Makers of The Metaverse: Andy Thelander Of Active Theory On The Future Of The VR, AR & Mixed…

Makers of The Metaverse: Andy Thelander Of Active Theory On The Future Of The VR, AR & Mixed Reality Industries

Passion — The industry is new and always changing. There’s not a lot of money in it, yet. The big project you’re working on will likely not go viral or be seen by a huge amount of users. Enjoy the process.

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 Andy Thelander.

Andy Thelander is Creative Director and Co-Founder of Active Theory, a digital creative experiences agency, and its proprietary web-based virtual events platform, Dreamwave. As the studio’s creative lead, Andy oversees the overall creative, art direction, and design of experiences from concept to development. Originally from Brisbane, Australia, Andy moved to Los Angeles in 2012 to found Active Theory and has since gone on to lead immersive digital builds for clients including Google, Coachella, NASA, Adult Swim, Pottermore, Under Armour, and Porter Robinson. As a hands-on developer and designer, Andy’s creative philosophy stems from a production-first mentality, an insight which ensures Active Theory can consistently push the boundaries of technology and has been recognized by Cannes Lions, Emmys, Webbys, and other industry awards. The agency was recently named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies and nominated as one of five best brand experience agencies by Campaign U.S.

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 grew up in Brisbane, Australia. As a child of competitive parents, an aspiring olympic swimmer and state billiards champion, I naturally had the same desire to prove myself. I played a lot of online games and climbed the ranks quickly before hitting a ceiling and trying other games. I always found competing against other people more rewarding than single-player game design. Around the age of 13 I started playing inline hockey, a niche sport in a small country but I liked the competitiveness. I ended up playing for Australia a few times, before dislocating my shoulder ended that journey. Everything happens for a reason.

I never really knew what I wanted to do for work, but I knew I didn’t want it to feel like school. Trapped in the classroom against my will, getting marked on memorizing information I had no interest in. I wanted a line of work that was competitive and primarily computer-based. I didn’t know if one existed but I applied to university for a dual degree in Communication Design (Arts) and Information Technology (Computers). I found my current industry after a couple of years through The FWA.

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?

My favorite film growing up was Top Gun. It represented a lot of my inner desires around competitiveness, eliteness, the american dream and fighter jets. I’ve referred to Active Theory as a Top-Gun.

Another beautiful piece of media that made a significant impact was the game Journey. The Art Direction, intuitiveness of controls, the integration of multiplayer creates an experience that feels meditative and transformative. My journey in the game was accompanied by another player about 30% of the way through. We built a bond, guiding each other through the game before parting ways at the end. The game puts you in a conversation afterwards, only to find out my partner was Korean and we were unable to communicate. The desire to connect users emotionally beyond language has embedded itself in my Creative Direction ever since

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

I’m all about soft boundaries in my life. Work blends itself into my daily life, I don’t box it into specific hours in a day and vice-versa with my personal life. I think technology can exist in a similar format. I believe devices and screens are just different ways of experiencing content, each with their own pros and cons. I don’t think we need to be precious in choosing one specific device over another.

When Virtual Reality first came out, my company bought almost every headset that was released in a 2–3 year span. Each one a slight improvement over the other but still a decline from that first moment of immersion, I still fondly remember the house demo from the Oculus developer kit. The promise of XR is still being realized but I’ve since become more patient and realistic to meet consumers where they currently are. I use a VR headset once every few months, I find them uncomfortable as do many others. I’ll likely feel the same about any AR glasses technology

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

Working with highly experienced Creatives in the Advertising world has always been rewarding. I’ve learned how to deal with strong personalities and have learned to adjust my behavior in the pursuit of selling in a different, but better, direction than what has been previously agreed upon

One creative, Porter Robinson, an electronic music artist, taught me a great deal about leading other creatives through world definition — a bible of images, text, copy and audio. I presented a big deck of ideas to him before we started working together — like I would to an agency creative and he basically said “I really don’t like any of it but I do think you captured it visually” — I loved the bluntness. I’ve done three projects with him since and really value his insights. Australians are brutally honest, often to a fault. I’ve learned to cut to the chase while being mindful of people’s feelings

One trick for negative feedback is the shit sandwich. You give the negative feedback between two slices of positive feedback; if you had to eat shit you’d likely wrap it in some bread. For example, if you don’t like a design you can say — “Hey I really appreciate the work you put in, however it’s not working visually and requires more exploration to nail it. You’re on the right track though (high five emoji)”.

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 I make mistakes I try to learn from them swiftly and move forward. In one project we did a giant multiplayer experience before the keynote of Google I/O. 7000 people in person and double that online would do something fun digitally to bring up the energy. There was a gaming moment where the audience was split into four teams, for two years in a row there were two colors with double the amount of players — it made no sense and ruined the experience. I was assured the method to distribute players was correct. I made the decision to investigate myself and found the issue was in the random function that assigned you into a team. Without getting too technical, the function would round a number between 1 and 4, meaning the bottom of 1 and the top of 4 were getting lost, explaining the uneven distribution. Don’t trust everything a developer says, even the ones you respect the most.

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?

Would call out my business partners Nick and Michael for being on this journey — it has been fun, delirious and painful but very rewarding to get to the stage we’re at now. We barely knew each other when we started but the gamble paid off. I’d also like to thank Beth, my wife, she’s always been a driving force behind my career and sounding board for decision making, and I wouldn’t be where I am without her support.

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

Right now I’m excited to do more Installation & physical work, which gives you a smaller but more authentic source of feedback for your work. I think people are so embedded in digital connection these days, the opportunity to connect through a mixed digital/physical space may give people a new way to authentically connect with each other and their environment. I continue to look for ways to add more empathy to my work, there’s a lot of potential in grounding it in reality.

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?

I’m excited by the recent shift to “Metaverse” type work despite the current sentiment. It’s going to be an uphill battle but the trend towards crafting more digital experience feels inevitable.

Three things I’m particularly excited about are 1) bringing users together regardless of device or location, this is our primary goal with Dreamwave, 2) using advancements in technology to tell stories in new, more immersive ways and 3) giving users more opportunities to interact and connect.

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?

Access — The increased price of devices combined with wealth inequality means most experiences will only ever be seen by an increasingly smaller group of people. This can create an echo chamber that’s detached from the real world. Our mission has always been to cater to as many devices and people as possible, five year old phones and the latest graphics cards can exist in the same digital space with different graphic levels.

Talent — Artists have always struggled to find a lane to express themselves while also paying rent. Creativity tends to get crushed in the pursuit of profits, big companies will likely absorb the talent in an effort to stay ahead and top talent will be stuck in roles that limit their creative impact. Individuals need to weigh up the price of sacrificing autonomy for a bigger paycheck and companies that can’t compete financially need to find other ways to reward and motivate their talent.

False Starts — There’s only so many ways to say revolutionary when a new product gets released. A small increase in device performance will always be “The latest in technology”, regardless of how small or personally insignificant the update is. Avoid getting lost in the hype, I have about 6 headsets gathering dust in my closet. I’ll be buying the 3rd or 4th iteration of Apple’s glasses.

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?

It really depends on personal preference and the type of work. Potential of AR for work is huge, a simple and already-utilized example are digital content overlays for physically-based jobs; such as biometric readings for surgeons, guidance for oil drillers or turn-by-turn instructions for delivery bikes. VR however is a transportive technology, taking you away from the real world and is less useful in a work environment. I don’t particularly like wearing glasses for more than 10 minutes at a time so my preference would be see-through displays or a bionic eyeball.

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

The blending of the digital and physical worlds will bring all kinds of change, hopefully more positive than negative. We’ll likely see a trend away from digital products in the physical world as we feel the burn-out of hyper-speed technology growth. It’s ok to not use these technologies if they don’t serve you. Explore and find out, have a preference and try not to put much investment behind any new tech — it will likely be outdated in six months with something better. Step away for a couple years and come back surprised to marvel at a much more refined version.

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

Awards are overrated, the pursuit of awards for peer recognition will ultimately not be worth the struggle, whether you reach your goal or not. Be driven by an inner desire to explore and create, not for the approval of others. Awards are a by-product of doing good work, if you treat it as an outcome and not a goal you likely won’t be disappointed.

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

Passion — The industry is new and always changing. There’s not a lot of money in it, yet. The big project you’re working on will likely not go viral or be seen by a huge amount of users. Enjoy the process.

A student mindset — Learn to love learning and avoid becoming rigid in how you approach new technology. The growth of change is only increasing and being able to adapt to new technology will be crucial. Ride the technology wave, don’t fight it, it’s a lot bigger than you are and doesn’t care about your opinion.

Patience — I’m often very excited about the application of new technology to projects and clients, but don’t always consider the implications — such as risk, money and business forces out of my control. I’ve learned to move at different speeds with different clients, some projects can take years, and that’s ok.

Peers with opinions you respect — My greatest projects were completed beyond the capabilities of myself. While I strive to learn and do as many roles as possible in a project I’ve learned my main role is steering the ship, instead of trying to row in all the positions. Group projects are an expression of everyone who touched it, each person uniquely contributes to the outcome.

Relax when it’s time to relax — Burnout is real, take breaks between projects. Pushing yourself to new heights means also allowing yourself to come back down out the other side. When I’m in a project I can work 20 hour days at the end stretch, I like the challenge of pushing myself. Once the project is launched I’ll do a series of 4 hour days.

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. 🙂

Empathy is the key. Moving to Los Angeles has been a challenge in understanding the lived experiences of people around me, I can’t imagine the life paths of people around me which makes me curious and cautious in assuming or saying the wrong thing. When I’m back in Australia I feel an immense sense of calm, I can predict each person’s life story — feeling familiar and warm.

I hope as we become more globalized digitally and the culture barrier begins to dissolve — we begin to understand that each person spawned into a character they did not choose. Be kind, listen and see the world through the lens of someone other than yourself.

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 think it would be fun to meet Elon, just 10 seconds to say hi 🙂

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


Makers of The Metaverse: Andy Thelander Of Active Theory 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.

Mitchell Morrison Of Eyeballs Financial On 5 Things To Look For When Hiring a Financial Planner or…

Mitchell Morrison Of Eyeballs Financial On 5 Things To Look For When Hiring a Financial Planner or Financial Adviser

Make sure they have adequate staff to help with your needs and the questions you will have in the future.

As a part of our series about 5 Things To Look For When Hiring a Financial Planner or Financial Adviser, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mitchell Morrison.

Mitchell Morrison is the founder and creator of Eyeballs Financial LLC, a fintech application. The Eyeballs app is the first to provide up-to-date information pairing trusted advisor intelligence and artificial intelligence, delivering convenient, automatic, and secure insight into all your financial investments.

With deep expertise in finance, Mr. Morrison has held senior positions with Financial West Group, Skyway Capital Markets, FourStar Wealth Advisors, E.F Hutton, Travelers Portfolio Group, Smith Barney, and Charitable Alliance Foundation. He is the current acting Executive Director and Founder of the Financial Literacy Project and a passionate philanthropist. Morrison has appeared on numerous national television stations for his role in the World Trade Center Miracles Foundation and America’s Ride.

Thank you so much for doing this with us, Mitchell! Our readers would love to ‘get to know you’ a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I was drawn to the financial services industry because I like to work with people, and I like to form relationships. I really thought that financial advice was pushed on people almost as a hard sell. When I first started out with E.F. Hutton Co. The standard advice was based not on human needs but on investment product benefits. Not all products, even if their performance metrics look strong, are the right fit for each investor.

Can you share a story about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting in the industry? Can you tell us what lesson or take away you learned from that?

I was giving a PowerPoint presentation to a group of financial clients in a hotel meeting room.

The rain was pouring down so hard that only two people out of a projected 26 invited showed up.

At the halfway point in my presentation, one of the clients went to use the restroom and the remaining person actually fell asleep during my talk. I kept my presentation going and did not stop for the client to wake up. Suddenly the other man returned from the restroom, and he shouted

“Who are you talking to? That guy is asleep.” I said I knew, but finishing the presentation was good practice for my speaking skills. The takeaway is to keep going! Keep pressing forward. The financial advisor for these clients also missed the PowerPoint, but he apologized for the low turnout in the room. He felt sorry for me and actually did more business with me than I ever expected.

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

Yes indeed. I invented an app called Eyeballs Financial; it has a huge financial literacy function, but the main function of the app is it takes the confusion out of customers’ brokerage account statements. Now users of the app can simply talk to the phone, and the phone talks back. The Eyeballs app will answer all financial questions instantly. Furthermore has a patent on RIQs “Remote Inquiry Questions” are fed back to the financial advisor dashboard. This is like having “night vision.” The advisor knows what the clients are thinking without even having a live conversation. www.eyeballsfinancial.com and www.eyeballsadvisors.com

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?

I would say the tipping point in my career was the creation of Eyeballs Financial.

What three pieces of advice would you give to your colleagues in the finance field to thrive and avoid burnout? Can you give a story or example?

1. Be a resource, have specialized knowledge in areas that are meaningful to the family members.

2. Know the family, the entire family.

3. Keep learning or “A B L” Always Be Learning instead of A B C, Always Be Closing!

I really have so many stories about this. I told financial colleagues that you need to have your clients focus on legacy planning and not just immediate or retirement planning. I wrote the book “Charity Is a Contact Sport,” subtitle, “Move From a Life of Success to a Life of Significance.”

Ok. Thank you for all of that. Let’s now move to the core focus of our interview. As an “finance insider,” you know much more about the finance industry than most consumers. If your loved one wanted to hire a financial advisor (not you :-)), which 5 things would you advise them to find out about before committing? Can you give an example or story for each?

#1 Make sure they put people first.

#2 Utilize FINRA Broker Check — Check if arbitrations or customer complaints have been filed.

#3 Get testimonials from others who have been clients.

#4 Make sure they have adequate staff to help with your needs and the questions you will have in the future.

#5 Inquire regarding their credentials, CPA, CIMA, CFP, CFA, CCGP (Certified Charitable Gift Planner).

I think most people think that financial advisors are for very wealthy people. This is likely not actually true. Can you explain who would most benefit from hiring a financial advisor and why? Can you give an example?

It is not what you make in life that makes you wealthy. It is what you keep that makes you wealthy.

Almost everyone needs a financial plan, which comes with hiring a competent financial planner.

I will give the example of professional athletes. I know many who have filed for bankruptcy after a few years in retirement. Some even filed for bankruptcy while still playing the sport. If anything, the financial adviser can provide the discipline that most people do have on their own

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 about that?

My Manager at EF Hutton gave me advice when I was trying to get more financial clients. He said becoming successful in this business is like playing in a Rock N Roll band. At first, no one comes to your venues or concerts, but if you keep at it and get better each time, then they start to come to the venues. All of a sudden, you are playing to a packed house.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

LinkedIn and Facebook.

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


Mitchell Morrison Of Eyeballs Financial On 5 Things To Look For When Hiring a Financial Planner or… 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: Josh Pendrick Of Rypplzz On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The…

The Future Is Now: Josh Pendrick Of Rypplzz On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene

Being the founder of a technology startup comes with many trials and tribulations. Many others have opinions on entrepreneurship and the risks of starting your own company, but Sarah has always been one of the most encouraging forces and doesn’t question the path I’ve taken. She is constantly pushing me to be the best version of myself in both my personal and professional life. When things do go wrong or I must pivot from my original vision, she is always there to talk about the issues I’m running into and provides me with great advice.

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

Josh Pendrick is the CEO and Co-Founder of Rypplzz, a technology company that’s revolutionizing the connection between the digital and physical world with its patented spatial operating system. He is a serial entrepreneur and seasoned business leader with a proven track record of driving transformational results for Fortune 500 organizations and startups. Prior to founding Rypplzz, Josh founded and ran multiple successful companies, including leading Social Power Media — a digital marketing agency — for over five years. He has represented globally-known brands like Salesforce, Evite, and Atari, working with top executives on digital strategy for their organizations. Throughout his career, Josh has displayed an uncanny ability to approach challenges through a creative lens, breaking ground and reimagining what’s possible at every turn.

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

Technology has become intimately intertwined with our lives — so much so that if you were to go to work in the morning and realized you left your phone at home, you would panic and most likely go back to retrieve it. At the same time, the digital and physical worlds are still somewhat separate in a way that most wouldn’t have predicted 10 years ago. Back then, Google Glass had just come on the scene, and though it was not fully embraced and ultimately flopped, the futuristic vision of how the digital and physical worlds could come together was clear. Rypplzz is working on perfecting that experience at the foundational level — the technology and infrastructure to make the real vision of Augmented Reality (AR) truly possible. Current AR applications are predominantly built on infrastructure based on camera vision and GPS mapping, which typically has 10–20-feet accuracy and doesn’t factor in height. Alternatively, Rypplzz’s patented Interlife platform maps the physical world in 6-inch by 6-inch digital cubes, factoring in length, width, and height, giving developers more precision, accuracy, and creative control over the applications they can design. There is a world of opportunity across industries just waiting to be explored, and I can’t wait to see all the fascinating ideas that our platform will stimulate. Beyond creativity, there are whole new streams of revenue that this technology creates for brands, venues, and others that are looking to engage consumers in exciting ways. Furthermore, there are practical applications, like wayfinding, which can help people navigate their environments more safely and efficiently, including the visually impaired.

How do you think this might change the world?

At Rypplzz, we see spatial computing as the next big technological evolution of computing, following the personal computer and the mobile computer (I.e., smartphone). There have been some early experiments with the technology to date, but it’s only scratching the surface of what’s possible. Our platform’s design opens the door to the next big wave of innovation in this space.

Digitizing the physical world is akin to the digital transformation that businesses have been going through for years. As the lines between the physical and digital worlds continue to blur, we will gain access to new datasets that can more precisely measure human behavior and help us better understand the world around us. These insights have limitless potential and can benefit cities, businesses, and everyday consumers in a multitude of ways. Take, for example, something as simple as the rate of change of a traffic light. Rather than relying on an internal clock that changes at set intervals, traffic lights have the potential to be more dynamic based on the location of people and cars at any given moment, factoring measurements like speed and distance into the equation in real-time. Just imagine how much that could improve efficiency. The same holds true for businesses. Having access to a deeper layer of data can help businesses deliver truly exceptional experiences based on customers’ personal preferences. Rather than only having the ability to measure purchases, for example, you can begin to measure micro-actions that can paint a more complete picture of your customers and future customers. This, too, would improve efficiency and allow businesses to invest more wisely.

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

Like most entrepreneurs, my path has been a winding road with unpredictable twists and turns that have led me to where I am today. If you told my younger self that I would be building a company like Rypplzz, I would have thought you were crazy. That’s what is really exciting to me about being an entrepreneur — the things that happen that you could’ve never predicted. At the same time, it’s the things you can control, like hard work and fully immersing yourself in whatever you’re doing, that can improve your chances of success, no matter what you try to tackle.

When I was younger, I was positive that I was going to be a professional hockey player. I was dedicated and I worked hard at it. As fate would have it, that door closed for me in college, so I decided to challenge myself in a new way. This led me to explore the world of entrepreneurship and marketing. Like hockey, I dove into this headfirst and gave it everything I had, which paid off and continues to pay off. Following my first successful venture, I had the opportunity to do some work for Salesforce, where I was introduced to my Rypplzz co-founders.

As a student of life, I’m constantly learning about new things that interest me and, as you would expect from an entrepreneur, I’m always trying to determine how and if there are opportunities to turn my knowledge into a new idea for a business. Around the time I met my co-founder, I was plunging into this concept of manipulating radio frequencies to create pinpoint geolocation. Through that exploration, I had the realization that this futuristic technology could be used by every industry to create more immersive and personalized experiences — an area that most businesses are grappling with today. From there, I decided to take my experience in building companies to begin developing the InterLife platform, and thus Rypplzz was born.

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

For Rypplzz to have widespread adoption, my team and I need to be crystal clear on the vision for the technology, what the future looks like, and the possibilities that exist for our target audiences. From there, we need to communicate that vision effectively to the world, which is the phase we’re currently in. When we first introduce the concept behind the Rypplzz technology to people, their faces typically light up and they start thinking of a variety of ways this technology can open the door to a whole new world of possibilities. At the same time, what we’re trying to accomplish is bold and disruptive. It almost sounds too good to be true. Getting people to invest in something brand new is challenging, especially in our current environment. If you look at the entertainment industry as a parallel, just look at how many movies are sequels, prequels, or based on existing movie franchises or books. Generally, there is apprehension in taking a chance on something new. Of course, there are also those that pride themselves on finding the next big thing and using the latest technology to stand out, so it’s about finding those people and getting them onboard with what we’re trying to accomplish, and then growing from there.

A recent example of someone who dared to step into the future with Rypplzz is Grimes, who leveraged our technology to host the first-ever Augmented Reality Art Rave at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami. Grimes is known for pushing the envelope, so she was the perfect artist to collaborate with on this. She’s looking to work with us on future projects, and we have some other great partnerships in the works, which will allow us to showcase our technology further. The more we can do this, the more demand we’ll be able to generate.

We realize that it’s going to take time for this space to mature and reach the level we know is possible today. Just look at the first batch of apps that were available on your phone. Sure, they were entertaining, fun, and new, but as the space matured, there have been more apps that truly changed the game. We are on a journey that’s only just beginning. The future of this space will look dramatically different a few years down the road.

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

We’re currently laying the groundwork for our platform and we’re in contact with several high-profile people and brands that will be instrumental in raising awareness for Rypplzz. For our platform to truly resonate with people, they need to see the types of applications that can be built on it in action. As mentioned, Grimes was one of the recent artists to do exactly that with her AR Art Rave, and we’re looking forward to doing more with her, as well as others. Over time, people are going to start seeing more Rypplzz-powered applications in the real world. The hope is that those applications deliver the engaging experience that we know is possible, and that the Rypplzz brand becomes synonymous with these groundbreaking experiences that enhance live events and everyday life. We have some fun tricks up our sleeve that we’re eager to share with the world when the time is 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 about that?

I know I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for my wife, Sarah Pendrick. Being the founder of a technology startup comes with many trials and tribulations. Many others have opinions on entrepreneurship and the risks of starting your own company, but Sarah has always been one of the most encouraging forces and doesn’t question the path I’ve taken. She is constantly pushing me to be the best version of myself in both my personal and professional life. When things do go wrong or I must pivot from my original vision, she is always there to talk about the issues I’m running into and provides me with great advice.

I know many executives would agree that having a supportive significant other can make or break a venture, and I’m lucky that I have that in Sarah. Additionally, Sarah is passionate about business and entrepreneurship, so she has had a massive impact on Rypplzz’s success.

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

One of the important benefits of the Rypplzz platform that we think will have a strong positive impact on the world is the wayfinding applications, which can help people navigate their environments more safely and efficiently, including the visually impaired. Movement is such a critical part of the human experience, and unfortunately, infrastructure isn’t always designed with everyone in mind. We’re hopeful that our platform can be a step in the right direction towards making our world more accessible for everyone. From a technology perspective, we see several ways for our platform to interact with tech-enabled devices including cars, scooters and wheelchairs that allow everyone to move around in a safe manner and on their own terms. Beyond that, we see wayfinding as a great way for adults to keep track of their children, especially in crowded environments like a stadium, where they can get separated. This can essentially serve as a more precise and personalized GPS for specific locations.

If you had 60 seconds to make a pitch to a VC, what would you say?

Rypplzz connects the digital and physical world like never before. Its multi-patented spatial operating system — Interlife — makes the air around us ‘intelligent’ by allowing you to program air with digital files that persist in exact coordinates of the real world, enabling ultra-precise geolocation and more efficient ways to communicate. It is currently being utilized in multi-billion-dollar markets like entertainment, hospitality and commercial properties to enhance customer engagement and security on campus, as well as drive new revenue opportunities. Rypplzz has a proven management team with multiple prior exits, as well as an elite group of go-to-market clients and partners that will empower the platform to scale quickly. Rypplzz has generated consistent revenue growth to date and is projecting rapid revenue growth this year and in the years ahead.

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


The Future Is Now: Josh Pendrick Of Rypplzz 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.

David Kurkjian of MasterMessaging On How To Be Great At Sales Without Seeming Salesy

If you’ve qualified a prospect as someone that has a problem you can solve, you’ve shown them what their world will look like with your product (Value), and they have budget, the natural conclusion should be an agreement to move forward.

As a part of my series about how to be great at closing sales without seeming pushy, obnoxious, or salesy, I had the pleasure of interviewing David Kurkjian (Kerchen).

David Kurkjian is the founder of MasterMessaging, a sales consultancy that helps sales professionals elevate the value of their products in their selling conversations. David is also the author of the book, 6X Convert More Prospects to Customers. David lives in Atlanta with his wife, adult children and grandkids.

Thank you for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us the “backstory” about what brought you to this career path?

After spending 30-plus years in sales and sales leadership I started to see a pattern in my career. In the early 2000’s I worked for a number of tech startups as one of the early sales reps. In this role I had to figure out how to position and talk about the product in a way that connected the value to the prospect. Once I was successful in generating sales and had a blueprint on communicating the value, I’d start hiring additional team members and train them on the sales conversation.

Having done this several times through 2011 it became apparent that my value in the sales profession was twofold: coaching and teaching sales reps, and helping them elevate and position the value in early stage selling conversations. Not only was I good at it, but it’s also where I found my greatest joy. That’s why in 2012 I made the decision to start MasterMessaging. It put me in a position where I could help more sales professionals.

Can you share with our readers the most interesting or amusing story that occurred to you in your career so far? Can you share the lesson or takeaway you took out of that story?

Early in my sales career when I was working for BellSouth, I was struggling with a question: “If I spent my life in a sales career selling hundreds of millions of dollars for tech companies, was that the legacy I wanted to leave behind?” I was considering going to work for a nonprofit where it would the difference I could make in the world would be obvious.

At the time I was a national account executive assigned to GE Capital. In one of my appointments with a GE executive, early in the conversation I realized the person I was meeting with was not doing well. I took a risk and asked if everything was ok. His response surprised me.

He shared that he was a Vietnam vet and that he had been exposed to agent orange. The doctors were having a hard time getting his meds right, his wife was divorcing him, and his kids didn’t want anything to do with him. As he got to the end of sharing that, he broke down and started to cry. My only response was to empathize with him and encourage him the best I could. We hugged and he apologized for having to reschedule the meeting.

I had an epiphany walking down the halls of GE Capital soon after that meeting. I had been able to help another person by offing an empathetic ear and encouraging words. That encounter helped me understand that selling isn’t so much about the transaction of money in exchange for a product. It’s about serving another human being by making their life better as a result of using the product I represent.

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

One of the challenges for a boutique sales consultancy is your reach. I get contacted by individual sales professionals that want help with their career. In these conversations it becomes clear that the consulting rate we charge businesses doesn’t translate to an individual. That’s why we developed an online course last year.

An individual can get most of the same benefit we provide to sales teams at a price point that makes sense to them. The initial course covers how to elevate the value of their product in early stage selling conversations. We’ll be rolling out additional courses that cover other skills, like effective whiteboarding and negotiations.

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’s an easy one: it’s a gentleman by the name of Jansen Chazanof. Jansen was the facilitator or lead for the Vistage group I belonged to for the first five years of MasterMessaging. He had an uncanny ability to ask the questions that lead to insights in how to improve as a business owner. He was also one of my biggest fans. He believed so deeply in the work that I do. This was evidenced in the number of executives he introduced me to that he felt would benefit from my work.

For the benefit of our readers, can you tell us a bit why you are an authority on the topic of sales?

Repetition. The principle of mastering something by doing it over ten thousand times. Having spent over 35 years conducting sales conversations every day, you gain insights into what makes a sales conversation great. You also learn how to adapt your conversations to all different types of people and roles. It’s why my wife marveled at my ability to relate to our kids when they were teenagers. The ability to conduct a conversation from another person’s point of view.

Ok. Thanks for all that. Let’s now jump to the main core of our interview. As you know, nearly any business a person will enter will involve some form of sales. At the same time, most people have never received any formal education about how to be effective at selling. Why do you think our education system teaches nearly every other arcane subject, but sales, one of the most useful and versatile topics, is totally ignored?

It’s not that easy to teach. It’s a combination of art and science: the science or process part of selling is easy to understand and apply, but when you get into establishing trust, credibility, building rapport, these are more difficult to understand and execute. Especially if you’re talking about 18–22 year olds. They’re still trying to figure out who they are in the world, much less how to sell something to another adult.

This discussion, entitled, “How To Be Great At Sales Without Seeming Salesy,” is making an assumption that seeming salesy or pushy is something to be avoided. Do you agree with this assumption? Whether yes, or no, can you articulate why you feel the way you do?

Yes: I agree, mostly, especially when looking at the word pushy. There’s a principle in physics: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. When you are “pushed” as a human being, the reaction is to push back or get defensive. Once another human being gets defensive, there is not a lot you can do to get them to open up and consider new ways of doing things.

There is an exception — and it starts with understanding the salesperson’s intent. Most people associate pushiness with an aggressive salesperson who is pushy for selfish reasons. They just want the sale. But if a salesperson is pushy because they know it’s in the best interest of the prospect, that’s different. They have the right intent or motive. If a doctor pushes a patient to change their lifestyle of get a procedure because they know will make the patient better, that would be an example of when it is ok to be pushy.

The seven stages of a sales cycle are usually broken down to versions of Prospecting, Preparation, Approach, Presentation, Handling objections, Closing, and Follow-up. Which stage do you feel that you are best at? What is your unique approach, your “secret sauce,” to that particular skill? Can you explain or give a story?

I’d say Presentation, but I would change the word to Conversation. Keep in mind the foundation for a great conversation will also include Preparation and Approach.

The secret sauce comes from understanding how a human being perceives value. Value is king in a sales conversation. If you communicate high value, you get the price point you want. High value also leads to a greater sense of urgency to want the product sooner. Yet in 11 years of working with over two hundred companies, not one sales professional has been able to tell me how value is perceived.

According to Daniel Kahneman, a world-renowned behavioral psychologist, value is perceived in a contrasting world view. Literally, this is what your world looks like without my product, contrasted with this is what your world could look like with my product. It’s in the side-by-side contrast between these two worlds that contrast is understood.

Quick example: For the last three years I’ve participated in a fund-raising bike ride for children with autism called bike to the beach. It starts fifty miles inland in the middle of Delaware and ends in Foley Beach. Last year the start of the ride was on a rural section of road that had recently been stripped of its topcoat to be repaved. As you can imagine, our experience on street bikes was terrible. But after five miles we hit the newly paved section of road. At that point every one of the riders exclaimed that it was the smoothest road they had ever ridden on. They wouldn’t have even commented if we had started the race on the smooth road.

When sales professionals understand this dynamic, they can follow a simple roadmap found in my book for building high value sales conversations.

Lead generation, or prospecting, is one of the basic steps of the sales cycle. Obviously, every industry will be different, but can you share some of the fundamental strategies you use to generate good, qualified leads?

Offer value before you ask for something. Currently this isn’t happening very much in a social platform like LinkedIn. You get a connection request and more times than not when you accept the very next message is a request for an appointment or meeting.

You have to establish yourself as someone that can bring value into another person’s life. To do this, share an insightful article, blog post or your own insight that will benefit the person. When you’ve done this a couple of times then you can ask them for a meeting. In the request for a meeting, you also have an opportunity to focus on value. Consider the difference in these two requests.

When can we meet to discuss our latest SaaS offering and how it’s revolutionizing the world?

When can we meet to discuss how you can spend more time on the things you enjoy in your job by using our latest SaaS offering?

The second request focuses on the value to the prospect, not the product you represent.

In my experience, I think the final stages of Handling Objections, Closing, and Follow-up are the most difficult parts for many people. Why do you think ‘Handling Objections’ is so hard for people? What would you recommend for one to do, to be better at ‘Handling Objections’?

Identify them as early as possible in your relationship with a prospect. An easy way to do this is at the end of a discovery call ask a simple question: “We’ve covered a good bit of ground in our conversation. I’m curious, what do you think?” This gives the prospect a number of different directions they can go because it’s a great open-ended question.

They may ask clarifying questions, give positive feedback and if they have an objection, they’ll throw that in as well.

The other thing you can do is be prepared for the most common objections. Don’t try to handle them in the moment without some preparation.

‘Closing’ is of course the proverbial Holy Grail. Can you suggest 5 things one can do to successfully close a sale without being perceived as pushy? If you can, please share a story or example, ideally from your experience, for each.

I’m going to push back on this question. I don’t think closing is so complicated that it needs five things. If you’ve qualified a prospect as someone that has a problem you can solve, you’ve shown them what their world will look like with your product (Value), and they have budget, the natural conclusion should be an agreement to move forward.

There’s a great question you can ask a prospect that will give you a roadmap to closing the sale: “Where do we go from here?”

This gives the prospect the opportunity to share with you the steps they’ll have to walk through to close the sale. They may respond with, “I’ll need to take this to legal or get purchasing involved.” However they answer you, follow up with, then what? By the time you through these series of questions, the prospect will have identified the steps necessary to close the sale.

Finally, what are your thoughts about ‘Follow up’? Many businesses get leads who might be interested but things never seem to close. What are some good tips for a business leader to successfully follow up and bring things to a conclusion, without appearing overly pushy or overeager?

If you use the approach outlined above, you shouldn’t have to chase prospects. They will have agreed to a process that should lead to a yes or a no. However, for those that unexpectantly go quiet you can try this email subject line: “Did I lose you?” If they don’t reply, guess what the answer is?

As you know there are so many modes of communication today. For example, In-person, phone calls, video calls, emails, and text messages. In your opinion, which of these communication methods should be avoided when attempting to close a sale or follow up? Which are the best ones? Can you explain or give a story?

Avoid email: it’s too easy to get lost. The best would be a phone call or text to their mobile. If you’re at the end of the sales process, you should have their mobile number.

Ok, we are nearly done. Here is our final “meaty” question. You are a person of enormous 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. 🙂

That idea is at the heart of what we teach sales professionals. Be “other” focused. Try and see the world from the “other” person’s point of view. As you understand it, speak to that “other” point of view in your conversations. When you do this, the person you’re building a relationship with will know you’re in it for them, not just to make a sale. Maybe, as a result, the sales profession will be viewed more favorably.

How can our readers follow you online?

Reach me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-kurkjian-1891901/

Thank you for the interview. We wish you only continued success!


David Kurkjian of MasterMessaging On How To Be Great At Sales Without Seeming Salesy was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Meet The Disruptors: Eziah Syed On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

Understand the market, live it, breath it, become intimate with the problem space. In my case, mend was the outcome of a number of health challenges in the family and firsthand experience with health systems and the nature of acute care.

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

Eziah Syed has spent his career steeped in technology, strategy, and innovation across a variety of large corporations and several startups. Currently, he serves as Co-Founder and CEO of mendTM, a life sciences company operating at the intersection of digital health and nutripharma.

Prior to his current position with mend™, Eziah cultivated a wealth of knowledge through senior innovation and strategy roles with Deloitte, Citibank, and Dynamics Inc. He has deep experience in innovation, new products, ventures, and white space growth opportunities with a focus on technology-based solutions.

Eziah attended McMaster University in Ontario as an undergraduate and holds an MBA from the University of Western Ontario. He has also been trained in design thinking and advanced corporate finance through New York University Stern School of Business and the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.

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’ve spent my career in strategy and innovation for both large firms like Deloitte and Citibank as well as startups and am trained to identify gaps and white spaces. A number of family members have recently experienced health events that led to acute care with hospitals. This is where I saw a clear gap between what’s offered today in the acute care delivery model and what’s possible. Mend is on a mission to fix this gap.

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

We’re operating at the intersection of two megatrends, food as medicine and digital behavioral health, that will improve healthcare in the years and decades to come. We have developed a novel food as medicine platform which includes evidence-based nutrapharma, medically tailored targeted meals and nutritional counselling. We use nutrition as a core node in a behavioral support model to get patients optimized for surgery and then transition them to healthy habits that will stay with them throughout their lives. This first to world integrated model is a game changer that will save billions from poor surgical outcomes and even more from the burden of lifestyle preventable chronic illnesses.

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 you’re building something completely new, it’s a constant learning and optimization process. When we first started, my brother and I literally tried to formulate a nutrapharma product at home. To call it swamp gas in terms of its taste and odor might not be that much of a stretch. It wasn’t so much of a mistake (we knew we weren’t going to produce the actual product at home) as it was an experiment, but it did give us insights into just how complex a formulation and production process is. That leads to the very important lesson, in that there is no substitute for rolling up your sleeves and doing the work. Learning every aspect of your business hands on. I’ve been the chemist, the shipping department, the copywriting, the production manager, etc. at different points in the journey. And I wouldn’t change that if I were to do it over again. There is enormous value in getting into the weeds and learning your 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 very intentionally surrounded myself with advisors, particularly in areas like nutrition, where I had limited knowledge. My science advisors formulated our Repair and Recover product, which is now regularly stealing market share from a large incumbent. Repair and Recover is used by 30+ professional sports teams, the US Military, and countless doctors across the country. The credit on the strength of the formula goes to them. More recently I brought on an advisor that is helping me to navigate sales into health systems. Needless to say, health systems are slow, complex, and the sale cycles are extremely long. Having someone who has been inside the walls of these health systems counsel me has been invaluable. Mend is now being utilized as some of the most prestigious hospitals in the country.

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?

If you speak purely in the colloquial sense, disruption refers to the introduction of a new product, service, or technology that fundamentally changes an existing industry or market.

