failures are examined in a safe, transparent, and honest way.

Which companies can most benefit from tools that empower data collaboration?

While any organization stands to benefit from shared data collaboration workspaces — especially in today’s hybrid work environment — I have found that companies who have many different stakeholders and who need to collaborate across multiple business units, markets, and languages are most in need of these types of solutions. Empowering these teams to speak the same data language and to centralize planning and evaluation around a single source of truth is powerful, and unlocks greater opportunity for best practice sharing. We have helped so many teams move from a fractured, regional data ecosystem to a global, central dataset grounded in consistent methodology, common key metrics frameworks and, ultimately, a shared vision of “what good looks like.”

We’d love to hear about your experiences using data to drive decisions. In your experience, how has data analytics and data collaboration helped improve operations, processes, and customer experiences? We’d love to hear some stories if possible.

We spend roughly one-third of our lives at work, so it is only natural that with so much time and energy invested, it can become an emotionally-charged environment. My favorite thing about data is that it can immediately neutralize emotion. We once had a CEO client who was adamant that a specific top financial publication was biased toward their company. This client was refusing to engage or take interviews and asked a colleague to confront the outlet and its top beat journalist. The colleague knew this would lead to missed opportunities and diminished credibility. They commissioned our organization to study the presence of systematic bias in media coverage in this specific outlet, in relation to other top US financial sites. Through a combination of a journalist survey and content analysis, we were able to definitively prove that there was no discernable bias in the coverage. After being presented with the findings, the CEO reversed their position, saving the colleague from a potentially damaging confrontation with this top publication.

Has the shift towards becoming more data-driven been challenging for some teams or organizations from your vantage point? What are the challenges? How can organizations solve these challenges?

There is a common phrase tied to teams or organizations who are reluctant to adopt data into their way of working: FOFO, or “fear of finding out.” We have actually had Chief Communication Officers tell us that they would rather forgo being a proven success than run the risk of being a proven failure. Organizations need to reorient their culture and their teams around the idea of failing safely — and then be ready to measure and report back on what is working/not working, iterate, and adjust.

Ok. Thank you. Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are “Four Ways a Company Can Effectively Leverage Data to Take It To The Next Level”? Please share a story or an example for each.

In my years of working with leading communications functions at F1000 organizations across all markets and industries, I have noticed that the teams who effectively measure the impact of PR and communications share the following four attributes in common:

• Leverage a smart combination of Tools, Talent, and Technology to Drive Actionable Insights: There are no shortage of tools or data available. The right talent will know not only how to use these tools effectively to drive toward the most meaningful outputs, but also how to provide guidance to transform the data into meaningful, tactical advice that can be leveraged to improve outcomes. Ideally, the talent deployed understands the function they are supporting, as well as the industry the company operates within. With many of our most sophisticated customers we employ an “embedded consultant” model where our resource is tasked to sit in on all internal meetings in order to anticipate research-driven needs. These resources commonly leverage social media monitoring platforms, where they vet and flag topics rising in interest or importance to facilitate crisis-mitigation as well as opportunity identification. In one such instance, we helped a popular credit card brand detect a surge of acceptance issues arising with specific types of merchants (in this case taxis and convenience stores in NYC) before the issue rose to critical levels. The brand was able to respond quickly with further support and education dispersed through their merchant network to mitigate the issue and reduce complaints.
• Develop Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that Align with Overall Business Objectives: Leading data-driven teams know the importance of aligning on a shared definition of success with key stakeholders — both within and outside their direct functional responsibility. When we started working with a major enterprise technology company in 2018, the objectives focused purely on driving a market-leading share of voice in earned media. The problem with this approach was two fold 1) Metrics drive behavior, and departmental leaders focused purely on quantity of media coverage vs. quality 2) Because the results were so singularly-focused, and because the goal was not reasonable given historical performance, it was impossible to demonstrate the effectiveness and value of the department’s contributions to the overall business objectives. The result? The department was finding itself fighting to justify budget. We counseled the organization to shift its focus to achieving higher key message penetration in core media we determined to be most effective in reaching target audiences, which aligned well with the company’s intentional shift to be known for it’s newer and more innovative products. The result is that this drove more focused and thoughtful behavior across the teams, and more control over the department’s ability to demonstrate success at the ELT-level. It also allowed us to streamline our measurement program, focusing less on clip-counting, and more on deep measurement in target media. With the repurposed funds, we were able to expand upon the measurement program and we are now connecting the media outputs to the changes in awareness and behavior resulting from the team’s efforts, bringing the department even closer to demonstrating the impact of it’s efforts in shifting the more tangible reputational and business outcomes, and helping secure a flat budget heading into a year where many face budget cuts.
• Connect Outputs to Outcomes: Data savvy organizations know to consider more than just outputs, or activity metrics. In the earned media world these outputs include volume, reach, sentiment and share of voice metrics. While these traditional KPIs remain an important part of any measurement program, leading communications teams go several steps further, connecting earned, owned and paid media outputs with metrics and datasets which indicate a specific behavioral or attitudinal outcome. This capability unlocks so much potential to optimize for improved performance. At a leading B2B tech company, for instance, we’ve connected earned media data to website visits and software downloads to uncover the specific media outlets most likely to generate interest amongst core target audiences (CIOs and CTOs). Leveraging this data, we were able to help the company narrow their 3,000-title publication list to the 150 that had the highest penetration amongst these C-Suite executives. This more narrow focus helped the company “do more with less” and drove improved results for a fraction of the cost.
• Use Their Measurement Solution to Prove value AND Improve Performance. One final element that sets data-driven organizations apart is that they think of measurement not only as a report card that proves value, but as an ongoing tool to improve performance over time. They bring in research and data not only at the end of a campaign, event or initiative, but at the beginning to inform strategy as well as in the middle to make adjustments along the way. With one banking customer we were advising, we were asked to research the way in which a data breach was being discussed in organic social conversations prior to articulating a response to the incident. Why? Because the company rightly anticipated this same phrasing being used by their customers when leveraging search engines to research the impact of the breach. They were able to “SEO” their own press release response, ensuring it rose to the top of search engine results, and therefore improving upon likelihood that their indented messaging would rise to the top for those seeking additional detail. The result was a significant reduction in critical commentary when compared to prior incidents, and a much shorter reputational recovery period — sentiment leveled off to normal levels within 24 hours (vs. the 48+ hours observed previously).

The name of this series is “Data-Driven Work Cultures”. Changing a culture is hard. What would you suggest is needed to change a work culture to become more Data Driven?

Change starts from the top. We rarely see data-driven teams succeed without a supportive executive-level team member setting the tone for the organization, and aligning teams around a set of measurable objectives which are meaningful (connected to business goals that resonate and have buy-in from the CEO down to the individuals on the team) and reasonable (achievable, rooted in historical trends).

The future of work has recently become very fluid. Based on your experience, how do you think the needs for data will evolve and change over the next five years?

I expect that the demand for the convergence of datasets from all areas of the business will only continue to accelerate. In our part of the world, we’re seeing this appetite emerge across communications and marketing teams in the form of omnichannel measurement. The lines between earned, owned and paid are becoming increasingly blurred, forcing communications and marketing professionals (and the consultants who support them) to become fluent in the language of data across all of these channels in order to provide actionable insight.

Does your organization have any exciting goals for the near future? What challenges will you need to tackle to reach them? How do you think data analytics can best help you to achieve these goals?

We are fully poised to support our customers through the evolution I’ve just discussed above. Not only are we looking at meaningful and statistically significant ways to connect outputs to outcomes on behalf of our customers, but we’re leaning in on the data-as-a-service (DaaS) model to empower our customers to have more flexibility and agility to plug our data into their own BI environments. We are also investing heavily in upskilling our teams to be fluent in all data languages across all channels to allow us to consult our customers more holistically in this converging space.

How can our readers further follow your work?

You can follow me on my personal LinkedIn page, and the work of my team on Cision’s official social channels: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and our resources page.

Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!

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Data-Driven Work Cultures: Cision’s Chelsea Mirkin On How To Effectively Leverage Data To Take Your… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Data-Driven Work Cultures: Angela Fox Of Bright.md On How To Effectively Leverage Data To Take Your Company To The Next Level

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

View Analytics as Storytelling. Build a data analytics team that includes people who are skilled at turning numbers into stories and insights. This can help make overwhelming data streams more easily digestible and helps to inspire others across the organization to get excited about data. It also helps you communicate big ideas simply and clearly to stakeholders.

As part of our series about “How To Effectively Leverage Data To Take Your Company To The Next Level”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Angela Fox.

Angela Fox is the Head of Analytics at Bright.md, a leading asynchronous telehealth solution trusted by health systems to automate clinical workflows and administrative tasks, improve patient and provider engagement, and drive operational efficiency. In her role, she leads all aspects of analytics and business intelligence to bring to life key data stories that inform business strategy, measure the impact of product improvements, inspire customers, and strengthen the brand. She is a healthcare analytics leader with a deep understanding of risk-based financial models, measurement best practices, and population health strategies.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

I got started in data pretty early on in my career. I studied math in college, and my first job out of school was in analytics doing statistical reporting for a property and casualty insurance company. Eventually, I found my way into healthcare analytics and worked for Providence Health & Services for nine years in the population health division. That led me to my current role at Bright.md, where as Head of Analytics, I lead all aspects of data analytics and business intelligence to inform business strategy, measure the impact of product improvements, inspire customers, and strengthen our brand.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

Mistakes when it comes to data are rarely funny! I still cringe to think about calculation errors, data refresh failures, and awkward presentations from those early years. We have all done them. Enough said!

One big mistake I did make earlier in my career was thinking it was just a matter of how you present the data that will get someone to respond to it. So, if people were not reacting, I thought I must not be presenting it correctly. I spent a lot of time spinning my wheels and iterating and refining my visualization skills to present data in a way I thought would inspire people and encourage them to take action.

Although it was a great learning experience and allowed me to hone my skills, I eventually realized that sometimes organizations are just not going to respond to the data, no matter how well you present it to them. Whether that’s because there are other strategic considerations at play, they need time to consider their next move, or they are just slow to act, the root cause is not the analyst presenting the data. Learning this lesson was very freeing. I now recognize that sharing data is like telling stories — some will resonate with your audience and others will not. It’s not always obvious to me what is going to inspire people and now I think that’s one of the things that makes my work so interesting.

Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

I think my real-life experiences have had a more significant impact on me than any book or podcast. I’ve learned valuable lessons from my colleagues and mentors about how they’re approaching data, how they’re measuring performance, and how they’re creatively working with imperfect information. I have found that learning from your peers and having a curious mind has been essential to a successful career in data.

Are you working on any new, exciting projects now? How do you think that might help people?

One of the things we’re currently working on at Bright.md is an overhaul of our customer-facing dashboards. There has been a realization when it comes to reporting that just seeing numbers isn’t quite getting anyone where they want to be. What organizations really want are insights to help guide them to success. To achieve this, we’re building a robust, customer-centric reporting package that really equips our customers with the information they care about most — patient experience, provider efficiency, clinical quality and overall value. We’re hoping to translate the large amount of data at our fingertips into data stories that will help customers make program decisions and get the most out of asynchronous care.

We’re showing them data about provider variation that can spark conversations among clinical teams. These conversations often lead to process improvements around quality and efficiency. We’re highlighting trends in patient experience that will reinforce workflows that best meet patient needs. Through industry benchmarks and comparisons with similar customers, we’re helping our health system partners understand what’s possible and inspiring them to think bigger and broader.

We’re excited to serve up data stories that will ultimately improve healthcare for years to come.

Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion about empowering organizations to be more “data-driven.” My work centers on the value of data visualization and data collaboration at all levels of an organization, so I’m particularly passionate about this topic. For the benefit of our readers, can you help explain what exactly it means to be data-driven? On a practical level, what does it look like to use data to make decisions?