To answer whether disruption is good or bad we really need to have a temporal lens as homo sapiens have been creating disruptive change throughout our history. Often, when a truly disruptive innovation takes hold, it causes certain constituents an enormous amount of pain and dislocation, while others find opportunity for unparalleled wealth creation. The long arc of innovation I believe is generally a positive one if we look at it through the lens of reducing hunger, poverty, and limiting suffering.

Given that we have built a free-market capitalist economy, I don’t think we can slow down or stop change. As innovators identify opportunities to change the status quo and make a lot of money doing it, disruptive change will continue to come our way. It’s a core feature of our system and I believe one that gives us our competitive edge in a global economic context.

We cannot stop disruption; however, we can be thoughtful about erecting safeguards to limit the blowback and unintended harm that can come as a result of something fundamentally new.

There’s a fierce debate raging right now over AI and the potential for untold harm if we don’t put in place strong safeguards. The technology domain is racing ahead far more quickly than our ability to understand the full implications and our ability to enact policies to protect us. As leaders of industry and for those on the frontiers of change, it’s incumbent on us to keep our greed in check and operate with some core principles and ethics on our responsibility to society. We all can and should sing the chorus of responsible technology and have a core moral and ethical framework that guides our efforts.

Can you please share 5 ideas one needs to shake up their industry? If you can, please share a story or an example for each.

1. Understand the market, live it, breath it, become intimate with the problem space. In my case, mend was the outcome of a number of health challenges in the family and firsthand experience with health systems and the nature of acute care.

2. Turn the problem inside out and challenge orthodoxies. I asked why nutrition wasn’t being utilized as a medical modality and being developed in a pharma like manner for use in conventional healthcare.

3. Test and iterate and repeat as there is no substitute for actually testing your solution with end customers. Many of your assumptions will be wrong and you won’t know until you test. I had a core thesis that I could go to market in the physical therapy channel but learned of a number of barriers to adoption only through testing.

4. Be tenacious. Disruptive innovation and being a change agent is hard stuff and you will encounter numerous roadblocks on your journey. You cannot become discouraged by roadblocks, you must be tough, resilient, gritty and resourceful. I have encountered roadblock after roadblock but have found a path around or through each of them. And I anticipate plenty more ahead, it’s par for the course.

5. Stay anchored in mission and purpose. There will be very long nights and you will be challenged and tested in countless ways. What will keep you going through all of it is your passion for the mission and purpose. My journey has been about helping to improve healthcare, healing, and human health. I wake up each day with joy in my heart about working on this mission and it pulls me through when difficulties arise.

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

We are facing a crisis at a staggering and unsustainable financial cost. The rise of chronic diseases in America is underscored by alarming statistics that highlight the scale of the problem. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), chronic diseases account for approximately 6 out of 10 deaths in the United States each year. Heart disease, cancer, and stroke alone contribute to nearly half of all deaths. Obesity rates have also reached epidemic proportions, with around 42.4% of adults considered obese as reported by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. This increase in obesity has a direct correlation with the rise in chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and certain types of cancer. Diabetes affects approximately 34.2 million people in the U.S., with an estimated 7.3 million cases going undiagnosed. Furthermore, the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease, a chronic neurodegenerative disorder, has surged to affect an estimated 6.2 million Americans, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. These statistics serve as a stark reminder of the urgent need to address the rise of chronic diseases in America through proactive healthcare strategies and public health initiatives.

Mend intends to be a core pillar of “Medicine 3.0”, a system that makes wellspan and adding quality years to our lifespan a priority. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done in this area and we want to play an outsized role.

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 listen to Hidden Brain quite regularly and have recently read several books including Outlive, Anti-Cancer Living, The Invisible Machine, Disease Delusion and How Healing Works. There’s so much wisdom in each of these that I don’t want to single out any one in particular. The common thread in all of them is that transformative change for personal health and wellness is possible and within reach for each of us. Small modest changes accumulate over time and new habits and behaviors have a compounding effect. One of the habits I’ve developed is to start each day with a set of morning affirmations and meditation. I do this because I know how powerful the subconscious mind is and that it requires effort to program and reprogram it. With a thirty-minute routine to start my day, I’m inserting new software into my subconscious mind. Deliberate insertion of programs that I believe will enhance my wellbeing.

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

I have become a big fan of Stoicism as I believe there is enormous benefit in striving to live a virtuous life and in acceptance. The core Buddhist training is all about acceptance and directing one’s energy and focus inward. I think the principles in both philosophies are the antidote to the stress and dissonance many people experience in modern life. Living virtuously, with benevolence and love in your heart and accepting life in all its color and taste has a way of unlocking serenity and fulfillment.

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.

Aggregate well-being and aggregate happiness, that’s what I believe we should be measuring as a yardstick for our success as a species. There is far too much needless suffering, and we have all the know-how, resources and tools to improve aggregate well-being and aggregate happiness. I would be overjoyed if we could create a global movement around these two metrics.

How can our readers follow you online?

I’m on LinkedIn, where I occasionally publish my thoughts. I’ve recently activated a Twitter account, however, haven’t decided what kind of role I want to play on this platform. Mend is on all the standard social channels and we’re actively publishing information that we think will be valuable to the health of society.

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


Meet The Disruptors: Eziah Syed 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.

Robert Mullaney Of RG Barry Corporation On How To Use Digital Transformation To Take Your Company…

Robert Mullaney Of RG Barry Corporation On How To Use Digital Transformation To Take Your Company To The Next Level

Apply Digital Brand Management — Bring your products to market with a consumer- driven focus and strategically manage your brand across all touchpoints.

As part of our series about “How To Use Digital Transformation To Take Your Company To The Next Level”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Bob Mullaney.

As President and CEO of the RG Barry Corporation, Bob Mullaney is responsible for the vision, leadership, and growth of the company’s portfolio: Dearfoams, Baggallini, Columbus Product Group, Planet A, and RG Barry Innovations.

Bob’s strategic vision to change the standards of comfort and sustainability through consumer driven, data informed, digital centric, and earth-first brands has positioned RG Barry Brands for exceptional growth. Under Bob’s leadership, the portfolio company has invested in a digital brand management platform that has transformed its performance, positioning, and ecological innovation. This is accelerating the current brands to new heights and creating new opportunities.

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?

In college, I studied business and was an athlete. I knew I wanted to take these passions and apply them to my career, which led me to a highly competitive Department Store Executive training program. It was there that I discovered my love for the intricacies of product and consumer behavior. After a few years, I pursued my MBA and transitioned my knowledge and experience to the wholesale side of the business at Timberland and Tommy Hilfiger. I held various positions in sales planning, inventory management, and sales management. Over the next decade, I took on general management and president roles with P&L responsibility, providing broader oversight of brand and product creation, as well as sales and marketing. As the President of the Americas for adidas-owned The Rockport Company, my team and I successfully turned around a declining business of over 10 years and positioned it for sale to Berkshire Partners. Following that, I became the President of IAC-owned Shoebuy.com. During my tenure, we acquired the name Shoes.com, expanded the range of footwear brands, and successfully repositioned and reversed a declining trend. This attracted Walmart and Jet.com to acquire Shoes.com, enabling them to compete against Amazon in their eCommerce growth strategy. In 2017, I was enlisted as CEO and President by Mill Road and Blackstone Capital to develop a plan and vision to transform RGB and its underappreciated, yet impressive, heritage brands into a growth company.

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?

My first job after receiving my bachelor’s degree from Babson College, I was as an Executive Trainee at May Department Stores. My training buyer in men’s sports shirts assigned me my first task which was to go to the flagship store floor and bring back the 3 most unattractive shirts. Diligently, I retrieved and proudly presented my choices: a paisley silk shirt, a mixed material denim/chambray/plaid banded collar shirt, and a wine and green medallion print woven button-down shirt. My buyer was quick to point out these styles were all best-selling items, concluding that personal judgements (or eye for taste) should be put aside and to always listen to the consumer and what they want from performance assessment.

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?

Besides my parents’ guidance and commitment to my education, Dick Waldron gave me a chance in high school and mentored me at what is now Verizon (then New England Telephone merging with New York, NYNEX). In 1987, I was a 15-year-old sophomore data entry summer temp. By the time I graduated high school at 17, I was briefing upgrades to a proprietary IT system, authoring a user manual, and training existing and new employees. Although I would have rather ditched the shirt and tie to be a lifeguard, the experience and mentorship he afforded me was invaluable.

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?

Business books that have made an impact on me include Peter Drucker’s ‘Managing for Results’, James Collins and Jerry Porras’s ‘Built to Last’, and Peter Senge’s ‘5th Discipline’.

Reading Richard Russo’s ‘Empire Falls’ influenced me to examine the legacy of industrialism. It laid a foundation for how I perceive sustainability, the effects of carbon, and the lifecycle of products.

During the pandemic, Apple TV’s ‘Ted Lasso’, was truly helpful. The show addresses various takeaways, considerations, and social constructs. One significant lesson I learned was that vulnerability is a strength, not a weakness. This aspect had the most profound impact on me. ‘Ted Lasso’ embraces imperfection, countering the unrealistic portrayal of others’ lives often perpetuated on social media. Onward, forward.

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?

Florence Zacks Melton founded R.G. Barry Corporation in 1946, where she invented the world’s first foam-soled, soft washable slipper, which eventually became Dearfoams. Working until 2005, her innovation was a driving force in the organization, leading to the filing of 19 patents for consumer products. Her commitment to improving consumers’ lives through innovation is a foundation of RGB. She is an inspiration to us as both an innovator and a trailblazing female founder.

We have evolved the company, expanding into more brands and categories, utilizing a double-meaning acronym that better reflects our growth: Responsible Growth Brands (RGB). Our commitment to consumer-driven, data-informed, digitally centric, and earth-first brands succinctly explains our evolution and expansion as a portfolio company over the past five years.

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

There is a substantial opportunity ahead for RGB. We are continuously evolving our Digital Brand Management Platform, which follows a strategy and operational business model dedicated to consumer-driven, data-informed, digital-centric, and earth-first brands.

Through our DBMP, we have successfully expanded Dearfoams beyond being a market leader in slippers, transforming it into a multi-category comfort lifestyle brand. We now offer a diverse range of footwear and other licensed product categories from four partners. Additionally, we have introduced Fireside, an affordable luxury boot and slipper brand crafted from 100% genuine Australian Shearling.

The DBMP has also enabled Baggallini to accelerate new product collections to a broader consumer base, going beyond the limitations of the traditional wholesale business model. This has resulted in more than doubling the business over the past year and accelerating the brand’s eCommerce penetration.

Moving forward, we will remain committed to investing in our Digital Brand Management Platform. Later this year, we will be launching Planet A, an ecologically focused internet native brand, and we are actively pursuing additional brand acquisitions in the future. Additionally, our RGB Innovations division will continue to address our ambition to be carbon neutral by 2030 through continuous supply chain evaluation and improvements. The entire company, including its leadership team, is embracing the responsibility of caring for the planet and addressing the pressing issue of end-of-life products.

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 using technology to operate more efficiently and effectively to deliver customer value. Technology enables organizations to capture knowledge and adapt in a changing environment for continual transformation.

Practically speaking, it allows companies to embrace a continuous learning organization and adoption across all functional areas and disciplines. It is critical to welcome informed change and a test and learn business model that only digital capabilities can unlock with speed and accuracy.

Which companies can most benefit from a Digital Transformation?

Any company who has the consumer as the focus needs to do things more efficiently, especially with labor at a premium in the US. At RGB, we have modernized our legacy systems and have implemented many additional cloud-based tools to enable our team to be more effective. These range from a new data warehouse to product catalog management and transmission into commerce networks, as well as re-platforming our own websites. We have stronger reporting, planning, and forecasting. We syndicate our catalog to a range of retailers and marketplaces.

Our website re-platform (currently underway) is expected to improve our customers’ purchase path with significant cart improvements and greater payment options, as well as allow our site merchants flexibility to curate and adjust offerings in real time.

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.

Our merchandising and design team previously had many new concepts and collections to elevate and evolve our brands, however, the ideas were largely unsubstantiated or not adopted due to retailer limitations. We committed to ecommerce and utilizing DTC or 3rd party marketplaces to present these concepts directly to consumers. Here we gain their validation and don’t have to rely on only 1st party data. Additionally, we utilize multiple consumer research platforms to edit the assortment, refine the product, define the go to market strategy and inform the marketing plan.

Has integrating Digital Transformation been a challenging process for some companies? What are the challenges? How do you help resolve them?

At RGB, we have updated or implemented 50+ new technologies and software programs in the past 12 months alone. Classic example of being right but not effective. The task list was done, but adoption in some cases was low. We are investing further in training, development, and change management, and embracing a more agile project pace.

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”? Please share a story or an example for each.

  1. Apply Digital Brand Management — Bring your products to market with a consumer- driven focus and strategically manage your brand across all touchpoints.
  2. Commit to Data Analytics — Aggregate and optimize your business performance across multiple vectors.
  3. Invest in Automation and System Enablement — Upgrade technology, utilize cloud-based software, and enhance visibility to real time information.
  4. Lead with Strategic Planning — Develop a vision and a roadmap that incorporates tools, processes, and discipline to enable profitable go-to-market and product sell-through
  5. Build The Right Team — Assemble collaborative subject matter leaders and their associates who can guide continuous improvement and facilitate consumer adoption.

In your opinion, how can companies best create a “culture of innovation” in order to create new competitive advantages?

Always keep the customer as the North Star and embrace the opportunity to approach challenges with a fresh perspective. Our RGB Innovations team constantly examines the status quo as a thought leader in the company, inspiring others to reevaluate how we currently serve our customers and explore ways to enhance their experience, thereby making a greater impact on critical purchase criteria. Our brands’ satisfaction and repurchase intent scores approach 90% and 95% for Dearfoams and Baggallini, respectively, serving as strong indicators that our product and brand efforts are highly appreciated.

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

I am offering three to help fully characterize my personal philosophy of sorts:

  1. The positivity of creativity, consideration, and vision.
  • “Dwell in possibility.” Emily Dickinson

2. Enjoy the journey.

  • “Oh, the places you’ll go.” Dr. Suess

3. Embrace challenges as opportunities with grit and perseverance.

  • “Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is Nothing.” Muhammad Ali.

How can our readers further follow your work?

http://www.rgbarry.com/ or RG Barry LinkedIn

Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!


Robert Mullaney Of RG Barry Corporation On How To Use Digital Transformation To Take Your Company… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Jessica Frigon Of PROJECT LOVE On 5 Things You Need To Know To Successfully Scale Your Business

Change is inevitable. A prime example of this is AI and how it is making its way through many industries. If you do not accept, embrace and become a champion for change, you will be left behind. A CEO and the company’s leadership team set the tone for change adoption. They need to lead and support their team and even customers with changes being implemented. A company will become stagnant and will plateau if they do not adapt to changes including shifts required internally to support growth goals and sustainability.

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 Jessica Frigon.

Jessica Frigon is an Operations Consultant and Founder of PROJECT LOVE, a boutique Operations Firm. Using her 15+ years of extensive Operations and Project Management experience, she helps home and lifestyle brands scale sustainably, increase revenue and build a team with confidence by systemizing their operations.

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’?

My journey began when I made the quick decision to move away from the law industry and launched my first business as a wedding planner. It married my love for detailed organization, planning and execution with the creativity I craved. I thoroughly loved the experience but wanted more freedom in the evenings and weekends and chose to focus on a corporate career.

After taking on a variety of roles, I was fortunate enough to be hired by a company which turned into a 15 year tenure. I started at reception and worked my way up to Project Manager leading multi-million dollar projects across the family of companies, and then Director, Operations of the new sales division that was launched by the company’s Founder and former CEO.

My entrepreneurial spirit reignited during this time and prompted me to use my corporate skillset and love for operations and planning to launch PROJECT LOVE. My mission has been to help business owners experience the success they deserved while being able to focus more of their time and energy on what they truly loved — which is what prompted them to start their business after all.

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?

What greatly contributed to my success today in corporate but also as an entrepreneur is making the scary decision to leave a stable corporate role to join a startup sales company and build their operations from the literal ground up. It provided incredible learnings, helped me greatly develop my skills as a leader and taught me what it truly takes to start and grow a business and team. Without this experience and opportunity, I would not be where I am today in business.

What’s the most impactful initiative you’ve led that you’re particularly proud of?

The most impactful initiative that I am most proud of is being part of the team that made the startup sales company an incredible success. To give context, this business model was a concept. I walked into a bare office space, opened a blank computer screen that was not yet even set up or connected to a printer. No letterhead, no processes, no systems built — it was truly a blank page.

Initially, I won’t sugar coat it but I honestly thought to myself “what have I gotten myself into?”. It was scary as everything had to be built out but it was the most educational, inspirational, rewarding and challenging experience of my life and I will never forget it.

I developed the business systems which consisted of procedures, templates, and built out a CRM custom tailored to fully support the sales process and team, and much more. I wore many hats initially to support the team so they could focus solely on sales.

This resulted in the greatest to date success for virtual sales in an industry that pre-covid relied entirely on face-to-face sales, which are vastly different from each other. To achieve success and prepare the business and team to grow and scale required processes to be automated and consistently executed by all team members. This is essential in order to have proper oversight into business and team performance and to bring on new team members with ease.

Sometimes our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a mistake you’ve made and the lesson you took away from it?

There have been many, of course. One that comes to mind that taught me a major lesson was promoting a team member to a role they were not yet ready for as a means to retain them. Unfortunately, this decision had a negative effect on the team culture which directly impacted output and pulled focus for myself and others from revenue generating activities.

Your team plays a major part in the success you will experience. It is critical to make decisions in regards to team members, roles, and responsibilities thoughtfully. I learned to never again make a decision in reaction mode. “Hire (or promote) slow, fire fast” has stuck with me since.

How has mentorship played a role in your career, whether receiving mentorship or offering it to others?

Mentorship has been key in my career growth, in corporate and as an entrepreneur. You will never know everything and why waste precious time trying to figure things out the hard and slow way when you can learn from those that have already mastered it? I was blessed to have an incredible mentor in corporate that truly set the tone for how to successfully run a business but more importantly set the bar on how to conduct yourself as a CEO and leader. I also invested quickly and often when I launched PROJECT LOVE to gain support with mindset, marketing & PR, areas I knew I needed to develop. The skills and knowledge I acquired in these areas has been invaluable and have even helped me better serve my clients and community.

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?

I will forever try to emulate my corporate mentor’s leadership style. I strive to follow in his footsteps and lead with crystal clear communication, decisiveness, emotional intelligence, awareness, humility and integrity. But most importantly, I try my best to lead by example because I wholeheartedly believe it all starts at the top of the company.

I make it a priority to continuously develop my leadership skills to fully support my team and community. Becoming a great leader takes time and consistent work as you prepare for growth and scaling of a business. Each new level of success brings new opportunities for leadership elevation.

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.

To scale a business from start up to midsize and then to a large company, you must:

  1. Create a solid solution(s) for your client’s problem and communicate it exceptionally well.

Without an offering; whether a product or service, you have no means of serving clients or customers. And without clients or customers, there is no revenue which means you do not have a business, just an expensive hobby. Your potential clients or customers need to understand the value of your offering, the transformation they will experience, and what they can expect to receive. You need to keep things simple when developing your offerings to eliminate buyer overwhelm which is something I often see done wrong with businesses. The confused mind never buys.

2. Develop your operational foundation.

Many entrepreneurs focus their time and energy on sales and marketing strategies and yes that is necessary to increase your visibility and generate revenue. What is often overlooked, however, is building the operational foundation and infrastructure that will support the results that will be had through these initiatives. If a company gets an influx of clients and sales but doesn’t have the processes and technology in place to manage them and deliver on expectations, this will result in overwhelm, errors, and a negative client or customer experience which impacts referral and retention rates. And ultimately, it creates a poor reputation in the marketplace or industry which is extremely bad for business.

3. Build a high-performance team and culture.

Many pull the trigger too quickly in hiring and do not properly plan out their team structure and identify the roles required and what qualifications are needed to execute the responsibilities exceptionally well. I have personally witnessed the impact a badly executed hiring and onboarding process can have on a new team member and it is something that is challenging to recover from. Leaders need to empower their team members and allow them to take ownership of their roles.

Culture sets the tone for the team. To achieve a high performance culture, you must dedicate time to nurture it. Create a collaborative atmosphere within the team — even within a sales team that competes (this absolutely can be achieved!). Create a meeting schedule for your team to share learnings, develop their skills, ask questions and receive coaching. Perform reviews and support team member growth and development. And most importantly, make it a priority to play as hard as you work!

4. Dedicate time on a consistent basis to focus on business performance, vision, goals and strategy.

In the beginning stages, entrepreneurs get stuck in the weeds of their business. They wear all the hats, do all the tasks and essentially become their company’s top employee. It is challenging to begin to let go and delegate when you have held control for however long. But in order to grow and scale, a business needs a CEO and leader. In order to step into the CEO role, one must dedicate time to working ON the business. This is where a CEO day comes into play, to help the CEO step out of the day-to-day and review performance, analyze metrics, determine what’s working and not working, make strategic decisions based on data and vision alignment and plan next steps. This is key to moving the needle forward consistently.

5. Embrace change as the landscape and industry are guaranteed to shift.

Change is inevitable. A prime example of this is AI and how it is making its way through many industries. If you do not accept, embrace and become a champion for change, you will be left behind. A CEO and the company’s leadership team set the tone for change adoption. They need to lead and support their team and even customers with changes being implemented. A company will become stagnant and will plateau if they do not adapt to changes including shifts required internally to support growth goals and sustainability.

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?

The first mistake I see companies make is not developing processes which results in unnecessary confusion, lack of visibility into performance and task execution and it becomes a challenge to onboard new team members with ease. Documented processes are critical to the success of the team and business.

The second mistake I see made is implementing technology too quickly and without due diligence. Technology is only beneficial to a business and team if first off utilized and utilized well by all. You need to take time to determine your system requirements which starts with documenting your processes. There are many considerations to take into account when selecting a technology platform, one of which I consider highest priority: will it make it easier for team members to perform their roles or will it overcomplicate them and increase the time it takes to complete their tasks?

The third mistake I see made is a lack of communication and transparency throughout the team; from the top down. Communication is essential to team success and culture. Lack of communication results in individuals making their own conclusions, executing their responsibilities incorrectly and losing sight of the goal and vision.

Scaling includes bringing new people into the organization. How can a company preserve its company culture and ethos when new people are brought in?

Introducing a new team member to your company and culture begins with the hiring and onboarding process, which will leave a lasting impression. The hiring and onboarding process should be seamlessly executed and clearly communicated, setting appropriate expectations for those involved.

In the interview phase, it is important to be well prepared with questions that will initiate a deeper discussion so that you can truly get to know your candidate and allow them space to get to you and the company (I honestly feel it is as much their interview as it is yours). I recommend including an additional individual from leadership in the interview to take notes, to observe the candidate’s body language, and prompt the interviewer with follow-up questions, where needed. A question should be included to learn of the candidate’s experience with their past employer’s company culture — what did they consider to be a great culture and why? How did they contribute to it and promote it?

The onboarding phase is where they will see firsthand what type of culture a company and team truly have. To effectively immerse them into the company, educate them on the company values, the mission, the “why” and the big vision. Help them get as excited as you and your team are about being part of the company and its journey.

Additionally, I recommend setting up 1:1 sessions with each team member they will be working with to get to know each other, as well as, setting up introductions with any departmental leaders they will be collaborating with.

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?

To continuously develop your team’s knowledge and internal procedures, I recommend the following:

Team Development: Introduce daily scrums with a pre-planned educational component and record them for future reference but also to be used in training of future team members. Implement a communication tool such as Slack where you can create custom channels to develop a knowledge base of information. Setup educational sessions that will develop their core required skill sets. Start a developmental book club and hold a monthly session to dissect learnings and discuss ways to apply them to enhance their performance.

Procedure Refinement: Track all Standard Operating Procedures created and assign ownership responsibilities. Create a review frequency, which I recommend to be quarterly, to analyze them and determine if they are up to date or require optimization. A question to be asked when reviewing is “how can this be done more efficiently and produce higher-quality results?”.

What software or tools do you recommend to help onboard new hires?

Depending on the size of the company and the type of team structure, the technology requirements will vary.

A small company may only require a Project Management tool to manage the hiring, onboarding and day-to-day oversight of your team members. In this instance, I always recommend ClickUp.

For a large company, a more complex technology platform may be required to properly and efficiently manage all aspects of Human Resources and Payroll, for which I recommend UKG.

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.

I would encourage there to be more intentional focus on mentorship beginning at an early age. There are many skills, habits, and lessons that I was introduced to and learned from that I wish would have been instilled in me at a young age. I would like to see the next generation be mentored in the family home, through the educational system, and be provided with additional programs to further support their development.

They should be taught what it takes to be a great leader, how important mindset and emotional intelligence is, what habits are critical to success and how to develop them. They should be taught financial literacy and how to build wealth. They should be supported in figuring out what success really means to them — which may change as they grow up but will help them have the right priorities when making decisions so that when they achieve their goals, they feel fulfilled and happy. They should be helped to develop resiliency and consistency.

But most importantly, it needs to be instilled in them to put continuous learning and development as a priority throughout their lives.These are essential foundations that will set them up for success throughout their life and career — no matter the path they choose.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

You can connect with me through my website, Instagram and LinkedIn profiles.

This was truly meaningful! Thank you so much for your time and for sharing your expertise!

Photo Credit: Hong Photography & Cinema Inc.


Jessica Frigon Of PROJECT LOVE 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.

Rajiv Nagaich Of AgingOptions: 5 Things Retirees Say They Wish They Were Told Before They Began…

Rajiv Nagaich Of AgingOptions: 5 Things Retirees Say They Wish They Were Told Before They Began Retirement

The advice you get from professionals may not always support the goals you have for your retirement years. Don’t ever forget that.

As a part of my series about the “5 Things Retirees Say They Wish They Were Told Before They Began Retirement” I had the pleasure of interviewing Rajiv Nagaich.

Rajiv Nagaich, J.D., L.L.M., author of YOUR RETIREMENT: DREAM OR DISASTER?, is an elder law attorney and a nationally known retirement planning visionary who has electrified the nation with his new approach to retirement planning — called Lifeplanning. Nagaich is one of the country’s most influential retirement planning thought leaders. He is the host of two public television specials (Master Your Future and The Path to Happily Ever After) and the AgingOptions Radio Show, which has been dispensing retirement planning advice in the Seattle area for more than twenty years.

Nagaich is founding partner of the Life Point Law firm in the Seattle area and Chief Executive Officer of AgingOptions. He holds a Masters in Tax Law (L.L.M.) from the University of Washington and J.D. from Seattle University School of Law. For more information, please visit www.AgingOptions.com.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?

I was working for an insurance company in the Seattle area when I first met Jamie, the woman who would become my wife. Jamie lived in Spokane. As I got to know her better, I discovered that her father, Bill, had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in the last year of his 40-year career with the U.S. Postal Service. I learned how her mother, Vivian, had been trying to keep Bill at home. Vivian had been told by the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) that there was no help to be had if Bill desired to stay home.

After struggling to keep Bill home for a year or two, financial pressures coupled with the pressures of managing his care and the care of the household made it impossible for Vivian to continue living in their home. She sold the house and moved with Bill. The move was stressful for Bill, who had started to wander. Eventually, the demands of care became overwhelming, and Bill had to be moved to a skilled care nursing home.

As time went on, Jamie and I became close, and she invited me to meet her family in Spokane. It was during that visit that I had my first exposure to life in a nursing home. It was a shocking experience to say the least. I had heard stories about old folks’ homes, but I had never seen one while growing up in India. All my grandparents had taken their last breath at home surrounded by loved ones.

The moment I walked through the nursing home door, the smell alone was enough to make me want to turn around and leave. Bill was unshaved and smelled bad. Jamie went out and asked for a nurse to change him. After visiting for a while, we left. Jamie was in tears, and I was lost in my thoughts. This is not how the richest nation in the world should be treating its elders, I thought. There had to be a better way.

Unfortunately, as I soon discovered, there was nothing unusual about Bill’s story. In fact, it’s a very ordinary story. Bill was moved to a nursing home when Vivian was perfectly willing to take care of him at home. The system had told her she had no way to get help at home. With limited means and in no physical condition to manage the demands of care on her own, what else was she to do?

Bill’s story lit my fire for elder law. It made me want to devote my life to helping families navigate the system so they could avoid the fate that befalls so many elders. Later on, when Vivian was diagnosed with kidney cancer, I was determined to give her story a different ending. Fortunately, we were able to avoid the nursing home and Vivian lived with me and Jamie for eleven years before her death.

Before Bill and Vivian Wallace, I was just another Indian kid who came to America to seek out his fortune. Bill’s tragic situation opened my eyes to a reality I didn’t anticipate in a place I didn’t expect to confront it: the richest country in the world. What happened to Bill, and what happens to millions of middle-class Americans just like him, was a reality I couldn’t unsee. It was a reality no one was talking about.

It was never my intention to go to battle. This battle found me. So, I started fighting, first for Bill Wallace and then for every frail, sick, and frightened person who came to my elder law firm for help. In the process, I discovered the ridiculousness of a broken system that fails families at every turn. Why were so many people ending up like Bill Wallace? Why didn’t anyone seem to notice…or care? How could I make things better for them? I have dedicated my life to answering these questions.

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

Two stories stand out. The first involves learning the inside story of the highly publicized family conflicts surrounding the long-term illness of American Top 40 host Casey Kasem. His family had everything — love, money, and a team of professionals advising them — yet everything fell apart when he got sick. The family never recovered from the disputes about his care. The second involves one of my clients, Louise Smith, a single woman of moderate means who wanted to avoid the nursing home. Thanks to the LifePlan I created for her, she was able to draw her last breath at home, just as she wanted to.

Can you share a story with us about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson or take-away did you learn from that?

Early in my career, I got a call from the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services. Thinking it was a pre-hearing meeting about a client case, I discussed the case with them. Little did I know that this conversation was a “fair hearing” with a judge. The Department was going through the motions to deny my client’s claim. Fortunately, I was able to have the decision reversed because I was not notified that this was the hearing, not a pre-hearing meeting. I learned an important lesson that day. Never take the opposition to be friends. They will always have an agenda. I also learned the importance of being clear about my goals.

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 owe a deep debt of gratitude to two elder law attorneys: Preston Johnson in Washington State and Tim Takacs in Tennessee. Preston Johnson helped me get my start as an elder law attorney. He took me under his wing when I was in law school, taught me how to run an elder law practice, and introduced me to members of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the most influential group of elder law attorneys in the country. Tim Takacs helped me take my elder law practice in a direction more aligned with my goals. Tim introduced me to the possibility that an elder law firm could do more than just handle legal documents and Medicaid qualifications. An elder law firm could employ social workers, registered nurses, and other professionals capable of delivering the care management services families so desperately needed. Tim taught me how to implement this practice model in my own firm and I will be forever grateful to him for his insight.

What advice would you suggest to your colleagues in your industry to thrive and avoid burnout?

Be passionate about your work. If you are not passionate, find something different to do. If you live your passion, it will NOT be work, nor will it lead to burnout.

What advice would you give to other leaders about how to create a fantastic work culture?

Hire team players who are just as passionate about your mission as you are.

Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s move to the main focus of our interview. Retirement is a dramatic ‘life course transition’ that can impact nearly every aspect of one’s life. Obviously, everyone’s experience is different. But in your experience, what are the 5 most common things that people wish someone told them before they retired?

  1. The initial thrill of having unlimited time to do anything you want won’t last forever. You need to find a new purpose for your life and new activities to fill your time.
  2. Aging is a family affair. Leaving your family out of your retirement plans makes it more likely that your loved ones will fight about your care when your health fails.
  3. There is no such thing as an absolute “right” or “wrong” way to plan for life in retirement. Just as every person is unique, every retirement is unique.
  4. The advice you get from professionals may not always support the goals you have for your retirement years. Don’t ever forget that.
  5. You will likely live more years in retirement than you ever imagined.

Let’s zoom in on this a bit. If you had to advise your loved ones about the 3 most important financial issues to keep in mind before they retire, what would you say? Can you give an example or share a story?

  1. Prepare a financial dashboard well before you retire. Don’t wait until you’re already retired. Creating the financial dashboard before you retire gives you the insight you need to be confident in your answers to question like these: When should I retire? When should I start drawing Social Security? How long will my money last? How much money can I afford to give to my kids? A financial dashboard can also help you decide whether buying a long-term care insurance policy is the right move and, if it is, what type of policy to purchase.
  2. Money alone won’t keep you out of the nursing home. It’s important to have a healthy nest egg, but it’s not more important than having a plan in place for your family to use your assets for your care when your health fails. If your goals for your retirement years include aging at home without running out of money and without recruiting family members into service as your unpaid caregivers, assets alone won’t accomplish that goal. My book, Your Retirement: Dream or Disaster? is filled with examples of wealthy people who ended up forced into institutional care because they didn’t think to create a roadmap for their family to follow to help them accomplish their goal to age at home.
  3. Plan for a longer lifespan than you expect. Most financial planners help their clients plan in a way that will make their money last to age 85, 90, or 95. When I work with clients, I help them create a plan that enables them to live to the age of 105 without running out of money. We know that we are unlikely to see our 105th birthday but think of this — if you’re one of the few who makes it to 105, what would happen if you planned for your money to last until age 90? However, if you plan to live to 105 and you end up dying at 90, your heirs get more. How bad could that be? A financial dashboard can help you find the sweet spot.

If you had to advise your loved ones about the 3 most important health issues to keep in mind before they retire, what would you say? Can you give an example or share a story?

  1. Learn how to access healthcare from a preventative point of view. Enrolling in Medicare, seeing your doctor a few times a year, and accessing healthcare when you get sick isn’t enough. If you are serious about avoiding the nursing home, the single most important thing you can do is to avoid falling ill. You do that by learning how to use the healthcare system to stay healthier longer and prevent illnesses, not just how to access care if you fall ill. In other words, you focus on prevention. Good health is your most valuable asset in retirement, and you must do all you can to protect it. In order to avoid getting sick, you must approach the preservation of your health as an integral part of your retirement plan.
  2. Carefully consider your options between Medigap plans and Medicare Advantage plans. For most of my clients, I will suggest the Traditional Medicare route with a Medigap plan and a prescription drug plan, as this will allow the broadest coverage available. Know in advance that these policies won’t include dental, vision, or hearing coverage, for which you could obtain coverage from outside the Medicare plan if you so desire. Though some Medicare Advantage plans offer dental, vision, and hearing benefits, the coverage is usually sparse. If you decide to choose a Medicare Advantage plan, know that in most states, Washington included, if you want to switch from a Medicare Advantage plan to a traditional Medicare plan, you may be denied because companies can ask for medical underwriting.
  3. Choose a geriatrician to be your primary care physician. Staying with the primary care doctor you’ve had for years may not be your best move if your goal is to age at home without going broke paying for care and without burdening your family. Working with a geriatrician can lower your risk of needing home care or home health services — and by extension your risk of needing to access care in a nursing home — by 40 percent. If a pediatrician is a good choice for a child under age 18, a geriatrician is an equally good choice for those over 70.

If you had to advise your loved ones about the 3 most important things to consider before choosing a place to live after they retire, what would you say? Can you give an example or share a story?

  1. If your plan for housing in retirement is to live at home until you can’t, you’ll probably end up in institutional care. Not having a plan for housing in retirement is often a one-way ticket to a nursing home after a health crisis. The goal is to avoid a forced relocation to an institutional care setting after your health fails. This starts by making housing decisions well before the health crisis. Then, if something happens and you need care, that care will come to you wherever you are living. You won’t need to be institutionalized to receive care. You will be able to accomplish all of this without going broke or recruiting your loved ones into service as your unpaid caregivers.
  2. Live close to your named healthcare agent. If you’re serious about aging in place, it is vitally important to live close to the people you name as agents in your Healthcare Power of Attorney. A dream home in Hawaii doesn’t do you much good when your children who are supposed to be your agents live in Germany. It is ideal to live within two to five miles of the people who will be supporting you and checking on you every day if you’re receiving care in the home. This greatly minimizes the burdens on your agents and increases the probability that you will be able to avoid institutional care.
  3. Avoiding institutional care takes more than just living in a one-story home. Your one-level home should be age friendly, which means it incorporates Universal Design principles such as no-step entries, switches and outlets reachable at any height, extra-wide hallways and doors to accommodate wheelchairs, lever-style door and faucet handles, and walk-in or sit-in showers. These features ensure that it is safe to remain in your home while you age. Unfortunately, it is estimated that less than four percent of homes in America are age friendly.

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 debunk the myth that retirement planning is about money. Planning for a successful retirement, the kind where you avoid the nursing home, avoid going broke, and avoid burdening your family, requires more than a large nest egg. It requires a detailed plan that coordinates health, housing, financial, and legal issues in retirement, a plan that also includes gaining the support and buy-in from family members about their roles in the process.

Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story?

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. Even before I became an attorney, I was fascinated with the story of the dying professor and his student who helped shepherd Morrie through his last days. Morrie’s optimism and Mitch’s dedication are the foundational elements of a life well lived — and a life that ends well.

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

Aging is a Family Affair. I’ve watched this maxim play out in my own life and in the lives of my clients. No one wants to be a burden to others. We all want to have the pride of knowing that we are independent and there to help others, not to receive help from others. But, in the end, for most of us, we would be well served by learning not only how to give, but how to receive gracefully. It’s just the nature of life.

What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?

Readers can follow me on Facebook @therajivnagaich and on LinkedIn and Twitter at @rajivnagaich.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!


Rajiv Nagaich Of AgingOptions: 5 Things Retirees Say They Wish They Were Told Before They Began… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Claire Hillau Of Le Barthelemy Hotel & Spa On 5 Ways To Create a Wow! Customer Experience

Transmit your vision. Sharing your vision brings people closer. Denise Dupré is a master at this — sharing her vision for the company so that everyone is on the same page and of the same mindset. It enables us to deliver service with passion. When this gets extended to our customers, it serves as glue that keeps us connected and allows them to believe fully in our intentions to do right by them and even do right by the environment.

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 Claire Hillau.

Claire Hillau, a 20-year hospitality veteran and regional director of sales and marketing at Le Barthelemy Hotel & Spa and Le Barth Villa Rental in Saint-Barthélemy. Prior to her current position, Claire’s played various roles at Pacifica Hotels in California, Relais & Châteaux Hotel Le Toiny in Saint-Barthélemy, and Hotel Taiwana, a luxury boutique hotel in the French West Indies. She attended Paul Augier University of Nice in France where she earned an Economic and Social and Bachelor’s degree in Hotel Management.

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 moved to Los Angeles as soon as I received my degree in hospitality management from Paul Augier, University in Nice, France. I was completely inexperienced but had a dream to work in the United States — and landing in LA felt like a great success. Thankfully, the man at The Pacifica Hotels Company who interviewed me and gave me my first break as a guest experience clerk.

After two years in LA, I moved back to France, but didn’t stay long. I quickly landed a new job at the Relais & Châteaux Hotel Le Toiny in Saint-Barthélemy as a reservations & reception assistant manager. Now, 20 years later, I am still working in hospitality on St. Barth.

Business development has always been my passion. I’ve always wanted to travel and have been compelled to promote the hotels I work for. While it wasn’t what they hired me for out of college, I kept seeking ways to build new business for the hotel in Los Angeles — I loved the challenge, and it eventually landed me a promotion to executive sales manager. I have been creating special offers, developing new projects, and making sales trips to meet travel agencies, industry partners, and the media ever since — only now I work with the finest hotel on the island, Le Barthélemy Hotel and Spa.

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 always been ambitious in my career, and for the hotels I worked for, and I’ve never felt limited by my job description. Seeing opportunity comes naturally to me — I am driven by it. The hotel I worked for was in a beautiful neighborhood of Marina del Rey, attracting actors from other states, but I believed we could generate more local business if we created more awareness and invited it. So, while business development was not one of my assignments, I quietly assumed the challenge of building new local business for the hotel.

My great idea was to bake homemade cookies at the hotel and deliver them to local businesses. I went door to door, introducing myself and the hotel, inviting them to consider us if they ever needed a place to stay. The plan was going seamlessly until I walked into a Golds Gym, bustling with physically fit men and women, with a batch of fresh baked cookies. They looked at me like I was crazy — but ironically, while they didn’t want my cookies, we received plenty of new business from the gym.

It taught me to treat everyone with respect and care and never judge a book by its cover. We never know who we may be speaking to — the person with the tousled hair may be the next most important person I meet. So, I treat people with the highest respect and deliver to the highest standards — and it feels right to 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?

For the 20 years I’ve spent in hospitality, I’ve been lucky to work with very inspiring leaders. At the start of my career, I worked with a general manager in LA, Ahmad Abdolvahabi, who had a huge impact on my confidence. He put so much trust in me, allowing me to do sales calls and account payables with him. By believing in me, he allowed me to see all that I could accomplish.

David Henderson, whom since founded and run a luxury hotel in Scotland and the general manager I worked with in Relais & Châteaux Le Toiny St. Barth, pushed me out of my comfort zone to take a senior sales and marketing role. It was a significant pivot-point in my career, and I will always be grateful for his encouragement that took me to the next step in my career.

Finally, Denise Dupré, the Founder and Managing Partner of Champagne Hospitality, the company behind Le Barthélemy and Le Barth Villa Rental, has been an outstanding mentor for me — meeting her was a stroke of good luck for my life and my career. I’ve known Denise for eight years and every day I have been inspired and empowered by her. She is a stellar example of a leader who funnels decisions through deeply-held and respectable values and errs on doing the right thing by her teams, guests, partners, properties — and their locations in St. Barth and in France — and she stands on the right side of big issues, like sustainability, female leadership, and access to education. She has taught me how to be a strategic female hospitality leader and continues to push me to think big and empowers me to take bigger risks to achieve bigger rewards. What impresses me day after day working with Denise and seeing her manage and inspire people, is how she genuinely embodies the values she defends and how she strives to be exemplary. An example is how she has woven sustainability into the fabric of our business and takes action on sustainability beyond the walls of our hotel. It’s impressive.

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?

Think about the brands that move you to love them — what they likely have in common is they offer quality products and/or services and provide exemplary customer service. And while many companies can pay lip service to providing great customer experiences, those that really do it and are truly committed to delighting their customers — have the power to build a loyal following of customers that are built on trust and the knowing that beyond any doubt they will consistently receive excellent products and services and their expectations will be satisfied. Customers don’t forget that kind of experience and it’s important for its impact on the business, but also for the positive impact it can have on the entire community, in the case of our hotel in St. Barth. We treat people with care and respect — and that has a ripple effect. When we provide top service to people, and they see the way we treat our environment, for example, they in turn pass great treatment to others and to the environment themselves. They learn more about where to pay their respects and that satisfaction reverberates beyond the walls of our business.

Clients will come back if you deliver exceptional services with love and passion. The philosophy of Le Barthélemy is to fully embrace human-centered and couture hospitality philosophy — which allows us to provide a remarkable personalized experience. We do this by paying attention to the details of our guests’ experience and by empowering every employee to do the same.

One of our guests accidentally toppled their perfume from the bathroom counter and the bottle shattered when it hit the ground. Before the guest returned to her room, our housekeeper went to the nearest boutique, empowered, and purchased a brand-new replacement. She left it with a lovely note for our guest in her room. Our housekeeper didn’t think twice about what to do, she was empowered to provide the best service she could imagine to our guest and our guest was delighted. We do whatever it takes to enhance and preserve these relationships which mean a lot to us and to our guests.

Can you talk a little, just for a moment, about what it’s like to be there, what the guest experience is?

Today luxury hotels are not about social status, wealth and exclusivity — there’s a much broader context that defines luxury which considers our guests’ sophisticated tastes about where they want to spend time and money, the experience of the hotel and destination, and its environmental responsibility, for example. It is becoming increasingly valued by guests to travel to luxurious places where osmosis with nature and awareness-building make sense. Our guest experience is designed to be personal, couture, and contribute to elevating the way someone thinks. We play a role in offering more responsible luxury.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach, but instead we focus on addressing the needs and interests of every guest personally. Most of them come from lovely homes of their own in New York, Los Angeles, or Paris with plenty of luxuries and services at their disposal. They come to Le Barthélemy, or to one of our villas, to receive the highest level of service and to disconnect and relax in luxury with their family and friends and have tailor-made experiences.

To take their experience beyond the level of what they get at home, we’ve turned our spa into a peaceful sanctuary and have designed a holistic well-being experience dedicated to helping guests reconnect with themselves through spa treatments, yoga classes and healthy meal options. We have introduced an innovative offering, a water-healing program that is unique on the island. It’s an example of the kind of experiences of what it’s like to be our guest and receive the kind of healing experiences that not only dazzle them but provide them with an unexpected novel approach to wellness. Finally, we work hard to utilize natural elements throughout the hotel and spa, to provide a healing experience, reduce energy consumption and preserve natural resources. For example, the water-healing experience that is offered by our spa is provided directly in our bay, into the ocean, and no other energy is used.

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?

Good service is a brand differentiator — and poor service can be truly detrimental for a company. Ignoring customers’ needs, for example puts companies at risk of losing current customers, but also potential customers through word of mouth and even frontline employees who have to manage negative interactions or are effected by the consequences of bad service.

I can’t believe any company sets out to deliver bad service, however, they may not adequately connect some of their practices and how they can equate to bad service. For example, hiring the wrong people hurts — and it’s not always about qualifications, relevant experience, and skills, but also about mindset and attitude and the desire to help people. When we interview a prospective employee, we look beyond their resume, assessing their character and how they will help us provide exceptional services to our clients. It’s something every business must consider.

In addition, employees who are not aligned with the company goals and expectations and equipped with the right tools and sense of empowerment to perform their jobs deliver subpar service. Strong values from leadership are essential — and ensuring everyone understands them and buys in is critical. Training and expressing goals and expectations to employees must be a regular practice. For example, employees at every level of our company know our Founder and Managing Partner Denise Dupré’s values and the level of service she expects us to extend to guests. We all share in that vision, celebrate it and live it. We have built an exceptional culture of rewarding service, collectively staying engaged, and stretching ourselves to do better each time we’re in contact with our guests.

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?

Good companies consistently strive to provide excellent services and experiences for their clients, regardless of their competition. They set their own high standards. Businesses must create their own standards and be motivated to continuously improve upon them, rather than only find motivation in beating someone else. That isn’t sustainable. The key is to set up a culture that sets up services as a top priority and makes it fun to deliver. Caring deeply about guests’ happiness and well-being as our greatest priority makes it easy to be introspective and consider additional ways we can improve our services.

Certainly, I am not suggesting that competition doesn’t matter — we hold onto industry leadership monikers with pride. It’s validating when we promote a new service or initiative on social media, and then see a competitor follow suit and offer the same thing. Healthy competition drives everyone to improve.

We strive to be the bar-setter and are constantly implementing new technology and thinking outside of the box to improve our clients’ experiences. We would do this with or without competition, I believe.

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

There are many ways we provide our guests “wow” experience at Le Barthélemy. Sustainability is something that we and our guests care deeply about — and the consistent effort is important in taking care of our St. Barth home. So, recently, we started giving guests a bigger opportunity to participate in our sustainability efforts.

The hotel is employing zero waste cooking efforts, emphasizing our commitment to take actions to preserve our environment. So, when the chef prepares fish, for example, he will reuse all the pieces for many different purposes. When he peels the vegetables, he will create juices with the peels. We decided to take this a step further and hold zero-waste cooking classes for our guests led by our chefs in the hotel’s restaurant, Amis St. Barths.

As a result, the benefits of our program get extended to guests’ cooking when they return home, and we can influence this sustainable, conscious behavior all over the world.

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

Many of the Wow experiences have long-term ripple effects — the zero waste cooking classes, but also many others.

Recently, we contributed the St Barthélemy beach for a UNICEF philanthropy event. While the event was certainly focused on supporting UNICEF and their effort to save and meaningfully improve the lives of the most vulnerable children globally. Guests experienced the elegance and care they always do when at St. Barthélemy. It was a wow experience with the best of everything and UNICEF was the beneficiary.

But our guests were also moved by their exposure to St Barth’s coral reef and the responsibility we have to the health of reefs everywhere. So on the coattails of the gala, we also gave a big donation to St. Barth’s Coral Reef Restoration Association and build awareness of the reefs among our guests. A portion of guests’ donations has yet been put into work to renew the nursery table where coral is grown six to nine months. They like to know they are putting their vacation money to good use, and we believe they will carry forward the message of need and continue supporting both UNICEF and the reefs on their own and pay it forward.

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. See the opportunity in every challenge
    Don’t be afraid to approach a challenge — like an unhappy client. Every challenge offers an opportunity to turn the situation around. It can be nerve-wracking, but there’s so much to learn in the discomfort of the challenge. In the case of a guest, we hand them a glass of champagne and tell them we’re here for them — and listen. We take every opportunity to demonstrate we care and immediately take action that build the trust and loyalty.
  2. Shoot for the moon. The more we can test our limits and capabilities, the more we can learn. Improve. The culture in our company is to regularly test our boundaries and get out of our comfort zone — that’s where great things can happen. We have a saying, “Shoot for the moon, you’ll end up in the stars.”
  3. Do what is in your customers’ best interest. When your customers feel important and valued because you have their best interests at heart, they want to do business with you repeatedly. Good intentions go a long way.
  4. Transmit your vision. Sharing your vision brings people closer. Denise Dupré is a master at this — sharing her vision for the company so that everyone is on the same page and of the same mindset. It enables us to deliver service with passion. When this gets extended to our customers, it serves as glue that keeps us connected and allows them to believe fully in our intentions to do right by them and even do right by the environment.
  5. Empower the Team — Empowerment is also part of our culture. In the hospitality philosophy, we do whatever it takes. It really means success is dependent on each of us and we are able to do what is needed to achieve the end results that we believe are possible. If one of our guests needs something, we always know we are empowered to deliver it.

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?

By creating an exceptional environment and completely customized experiences for our guests, with exquisite attention to every detail, we have an impact on our guests, and they associate their stays with us as extraordinary. Moments, instants, interactions, most are intangible and elusive, but they have an impact on how guests feel and what they remember and share with others.

Our strategy is oriented towards providing a positive impact on guests’ feelings and emotions, their sense of wellbeing through our experience, environment and service, but it can also be more something more concrete, like being part of replanting a coral reef or going to visit the fisherman with our chef. Every detail matters in creating a wow experience. The connection with our guests doesn’t end once they check out. After they leave Le Barthélemy, we may send them an email and flowers or a coffee table book to remind them they have a home away from home at our luxury hotel.

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 believe in a greener world. Our planet is beautiful, and we need to preserve the life that inhabits it. At Le Barthélemy, I started a green team, and we’re using our influence to preserve the coral reefs in the bay. It delights me to be making a difference for the environment. Not only do we aim to raise awareness of our teams and guests, but we also take action and keep enhancing our sustainability program.

One of the luxuries of our jobs is that we are able to take guests on a boat to see the coral reefs. The reefs are beautiful, and now, more than ever, we need to preserve their beauty. Luckily, we are in the position to push boundaries and we just launched a new Adopt a Coral movement. This is unique on St Barth. Guests can now adopt coral with a donation, give it a name, and replant it directly in our bay under the guidance of the Coral Restoration association on the island.

We are responsible for sharing what we know so that together we can all do something about it.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Readers can find me on LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/claire-hillau-1b931642

Visit Le Barthelemy Hotel & Spa on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lebarthelemy/?hl=en and www.instagram.com/lebarth_villas/?hl=fr

Or on our website: http://www.lebarthelemyhotel.com/en and www.lebarthvillas.com

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


Claire Hillau Of Le Barthelemy Hotel & Spa 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.

Sasha Berson Of Grow Law Firm On How to Effectively Leverage The Power of Digital Marketing, PPC, &…

Sasha Berson Of Grow Law Firm On How to Effectively Leverage The Power of Digital Marketing, PPC, & Email to Dramatically Increase Sales

A Love for What You Do: It goes without saying, but you’ve got to love what you do. If you don’t, you’re unlikely to become successful. Or worse yet, you might become successful but also miserable.

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 Sasha Berson.

Sasha is a Managing Partner at Grow Law Firm, a leading digital marketing agency focused solely on helping solo, small, and medium-sized law firms grow. He and his team have helped more than 2,000 firms double their revenue in three years or less. He is the co-author, with Steve Forbes, of the best-selling book, Successonomics and is a regular contributor to Forbes.com.

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 first business right out of college, a two-person lending company. Quickly, I learned that my finances, income, and future were enmeshed and dependent on how well our marketing vendor was performing. As such a small business, we couldn’t afford an in-house marketing team. And it was a learning experience, to say the least — an expensive one. We started with a website, and it was great. But we soon learned it wasn’t enough. How do we get people to our website? So next, we tried advertising with another vendor, but for our particular line of business, we soon discovered that we should have been focusing on outbound calls to reach potential clients. It was a continuous cycle of wasted time, energy, and money.

With that first business, we did it all. Through trial and a lot of error, we pushed through and expanded, turning it into a multi-billion-dollar wholesale lending operation. And when I sold my equity in the company, I knew what my next business would be. I would take all I learned to the small business sector, where in-house marketing is cost-prohibitive but directly tied to success. Later, we saw a need for our services in the legal sector and expanded into that vertical.

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?

To me, marketing mistakes aren’t funny. They’re expensive. Very expensive. Especially for small businesses. Never was this more apparent than when I started my first business and saw how hiring the wrong vendor impacted the bottom line for me–both personally and professionally. Not only did I lose money on an unsuccessful campaign, but also the opportunity and the potential business.

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 find my mentors in books. I’m always reading, always learning. My first mentor was Chet Holmes. His book, The Ultimate Sales Machine, which is also about marketing, gave me so many breakthroughs. Dan S. Kennedy is another. He’s written dozens of books, including Magnetic Marketing and The Ultimate Sales Letter. I’ve consumed all of them, along with his newsletters. I’ve also attended his seminars. He knows marketing like no other. He refers to himself as the professor of harsh reality, a truth-teller with no B.S. — the actual name of his book series. Whereas others in the space talk a lot of “mumbo jumbo” that doesn’t apply to smaller businesses with smaller budgets, he talks truthfully about the field with practical and applicable advice.

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

For me, a company doesn’t have to stand out to succeed. That’s the “mumbo jumbo” I was talking about before, just an idea the marketing industry successfully marketed itself on. For me, it’s never about being different, bigger, smaller, or nimbler. It’s about who’s going to give me the best advantage. So, when I am hiring any vendor, be it an attorney, a marketing company, a doctor, or a plumber, I’m looking for the one that will give me the best advantage.

Sure, when pitching new business, we talk about things like experience in the space, proven track record, and return on investment. But who doesn’t? It’s more of the same, not an advantage. However, the advantages any client will get from us are threefold — firepower, transparency, and accountability. Together they lead to faster results and a better customer service experience.

Firepower: As you know, all things digital marketing are extremely labor and time intensive. But we have the infrastructure in place to meet those demands. We have offices outside the U.S. that can deliver much more labor for a lower price than our competitors, producing better, faster results.

Transparency: We hold monthly meetings with our clients to review what we have done for the money they paid us. We also provide detailed action plans for the next thirty days. We talk about specific, measurable results attained — the number of qualified marketing leads delivered, open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and the average cost per lead. The data also lets us know what’s working and what’s not to make the necessary changes to improve results.

Accountability: You rate your Uber driver, doctor, and Airbnb rental. Why not your marketing firm? In our monthly meetings, we constantly ask for feedback for quality control. On a scale of one to 10, how would you rate our agency, our work, and the work we have delivered over the past 10, 30, 60 days? How would you rate our account managers? My performance? This allows us to catch any issues quickly and correct them before they snowball into more significant problems.

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?

A Commitment to Learning: Successful business leaders must be lifelong learners, open to studying new trends, new ideas, and new ways of doing business and putting those ideas into practice. I always have a stack of books in my office and home on everything to do with running a successful business, not just marketing, but operations, human resources, sales, and customer service.

Grit: As a leader, it’s been my ability to move forward through the headaches and pain that come with running a business that has led to my success. It’s challenging, and you’re always dealing with countless issues. Nothing is ever perfect. You catch a break here and there, but something else immediately comes up. At the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey, I didn’t understand this. Now I know it is just part of the job, whether you’re operating a law firm, a tiny one-person business, or a multinational one.

Empathy: And finally, you need compassion. Appreciation for not only your clients but your employees, management, and other stakeholders. Even with yourself, which I have a tough time with personally. Without it, you will experience a lot of unnecessary turnover — in customers and personnel.

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

I’m in the process of writing a book on how to manage, grow, and scale solo, small, and medium-sized law firms where there is a constant battle for time between legal and administrative duties. It will have practical and easy-to-implement advice and best practices on everything from developing successful business plans to creating budgets to managing client expectations. It will teach owners how to streamline processes to improve productivity and, of course, cover how to successfully market their firm’s legal services.

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.

One of the biggest mistakes I see is that most law firm owners focus on the cost of a PPC campaign rather than the ROI. They don’t budget enough money to be successful, and nothing fails as often or as consistently as cheap marketers. A successful campaign should generate a return of $4–7 for every dollar invested. For example, a $10,000/month campaign should generate $40,000–70,000 in cases. It may take some time to optimize performance, but it should happen. And if it doesn’t, don’t give up on the method. Replace the marketers.

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.

It’s all about the WHERE and the WHEN. Be WHERE your prospective clients are WHEN they are looking for your services. Seventy-eight percent of all prospective new clients look for a lawyer online. A law firm MUST be at the top of a Google or Bing search to attract those new clients. All marketing efforts, from PPC to SEO, and everything in between, must have that single goal in mind.

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?

For law firms, it’s all about Google Ads. As I referenced earlier, 78% of all prospective new clients look for a lawyer online. On top of that, 75% of people doing online searches never get past the first page. So, if a law firm doesn’t appear at or near the top of a search, they have next to zero chance of earning the business.

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

First, you need to know your audience and the specific services they are interested in. For example, if you are a divorce attorney, ensure your messaging and keywords drill deep into niches such as “uncontested” or “child custody and support.” For lawyers, the more specific, the more effective a campaign will be.

Next, we go back to the WHERE and WHEN. Be WHERE your prospective clients are WHEN they are looking for your services. Again, back to the data, which shows more than three-quarters of people search for a lawyer online. Simply stated, a law firm needs to be on that first page of a search, or they won’t get the business.

And finally, make sure the ad links to a powerful, dynamic landing page. As the saying goes, you only get one chance to make a good first impression–seven seconds to be exact. And unlike the typical landing page for most products and services, where many businesses benefit from quick purchasing decisions, picking a lawyer is a high-stakes undertaking. This prospective consumer considers things long and hard, with lots of research, before deciding. As such, the landing page should include elements to confer trust in services, including attorney biographies, testimonials, and awards, along with a simple call to action like filling out a contact form or scheduling an appointment.

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?

In the legal space, email marketing is a great way to follow up with prospective clients. Any successful campaign should always be:

Engaging: One of the most important things to consider when developing a successful campaign is the content you will provide. Will it offer helpful legal tips, give updates on recent cases, or share news about the firm? Whatever’s decided, it must be engaging. The content must meet the needs of your audience and connect to the issues they initially contacted you about.

Optimized for Phones:

Most people today use their phones as their primary email device, so ensuring your email outreach is optimized for mobile is essential. This means using a responsive email template that automatically adjusts to fit the device’s screen size, with clear and concise subject lines and calls to action. Take advantage of mobile-specific features like push notifications to ensure messages are seen.

Continuously Measured:

Always track your legal marketing campaign’s impact. Continuously measuring the data and the number of subscribers, open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates lets you assess how the campaign is performing and make the necessary changes to improve results.

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?

Every day there’s a shiny, new marketing tool to use, with promises of better results. But for me, it’s all about the tried and true — Google Analytics. For our area of expertise, it’s the most consistent and valuable tool we use.

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?

A Love for What You Do: It goes without saying, but you’ve got to love what you do. If you don’t, you’re unlikely to become successful. Or worse yet, you might become successful but also miserable.

Empathy: You’ve got to have compassion for your clients. This goes back to those early days running my first company when I quickly learned that my personal finances, income, and future were so tightly enmeshed and dependent on how well the business was doing, and more specifically, how our marketing vendor was performing. That’s why it’s essential to empathize with the people you work for. Remember, you’re helping them grow, become successful, meet their financial obligations, and support themselves and their families.

Business Acumen: As a marketer, you must focus on more than just the technical aspects of a campaign. You have to understand the broader scope of the business, the sector, and how it works.

A Commitment to Learning: The marketing space is constantly changing with new technology, platforms, algorithms, and ways to reach consumers. Successful marketers need to continually study and apply what they’ve learned. Messaging that worked and was accepted last week may no longer be the case. Setting aside 15 to 30 minutes daily dedicated to reading and expanding your knowledge on marketing and other topics, including general business and sales, is essential because they are all interconnected.

A Clear Definition of Success: Finally, you must understand what a successful career looks like to you. Is it making a certain amount of money? Building your own company? Becoming the CMO of a large firm? Whatever it is, know what success is to you, and then make a plan to get there. Study what others have done, and don’t be afraid to reach out for advice. Although you can’t step into the same water twice, you can still learn from the clues that other successful people leave behind.

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

Everything and anything by Chet Holmes and Dan S. Kennedy.

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 me, it’s all about education, but more so on having access to learning the softer skills for living a successful, productive life which, I believe, so many people are missing today. I’d like to see courses offered in high school on executive functioning to teach students how to set career goals and develop plans to achieve them, along with others on voter education and the basics of becoming a responsible citizen. Parenting classes would be valuable too, specifically on what to consider before taking on such a life-changing event. More research goes into buying a new house or car than bringing another human into the world. Parenting is hard. And most people go into it with little thought, believing they will figure it out as they go along. Unfortunately, many don’t. Not only do the kids suffer but society too.

How can our readers further follow your work?

I’d love to stay connected and hear from your readers. Please visit our website or connect with me on LinkedIn or email at [email protected]. You can also follow us on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.

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


Sasha Berson Of Grow Law Firm On How to Effectively Leverage The Power of Digital Marketing, PPC, &… 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: Charissa Castillo On The Future Of The VR, AR & Mixed Reality Industries

Technology is constantly evolving. I’ve learned to embrace continuously learning, and staying updated with the latest technologies and trends. Adapting to change and being open to new ideas is instrumental to staying ahead of the game.

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

Charissa Castillo Co-Founder of The Da Vinci Eye Apps.

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 and raised in Manila, Philippines, and I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have an amazing brother and supportive parents. My mom is a nurse, while my dad successfully ran a water distillation business. Growing up, I had two career paths in mind: dermatology and advertising. They were completely different, but I was always more drawn to the creative nature of advertising. I loved watching fun and captivating TV commercials and even recorded some of my favorites on my VHS tape recorder.

When I turned 20, my family made a life-changing decision to move to New York City. It was scary at first, but it turned out to be a very fulfilling and adventurous experience beyond my imagination. I was able to transfer to a new school right away and continue my undergrad education,making lifelong friends from all over the world along the way. While finishing my studies, I landed a part-time marketing position at an Austrian-based advertising trade magazine. Then two years later, I obtained my bachelor’s degree in Marketing.

Unfortunately, I graduated during the peak of the great recession, and job opportunities in the advertising industry were pretty scarce. I interviewed with ad agencies and marketing firms without much success. So, I decided to explore other avenues and sought any promising full-time opportunity that came my way. One fine day, I interviewed with an event entertainment company based in midtown Manhattan and instantly hit it off with the owner. It was a small company, and I would be responsible for running most aspects of the business. It was nerve-wracking, considering my limited experience, but with my willingness to learn and my boss’s exceptional level of patience and understanding, I gained invaluable knowledge about self-sufficiency, relentless tenacity, and the resourcefulness required in a small team serving demanding clients in a competitive city. However, the world of private events was also extremely fun and it allowed much room for creativity which I loved. I ended up staying with the company for over 10 years, and it became a formative period in my professional life.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, it was truly one of the most challenging times both personally and professionally. Obviously events were being canceled or postponed left and right, and just like many others, I was furloughed. The uncertainty never seemed to end, and every time it looked hopeful, a new wave or strain surfaced and prompted further lockdowns. Meanwhile, my significant other and current fiancé, who was also furloughed, experienced unexpected success after relaunching his AR drawing app called Da Vinci Eye, which he had originally created a few years back in 2016. By December, the app was thriving, and he asked me to be part of this journey to work on it full time together. I knew I was taking a big risk, but to this day I can confidently say that it was the best decision I’ve ever made.

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 come across many impactful books, but one particular title that holds a special place in my heart is “The Invention of Wings’’ by Sue Monk Kidd. It’s a few years old, but I’ve re-read it a number of times and it never fails to inspire me. At its core, it is a story about empowering women to change the world. I also love how it has a huge focus on compassion, and highlights how kindness and perseverance can go hand in hand when accomplishing amazing things together.

The best part is that it’s actually a fictionalized account of 2 sisters from South Carolina who were key figures in the abolitionist movement and early leaders in the fight for women’s rights!

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

I actually did not plan to pursue a career in the Augmented Reality industry. This path opened itself up to me during my darkest hour and I will always be grateful for that.

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

There have been so many memorable experiences that it’s truly difficult to pick just one. Each day brings a new story or a cool new discovery. One recent standout was the realization of how our apps have become a tool for decorating ceramics, specifically in Brazil, showcasing its accessibility and versatility. And just a few weeks prior, we learned that our apps were being utilized for commissioned projects for a prominent event in the US. It’s crazy to see how people find ways to use the app and we’re always blown away by it.

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 not quite sure if this is the funniest mistake I made, but it’s certainly one that I still constantly laugh about. I had been trying to create captivating content for our social media accounts for months, and one day I thought that it would be fun to show us using the app to draw the “Inspiration Photo of the Day”, which was a cat looking off at a distance, then showing a montage of all the other drawings our users have already created of the same photo. I synced it to the music, added transitions, and made sure the pacing was quick. Then suddenly it became our first reel that got over 20k views in one day! I was so proud of myself until one person commented, “um, totally different cat?”
As it turned out, the cat in the photo and the cat in the drawings were two totally different cats! The photos were very similar but the major giveaway was that each cat was looking in completely different directions. I find myself randomly remembering this and laughing until today.

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 owe a lot to the people who have had a big impact on my life, but it’s my mom who has been the biggest driving force behind where I am today. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t even be here in the US, living a completely different life with a whole different career path. My mom is the hardest working person I know. Her work ethic is unparalleled, and her determination knows no bounds. Witnessing her relentless drive, especially from a young age, has truly paved the way for my own accomplishments.

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

We’re always working on new projects, finding ways to make technology more accessible for people who love creating physical art. It’s definitely an underserved market, with most technological advances catering to digital art and now AI art. We’ve always recognized this gap and are excited to carve our own path by creating modern digital tools geared towards creating traditional physical art.

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. It’s mind-blowing how VR can transport you to different worlds. Imagine strapping on a VR headset and suddenly finding yourself exploring ancient Greece. I also think it would be super helpful as an educational tool or for people who want to travel and see the world but may not have the means to do it. I mean, I would personally enjoy being instantly transported to a terrace overlooking the Amalfi coast any day!

2. In its truest form, AR takes the real world and adds a layer of digital goodness. I am particularly excited for the advancements of AR in fashion. Imagine wearing AR glasses that let you try on clothes virtually before buying or see how your existing wardrobe would look on you (just like Cher’s virtual closet in the movie Clueless!). The current application of AR in home furniture shopping is already impressive, where you can visualize how a piece would fit in your space before buying it. However, I believe there is so much more potential for growth and it can only get better from here!

3. There are also a lot of promising applications of AR in the medical field. In fact, a study was already published in a peer-reviewed journal last year which utilized our flagship app, Da Vinci Eye, as part of their research in the use of AR as a tool in plastic surgery. This is definitely something we’ve never envisioned the app being used for but it’s certainly fascinating to hear about. There are endless possibilities especially with the continuous evolution and improvement of technology.

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?

1. Accessibility remains a significant concern. The high costs and technical requirements make these technologies inaccessible to many individuals.

2. Ethical guidelines and regulations need to be enforced. As these technologies become more immersive, there is always a risk of misuse. Implementing ethical standards and regulations should be made a priority like safeguarding data privacy, managing content moderation, and ensuring responsible use in sensitive domains like healthcare and education.

3. There is a clear need for raising awareness regarding the capabilities and potential of VR, AR, and MR technologies. It is pretty common for individuals to possess limited knowledge or misconceptions about these technologies, which can impede their acceptance and widespread adoption. Educating the public about the benefits and possibilities of these technologies should help overcome these barriers.

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?

These technologies offer valuable applications at work. For instance, they excel in providing immersive and controlled training simulations.
Additionally, AR facilitates real-time information overlay, which can enable remote experts to guide and support colleagues or customers effectively.

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

It can definitely be used to make a positive impact on our mental health and general well-being. VR, AR and MR can create immersive therapeutic experiences and relaxation applications that can be life-changing. The best part is that these technologies are becoming more accessible to everyone, which would be a significant resource for a lot of people who may struggle to get help.

Let’s zoom out a bit and talk in broader terms. Are you currently satisfied with the status quo regarding women in STEM? If not, what specific changes do you think are needed to change the status quo?

I feel like there’s still a long way to go when it comes to women in STEM. We’ve definitely made some strides, but there’s still a significant gap that needs to be tackled. It’s important to keep encouraging and supporting girls from an early age, giving them access to the same resources, mentorship programs, and educational opportunities as their male counterparts. We should also continue our efforts in eliminating gender bias and discrimination when it comes to hiring and promoting women, especially in STEM fields. And let’s not forget the power of representation — we need to keep amplifying the achievements of women in STEM, share their stories in the media, and celebrate their contributions.

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

One misconception about working in this industry is that it requires you to be extremely tech savvy or to have extensive coding skills. In reality, some of the most time consuming aspects fall on non-technical roles. For instance, marketing is a huge part of our business. Getting the word out on our apps and making sure it’s communicated effectively and efficiently to the right people is a crucial part of our overall strategy and actually takes up the bulk of our time as a 2-person team.

What are your “5 Leadership Lessons I Learned From My Experience as a Woman in Tech” and why?

  1. Being an immigrant AAPI woman in the tech industry has taught me the value of embracing my unique perspective. I’ve learned to appreciate the importance and advantages of bringing my cultural background and diverse experiences to the table.
  2. Another important lesson I’ve learned is the significance of confidence. Self-doubt is notoriously noticeable and people can see right through that. Believe in yourself, your achievements, and your skills, and other people will, too.
  3. Technology is constantly evolving. I’ve learned to embrace continuously learning, and staying updated with the latest technologies and trends. Adapting to change and being open to new ideas is instrumental to staying ahead of the game.
  4. Creating an inclusive culture that appreciates and values the diverse contributions of individuals is incredibly essential. It not only drives innovation but also empowers everyone to thrive in the industry.
  5. Collaboration is key. Building strong collaborative relationships with our user base allows us to tap into a wealth of ideas. It has taken our products to a different level because our users give us the best insights we otherwise would have never taken into consideration. Also, creating a user environment where everyone feels like they are valued has been one of our most notable keys to success. We always talk to our users who reach out to us and we make them feel like we are all friends!

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 had the opportunity to inspire a movement that could bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, it would be a movement focused on promoting empathy and kindness. Especially in a world where social media dominates our day-to-day lives, it’s not hard to see how many people lose sight of the effect of their actions. Just go to any comment thread on any viral post, and you will always find arguments and unnecessarily mean comments geared towards total strangers. I believe that by fostering a culture of empathy, we can create a world where people genuinely care for and understand one another. It would be absolutely wonderful if we could encourage acts of kindness, compassion, and understanding towards all individuals, regardless of their background or circumstances.

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,

Although she is no longer around, I would absolutely love to have breakfast with the late Princess Diana. As a leader, she was not only intelligent and strategic, but she also led with her heart. She was given a mold that she did not want to fit into so she carved her own. She embodied strength but also compassion and this allowed her to connect with people on a much deeper level.

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


Makers of The Metaverse: Charissa Castillo On The Future Of The VR, AR & Mixed Reality Industries was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Meet The Disruptors: Nick Steward Of GALLIVANT On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your…

Meet The Disruptors: Nick Steward Of GALLIVANT On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

Be an original. Don’t follow the trends, don’t go along with what everyone else is saying is the next big thing. ‘Make your own kind of music’ is my daily mantra. There’s always a counter-culture, so don’t be afraid to be different.

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

As the founder of slow perfume brand, GALLIVANT , Nick Steward proves he is not only an original, inspired alchemist, but also a bona fide leader of the “perfume resistance”.

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 studied Arabic at university, so certainly have an atypical, outsider’s background for perfumery — but was lucky enough to fall into it, almost by fluke (the beauty of chance meetings!) — and have never looked back. I consider myself blessed to be in an industry with clever, curious, creative people.

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

The dominant business and entrepreneurial culture of our era is ‘move fast and break things’ so I consider that I’m swimming against the grain, swimming in my own lane; as my craft is about going slowly and respecting what’s come before me, respecting above all the materials and then the techniques honed and perfected over the years. The decision to go slow and steady under our own steam, that definitely feels very disruptive today, going against the big BS machine, and their ‘start-up’ ethos of raising investment, launching something (doesn’t really matter what) and cashing out quickly as quickly as 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?

One lesson for any entrepreneur : make your mistakes on someone else’s dime — isn’t that what they say ? years ago I did a perfume inspired by the metallic heat and adrenaline of a roller-coaster ride. Very conceptual and avant-garde, but it was not a commercial success, so that taught me that perfume needs to be spark joy, it should be a pleasure to wear.

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?

Before I went out on my own and started GALLIVANT, I worked for L’Artisan Parfumeur, the original ‘niche’ fragrance house in Paris and had two great mentors: the famous Master Perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour, who taught me to focus on your own creativity, ignore the ambient noise, the trends and everything else going on around you, and my boss Sarah ( now the CEO of CREED ), from whom I learnt that the important thing is to keep moving forward and trust your own instincts.

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 a positive when we’re talking about genuine innovation — but that comes along very rarely in any industry. And possibly we need to wait years before we can judge whether something is having a good or bad impact. Perhaps we need to be a little less ready to buy into whatever the hype machine is selling us ?

Certainly less positive is when Big Corporations use this ‘disruptive’ discourse, and their considerable resources and financial muscle to destroy smaller independent businesses, destroying and displacing other people’s livelihoods ( people who earn considerably less than those clever investment bankers) in order to maximise their own return on investment.