To be data-driven, you need to be leveraging data to make better decisions. Metrics should be used as feedback to evaluate how you are doing and if you are on track, and not as a measuring stick or a punishment tool. You can almost think of data as street signs or GPS, guiding you in which way you need to go to get to your destination. Listening to that data as a guide and responding to it is ultimately how you succeed in becoming data-driven.

On a practical level, I have seen a lot of companies focus on success metrics which are often outcome-based measures. It can take a long time to get that information, and in healthcare in particular it can often take years. While you wait for those results, your program could be headed way off track and you may waste a lot of time, money and resources. So, you must learn to be comfortable with leading indicators — these are the activities that are most likely to result in the desired outcomes. They are easy to measure, can be tracked early and often. Then, you need to listen to that data frequently and tweak your strategy in response.

Which companies can most benefit from tools that empower data collaboration?

Absolutely all of them! I can’t think of an organization that wouldn’t benefit. Within Bright.md, we have a lot of different divisions. I’m working with product and engineering all the time to measure whether the product feature had the impact we hoped it would, if it is driving more business, etc. Then I’m working with sales and marketing to discuss how we talk about the product, what quality metrics it is hitting, and how that is ultimately helping physicians to deliver better healthcare. At the same time, I’m working with finance, and customer success to monitor volumes and ensure we’re delivering financial value. There is a place for data in all organizations and throughout all departments.

We’d love to hear about your experiences using data to drive decisions. In your experience, how has data analytics and data collaboration helped improve operations, processes, and customer experiences? We’d love to hear some stories if possible.

One of the things I appreciate most about Bright.md is the truly data-driven leadership team we have in place. The planning phase of every new initiative, project, and product feature includes a set of success metrics and predetermined measurement plan. These are co-designed with analytics to ensure the measures will be available, reliable, and timely. As soon as the project is implemented, tracking begins and the entire organization can watch the progress through company-wide dashboards.

One great example of this is when we launched Navigate, a digital front door for our customers. With this product, patients can go to their provider’s website, search for their condition, and get directed to the recommended care option in the health system based on their symptoms. When we released this, we also implemented a pathway that enabled patients to choose Bright.md through the digital front door and begin an asynchronous visit.

Because we were so closely monitoring the funnel of patients entering Navigate and then at key points along the journey, within an hour of releasing the product we were able to see significant drop off at one point in the funnel. We quickly brought a team together to develop a few hypotheses around why this might be happening. As we tested each hypothesis with product tweaks, we could track the impact nearly in real time. After just a day, we uncovered the root problem in the patient journey. Within a few days we repaired the issue and cleared the blockage in the funnel.

This was only possible due to our culture of early collaboration with analytics, defining key success metrics, making data visible company wide, being comfortable responding to early feedback and leading indicators, and embracing data as a source of guidance.

Has the shift towards becoming more data-driven been challenging for some teams or organizations from your vantage point? What are the challenges? How can organizations solve these challenges?

I think the shift towards becoming more data-driven has been challenging because a lot of organizations may recognize the need for data, but never make it beyond the foundational stage. They start out on the right track with establishing data governance for reliability, developing driver metrics for tracking and accountability, and ensuring access to data for visibility. But then they stumble on building a data-driven leadership team to evangelize and set the tone for the organization, integrating analytics into strategic decisions, and figuring out how to get comfortable taking action on early indicators.

Ok. Thank you. Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are “Five Ways a Company Can Effectively Leverage Data to Take It To The Next Level”? Please share a story or an example for each.

1. Establish the Analytics Team as a Strategic Partner. Whether it is the product, marketing, or operations departments, incorporating analytics expertise early in the organizational process is pivotal to ensuring teams can track and measure progress. The involvement of the analytics team will also help to improve data literacy across the organization through modeling, coaching, and partnering. Including them in conversations early will help to steer the organization to success and ensure that the necessary information is captured.
2. Involve Data Decision-Makers in Leadership Discussions. So many companies position analytics as order takers — this is a mistake. Leadership should come to the analytics team with big questions and a starting hypothesis or two and let them take it from there. If your analytics team understands the business and where it’s headed, they can anticipate what key information leadership will need to get there. Sometimes it will mean new data they have to start collecting and incorporating into the data infrastructure
3. View Analytics as Storytelling. Build a data analytics team that includes people who are skilled at turning numbers into stories and insights. This can help make overwhelming data streams more easily digestible and helps to inspire others across the organization to get excited about data. It also helps you communicate big ideas simply and clearly to stakeholders.
4. Get Comfortable with Leading Indicators. It’s all about frequently listening to what the data is saying and tweaking your strategy to respond accordingly. Data will not be perfect — and you need to be OK with that. This sentiment is particularly true within healthcare and with any kind of innovation, as outcomes that are statistically significant can take months or years. Do your research and rely on existing studies in the interim to pick the right early indicators.
5. Reward Measurement that Leads to Action — Don’t Obsess Over Outcomes. Of course, you need to have success metrics and target setting for new initiatives to hold teams accountable. However, it’s the way you hold them accountable that really matters. So many organizations get data wrong by viewing this in terms of black and white. It’s not — we met/we didn’t meet (pass/fail). It’s about what have we learned and how are we responding to it. This requires risk-taking and building a culture where it’s okay to fail sometimes in order to promote innovation in the long run.

The name of this series is “Data-Driven Work Cultures”. Changing a culture is hard. What would you suggest is needed to change a work culture to become more Data Driven?

To create a data-driven culture, you really need data-driven leaders that understand and recognize the importance of data. Having that data literacy at the top will help to reinforce the importance of data within the company culture. I would reiterate the importance of having storytellers on your analytics team, as they will be the ones to get people excited and help them realize the possibilities that data can provide. At Bright.md, we have a big Slack culture, and the analytics team is constantly posting insights on team channels about new trends we see emerging that might be interesting to that team. This opens up the conversation and continuously keeps the organization excited about the work we are doing.

The future of work has recently become very fluid. Based on your experience, how do you think the needs for data will evolve and change over the next five years?

I think the need for data is absolutely evolving, and it’s not just the need for data itself anymore — it is the need for insights and stories. Early in my career, I saw this big movement to simply have access to data and capture it correctly. From there, it evolved to creating dashboards and providing public access to this information, regardless of the fact that it was overwhelming and indecipherable to most people who weren’t specialists. Now, we’re in an age of insights and storytelling which is really inspiring people to see the value in data. From my perspective, our next data frontier will be leveraging big data for predictive analytics and machine learning, where we’re already seeing a lot of innovation. I think we’re only at the beginning of that journey and I’m excited to see where it goes next.

Does your organization have any exciting goals for the near future? What challenges will you need to tackle to reach them? How do you think data analytics can best help you to achieve these goals?

We have some exciting things coming up on our product roadmap at Bright.md, including deepening our EHR interoperability, improving our patient and provider experiences, and widening access to make it easier for more people to use asynchronous care. Analytics will continue to partner with the product team to set success metrics, provide real-time feedback and tell those key data stories that emerge.

Coming out of discussions with our health system partners who are struggling with massive financial losses and workforce shortages, we’re refining our approach to measuring the value of telehealth investments–and asynchronous care in particular. We’re analyzing large customer data sets so we can better project future visit volumes, quantify the impact of key value levers and articulate the distribution of value across multiple cost centers. Healthcare is complex and we want to make it easy for our customers to deliver fast, high-quality, convenient care to those who need it most.

How can our readers further follow your work?

You can find out more about the work Bright.md is doing by heading to our website or following us on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!

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Data-Driven Work Cultures: Angela Fox On How To Effectively Leverage Data To Take Your was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Monét A. Ledbetter-Glaude Of Inet Productions Inc.: 5 Things You Need To Know To Successfully Run a Live Virtual Event

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Test your live stream in advance and make sure all your software is updated. This is done so there are no technical difficulties.

As a part of our series about “5 Things You Need To Know To Successfully Run a Live Virtual Event”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ms. Angel Mone’t.

Monét A. Ledbetter-Glaude better known as (“Ms. Angel Monét”), is a songwriter, performer, vocalist, pianist, playwright and is the creator of “Jack’s World”, a children’s family musical filled with inspirational messages of Love, Family and Self-Esteem. Ms. Angel Mone’t is also the President of Inét Productions Inc. (www.inetproductionsinc.com), a music production company that specializes in the development of instrumental, vocal, performance skills and her children’s music program, “Peppy People’s Music” which provides a multicultural music curriculum with resources that teach children the fundamentals of music and addresses the needs of music in early childhood education.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?

I was blessed to have a wonderful childhood. I grew up with supportive parents and three loving siblings. One thing I loved doing at a very young age was playing the piano, singing and writing songs. The piano was how I expressed myself. I used the piano to get all my thoughts and feelings out as it became my outlet. When my friends were outside playing, I would be in the house for hours playing the piano. By the time I turned nine years old, I would sit in my room writing and performing skits. This was the start of my experience producing plays. I was active in the church and also participated in Girl Scouts and the 4-H Club. At age fourteen I started playing professionally in the church. A couple of years later I joined a local gospel group called the Mighty Quintets. We traveled all through the Midwest and south as the opening act for the professional gospel group Maggie Ingram and Ingramettes. I graduated from John Yeates high School and later attended Berklee College of Music.

Can you tell us the story of what led you to this particular career path?

When I was little, I knew music was the career path I was born to take. Although I had a love and passion for music, seeing how it had the power to make people feel better about their circumstances, lift their souls and encourage them motivated me to want to pursue the career path of becoming a musician. I’ve always loved to encourage and empower people. But having the opportunity to do this through my music is something I knew I would always do. I also loved being able to create something and share it with the world. Music has the power to make people happier, healthier, and more connected.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I remember being very nervous before performing in a talent show. When my name was called, I walked on stage to the piano and forgot some of the words. I couldn’t show that to the audience, so I started making up words and improvising throughout the song. I believe I saved myself from major embarrassment but wasn’t sure if the words even made since once I was done. It was an unforgettable experience. That experience taught me to relax more and practice breathing exercises to help me be calm before a show. A few years later I managed a teen band called So Amazing. During black history month, the band had the opportunity to perform at a major event. I was so nervous and excited about the performance I forgot my shoes at home, and I ended up wearing my bedroom slippers instead. I learned to slow down and breathe and always have a checklist before an event.

Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

The Bible — In the bible there are stories to inspire and encourage you during times of trials and tribulations. The word of God has had a significant impact on my life. It’s the word that gives me the faith to pursue my goals and dreams. When I’m feeling down or discouraged, I will read a passage in the bible, and it always encourages me to not give up. It is the word of God that has kept me together during some of the most difficult times in my life. The film Fame that came out in the 80’s made a significant impact on my life. The movie showed students at a performing arts school from all walks of life pursuing their dreams through perseverance and hard work to obtain their dreams. Fame was the ultimate goal. Seeing Artist in different disciplines of the Arts was refreshing to me. It taught me that if I wanted to be a professional Artist, I had to work hard by practicing and believing in myself.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

My favorite “Life Lesson Quote” is “A closed mouth will not get fed” — this phrase has been with me forever — I don’t hesitate to ask for help or ask questions if I do not know something. If you don’t ask for what you need or for what you want, you will never know of the possibilities.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. For the benefit of our readers, can you tell us a bit about your experience organizing events in general?