Can you please share 5 ideas one needs to shake up their industry? If you can, please share a story or an example for each.

1 . Be an original. Don’t follow the trends, don’t go along with what everyone else is saying is the next big thing. ‘Make your own kind of music’ is my daily mantra. There’s always a counter-culture, so don’t be afraid to be different.

2 . Be thoughtful and considered. Again, so much of ‘start-up culture’ tells us to ‘break things, go fast’ — can we slow down and build something better, with a respect for what has been done before we came along? that would feel genuinely disruptive in business at the moment.

3 . Build something authentic from the bottom-up. I’m so bored of reading about these overnight success stories. WeWorkeconomics, zombie businesses bloated on debt. That’s a narrative which badly needs to be disrupted.

4 . Keep it human and personal. So many of the ‘entrepreneur’ stories we hear about are all about technology, big data and scaling up, fast. It feels very disruptive to me to be building a human-scale product business from the ground up. I know my customers by name. As we’re all overwhelmed by Tech, AI, automation, it feels counter-cultural to be doing something so human, so analogue, physical manufacturing, on a boutique scale.

5 . Make something of quality, something timeless. Again, it feels disruptive now to set out to make something beautiful which will last, stand the test of time. So much of what I see is just fast consumption, an attempt to monetise everything as quickly as possible and move on, ignoring the consequences of what’s left in its wake — I’m not sure that’s good for any of us, never mind for our planet.

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

I have new perfumes in the works, but it takes us between two and four years to design and manufacture. Slow perfume indeed — but maybe that explains all the various awards we’ve won ! and I’m also working on perfumed products for the home.

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’s a brilliant perfume podcast I listen to, La Parfumerie, sadly only available in French. Those guys are the real rebels — they call out the bullshit of the perfume industry. A reminder that what perfume lovers are looking for is beauty and authenticity. Promoting a true perfume culture — not just following the PR-fed hype train. Honest perfumery, not in thrall to the business plan money-making schemes.

I don’t read business books, I find them boringly hubristic — but one book I go back to read is Vasily Grossman’s epic Life & Fate, which illustrates the strength of the human spirit to me. Being an entrepreneur demands perseverance and resilience.

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

From Shakespeare: “Truth needs no colour; beauty, no pencil.

Keep it simple, and create something honest, that will prevail.

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 turning off social media would be a good place to start. On balance, are we sure it’s adding to the sum of human knowledge, human happiness ? That would certainly be a disruptive moment !

How can our readers follow you online?

WEB: https://www.gallivant-perfumes.com

IG: https://www.instagram.com/gallivant.stories/ @GALLIVANT.STORIES

FB: https://www.facebook.com/gallivant.stories

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


Meet The Disruptors: Nick Steward Of GALLIVANT 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.

Estelle Cockcroft Of Catamaran Guru On 5 Ways To Create a Wow! Customer Experience

Stick to your word and never obfuscate the truth, even if it is hard to do. Customers might be unhappy about bad news at that time, but they will appreciate your honesty.

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 Estelle Cockcroft.

Estelle Cockcroft is one of the foremost experts on large catamaran sailing, living, buying, and selling in the world. She has traveled more than 70,000 nautical miles of remote waterways, explored 45 incredible countries, and, as Catamaran Guru Co-Founder, Co-Owner, and President, brokers dozens of catamaran transactions each year and manages the company’s $40M+ annual revenue. Estelle shares her passion for sailing through her blog on the Catamaran Guru website and as a qualified Royal Yachting Association captain and American Sailing Association instructor.

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?

Stephen and I left Cape Town in 1992 on our 45ft monohull called Royal Salute on a sabbatical for two years. He was in the trucking industry and I was a fashion designer by trade. It was always Stephen’s dream to sail around the world in a 45ft boat. Our intent was to leave for two years to explore the oceans and return to our home and careers in Cape Town. Seven boats and 30+ years later, we are still living onboard and have sailed several oceans and around 70,000 NM or possibly more. We stopped counting a long time ago.

As early as 1992 when we first sailed on a friend’s Shuttleworth design catamaran in the Indian Ocean we realized the potential of these vessels. Cats were overbuilt and heavy with very low bridgedeck clearance in those days and slammed like crazy in any type of waves. So, while this was not the most pleasant experience, we knew that this was the future of sailing.

We could not afford a catamaran at the time, and we were still skeptical about their seaworthiness, but we followed the progress of catamaran design until finally we were able to buy our own and, in the process, buy ownership in a catamaran factory in Cape Town, South Africa in 2004. Stephen, his close friend Derek and a team of shipwrights built our first monohull, so Stephen had intimate knowledge of boat building which was a great foundation for our venture. We managed to sell 30+ Island Spirit Catamarans, designed by Phil Southwell, in the USA and it was a beloved brand. It was never our intent to be “salespeople” of cats but few people were knowledgeable about cats and we gradually went from advisors to owning several different brands of catamarans to selling cats.

The French catamaran brands like Catana, Privilege, Lagoon etc. were technologically more advanced and had a more stable industry so we moved on to sell catamarans manufactured in Europe. We also have owned and operated charter catamaran fleets in the Caribbean and have probably made every mistake possible in this industry. Which is probably why we are “well qualified” to help and guide buyers and sailors of catamarans.

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?

This might not be the funniest mistake, but it was a high value mistake that Stephen managed to “fix” with a bit of humor. Our customer, Roy requested information about a Lagoon 620 sailboat. Stephen by mistake sent him a brochure and specifications on a Lagoon 630 Powercat. Roy called up and told Stephen that this was not the boat he was asking about because there was no mast and questioned whether Stephen had any knowledge of this Lagoon product. It was rather embarrassing, but Stephen rolled with it and told him tongue in cheek that the mast is “extra”. They ended up chatting about the virtues of a powercat for his application, and they weighed the two options. Roy warmed up to the idea of a powercat, something that was never on his radar before. The upshot was that Roy flew to France with us to the factory and bought a Lagoon 630 without a mast (powercat), loved it and we became very good friends. The lesson: We all make mistakes. Admit the blunder, make light of it if you can and move on. Mistakes can take you in all kinds of directions and in this case, it was a blessing. The customer got exactly what he wanted and had an exceptional experience while he owned the boat.

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 we first started Catamaran Guru, we were fairly new in the country and armed with only our knowledge and a vision. We wanted to become the best “help” and authority website for catamaran sailors. We had very little money, but we knew that what we had was valuable because so little was known about catamarans at the time. Not only that, but we were also one of the most sought-after sailing instructors in the Caribbean because our customer satisfaction was superior, and we sold many boats to our “students”. A customer turned friend, Ian Grant Smith, recognized that and encouraged us to start the Catamaran Guru website so that if people wanted to find out more about us, they could go there to research us and learn about catamarans. We had no idea what that even meant at the time because we knew very little about technology and even less about social media. But Ian, being a technology and financial whizz, encouraged us to build our brand and embrace technology. It was the best thing we could have ever done! We are currently building another technology-based company with Ian’s guidance that will change the landscape of our industry. We are excited about this development and will launch the product soon.

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?

In today’s competitive market, products and services can often be similar. A business, therefore, has to deliver outstanding customer experiences to stand out. Exceptional service can become a unique selling point and help build a positive brand image.

By providing exceptional customer experiences, a business can generate word-of-mouth referrals that will attract new customers without significant marketing expenses. We all know that word-of-mouth marketing is very powerful. Happy customers will share their positive experiences with others and can significantly impact a business’s reputation and growth.

Retaining existing customers is more cost-effective than acquiring new ones, and satisfied customers are more likely to remain loyal and recommend a business to others. They become your strongest and most loyal brand advocates, which is crucial for sustainable growth.

For example, customers who attend our sailing schools when they first start out on their sailing journey to boat ownership receive an exceptional learning experience. Their experience during the weeklong liveaboard sail training fosters trust and confidence in these brand-new sailors. This sets them up for a lifetime of enjoyable onboard experiences, and they trust in our ability to teach them valuable lessons for becoming confident and safe sailors. Once that level of trust is established, they will always come back to us on their journey to becoming boat owners themselves. We know our products extremely well, and we guide the customer to make good decisions. We often become their brokers to buy the first boat, and when they are ready to sell their boat and buy another one, they come back to us to sell that boat and help them with the next one if they so choose. Some customers want to do expensive upgrades to their boats and, once again, they are confident in the knowledge that we will advise them properly.

The first and ongoing good experiences of the customer are crucial in fostering this loyalty.

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?

Often companies have an inadequate knowledge and understanding of their customer’s needs. It is tough to deliver a good experience if you don’t know what your customer needs, what the pain points are and how to deal with them. Management must instil a customer-centric culture with employees and be trained to prioritize the customer.

Our motto is: “We are the Can-Do” company. We can help our customer achieve the outcome that he/she desires. We guide them and give them the tools to make good and educated decisions about boat ownership.

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?

Yes, more competition generally helps force companies to improve the customer experience. Competition drives companies to innovate and find new ways to attract and retain customers. They invest in improving product quality, customer service and overall satisfaction. Companies that embrace technology to enhance the customer experience often gain a competitive edge.

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

One of our customers got a devastating cancer diagnoses shortly after he signed a contract and paid his 20% non-refundable deposit for a $700k boat. He told us about it and let us know that he would not be able to close on the boat. He knew that he would lose his deposit. It was a devastating thing to witness, and just on a human level, we could not see him and his family deal with his illness AND lose his deposit, which was substantial. We managed to find another buyer for his boat, with a small discount as an incentive, to buy this boat, and Peter was made whole again. We lost a sale obviously because we could have sold a second boat to the new customer, but it felt good to help someone in need.

We forgot about that and delivered the boat to the new owner a few months later. He loved the boat and sent us a note to express his satisfaction of the whole process. He then asked if we would pass a note to the previous owner that “he would love for him to use the boat for a vacation any time he liked in the British Virgin Islands for free”. In his words, “I was blown away that you returned Peter’s deposit to him and not imposing a penalty”. He received a discount as an incentive to buy the boat sooner than he wanted to, but it really worked out for him, and he wanted to pay it forward.

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

Yes, both families are strong advocates for our company. But more than that, we feel that we did the right thing. It is not always all about business. The business has a human face, and we must be mindful of that. A small kindness can make a big impact on someone’s life, and it makes us all better people and business owners.

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. A wow customer experience is when service goes beyond simply doing the basic and necessary customer care. Our company culture is: “We are the Can-Do company”. We always endeavor to deliver a quality product, quality service and build quality relationships before, during and after the sale. We strive to exceed customer expectations. Success will follow.
  2. Know your customer and treat them well. They want to be known, understood and remembered. Stephen always says: “hold your customer in the palm of your hand”. Seemingly insignificant gestures that may not cost much or take much time, will leave a meaningful impression.
  3. Make it easy for the customer to buy your product. Streamline the process, respond quickly, know your product, offer solutions to problems and answer the phone!
  4. Stick to your word and never obfuscate the truth, even if it is hard to do. Customers might be unhappy about bad news at that time, but they will appreciate your honesty.
  5. We live and breathe the lifestyle that everyone who buys a boat from us wants, so we are believable, and our product knowledge is exceptional because of that. We don’t just sell this lifestyle; we live it and that goes a long way towards guiding and educating our customers to believe that they, too, can do this.

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?

Educate your customer and manage expectations. Our philosophy is to be absolutely honest with every customer. Some people are just not meant to own a boat and we have to be host enough to tell them that. We constantly tell all our employees “it is often easy to do the wrong thing. It’s very hard to do the right thing”.

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. 🙂

If we had superpowers and could change anything, we would clean up the oceans with the wave of our wand. Since that is not possible, we always try to advocate for sailors to leave the anchorages better than they found them, and to be honest, most sailors are very careful about what they leave behind and not to damage the coral reefs.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

www.facebook.com/catamaranguru

www.instagram.com/catamaranguru

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


Estelle Cockcroft Of Catamaran Guru 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.

Meet The Disruptors: Colin Johnson On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

Have a willingness to shed legacy structures. Consider Uber which completely reimagined ridesharing.

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

Freeport offers shares backed by fine artworks in the form of security tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. It is the first company of its kind to complete a Regulation A review with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a crowd-ownership blockchain platform for investment grade art. The platform is a major disrupter in the art industry — by offering fractional investing options backed by high value assets, fine art is now accessible to the masses. Colin Johnson is the CEO and Co-founder of Freeport.

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

The art world is mature, established, and slow to change. The crypto world is the exact opposite. We’re looking to utilize new technologies — in a legally compliant way, with SEC qualification — to bring a new generation of collectors into the art world. At its core, fractionalization offers the opportunity for people to come together and own a piece of something that has been historically targeted to a specific group. That, in and of itself, is game changing. Taking it even one step further, to represent the value on blockchain opens up new methods of bringing communities together around their shared ownership. It’s a whole new ball game.

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?

Some would consider this funny, others, mightily painful. About 14 months ago we set out to raise a certain amount; we almost doubled it within a week and then stopped raising on the assumption we would just do so later. Then, to the surprise of many, the bottom fell out from the market entirely. We could have probably raised 4–5x what we originally did without much effort.

It’s been useful to train our muscles to err on the side of caution, but the lesson is clear — always take advantage of potential funding during strong markets, and always prepare for the downturn.

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’ve been incredibly lucky to have my brother, Jeremy, as one of my key advisors. He is ambitious, he dropped out of Princeton to start his own companies — one of which went public — and is absolutely fearless in the face of adversity. He taught me that you’ve never lose so long as you never quit, that you have to roll with the tide of the market, and that there’s no better time to start a company than right now (he convinced me to leave Apple in so doing). We’ve also had incredible support from our two early investors and advisors in the art world — Michael Haber and Jane Holzer.

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 — in the positive sense — occurs when a group of people decide to take definitive action on some sort of inefficiency or corruption in a system; or when they create a product that’s so much more valuable than what previously existed that the last iteration almost feels like corruption. In these cases, disruption moves humans forward to make us more efficient as a species.

But then there are scenarios where disruption can be catastrophic. Facebook and Twitter disrupted legacy channels of communication, allowing everyone to access a megaphone. I think we’re learning that — while freedom of speech is important — perhaps not everyone should have a megaphone. That disruption was lionized for many years, but the long tail impacts are now starting to be revealed.

Can you please share 5 ideas one needs to shake up their industry? If you can, please share a story or an example for each.

You need to do a few things to shake up an industry:

  1. Have a willingness to shed legacy structures. Consider Uber which completely reimagined ridesharing.
  2. Always use first principles thinking. Consider SpaceX, which decided that reusable rockets were necessary to drive costs down.
  3. Ignore the heat from those who disagree. Consider OpenAI, which most thought would have a hard time making a breakthrough by focusing on LLMs.
  4. Clearly paint a vision that others want to follow. Consider Tesla, which made environmentalism sexy. Who wouldn’t want to work on that?
  5. Focus diligently on what the customer wants. Everyone needs feedback, but the only feedback that truly matters is from the customer.

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

More financial products that expand on the utility of our offerings, although we can’t share them quite yet. Stay tuned!

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?

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman and Zero to One by Peter Thiel. Kahneman reimagines the fundamentals of how humans think. When you realize that people effectively have two brains acting in unique ways, you can start to adapt your leadership style accordingly — and better understand how your customers will act. Zero to One hammers home the importance of nonconformity. You’ll come out of reading it feeling more empowered to take risks.

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

“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you are correct.” This is a foundational quote for understanding what it means to believe in yourself — perhaps the most important quality a founder can have.

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.

Respect for truth. We’ve begun to remove the foundational anchors we used to build our communal understanding of reality. The more we can shed our group mentality the faster we’ll be able to remove the shroud of fear, mistrust and hate that’s become all too prevalent over the past decade. Then we can focus on the problems that really matter.

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


Meet The Disruptors: Colin Johnson 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.

Brand Makeovers: Scott Seymour of 9Rooftops On The 5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and…

Brand Makeovers: Scott Seymour of 9Rooftops On The 5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

To truly set your brand apart, it’s important to challenge yourself and envision what your brand could become. This means striving for greatness and setting your sights high, rather than settling for mediocrity. By creating a clear vision for your brand’s future, you can differentiate yourself from the competition and establish a powerful brand identity that resonates with your target audience.

As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” we had the pleasure to interview Scott Seymour.

Scott Seymour is EVP & Chief Creative Officer at 9Rooftops — a global marketing agency fueling ambitious brands. He leads and inspires a talented team including an in-house content studio to create award-winning creative work.

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

I am originally from Upstate New York, where I began my career in design before venturing into the world of advertising. Fueled by my passion for creativity and driven by my entrepreneurial nature, I eagerly
seized an opportunity to relocate to Hilton Head Island, where I was able to establish a ground-up agency that thrived on creative possibilities.

In the early stages, I forged a partnership with the nearby Savannah College of Art & Design, assembling a team that would grow alongside our ambitions. As our agency expanded, we set our sights on establishing new offices and attracting talent from all corners of the globe. Our primary objective became finding exceptional creatives who love what they do, while creating the ideal environment that would enable them to produce their finest work.

Fast forward to the present day, and we stand tall with a formidable team of over 200 members. Our recent milestone includes the establishment of a brand-new office in the United Kingdom, marking our continued growth and global reach.

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

I’m certain I’ve made numerous mistakes throughout my journey, but here is an amusing one that comes to mind. Early on in my career, I was working on a tequila experience branding project where we were looking to connect with snowboard culture. We came up with the idea to create the first ever quarter-pipe competition and music festival in the U.S. that would result in snowboarders reaching new record-breaking vertical heights. We wanted a bold tagline that resonated with our audience, so we came up with “It’s all about getting high.” Shockingly, our client loved our implied double meaning and went on to design all the materials for the event.

However, a few weeks before the launch, the global brand team had second thoughts about the tagline, especially because the event was going to be televised. So, they asked us to swap it out for something safer. Disappointing, but understandable. We updated the language and sent out new design files.

Cut to the day of the event, and I’m checking out all the branding up and down the mountain when I see a group of snowboarders huddled in front of one of the huge banners with our original infamous tagline on it. I had a huge pit in my stomach. Somehow the bolder line made it on the final signage. We were going to be toast for sure. There were TV crews everywhere, and the global brand team was due to arrive any minute.

Thankfully, our client’s flight was delayed, and we had just enough time to swap out the banner before their arrival and the live broadcast. Crisis averted. The lesson learned — always triple-check everything and arrive early, just in case. Oh, and maybe don’t use taglines that could be misinterpreted by an audience that likes to “get high” in more ways than one.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?

On a typical Wednesday, I found myself in the waiting area of Coca-Cola’s global headquarters for the first time for a creative presentation. I arrived very early, so I was reviewing briefing materials for the latest Harry Potter movie launch I was working on and then adding some finishing touches to an integrated campaign for Captain Morgan. As I juggled the demands of the day, I had the realization that somehow all the smaller project work had finally transformed into larger brand campaigns.

The creative challenge and possibilities were what I loved most, and I was right in the middle of it. I realized that trusted client relationships and word-of-mouth referrals fueled my progression, as clients looked for partners who could deliver consistent creative work that stood out. This focus on outstanding creativity, passion for their brands, and exceeding expectations was paying off.

During our daily hustle and bustle, it’s easy to forget to celebrate our wins, no matter how small. However, we need to take a moment to recognize and appreciate these victories as they happen.

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

I am currently thrilled about a few projects. One of them is our Virtual 360° Reality Experience Series for South Carolina State Parks. While not all visitors have the time or ability to hike long distances, climb to the top of a lighthouse, or kayak the waterways, they will be able to immerse themselves in these experiences through virtual reality. We are currently capturing some amazing content to be used in simulating real-world experiences with sight, sound, and movement. Users will be able to enjoy breathtaking views from the Table Rock Mountain summit, kayak Landsford Canal amidst blooming Rocky Shoals Spider Lilies, and take in the scenic views from the historic Hunting Island Lighthouse. These activities that were once deemed impossible for some will be accessible to all.

Another dream project was designing a series of limited-edition Adidas tennis shoes to celebrate the legendary Stan Smith. These shoes were auctioned and raised a record-breaking $750,000 for the Boys & Girls Club of America. It even inspired us to launch the Shine Bright program, we are currently in the middle of, that mentors and inspires future designers from within the Boys & Girls Club.

We are also just finishing up a ground-up redesign of our brand-new office space in Chicago. It now fully embodies our creativity and passion with a vibrant energizing blue exposed ceiling that spans the entire area, complemented by floor-to-ceiling bold and colorful murals crafted by local artists. The result is an inspiring place designed to foster collaboration to ignite limitless creativity.

What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?

To avoid burnout and thrive, it’s great to surround yourself with free thinkers to collaborate with and be open to trying new things. Inspiration can come at any time, so stay receptive. Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable is also important for growth. Lastly, don’t forget to take some time to yourself to relax and recharge. Down time can really help you stay creative, productive, and mentally healthy.

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?

So, branding is basically all about showing people who you are and creating loyal fans. Marketing, on the other hand, is about getting your message out to make sales happen. When you nail the combo of branding and marketing, you can keep people engaged and loyal for the long haul. It’s all about making a great impression to stand out from your competition.

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?

You can’t just rely on regular marketing and ads. Your brand is the heart and soul of your business and can create deeper emotional connections with your customers and build trust. When your brand is perceived positively, you can charge higher prices, get better recognition, and the advertising performs better. Plus, building a brand takes a lot of precious time and energy, so you want to make sure it’s shown off in the best possible light to be seen and heard in the right way.

Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?

First off, it can make you more relatable, stand out, and differentiate you from competitors in your category. It also helps you refocus and bring clarity to what matters most, especially in today’s chaotic and noisy world. Great branding can showcase the very best version of yourself, giving you the edge, you need to succeed.

Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?

When it comes to rebranding, it’s important to keep a couple of things in mind: Firstly, if you already have a loyal fan base, you don’t want to risk alienating them with new branding. So, make sure you’re taking their preferences and opinions into account. Secondly, a rebranding shouldn’t be used as a band-aid to distract from underlying product issues that need to be addressed first. It’s important to tackle any problems with your products or services head-on, and then focus on creating a rebranding that reflects your improved offerings.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image”? Please tell us a story or an example for each.

1. Challenge Yourself to Aim Higher

To truly set your brand apart, it’s important to challenge yourself and envision what your brand could become. This means striving for greatness and setting your sights high, rather than settling for mediocrity. By creating a clear vision for your brand’s future, you can differentiate yourself from the competition and establish a powerful brand identity that resonates with your target audience.

When it comes to rebranding, it’s important to keep an open mind and be willing to explore all possibilities. This means being open to the idea that everything is on the table and that anything can change. To fuel your inspiration and creativity, surround yourself with examples of other brands that have done this well — even if they are from different categories. By broadening your perspective and seeking out inspiration from diverse sources, you can gain valuable insights and ideas that can help you create a truly unique and impactful brand.

To do it right, you need to dig deep and really do your homework. This means researching and assessing the entire landscape of your category and competition. Only then can you truly understand what it takes to stand out and create a brand that rises above the rest.

Oatly is a remarkable example of a category-defying branding and visual design system that is bold and cohesive, setting them apart from others in their industry.

2. Discover Your Unique Brand Personality

To create a powerful brand that resonates with your audience, you need to find your unique brand personality. This means understanding the role your brand plays and how it makes your audience feel.

When it comes to discovering your brand’s unique personality and creating a strong emotional connection with your audience, there are a few exercises that can be helpful. One effective approach is to imagine your brand as a person, a car, or a restaurant, and then articulate its personality traits and characteristics. By doing this, you can gain a deeper understanding of what your brand represents and how it should be communicated to your target audience. Ultimately, this exercise can help you create a brand that is relatable, authentic, and uniquely your own.

Liquid Death in the sparkling water category provides a striking example of utilizing a distinct brand personality that has truly connected with its audience. By adopting a bold approach and not taking things too seriously, is reflected in their branding and tagline “Murder Your Thirst.”

3. Tell Your Inspiring Story
In today’s crowded marketplace, simply pushing your products or services isn’t enough to capture your audience’s attention. Instead, it’s important to focus on telling your brand story in a way that is engaging and relatable. By sharing the story behind your brand, you can create a personal connection with your customers and differentiate yourself from your competitors. A compelling brand story can help you build trust, establish credibility, and increase brand loyalty over time.

When you focus less on selling and more on storytelling, you’re able to capture your audience’s attention and create a lasting impression in their minds. Ultimately, by crafting a powerful brand narrative that resonates with your audience, you can make your brand more memorable, and more successful in the long run.

Patagonia is an excellent example of a brand that utilizes compelling storytelling to show what they stand for and are committed to. They do this through their history and extend it through platform of editorial storytelling called “PatagoniaStories -to get you out there” and keep their audience inspired and engaged.

4. Express Your Brand Creatively

Get creative with expressing your brand. Visual design is a key component of your brand identity, but it’s not just about the logo. Think beyond the logo and consider how all aspects of your brand work together to create a cohesive brand identity system. This includes typography, color palettes, imagery, visual elements, iconography, photographic style that can help bring your brand to life. When it comes to creative expression, remember that it takes courage to be bold and stand out from the competition. So don’t be afraid to take risks and push the boundaries of what’s been done before. With a strong and creative brand identity system, you can make a lasting impression on your audience and build a successful brand over time.

The latest rebranding for Dunkin’ is an outstanding example of creative expression in a with its new custom typeface, expanded icons, bold orange and pink color blocking, DNKN’ abbreviated and stacked logomarks for packaging, proprietary patterns for employee uniforms, and motion graphics executions for social.

5. Design Details Matter

Don’t overlook the importance of design details when upgrading your brand. Every little detail matters, and now is the perfect opportunity to customize your brand articulation and make it truly unique. By paying attention to design details, you can communicate quality, trust, and passion to your audience. Re-branding is your time to upgrade everything, from your logo to your website to all your marketing materials. When done well, a cohesive and thoughtful design can help differentiate your brand from competitors and establish a strong connection with your audience. So, embrace the chance to upgrade and make your brand stand out with attention to every design detail.

The recent rebranding of Levi’s is a remarkable example where everything was purposely considered and refined to express their iconic pioneering spirit.

In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job doing a “Brand Makeover”. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?

One recent example that stands out is the rebranding of Jet-Puffed Marshmallows, a brand that has been in existence since the 1950s and had become a household staple with little emotional connection. However, the brand has now adopted a fun and playful identity with a fresh visual identity system and new packaging that features a bright and colorful puffy-style world. To inject more life into the brand and embody its new upbeat whimsical attitude, a set of Jet-Puffed characters were introduced. The brand’s voice was also revamped with a new positioning line “fluffy side of life” and infectious lines like “little buddies you want to hug with your teeth.” This is a prime example of remaining true to one’s roots while introducing fresh and innovative ideas. By leveraging the brand personality in a unique way, Jet-Puffed has created a differentiating brand identity that can continue to evolve in inspiring ways.

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 power of creativity is truly amazing. Just imagine if we could harness the collective creativity of everyone to make a real difference in the world, especially for those who need it most. By coming together with empathy and a focus on emotional well-being, we could create something truly special for the greater good. Recently, a dear friend and colleague passed away who was a true inspiration in this regard. He expressed his love and kindness through his creativity every day, and we can all learn from his example. Let’s use the power of creativity to uplift others and make a positive impact on the world.

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

I find myself constantly looking to “find the goodness”. It’s a lesson that speaks to the importance of looking for the positive aspects of both people and creative work. When we focus on the goodness in others, we are more likely to bring out the best in them and their creative work while creating a positive environment for growth and collaboration. When we approach creative work with a focus on finding the gems and bringing out the best in it, we can create something truly exceptional. By being on the lookout for the goodness in everything, we can cultivate a sense of gratitude and appreciation that can lead to greater creativity and a more fulfilling life.

How can our readers follow you online?

LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/scottseymourcreative

Thank you so much for these excellent insights! We wish you continued success in your work.


Brand Makeovers: Scott Seymour of 9Rooftops On The 5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Asaf Darash of Regpack On 5 Things You Need To Know To Successfully Scale Your Business

Get out of the way. In the beginning stages of a company, you need to keep things close to your chest. You are constantly evaluating if things work, if people understand how to use it, and you need to be hands-on. You want to talk and connect with customers early on. Once you reach the point of product-market fit, it is time to move aside. You need to create the tools for people to do their thing. You do not need to be in the middle or hands-on anymore.

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 Asaf Darash.

Asaf Darash is the founder and CEO of Regpack, an online payment management platform. With extensive experience as a developer, system architect, entrepreneur, and investor, Asaf has an innate ability to build versatile products based on achievable business models, which has helped him build three successful companies to date. He holds a Ph.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem specializing in the way computer languages affect human action and has served as a visiting scholar and Fulbright scholar at the University of California, Berkeley.

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’?

The truth is I never intended to become an entrepreneur. I was set on being an academic that can research and build interesting things all day. But life has its ways, I guess.

It all started with my research. When I was a Fulbright scholar at Berkeley doing research for my Ph.D., I was looking for patterns to address one of the biggest problems with computers: the “private language problem.” The “private language problem” in computers means that you can create anything consistent because as long as something is consistent, it can work. So, on the one hand, it’s very easy to create a private language, or your own little world in computers, even without trying. But on the other hand, these are very complex machines, and you have to collaborate with other systems and code in order to get the machine to work as a whole. A private language hinders computer advancement. I think an example will explain it.

Let’s say I want to build software that will allow me to get alerts on changing stock prices in real time. I want to focus on that functionality alone. In order for that to happen, I need to be able to present information on a screen, connect to a network, and use computer memory. Then I also need to communicate with a system that will allow me to gather stock prices. I do not want to build all that. I just want to build the real-time functionality. So in order to create any type of advancement in computers, various lines of code and systems have to talk to each other, and it needs to be simple. So as you can see, the private language problem is critical. It means that if every developer creates their own private language, the systems cannot work together, and we would not have the computers we rely on today. So, my research focused on the various solutions that have been tried to solve this problem. Some failed, some succeeded, and there are multiple solutions in place today that work concurrently.

Normally when performing this type of research, it is best practice to present your theory in three different places for it to be considered a valid claim rather than a mere coincidence. So, in my research, I found this specific structure that existed in computer languages that enabled private languages to exist and, at the same time, to enable communication. I also found it in computer networking, but I needed to find it in one more place, and that place ended up being in databases. That was the key I needed to prove my theory.

After a lot of research, I eventually showed it in three places. The base of the private language solution is not to inhibit it, but rather to embrace it. Create endless private languages that have interfaces to communicate between them — basically, create something that has no constants. Then I got greedy. I asked, “Is it possible to create an application with no constants?” Or in other words: “Is it possible to create a meta-programming application for non-programmers?” Suffice it to say that it’s very complex to do that, but this question and searching is what eventually led to my company, Regpack.

[from a previous Authority Magazine article: https://medium.com/authority-magazine/asaf-darash-of-regpack-five-things-you-need-to-create-a-highly-successful-startup-2ac0fb31ebc2]

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?

I don’t think there’s a key decision, because I don’t think that’s how life works. People like to think that there’s this one key moment that makes things happen in your career or life, but it’s not true. I would say it is the very small choices you make every single day where you are deciding what is important to you and where you want to be.

If there’s one thing that really changed my life, it is the fact that I was not accepted to a program I wanted at MIT. Because of that, I actually got a Fulbright scholarship and went to Berkeley. That totally changed the way I think about business and computers and computer languages. Also, the people I met were very different than the people I would’ve met at MIT or at Harvard. So I would say that if you’re looking for one key decision, it’s actually my failure to be accepted to MIT, which may not be exactly what people want to hear. But, life is a little more complex than what people want to hear.

What’s the most impactful initiative you’ve led that you’re particularly proud of?

Teaching people that everything is their life. When you look at things that way, there is no disconnect between your wellness, your job, your hobbies, your family, your health, and your kids. It’s like the song by Lauryn Hill, right? Everything is everything. Once people are in that place, I do everything I can to inspire their creativity. It’s easy to go into this place in life where you’re just living it in a way like you’re waiting for something or you don’t exactly understand the impact that you have. Once you start living a life where you’re trying to create something, and it doesn’t matter what you’re creating — it can be that you’re creating your family or you’re creating your business — but, you’re creating something that is yours, that is connected to who you are. Something that is exactly you. That is when I think people flourish. They open up, and they change, and what they bring into the world is amazing. Until they’re at that place, they’re sort of just there.

Sometimes our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a mistake you’ve made and the lesson you took away from it?

I have two different mistakes that are interesting to learn from. One is the time we worked on a feature that was extremely complex, and it just didn’t work. It took three to four months to build a basic prototype, and we were really excited about it. Then we presented the feature to 10 or 15 of our biggest clients. At the end of each presentation, the clients said, “That’s nice, but what we really need is…” I thought, What!? Seriously!? And that made me understand that before you build something, you really need to make sure your clients will understand the feature or the product you’re building and that it’s something there is a need for. That is a big problem with tech people, we tend to build something very beautiful, shiny, and technically complex, but then there’s actually no big need for it or the use case is extremely small. Because tech people just love tech, right? So we want to build cool stuff, but we need to ensure there is a customer demand for it.

The other mistake actually became a success eventually. It is one of our most successful programs today. We built a program called Purchase Protection that allows people to protect their order for purchased services. In the first year, the overall annual revenue of it was something ridiculous like $50,000. But the revenue of this feature today is close to a few million dollars, and we’re only three years in. So, how did that happen?

The mistake we made at first was thinking people wanted to decide if and how they should use Purchase Protection, however clients didn’t understand how to use it or what it was. So we automated it and offered it as a built-in element, then its success skyrocketed. The same thing happened with our subscription installments payment feature. Once we automated it with AI to adjust variables on how installment payments should happen, we suddenly reached 45% of payments through the installments feature and customers using it are seeing a 30% revenue growth.

So to put the lessons together, I wouldn’t say it is about deciding for people, but I would say automating the product to a level that it shows value right away is the solution. If you are not able to show value right away and you demand a lot of work from the end user, they lose interest and lose focus. It’s just over their head. But once you are able to show specific ways to use it that create value, then they’re like “Yes, this is great!” It makes sense, because, when you get into your car, you just want to drive, right? You don’t care how the car actually moves and how the wheels connect to the other elements. You don’t care about the details, you just want to do your thing. The same is with technological products.

How has mentorship played a role in your career, whether receiving mentorship or offering it to others?

As a Ph. D student, and a postdoc, you’re mentored a lot. I had an amazing mentor, Professor Horowitz from the AI lab at MIT, who taught me a lot about how to approach a technical problem or how to approach a problem in general. He helped me to understand the limitations of research, and how to perceive the limitations of science and where intuition comes in. He taught me essentially how to be a scientist that is connected to their non-scientific part. A lot of people think science is very strict, and there’s always a method, but I would say science is more like an art. You have assumptions and you have a hunch, then there’s specific ways that you are able to check that hunch. Professor Horowitz taught me how to do that and taught me to trust my gut in a way, even when you’re using a lot of scientific technical methods. At the end, you’re ultimately making an attempt to understand how things work, but a lot of that comes from within. This is, btw, why I think all the talk about AI destroying the world is funny. There is a major difference between humans and AI. The difference is in our ability to base an action on something that is not intelligence. To be artistic, which happens in every aspect of life if you let it.

I’ve also mentored a lot of people as a CEO. I teach my managers that they need to create something that regardless of themselves, will still function. Another big thing I’ve mentored my managers on is to understand not all people function the same. Once you understand that, you are able to mobilize people in a way that is important to them and useful to you. It’s easy to think that everybody functions like you and thinks the way you do. But then you get caught off guard and you’re totally shocked when they don’t, ‘like, why aren’t you thinking this way’? You’re thinking ‘how come? this is the right way, no?’ As a manager, you need to understand that the diversity in ways of thinking and the type of people you have is what makes you strong. It makes you resilient and enables quick reactions to different situations. Without diversity, you would just have a bunch of people like yourself. That is very problematic, because there’s a single point of failure — you.

This is also connected to how we hire at Regpack. Regpack is very diverse and versatile because we have people from totally different backgrounds, because I really see value in that. Having people that think differently is not hindering your growth, it’s doing the exact opposite. It might not be comfortable and it can even be very annoying sometimes, but if you’re looking for “yes men,” you’re not going to get anywhere.

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?

I don’t try to model my leadership after anybody, and I don’t try to emulate anybody. I am a well-rounded person that has very different elements in my character, and I try to lead in a way that is true to myself. I hope every single leader does that. If they don’t, they shouldn’t be a leader.