I have many years of experience organizing events. Throughout my childhood, I was helping to organize events for the gospel group I was part of. I helped to organize our anniversary show and the fundraiser when we had to raise money for our different expenses in the group. After college, organizing events took off when I started my own business called Inet Productions, a music production company that provides private and group instructions, children’s music programming, and music entertainment. For example, I would have various events during the year for my students, such as music bingo night, and holiday parties. My major event during the year was the annual music recital. This was a showcase for my students to perform for their families and friends. During this time, I would also recognize them for their accomplishments throughout the year. I also produced and directed an original stage play called Jacks World. This is a children’s musical about a boy searching for love and family. In addition, I organized various events for my inspirational teen band called So Amazing Band and more. Since COVID and not being able to meet in person with my students and others, God gave me the vision to do the Ms. Angel Monet show, and virtual award shows. Although, The Ms. Angel Mone’t Show was not able to meet in person, I still felt it was important to empower and inspire children and still recognize people for their accomplishments. We have done various award shows, for example, we had an award show for teachers and ministries. To date, I am working on a music festival for the House of Inspiration Network called the HOI Family Music and Arts Festival scheduled for July 29, 2023.

Can you tell us a bit about your experience organizing live virtual events? Can you share any interesting stories about them?

I have many years of experience organizing events. Throughout my childhood, I was helping to organize events for the gospel group I was part of. I helped to organize our anniversary show and the fundraiser when we had to raise money for our different expenses in the group. After college, organizing events took off when I started my own business called Inet Productions, a music production company that provides private and group instructions, children’s music programming, and music entertainment. For example, I would have various events during the year for my students, such as music bingo night, and holiday parties. My major event during the year was the annual music recital. This was a showcase for my students to perform for their families and friends. During this time, I would also recognize them for their accomplishments throughout the year. I also produced and directed an original stage play called Jacks World. This is a children’s musical about a boy searching for love and family. In addition, I organized various events for my inspirational teen band called So Amazing Band and more. Since COVID and not being able to meet in person with my students and others, God gave me the vision to do the Ms. Angel Monet show, and virtual award shows. Although, The Ms. Angel Mone’t Show was not able to meet in person, I still felt it was important to empower and inspire children and still recognize people for their accomplishments. We have done various award shows, for example, we had an award show for teachers and ministries. To date, I am working on a music festival for the House of Inspiration Network called the HOI Family Music and Arts Festival scheduled for July 29, 2023.

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job creating live virtual events? What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

A great example of a company that has done a fantastic job creating live virtual events would be the Massachusetts Conference for Women — this virtual conference is so well organized and put together — breakout rooms, content, informative, sponsors, presenters, and user-friendly. To replicate such an intricate event would require a dedicated group of knowledgeable people to host, engineer and well-prepared to run the event.

What are the common mistakes you have seen people make when they try to run a live virtual event? What can be done to avoid those errors?

Not starting their live virtual event on time due to technical difficulties. It’s always a good idea to have a technical/dress rehearsal before your live event. This way you can lessen your chances of technical issues or timing troubles on the day of your event. Some issues may arise regardless, but most can be avoided with a little bit of practice. A week before an award show we have presenters join in from the room and computer they will be using to present on the day of the event. This allows them to test their camera, lighting, and audio. We also test the PowerPoint and supporting videos they may be using. This helps to identify glitches beforehand and gives everyone involved time to practice. We run through the entire program as if it were live. Writing out a timeline of the show and sticking to it as much as possible would avoid the show running too long.

Which virtual platform have you found to be most effective to be able to bring everyone together virtually?

Using OBS in conjunction with Zoom streaming on YouTube and Facebook.

Are there any essential tools or software that you think an event organizer needs to know about?

Google applications and Microsoft Office is a good software to use because using the excel sheets is good for writing out a timeline to share with everyone.

Ok. Thank you for all that. Here is the main question of our discussion. An in-person event can have a certain electric energy. How do you create an engaging and memorable event when everyone is separated and in their own homes? What are the “Five Things You Need To Know To Successfully Run a Live Virtual Event” and why?

An interesting Topic to discuss along with exciting guest helps to create an engaging and memorable event. The first thing I do is to meet with the HOI (House of Inspiration Network) team and let them know the idea I have for a show. Next, the team and I meet to talk about the ideas and put them to action by inviting the guest to be on the show. Once we have the interviewees and the date is set, we are ready for the show. We try and make people feel welcome from the very beginning by introducing our guest, having good eye contact, smiles, pleasant facial expressions, looking into the camera, being well prepared, and portraying excitement.

For my Children’s shows, I use puppets, upbeat music, lots of smiles and look directly into the camera to ensure good eye contact with the children. Calling and singing their names is a sure way to keep them engaged.

“Five Things You Need To Know To Successfully Run a Live Virtual Event” and why?

1. Know your objective — You need to know what it is you hope to achieve by putting together your virtual show.
2. Know what virtual platform you will use for your show along with technical needs such as microphones, headsets, interface, internet, lighting and laptop/desktop.
3. Write out a timeline and script so the show doesn’t run too long as well as keep the guest and yourself on topic
4. Test your live stream in advance and make sure all your software is updated. This is done so there are no technical difficulties.
5. Relax and have fun. Your energy creates the atmosphere of calmness or chaos.

Let’s imagine that someone reading this interview has an idea for a live virtual event that they would like to develop. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?

1. Set your objective — know what you want to accomplish by putting on a live virtual event.
2. Know your audience.
3. Make sure you have all the technical supplies you need for your live virtual event.
4. A good virtual platform, good lighting, headsets, interface, internet, lighting and a laptop/desktop.

Super. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

Bringing people together to invest in the movement of Love, Respect, and Self Esteem through music and performing arts.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

Tyler Perry — He has been very inspirational to me in how he has been very successful in producing his plays and movies. His messages of hope are inspirational and speak to real-life situations. I admire his wisdom tenacity ambition, fortitude, resilience, and his willingness to help others. I have followed the career of Tyler Perry and I know it was not easy for him but he never gave up. I feel we have so much in common around our desire and will to pour hope and positive messages into people all over the world. He is a determined individual who believes in God and has faith to work hard to overcome any obstacles. He truly was my inspiration when I was producing my Children’ family musical “Jack’s World”. I would love to one day collaborate with him on my project or better yet have him produce my musical Jack’s World!

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

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Monét A. Ledbetter-Glaude Of Inet Productions Inc: 5 Things You Need To Know To Successfully Run a was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Michelle James Of The Emotions Facilitator On 5 Things You Need To Know To Survive And Thrive After A Divorce

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Allow yourself to feel these feelings without acting on them or suppressing them in any way (such as overeating).

As part of our series about the “5 Things You Need To Know To Survive And Thrive After A Divorce Or Breakup” I had the pleasure of interviewing Michelle James.

Michelle is the CEO of The Emotions Facilitator. She is an Energy Healer Certified in The Emotion Code, PYSCH-K®, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT Tapping), Hypnotherapy, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), and Social Work (DipSW).

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to ‘get to know you’. Can you tell us a bit about how you grew up?

Yes I’d love to.

I was brought up in multicultural London, whereby race, colour, or creed was not a factor with who we formulated friendships.

Being raised in a typical Jamaican household, my mum was a very strict disciplinarian who never spared the rod. Although life was tough at times as a lot of responsibility was left on me, ie household chores I did have a very good relationship with my mum at times. My dad was a very gentle man who always did things for a quiet life and never wanted to do anything to upset mum.

I was always creative. I loved acting, singing and taking part in productions. I thrived on all of that. I also belonged to Brownies, then Girl Guides, and the local youth centre. I had fun going camping and doing parade drills with the flag at church. It was great being a member of the community and participating in the festive activities there.

Looking back now especially when I compare my childhood to my children’s, we had so many opportunities and great experiences that my kids have not had.

Now thinking about it, I’m wondering if this was the only way I was able to get out of the house so I wasn’t on my own as I was raised as an only child by my maternal grandparents aka mum and dad.

Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

In 2017 mum passed away. I had a major falling out with my family. I was struggling to process my emotions and questioned my feelings as I showed no signs of grieving.

I realised that I was stuck and did not want to continue this way, so I sought a therapist to help me process the emotions and feelings I was experiencing.

I went off on a private 5 day, 1–2–1 retreat in Spain in which I underwent an intensive healing programme. After this, I felt a massive shift within and knew from that day that I wanted to offer a similar service to women who were feeling the same way prior, who were stuck in their lives. This experience made me realise that after 14 years in social work to effect change all change work needs to be done on a subconscious level. This realisation led me to take several different courses from Emotional Freedom Technique to Hypnotherapy and here I am, The Emotions Facilitator.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?

Yes of course. I regularly foster kittens from the animal shelter that have come from some sort of traumatised background, such as losing their mother and in some cases also or losing their siblings. On one occasion I brought home three kittens around 5 weeks old. one of the kittens (Riley) was very sociable but the other two Cannon and Cali always hissed and hid away.

I used The Emotion Code on them as I wanted to know what trapped emotions and trauma they were dealing with so that I had a better understanding of how to work with them.

What was interesting to me was that the trapped emotions and trauma I found resonated with the behaviour they displayed, such as abandonment and fear. After the first session of me releasing those trapped emotions and trauma, they started becoming less anxious and agitated, the transformation was so fast.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I was working with a client who had severe anxiety and depression, which amplified after he had been attacked on the street on two different occasions, so he now had a fear of going outside and travelling in certain areas or taking public transport.

I had been working with him for a few months so we were both comfortable with each other. I had learnt a new guided meditation technique and asked if he was open to trying it out. Everything was going well until he started to abreact and got stuck in the process.

We were working via zoom so as I was guiding him through the process I noticed his arms were fixated in the air. I encouraged him to lower his arms but he could not. I thought the zoom had frozen. I must admit I went into a bit of a panic as I had no idea how to get him out of it.

I went into overdrive and started talking to his subconscious mind and slowly but surely his hands started to come down. What a relief that was for me. I did ask him after if he was scared and he said no because he knew, I’d know what to do.

The next time I spoke to my mentor I asked him what did I do wrong. He advised that he had indeed had an abreaction and advised me how to deal with these situations. He advised that I was getting close to the real reason he was depressed and suffering from anxiety but his subconscious mind was trying to protect him and was not ready to deal with the issue. The ‘in the moment’ solution was to guide my client from fright to releasing the issue.

Do you have a favourite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life or your work?

It’s a Jamaican saying. See me and live with me are two different things.

When I first met my husband, he came off as perfect on paper. He was so generous, had a soft and gentle nature, etc. I thought he was the ideal partner for me.

It wasn’t until we started living together that I began to notice the laid-back nature of my boyfriend, which had once been so endearing, as being annoying.

The moral of this story is that you shouldn’t judge someone based on appearances alone. By getting to know someone better, you’ll see their good qualities as well as their flaws.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

I have a few projects in the works. I’ve been working on creating some journals and motivational cards, as well as building a membership site for my clients. The journals will be a tool my clients can use to jot down their feelings and emotions so they can understand what they’re feeling, which will help them shift and heal more easily and the membership site will give them access to lots of resources that will help them along the way.

I’m also branching out into speaking, which is something I’ve wanted to do for years. Right now I’m working on my speech for domestic-violence awareness month, which is coming up soon.

Ok. Thank you for that. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. Can you tell us a bit about your experience going through a divorce, or helping someone who was going through a divorce? What did you learn about yourself during and after the experience? Do you feel comfortable sharing a story?

I am very comfortable sharing my story. You never know how your story might resonate with someone else, by sharing you can offer hope and light at the end of the tunnel.

As a Child Protection Social Worker, I experienced many women who were in abusive relationships but would not leave the abusers. The children were being affected but they found it hard to leave the abusive partner and put the needs of the children first.

Ironically, I ended up in an abusive situation but fortunately because of my background I had to practice what I preached. The day my husband put his hand on me was the last time he stayed in my house. That was the end of the relationship. I filed for divorce on grounds of unreasonable behaviour.

To be completely honest with you, I felt like a failure. This was my second marriage that had gone down the drain. I started beating myself up. But one thing I must say is that, even though I was hard on myself, I never doubted that I made the right decision. My children were my main priority and it meant more to me to instil a message that it’s not acceptable under any circumstances for anyone to be physically abused in a relationship.

The most important lesson I learnt from my divorce was that it was more important for me to have peace of mind and know that I was living in a peaceful environment whereby my children were not being affected by constant arguments and friction in the home.