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. Get out of the way. In the beginning stages of a company, you need to keep things close to your chest. You are constantly evaluating if things work, if people understand how to use it, and you need to be hands-on. You want to talk and connect with customers early on. Once you reach the point of product-market fit, it is time to move aside. You need to create the tools for people to do their thing. You do not need to be in the middle or hands-on anymore. Create the value, but then get out of the way. When you’re in the middle, your business can’t scale. This is really hard to do because you want to be there and you want to see how things are functioning, but you’re only getting in the way. As you grow, it is a numbers game, so you might be able to connect to some people, but you need to move away as the numbers grow and look at the company from above through reports, statistics, tools. This demands a different skill set, if you have it then you will continue growing, if not you need to move aside, and let someone that does, control the company.
  2. Create a machine that is not dependent on specific people and is process oriented. This is extremely important because, in the beginning, it is all about the founders or partners and how amazing these people are. The reality check is that this is not how the world works. You need a long-term process separate from yourself. You need to create a machine that is able to function for 95% of your clients. Maybe for 5% it won’t work, but 95% will still go through the machine and it will take care of them correctly. Your machine needs to be built in a way that if one person leaves and you need to replace them, that’s fine. Someone might think this hinders creativity but it is the opposite. Since the main parts are taken care of people have the ability to step in where the process is failing and be creative in their solutions.
  3. It’s not about you — leave your ego at the door. One of the things I tell people at the beginning of every meeting is “Nobody cares about you”. It’s true. Clients care about their problems and their needs. They don’t care about our processes, they only care about how we are going to create value in their business. Once you understand that it is not about you, and it isn’t personal, then you can understand that you need to look at things in a more functional way rather than an emotional way. If you look back to the example I gave of one of the things that failed at first, you can try and force a new product and show them why you think it is important, or you can stop and say ‘This is not about me and my hard work, but it is about how to properly show value.’
  4. Not everybody needs to know everything. You need to create a team that is supporting one another, but don’t expect everyone to know everything. This is important as you’re scaling. If I needed to pick one thing that really becomes a challenge as you grow it would be internal communications. Understanding each other and conveying the information internally is important since you’re trying to get everyone on the same page and to get all the teams to work in a holistic way. This is really hard when a company is growing. I found the best way to do this is to create sections of knowledge. For example, sales needs to know how to sell a product at a basic level, but when technical questions come up, they should bring in somebody who knows technical issues as their forte. Marketing doesn’t need to know how the sales team works, but they need to know what types of clients are our best clients so they can target them. Oddly, this is how object-oriented programming works as a theoretical level: Each unit functions independently, there is full encapsulation and in order to create a holistic program, there are open communication lines between the units only on parts that you should communicate about. The same can be applied to a company, this creates a holistic experience for the client.

If everyone needs to know everything, you would need employees who can do everything, but that isn’t realistic when you grow to a few hundred people. Start-ups attract high-performing people looking for a challenge. This is especially true of founders. Oddly, these people can become detrimental to the company very quickly since it allows you to rely on their amazing skills but in doing so you do not create a machine. Hence, you are stuck in a phase that you can’t grow out of. If you’re only using A-level people, you’re not creating a machine. In sports, if you have an amazing player that regardles of the rest of the team will always solve the problem, then the coach will never set the team up for consistent wins. Relying only on A-level people is not how you create a long-term business. Use the A-level people to create your processes, your machines, then tell them to move aside and work on new aspects of the business.

5. Watch the money. Businesses are about making money, it is that simple. This isn’t sexy or very “Silicon Valley”, but if you’re not focused on how to make money and are watching your cash flow and finances, you’re going to fail. Money for a business is like oxygen. It is the main tool a CEO or founder uses to develop the company. You need to focus on where the money is coming from, how it flows in the company, and where you’re allocating it to. It would be like an athlete not thinking about their breathing while running. They will fail. If you’re a technical person and not money-minded, once you get to mid-sized, just move aside. You won’t understand the level of focus needed to keep the company breathing. It is not what you are good at and that is fine, not everybody needs to know everything.

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?

People who can’t get out of the way. If you hold everything close to your chest because you want to control everything, that leader doesn’t create a machine, because they’re dependent on these A-level people. Then these A-level people suddenly leave and boom — nothing works anymore. These companies need to try to create holistic actions by realizing that not everybody can know everything.

Second, scaling and not watching the money. They might think, it’ll be fine, or ‘We’ll just make another million dollars’. But what happens if you don’t? You die. It is that simple.

I recently had this conversation with my kid when we were talking about mistakes. I told him, when you take a risk and you might fall into a pit, you need to make sure that it is a pit you can get yourself out of. Yes, it is great to take risks, and this is how we grow, but take risks that will not destroy you or that will not create a situation that you do not know how to get out of. I see this all the time with companies and people that do stuff with money that isn’t correctable. You see people buy houses that are above their ability or businesses investing in a change that if it fails will bankrupt the company. Then they become slaves to that mistake. As you grow the amount of resources at your disposal are larger. Therefore it might seem that “this cannot break us” but mistakes can compound and then once you have trouble making payments to continue the company functioning it is too late, the downward spiral is very fast.

Scaling includes bringing new people into the organization. How can a company preserve its company culture and ethos when new people are brought in?

The company culture and the department culture always comes from the head down. So you need to make sure your managers have the same goals you have Note I said “goals”, not that they need to be the same as you. Then those managers will trickle the culture down to their managers and eventually to the people that are doing the day-to-day job. Company culture is not created by you yapping around about it and telling people to behave a certain way. No, it’s about actually working with people in a specific way. A little like with children: if you tell your children to do one thing and act in a totally different way, it is not going to resonate with them no matter how many times you say it.

One example of this is something we do at Regpack, we have a culture where we say you’re treated as an adult. You have wings — use them! For example, if someone makes a mistake, you don’t come in guns blazing and say ‘Oh you idiot. What did you do?’ No. What you do is explain what was the mistake and you throw it back to them to fix it. Demand they come back with a plan on how you’re going to fix this mistake. Don’t fix it for them. Don’t tell them how to fix it. They need to come back with the solution for how to fix it and then they implement the fix. That is what being an adult means: owning your mistakes and fixing them. Very few people are malicious or do bad things on purpose, especially at their job. Everybody wants to be successful at their job and they want to be appreciated. If you give them the ability to do that you will be surprised how much people level up. It is pretty simple: don’t turn them into robots, don’t cut their wings but teach them they have them, don’t turn them into a child that just needs to do what they’re told. Trust them and believe in them, you will see them do amazing work.

So the company culture is really about how much you believe in people and what you believe people can do. If you’re trying to bend company culture to what you’ve heard a different company does and you try to mimic that, it won’t work. If you’re not already that type of person, you can’t force company culture to be that way.

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?

The technique I would recommend is the one we talked about where you are encapsulating knowledge into specific teams. I also talked about creating a machine, which are the procedures. I think that these are the main tools and techniques you need to use to successfully scale. Implement encapsulation of knowledge and understand that it’s more about processes than people. Then, make sure you get out of the way. I would say that those are the three main things that you need to do when you’re scaling your business.

What software or tools do you recommend to help onboard new hires?

I have no idea. This is connected to encapsulation, because I don’t need to know what to do. I am not HR, so I don’t need to know the actual ins and outs of what HR does. If you’re a CEO that knows the exact tools that you’re using for HR, you’re doing something very wrong.

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.

I think what’s lacking in the world today is being creative and not being the same as everyone else. Be yourself and create something in the world that you can look at and say, okay, I’m happy with that. Once more, when people create in the world and reach the point where they are satisfied with their creation, I think the whole world will be a much better place. People will be much less angry, because it’s not about what you have, where you went, what you believe in, or what you like. It’s about what you created in the world. And it doesn’t have to be an actual thing. It does not have to be code, jewelry, or a painting. It can be creating a concept, a way of life, or your own rhythm of the day. That’s something that is yours. And I wouldn’t know what to call that movement or how to do that, but I think that’s really lacking in the world.

[from a previous Authority Magazine article: https://medium.com/authority-magazine/asaf-darash-of-regpack-five-things-you-need-to-create-a-highly-successful-startup-2ac0fb31ebc2]

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Regpack blog: https://www.regpacks.com/blog/

Regpack on social:

https://www.facebook.com/Regpack/

https://twitter.com/regpack

https://www.linkedin.com/company/regpack/

https://www.instagram.com/regpacks/

This was truly meaningful! Thank you so much for your time and for sharing your expertise!


Asaf Darash of Regpack 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.

The Future Is Now: Matthew White Of Qebot On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The…

The Future Is Now: Matthew White Of Qebot On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene

Your network is your greatest asset, and one of your top priorities needs to be consistently growing it. It really is about who you know. The biggest deals, partnerships, and relationships I have were developed through connections. It’s always going to be easier to get a meeting with someone if you can be introduced rather than cold reach out, and the larger your network, the higher the chance you have a mutual connection.

As a part of our series about cutting-edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Matthew White, CEO of Qebot.

Matthew White is the Co-Founder and CEO of Qebot. Matthew and his co-founder, Cornelius Lamb started Qebot in 2016 with the goal of making business technology simple, accessible, and productive for even the least tech-savvy business owners and managers. Years of experience in the agency and advertising world gave Matthew a unique perspective on what businesses really needed to be able to market and manage their organizations, and built a platform to bring all of that together in a single, integrate manner.

In 2023, Matthew is focusing his sights on a much larger target by launching an operating system for the internet. An evolution of the antiquated browser into a system that is more productive, secure, private, and personalized to how you actually use the internet. Matthew and team plan to completely overhaul how you access and use the internet across all devices.

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?

Thanks for having me! It’s funny, I look back at the beginning of my career and realize how much has changed, but also how much I really did have a direction I was shooting for. I started in healthcare staffing. I graduated college into the recession of the late 2000’s, and really any job that was still hiring is what I was going to take. But working for someone else, and having that looming feeling of “is this really what I’m destined for,” or “is this the week that I’m getting fired” just didn’t sit right inside of me. I remember being in my early 20’s coming home from work and sitting at my desk writing business plans for different companies I thought I could start. Friends and roommates all thought I was a bit odd as they went out, or watched the newest dancing with the stars while I sat at my computer, looking up business plan templates and toying with different ideas. I think I had plans for bars, clubs, social media platforms… I wish I still had those. I’m sure they are terrible.

A few years later, I actually did get fired from my job in healthcare staffing. It was actually the best thing that could have happened to me! Next, through a bit of perhaps embellishment on my resume, I landed a job in a large marketing agency, focused on tech and online presence for local businesses. That lead me into advertising, mobile advertising, and technology in general, which I really came to have a passion for. So, a few years later, after starting a few tech companies on the side myself, I finally had the idea for Qebot. Had the resources at the time to take the plunge full time, and here we are today.

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

Getting fired from my first job, after being there for about 3 years was gutting. But hindsight is so 20/20. I look back on that now as one of the greatest moments in my career. It’s the moment that really made me take a step back and rethink my life and career path. I remember being devastated at the time, not knowing what was going to be next. We had just bought our first house. Savings were pretty much non-existent.

But then I had a real conversation with myself and my loved ones about what I really wanted. I hated my job. I loathed walking into that place every day. I disliked the work, and a lot about the industry as a whole. I could have gone and found a similar job — actually I did and worked there for a week before jumping out the window as fast as possible. But I knew it was time to make a drastic change. And that’s what I did. I took a massive pay cut to move into a role in marketing and technology, and within a year, was loving what I did, making more money than I ever had, and was excited about where my future was heading. Bad things will happen to everyone, but that doesn’t mean it’s for the worst. Take everything as an opportunity to try something new.

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

Absolutely! In short, it’s time to ditch antiquated browsers for an operating system built for the internet.

The standard browser has become stagnant and outdated to how people actually use the internet. Browser tabs are a great example of this. Browsers were created to “browse” the internet, but that’s not how most people use the internet these days. Most of a person’s time is spent in applications for work, play, streaming, etc.

Having 50 open tabs across the top of your browser, and having to hunt for your email, calendar, or CRM is a huge productivity hog. The standard browser has not innovated to follow the changes and updates for how people access and use the internet; and so new, more agile, innovative companies like Qebot are stepping up. Imagine a browser that is based around the applications you use the most. That gives you the option of what you want done with your data. That businesses can set up to better control data and app access at the browser level. This is what people want, and why users are loving new options like Qebot.

How do you think this might change the world?

With a Web Operating System like we’re talking about, we can start to create a more standardized, personalized internet experience for each person across a multitude of devices. Imagine creating your Qebot profile, with all of your favorite applications, settings, tabs, etc. synced across devices wherever you are. Go to your smart fridge and pull up the recipe you were just looking at, and play music you were just listening to. Go to a hotel, and log into your Qebot profile on their smart TV to watch your Netflix, Hulu, HBO right from your account. Get on a plane, and use the in-seat computer to actually send emails, Slack your team, and catch up where you left off on your favorite show.

And for businesses — what a gamechanger. Better security, better device controls, simple setup. Imagine someone breaks their computer. Instead of getting them a new expensive computer, downloading all of the apps they need, getting them the access necessary, you hand them a cheaper, internet based computer, have them log into their Qebot account, and they are right back where they were within minutes.

This is what a centralized web operating system will enable. Better, more personalized internet access from wherever you are.

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

Hmmm. This is an interesting question. I’d say the fact that almost every system in our lives are now becoming “smart” has the potential to create issues. At a minimum, we all become so dependent on our technology that we start to lose touch with the real world as a whole — which some could argue is already becoming the norm with social media addiction. But if we want to get really dystopian — having all of your devices in your life smart and connected could create some level of all-knowing systems and organizations that can monitor every aspect of your life, and do with that information what it pleases. Technology advancement absolutely has its benefits and risks.

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

Qebot 1.0 was always a first step in our goals in creating a more integrated, broad-range platform that could be used for home, office, and family to make technology more productive and personalized. But we had seen that next iteration to the web operating system as something we’d work on down the line. At a certain scale point for Qebot.

Then the pandemic happened. We got hit pretty hard at the beginning. A lot of our business was from marketing agencies that were using our platform to manage all of their software needs for their clients. When businesses got shut down, the first thing they stopped was marketing. We saw a lot of our agency partners just completely go out of business during this time, and our revenues took a major hit.

We were able to weather the storm, and have since come back and surpassed our pre-pandemic levels, with a more diversified client base, but we also realized that we may want to look at moving forward on our goals of having a technology that was not so hyper focused on one thing. Something that can be used by both businesses and individuals. A platform that we could hedge against world changing events in the future. So, we started moving forward on our dream of the web operating system. It was literally a meeting in November of 2021 where we just decided to put all projects on the backburner, and all of our resources into building the future of internet access and usage. That was our real tipping point into pivoting into what we are today.

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

Honestly, people to just try it. The feedback has been overwhelmingly excited about what we’ve built and where we are going. Adoption, active usage, and peer sharing are through the roof after people see what this thing can help them do. Everything we are building now is directly based on user feedback, so the system is just becoming more and more what people want from the future of the internet, and I think people will see that right from the get-go.

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

The beauty of having been in business for a number of years and having success in our first venture was that we were able to really tap into our network to get our initial user-base. People had loved and trusted the technology we built before, so they were excited to jump in on what we were launching. We got a very nice boost from the beginning, and we provide perks and freebies to users for inviting other users. That has been very helpful in initial growth.

We also have a great partnership program. We work with a number of large companies and organizations that we can provide free upgrades and benefits to their customers or members — they in turn get more perks to offer their customers or members for marketing and retention, and we get growth. The Better Business Bureau has been a great example of this. Accredited Businesses get to take advantage of free upgrades to our premium business tiers, and discounts on tools and our privacy+ program.

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 would be nowhere without two people in particular. My wife, and my co-founder. My wife has been incredibly supportive throughout this whole process. From the beginning when we were just trying to get our first customer, to the mess the pandemic caused, to the financial investment I put in. I know how frustrating all of this can be on a spouse, and she’s been right there, marching along, being my greatest cheerleader and confidant the entire time.

And my co-founder, Cornelius. I can’t believe what we’ve been through together with this business. We’ve had early employees come and go, seen ups and downs, and have made sacrifices together that seem utterly insane to most people. But each time we get on a call, he’s the first to say he 100% believes in what we’re building, and that together we can really change lives. His fortitude to keep going, even when things were hard has been a huge inspiration to me to keep fighting and pushing.

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

Oh wow… That’s a tough one. I’d say there is a lot that we hope to do with our success — helping democratize technology for better and easier use to as many as we can. I know that we’ve done some part in helping small businesses be able to compete and find their niche, which is something I’ve always been passionate about. But I guess, at this point, I hope I’ve been able to give good advice to others starting their founders journey. I hope I’ve been able to be an inspiration because you never know who you might touch — what that one person that you inspire might end up doing to create something the world needs.

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

1. Your network is your greatest asset, and one of your top priorities needs to be consistently growing it. It really is about who you know. The biggest deals, partnerships, and relationships I have were developed through connections. It’s always going to be easier to get a meeting with someone if you can be introduced rather than cold reach out, and the larger your network, the higher the chance you have a mutual connection.

2. You’re about to find out who your real friends are. Being a startup founder can be a grueling life at times. People aren’t going to understand when you can’t make it to functions, get togethers, etc. Or, if you’re like me when I founded Qebot, I took a big pay cut, so those invites to group trips and vacations weren’t possible. And then the invites stop coming. You’ll also see which friends are your cheerleaders, and which are spectators.

3. Rejection is an opportunity for learning and growth. And, there will be a lot of it… Investors, prospective customers, potential partners, that perfect hire. You’ll have to grow some thick skin and keep moving ahead. The ability to take those rejections and not get beaten down by them, but instead use them as learnings to evolve your pitch, or understand what’s not resonating, and pivot your messaging, or even your product. That’s where success lies.

4. Embrace change. You might have what you think is the perfect idea — but the market may think differently. Your idea may be close, and all you need to do is make a few tweaks. Some of the most successful businesses have made complete pivots from what they initially launched. And that’s completely fine. It’s better than fine. It’s listening, learning, taking your ego out of the situation, and forging towards success using real world feedback. It’s the businesses that don’t embrace change and innovation that eventually fail — just look at Blockbuster.

5. Building the product is only about 10% of actually starting a company… Most people can build something. Can you fund it? Can you market it? Can you find market fit? Can you sell? Can you hire? Can you lead? Can you remove your ego and make changes and pivots when it’s necessary? You’ll find things along the way that you won’t be good at, and that’s when you find the right people to help. But getting a product built, and taking a product to market is the difference between success and failure.

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 one of the most disheartening things I see today is the anger and hate we see everywhere. Much of it on the internet, but also heavily spilling over into real, everyday life. The best times I’ve had, and greatest lessons I’ve learned have been from people that are different than me. People that shut that off in their life are missing so much. So, I think the movement I would want to strive for would be to help people of different walks of life connect in meaningful ways. It’s hard to hate someone when you truly get to know them. The repercussions of people getting to know others not like themselves is also so far reaching. Hate causes so much strife — all the way from hometown racism to intercontinental war. If we can find ways to connect, see each other for who we are, and see that maybe all of us really aren’t that different. I think that would make the world a much better, wealthier, and happy place.

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

Do it! Do it now!

-Arnold Schwarzenegger

I know, it’s silly. But it’s also very relevant. There’s always an excuse to put something off until tomorrow. I knew people growing up that always had their “million-dollar idea” but never took a step to make it happen. Then they see someone else on TV years later making a success out of that idea and having a melt down about it. But you never did it. Everyone has an idea — it’s the people that execute that idea that change the world. So stop talking about it and “DO IT! DO IT NOW!”

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 🙂

If you’ve ever thought to yourself, the way we access and use the internet seems antiquated. How are we still getting lost in a sea of browser tabs? What’s happening with my data? There has to be more secure ways of using the internet.

If you think we’re on the precipice of a new internet revolution — well then, come with us on this journey. We’re going to make some huge waves.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Matthew:

LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-white-4b4bb527

Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/mattewhitey

Twitter — https://twitter.com/MWayneWhite

Qebot:

Website — https://www.qebot.com

LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/company/3645932/

Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/qebot

Twitter — https://twitter.com/QebotHQ

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


The Future Is Now: Matthew White Of Qebot 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.

Sean Samuel Of C15 Solutions On 5 Things You Need To Know To Successfully Scale Your Business

Team. Hire to build a culture, not to fill roles.

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 Sean Samuel.

Sean Samuel is Vice President of Sales and Marketing at C15 Solutions, a technology company that delivers a life sciences-based eQMS platform tailored for the global cannabis sector and adjacent industries. Sean has a sales and business development background that spans the tobacco and finance sectors. Currently, Sean manages the sales process at C15, spearheads marketing initiatives, establishes key strategic partnerships, executes product demos, and secures valued customers. Sean has helped grow the company from scratch to 65+ corporate customers across 8 countries.

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’?

My career is an intersection of three things I love — cannabis, technology, and innovation on a global scale!

When Canada initially mulled over federal legalization, I was working at the Bank of Montreal and had long been speculating on the early medical cannabis companies in small-cap portfolios. Shortly after Canada passed adult use, C15 Solutions was formed, and it was C15’s partnership with Veeva Systems (VEEV:NYSE) that really intrigued me. They have long been an established tech provider to the Life Sciences and CPG industries, working with multinational corporations like Kraft, Nestle, Bayer, Pfizer, Unilever, and more. Cannabis always struck me as an amalgamation of agriculture (cultivation), pharma (medical), and consumer packaged goods (adult use) so, adopting best practices from those established sectors and adding to the quality and safety of cannabis production was a mission I could embrace.

I was already keen on trying to help accelerate the sector’s trajectory when it came to being a leader in the industry, especially as it globalized. The opportunity to work with such an innovative and supportive partner in Veeva, as well as being able to build something from scratch (opposite of my situation at BMO) with a fantastic management team at C15, was what ultimately drove me in this direction!

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?

Yes, as a matter of fact, it was a literal fork in the road. In 2017, I was working on Bay St. for one of the ‘big 6’ banks and was offered two new jobs — both were with start-ups (my type of culture/working environment) but one was in finance and the other, cannabis. The finance job came with significantly better pay and a small equity stake. The cannabis job was a riskier one that paid less and required commuting (vs. a 15-minute commute to Bay St.) and yet, the decision really wasn’t one I lost much sleep over, picking C15 with conviction.

Five years later, the start-up on Bay St. I almost joined is killing it, but I still have zero regrets in my decision. Why? Because this is my passion. Navigating the ‘wild west’ cannabis landscape and building a brand from scratch has been my most rewarding professional experience. Plus, I’m extremely proud of being part of the legalization of a wonderful plant with genuine medicinal properties.

What’s the most impactful initiative you’ve led that you’re particularly proud of?

That’s easy — C15 Solutions! Our mission is to raise the quality and compliance bar for the entire cannabis sector, globally. That’s a lofty mission statement, however, we are unequivocally doing just that; we’ve taken a technology that is widely adopted in other regulated sectors like pharma, life sciences, and CPG, and we’ve tailored it specifically for cannabis operators, regardless of the jurisdiction they operate in. The result is higher-quality, safer cannabis products and maturing, compliant cannabis companies.

How has mentorship played a role in your career, whether receiving mentorship or offering it to others?

Mentorship has played a massive and pivotal role in my career. I would say I’ve had three professional mentors over the course of my career thus far and each was instrumental in either inspiring me to change my professional trajectory or refine and accelerate my existing one. With that said, I’d love to give a quick shoutout to Rob Butler, Carter Davidson, and my father, Scott Samuel, for their wisdom and inspiration over the years. All three have meant so much to me for different reasons.

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?

I genuinely do not have a single leadership ‘model’ in mind. I’ve been fortunate enough to work with a variety of executives (at big and small companies) and to play with many captains and coaches during my competitive hockey days. This has allowed me to adopt specific traits such as direct, transparent communication and identify ones that are not my style such as immediate, cut-throat judgment. I don’t think there’s a ‘perfect leader’ out there, rather, perfect fits of team and leadership.

Based on your experience, can you share with our readers the “5 Things You Need To Know To Successfully Scale Your Business”?

Efficiency. As C15 grew, we had to listen to what the market was telling us and learn and adapt our sales and service strategies to become more efficient. Whether it’s tinkering with your outbound process or how you engage with your customers, we’re constantly looking to become more efficient so that our customer acquisition cost is lower, and our customer engagement is higher.

A Growth Plan. Whether it’s new products or new markets, research and analysis MUST be done and a ‘growth at all costs’ plan will often result in self-destruction. In the cannabis sector especially, which is both highly competitive and highly regulated, a growth plan must be well thought out, deliberate, and ideally vetted by trusted stakeholders.

Team. Hire to build a culture, not to fill roles.

Partners. As the saying goes, ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ and in business, it takes the right partners to reach the next level. In our case, C15 has the best tech partner we could possibly ask for in Veeva Systems, as well as incredible shareholders like Emily and Morgan Paxhia from Poseidon Asset Management.

Financing. This is kind of a technicality more than anything. Obviously, capital is required to scale but I think nuance lies in what kind of financing… Debt? Equity? What terms? Who are the shareholders? It takes strong, experienced leadership to nail this part.

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?

Hiring for a job vs. hiring the right person and finding them work to do was a mistake we made in the beginning. As a start-up, you might have an idea of how you want your company to be structured and how it looks down the road, however, one of the lessons I’ve learned is that building the right culture is integral for a young company and maintaining that culture as you scale is just as important. This is why we’re now more in tune with the ‘people’ we hire vs the ‘role’ we hire.

Scaling includes bringing new people into the organization. How can a company preserve its company culture and ethos when new people are brought in?

Answered in the above question — hire for people, and not roles.

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?

I think we do two things extremely well at C15 to scale our knowledge AND our culture.

  1. Hybrid work model — We employ roughly a 70/30 work-from-office/work-from-home model. This hybrid model is very important to us as it enables us to learn from each other and collaborate much more efficiently while simultaneously delivering a work/family balance that is quite rewarding.
  2. Lunch & learns — We schedule periodic lunch & learns (on the days when most of the team is in the office) and everyone rotates through being the ‘teacher’. They will speak to role-specific issues, team-specific issues, or even macro/tech-related issues and this usually generates some colourful team discussion!

What software or tools do you recommend to help onboard new hires?

Our Sales Team uses Hubspot as our CRM of choice and that’s a big part of our onboarding process — the entire sales journey and pipeline is effectively captured here. The Customer Success Team leverages Totango to track the deployment journey and customer health, so that’s also integral to the onboarding process of new hires.

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.

My answer to this hasn’t changed since I last spoke with Authority Magazine, so I’d still say make the conscious decision to step away from your devices and other digital distractions, in order to fully engage with the present moment and the people around you. I find myself in a similar position of looking for the right balance when it comes to tech of any kind, but especially AI. I absolutely see some of the merits of AI but I’m similarly apprehensive about some of its potential as well — look no further than Chaos GPT…

How can our readers further follow your work online?

You can keep up with C15 on Twitter and LinkedIn.

This was truly meaningful! Thank you so much for your time and for sharing your expertise!


Sean Samuel Of C15 Solutions 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: Doug Milburn Of Advanced Glazings On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your…

Meet The Disruptors: Doug Milburn Of Advanced Glazings On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

Disruption is change, change is inevitable, and ‘withstanding the test of time’ will not last forever. When disruption happens there are positive and negative aspects. I think this is true of every disruption.

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

As a long-time entrepreneur and innovator, Dr. Doug Milburn thrives on solving problems. For more than 35 years, he has brought his vision and passion to manufacturing, engineering, software development and process engineering. Throughout his leadership, Dr. Milburn has aimed to create great workplaces by shaping a company’s success through corporate values and ethical guidelines. Born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada, , Dr. Milburn earned his undergraduate and Master’s degree in physics at Mount Allison University, before finishing his studies with a PhD in mechanical engineering at the University of Waterloo. In 1995, Dr. Milburn and his wife Michelle co-founded Advanced Glazings, which developed and manufactures SOLERA light diffusing glass, which enables architects to create beautifully daylighted buildings that are incredibly energy efficient. In 2001, Dr. Milburn co-founded Protocase with Steve Lilley. Protocase helps engineers, innovators and scientists accelerate their project timelines by manufacturing custom metal enclosures and parts in 2–3 days, with no minimum order requirements. Lilley and Dr. Milburn took the entrepreneurial leap once more in 2014, with the start of 45Drives. As a new enterprise company, 45Drives helps companies manage and scale their data-storage needs with ultra-large storage servers and clusters that are powerful, flexible and affordable.

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’m a technology person, proudly ‘geek’, from a rough and tough steel town. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, but I was really good at all things academic, but especially math and physics. I drifted my way to university, and when I first experienced experimental physics, I really connected to it. I continued through a Masters degree in physics, then a PhD in mechanical engineering at the University of Waterloo in Ontario Canada, specializing in solar energy materials. I had a great job offer when I finished, but I always had entrepreneurial ideas. Waterloo is Canada’s capital of innovation business, so it was a natural thing to consider. I took the plunge and started Advanced Glazings Ltd. to commercialize technology that had been developed in the lab where I did my research, and, as they say, the rest is history!

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

The companies I’ve started are all disruptive in their own areas. Advanced Glazings Ltd is about changing the way that people think about natural light in buildings. Truly great buildings need a connection to the outdoor environment, via view and daylight. But just using a lot of regular ‘vision glass’ creates uncomfortable buildings that have painful levels of glare, are too hot and cold, and are very energy inefficient. This isn’t good for the occupants, the owner, nor the environment. We created our unique Solera glass to address this problem. It is translucent and powerfully diffuses sunlight, turning it into white, clean, gentle daylight and spreading through the interior of the building preventing glare and overheating.

It is also the best insulating glass in the world (up to R25!) so it can save large amounts of energy vs. Regular glass. But this also allows architects and developers to create beautiful all glass buildings that meet the new energy codes that are being adopted in developed nations. So we are helping society avoid creating buildings that are unattractive dark caves, as an unintended side effect of these code changes.

On top of this, we’ve developed a new system for putting our glass, as well as vision glass on buildings. It is a glass panel system that goes onto buildings directly over the primary structure without the use of framing. This avoids the use of a whole lot of aluminum, resulting in faster build, lower installed cost, and better energy efficiency because we’ve removed these thermal short circuits that breach the building envelope. This product has only been out for a few years, but it looks like it has the potential to combine with other building technologies to create fast-build cost effective buildings that check all the boxes with respect to natural light, view, aesthetics, and indoor environmental quality.

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?

Early in my career, I had a situation with a contractor who was involved in a building project that we were supplying glass for. These guys were really getting on my nerves. They sent an email with what I felt was a ridiculous demand. When I got the ridiculous email, I quickly expressed my feelings unambiguously in what I thought was an email to my VP Sales (I said something like ‘these guys are so f&%%ing stupid I can’t believe it’. I hit send on my ‘forward’, then quickly realized I had actually hit reply. Whoops! It was after hours, i got up, sprinted to the server room, yanked the network cable on the email server, but the electrons were faster than i was. So I learned how to grovel and apologize at the same time. That’s the sort of situation that humor was created for!

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story?

I’ve been really lucky to have had a number of mentors in my professional life. My PhD supervisor, Dr. Terry Hollands of University of Waterloo was a huge influence and taught me so much about research and communications. I had a very good friend and Mentor, William Bugg, who ran a university CAD CAM machining centre. He was one of the sharpest manufacturing minds I’ve ever met, and taught me a huge amount. Dr. Paul Cant, Physics professor and my undergraduate thesis supervisor inspired and taught me — he was one of those people who could visualize and create without effort and helped me see that it was reasonable to chase my own visions. Herman Koza was my first VP Sales and Marketing. Herman had retired from a successful career where he had led a company from basically startup to nearly $1B in sales but came to work for me after becoming bored in retirement. He taught me much of what I know about sales and marketing. I have many more, and I deeply enjoy being around people who’ve achieved in their lives and are willing to share.

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 change, change is inevitable, and ‘withstanding the test of time’ will not last forever. When disruption happens there are positive and negative aspects. I think this is true of every disruption. The personal computer disrupted minicomputers — — the result over time was improvement for every person and organization that use computers. It also created huge new wealth for the new companies, and their employees and shareholders. But there were losers too, amongst the stakeholders of the minicomputer companies that were destroyed. So there are two sides to everything. This revolution was fairly net-positive, but we can pick other disruptions that have darker sides. So like so many things in life, its complicated.

Lead generation is one of the most important aspects of any business. Can you share some of the strategies you use to generate good, qualified leads?

We’ve been successful with a number of different approaches in lead gen. Advanced Glazings Ltd goes to market largely through architects. We have very successfully used the profession’s continuing education requirements to get attention for our dramatically new ideas which generate project leads. But we’ve been very successful at using technical content creation for promotion and lead gen in my other businesses in metal fab for science, and for open-source enterprise data storage. But underlying it all is a very intentional strategy to deliver a truly remarkable experience to our customers which results in new leads from word of mouth and referrals.

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

I have a whole lot on the go right now. There are big tailwinds behind Advanced Glazings Ltd right now. Highly energy efficient buildings with great natural light and lower operating costs are totally in. So I’m going to grow it into what it can be and change our view of what a great building is.

My other companies are also on a roll. Protocase is a leader in mass custom manufacturing, and we can manufacture things like electronic enclosures, sheet metal parts, and machined parts faster than anyone else in the world. We are just launching an aerospace division, Protospace MFG, ‘The fastest aerospace manufacturer in the word’, that helps an industry where late penalties can be crippling but the supply chain is old school. And its storage computer manufacturing division makes some of the largest enterprise data storage servers in the world under a ‘new enterprise’ business model that makes it an order of magnitude lower in cost than the legacy enterprise vendors or cloud.

So I have lots to do!

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 think the classic books Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore, and The Innovators Dilemma by Clayton Christenssen, really helped me understand the basic patterns of technology adoption.

I’m also a huge podcast listener and listen to way too many to list. But I might mention a podcast called Storybrand. I think they have a crystal-clear view on emotions in marketing, and the need for simplicity and clarity. Their ideas go miles farther than the standard dogma of business school. It’s small business oriented but the principles are universal and can be adapted to technology and growth business.

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

“What goes around, comes around.” Treat people well and they’ll look after you. This especially applies when you are in a position of power. Look after everyone around you, and you’ll get looked after.

You are a person of 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 grew up in a old steel town that was once hugely prosperous (we’d be called ‘rust belt’ in the US). People took it for granted that the mill would always be around creating wealth. Steelworkers were well paid relative to the rest of the economy, but there was always an anticapitalist undercurrent working away to create conflict and an adversarial relationship to the goose that laid the golden eggs. Then, in my lifetime, the steel market went bad, and that, along with the internal turmoil from the marxist factions, destroyed it. I watched the government and unions try to save it, then create alternative wealth. But they completely failed, and decades later the community is only now starting to recover. I watch that anticapitalist sentament grow all across the developed world. But my experience tells me exactly what happens if it takes over.

With this experience in mind, I’ve shaped our companies in a way that protects it from these attitudes. We’ve created a culture around a ethics statement that says the company only succeeds when its stakeholders succeed, and vice versa. We teach it and live it. Its created a positive and energetic workplace that is productivity focused. This makes the company strong and employees and shareholders and suppliers successful. We believe we have a template for new capitalism.

If I had the time I’d like to try to spread our ideas around and create a movement to embrace and reshape capitalism in a more human way. Killing the goose that laid the golden eggs would be a tragedy, as it was in my hometown. Conversely, creating companies where people can join and find a social group and opportunity for achievement and mastery, while generating prosperity, is a beautiful thing.

Where can we go to keep up with your work at Advanced Glazings?

www.advancedglazings.com

https://www.facebook.com/AdvancedGlazingsltd/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/advanced-glazings-ltd-848b4625/?originalSubdomain=ca

https://twitter.com/Solera_Daylight

https://www.instagram.com/advancedglazingsltd/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLHPmKrhHJCVhhWzar1wN1w?view_as=subscriber

https://www.pinterest.ca/advancedglazings/

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


Meet The Disruptors: Doug Milburn Of Advanced Glazings 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.

Rana Salman Of Salman Consulting On How To Be Great At Sales Without Seeming Salesy

Being responsive and reliable: Timeliness and reliability play a significant role in building trust and maintaining a positive impression. Respond promptly to customer inquiries, provide accurate information, and follow up on commitments.

As a part of my series about how to be great at closing sales without seeming pushy, obnoxious, or salesy, I had the pleasure of interviewing Rana Salman, MBA, Ph.D.

Rana Salman, M.B.A, PhD is a renowned expert in the sales industry who is transforming the performance of sales teams worldwide. With a background in marketing and years of experience in enterprise-level B2B sales, she has established herself as a trusted partner for global organizations seeking to elevate their sales strategies and execution. As the founder of Salman Consulting, LLC, Salman collaborates with midsize and Fortune 500 IT companies to create tailored sales strategies, develop compelling sales content, and deliver impactful training sessions. She is also the author of Sales Essentials: The Tools You Need at Every Stage to Close More Deals and Crush Your Quota.

Thank you for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us the “backstory” about what brought you to this career path?

Certainly! My name is Rana Salman, and I am the CEO of Salman Consulting. Our focus is on enhancing the performance of sellers through comprehensive strategies, impactful content, and targeted training. My personal journey into the world of sales and sales consulting began during my Ph.D. studies. As I was completing my degree, I had the opportunity to take a course in consulting, and I was immediately drawn to the field. I decided to give it a try and little did I know that this initial curiosity would lead me to where I am today, decades later, still passionate and dedicated to this work.

Can you share with our readers the most interesting or amusing story that occurred to you in your career so far? Can you share the lesson or takeaway you took out of that story?

I’ve had numerous interesting and amusing experiences throughout my career. One particular story that stands out is when I started my own company six years ago and secured my first deal under its name. It was an exhilarating moment that taught me valuable lessons.

To land that first deal, I diligently followed the best practices we teach our sales representatives. This included customized prospecting, disciplined preparation for sales calls, conducting effective discovery, focusing on the customers’ perspective, and tailoring solutions to their specific needs. Throughout this process, I gleaned several key takeaways:

Firstly, I learned the importance of patience and grit in achieving success. Building a business and securing deals takes time, effort, and perseverance. This experience reinforced the significance of staying committed and determined even in the face of challenges.

Secondly, I discovered the value of trusting the process. By adhering to proven strategies and methodologies, I witnessed firsthand how a structured approach can lead to positive outcomes. Trusting in the process allowed me to remain focused and confident, knowing that I was following a proven path to success.

Thirdly, I realized the power of maintaining a positive mindset. Approaching each interaction and opportunity with optimism and enthusiasm created a positive energy that resonated with potential clients. It taught me that maintaining a positive attitude not only attracts positive results but also fosters stronger relationships and connections with customers.

Lastly, this experience highlighted the importance of celebrating even the smallest victories. Securing that first deal was a significant milestone, and it taught me the value of acknowledging and appreciating progress along the way. Celebrating those little wins boosts morale, motivation, and ultimately contributes to long-term success.

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

Definitely! I’m actually pretty excited about a new project I’ve been working on. It’s my first sales book called Sales Essentials, which will be published by the renowned McGraw Hill this June. The book is a practical guide designed to assist sales reps at any stage of the deal, and I’ve made sure it’s easy to navigate.

Sales Essentials covers all the essential elements needed for success in sales. As someone who is a sales practitioner, I understand that time is a precious resource for salespeople, and we need to make the most of it. That’s why I wanted to create something that provides reps with what they need, when they need it. No fancy jargon or beating around the bush here. I’m laying it all out — straightforward and to the point.

The book is packed with data, insights from my own experiences as a seller and training salespeople around the world, and real-life stories. It covers everything from what to do before a sale, during the sale, and even after the sale. Additionally, I’ve included case studies and helpful sales tools for both reps and their managers.

I believe this book will be a valuable resource for sales professionals, equipping them with the knowledge and strategies they need to excel. It’s all about providing practical guidance that can make a real difference in their day-to-day work. I’m genuinely excited to share these insights and help people achieve their sales goals with Sales Essentials.

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 firmly believe that none of us can achieve success on our own. There are several people who have played a crucial role in getting me to where I am today. We’ll quickly run out of space here if I were to mention everyone individually, so let me summarize the key contributors for you.

First and foremost, my teachers from grade school to postgraduates hold a special place in my heart. When my family immigrated to the United States when I was 11 years old, I faced the daunting task of adapting to a new country and school. The kindness and unwavering belief of my teachers in me were invaluable, even at times when I was questioning myself every day. They nurtured my potential, supported me, and played an essential role in shaping my path.

My parents deserve immense gratitude as well. They embarked on the journey to the US with limited resources, driven by their aspiration to provide my siblings and me with a better life. I watched them day in and day out, working tirelessly and showing unwavering determination to create a better future for us. Their relentless efforts taught me the true meaning of grit and courage.

In addition, I have a remarkable support system at home, especially my husband. His love, support, encouragement, and feedback have propelled me forward. He has been instrumental in helping me grow and achieve my goals.

Lastly, I owe a significant portion of my success to my customers. From the early stages of my career, they took a chance on me, allowing me to prove my worth and showcase my abilities. Their trust and partnership have been crucial in my professional development.

For the benefit of our readers, can you tell us a bit why you are an authority on the topic of sales?

Fair question! I’ve been involved in marketing, sales, and sales consulting for 20+ years. To put it into perspective, my kids were babies when I started consulting, and now they’re almost done with college and high school. So, you can tell it’s been quite a journey! 😊

Throughout my career, I have successfully sold to diverse clients, including medium to large IT organizations, higher education institutions, non-profit entities, and healthcare providers. This breadth of experience has provided me with a comprehensive understanding of the sales landscape across various sectors.

As a sales consultant, I have worked diligently to create and implement effective sales enablement programs. These programs have been developed with a practical focus, allowing sales representatives to navigate each stage of the sales process with confidence and achieve tangible results. My approach is rooted in actionable strategies supported by research and data, ensuring that the solutions I provide are not merely theoretical but grounded in real-world effectiveness.

I am truly honored to have been selected by McGraw Hill as the author of a sales book, which serves as a testament to both my years of experience and the trust placed in my expertise. This opportunity further reinforces my commitment to delivering valuable insights and guidance to sales professionals seeking to enhance their skills and achieve greater success in their respective roles.

Ok. Thanks for all that. Let’s now jump to the main core of our interview. As you know, nearly any business a person will enter, will involve some form of sales. At the same time, most people have never received any formal education about how to be effective at selling. Why do you think our education system teaches nearly every other arcane subject, but sales, one of the most useful and versatile topics, is totally ignored?

Speaking from personal experience, when I first entered the world of sales, there weren’t many resources available to guide me. Many of us from my generation and older stumbled into sales by chance and had to learn the ropes through trial and error. It was definitely a challenging journey. However, I have to say that the situation has significantly improved over time.

Nowadays, there are effective formal sales programs offered by reputable universities such as Texas A&M, TCU, Northern Illinois University, University of Texas — Dallas, Florida International University, and more. I’ve had the opportunity to interact with some of the professors leading these programs, and they are true rockstars who genuinely care about the sales profession. They have developed a compelling curriculum and actively involve industry practitioners to enhance the learning experience.

So, while there may have been a historical lack of formal education in sales, it’s reassuring to witness the positive changes and increasing availability of quality programs that prepare individuals for success in the sales profession.

This discussion, entitled, “How To Be Great At Sales Without Seeming Salesy”, is making an assumption that seeming salesy or pushy is something to be avoided. Do you agree with this assumption? Whether yes, or no, can you articulate why you feel the way you do?

In my opinion, it’s important for sales representatives to avoid being pushy. However, it’s crucial to differentiate between being pushy and demonstrating persistence while conducting value-based follow-ups. When a sales rep adopts a pushy approach, it often indicates an inward focus, where the conversation revolves around the salesperson’s agenda rather than considering the customer’s needs and perspective.

This inward-focused approach can be a major turn-off for customers as it fails to prioritize their interests. It hampers empathy and connection, both of which are vital in developing strong partnerships and high-trust relationships. When a salesperson becomes pushy, it triggers the customer’s defenses and can have a detrimental impact on future sales opportunities. It’s important to remember the simple rule of treating people as we would like to be treated.

By avoiding a pushy demeanor, sales professionals can ensure that the customer remains at the forefront of the conversation. This customer-centric approach fosters a deeper level of understanding, enhances trust, and paves the way for mutually beneficial partnerships. Ultimately, it’s about maintaining a genuine connection with customers, respecting their needs, and building long-lasting relationships based on trust and value.

The seven stages of a sales cycle are usually broken down to versions of Prospecting, Preparation, Approach, Presentation, Handling objections, Closing, and Follow-up. Which stage do you feel that you are best at? What is your unique approach, your “secret sauce”, to that particular skill? Can you explain or give a story?

So, I love prospecting and landing new logos, and it’s one of my favorite programs to train reps on. While I don’t have a secret that makes me exceptionally good at it, there are several key factors that contribute to my success in this stage. Here are some of them:

  • First and foremost, discipline and consistency are essential in prospecting. Consistently allocating dedicated time throughout the week to prospecting ensures a healthy and robust pipeline. Without regular prospecting, the pipeline can suffer, so maintaining a disciplined approach is crucial.
  • Another vital aspect is having a clear understanding of the buyer profile and buyer persona. Identifying the specific buyers who see value in your solution allows for a more targeted and effective approach. This knowledge helps in crafting personalized outreach that resonates with the intended audience.
  • Utilizing tools such as LinkedIn Sales Navigator is instrumental in creating a smart and targeted prospect list. Leveraging different channels, including social media, email, phone, and events, helps build familiarity, establish connections, and expand reach.
  • Effective follow-up is key. Each follow-up should provide value and demonstrate genuine interest in addressing the prospect’s needs. It’s essential to customize and personalize the experience rather than relying on generic outreach, as personalized communication stands out and grabs attention.
  • When there’s interest expressed, it’s important not to delay. Booking appointments promptly is crucial, as the longer the time gap, the less likely you’ll secure a spot on their agenda.

Lead generation, or prospecting, is one of the basic steps of the sales cycle. Obviously, every industry will be different, but can you share some of the fundamental strategies you use to generate good, qualified leads?

Lead generation, or prospecting, is an essential and foundational step in the sales cycle. While every industry has its unique characteristics, there are fundamental strategies that can be employed to generate good, qualified leads. I’ve shared several in my answer above. And I’ll share more here.

  • Familiarize Yourself with the Industry: It’s crucial to have a deep understanding of the industry you operate in. By immersing yourself in the industry’s trends, challenges, and opportunities, you can identify key milestones and events where there is a heightened need for your solution. For instance, in my practice, IT customers often hold sales kickoffs during specific times of the year. Recognizing this, I align my prospecting efforts to coincide with these compelling events, which increases the chances of capturing their attention and interest.
  • Leverage Analytics to Understand Customer Behaviors and Triggers: Utilizing analytics tools can provide valuable insights into customer behaviors and triggers. By analyzing data such as website interactions, content engagement, purchasing patterns, social media engagements, you can gain a deeper understanding of your target audience’s preferences and needs. This information allows you to tailor your lead generation efforts to align with their interests and pain points, increasing the likelihood of attracting qualified leads.
  • Utilize Your Network: As the old saying goes, “Your network is your net worth.” It is a valuable asset in lead generation. Tap into your professional network, industry connections, and relationships with existing customers. Leverage these relationships to seek referrals and introductions to potential leads. People are more likely to trust their internal referral network for recommendations.
  • Revisit Lost Deals and Reengage with Prospects: No surprise, but in the world of sales, we encounter many instances where we lose deals. And it’s not always because we didn’t do a great job, but rather because the timing, pricing, or product didn’t align perfectly with the prospect’s needs at that specific moment. And during this process, many times we genuinely click with the prospect despite not closing the deal initially, which is why it’s important to re-engage with your prospects that you clicked with and stay in tune with what’s happening in their world because there is still potential for future opportunities.
  • Make it part of your process to ask for referrals : Referrals are a powerful tool in lead generation. Ask your loyal customers to refer you to their peers and colleagues within their own organization and outside.
  • Also, don’t forget about the power of expanding within existing accounts. There are leads within these accounts that you need to pay attention to. Treat prospecting within existing accounts with as much diligence as if you’re prospecting into new accounts.

In my experience, I think the final stages of Handling Objections, Closing, and Follow-up, are the most difficult parts for many people. Why do you think ‘Handling Objections’ is so hard for people? What would you recommend for one to do, to be better at ‘Handling Objections’?

Yes, the process of handling objections can be particularly challenging for individuals, and there are a few reasons why this is the case.

Firstly, the fear of the unknown plays a significant role. When faced with objections, salespeople may feel uncertain about how to respond effectively and worry about the outcome. Additionally, there is a strong desire to preserve the hard work put into the sales process and avoid losing the opportunity. This fear of losing can make handling objections feel overwhelming and daunting.

Furthermore, the fear of making a fool of oneself or seeming incompetent can hinder individuals when it comes to addressing objections. Sales professionals often want to appear knowledgeable and capable, and objections can sometimes trigger insecurities about their expertise or ability to address customer concerns.

Another reason why it can be difficult for individuals to handle objections is the emotional attachment they may develop towards their offerings, which can make it feel like someone is calling their baby ugly when objections are raised. This personal attachment can create a sense of defensiveness and hinder their ability to respond objectively and constructively.

Limited experience in sales and a lack of product knowledge, particularly for new sellers who are suddenly faced with customer questions, can contribute to the difficulty of handling objections. The pressure and intimidation of trying to respond to objections without sufficient knowledge or experience can be overwhelming.

To be better at handling objections, I recommend a few strategies. Firstly, preparation is key. It’s crucial to anticipate objections in advance and prepare thoughtful responses. By understanding common objections in your industry or product/service, you can proactively address them during the sales conversation.

Additionally, active listening and empathetic communication are essential. By genuinely understanding and acknowledging the customer’s concerns, you can respond in a more personalized and reassuring manner. This helps build trust and demonstrates that you value their perspective. Furthermore, do not hesitate to seek clarification by asking questions. Occasionally, you may discover that the customer’s intention is entirely different from what you initially assumed.

Also, when faced with objections, be aware of your body language, tone of voice, and overall demeanor. If you come across as nervous or speak hastily, these behaviors can be perceived as signs of insecurity or lack of confidence, potentially undermining your ability to address the objections effectively.

‘Closing’ is of course the proverbial Holy Grail. Can you suggest 5 things one can do to successfully close a sale without being perceived as pushy? If you can, please share a story or example, ideally from your experience, for each.

I believe that a sales rep sets themselves up for a successful close from the first sales call by implementing specific strategies throughout the sales process. Here are five key approaches they can employ to close a sale without being perceived as pushy:

  1. Selling value: Rather than focusing solely on the product or service features, emphasize the value and benefits it brings to the customer. Show them how your solution addresses their specific pain points and improves their overall business. For example, during a sales pitch for a project management software, a sales rep could highlight how the software streamlines processes, reduces costs, and increases team productivity by sharing success stories of other satisfied clients who experienced similar benefits.
  2. Collaborating with the customer on the solution: Involve the customer in the decision-making process and co-create a solution that aligns with their needs. Actively listen to their concerns, preferences, and goals, and work together to find the best fit. Throughout my sales career, I have encountered situations where I successfully collaborated with customers on various aspects, including uncovering their challenges, designing a customized solution, identifying payment terms and SOW structure that works for both parties, and developing a phased approach.
  3. Identifying the internal decision-making process: Understand the customer’s internal decision-making process by identifying the key stakeholders, decision-makers, and influencers involved and their role in the sales process. By doing so, you can tailor your approach and communication to address their individual needs and concerns.

I learned a hard lesson in my career when I assumed an executive was the one signing the contract and approving the purchase order (PO) for a significant deal. With this assumption, I confidently included the deal in my sales forecast, expecting a successful close.

To my surprise, I was shocked to discover that the proposal actually required approval from the board. This revelation caught me off guard and put the entire deal at risk. This situation could have been avoided if I had taken the time to unpack the internal approval process more thoroughly.

4. Always going back to the customer’s “why”: Continuously remind the customer of their initial motivations and goals. By revisiting their original pain points and objectives, you can reinforce how your solution aligns with their desired outcomes. For instance, during a negotiation with a potential client for an onboarding program, instead of solely focusing on the program’s features and logistics, I made a deliberate effort to bring the conversation back to the core purpose. I revisited the primary goal of reducing ramp-up time and demonstrated how our proposed strategy effectively achieves that objective.

5. Being responsive and reliable: Timeliness and reliability play a significant role in building trust and maintaining a positive impression. Respond promptly to customer inquiries, provide accurate information, and follow up on commitments.

For example, I vividly remember an incident that highlights the importance of being responsive. I was in the airport when I received an email notification informing me that a buyer had downloaded a contact me form and wanted to discuss a project. Despite the hectic environment, I found a quiet corner at the airport, quickly researched the buyer, and promptly gave him a call. He expressed sincere appreciation for the immediate response. We were still talking while I was boarding the plane.

During our conversation, we discussed his initiatives and the challenges he was facing. By the end of our call, I had qualified the opportunity and already scheduled a follow-up in-person meeting to delve further into the solution and scope. This swift and attentive approach left a lasting impression on the buyer, demonstrating my commitment to providing exceptional service.

I believe that speed is a competitive differentiator. By prioritizing responsiveness, I not only fostered a positive customer experience but also gained a competitive edge because I was able to get in first and help in developing the vision. Promptly addressing customer needs and initiating meaningful conversations can lead to accelerated sales cycles and increased customer satisfaction.

Finally, what are your thoughts about ‘Follow up’? Many businesses get leads who might be interested but things never seem to close. What are some good tips for a business leader to successfully follow up and bring things to a conclusion, without appearing overly pushy or overeager?

First and foremost, it’s crucial to ask yourself before sending a follow-up, “What value am I adding to the prospects?” Simply sending a generic follow-up like, “Just checking in if you received my last email!” is unlikely to grab your prospect’s attention. Instead, consider leveraging personalized insights. For example, if you come across something the prospect posted on LinkedIn, you can follow up with an email that attaches a relevant resource related to their post. This demonstrates that you’ve taken the time to understand their interests and needs and provided something of value.

Another approach is to stay informed about the initiatives their company is focusing on. Suppose you discover that they are leading a specific initiative. In that case, you can consider inviting them to an event that addresses a relevant topic related to their work. By extending this invitation, you showcase your interest in their success and provide an opportunity for them to further engage with you.

The key to successful follow-up is adding value. Instead of merely checking in, aim to offer insights, resources, or opportunities that align with the prospect’s interests and goals. This approach demonstrates that you’re invested in their success and establishes you as a valuable partner rather than an overeager salesperson.

As you know there are so many modes of communication today. For example, In-person, phone calls, video calls, emails, and text messages. In your opinion, which of these communication methods should be avoided when attempting to close a sale or follow up? Which are the best ones? Can you explain or give a story?

In considering the best approach, it’s important to acknowledge that the effectiveness of communication depends on various factors and contexts. However, when it comes to closing a deal and securing a verbal confirmation, it’s generally advisable to avoid conducting strategic conversations solely over email. The written format can easily lead to misunderstandings or crucial details being overlooked. Instead, opt for video calls or face-to-face meetings where you can actively engage, be present, and maintain attentive communication.

It might be tempting to simply send a proposal via email and ask the customer to review it and provide feedback. However, this approach carries the risk of your message getting lost in the sea of countless emails they receive daily. To make a lasting impression and foster meaningful dialogue, prioritize personal interaction. Utilize video calls to visually share your proposal, allowing you to establish a connection and delve into the customer’s underlying motivations, needs, desired business outcomes, and challenges. By understanding their perspective, you can present a proposed solution that directly addresses their concerns.

Engaging your buyers in real time through video calls presents an excellent opportunity for immediate input and clarification. This enables you to promptly identify and address any potential oversights. During the video call, you can also inform them that you’ll be sending a final proposal via email, incorporating their input and checking for their availability and desired deadline. By establishing this communication beforehand, there are no surprises when they receive the final proposal, setting the stage for a quicker turnaround.

Reflecting on my early career, I vividly recall an incident that serves as a valuable lesson about relying too heavily on email communication. I had sent the Statement of Work (SOW) and followed up several times, but all I received in return was silence. It took me a week to realize that my executive sponsor was on vacation — a clear oversight on my part. This situation could have been easily avoided had I taken a more proactive approach, such as scheduling a video call and guiding them through the proposal while considering their availability. Valuable lesson learned!

Ok, we are nearly done. Here is our final “meaty” question. You are a person of enormous 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. 🙂

If I could ignite a movement that maximizes positive impact for the greatest number of people, it would be to inspire individuals to recognize their power in making a difference. I know it may sound cliché, but I genuinely believe it from the depths of my being. Each one of us, regardless of our background or origins, has the potential to contribute something remarkable to our society and be a catalyst for change. It doesn’t have to be something big. I remember a personal experience that exemplifies this. My math teacher, during my senior year in high school, convinced me not to drop calculus after I failed my first test ever. In that moment, he believed in me and shared the valuable lesson that giving up after one failure is not the answer. It was just a 30-minute conversation, but it made an enormous impact on me. This incident taught me a lifelong lesson. It showed me that even seemingly small actions can create significant change and influence others in profound ways. So, let’s remember that every interaction and act of encouragement, no matter how brief, holds the power to inspire and transform lives.

How can our readers follow you online?

You can follow me on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ranasalman1. And of course, to learn more about the topics we discussed, your audience can pre-order my book at Amazon.

Thank you for the interview. We wish you only continued success!


Rana Salman Of Salman Consulting On How To Be Great At Sales Without Seeming Salesy was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Cam Franca Of Packaging Price On 5 Ways To Create a Wow! Customer Experience

Trustworthiness.

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 Cam Franca, CSR Manager at PackagingPrice.com.

Cam Franca is an enthusiastic customer service professional with over 20 years of experience in the packaging, construction, and steel industries. Dedicated to exceeding the expectations of Packaging Price’s customers, her specialty is making each customer feel valued by listening and following through to the end. Outside of work Cam enjoys traveling and spending time with her 7 wonderful grandchildren who really keep her on her toes!

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?

My grandfather, who I affectionately called Hammy, has been a driving force through most of my life. Hammy’s life lessons shaped me both personally, and professionally. As a wife, mom of four, and “Gigi” to seven, I cherish the lessons I’m now able to pass down to the next generation.

Hammy owned an insulation company and often brought me to work with him. I sat at his desk, messing it up I’m sure — but marveled in the magic of the business surrounding me. The most prominent of my memories was Hammy with his customers. Even now, the warmth envelopes me thinking of the relationship Hammy had with everyone he met. Nice firm handshakes, enthusiastic smiles and a hands-on approach, Hammy showed me what great customer service was before I was old enough to articulate the words.

These life lessons from Hammy carried me as life threw its curve balls my way. They carried me when I co-owned my own insulation company, during my time in the steel industry, as a purchaser, as a seminar organizer, and in my many roles within customer service. All of this experience and knowledge translated into a skill set I find to be an asset to my team.

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?

Rejoining the work force after being a stay-at-home mom is intimidating. I remember sitting at my desk after being asked to convert data sheets into a usable spreadsheet shared among the team. I thought I knew how to use excel proficiently and I’m also sure I reassured my boss at the time I could manage the task. We all know where this is going, don’t we?

I learned in about five minutes that I must have been lying to myself! I resorted to the very professional strategy of texting my teenage children for help. After we all had a good laugh, I turned to watching YouTube videos. I learned so much about the use of the internet and excel. The takeaway was important though. I was more than capable of problem solving and I was more than competent to make it professionally when armed with Hammy’s life lessons and a little elbow grease.

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 would be remise if I only mentioned a few names out of all those who have helped me. The truth is at some point most professional relationships turn into friendships. I’ve had so many colleagues and past managers who stand out because of the role they played in my career development. These colleagues — or friends, challenged me, taught me, encouraged me throughout my career and truly grew me into the professional I am now.

I feel so lucky to be in this role at Packaging Price where I can utilize those skills and share them amongst my team. It is amazing what we can accomplish when we all help each other be the best employees for ourselves. The teamwork atmosphere Packaging Price promotes generates a healthy dynamic where I’m still learning from my colleagues today and hopefully imparting my wisdom back to them.

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?

When I think back on the customers I’ve helped over the years, I smile. Knowing that I helped them achieve their own goals is such a rewarding and powerful feeling. That feeling carried over to my professional success within customer service. Throughout any business’s life cycle, growth is arguably the most fun. Customers are the driving force to growth, security, and stability. Arguably, this is why customer experiences are the foundations to a successful and thriving business. When you can showcase your brand identity through treating customers with humility and kindness, it gives your company credibility and reputation. I’m lucky to be a part of that process.

The ultimate positive customer experience is what I constantly preach to my team. We are tasked with aligning customers’ beginning expectations and final take aways, in partnership. If you can provide a quality experience, customers will associate your brand with that fond memory and will always remember their encounter.

My approach to this partnership with customers is if I know there is an issue, I’ll get it done. Correctly. It’s simply the right thing to do and I’m so lucky Packaging Price allows and encourages us to do the right thing by our customers.

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 believe the customer experience is lost when companies prioritize their bottom line over customers. The way a brand makes you feel draws you in to try their product but how a company treats you is how you become a long-term customer. When a company values money above all else, the customer experience dwindles.

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

About a decade ago, in a previous position, part of my role was assisting internal personnel coming to our Chicago location for short and long-term work trips. A group of recruiters, customers, and current employees had all flown in and were working together on a time-sensitive project. One afternoon we had a terrible storm which resulted in our air conditioning units being ripped from the building adjacent to where these “guests” were working.

The event caused an urgency to move this team from one floor of our building to another due to deadlines and already lost time because of the storm. Utilizing my knowledge of our internal software and onboarding procedures, I was able to quickly jump into action and relocate the entire team. By managing expectations, questions, moving everyone to new desks, and finding available equipment I was able to quickly get this team back on track with their project and they met their deadline.

One of the recruiters was so appreciative he gave me a glowing review on LinkedIn!

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

Yes, I am still friends with the recruiters, and they even placed me in my current position at Packaging Price!

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.

1) Trustworthiness

2) Transparency

3) Brand Identity

4) Problem Solving

5) Listening

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’m so privileged to work for a company that really empowers us as employees to provide a positive customer experience. Even with the best of intentions, life happens, and so I work by these philosophies about customer service. First, keeping your word no matter what. Second, approach everything with thoughtfulness. There is rarely a situation you cannot fix or handle with these two mindsets arming you. Building longevity in business relationships is paramount and trust is of the utmost importance.

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 say a lot of small things make big waves. Having a mass amount of people doing small acts of kindness has a huge ripple effect. As Hammy would say, no matter what you do to help others, having compassion and humility in your everyday life can be the small contribution you make to the big wave.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cam-franca-hauser-780884a5/

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


Cam Franca Of Packaging Price 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.

Female Disruptors: How Kylen Ribeiro Of Lightbody Has Shaken Up the Legal and Energy Industries

Always think about how you can improve the lives of your employees, if you have them. The more you do for your most valuable assets, the more your business will thrive. For example, can you give them a better work schedule or give bonuses as a thank you for growing revenue? Knowing what is important to each person in your business will help you make these decisions.

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

Kylen Ribeiro is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at Lightbody, the premier supplement company for Digital Wellness and today’s modern lifestyles. Using the latest research and knowledge from her team’s relationships with doctors, physicians, researchers, biologists, scientists, and formulators, she created the world’s only supplements designed to support and optimize the body’s overall health and cellular resiliency. Lightbody is the only supplement company that addresses health issues caused by the overuse of digital devices and other toxins.

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 grew up in a cozy suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina. When I was three years old my childhood friend joined a swim team and I couldn’t resist jumping in too! Little did I know that this early exposure to swimming would ignite a lifelong passion for competition and maintaining optimal health. Through my passion, training, and dedication, I became a Division 1 collegiate swimmer at Florida State University.

After earning my Masters in Business Administration, I began my career as an executive at the renowned international grocery retailer, ALDI. For more than a decade, I delved into every aspect of store operations, from humble tasks like scrubbing toilets to managing hundreds of employees. It was through this experience that I honed my leadership skills. I continued my passion for health and fitness during this time and became a registered Yoga instructor.

As I entered the next phase of my career, I was inspired to make a meaningful impact in the wellness sphere, especially after reevaluating my life in the midst of having my first child. I joined DefenderShield, a startup in St. Petersburg, Florida, whose mission is to help people reduce their exposure to digital signals that come from all devices like cell phones, tablets, and laptops. In this rapidly emerging market, I was positioned as a thought leader, and helped the company set the bar for pioneering the Digital Wellness industry.

While the company was successful in protecting people from electromagnetic fields (EMFs), I became increasingly aware of the need to bolster the body’s internal cellular resilience. Realizing that the supplement industry lacked a solution, I linked up with business partners, experts, scientists, and formulators to create something new. Drawing on the latest research, we developed Lightbody’s innovative formulations, designed to support the body’s natural resilience to the challenges posed by toxins and overuse of digital devices.

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

When it comes to Digital Wellness, we’re talking about shaking things up and challenging the way we typically approach technology for future generations. It’s about finding a healthy and balanced relationship with our devices and taking charge of our well-being in the digital world. With everyone hyper-connected and reliant on technology, Digital Wellness is the next health frontier. My team and I have dedicated our work to tackling the downside of too much screen time, information overload, and constant connectivity. We are the only supplement dedicated to addressing these problems.

Everyone on the planet today is exposed to digital devices, EMFs, and toxins, which are all detrimental to health. However, children, due to their size and proximity to their devices, are affected even more by technology exposure through electromagnetic frequencies, blue light, and media content being consumed. They are at risk due to their developing nervous systems, social abilities, and longer lifetime exposure to ever present technology from birth.

Digital Wellness flips the script on our society’s long-held attitude towards technology: that it makes everything easier, faster, and altogether better. My company is committed to education about how to be intentional and how to engage with our digital devices in a healthy way. This mindset opens up exciting opportunities for ideas and products like Lightbody to help manage health in a holistic way.

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 the early days of our business, we found ourselves overwhelmed with orders during the holiday season. We were still a small team, and it was all hands on deck. It was a sight to behold as we were transformed into a makeshift assembly line, clumsily trying to tape packages and slap on labels. Despite our best efforts, chaos ensued as we mixed up addresses, attached wrong labels, and even managed to include some unexpected surprises in the packages. We eventually got our act together, but those holiday shipping mishaps became legendary tales that still make us laugh whenever we reminisce about those early days!

The lesson I learned is the importance of adaptability and maintaining a sense of humor when faced with unexpected challenges. In the early stages of a business, it goes without saying that you must wear multiple hats and tackle tasks outside of your comfort zone. Embrace the inevitable mistakes and mishaps along the journey as valuable learning opportunities. Sometimes you’ll encounter situations that you have to laugh through to keep from crying!

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?

At the age of 14, my club swim team welcomed a new coach named Ron Turner and this marked a crucial turning point in my swimming journey. The timing was particularly significant as it coincided with the start of high school, when college recruiters frequently visited our school. I was already an above average swimmer when Ron became my coach, but he pushed me to the next level by increasing the hours I spent in the pool, while also requiring additional dry land and weight training. He encouraged me to consider how every aspect of my life outside the pool impacted my performance, including sleep and nutrition. Ron recognized my potential and pushed me beyond my perceived limits. Thanks to his guidance, I had the privilege of exploring various scholarship opportunities at Division I schools ultimately choosing Florida State University. There I became a team captain, made lifelong friends, and met my husband, who was also a swimmer.

At my first real job as a retail executive, Dave Rinaldo was my direct leader. He not only held me accountable, but also genuinely cared about me and everyone else that worked for him. When he visited the stores, he made it a point to chat with everyone that was working to get to know them on a personal level. He always remembered details about our lives because he truly cared about us as individuals, not just about how well we performed for the business. His leadership style created an environment where I wasn’t afraid to stumble and learn from my mistakes, all while setting the bar high for excellence. He took the time to understand what motivated me and tapped into those factors to help me reach my professional goals.

The most impactful mentor in my life has to be my current business partner, co-founder of DefenderShield and Chairman of Lightbody’s Board of Directors, Daniel DeBaun. It all started when I crossed paths with his son, Ryan DeBaun, a DefenderShield co-founder, during our Yoga Teacher Training program. As soon as I learned about their business, I felt an undeniable excitement and burning desire to be part of the startup journey. Dan and Ryan gave me the opportunity of a lifetime when they brought me on board. As we grew the company, I established Lightbody as another business venture. Dan’s wealth of experience and wisdom, empathy towards others, uncanny business intuition, and calculated risk-taking have become valuable lessons in entrepreneurship for me.

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?

I have two kids, so I can assure you that disruptive isn’t always a positive adjective for me! However, there are many times in which disruption within an industry can be positive. For example, the way we think about our health as a society needs major disruption. In my opinion, the Western medical industry treats symptoms and does not focus on getting people well by discovering the source of their problem or supporting their bodies in the healing process. We should take cues from healthier societies which prescribe less pharmaceuticals and use Eastern medicine with natural, centuries-old remedies to promote regeneration within our bodies. For example, little known but truly disruptive research by Dr. Robert Navieaux explores Cell Danger Response (CDR), the protective mechanisms triggered by cells in response to various threats (physical, chemical, or biological), aiming to understand and harness the potential for therapeutic treatments in disease and injury. By using specific interventions, including targeted supplements, roadblocks to healing are removed and the body can become well again.

While disrupting any industry can have far-reaching negative consequences, I believe that in the long run, the positive outcomes can outweigh the initial challenges. For instance, although there may be short term job losses and economic ripple effects, embracing new ways of doing things can lead to societal progress.

Can you please share 5 ideas one needs to shake up their industry? If you can, please share a story or an example for each.

  1. Embrace emerging technologies in a mindful way. There are many exciting new technologies to try, such as artificial intelligence (AI). Using new tech as a tool can be great, but make sure to always stay in the driver’s seat. Just like the relationship between health and technology, relying solely on it may have downsides. By being conscious of how we incorporate technology into our creative processes, we can ensure that it serves as a valuable tool rather than overshadowing our own unique vision and decision-making. For instance, while many businesses now have the capability to fully automate customer service, maintaining a personal touch might be the key to fostering long-term customer loyalty.
  2. Invest your time in optimizing high-growth platforms. For example, if you sell products, focus on e-commerce before brick and mortar.
  3. Address environmental sustainability. From small to large impacts, every business can do something to improve its impact on the environment. Attainable things every business can do are monitoring energy usage, implementing waste reduction and recycling programs, and supporting local and sustainable suppliers. At the end of the day, businesses and governments are where the real sustainability impacts are made.
  4. Increase your level of connection with people. Technology, while improving our lives immensely, reduces our face-to-face interactions and can cause other negative impacts to the mind and body. Whether it be having an in-office work environment, or events for your clients or staff, make sure you’re regularly connecting in person with your business partners, friends, and family as often as possible.
  5. Always think about how you can improve the lives of your employees, if you have them. The more you do for your most valuable assets, the more your business will thrive. For example, can you give them a better work schedule or give bonuses as a thank you for growing revenue? Knowing what is important to each person in your business will help you make these decisions.

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

Get ready for a revolution in the way we approach our health and wellbeing, because Digital Wellness is about to shake things up!

With technology infiltrating nearly every aspect of our lives, it’s time to pause and reflect on how it’s impacting us now and for the long term. Just think about it: After hours of screen time, how do you feel? Are your eyes dry and strained? Do you suffer from headaches? Is your precious sleep disrupted by too much screen exposure? Sometimes, when everything else is in check, we overlook the impact of our tech habits.

I’m especially passionate about empowering the next generation with the necessary knowledge and tools to navigate technology safely and responsibly. It’s crucial to me that we equip kids to make good choices to protect their well-being when it comes to screen time. By providing them with the right guidance, we can ensure that they develop healthy and balanced relationships with technology, enabling them to thrive in our increasingly connected world.

Lightbody has some pretty exciting things on the horizon. We are looking at the newest research surrounding novel ingredients for making even more bioavailable formulations to help the body’s cellular resilience. Equally as important is our commitment to embracing more sustainable practices, and one of the key areas we are focusing on is regenerative agriculture. Regenerative agriculture is an approach that goes beyond sustainability, aiming to restore and enhance the health of the soil, biodiversity, and ecosystem as a whole. By utilizing ingredients grown using regenerative practices, such as cover cropping, crop rotation, and regenerative grazing, we aim to not only reduce our environmental footprint but also contribute to the long term health and resilience of our planet for generations to come.

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?

The most impactful book I’ve read is The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. This book opened my mind to what can happen if you embrace the unknown, follow your intuition, and stay attuned to the subtle signs the universe sends your way. The Alchemist also emphasizes the power of perseverance and resilience in the face of obstacles. The message is to stay determined and to view setbacks as opportunities for growth and soul-searching, while always keeping your eye on your goals and your purpose. The book touches upon the interconnectedness of individuals and the universe, exploring the idea that everything is connected. These timeless concepts resonate deeply with me, as they hold true in every aspect throughout life’s journey.

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

“If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life” — Confucius, a Chinese philosopher

I haven’t always felt this way. There have definitely been times in my life when I felt stagnant and uninspired. Through trial and error, I have come to realize that my true calling lies in making a positive impact on people’s health and well-being, a purpose that is closely intertwined with being the best mother I can be to my two sons. Although both my careers as a business owner and a mother come with their challenges, I wake up each morning excited for what the day will bring.

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’m on a mission to inspire a Digital Wellness movement where people of all ages recognize the vital role it plays in overall health and happiness, including precious young ones. Just like eating well, getting quality sleep, and moving our bodies is important, Digital Wellness deserves our attention. We must ask this for ourselves and our children: Is our tech helping or hurting our mental, social, and physical well-being? It’s time to be mindful of our screen time, the content we consume, and how we feel during and after being glued to a screen.

Sure, many of us need to be in front of screens for education or work, but we have the power to counteract the negative effects. Let’s explore the right supplements to optimize and promote cellular resilience, adopt rejuvenating practices for our bodies and eyes, and make a habit of taking breaks. We can reclaim control over our digital experiences and ensure they contribute positively to our lives and our chidlrens’ lives for generations to come.

How can our readers follow you online?

lightbodylabs.com

https://www.instagram.com/lightbodylabs/

https://www.facebook.com/lightbodylabs

This was truly meaningful! Thank you so much for your time and for sharing your expertise!


Female Disruptors: How Kylen Ribeiro Of Lightbody Has Shaken Up the Legal and Energy Industries was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Ainslie Simmonds Of BNY Mellon | Pershing On How To Use Digital Transformation To Take Your Company…

Ainslie Simmonds Of BNY Mellon | Pershing On How To Use Digital Transformation To Take Your Company To The Next Level

Improve Engagement. When you move to an agile way of working, employee happiness goes WAY up. People love working in small teams. They love solving problems. They love being given autonomy. I see it happen every single time I am involved in a digital transformation.

As part of our series about “How To Use Digital Transformation To Take Your Company To The Next Level”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Ainslie Simmonds.

Ainslie Simmonds is a Managing Director and member of the Executive Committee for BNY Mellon | Pershing. She is the President of Pershing X, a new business unit that designs and builds innovative digital solutions for BNY Mellon Pershing’s Wealth Solutions clients, including broker dealers, registered investment advisors (RIAs) and trust companies.

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 as a marketer in consumer products. That taught me the importance of having great products, a powerful story and the value of a trusted brand. As the Internet continued to transform our economy, in 2001 I jumped into financial services because at my core, I believe that people need help with their money, and I saw so many incredible things happening. I spent the rest of my career building products and services to help people be more financially savvy and secure.