As long as my kids were happy, that was the main thing for me.

In your opinion, what are the most common mistakes people make after they go through a divorce? What can be done to avoid that?

I have a few, however, I’m going to just focus on these as the list is plenty.

I would say the first mistake that many people make is not getting legal advice before starting the divorce proceedings. You should always seek legal advice before you begin a divorce, even if you think that it is going to be an amicable separation. This will ensure that you understand your rights and obligations and that your case is handled correctly.

The laws in Florida are different from those in my own country. I found it difficult to understand these laws and get them straight. For example, my husband moved into my home, but the property was still technically mine even though he paid nothing toward it. The situation becomes more complicated when married couples separate and try to decide who gets what property.

A very common and unfortunate occurrence is when parents decide that they no longer want to be together, but continue to use their children as pawns in an effort to get back at their estranged partner for leaving them. Although there are many ways in which children can suffer in a divorce, one of the most troubling aspects of a relationship ending is when the parents continue to use their child(ren) as a tool for getting back at each other.

Another common mistake parents make when separating is refusing to co-parent. You’d think that this would be an easy concept, but many parents seem to struggle with it. Refusing to co-parent means refusing to communicate with your children’s other parent, refusing to consider their opinion, or refusing to include them in major decisions about the children.

A lot of parents have trouble separating their feelings about the other parent from their feelings about the kids. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, “I don’t want to have anything to do with my ex, but he’s a good father.” This isn’t fair to the kids. They should not be punished for the divorce. The parents need to work together for the sake of the children, even if they don’t like each other.

And the last one I’m going to throw in is rebound relationships. It’s normal to want to date again after a divorce or breakup, but going into a rebound relationship too soon can cause problems for you in the long run. I believe you should wait until you are emotionally ready before getting involved with anyone else. If you do decide to start dating again, make sure that you take your time as there is no rush.

People generally label “divorce” as being “negative”. And yes, while there are downsides, there can also be a lot of positive that comes out of it as well. What would you say that they are? Can you share an example or share a story?

A positive side to a breakup is that you can figure out what went wrong to avoid making those mistakes again.

I believe another positive side to divorce is that You’ll learn to appreciate yourself more. When you are no longer living with the person you used to be married to, it’s easy to see the things that made you feel less than great about yourself. Divorce allows you to start fresh and embrace self-love in ways that you might not have otherwise been able to do.

You’ll also get better at prioritising your time and energy. When someone else is relying on you for their happiness, it’s easy to lose track of what makes you happy too. Divorce allows you the freedom to prioritise what matters most in your life and spend time on those things instead of being consumed by the needs of others around you (even if they’re still around).

Some people are scared to ‘get back out there’ and date again after being with their former spouse for many years and hearing dating horror stories. What would you say to motivate someone to get back out there and start a new beginning?

It would be impossible to answer in just one paragraph, but I can tell you that the most important thing is to “be gentle with yourself” as you start all over again. Be gentle, accepting, and forgiving towards yourself for any mistakes you may have made during your marriage and for any emotional pain you may have caused others.

I know it sounds difficult but making this choice will give you a lot of strength and energy to move on. It’s okay to feel sad now and then, but remember that you are not weak nor are you guilty because life is like this. Again, manage your time, try to find moments of joy, new hobbies or interests, and get back in contact with old friends. Call on your family whenever you need support.

I think it’s important to remember that divorce doesn’t mean failure, it means life has changed and it’s time to adapt accordingly. You can still be happy even if your relationship didn’t work out as planned or as hoped for.

You’ll never really be alone in this because many people will help you if you ask them. Sometimes the simplest gestures are enough to make us realise that we are loved by others, without even knowing it!

What is the one thing people going through a divorce should be open to changing?

Themselves. I am not saying they have to try to be someone they are not, but be willing to explore how they can maybe work on their flaws and accept constructive criticism so that they can make positive changes in how they are in relationship settings.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. If you had a close friend come to you for advice after a divorce, what are 5 things you would advise in order to survive and thrive after the divorce? Can you please give a story or example for each?

1. Take care of yourself first.

It may sound cliché, but it’s true: You can’t help anyone else if you don’t take care of yourself first. Make sure you’re eating well, exercising regularly, and getting enough sleep so that you feel healthy and ready to tackle whatever comes next in your life.

Make new friends and spend time with family members who support you through this transition period in your life — or both if possible! If you don’t have any other close friends or family members around who understand what you’re going through right now, consider joining an online support group or finding a therapist who specialises in divorce recovery counselling so they can give you some much-needed advice on how best to cope with this difficult situation.

2. Do not beat yourself up, it will not do you any good mentally or physically. Going through a divorce is like going through a bereavement. In fact, if you think about it, it is a bereavement. You are grieving the loss of your relationship, your partner, who could be your best friend and you need time to grieve but also heal from the loss.

3. One way to cope with a breakup is to write down the things you liked and disliked about your ex. This can help you see your relationship from a different perspective, which may make it easier for you to move on. I recommend this exercise to all my clients who are having trouble separating their ex’s negative behaviour from the positive aspects of their relationship.

4. If you are thinking about contacting your ex, don’t. The main focus should be on yourself and healing. If you do, you should be prepared for the possibility that they will tell you they miss you or that they made a mistake. If this happens, do not get your hopes up that this is the beginning of getting back together. In fact it could have the opposite effect and lead to deeper hurt and humiliation.

5. To make your heartache feel less painful, it might help to keep busy. If you spend a lot of time thinking about your ex or looking at pictures or videos of the two of you together, it will only make you feel worse. Instead, try focusing on other things such as spending time with friends, going out and traveling, or finding new hobbies. I know this is easier said than done as they are constantly on your mind, however as time goes by it will get easier.

The stress of a divorce can take a toll on both one’s mental and emotional health. In your opinion or experience, what are a few things people going through a divorce can do to alleviate this pain and anguish?

If you want to feel better about yourself, try taking some time to do something nice for yourself. For example, you could go to a spa and get pampered, or buy something new for yourself — new clothes or a new hairstyle. Or maybe you’d like to go on a short vacation — any of these things can improve your mood.

A big thing that gets overlooked is forgiveness. Forgiveness is not for your partner, it is for you. It is to help you feel better about the situation.

It’s important to understand that forgiveness doesn’t mean condoning or excusing someone’s behaviour. It simply means letting go of the negative emotions surrounding what happened and moving on with your life. If you continue to hold onto those feelings, they’ll only hurt you in the long run.

While forgiveness is an ongoing process, here are some helpful tips for getting started:

Take some time to reflect on what happened and why it happened. You may want to write down your thoughts or talk them out with someone else who knows about your situation (like a therapist).

Here are six steps to help you forgive someone who has hurt you:

1. Recognise your feelings.

2. Allow your feelings to be present without judging them as good or bad, right or wrong, happy or sad.

3. Allow yourself to feel these feelings without acting on them or suppressing them in any way (such as overeating).

4. Give yourself permission to feel whatever emotions arise for as long as they need to be felt in order for them to pass away again on their own accord (this may take hours or days).

5. If necessary, express your feelings verbally (by saying something like “I feel angry/sad/upset”) rather than acting them out physically by punching someone or yelling at them).

6. After feeling your emotions, ask yourself if there is anything else that needs healing before moving forward with forgiveness.

Accept that it’s okay to feel angry, betrayed, or sad about what happened — but don’t let those feelings take over your life. Try not to let negative emotions cloud your judgment when dealing with others, especially if there are children involved in the situation (or if you’re still involved with someone who hurt you).

When thinking about forgiving someone who has wronged you, consider how they’ve changed since then (if they have) and whether they’ve apologised for their actions — and if so, be willing.

Do you have any favourite books, podcasts, or resources related to this topic that you would recommend to our readers?

When my marriage broke down again I started questioning myself, I wanted to know if there was anything I could have done to make it work after all this was not my first divorce.

I brought the book A Lasting Marriage by Martin Tashman and Karla R Dougherty. I know it might have seemed counter-productive because the marriage was already broken but I wanted to learn so that when I embarked on my new relationship I was equipped with the right skills.

One of the most important things I learned was to pick my battles. I also learned that it’s better for me to listen than always react. When I kept silent and waited for the situation to diffuse, it helped me to communicate with my ex-husband. So much so that we remarried!

Because of the position that you are in, you are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

The movement that I would want to see in the world that I believe would bring the most amount of good to most people is… Inner healing is the process of releasing old wounds and addressing the emotional, mental, and physical issues that may be holding us back from living our best life. It’s about knowing what we want, where we want to go, and how we want to get there.

The goal of inner healing is to inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people. These days it seems like everyone is trying to make money or find happiness in material things but how many people have really found true happiness? How many people are truly happy with their lives?

I believe that if more people knew how to live life on purpose and follow their dreams then there would be less depression, anxiety, and other negative emotions in this world.

We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂

I’d love to meet Lisa Nicholls

I used to be friends with Lisa on Facebook when I was in a network marketing company called Arydss. Lisa was one of our trainers.

Watching Lisa’s growth has been truly inspirational to me. Although I didn’t know her personally remembering her when she was our trainer to see her develop into an Icon is mind-blowing to me.

I have been on summits where Lisa has been a speaker. I would love to get some coaching tips from her regarding speaking on stage, she has an amazing way of putting a story together. I feel she is very down-to-earth and wants everyone to succeed.

Thank you for these great insights and for the time you spent with this interview. We wish you only continued success!

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Michelle James Of The Emotions Facilitator On 5 Things You Need To Know To Survive And Thrive After… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Women Of The C-Suite: Diane K Adams Of Sprinklr On The Five Things You Need To Succeed As A Senior Executive

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

You don’t have to figure out your five year plan. At any time in our lives, our priorities can change and impact what we want with our career. Listen to your heart. It’s that simple!

As a part of our series I had the pleasure of interviewing Diane K. Adams, Chief Culture and Talent Officer, Sprinklr.

Diane K. Adams is the Chief Culture and Talent Officer at Sprinklr, a provider of enterprise software for unified customer experience management (Unified-CXM). She has a proven track-record of scaling businesses that in turn, have doubled, tripled and increased their revenue streams 10x, during tenures at four public companies. Diane’s teams have hired more than 100K people and led 135 acquisitions. Prior to Sprinklr, Diane served as Chief Culture and Talent Officer for McGraw-Hill Education, Qlik Technologies, Allscripts, and led HR for 35K people in 152 countries at Cisco Systems. She is also the author of “More than Casual Fridays and Free Coffee: Building a Business Culture that Works” and serves as a Director Emeritus for the International Board of Directors of JDRF.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

Funny enough, my Mom decided my major for me — business administration. I would follow my wise mother anywhere!

At 17, you really don’t know what you want to do with your life and Mom’s advice was to choose a major that played to my strengths and would give me lots of career options along life’s journey.

I started my career in finance which was a great foundation for the business world. I soon realized that my passion in life was making a meaningful difference in the lives of others and what better way to do that than to join Human Resources (referred to as Culture and Talent in my world).

After being a recruiter for six months where I was loving the thrill of helping others find their next opportunity, I was offered a significant promotion to go back to the finance organization. At 24 years old, this level of promotion was really tempting.

After lots of thought, I decided to stay in Human Resources and do what brings me joy. I’ve always thought about this simple, yet powerful, life lesson — do what brings you joy — it was a defining moment for me. I’m forever glad I made the choice to stay with what I love and not be tempted in the short term by money. There’s nothing better than “doing what you love and calling it work”, a line from one of my favorite country songs!.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems, and Rick Justice, former CRO of Cisco Systems; believed in me, cared about me personally and professionally, and allowed me to thrive in all areas of my life without regrets. Most notably, they gave me opportunities, visibility, and flexibility.