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 learned a funny but important lesson about knowing your audience very early in my career when I worked for the Campbell’s Soup company. I was responsible for throwing an event for grocery store managers. I organized a bus to a Buffalo Bills game and thought it would be “efficient” if I served them a boxed lunch on the bus. When I handed them the lunch, they all looked at me like I was out of my mind. They were expecting a tailgate of course. Someone must have been smiling down on me that day, because traffic was so bad, we didn’t get to the game until kick off, so the boxed lunch saved the day. But I will never forget the lesson about knowing your audience.

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 are so many people that I am grateful for in my career it’s very hard to pick out one person but I do often think back to a college professor that gave me some advice just as I was about to graduate. I couldn’t decide between jobs. And she said, take a newspaper (we still read hard copies back then!) and pay attention to the stories you read and the stories you skip. If you find work that is in and around the stories you read, you will have a great career. If you try and work in the stories you skip, you will never be happy. I still smile today when I happily read stories about the work we are involved in. It was great advice.

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 am a big fan of life satisfaction research. I think we only have one trip on this planet and I have always been curious about making the best decisions related to meaning and happiness. So I listen to Dr. Laurie Santos’ “The Happiness Lab” podcast and she always says that our “minds lie to us” when it comes to making good decisions. We THINK optimizing for income will make us happy, but it never does. We THINK choosing work over family will make us happy, but it never does. We THINK the couch and a movie is better than a walk outside, but it isn’t. I have her in my head all the time when I am tempted to listen to “my lying mind” instead of driving toward a happy and meaningful life.

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 was employee #1 at Pershing X (a technology provider and new business unit of BNY Mellon) and having previously worked at start-ups I fully understood the importance of a strong vision and mission. It took me five minutes to write both for us and of course it started with our mission, which is to help financial advisors to help more people. That has been my passion for almost two decades and my role at Pershing X is the biggest stage I had ever been provided to actually make that happen. Our vision is to become the industry leading advisory platform. That is a tall ambition given the fact that our competitors all have had large, established businesses. But we wake up every day believing we can get there.

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

Everything we are working on is both new and exciting. We are building a platform that will help advisors give better and faster service to their clients and we know that means that they will then be able to help more people. Advisors WANT to help everyone, but their business is so expensive to run they tend to only be able to be profitable at the higher end of the market. By helping them be more efficient, we know that they will take on a broader swath of individuals and families and provide them great service.

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?

Every business in the world is going through a digital transformation. Technology is the force that is shaping our time and we just keep seeing breakthrough after breakthrough from the Internet, to smartphones and now to artificial intelligence. The pace of change is breathtaking. So in most companies, leaders are working to retool their workforce to be able to take advantage of all of these things to drive their business forward. They need different kinds of talent (UX designers, data scientists, digital product managers, researchers) and new processes centered around agility and incremental delivery. It is a top to bottom change and it is a huge challenge.

Which companies can most benefit from a Digital Transformation?

There are few, if any, companies that won’t benefit from a digital transformation. Agility is what is required in our fast-changing world. You can’t be in a business today unless you can respond to market conditions quickly or pivot if something doesn’t work.

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 transformation helps every division in a company. It ensures that the company is client-centric and focuses on delivering value — quickly. I’m observing the way digital transformation at BNY Mellon alone is changing the way people think, the way they work, and the way they measure success. But the most important story about digital transformations is it makes everyone happier. When I started at BNY Mellon | Pershing the employee engagement score for my group was low. After changing to a more team-centric, agile method of work that more quickly solved problems, our engagement score surged more than ten-fold in a brief period of time.

Has integrating Digital Transformation been a challenging process for some companies? What are the challenges? How do you help resolve them?

For companies to really be successful, it is critical to let some processes go. The biggest, most challenging thing for companies is to move from project-based thinking to product-based thinking. Projects have a start and an end. Products continuously grow, evolve and change. That impacts how you budget, how you measure success and how you govern. It’s a profound shift.

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. Improve Velocity. Today it is not just large companies that win, it is the ones that can move and change the fastest that flourish. The majority of S&P 500 companies didn’t exist 20 years ago. So the most important thing a digital transformation should measure is velocity. Are you getting things done faster? We obsessively measure velocity and have increased it four-fold over the past year. I still believe there is so much more to be done.
  2. Improve Engagement. When you move to an agile way of working, employee happiness goes WAY up. People love working in small teams. They love solving problems. They love being given autonomy. I see it happen every single time I am involved in a digital transformation.
  3. Improve Client Satisfaction. When you start a digital transformation, if you are doing it right — you will become far more client-centric. You will put things in front of clients faster. You will value their feedback and you will be less afraid to fail. We put a beta version of our product in front of clients after only six months of working on it and we got so much valuable feedback, our second version is so much better.
  4. Lower Costs. Digital transformations should unlock some substantial cost savings. The agile approach means you put far more of the decision-making into small teams that are close to the client, prioritizing client needs.
  5. Improve Transparency. Because the agile way of working demands delivery of small chunks of work, you very quickly see which teams are producing and which ones are not. And at the team level — because teams quickly check in everyday, they quickly self-correct if someone is not pulling their weight. The transparency you get from a digital transformation is terrific.

In your opinion, how can companies best create a “culture of innovation” in order to create new competitive advantages?

A culture of innovation comes from having people who are learners. They are always asking “why” or “why not”? Why do we have to do this cumbersome process? Why can’t we enter this new market? What would have to be true to succeed? People who ask these kinds of questions are the ones who will drive companies forward.

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 is that you either win or learn. Everyone is so afraid of failure and it drives all kinds of strange behaviors. If you can simply consider failure as a fast way to learn, you really can have a wonderful career and life. I guess I have one other favorite thought that goes with the win or learn approach, which is that on the other side of fear is freedom. I try to remind myself to be free to try new things all the time.

How can our readers further follow your work?

Connect with me on LinkedIn.

Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!


Ainslie Simmonds Of BNY Mellon | Pershing On How To Use Digital Transformation To Take Your Company… 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: Markus Buck Of CookingPal On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up…

The Future Is Now: Markus Buck Of CookingPal On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Don’t put on a masquerade. Admit challenges and be honest, whether personal or professional. Having a weakness is inevitable since we are humans. How a person reacts to struggles shows the true nature of that person.

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

Markus co-founded CookingPal in 2018 with a team of manufacturing veterans, with the goal of providing the most convenient home cooking experience in the market. Combining over 30 years of experience in the household appliance industry, they set out to build a holistic ecosystem of multifunctional kitchen devices to make chef-level cooking more approachable, while engaging and inspiring a growing community of home cooks.

Since launching their first product “Multo” in 2021, the team has been recognized with awards and accolades including CES Best of Innovation Award for 2020, the iF design award, and “Best all-in-one food processor” by Insider.

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?

A series of coincidences came together at once — my fascination for IoT household appliances, a personal endeavor to live a healthier lifestyle, and meeting the right people at the right moment. Growing up in a family business in Germany, my dream was to build something that made a lasting impact and that I could be proud of in the future. I love physical products that have everyday-use in people’s lives, so I created software-based features for the purpose of overcoming the frustrations of cooking, which is the perfect problem to solve. It is essential to eat, and for most, it is just a daily duty. A tasty, healthy, yet equally convenient dish is what everyone strives for. During a time of change in my life, I was seeking a constant helping hand in my kitchen and was not satisfied with the products and systems available. My friend’s network introduced me to some industry veterans, and I feel very fortunate to have found such knowledgeable and genuine partners to embark on this journey. The home appliance market is also highly competitive with many barriers to entry, I like overcoming such hurdles and challenging the establishment. Did we underestimate the task? Oh yes. Is it worth it? Most definitely! Developing a category-leading technological brand that is far more than just innovative appliances, but a sophisticated cooking assistant-like software system for the everyday cook — this is what the “Pal” in “CookingPal” stands for.

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

The past few years have been filled with so many phenomenal interactions, it is very difficult to single out an individual event. At the end of the day, the people you create those stories with are what make them interesting and memorable.

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

It’s in the name, CookingPal. We are working towards becoming your personal cook’s concierge, the “Pal” assisting you in your daily cooking routine. Whenever we are determining priorities for products and features roadmap, we do it based on the customer feedback. By integrating hardware, software, and content into one solution, we strive to provide customers with a seamless experience. Customers appreciate the ease of interacting with a single point for anything cooking-related, rather than jumping around over a scattered landscape of seemingly innovative applications. The vision we have for our systems and services is nothing that currently exists, which means it will require a lot of consumer research to help us make the right decisions. An innovation doesn’t just happen overnight, it often requires a holistic approach with many ups and downs along the way, but we are in it for a long game.

How do you think this might change the world?

If we can help to take away some of the burdens to provide a healthy meal to your loved ones and give you a seamless helping hand when cooking, then I think we are making a positive change in this world. Whether it is reducing food waste through well-developed recipes, using fewer appliances due to multifunctionality, or providing healthy, cost-effective alternatives to fast food — we might not change the world all at once, but surely one kitchen (household) at a time.

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

It is our responsibility to keep our customer interest at the center of our technology. It is in our DNA to act in the best interests of our customers and not to exploit their trust. The worst that might happen is that our culinary team suggests an alternative or improvement, based on what one had for breakfast the last few days.

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

Highly complementary feedback was received from a customer after our culinary team uploaded a newly created recipe, which he had requested through our Hub. It’s this close connection with consumers that we love and seeing the joy they have from the work our team does gives us a lot of affirmation and inspires us for new ideas.

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

Stamina — this isn’t a quick rally or a rocket-like wonder. As we grow and scale, we need to continue being close to our customers, we need to hear them, and improve based on what they really want. The best technology is only as good as its use case, and in our world, it is assisting the everyday cook. We will work on partnerships with food brands, content creators, and other appliance brands to create the best user cooking experience.

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

Cooking is an art, but also a science that needs to be mastered. Our products in combination with the recipe content require a certain degree of customer education, hence we are providing cooking demonstrations and classes to all interested customers free of charge. To meet our customers’ needs, our in-house culinary team and chef partners create all our recipes. Since we are extremely hands-on, our customers are the best spokespersons for our brand. As an old saying goes: A way to one’s heart is through one’s stomach.

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 highest appreciation goes to my family for the opportunities, unconditional love, and support they have provided me with. As cliché as it sounds, they have shaped my being and identity, especially my mother.

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

While I believe our products bring a certain level of goodness to people’s lives, I think you’re referring to societal goodness as a whole. We are early on our journey and already have had ideas on how we can give back through programs around food security and sustainability for less fortunate groups.

Even though I donate personally to charities for endangered animal species and cultural art archive preservations, what I deem most important is to look out for one another in one’s direct surroundings. Always pay attention to those around you, not only those you are close to but those you come across on the street too. Be appreciative, respectful, and helpful to one another. The best impact can be made on your immediate surroundings.

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

Don’t put on a masquerade. Admit challenges and be honest, whether personal or professional. Having a weakness is inevitable since we are humans. How a person reacts to struggles shows the true nature of that person.

Learn to say “No”. You should trust your gut feeling when it comes to setting your baseline, your values, and what and who you want to be associated with. Saying yes is easy, but saying no is hard.

Don’t forget the fun. When we’re deep into operational tasks, we can sometimes get heated over difference in opinions. We have a strong team of opinionated and driven people, and we are always having discussions. We often spend more time with our team than with our families, it is therefore essential to laugh together and enjoy each other’s company.

It’s good to trust first in a relationship. This is often a chicken and egg problem, who commits first to a relationship, and who shares some information first. It is a sign of greatness to have trust in another party first. I find it important then to communicate this also clearly up front, that you are the one going the first step.

Scale is not everything. Growing sustainably is essential and it is ok to not be the biggest but be the healthiest. Expansion needs to be supported by a solid team and organization.

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. 🙂

Waste management and resourcefulness of consumption are crucial to create a sustainable future environment. Even starting small is a start and will have an impact.

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

Work hard. Work smart. Be kind.

Kindness goes a long way in business and whether you realize it or not, everyone is in the people’s business. Whether you interact with your customers, partners, or colleagues — engage with those who make you comfortable and ensure they are treated with kindness. Everything comes back to you.

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 🙂

CookingPal is the Apple of the kitchen. We combine innovative appliances with an open software platform and the content as well as feature applications to create the best user cooking experiences. This enables people to provide nutritious, tasty, and easy-to-cook meals for their loved ones every day.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Best to follow us on our CookingPal social media channels on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube.

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


The Future Is Now: Markus Buck Of CookingPal 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.

Lyndon Brathwaite Of OPAAT-SWY Consulting: How To Be Great At Sales Without Seeming Salesy

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Take the time to understand the customer’s why or the reason they are making the purchase.

As a part of my series about how to be great at closing sales without seeming pushy, obnoxious, or salesy, I had the pleasure of interviewing Lyndon Brathwaite.

Lyndon is an easy-going, driven father of one. Outside of his passion for basketball, sports and being outdoors, his goal is to help people with similar experiences to him, become their best selves. He lives by four words which are Change, Create, Difference and Achieve. When put together they mean Change your routine, to Create opportunities that make a Difference for yourself and others and Achieve your goals.

Thank you for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us the “backstory” about what brought you to this career path?

It’s an interesting one for me because up until 25 yrs of age, being in sales was not on my horizon. I was actually studying to be an engineer and working at a bank at the time, and life was good. Then, a few things changed, and I left the bank and was out of work for about nine months.

During that period, which was around 2002, I was introduced to Amway, which was fun at the time, and I think that was my first introduction to sales. While applying for other office-type positions, I saw two vacancies, one for insurance sales and the other was car sales.

I got the job with the automotive dealership in 2003, and the rest is history. Between then to now I’ve held several different sales positions and worked with five different companies in five different industries. Starting my sales career in 2003 changed my life, and it’s instrumental in who I am and what I do now.

Can you share with our readers the most interesting or amusing story that occurred to you in your career so far? Can you share the lesson or takeaway you took out of that story?

The story that comes to mind when is meeting a young lady that walked into the dealership one morning and said she saw one of our cars on the road and wanted to know more about it.

A normal thing, right?

Well not exactly, because I ended up losing that customer because I tried to sell her the vehicle then and there even though she had a concern with the lack of a particular feature in the car. She walked away with a quotation and a brochure, and I never saw her again until about 5 months later.

When we did meet, she was driving a new vehicle that cost $15K more than what we initially spoke about. When I asked her what she liked most about the new car, she said the same thing we spoke about initially.

My biggest takeaway from that was to pay attention to the customer and by extension people. If someone has a concern, try to address especially in sales.

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

The main thing I’m currently working on is my business (OPAAT-SWY), which I started four years ago. It’s a sales enablement company designed to help companies and entrepreneurs increase sales by having a better approach to their customers.

It’s a first in the English-speaking Caribbean, and one I believe will help us change several things that have been plaguing us for some time.

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 sales career would be nothing without Inshan Meahjohn. Inshan was the person that hired me at the dealership but was fundamental in nurturing me into where I am now. The funny thing is we have not worked together in fourteen years, and we rarely see each other. But the seeds he planted about being a father, husband and leader have stuck with me till today.

For the benefit of our readers, can you tell us a bit why you are an authority on the topic of sales?

I’m always cautious about calling myself an “expert” because it’s very subjective, and in the sales industry, things change so often that we always have to keep ourselves up-to-date with new techniques, strategies, insights, etc.

So, what makes me an authority?

I’d say because I am always a student of my craft. I don’t teach anything I haven’t tried because I don’t believe in hypotheticals. If I read something from someone and think it makes sense, I try it. Whether it works or not, I document it and use it to share it with persons I train.

That approach has helped me develop some really good and successful sales teams in my time and is also responsible for some of the success I’m experiencing in my entrepreneurial now.

Ok. Thanks for all that. Let’s now jump to the main core of our interview. As you know, nearly any business a person will enter, will involve some form of sales. At the same time, most people have never received any formal education about how to be effective at selling. Why do you think our education system teaches nearly every other arcane subject, but sales, one of the most useful and versatile topics, is totally ignored?

That’s a great question. I would answer that by saying while sales is a core role to all companies, it’s not seen as a core profession to the point where I’ve seen companies treat sales professionals as commodities and not as valuable members of the team. There are master’s and degree programmes for Marketing, social media management, digital marketing, etc. however, nothing for sales. What is each one of these programmes teaching marketing to do? To “SELL” products or services?

In my country (Trinidad and Tobago), I have seen higher education institutions try to offer sales programmes as short courses, but with sales being one of the oldest professions and one that continuously evolves with new strategies, techniques, etc., there needs to be a dedicated accredited for it. Outside of the schools, companies should spend more time investing in dedicated sales development for their salespeople based on their industry.

This discussion, entitled, “How To Be Great At Sales Without Seeming Salesy”, is making an assumption that seeming salesy or pushy is something to be avoided. Do you agree with this assumption? Whether yes, or no, can you articulate why you feel the way you do?

Yes, I agree that it is important not to come off as pushy or salesy with clients because sales is not about you; it’s about the customer. While I cannot speak for all sales professionals, I have met several sales professionals and was only concerned with the commission more than the customer. Because of that, their customers had horrible sales experiences resulting in the customer not buying.

The seven stages of a sales cycle are usually broken down to versions of Prospecting, Preparation, Approach, Presentation, Handling objections, Closing, and Follow-up. Which stage do you feel that you are best at? What is your unique approach, your “secret sauce”, to that particular skill? Can you explain or give a story?

I’d say my two strongest skills in the sales process are Prospecting and the sales approach. I take a lot of pride in finding and aligning products and services to the right types of customers. It’s an important first start because if you get this step wrong, then you have no sales. Or, you end up with customers experiencing buyer’s remorse because they are not getting what they wanted.

The right approach is just as important because saying the wrong thing can slow a del down or you can lose it altogether.

I don’t have a secret; I teach people how to communicate value over features, how to understand the reason for the purchase and why it’s important for the customer. If everyone takes these things into consideration, then more sales reps will be successful.

Lead generation, or prospecting is one of the basic steps of the sales cycle. Obviously, every industry will be different, but can you share some of the fundamental strategies you use to generate good, qualified leads?

Generating qualified leads requires some sort of skill. So, one of the fundamental things we have to change is the thinking that this step is a “basic” step. Because if it were that basic, companies wouldn’t still have issues with prospecting.

For example, I’m currently implementing a CRM solution in an organisation where the sales team do their own marketing. One guy generates leads daily through his social platform, but he frequently complains that those leads are trash.

However, another sales representative is using the same medium, and they are happy and excited by the leads that are coming in because they close.

So what’s the difference between these two sales reps? The skill and understanding of how to generate leads through social selling. The same goes for prospecting through the traditional medium, and that’s why it’s not a basic step.

For sales reps today, whether they use social platforms, social selling, emails, referrals, on the field, etc. Three things I recommend to be good at prospecting are;

  1. Understand Client Profile based on what you offer.
  2. Be clear on your sales pitch and what value your service or solution brings to that profile.
  3. Pick a distribution channel or strategy to communicate that value message.

In my experience, I think the final stages of Handling Objections, Closing, and Follow-up, are the most difficult parts for many people. Why do you think ‘Handling Objections’ is so hard for people? What would you recommend for one to do, to be better at ‘Handling Objections’?

Effective Objections handling comes first with good discovery. Discover comes in the early stages when identifying why a prospect is interested in your product or service in the first place. Regardless of what you sell, there’s always a reason for the purchase, and that’s what some or maybe most sales professionals don’t do well with “discovery”

I remember losing an opportunity with a major insurance firm even though I offered a solution that saved them USD$148k in their first year. When they declined the offer is was shocked and upset because I felt that $148K was substantial. Plus, I put a lot of work into the proposal. See how selfish that last point was?

The savings wasn’t the CTO’s main concern. It was the impact the solution would have on her team, and because I never discovered these concerns initially or whole going through the proof of concept, it was too much for her to figure out for herself, so they declined the offer.

What’s the problem and lesson from that story? I was trained to sell the solution from one perspective: “show them the savings, and they will buy”, and not from the operational or human resources side of things.

Discovery at the beginning and throughout the sales process allows the sales professionals to identify and handle some of those hidden objections.

‘Closing’ is of course the proverbial Holy Grail. Can you suggest 5 things one can do to successfully close a sale without being perceived as pushy? If you can, please share a story or example, ideally from your experience, for each.

Closing a sale comes from effectively showing a customer the difference between their current and future state. Plus, effectively answering all of their questions, such as how they are going to achieve it, how much it’s going to cost them, what timeline they should expect a return, how they can measure success, etc.

All of the above are some KPIs that a B2B customer uses in making a decision. The important thing for sales professionals is to identify all or any of these things at the discovery stage or as you work on the opportunity to close.

I remember going into a store to buy one shirt but leaving with two.

Why?

Because the sales professional took the time to identify why I was looking for the shirt, how important the event was to me and what else I had in my wardrobe to match the shirt. He also had a good sense of style in men’s fashion and did a very good job helping me see what my outfit would look like on the day.

With that said, five things salespeople can do to be successful at closing are;

  1. Take the time to understand the customer’s why or the reason they are making the purchase.
  2. Understand why or how important it is important to them. Don’t be afraid to ask hard questions like “Why make this purchase now?” or “What happens if you don’t do this now?” or “What does success look like if all goes well?”
  3. Stick to the customer’s outcomes and not yours. Salespeople sometimes need the deal to close more than the customer. This is where the pushiness or salesyness comes in. While creating a sense of urgency is a skill in sales, it can sometimes backfire if you push customers to buy before they have made up their minds. Always align your sales approach to
  4. Be the consultant/expert. When I was in copiers some years ago, customers were impressed with the amount of information my team shared with them about the industry. This helped us build trust and be seen as experts.
  5. Sell value not features. Selling value is very different from selling features, to sell value it means that the salesperson has to see the end benefit that this feature is offering to the customer. Having a copier that prints at 35 ppm doesn’t me it’s fast; it means that the user gets to create large documents in a shorter amount of time which means increased productivity. A vehicle that can break from 100km to 0 in 35 meters doesn’t mean that it stops quickly, but it means a driver has the ability to avoid a collision/accident in an emergency. Saving them the inconvenience of an accident or worse. Those are just two simple examples of value selling as opposed to feature selling that can help opportunities close.

Finally, what are your thoughts about ‘Follow up’? Many businesses get leads who might be interested but things never seem to close. What are some good tips for a business leader to successfully follow up and bring things to a conclusion, without appearing overly pushy or overeager?

Follow-up is a salesperson’s Achilles heel, meaning, many deals are lost because of timely follow.

I remember some years ago I did a follow-up call exercise with one team member and we called a client he quoted approximately six (6) months ago.

Why didn’t he call the customer? Because he did not want to seem pushy so kept procrastinating waiting for the client to call him back.

When we made the call, the client was happy to hear from us and engaged in some good small talk, but then advised that because of the silence their manager made the decision to go with another provider that was in consistent communication with them.

I always tell, reps, “Don’t expect customers to call you back”

How can sales representatives and managers be better are follow-up?

  1. Set A Next Follow-Up Date: At the end of every client, meeting set a next step or a follow-up date. This way a follow-up call or email never feels like an intrusion.
  2. Use A CRM: Technology is a big part of our business so it amazes me when I see sales professionals still using pen and paper to do things that technology can manage for us. A CRM tool is an effective way to stay on top of tasks and not miss important next-step dates.
  3. Practice, Practice, Practice: Effective sales follow-up is a skill and to get better at that skill you need to practice. It’s recommended that sales and business professionals practice this with their teams 1–2 times per week.

As you know there are so many modes of communication today. For example, In-person, phone calls, video calls, emails, and text messages. In your opinion, which of these communication methods should be avoided when attempting to close a sale or follow up? Which are the best ones? Can you explain or give a story?

That’s a pretty interesting question but in 2022, there is no right or wrong way or medium to communicate and close opportunities all of the above are good.

I’ve closed opportunities via, one-to-one email, phone calls, video overview emails with Vidyard, Zoom, in-person conversations, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, etc. It all comes down to the customer’s preferred method of communication and also how you use the follow-up strategy, to set a date and time for the next meeting.

One question I normally ask customers early in our communication is “What’s the easiest or preferred way for us to stay in touch? Based on their feedback, then that is what I use. I recommend sales and business professionals take the same approach.

How can our readers follow you online?

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


Lyndon Brathwaite Of OPAAT-SWY Consulting: How To Be Great At Sales Without Seeming Salesy 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: CJ Looi Of PixCap On How To Go From Idea To Launch

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Talk to users often. Ideally daily. Do a lot of user discovery and validation before building.

As part of our series about the “5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Successful App or SaaS”, I had the pleasure of interviewing CJ Looi.

CJ Looi founded PixCap after a stint at Dorabot, a fast-growing robotics company where he was the head of computer vision and deep learning. His background in robotics and experience in building systems for 3D vision fueled his interest in 3D-based applications, which led him to found PixCap.

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?

Before founding PixCap with Cyril Nie, I was in a robotics company working on deep learning and robotic vision. My job was to teach robots “how to see”. I was surrounded by highly ambitious and talented engineers, many of whom came from top robotics labs such as MIT, Carnegie Mellon and Stanford. Though I did well in my job and learned everything I could (I wouldn’t trade it for anything else), I did not feel that I was making a “real” contribution to the world. I suppose being surrounded by extremely bright people does that — you feel as though your contributions are never as impactful as those of your peers.

Then in late 2019, I was given an opportunity to join a well-known self-driving car company in Shenzhen, to help cars drive autonomously in challenging environments with deep learning and 3D vision. To an outsider, this perhaps sounded like an incredibly exciting job, and it most likely was. But my experience in robotics taught me that if I were to enter a highly competitive industry as self-driving, I would not be able to make as much of an impact as many of the talented engineers and researchers in the field.

I wanted to take my skills somewhere where I could contribute more to society and the wider ecosystem. Then I thought back to my childhood love for video games, and reflected back on the one question that had always eluded me since I was a kid — why is 3D content still so difficult, time-consuming and expensive to make? Perhaps I could do something about it, now that I have a much stronger grasp of programming and 3D.

From there, I had a lightbulb moment, and that’s when I started developing a 3D editor prototype for PixCap, which I used to eventually convince my best friend Cyril to quit his job in London and join me full-time at PixCap.

PixCap initially started as an AI motion capture solution, converting human motion from videos (e.g. dance videos) into 3D character animations. We built a 3D editor around the AI solution to help users edit and augment their animations, with the goal of simplifying the 3D content creation process in video games. Since then, we have shifted our focus towards the design market, focusing exclusively on an easy-to-use 3D editor with thousands of templates to democratize the 3D content creation process for designers, marketers and beyond.

Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey? Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?

We faced a lot of rejection and skepticism when we first started. Rejection from investors, corporate partners and potential hires were not uncommon. But the toughest rejections to handle were those from users whom we thought could have become great customers. I remember on several occasions meeting users that showed a lot of initial excitement, only for them to end up becoming disappointed and ‘ghosting’ us. One of them even told me never to call again.

We never really thought about giving up though. Being passionate about solving a hard problem certainly helps. But also the feeling of knowing we can take risks to build an amazing product from scratch is something that we are extremely grateful for, and something that we would not trade for anything else.

So, how are things going today? How did your grit and resilience lead to your eventual success?

Things are starting to ramp up — we’ve set up a strong foundation in our team and have major plans for 2023. I wouldn’t describe what we have as “success” yet, but our roadmap has never been clearer and we’re more excited than ever to launch PixCap in Jan 2023.

Grit played a huge role in getting us to this point. There were a number of moments where people doubted us, with a few saying that we’ll never make it. Internally, this made us question the usefulness of our product and cast doubt on whether we could achieve our mission of democratizing 3D content. But it seems that “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” has an element of truth. Having witnessed how far we’ve come, how much the team has grown and seeing what users have been able to create with our product has kept us going and instilled in us the resilience to face bigger challenges going forward.

It has been said that our mistakes are our greatest teachers. 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?

The funniest mistake I made when I first started was showing a “broken” demo to an extremely well-established game company. What made it funny was that I didn’t think the demo was broken at the time; I naively assumed that the demo was good to go without any feedback or validation from target users. I sent follow up emails about the demo and kept wondering why they wouldn’t reply back. It was only after I showed the product to a different user that I was told how bad the demo actually was. Surely enough, that was the first and last time I made contact with that game company.

The takeaway? Always get users to proof check your demos, and don’t spend time targeting big companies at the early stage, as big companies often have long adoption cycles and have plenty of alternatives, especially when your product is far from ready!

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

We’re a fully remote team with employees across many countries (UK, France, Mexico, India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Nigeria, Argentina, Russia, Canada, Turkey, and lots more), ethnicities, time zones and cultures. Having a clear understanding in the organization about the company’s mission and values really makes a huge difference in impacting our culture and focus on where we should be heading. It still amazes me how we all came together and are united in our common mission of making 3D a lot more accessible to everyone.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

For fellow founders, be passionate about what you’re solving!

Startups are a marathon. I would advise them to think about this — Is your idea something that you truly believe in, and want to work on for the next 10 years?

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’m grateful to my dad.

Growing up, my dad was very strict with me. He was a typical tiger dad. I did not always have the best grades and would be terrified just talking to him about school, or anything, for that matter. It was only until I left for college that I realized this was his way of setting me up for success, and that he has always been there to support me financially and mentally. He never told me what to study for university, which profession I should strive for, or had high expectations of who I should become. He encouraged me to forge my own path and has always been supportive of my decisions.

Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. Approximately how many users or subscribers does your app or software currently have? Can you share with our readers three of the main steps you’ve taken to build such a large community?

We currently have close to 30,000 users from all over the world, including US, India, UK and Indonesia.

It took a lot of trial-and-error before we got to building a larger community. The three main steps are to know your ideal customer profile well, figure out their pain points and what the key messaging and unique selling proposition should be, then target the channels that they hang out in. This sounds straightforward but many early stage founders don’t always get the first step about customer profiling right. We certainly did not get this right in the beginning; it took us a couple of iterations and wake up calls before we started to figure things out.

What is your monetization model? How do you monetize your community of users? Have you considered other monetization options? Why did you not use those?

We offer a freemium subscription plan similar to Canva. Users can use the editor for free and access free templates, but have to pay a premium subscription for access to many more templates.

We used to monetize on AI credits back when we had an AI motion capture system, but have since shifted to a simpler freemium subscription model.

Thank you. Here is the main question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things one should know in order to create a very successful app or a SaaS? If you can, please share a story or an example for each.

  • Talk to users often. Ideally daily. Do a lot of user discovery and validation before building.
  • Build a community or close group of power users to get feedback and quickly iterate.
  • Launch and ship as quickly as possible. Launching does not have to mean a fully built product — it could be a simple design to validate hypotheses and assumptions.
  • Don’t scale before product market fit.
  • You should strive for your solution to be 10 times better. Solve a problem or pain point that users don’t have great solutions or alternatives to.

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’m not a person of great influence (yet)!

To encourage people to build more and consume less. We live in an era of social media where content is highly entertaining and extremely easy to consume; the average daily social media usage for internet users is more than 2 hours! Imagine a world where people used social media less often and instead spent that time learning and building amazing things for themselves, their community or the world. 2 hours a day may not seem much, but over time it makes a tremendous difference. Albert Einstein once said “Compound interest/growth is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn’t, pays it”.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Check us out on pixcap.com and subscribe to our newsletter!

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

Thank you as well. I appreciate you reaching out for an interview.


Making Something From Nothing: CJ Looi Of PixCap 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.

Makers of The Metaverse: Eric Alexander Of Soundscape VR On The Future Of The VR, AR & Mixed…

Makers of The Metaverse: Eric Alexander Of Soundscape VR On The Future Of The VR, AR & Mixed Reality Industries

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Passion — This industry is full of obsessed people who are either working on this stuff or dreaming about it while they sleep. If you don’t share that level of commitment, you are going to be beat by them.

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 Eric Alexander.

Eric Alexander is the metaverse innovator and creator of Soundscape VR, the world’s longest-running VR music destination. Alexander has been exploring the intersection of art and technology for over 25 years, and in 2014 his passion for audiovisual arts led to the inception of his most ambitious project yet.

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 grew up in a midwest home that wasn’t very interested in computers. I saw huge potential in them, but my family saw them as a distraction, as a waste of time. I was constantly playing a game of cat and mouse to gain more access. My parents would remove the keyboard or mouse, I would replace them with my own hidden devices. My parents would install a physical lock on the computer, I would pick the lock and remove it. It wasn’t until I got to college that I would finally be able to dive fully into that world and satisfy my curiosity, but only as a hobby. I began my studies in microbiology rather than computer science, as I was too afraid that pursuing a degree and career related to computers would ruin my passion if I turned it into something I did for the money.

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?

Seeing the movie Avatar on a lot of edibles had an enormous impact on me in showing the power of technology and art operating at their highest levels, being teleported to a hyper-immersive 3D world that felt like magic. I immediately saw the demand for experiences of that quality level when it became the highest grossing piece of entertainment ever created.

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

The inception of the Soundscape idea happened at a concert in Chicago when I was standing on the upper balcony in the front row and realized how much more enjoyable a concert is when you’re fully immersed with the artist, when there’s nothing and no one in your way blocking your view or breaking the immersion with distraction. There’s a massive chasm between the best seat in the house and the worst, and I realized VR had the potential to give everyone the ultimate concert experience from home, while being a new form of art to celebrate all music and sound.

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

In my first years building Soundscape, I was viewed as a crazy person. I had this idea that I was so confident in and 100% certain that the future was leading to, but everyone I talked to was highly skeptical or dismissive of it. From 2014–2019 I built the foundations of Soundscape, pieces of virtual art that were enjoyed at places like Burning Man, but to the vast majority of the world this was a dumb idea and I was wasting my time on something that would never come to fruition. It was not until late 2020 that the tide suddenly shifted and overnight I went from being considered a crazy person to a genius for seeing the potential in the technology I started developing six years earlier. It made me realize that the best ideas are not celebrated, they are dismissed. So now I teach entrepreneurs that the best indicator that you are onto something powerful is when the majority tells you it will never work. If everyone is cheering you on, you’re probably too late.

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 made when starting was believing I could do this all myself. For the first 4 years of operations, the company existed entirely as myself. I was the lead developer, creative consultant, CEO, marketing director, social media manager, video producer, sound engineer, tech support, hardware operator, as well as a dozen other roles. While it was great to get so much exposure to a variety of operations, I learned that to execute at the highest levels you need other people to get behind your vision and work together. At the same time, too many people and running by committee are just as challenging on the opposite end of the spectrum. I still wear many hats today as it improves the agility of the company and enables us to execute on ideas in a fraction of the time it takes a company 10x our size.

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?

The person who taught me how to think, question, and explore my reality was Carl Sagan. I was a scientist before I became interested in VR, and it was Sagan’s thought leadership that taught me to dream big and believe that anything was possible. When the media was polluting my mind and authority figures of the world were trying to teach me what they thought was right and wrong, I looked to the wisdom of the world’s greatest scientist to choose my path. There is so much noise in this world and people out there trying to influence or propagandize you into their vision of what the world should be, it’s more important than ever to find a voice of good with no ulterior motives. Sagan embodies reason, humanity, wonder, and the pure pursuit of knowledge; in a world of politicized science there is no left like him today.

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

The next exciting project for Soundscape is going to be taking livestream concerts to the next level. We’ve seen an outpouring of creativity from artists during the early stages of COVID in performing from home, but that only goes so far when you have the limitations of fans experiencing that content on a phone or laptop in an isolated fashion. We can level up any stream so that friends & fans can join together in a shared experience, dancing side by side and experiencing that content in a highly immersive fashion that feels like a real life concert with a presentation that will satisfy even the most discerning audiophiles and videophiles.

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?

The first thing that excites me is the fact that this all is an enormous blank slate of untapped creativity for so many artists. Every other form of entertainment, be it books, film, or music, has a lot of history and many of the good ideas have already been taken. It’s very hard to make a music video that hasn’t been done before, you may set out to create something original only to find someone executed a similar idea decades ago. I love creating in VR knowing everything I produce is wholly original.

The second would be that these technologies are not only in the hands of the biggest companies, the real innovation is happening on a smaller scale with those that are driven by passion. Mark Zuckerberg may want you to think he invented the metaverse, but the reality is he is losing the race to many smaller companies. The last would be that these technologies have the potential to eliminate many of the problems of the real world and be a great equalizer. The music industry as a whole is designed to siphon value away from artists themselves and enrich other middlemen like ticketing companies or vendors selling 20 dollar drinks. We connect artists and fans directly which means the artist takes home more money than ever before, and the fans pay a lower price with a host of other benefits.

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?

My concerns with VR mirror that of other advanced technologies like the internet, social media, or smartphones; that in time the powerful come to control them and warp their creative potential into a massive advertising and data mining tool. We see that already with Facebook/Meta where they buy their way into this industry and poison the well for everyone else, now there is a lot of justified fear around VR because Zuckerberg is in charge of the largest company. He sells his headsets at a loss so no one else can compete, and suddenly we’ve gone from new exciting fun technology to being on the fast track to dystopia and falling back into the same problems that have befallen other industries. As much as many are opposed to this, there are plenty out there that don’t value their data and will happily give away all their information to Zuckerberg to save $100 when they buy their next headset. We really need to see more conscious buying decisions from consumers on who they are choosing to support and recognize the effects of voting with their wallets. I can’t stop anyone from making those choices, all I can do is provide an alternative for people who value freedom and aren’t interested in enabling the Zuckerverse.

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?