When my role would typically be in Silicon Valley, they gave me the flexibility to move back to North Carolina when my Dad had prostate cancer. Long before the pandemic changed the world, they trusted me and my team to deliver. In addition to being amazing business leaders, they showed that caring about your people and creating a culture where people thrive personally and professionally are the differentiators for an amazing growth story.

I’m now fortunate to work with John Chambers again, as he now serves as a member of Sprinklr’s board of directors since September 2017.

Rick Justice is soaring in heaven and I think often of him and his legacy — always treat people with dignity and respect. I remember when Rick left Cisco. He received hundreds of emails thanking him and wishing him well. He responded to each and every message. That’s leadership!

These mentor relationships have been some of the most rewarding and influential partnerships of my life. Today, serving as both a mentor and a mentee continues to be a crucial element of my own personal and professional development.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Most of our readers — in fact, most people — think they have a pretty good idea of what a CEO or executive does. But in just a few words can you explain what an executive does that is different from the responsibilities of the other leaders?

Whether you’re in an executive role or a leadership role, the role itself is the same — it’s the impact that’s different. As leaders, we must think through the impact of every decision on tens or hundreds or thousands of people, internal and external. My parents taught me from an early age — be fully informed and always, always think ahead!

The best leaders always get these two things right! First — leading with empathy, and second — driving extraordinary results. When you lead with empathy, listening to your people and showing you care, you create a space where everyone feels like they belong. Creating a culture where everyone can thrive personally and professionally starts with showing you care and communicating to inspire and engage. By setting these high standards, only then can you expect outstanding results.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?

1. Define your personal mission statement and purpose.

Make annual personal, intellectual, emotional, physical, and spiritual goals.

2. You don’t have to figure it all out.

You don’t have to figure out your five year plan. At any time in our lives, our priorities can change and impact what we want with our career. Listen to your heart. It’s that simple!

3. Prioritize.

Do a few things extraordinarily well.

4. Do a good job of the things you simply wish you didn’t have to do.

5. Be intentional with your learning.

Every week, I schedule time with someone that I know will spark my thinking and start energizing conversation. Whether this is someone I know or not, I always strive to expand my relationships!

What advice would you give to others who are trying to shift their careers or achieve a professional promotion?

At Sprinklr, we help brands listen to customers, learn from them, and show them love. But this is also important for anyone in any job — listen, learn, and love. To me, this means staying curious and connecting with people. Ask people their stories. Whenever I ride in an uber, I always make sure to have a conversation with my driver. It’s so important to me to listen and learn from perspectives different from my own, and show people that I care. Change happens when people feel seen and heard. Theodore Roosevelt said it best, “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.”

And of course — be true to yourself in a BIG way. I like to say, be as you are XL!

Thank you so much for these excellent stories and insights. We wish you continued success on your great work!

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Women Of The C-Suite: Diane K Adams Of Sprinklr On The Five Things You Need To Succeed As A Senior was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Meet The Disruptors: Orville Wright Of OH YEAH BEATS On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

While it’s important to get to your goals with priority, rushing to the finish line will never make you the ultimate winner. You will only catch yourself on the mistakes and forget about the greatest objective of all which is the journey itself. Life is all about lessons and if we aren’t learning, we aren’t living and growing completely. I have made so many songs for others. One of those songs is attached to a huge public figure and I had my good friend listen to it before sending it off into space. I may have been eager to have her listen but the song needed work. The message was there but the quality regarding time and the delivery required additional work (especially if I would have other executives take a listen). Thankfully this friend told me what I needed to do for success and perfection if I took my time.

As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Orville “OH YEAH” Wright.

OH YEAH is an amazing musician and humanitarian who creates music for a variety of professionals & content creators. He is trailblazing with incredible Theme Songs that are bringing a completely new angle to numerous industries and how business is conducted. OH YEAH is also catching the attention of celebrities, public figures, and business executives so we are here to find out exactly how he is able to do this with so much passion.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

Indeed it is such an honor to join you all for this collaboration and I thank you! My backstory has everything to do with inclusion and advocacy for others. I love connecting with people on a mental, social, and musical wavelength. As a person who stood up to bullies for others, I found myself aligning with more people around me, no matter their race or gender. I have always had the desire to make not only myself happy but others as well and I found the perfect balance when I added music into the equation. Throughout my entire life, I have observed that it is easy to do these three things with the help using your core values. The three things are connecting with others through music, making others smile, and continuing to build people up. I discovered that I was always applying this method in life to achieve success but learning exactly how I should “Purpose” this method with my personal and business brand. Being heavily influenced by Musical Artists such as M.C. Hammer, Boyz II Men, Kriss Kross, Madonna, Beyoncé, and so many more, I knew that I wanted to use music as my number one guide to success for myself and others. Prior to being a music producer, I was a rapper and songwriter. I put the pen down to hone my skills as a music producer, creating and composing background music. Creating music for artists and content creators all across platforms, I gained the realization that industries are similar and we can all become connected in a community of all who want success and work hard for it. With this in mind, I began to go to work more than I ever have before. I stepped back into the recording booth to lay down vocals of my perspective to further build up others around me. Now I am truly doing what I was born to do.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

Definitely! The disruptive wave that I am creating is with my “Theme Songs” or anthems for others. I know that we all remember theme songs originating with commercials and our favorite television shows that influenced us to recite them even when the programs didn’t air. I am successfully bringing this wave back but now it is here to highlight people and their empowering work to large communities. Often many individuals do all the footwork with little desire to receive the spotlight on themselves. The selfless acts often fuel me to truly learn about the individuals and speak loud on them in these songs. It is so disruptive for a few reasons. We are all elevating at the same time for each theme song. I am empowering collaborators and the respective communities for more opportunities. One example is by collaborating with amazing voice-over actors and allowing them to share the spotlight and some royalties from the songs with them being seen as “musical artists”. What occurs simultaneously is cross-pollenation for discovery of all parties in new industries. The songs are also disruptive because I am demonstrating a new practice of business conduct. There have not been any music producers or artists performing as selfless as the examples that I am setting. I have worked with so many artists and producers who think only of themselves in the equation instead of how all parties can succeed (including their customers and fans). The music industry majorly has the foundation of “dog-eat-dog” mentality. I am simply using every one of my skills and talents to correct that flaw in society. I am here to erase the hate in the system and I will continue to be disruptive for the success of everyone with Theme Songs and more!

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

The funniest mistake I have for you involves the first music video I did decades ago. This is when I was simply an artist and was listening to the film director. The budget for the video was low but we were still successful in completing all of our tasks. One scene I am in a local shopping mall and running up to EVERY single person I can asking them to listen to my music with my cheapest pair of closed-back headphones. The mistake was how I approached a majority. It was humbling but ironic because I believe it not only depicted my desire for success as an artist, but also made me look like a salesman or “hustler” that approaches you after you exit a store. This was humbling because I discovered in that moment what is consistently required to succeed along with the talent. Any individual striving for success needs to be able to always connect with each member of their audience. Some women I approached thought that I was trying to take them out on a date and a few thought I was trying to hypnotize them. It was a minor mix up but funny nonetheless. As I approached each person, I needed to think fast on the proper way they would receive being approached by a stranger… musician or not. I never forgot this lesson because now in my delivery of messages in music, it is important more than ever to reach their ears, hearts, minds, and souls. We have to always find the best ways to connect with others.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

Oh my goodness, I am so thankful for so many icons that I consider to be my mentors and dear friends. Life indeed has been a mentor because the ups and downs in it have constructed and molded me to understand how and when I need to adjust. As I focus more, I am thankful for The Most High (spiritual) because everything that is for me is delivered right in my hands or close by with a little hard work of my own. Rose Rosen, C.S.A. is a huge TV and Film mogul who I have a healthy personal relationship with. She often shows me what it takes to bring my talents and skills up to the next level. Theme songs and anthems will be for, her for life! Bobby Del Rio (100 K) was one of the other moguls who told me to stick with the theme songs. He too knew that nobody else was bringing this to the world in the ways I am. Cheryl Bedford is definitely a mentor to me because daily she lays down the example of how to speak up and stand up despite any adversity present that tries to block our paths of success. Through her organizations of WOCU and The JTC List, along with her many interviews I was influenced heavily that I had a strong desire creating a theme song for her. I truly believe that anyone can be our mentors and demonstrate how we should or should not conduct ourselves. With that being said, THANK YOU to all of you who support me and challenge me to be greater than who you see me as the day prior.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

Definitely disruptive (in my perspective) is what stops anyone in their tracks on how they were going to go about something regarding others. Disruptive is a great thing when the mission and message align with the core values of others. Let’s use “OH YEAH BEATS” as an example of good disruption. This business and brand revolve around the mission of bringing success to everyone involved. We are going to make certain that the positivity of someone (and their mission) is “spotlighted”. For those simply seeking a “voice” in musical form, what is going to be provided is branded music that makes the individual feel has been accurately orchestrated. This exceeds expectations that the music will be placed everywhere desired. Look at this in the perspective of the theme songs and discover that the songs are published everywhere for the world to hear that without the mission and message it would not normally be present. This isn’t self glorification but it is the demonstration of how positive disruption occurs. The desire for human connection has always been present, though it hasn’t always been exercised. I believe that music certainly remains disruptive, bringing to the forefront the true messages of others. It is always evolving due to the changes of society each era. It definitely withstood the test of time, remaining to be a necessity in all of our lives. The time that disruption is not as positive is when great division is created between us all. Take for instance the way certain record labels pretend to care about diversity and inclusion by signing certain brands and entities that misrepresent a particular race. Once the truth is revealed, imagine how artists and fans feel deeply dismissed discovering this. What takes place next is the expected artists and fans leaving. Competition rises and with a force behind them with possibility and enough power to dismantle that original label and business. The lesson that should be learned is that disruption by misleading (or not being fully aware of your investments) can be detrimental if not transparent and intentional to align with the matters of the public. Misrepresentation occurs quite often but more of those faults are coming to the light thanks to the unification of our core values to include those who bring true value from completely different worlds.

Can you share five of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

The best advice that I have received on my journey involve taking your time (patience). While it’s important to get to your goals with priority, rushing to the finish line will never make you the ultimate winner. You will only catch yourself on the mistakes and forget about the greatest objective of all which is the journey itself. Life is all about lessons and if we aren’t learning, we aren’t living and growing completely. I have made so many songs for others. One of those songs is attached to a huge public figure and I had my good friend listen to it before sending it off into space. I may have been eager to have her listen but the song needed work. The message was there but the quality regarding time and the delivery required additional work (especially if I would have other executives take a listen). Thankfully this friend told me what I needed to do for success and perfection if I took my time. I took those notes and applied each one to the project and then, viola! The final project is now perfect for pitching and delivering. I apply this to all of my theme songs for sure because I know the effect that I want the songs to have on the listeners.

You should use all of your skills and talents to succeed and exceed expectations. I have witnessed a lot of people that use their skills to get to the lower tier of their goals but not work as hard to rise above and stand out. For myself, I believe that in order for my contributions to make others shine and rise, I have to give it my everything and then some! For every theme song, I focus hard on the individual and ideal audiences to display the highest form of elevation that I desire them to receive. To simply put out the bare minimum is hardly going to gain the attention of anyone.

Your core values should be identified in order to relate with your audience (old and new). It feels amazing to know that there are a lot of others out there in the world who share the same beliefs as me when it comes to the desire for everyone to win. What I am ecstatic about is being able to identify that and witness the alignment with more like me.

The determination is also key in anyone’s success. They need to have a burning desire to succeed. I also have the desire for others to win just like me, which is I often mention others for their opportunities.

Some other great advice I have is making sure to have a good product and to deliver to the public ready to grab the attention from as many as you can. I chose to use Theme Songs as my ideal model that would highlight the missions and values. It’s most important on my journey to make sure that the world knows about this model.

I have also been taught about my accessibility and exactly how it should be limited when it comes to everyone. Many can hopefully by now understand how giving I am of my time and talents. In fact, I stated in the last interview exactly what I am touching on right now. Learning to limit and balance my availability to others took time to master but with the help of two celebrities on a past project, I became able to realize what I need to do moving forward with everyone (even outside of the music realm). I worked on two projects at the same time and both groups had me going between several means of communication. To complicate matters more, the times of the day or night that members wanted to communicate were not realistic or even reasonable. Near the end of the projects, I vocalized how mentally exhausted I was as a result of the conversations and the timeframes. They were not fair to myself nor was it fair for my family. I learned from that point on that it is our responsibility to set boundaries and limits that we accept when dealing with others.

Earlier in this interview I spoke on the first music video that I did. In that moment I learned about truly connecting to each individual in an audience. It is important to always remember how to connect with the human in every one of the others around. I practice this daily in my services and hope to continue influencing the others that observe me doing this for the greater picture of everyone’s success. I couldn’t create a theme song without being able to connect with the soul of someone first. Now, we are creating the greatest ever for everyone.

The advice again is to take your time, use your skills and talents to rise, identify your core values that match others, connect with others, have a strong determination, and limit your access with boundaries.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

I plan on continuing the disruption by going to news stations, where there can perhaps be room for more collaborating. I want to continue building up the voices of others with this music so that may be another good place to start. Time will tell but I am certain that my talents will be the vehicles I use to cause giant ripple effects in the waters of the public eye.

Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?

There is a podcast called the Heart of Show Business with Alexia Melocchi. Alexia is a proud Italian Hollywood Producer who interviews all experts in numerous fields but gets in tune with their hearts behind the business. She connects on a deeper level and reveals the human soul of each interviewee. I hear such passion in her voice and learned about some of her most intimate stories that inspired me to create a theme song for her too. I admire her for her work of inclusion and making sure that everyone can tell their stories on what drives them. It was such an honor to create her theme song “Heart Felt” with Giovanna Inverso. I have love for the both of them. Once again, we are able to connect with more souls and build up success for all parties.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

My favorite life lesson quote is “You Reap what you sow”. I heard this first from my English teacher. I later read it in the Bible too. I was a slacker in middle school and that teacher was not going to stand by, watching me fall behind. Instead, she would tell me often that I needed to invest in myself with that saying. I indeed saw little return on my little efforts or investments in my education with lower grades. I had to work twice as hard to catch up and then succeed. Most times certainly, I was told that I would reap what I sow. I then began seeing much better grades and was empowered. It resonates with me even today so much that I felt the need and desire to add this in a line on my upcoming song release entitled “Real Results”. I will never forget that you truly “Reap what you Sow”.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I am so appreciative of that compliment. There are a lot of movements taking place right now for humanity. My current mission particularly with these theme songs is just helping magnify the voices and presence of others. With the success of the audience that they are capturing, I know that this is moving and inspiring more to find ways of collaborating and building up others too. I want to just reiterate that real success comes with building up those around you.

How can our readers follow you online?

Readers can follow me by searching for “OH YEAH BEATS” across all platforms Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and definitely look for my music under “OH YEAH” and “OH YEAH BEATS”. For those that find me through this article, comment with the headphone emoji and a heart because I want to connect with you all through the two.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

Thank you for this incredible opportunity in helping my voice! I wish you all the absolute best!

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Meet The Disruptors: Orville Wright Of OH YEAH BEATS On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Workers enjoy working for companies that are modern and advanced and make it so that they are able to actually work, instead of tinker around with outdated technology. The better the technology, the better the workplace.

As part of our series about “How To Use Digital Transformation To Take Your Company To The Next Level”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Yasaman Javadi.

Yasaman Javadi is a global chief marketing officer and digital transformation consultant working internationally to advise clients in transformation and strategy to become industry authorities. Javadi earned a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering at Azad University — Tehran.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

I started my career in interior design because of my passion for aesthetics and cultivating an environment through strategic design of spaces. Through interior design, I experienced professional growth that would become integral to marketing. When I started in interior design I began learning how to supervise and execute on plans, monitoring sites and then grew from my first role to exhibition booth design, office design, and then even worked in villa design and residential lobby design.

I began working in sales leading projects and analyzing data to identify opportunities for improving operations, resolving conflicts and negotiations. I built pipelines and expanded company success. I continued working in sales, eventually becoming active in media management and collaborating with marketing teams, designing campaigns and managing marketing functions.

I decided to get into consulting to help more companies learn how to design successful marketing divisions and campaigns. I continuously garnered opportunities to commission and conduct market research and oversaw market data analysis and evaluation, developing pricing and budgeting strategies, collaborating with cross-functional teams.

From there, I became a chief marketing officer, driving revenue, building advanced plans and metrics and collaborating with executives to make high-level decisions. I have a passion for creating value to businesses and consumers, because when businesses thrive, people thrive. When individuals thrive, they lift up communities, nations and as a result the world. It can sound esoteric or aspirational, but it is in fact truth. I have worked around the world, and opportunity creates more advancement and peace.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

Names are important to people. I met an owner of a large company and I kept referring to him by a totally wrong name and at the end of the meeting he pointed to his name… My take away from that was that knowing someone’s name is a simple, easy thing to do, to show that you care and are attentive and while it’s not a grave mistake in the scheme of things, it is important to get right.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

I am grateful to leaders I’ve worked with — there are so many — who helped me navigate complex relationships and networks, and for the leaders who ensured professional security. I’ll explain more.

When I’ve been in many roles, I’ve countered many people’s considerations, false ideas and needless barriers or limited thinking. As a result, this can cause disagreement and some do not always handle that well. I am diplomatic and professional, but I also have expertise and proven outcome-driven success that informs my approaches and strategies. Professionals can position themselves for success by working with and for leaders who understand that and help create firewalls to maintain your place in a company.

Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

Humanocracy is a powerful book. It is about creating human-oriented workplaces and stomping out needless bureaucracy.

Gary Hamel, Wall Street Journal’s number one business thinker, and well-noted consultant Michele Zanini, wrote what I believe is a revolutionary manifesto and applicable manual for freeing the human spirit at work. I believe that all people want to create value and have significance in society and their communities, and families. Architecting systems and frameworks that amplify the individual’s potential is crucial and companies, consultants and junior professionals as well as students, all would gain from reading Humanocracy and listening to the valuable courses offered by the authors.

Extensive research suggests that “purpose-driven businesses” are more successful in many areas. When your company started, what was its vision, what was its purpose?

Purpose-driven businesses require purpose-driven leadership. You can’t create value if you don’t have the right people in the right positions able to do their jobs to the fullest extent possible.

My vision was to learn as much as I could about as many sectors and companies, in as many countries possible. To learn about global systems and the intersection of business, finance and diplomacy is eye-opening. And, to be able to market across national lines and cultural lines is fundamental to my work.

Are you working on any new, exciting projects now? How do you think that might help people?

I continue to work with companies to leverage their past successes in marketing, overcome barriers holding them back from their fullest potential and I’m working on expanding my work in America to help address the digital crisis that has unfolded in the country. Billions of dollars is being wasted and lost as a result of failed digital transformations. I think it is exciting to look at an impact on this front, because the ability to help government and industry alike translates to improved outcomes across the board. Whether we are talking about streamlined, improved institutions that are better able to serve citizens, or companies delivering superior products and services to consumers and other businesses.

Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion about Digital Transformation. For the benefit of our readers, can you help explain what exactly Digital Transformation means? On a practical level what does it look like to engage in a Digital Transformation?

Digital transformation is not to be taken lightly. It is also not to be looked at as daunting or impossible to get right. Unfortunately, especially in the United States, most digital transformations fail, or do not measure up to expectations. That doesn’t have to be the case though. In order to understand what Digital Transformation means, we ought to break this down.

First, Digital means all things digital, everything, from automation to artificial intelligence, to data, to channels, to the strategy you are executing in optimizing and utilizing these capabilities. Second, Transformation is the succesful evolution of an organization. So with these two words, we have the key to unlocking an organization’s new world potential.

On a practical level, it looks like remodeling and redesigning a house. Things have to get broken down. Things take getting granular about processes and getting the details right. You have to be ready to get to work and see it through.

Which companies can most benefit from a Digital Transformation?

There isn’t a company on the planet that cannot benefit from Digital Transformation. There isn’t a single company that should not be figuring out how to undergo a Digital Transformation.

As we continue moving forward, amid grand changes across society, the future of work, geopolitics, you name it — we must Digitally Transform the world. Great gains can be made through Digital Transformation.

Companies that want to be valuable, have longevity and increase revenues and create better, more fulfilling jobs will do so through Digital Transformation.

We’d love to hear about your experiences helping others with Digital Transformation. In your experience, how has Digital Transformation helped improve operations, processes and customer experiences? We’d love to hear some stories if possible.

Many of the company’s first transformative processes focus on digital marketing strategies. These are most frequently digestible when presenting new ideas to leadership and stakeholders. Instead of focusing on technologies they do not thoroughly understand, this focuses on the value provided by changes.

The agility necessary to compete in an increasingly crowded industry or niche echoes throughout the marketing and advertising departments. Using new tech intelligently helps scale-up success, expand the scope of business offerings, and increase the efficiency of all efforts. The result — higher ROI — is something every executive and team members appreciate.

Digital transformation is a pro-growth, highly profitable advancement for businesses to amplify sales and expand their customer base. However, it’s important to remember that success doesn’t happen overnight.

Present organizational inertia and limited understanding of leaders in an organization can get in the way of the type of digital transformation mandated to thrive in today’s economy. Leaders adjust and change their minds, when they learn more about the potential of new technologies, explore case studies and see data from markets and competitors, and get their own better results from new digital marketing strategies. A shift in company culture from tried-and-true success to calculated innovation is a prerequisite to transformation and growth.

Has integrating Digital Transformation been a challenging process for some companies? What are the challenges? How do you help resolve them?

You resolve challenges of Digital Transformation through prevention. Any organizations that have not yet stepped into the digital transformation world have already been left behind in today’s world of online, global commerce. Emergent technologies infiltrate product and service development, online marketing strategies, and day-to-day operations like customer relationship management. It takes knowledge and a clear benefit presentation to implement the changes that will genuinely make a difference in this new business world.

It is about employing technology to structurally change the way you do business. Leaders who accept the need to transform still lack innate understanding. Options like artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of things (IoT), and blockchain are perceived as juicy buzzwords, not actionable plans.

Take the time to identify which ones have the ability to help you accomplish your goals; you can focus your efforts and make the most of your digital transformation. Technology can help you improve customer communication, streamline processes, and boost efficiency.

Ok. Thank you. Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are “Five Ways a Company Can Use Digital Transformation To Take It To The Next Level”?

1. Boost company morale and worker satisfaction.

Workers enjoy working for companies that are modern and advanced and make it so that they are able to actually work, instead of tinker around with outdated technology. The better the technology, the better the workplace.

2. Better please consumers.

Companies should adopt advancements so that they are better pleasing the people they provide products and services. Not only that, with Digital Transformation, you can better attract the right people so that you are bringing in people that will be more pleased than consumers who are not as ideal of a fit.

3. Bolster performance.

The company’s operations will be expanded and improved through the auditing required to execute a strong and successful Digital Transformation. It will make it so that from the beginning of the process, you are fine tuning your company’s internal and external aspects.

4. Exponentially grow revenues.

Profits follow Digital Transformation. Period. You can bring in more revenue as a result of undergoing a sound and sustainable Digital Transformation.

5. Better monitor company executions to continuously garner data to improve company.

There is no wondering if things are working. With a Digital Transformation, you will know exactly what is happening, in real-time.

In your opinion, how can companies best create a “culture of innovation” in order to create new competitive advantages?

By doing it. So many people talk about “culture.” Culture is not created by talking about it, it’s done by living it and experiencing it, and cultivating it on a continuous basis. Digital Transformation should be underscored as the chief key to unlocking a culture of innovation.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

I am not sure who came up with this quote, but a friend shared it with me: “create, create, create, for there is no barrier you cannot out-create.” I think about the power of this statement whether in your personal live or your professional career, that you have the ability to overcome strife, barriers, setbacks, through creating and being innovative. Any marketing issue can be solved through creating. Even “pr nightmares” for companies can be transformative and solve problems. There is a great deal of power in your mindset and it drives the way I operate.

How can our readers further follow your work?

You can follow me on LinkedIn here.

Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!

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Yasaman Javadi On How To Use Digital Transformation To Take Your Company To The Next Level was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Makers of The Metaverse: Dan Wallace-Brewster Of Scalefast On The Future Of The VR, AR & Mixed Reality Industries

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Be everywhere your customer is. This includes social media, in-person, virtual goods, and more. Be educated with advancements in technology but be sure to not act too quickly. These changes should be thoroughly thought through and implemented with the utmost of quality in order to protect the consumer experience and overall brand.

The Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality & Mixed Reality Industries are so exciting. What is coming around the corner? How will these improve our lives? What are the concerns we should keep an eye out for? Aside from entertainment, how can VR or AR help work or other parts of life? To address this, we had the pleasure of interviewing Dan Wallace-Brewster.

Dan Wallace-Brewster is the Senior Vice President of Marketing at Scalefast, the leader in end-to-end digital commerce solutions. Dan leads the public relations, creative, content and lead generation engines for the company as it accelerates an already-exponential growth curve. In his role as SVP, he deployed a new marketing and technology stack to ensure multi-touch attribution and increased funnel velocity and accountability for maximum ROI.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory and how you grew up?

Sure. I joined Scalefast in 2020 after serving as the SVP of Marketing and Digital Commerce at Planet Blue, a shopping destination for boho styles in the aughts. I led the integration of digital into the brand’s cross-channel sales and marketing operations. Before joining Planet Blue, I was the principal of Marketing Endeavors Consulting, bringing close to three decades of integrated marketing experience to a portfolio of CPG, retail and technology clients. My background includes sports and event marketing for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the University of Southern California, B2B lead generation, corporate communications and leading B2C digital marketing strategies.

I earned my MBA in Marketing and Entrepreneurship as well as a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations from the University of Southern California and currently live in Redondo Beach, CA with my wife and two kids.

Is there a particular book, film, or podcast that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

I’m enjoying the Pivot podcast by Scott Galloway and Kara Swisher. They bring a healthy skepticism to tech and its role in the economy and society.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this fascinating career?

My account team and I went to visit a client in the Bay Area, a daytrip from our Los Angeles office. The client happened to sell adult toys. When you work in eCommerce, similar principles apply to all businesses, but this client had unique challenges navigating ad restrictions, retargeting, and other privacy issues you would expect for any adult products. They were appreciative of our work and gave us each “goodie” bags to take home. Since we didn’t check luggage, the chuckle that the TSA x-ray operator had over three consecutive passengers was priceless.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I had two former bosses who helped me immensely early in my career. Gerry McGoldrick hired me in my first formal eCommerce role. When I look back, I knew so little about the industry, and it took a lot of faith that I would pick it up quickly. The other mentor would be Michael Wang, my former CEO who after I got a little high and mighty, knocked me down a few pegs while still giving me a chance to redeem myself in the company. Outside of having children, there has never been an experience that went further toward making me a better leader.

Ok super. Thank you for all that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. The VR, AR and MR industries seem so exciting right now. What are the 3 things in particular that most excite you about the industry? Can you explain or give an example?

First and foremost, we’ve reached a tipping point for user adoption of these technologies. Broadband and phone advancements have brought VR, AR and MR end points to people’s pockets. That has generated the critical mass needed for the market to develop hardware and software that continues to push innovation forward.

Second, and most relevant to me, is that innovation is leaking from gaming and entertainment into more routine use cases, like shopping. Only a few years ago, most stores’ sales were limited to the foot traffic that could physically walk through their doors. Even with the expansion of eCommerce, there was a significant gap between what shoppers could experience and learn about a product online vs. in a store. AR and MR are closing that gap and, in some ways, enhancing the overall shopping experience online and offline. Further, VR is establishing an entirely new channel for shopping that will not only expand the experience but expand product catalogs beyond what we have ever even conceived.

The third thing I’m excited about is the potential for product personalization. Traditional manufacturing makes unique or limited designs extremely expensive. As more of our experience takes place in an augmented or virtual reality, DIY digital enhancements to every day products put more creative power than ever in the hands of customers.

What are the 3 things that concern you about the VR, AR and MR industries? Can you explain? What can be done to address those concerns?

An important consideration when it comes to these technologies is the abundance of personal information that brands have a responsibility to protect. For example, when a customer utilizes virtual try-on through their virtual assistant or even facial recognition to unlock their phone, details about their body, face, eye movements, and speech are observed — elements of biometric data which uniquely identifies a person. Companies may use that data for a variety of purposes such as retrieving insights into customer’s interests and preferences, raising concerns over how these companies are storing data and whether such data could be compromised or sold. Brands like Sephora and Louis Vuitton have already been caught in legal battles over data privacy laws for their virtual try-on features, so brands should be aware of the local and national laws before implementing any biometric data capturing technology. Also, any privacy policies should be reviewed for inclusion of biometric data.

The next thing I would caution against is distracting or disrupting core business objectives for the sake of ancillary technology. Any innovation should be used to augment a brand’s value proposition, not replace it. Test small and learn. Prices will drop while technology and user adoption improves.

I think the entertainment aspects of VR, AR and MR are apparent. Can you share with our readers how these industries can help us at work?

Work-from-home has had a halo effect of globalizing teams. Augmented and virtual reality are key players in opening the restrictive nature of remote communication and collaboration in the workplace. AR, VR, and MR have the power to create highly immersive communication experiences between employers, employees, and clients, and in many industries this level of communication is imperative to uphold the highest quality of work and relationships between peers. For example, a virtual watercooler could be where employees from all around the world chat about the latest episode of “The Bachelor.” Communication between team members that was once taking place in the real world and has since migrated to Slack and could be enhanced by Avatars or even holograms in the near future. It seems trivial, but simulated human interaction is better than none at all.

Companies like ScopeAR are using this technology to show users how they can actively interact and collaborate with each other in real-time, particularly in the industrial and healthcare fields where assistance can be provided and displayed onto the users’ field of vision, using AR to overlay digital information on top of pictures.

The past two years have provided many challenges for the future of work but have also propelled it forward. Alternate realities can play a significant role in the way that we interact with colleagues and employees and these technologies are ever improving, bringing us closer to a seamless and well-connected work experience.

Are there other ways that VR, AR and MR can improve our lives? Can you explain?

Our realities are increasingly becoming augmented, virtual, and mixed, creating an immersive and engaging world around us. It’s important for brands to be aware of the trends and developments that are specifically relevant to their business. We are on the verge of an entirely new form of blended reality which will radically change the way humans interact and transact.

These new technologies have the potential to shape how we imagine, design and create, not to mention experience, everything from shopping and gaming to attending and enjoying events, virtual trainings and learning experiences. Consequently, these everyday experiences backed by augmented and virtual reality technology will be more convenient and at our fingertips than ever before, and each will be laced with personalization and customization to the individual and their needs and preferences. Soon the days of window shopping and indecisiveness as consumers could be a distant memory, as brands and businesses will be able to serve us exactly what we want when we want it.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about working in the AR, VR, and MR industries? Can you explain what you mean?

I think there is has been a demonization of using customer data in retail — as if it’s being used for the nefarious purpose of selling people things they don’t want. That may be the case in rare instances, but most tracking of customer behavior is to help customers find what they want faster. If you could walk into a virtual store and know that it was custom designed and merchandised specifically for you, would you? Would you be willing to fill out a survey of your likes and preferences to enable that store’s design? I’m a marketing guy, but my sense is that most people below the age of 50 would say yes. These generations have grown up with the Internet and understand that it is a dynamic environment that can only evolve with input from its users, whether that be responses to a formal survey or responses to real-time behaviors like clicks or mouse-movements.

I think the next big myth is that Web3 and the metaverse began with Meta’s re-brand. Consumers have been interacting in virtual worlds for years through their gaming platforms. The only thing that’s new is a vision where virtual worlds are mainstream enhancements to everyday experiences outside of video games. The tipping point will be the cost of hardware coming down far enough for a more households to enjoy enhanced AR and VR experiences beyond what they can already do on their phone.

What are your “5 Things You Need to Create A Highly Successful Career In The VR, AR or MR Industries?”

1. Be adaptable. Technology always changes so brands must adapt along with it. When the pandemic hit, brands turned online and those that could not make the switch were affected negatively. Now, in 2022, brick-and-mortar has seen a recent uptick, and more people are wanting an immersive, personalized experience with a heightened sense of sustainability. Brands must understand their unique customer needs alongside these changing technologies.
2. Educate your customer on AR, VR, and MR. As relayed in the metaverse research by Scalefast, many folks are uneducated on the possibilities these technologies provide. Brands should find creative ways to dive into the conversation and show customers how participation can improve their experience and ultimately their lives. This education will create a foundational framework which brands can leverage for product offerings down the road.
3. Understand your full customer journey from start to finish. Utilizing AR, VR, and MR to not only provide a seamless cross-channel experience, but to understand the type of purchaser your target is, how they are persuaded to visit and or purchase your store, what type of payment options they need, and more is essential for the success of any business, especially when it comes to retail. The value of using these technologies in exactly the way your customer needs allow brands and retailers to provide a smooth shopping experience no matter where someone is, physically and financially.
4. The work begins in-house. While using this technology to increase sales and revenue by focusing on the consumer needs is great, there are so many opportunities to implement technologies that better the experience at work for employers and employees. The industries of travel, retail and education can all greatly benefit from the accuracy of informative 3D renderings and digital environments. The presence of AR, VR and MR here can allow employees to train and learn remotely, higher-ups to identify holes and missed opportunities between staff and consumer, and to see models of the products before they sell them all from the comfort of their own homes — thus allowing staff to stay safe indoors, know the consumer journey back and front, and decrease missed conversion opportunities.
5. Be everywhere your customer is. This includes social media, in-person, virtual goods, and more. Be educated with advancements in technology but be sure to not act too quickly. These changes should be thoroughly thought through and implemented with the utmost of quality in order to protect the consumer experience and overall brand.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

I’d love to start an “anti-perfectionist “movement. It’s more than being inclusive, a movement that’s well underway. It’s about not letting perfection get in the way of the good. With our society so polarized, people need to remind themselves that every journey begins with a single step and that success only comes after overcoming mistakes.

We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them!

As a storyteller, I have a lot of admiration for Jon Stewart. Not only did he help create a machine for talented comedians like Stephen Colbert, Steve Carrell, John Oliver, Samantha Bea and Michael Che, but he and his writers had an innate ability to break down very complex topics into short, easy-to-digest segments that made the news entertaining and inspiring at the same time. His thought-provoking style is now being emulated across television and plays a significant role in inspiring actions and movements that define a generation.

Thank you so much for these excellent stories and insights. We wish you continued success on your great work!

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Makers of The Metaverse: Dan Wallace-Brewster Of Scalefast On The Future Of The VR, AR & Mixed… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

I wish someone told me to factor in extra weeks on my launch timeline when it came to production and shipping my products from overseas.

As a part of our series called “Making Something From Nothing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ahriana Edwards.

Ahriana Edwards is the proud Founder and CEO of Vaila Shoes (est 2021), where she provides women of forgotten shoe sizes (size 9–14) with access to modern dress shoe options that they desire and deserve. Ahriana noticed that the fashion industry has made strides in plus-size apparel, but there was still a gap within the plus-size footwear market (specifically dress shoes) that needed to be addressed. Vaila utilizes the trends of today to create a seasonal dress shoe brand that satisfies size variety, fashion flexibility, and event-specific shopping. She’s on a dual mission to redefine beauty and retailer representation in the footwear industry.

Ahriana has participated in business accelerators with notable organizations such as Black Ambition by Pharrell Williams, Future Founders, and Techstars to push the needle with the success of building Vaila. In addition, she used her background in sales and marketing to raise over $70K in non-dilutive funding from pitch competitions before Vaila launched. She also utilized her network to formulate an advisory board with over 35 years in the footwear, apparel and e-commerce industry. Her efforts and outreach has led her to be affiliated with organizations such as Entrepreneur, Black Enterprise, Combs Enterprises and Ebony Media (to name a few).

Aside from her business, she has a background in Business Entrepreneurship at Fayetteville State University and a certificate at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Footwear. She professionally held several sales and marketing roles with industry leaders such as Toyota, Nestle, and Facebook while also serving on the board of the Women’s Business Center of Fayetteville and mentoring with the Future Founder Entrepreneurship Junior Program.

At her core, Ahriana is motivated by creating a generational legacy and aims to use her innovative mindset and creativity to create a social impact for the undervalued, underestimated, and underrepresented.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?

My long for entrepreneurship honestly started when I was really young. My mom knew that I was going to be an entrepreneur before I knew (as she says). I found myself always being a problem solver and innovative thinker at a young age. Whenever I ran out of ingredients for my easy-bake oven and my mom didn’t have the money to buy me more; there I was googling ways and testing out baking formulas with household ingredients for an easy bake oven. When I was in middle school and I wanted to save up money to attend a summer camp, I sold candy (airheads were my bread and butter too!). When I lost all of my childhood weight and didn’t have enough money to buy clothes, I bought a sewing machine and taught myself how to hem my pants tighter. Whenever I didn’t have a solution to solve my problem or desire, I always found a way to get it done. So even as a young girl — I believe entrepreneurship was naturally engraved in me.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“You can’t say the right thing to the wrong person and you can’t say the wrong thing to the right person.”

Whenever I’m hearing all of the no’s and rejections as I go through my entrepreneurship journey, it reminds me that the right person and opportunity will be for me and there’s nothing that needs to be unnaturally forced to get there. I’m a very futuristic individual, so it reminds me to calm down and truly take things for what they are and not forcing it. If it is the wrong person or opportunity, it doesn’t matter how pretty you paint the picture or how much effort you give — the opportunity or person just won’t be for you. But if it is the right person or opportunity, the situation will naturally work itself out and be in your favor regardless of what presents itself.

Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

I’m a huge podcast person. I listen to multiple podcasts that help me in all aspects of my life. There are two podcasts that I cannot go a week without listening to and they are “Slay Girl Slay” and “The Product Boss”. Slay Girl Slay has had a significant impact because it comes out on Mondays and it gets my mindset ready for the week. Ashley preaches about all aspects of boss women trying to accomplish their dreams (between the good and the bad). Whenever I’m struggling through this (sometimes) lonely journey of entrepreneurship, I can always count on that podcast to get me out of my negative state of mind. The Product Boss is also an amazing tangible podcast that really helps breakdown strategies on how to achieve success as a product-based business. Many of my systems are based off of that podcast.

Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. There is no shortage of good ideas out there. Many people have good ideas all the time. But people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. Can you share a few ideas from your experience about how to overcome this challenge?

You are very correct, there are NO shortages of good ideas out there. I think it’s very important to know that even though you have many ideas, you don’t have to only choose just one and throw away the rest. But rather, it’s important to start with one umbrella idea and build and incorporate the others as you go along. That’s how entrepreneurship works and in fact, that same level of innovation is exactly why a lot of companies stand strong for years. When I first started Vaila, let’s be honest. It wasn’t the company that it is today. I thought it was going to be a subscription or even a marketplace. However, I had to go through so many iterations processes to get down to what the main problem was and figuring out how to build the best company to solve that problem for my customers. When ideas start, they are one-sided because they only live in your head. But an idea definitely translates into reality once you start talking to your ideal customers. Being heavy in the customer discovery phase (in the beginning and to this day) is exactly how I overcame idea overload because I was able to figure out if the business idea was valid or not. But as mentioned earlier, all of the other ideas are still there.. But it may not be the best time to reveal those yet and that’s okay.

Often when people think of a new idea, they dismiss it saying someone else must have thought of it before. How would you recommend that someone go about researching whether or not their idea has already been created?

There’s two ways that you can go about this: Primary Research & Secondary Research.

When I started Vaila, I was heavily researching competitors and other companies who were doing something similar to my idea. Guess what, I found a couple of companies who were doing exactly just that: an extended-size shoe store for women. However, that didn’t stop me. Because I was my ideal customer, I still felt that there was a gap within the market but I couldn’t pinpoint what it was and most importantly, why women like me were still complaining. I had to go back to my drawing board because I needed to figure out how I was going to set myself apart from the others. I started digging deep into Primary Research (research that you collect yourself — ie. customer interviews) and Secondary Research (research collected from others — ie. articles). From my customer interviews, I made sure to ask “where do you currently shop”, “when do you shop for shoes” and “what type of shoes are you looking for that you could never find”. Sure enough, they knew of stores where they could find shoes in general, but it was never convenient for them because whenever they would shop, they could never find heels or cute shoes for classy or formal occasions”. With my secondary research, I also found that dress shoes were the hardest category for them to find. At that moment, I knew exactly what my differentiation was within the market: Dress shoes for the Workplace & Afterhours.

I would’ve never found my “AHA” moment if I didn’t conduct primary and secondary research. Through those avenues, you can see exactly what is missing in the market and how you can carve out your niche.

For the benefit of our readers, can you outline the steps one has to go through, from when they think of the idea, until it finally lands in a customer’s hands? In particular, we’d love to hear about how to file a patent, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer to distribute it.

1. Once you have your idea, you conduct customer discovery and research to find out if your idea is valid and how you can win within the market with your competitive advantage
2. At this point, you should have a company name and good understanding of who you are → You go on to register your company (example — LLC). Make sure that the name isn’t taken on the trademark website or
3. You start getting your name out there about your business, you start a social media and landing page to capture emails from potential customers
4. Then you participate in mentorship centers or programs such as pre-accelerators or incubators to help your flesh and sharpen your idea out
5. Depending on your company, you can decide whether you want to bootstrap, get bank funding, or raise funding via equity or non-equity (I went the Pitch Competition Route and raised over $70K+ when Vaila was just a concept) — -> Regardless, make sure your business bank account is open to put the money there.
6. From there, you use your network/mentors to help connect you to a good manufacturer → You test out a manufacturer by their communication (how often do they communicate), their capabilities and their understanding of your company and what you’re trying to build, and their quality of production (you will ask them to create samples of shoes that you’re interested in making)
7. While this is going on, you’re building your relationship with your customers on your email list who are passionate about what you’re building and you gauge interest on exactly the type of products that they are looking for
8. Once you receive your samples, test them out and have your customers on your email list/social media to vote on their favorite styles to bring to market first (you don’t want to have too much inventory upfront) → Also gauge their size to estimate what sizes you need to order
9. Start developing relationships with those who will assist in your operations → Fulfillment centers? Duty/Freight Broker if product is overseas? Packaging Partnerships? Etc
10. Production starts for your product and this is the perfect time do marketing and outreach → Create a line list of your products and start pitching to retailers to distribute your products (Starting with online marketplaces and working your way up to boutiques and large retail stores) → Make sure to always have your competitive advantage and be ready to prove how your product benefits their product assortment and establishment
11. You’re getting ready to launch, make sure that before you launch.. You have your legal entities/organization processes in order (trademarks, patents, business organization documents, insurance, website, terms and conditions, return policy, standard operating procedures, etc).
12. LAUNCH YOUR COMPANY!! You have now made your first sale and your product has made it’s way to your first customer.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started Leading My Company” and why?

1. I wish someone told me about Customs/Duty/Freight/Brokers when it came to receiving product from overseas.
2. I had already started production and when 75% of the production was finished, I learned that there was an extensive process and documents that I needed to complete in a timely fashion to make sure that my goods passed to Customs. It costs me extra.
3. I wish someone told me to factor in extra weeks on my launch timeline when it came to production and shipping my products from overseas.
4. There were multiple factors, such as production & shipping delays and US custom ports being backed up, that were out of my control that consistently kept on pushing back my launch date. It came to a point where I finally announced my launch date to the public and my shipment was running behind, however, it showed up in my fulfillment center three days before launch (whew).
5. I wish someone told me to not only have a plan B, but have a plan C when things went left.

As entrepreneurs, most of our job is being problem solvers and thinking on our feet. When I planned my launch date, I hoped for the best with my shipment arriving on time. You could only imagine how stressful it became when you didn’t have your operations in order. At one point, I thought about scenarios and what would happen if something went wrong. If the product didn’t show, then I would have to pivot to do pre-orders. But then, what if your timeline was off for pre-orders.. What would you do? Early on, that process taught me to think many steps ahead of time (especially within the fashion industry)

I wish someone told me that not all advice is good advice.

In the beginning, I participated in many programs and I was seeking advice from anyone who could give it. But at a certain point, when my business was clear and established.. The quality of advice that I was receiving didn’t match up. I was seeking advice from those who didn’t understand the industry, business, and let alone vision. This often led me to being confused, delayed, and even questioning the company that I was building. Find those mentors who have your best interest at heart and who actually “gets” your company. It will save you alot of time

I wish someone told me that there is no standard journey in entrepreneurship — for anyone. Anything can happen at any stage in your company. Follow your path and you will be successful.

I started doubting my capabilities in entrepreneurship in the beginning. I saw people on my timeline and feed making “6 figures in 2 months!” and thought that I wasn’t doing enough. Then, when I started getting big deals with retailers as a “rookie” in my business, I started having imposter syndrome because I didn’t see anyone my age in retail. I had to realize early on that my journey does not have a perfect path and that I should not compare it to anyone else’s.

Let’s imagine that a reader reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to invent. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?

1. Register your business and file a trademark and/or patent to protect your company
2. Set a timeline and factor in extra weeks with delays
3. Build a community around your product — even if it isn’t there yet
4. ALWAYS remember why you started your company and use that as fuel to keep going when it gets hard

There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?

I believe that you need both. One must be able to understand their idea to help the consultant understand their idea and have the first basic steps solidified. Then, once they need more assistance taking it to the next level, it would be best to work with a consultant to put the idea into execution.

What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?

I am a fan of bootstrapping and non-equity fundraising in the beginning of your journey of entrepreneurship. It’s a great way to hold on to equity and have full control over the business. However, if you have an extremely capital intensive product that exceeds loans, grants, and pitch competition money, then it’s best to look into venture capital (more suitable for tech-based options).

Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

At Vaila, we are redefining beauty and inclusiveness within the women’s footwear industry. For decades, women who wear a shoe size larger than the standard 8, have been viewed as unfeminine and unworthy of attractive footwear options. It is our mission to serve women of forgotten shoe sizes with footwear that they desire and deserve. One woman at a time. Our foot sizes are only getting bigger and it is time to be the representation that we want to see.

You are an inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

That’s a great question — It would have something to do with making the fashion industry more inclusive of other aspects besides the standard clothes and shoes. Something like apparel, undergarments, etc. It would also be great if there was a program/movement to get more women to make shoes — since the industry is dominated by men.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

I would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with Serena Williams. She is a mogul not only on the court but in business and she is also on a mission to create an inclusive clothing line while investing in top notch companies. Lots of her engagements align with the mission at Vaila Shoes. But most importantly, she is an individual that gets our mission because she has an extended shoe size herself. I would drop everything to have a conversation with her!

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

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Making Something From Nothing: Ahriana Edwards Of Vaila Shoes On How To Go From Idea To Launch was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.