It really depends on the industry, there will be areas where these technologies can make a larger impact than others. Training is a great example of the strength of VR, imagine you are a surgeon or an industrial worker or anyone where there is some level of risk in performing your day to day operations. Being able to lower the stakes and gain proficiency without putting anyone in harm’s way is an enormous benefit. Meetings, conferencing, and in person collaboration will also be huge, the ability to teleport across the world and be face to face with anyone in a real way has enormous benefits for productivity and the environment. And lastly remember, what is entertainment for one person is work for another, so the other side of the equation for musicians or entertainers offers less travel, more family time, and new creative tools.

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

The unique thing about these technologies is that they will offer the greatest benefit to those in lower socioeconomic status. For someone who lives in a 100 sq ft apartment, the ability to teleport to a lakeside mansion is far more powerful than for someone who already lives in one. All of the metaverse technologies are great equalizers that remove the barriers that come with location, distance, and accessibility.

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

The biggest myth that almost stopped me in my tracks was the idea that I had to go to school for this and pay for a piece of paper from an accredited university. I had been programmed to believe that without the validation of these educational businesses I couldn’t succeed, but the reality is the traditional education system is so far behind these new technologies they end up holding you back. With the power of the internet and the limitless information available, your mind and desire is the only limiting factor. All of my greatest successes in life have been areas in which I am self-taught and relied on my own mind for education rather than looking to validation from others.

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

1) Passion — This industry is full of obsessed people who are either working on this stuff or dreaming about it while they sleep. If you don’t share that level of commitment, you are going to be beat by them.

2) Financial Backing — The latest technologies cost a lot of money and the timeframes are long. 99% of businesses in this space are losing money today due to the heavy competition, you must have a plan to survive until the 2030s.

3) Creativity — The foundation of this industry is creativity and trying new things, just copying an existing product and bringing it to the metaverse isn’t enough to be successful, you must carve out your own niche.

4) Vision — You must understand the intersection of big ideas and what is actually possible today, as well as what future technologies will enable. You should have a 20 year vision for your product and how it will evolve during that time.

5) Dedication — It is going to take decades for these technologies to begin reach their potential, you must have a long time horizon and be willing to stick with it, rather than just try to capitalize on the latest buzzwords.

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. 🙂

My dream is for people to flex their critical thinking skills and use their own minds to determine their reality rather than looking to major media outlets and talking head “experts” for answers. Whether it is the New York Times, Fox News, or a tabloid at the grocery store checkout, the media has a 100+ year history of manipulation and lies to propagandize people and turn them against one another to distract from the real problems we all face. The world cannot improve in a meaningful way until these media establishments are recognized as the cancer they are and their influence is removed from society.

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 wasn’t for Elon I wouldn’t be here today. My investments in Tesla are what has provided the funding for Soundscape for 9 years and counting, and I’ve always looked to him in lessons for how I build my strategies and run my company.

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


Makers of The Metaverse: Eric Alexander Of Soundscape VR 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.

Making Something From Nothing: Lance Zaal On How To Go From Idea To Launch

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Build a team, and a cadre of leaders. Your role will change rapidly, and you need to adjust both yourself and your organization to meet these changes as it grows.

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

Lance Zaal is an entrepreneur, investor, veteran, and business owner. Zaal owns and operates businesses in the tourism, hospitality, and software industries, including US Ghost Adventures, which includes the Lizzie Borden House and Brickhouse Inn Bed and Breakfast, and Junket.

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”?

This can be found on my website at lancezaal.com

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 have a favorite quote.

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?

Not really, but there were many books and a few films that I enjoyed and took something from.

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?

First, if it can’t be transformed into a sustainable enterprise, it’s probably not a great idea, and should be abandoned to pursue something that will work. The idea should be scalable, fairly inexpensive to get off the ground to gain some traction, and ideally covering its own expenses relatively quickly. All aspects of costs, risks, and revenues should be considered, while the business model and its assumptions should undergo heavy scrutiny. An experienced entrepreneur mentor is very important.

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’s not relevant. Who cares who else thought of an idea? This is fear at first thinking. What matters is creating a sustainable, strong business. Just because there are others in your market, doesn’t mean you can’t succeed in it, or even redefine it. What is important is ensuring you don’t break the law, whether that be a trademark, patent, or whatever.

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.

Every journey, industry, and startup is different, so it’s not appropriate to make a generalization. Not every idea will be a physical product, and not every product or process may be patentable. But you need to have a solid business plan, understand your risks and costs, understand realistic opportunities to ensure sustainability, and execute your plan to achieve growth. Processes and people (your team) are the most important. You must understand your market: your competitors and the customers, and where and how things are changing. What value do you add? Why should people pay for your product or service instead of everything else they can do with their money? And how will you convince them?

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

  • GET A MENTOR
  • You’re on your own. You have no friends. The market is god.
  • Do things by the book, don’t cut corners. Payroll, legal.
  • Design is critical.
  • Focus and flexibility is the most important. Don’t waste your energy on things that don’t advance your vision and mission; be unrelenting and selfish with your time. Pivot quickly when it appears you’re spinning your wheels (and understand why).
  • Build a team, and a cadre of leaders. Your role will change rapidly, and you need to adjust both yourself and your organization to meet these changes as it grows.

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?

Speak to a patent attorney and an experienced entrepreneur who can help guide you.

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’m a big fan of bootstrapping first. Show it has potential, then go for the money. You’re doing this for you and your vision, not for VCs. So first make it work for you. If it’s sustainable and has scalability, then you can approach VCs- if you need to. Every situation will be different based on needed startup costs.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

I have hired many employees, and we touch many customers every year with our stories and experiences. Personally, this year I supported Ukraine during Russia’s invasion, which resulted in saving the lives of many Ukrainians, and helping to combat the Russian army. Read more on my website or here — https://www.linkedin.com/posts/imatveichenko_every-war-produces-heroes-as-they-say-light-activity-6995022295958220800–kSf?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

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.

Strengthening democracy, and humanitarian efforts to combat disease, and ensure access to clean water

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 do this with anyone really. I don’t have a network and grew my business on my own and without external funding. I’d like to make new connections, maybe friends, and possibly explore other opportunities to expand my business in the travel, tourism, and hospitality space.

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

Thank you as well. I appreciate you reaching out for an interview.


Making Something From Nothing: Lance Zaal 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.

Making Something From Nothing: Bryan Smeltzer Of LiquidMind On How To Go From Idea To Launch

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

It will always take longer to build…before they come; You must plan for a long adoption cycle, increased cost, and lower ROI in the early years.

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

Bryan Smeltzer is a successful consumer products business executive and entrepreneur. He has held executive-level roles in business development, product, and marketing with some of the world’s most prestigious brands, including; Oakley, TaylorMade, Adidas, K-Swiss, and Schutt Sports, among other international brands. He also founded a men’s apparel brand, successfully running a profitable business for ten years, eventually selling to a VC firm.

He also hosts a Podcast called The Visionary Chronicles. In addition, he released his first bestselling book this year, The Visionary Brand, The Success Formula Behind the World’s Most Visionary Brands. He recently received the prestigious Readers Favorite Award for BEST Non-fiction, Marketing Genre book.

He is also a member of the Board of Advisors at UCI’s BCIE along with their New Venture Program, an Innovation Advisor at the UCI’s Applied Innovation program at the Cove, a Mentor/Advisor to UCLA’s Price Center Venture Accelerator Program, and a Mentor/Advisor at the San Diego Sports Innovators Accelerator (SDSI) center.

Bryan currently oversees LiquidMind Inc., a global brand strategy firm that partners with start-ups and established mid to large-cap consumer brands to empower businesses to think differently, be different, drive a passionate culture, and execute relentlessly.

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”?

Having grown up in a blue-collar family environment in North Dakota, we were taught early on how to be independent and find a way to always provide for ourselves. Having two hard-working parents who, month to month, were trying to make ends meet, it was a tough life for a family of five living in a small trailer through brutal winters.

I always knew I would leave at some point. I needed the moment to propel me into this new world outside North Dakota. This moment came during my last semester at the University of North Dakota, where I would move to California to finish my engineering degree, never looking back and with nothing in hand. I survived my first year, eventually finding a role with an aerospace company in Manhattan Beach.

After five years in the aerospace industry, I found my true calling was in consumer products. At this point, I started my apparel company, UTOPIA, an upper-tier men’s apparel collection. But, again, I started with nothing in an industry where I knew virtually nothing, eventually building over ten profitable years into a brand when I sold it to a VC firm.

After selling my apparel brand, I transitioned into consumer products, moving from my own company to working for some of the world’s most iconic brands. I started with Oakley, successfully building the Athletic Division, then I would move on to K-Swiss, where I would lead their global apparel/accessories and licensing. Eventually, I would end up at TaylorMade/Adidas Golf as their Vice President of Global Softgoods and Accessories product lines. Also, I would lead several international brands such as; SKINS performance apparel out of Australia, ARENA swim out of Italy, and ZAMST bracing/supports out of Japan.

Each was a unique experience, eventually leading me to LiquidMind, a global brand strategy firm out of Southern Cal. Having been with so many international brands, I found that this served me very well in founding LiquidMind, as I knew there was a significant void of brand services available to these companies.

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

There is a portion of a scriptural verse from Ephesians 6:13, “Having done all…stand.” This verse is relevant to me, especially as I was going through the trials of being an entrepreneur and throughout life when barriers to success seemed to come out of nowhere.

Overcoming and conquering fear through faith and courage are foundational values everyone should have. Still, most do not, and this verse is a constant reminder to do as much as is humanly possible and leave the rest for divine intervention.

I have found in building my own company and eventually selling to a venture capital firm that you are only human, and all the worry in the world will not change your circumstances. So it is always best to do the best you can and stand firm, stand tall through the storms of life, both personal and professional.

Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that significantly impacted you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

Yes, there have been many books I have read over the years, and each has provided a building block for my foundation to achieve success both in life and business.

These books are timeless. Each provides insight through situations you will face and offers practical knowledge for achieving your goals, the leadership to inspire teams, and knowledge to drive disruptive brands that move beyond the status quo.

My favorite biography so Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. The book provided direct knowledge into Steve’s life, mission, and successes and failures, and it is the only book commissioned by Steve to be written by Walter.

For inspiration, I read a timeless book by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale called Bible Power for Successful Living. When you go through life, it is always good to have an anchor to hold to and to know you are not alone in your Journey. This book has been my anchor, the soul of what will lead you to a purposeful life and not lose sight of how to live your life, not just live.

For knowledge, I am an avid reader of Tom Peters. Between Steve Jobs and Tom Peters, through them, I created a foundation for my product, design, and marketing inspiration that served me well, along with a good dose of Oakley’s passion injected as well.

These are all inspirational books, but each has a specific purpose. I am an avid reader, and it is always challenging to come up with one, but this is a great start!

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?

Ideas are the beginning of a long Journey. The Journey can be one where it is to aspire to become an entrepreneur or provide an idea to drive the brand forward.

Each has its challenges, but both are full of barriers and often lead to frustration and failure — those who understand that these are stepping stones to accomplishing the most in life. I often reference Thomas Edison, who is an excellent example of perseverance. He had 999 successful failures before inventing the light bulb. So it is, first and foremost, your ability to persevere through failure. It should not be your goal to succeed without failure. If you go in with this attitude, you are sure not to succeed, for no great idea has succeeded without first failing. Failure is a badge of honor and is what all great visionaries embrace.

In my new bestselling book, The Visionary Brand, The Success Formula Behind the World’s Most Visionary Brands, I discuss this process, the formula all Visionary brands embrace to succeed.

Some of the most successful brands embrace the following.

  • Failure | fail fast, fail often, for each failure leads you one step closer to success.
  • Risk | always take risks; unless you risk something, you will never accomplish anything meaningful.
  • Vision | define your Vision, set your foundation, and lead your brand. Never compromise for short-term gain.

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?

When thinking of new products, define what you want to solve, define your customer, and determine the addressable market. Each of these is critical to ensure your idea is viable. There are so many variants of products in the marketplace that it is impossible to ensure no one else is doing the same product or process. The key to success is either to reinvent a current product or process, making it either easier or faster, or a revolutionary product, something new or different way to do something already established, a breakaway opportunity.

I am a big believer in “breakaway” products, which set you apart from the competition and allow for drawdown products. In building this platform, you are creating something that may not be your best seller but sets you apart from your competition and provides talking points to marketing and sales. For an idea to gain oxygen and live, you must first give a path to life, and this is done by setting a vision to provide a better way or an entirely new direction. Neither is easy, and why are so few brands, and millions of commodity imitators?

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 will provide a short answer to a highly complex question. I have written a book called The Visionary Brand, The Success Formula Behind the World’s Most Visionary Brands, and inside I have written extensively about this “formula” brands integrate into their foundation.

Their foundation, once established, does not change, it shifts with the times, but its character and original principles on which the company was built do not. The difference between a brand and a commodity. Brands innovate, are disruptive, and provide a lifestyle experience. Commodities do none of these.

I mention this because you must first have a defined brand or what you would like to be or provide. Then once this is established, you can build products around this positioning. This is mandatory for you to be considered authentic. With DTC becoming more critical and dominant, your ability to engage, provide value beyond product, and be consistently excellent will seal your success.

Your path to commercializing the idea is knowing who, what, when, where, how, and why. These essential questions must be answered before deciding to spend money on prototyping. So, first, concept, answer these questions, and third do a proof of concept (POC). Once you thoroughly vetted the idea through this process, you will need to build a detailed business plan and brand deck to solidify your investment and thought process.

Once these are completed, you will need to source your product for proto, ensuring you have defined all production parameters. Never go with a factory that does not have the core competencies or capacity to build your proto properly or fulfill your production as you move forward. There are many items on the checklist, too many to mention, but this provides a good start.

Having patented over 15 different products with Utility Patents, first, I would say do not bother with a design patent; always strive to get a Utility Patent, and be realistic with your chances of successfully getting a Patent. This is usually where other ideas come out of the woodwork, some in retail, but many are not. But remember, either way, the inventor has the rights to the product design or utility.

Finding a retailer starts with having a great idea, not after the fact. The retailer will be the culmination of commercializing your idea, one which you are passionate will succeed.

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

The five things I wish someone would have told me before starting to lead my company;

  1. It will always take longer to build…before they come; You must plan for a long adoption cycle, increased cost, and lower ROI in the early years.

You must be able to ride out these first initial years when the failure rate is the highest. Manage expectations for growth and always have a plan for alternate scenarios. Expect the best, but plan for the worst. This provides the confidence to have a dynamic strategy and adapt to market conditions quickly.

2. It will cost more than you planned or anticipated; always plan for higher investment, be honest with projections and realize why companies fail, with cash flow being near the top of the list.

Have a detailed Budget, track it religiously against actuals and adjust where necessary to ensure you are maintaining cash.

Also, a rapid understanding of growth can kill off a business as quickly as no growth. If you do not have time for a “cash flow breather,” it may be too late, and you will choke off your business.

3. Bootstrapping is necessary; since it will always cost more than anticipated, it should be a common practice.

However, it becomes a hindrance if you do not know how to prioritize investments. Yes, investments in your future, your livelihood as an ongoing company.

4. You will wear all hats at some point; you must understand all aspects of your company. But, unfortunately, you will not be able to hire this expertise, at least not initially.

If you do not know how to manage the financials, learn it before turning it over to someone else. The more you learn, the more prepared you are for managing the ups and downs that inevitably happen when starting and running a company.

5. It’s Lonely; when you build a true start-up with a high risk of failure, it will feel very lonely at the top.

You will not have others to lean on in a crisis, and you must be both a leader and a preacher. So you are leading the company through trying times, continually preaching that everything will work out and we will succeed, even when you may not be convinced.

It is a highly stressful feeling and one you can not necessarily share with others at work and do not want to bring home.

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?

First, define the who, what, why, how, when, and where? These are broad questions, but each has a specific purpose in ensuring you are thinking through what you want to achieve, how you will get there, and what it will take to realize your Vision.

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 independently?

If you have a good handle on developing a product or process, then my answer is an absolute no; however if you have an idea or a concept, but no idea how to create a prototype, then maybe. I do not say yes in either instance, as you will go through many steps before needing someone to support your product proto-build.

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

You will be hard-pressed to get anyone interested in an idea. Therefore, it is best to first conceptualize your story with a “beauty deck” that will both impress and explain what you are looking to achieve by creating your product.

I recommend bootstrapping, finding a mentor with no ulterior motive, or an accelerator group. These two avenues for support will guide you to mentorship in areas where you need support with your weakness. Everyone has flaws; the sooner you strengthen these and improve your strengths, the better off you will be near and long term.

In deciding between the two, you must determine how comfortable you are with telling your story around the idea or if you have the current skillset to complete all aspects of the business planning process. If not, find mentors, complete these tasks, prepare through dry runs with mentors, and present to venture capitalists, but spend most of your time on DIY (do it yourself).

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

There is not enough support for the Entrepreneurs community, true Founders, starting with nothing and building something of value to others.

I know their struggles and the trials or barriers they have to overcome daily. This stress sets in and eventually bleeds into their professional and personal lives. They need support and may not always know where to turn or find a trustworthy resource with no ulterior motive.

This is why I started the Christian Entrepreneur Leadership Ministry at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA. Yes, the same church was led by Pastor Rick Warren, author of Purpose Driven Life.

I hope this Ministry provides a valued service to those in need of support and a trusting environment for other Entrepreneurs with no ulterior motive other than to serve others.

I also give back time to young Entrepreneurs through voluntary mentorship. I am a Board Member at the University of California, Irvine, Beall Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, and UCLA’s Price Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, where we mentor young entrepreneurs throughout the year and provide funding to get them started in their Journey.

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.

Find inspiration through Faith, the Faith to know that all things do work together for good. Stand tall through your trials, and know that you are not alone.

We are 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.

#ElonMusk

#Guy Kawasaki

#TomPeters

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

Bryan can be followed through these sites;

The Visionary Chronicles: https://bryansmeltzer.podbean.com/

  • Spotify
  • iHeart
  • Google Play
  • Apple Podcasts
  • Pandora

Email: [email protected]

Facebook: @bryansmeltzer33

Instragram: @bryan_smeltzer

Twitter: @bryansmeltzer

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/bryansmeltzer/


Making Something From Nothing: Bryan Smeltzer Of LiquidMind 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.

Making Something From Nothing: Kay Giesecke On How To Go From Idea To Launch

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Learn patience. This helps with all of the above. If you expect that everything needs to be done or happen quickly, you will eventually drive yourself and everyone around you crazy.

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

Kay Giesecke is Professor of Management Science & Engineering at Stanford University.

He is the Director of the Advanced Financial Technologies Laboratory and the Director of the Mathematical and Computational Finance Program. Kay is a member of the Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering. He serves on the Governing Board and Scientific Advisory Board of the Consortium for Data Analytics in Risk. He is a member of the Council of the Bachelier Finance Society.

Kay is the founder, Executive Chairman and Chief Scientist of Infima Technologies, a capital markets technology company building transformative prediction systems for fixed-income market participants.

Kay is a financial technologist and engineer. He develops stochastic financial models, designs statistical methods for analyzing financial data, examines simulation and other numerical algorithms for solving the associated computational problems, and performs empirical analyses. Much of Kay’s work is driven by important applications in areas such as credit risk management, investment management, and, most recently, housing finance. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, JP Morgan, State Street, Morgan Stanley, Swiss Re, American Express, Moody’s, and several other organizations.

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 East Germany behind the Iron Curtain. When I was fifteen years old, the walls came down, and the whole world opened up. It defined my childhood in an almost indescribable way. Not only was it unexpected and entirely different, but I was also old enough to experience and remember the communist systems as they were and didn’t know another way, so to speak. Communist systems were the opposite of what we are now. It was the complete opposite end of the spectrum compared to the world I had experienced before that moment in history. I was also at the right age to take advantage of the many new possibilities and explore them. And I was at the cusp of the time in life when I started thinking more seriously about my future and professional goals. The independence I gained at fifteen was inconceivable before that moment when the walls came down.

To think then, the concept of a startup was completely nonexistent. There was no such thing. When I look back to what shaped me as a founder and, more importantly, as a person, it was that defining moment in time. And I mean this two-fold. One was to experience the world in an entirely new way, but when we were under a communist regime, we had to be inventive and imaginative to get what we wanted. It was in that inventiveness that I learned to make more out of less and get creative. I’ll get into that more later in this interview.

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 have a specific life lesson quote that I can point to, but I can point to life lessons I learned along the way.

When I was growing up in East Germany, you could not go out and purchase anything you wanted. There was a limited set of things you could buy, and if you wanted something — whether a toy, a game, or some sort of unavailable commodity — you had to be creative in order to make it. It forced us to be inventive and think differently and constructively. It was an unconventional upbringing. To be creative, inventive, and use our imaginations to make use of what we had available in order to have the things we ultimately wanted. This way of thinking has helped me tremendously in building a startup. In a sense, we were learning life hacks before that was an actual term.

With startups, you start out with fewer resources. Sometimes, we need to develop our own creative solutions — our hacks. How do we get to where we need to go without all the resources we’d hope to be available?

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 don’t have one particular book or other media that significantly impacted me, but I can share that I make time to read books, primarily fiction. I recently read Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, a captivating four-generation saga of a Korean family facing constant uncertainty and misfortune. What deeply impressed me was the characters’ kindness, persistence, and determination against all the odds. (Not unlike the situation one faces building a company.)

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?

I’m sure many say this, but it’s definitely more challenging than I thought it would be. I can understand why execution is everything — ideas are, in fact, cheap, and rather, it’s all in the execution. I now can see the wisdom in that sentiment. Everything took longer than expected, and it’s important to develop patience.

Because of my academic background, it wasn’t easy to put a meaningful timeline on development especially. It is one thing to develop a prototype in an academic setting but then taking it out to the commercial domain is another battle, a different skill set. My team and I learned new skills, techniques, and approaches to take the concept from the academic lab to a viable commercial business, which is now Infima. Infima is a fixed-income predictive analytics provider focused on the mortgage market.

After several years, I also made the decision to bring on an experienced CEO, Hendrik Bartel. I liked what he was doing at his former company, Truvalue Labs, applying AI systems to ESG problems. We talked over a series of six months or so, and it all happened very organically. It was with Hendrik and others that I sought out insights and held regular discussions as we looked to make decisions at Infima. Part of overcoming some of our challenges was to enlist the help of others, all with a varied set of experiences, skills and expertise. It made for informed decision-making.

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?

To come up with an idea, it’s usually because someone already has experience and is fairly immersed in a space or topic rather than sitting in a vacuum. Many have a professional background or know someone who has experienced challenges doing something, and the solution to that problem leads to an aha moment. Hopefully, before deciding to take an idea to fruition, there is a lot of leg work done beforehand, as well as validation and insights from others. At least, in my experience, that’s how we came across an idea.

I’d also advise someone to do your due diligence and gather data points through independent research. Knowing the space is the number one priority, but you can never rule out that other people are working on similar ideas. They could be doing it in stealth, or it can be an idea incubated at a large company, and there is no record of it whatsoever. This reality shouldn’t stop you, but it does point back to my point of due diligence. And it goes back to what I mentioned before -ideas are cheap; it’s all in the execution.

For Infima, it wasn’t an aha moment. Instead, we developed the core technology in an academic research setting at Stanford. The idea to start a company came to fruition from the reception we received when presenting to financial industry people. That was the trigger point — not the typical way — but more of a set of circumstances coming together at the right time. We had something that was really resonating with the investment community, although we didn’t initially plan for it to become a commercial venture. It’s about doing the work, then figuring out the path to commercialization.

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.

Filing for a patent is certainly something I can address. At Infima, we did go through the process of submitting patent applications. It’s an expensive, lengthy, and time-consuming process. I’d advise anyone looking to do so to think about the ROI. Is it necessary, and what’s the intended result? Those are some of the questions I’d ask.

We learned there are certain things that you cannot patent — such as mathematical algorithms. There’s something called “lack of patentability”. The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), in a sense, wants to see something physical — software can be an entirely different ballgame. They changed some of their criteria several years ago. I’d go back to a business person or idea person asking why they need it before they invest in it. You may want to consider keeping the secret sauce confidential in the end if there’s no real gain from a patent.

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

If someone had told me how hard it would be to build and manage the right team, raise funding, build out the technology stack, find the right partners, and do all those things a startup founder does while balancing family life and staying healthy, I probably would not have started the company in the first place! The truth is that you need to have a very generous amount of optimism to start a company. Ignorance was not bliss at first, but I’ve learned a lot along the way. I have a top four that I’d like to share:

  1. Surround yourself with the right people. This is always important, but especially so when you’re first starting out. You have to be able to trust people who can collaborate with you, but who can also take an idea and run. It takes a special type of person to work in a startup, and it’s not just about having the smartest people. You also need people who care about deadlines and quality yet also have empathy amongst others when someone needs to pick up their kids from school.
  2. Make time for family. Early on this is a tough one, because you’re trying to move your company forward, but if you don’t put boundaries in place. If your family isn’t happy with you, you won’t be your best at leading a company. When a founder makes his or her family’s importance known to the rest of the team, the team also feels safe to do so, too.
  3. Take care of yourself. It’s easy to understand why so many founders crash and burn after months of not eating well, not sleeping enough, and not taking time to relax. Early on I saw that I wasn’t feeling as well and wasn’t as sharp as I could be, because I wasn’t taking care of myself. It’s really important that you create a plan and allocate time to take care of your basic human needs even when you’re in start-up mode.
  4. Learn patience. This helps with all of the above. If you expect that everything needs to be done or happen quickly, you will eventually drive yourself and everyone around you crazy.

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?

As a first step, understand the industry at a very granular level and develop deep domain expertise. I’d also recommend speaking to people in the industry, gathering intel and insight. Validate the idea and your assumptions. Surround yourself with others to glean advice and build a diverse team with a set of skills that complement each other. Also, think more about the execution of the idea, not just the idea itself. How will you take it to market? Is there even a market? And so on.

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?

For me, I never worked with an invention consultant as this wasn’t really a “thing” or machine we were inventing; rather, it was about developing Deep Learning technologies for the mortgage and housing market.

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 most cases, it isn’t easy to bootstrap a product that takes several years of research and development to get to the first version. But that’s my point of view and experience, it depends on your circumstances and the idea you are trying to bring to the market. Otherwise, you may struggle to finance that development time before there is a product to sell and any signs of product-market-fit. Fundraising is a time-consuming process that takes away time from development and running the business. So there are many factors to consider. We knew that raising external funding was the path for our success.

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

With the predictive tools for mortgage securities market participants that we’re building at Infima, our users get a more comprehensive outlook of the opportunities as well as the financial risk they are taking on. And especially the risk that they are taking in these markets and in their funds and being more aware. We all want to avoid another major financial crisis, and when we saw the crisis in 2007–2009, it was largely due to the housing market. Investors did not really understand risk, which had a catastrophic ripple effect. It’s clear they need better ways to understand risk. The more people understand risk, the more we can avoid these bad situations. The financial crisis and role mortgages was not only a national event. It was worldwide and pulled us all into a recession. It is not just about making money; there’s a larger societal issue at play. Transparency through data and more insight into risk-taking could benefit us in many ways.

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.

Climate change is top of mind as it affects everyone in the world. Some might not see how a mortgage analytics company could make an impact, but we believe that we could indeed fight climate change by developing technology that addresses the climate impact on mortgage securities by helping investors to make more informed decisions towards more sustainable housing investments. We view this as meaningful now and see that it will become an increasingly important and exciting area in our industry in the future.

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 really like to meet Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. While he might not be everybody’s first choice since he’s not a flashy person, his decisions have such a massive impact on the US economy and, in fact, the entire world’s economy. Whenever he and the Federal Reserve Board make decisions, they have an enormous effect on Main Street and affect real people’s lives. His job is extremely difficult these days in the face of high inflation, COVID, and a looming recession in the US.

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

Thank you as well. I appreciate you reaching out for an interview.


Making Something From Nothing: Kay Giesecke 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.

Making Something From Nothing: Mike Lastrina & Myran Mahroo of Modern Gents On How To Go From Idea…

Making Something From Nothing: Mike Lastrina & Myran Mahroo of Modern Gents On How To Go From Idea To Launch

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Don’t be afraid to take risks — It’s a skill and you definitely have to weigh out the pros and cons, but for the most part, you’ll always land on your feet.

As a part of our series called “Making Something From Nothing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mike Lastrina & Myran Mahroo.

Based in Costa Mesa, CA, Mike Lastrina & Myran Mahroo, are the Owners & Co-Founders of Modern Gents, the high-quality, conflict-free jewelry brand disrupting the diamond industry.

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”?

Hello, my name is Myran Mahroo and I was born and raised in Whittier, California. From an early age, I have always had the drive to be an entrepreneur, whether it was selling comic books or candy, I was always side-hustling and doing what I could to make a profit. I was raised by two immigrant parents and I inherited a hard work ethic from watching my father work long hours to provide for our family. When I was in high school, I was enrolled in a dual enrollment program, which allowed me to get my associate’s degree before I received my high school diploma. After graduating, I attended Cal Poly Pomona and was the first in my family to graduate from college. To this day, my parents have inspired me to always strive to do more and never settle for the status quo.

Hi, my name is Mike Lastrina, and similar to Myran’s story, my father was also an immigrant who constantly worked hard to build a life for our family. I grew up in Long Beach, California and from an early age, I have always had a desire to be an entrepreneur and start my own business so that I could be financially independent and push myself to do more than my parents and grandparents were able to.

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

Mike — One of my favorite quotes that I live by says, “you can measure a man’s worth by how he loves.” This quote has always resonated with me because it’s a constant reminder to stay humble and it matters most about how you treat and love others.

Myran — Nike’s “just do it” slogan has always resonated with me in every facet of my life. Although brief, this tagline is a reminder to accomplish your goals and do whatever it takes to achieve them, even if it seems daunting.

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?

Myran — When Mike and I started our business, Gary Vaynerchuk’s online content was very influential and transformed the way that we conduct our business. Gary’s no-excuse mentality, stood out to both of us and has always influenced our decisions and approaches as entrepreneurs.

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?

Myran — Taking an idea and turning it into a business can be very overwhelming and discouraging to young entrepreneurs. Without passion, a great idea can only take you so far. I believe that one of the most important aspects of business is knowing when to pivot when ideas no longer work. Having a good idea and a market evaluation is good enough to see if the market wants or needs your service to begin with.

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?

Myran — It would all depend on the type of market that your product would fall under. If you’re entering an overly saturated market, it would be easier to instead identify the gaps and holes where other brands have missed the mark. We would recommend researching brands within a saturated market to identify what these brands could be doing better and pinpoint what your differentiating factor would be. Research can allow you to know the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors and create messaging and branding that appeals to your target audience.

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.

Myran: Each business is different but we live in the era of information having Google and Youtube. Essentially, any informational website can give you a ton of useful information depending on what you are doing. There are so many resources and how-to guides available that didn’t even exist a few years ago. These guides are extremely specific to the type of business you are going for, but they do require your time and research. You skip a lot of steps by having this information out there and readily available, so, these resources are major. I recommend starting with Alibaba or any other supplier search engine for manufacturing purposes. As for patents, the process can be quite lengthy so I suggest using a platform or service like PatentsKart so they can head that up for you.

Mike: Shopify is a great retailer not only to get you started but in the long run too. It’s direct to consumer and a trusted retailer amongst many businesses so that’d be my recommendation for distribution.

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

Mike:

  1. Avoid seeking/using any investment money — A lot of people think fundraising is a crucial step but I advise you to use your own capital and bootstrap. Investors will take ownership but if you use your own means it shows you are dedicated to your business and that you yourself believe in it.
  2. Look at the bigger picture — Some entrepreneurs have become too narrow in how they view what the business should look like. I suggest focusing on the bigger picture including what the business can become and looking at how to scale and infrastructure the brand so it’s set up for success in the long run.
  3. Reinvest all of the money back into the business — Avoid spending all the money and profit earned on personal items but rather invest all that money back into the business! Also, if you go the investor route, at all costs do not use any of the investment funds for personal use.
  4. Try to think about what would be a recession-proof, pandemic-proof business — This advice will take you far. As recession-proof business owners, we’ve seen how true this advice has rung over the last three years.

Myran:

  1. Don’t be afraid to take risks — It’s a skill and you definitely have to weigh out the pros and cons, but for the most part, you’ll always land on your feet.
  2. Don’t focus too much on perfection during the beginning days — At first, a lot of brands spend tons of money on tiny details like branding concepts, logos, etc., and then they eventually launch, and their product unfortunately flops. Instead, utilize the resources that you have available and select an MVP (minimum viable product) to get your feet wet and worry about the more challenging tasks later.

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?

Myran: Do market research to figure out if your product is something that’s brand new or already out there. If it’s brand new, get a patent as soon as possible. If it’s already out there, figure out a way to position your product where it has a really strong competitor edge. Then, you can go on to produce small quantities of the product, even having friends and family test it out so you can hear their feedback. Next, if the feedback is positive, conduct a manufacturing round and crowdfund for the first few rounds of financing. Then, if all works out, you should develop your product fully and scale from there.

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?

Myran: From an invention standpoint, maybe? It all depends on the risk-to-reward ratio. I wouldn’t suggest pouring all of your funding into a consultant but if you are confident in your idea and are fairly confident that a consultant will help get it off the ground then I say go for it.

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

Myran: Bootstrap 100%. I think VC is for those who are only focused on growing quickly. If you bootstrap, not only is there less risk involved but you are putting your own skin into the game. What you are putting into the company is truly what you will get out of it.

Mike: You’ve got to bootstrap all the way. This is your concept and your idea, you have to stand by it and own that.

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

Myran: We would love to give back even more, but recently we threw a dream wedding for a disabled Marine Corp Veteran. We heard his touching story and had him and his wife come into the Modern Gents office so we could hear it from him firsthand. In the end, we were able to surprise both him and his wife by letting them know that we would be taking care of their entire wedding. We had a few local vendors hop in and support as well so it was a team effort. The least we could do to give back to the brave Veterans of this country. Looking ahead to 2023, we want to do more initiatives like this.

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.

Mike: At Modern Gents, we sell love, attainable love. Engagement rings are a symbol of love that is typically expensive and helping others affordably unlock that next threshold of love is pure magic. Giving people the realistic opportunity to take this next step is like our version of giving back to the world.

Myran: It’d be awesome if we could have a product that’s cause-focused. Definitely, something we will be working towards in 2023.

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.

Mryan + Mike: Gary Vaynerchuk — I want to let him know he helped inspire us to start Modern Gents and gave us the confidence and tools to help us see it through to its successful state now. Honestly, I don’t need a full lunch, I’d settle for a quick coffee with him.

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

Website: modgents.com

Social: @themodgents


Making Something From Nothing: Mike Lastrina & Myran Mahroo of Modern Gents On How To Go From Idea… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Ron Hamlin Of Virtual Reload On 5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career In eSports

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

One thing I wish I knew about before I started was toxicity in business. I was well aware of toxicity when it came to esports but I was unaware it also existed in other areas of business as well.

As a part of our series about “5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career In eSports”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ron Hamlin.

Ron Hamlin of Greenville, South Carolina, is a foster/adoptive dad, and owner of the esports and events company Virtual Reload. He teaches people about competitive video game play. Esports is seen as a form of sports with organized teams, professional coaches and world-class players. The industry provides a brand new experience for younger generations captivated with this new sport. Hamlin unpacks why everyone should take note.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

Virtual Reload had the privilege of hosting one of the largest regional Smash Brothers tournaments in South Carolina state history. Nearly 200 players from the region participated. We have ingrained ourselves in the local South Carolina Smase scene, host weekly and monthly tournaments, and act as Tournament Organizers for others in the community.

Connecting with local South Carolina institutions, such as Charter Schools and Private schools, from an overall esports perspective has also been interesting and rewarding. There is a lot of potential within these organizations and we would like to assist them in realizing their potential.

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 comes from Philippians chapter 4:6–7: Be at peace and let God know your wishes in everything through prayer, petition, and supplication with thankfulness. Through Christ Jesus, the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will keep watch over your hearts and minds. My name is in honor of a distant uncle who passed away at the age of 18 from leukemia. I was in my grandparents’ home after they passed away, browsing through some of the items that were distributed to various family members. And then someone handed me my uncle’s Bible, which was complete with his name inscribed on the cover. And after that, I was permitted to keep that Bible. After looking through it a few times, I saw that it was worn out, outdated, and difficult to read. When I read some of it, I noticed that he had underlined the same sentence.

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 mentored a young man named Chris who was a senior in high school and in foster care. He was a talented esports player. I took him to meet the Erskine College esports coach. Chris was offered a substantial scholarship of approximately $20,000 a year to attend Erskine and play esports. Up until that point the idea of a student receiving an esports scholarship was hypothetical to me. This was life changing for the both of us and was the catalyst for bringing what I am doing with Virtual Reload to life.

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?

The book Play Dead had a significant impact on me and Virtual Reload. The synopsis of the story is that technology exists and humans might get engrossed in it. We strive to educate the moderation aspect of esports. We want people to place competitive games but in a structured way. There can be detrimental effects of competitive esports so we strive to make it a positive activity of the participants. The novel Play Dead was an example of how far the detriment can go and the dangers of taking things too far.

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?

Perseverance is the first trait. We have been hosting weekly Smash Bros tournaments and have not always had a great turnout. However, there are times when we will have a great turnout and these efforts lead to hosting one of the largest Smash Regional tournaments in South Carolina state history, the Swamp Rabbit Summit.

Being considerate would be the second trait. We understand that the local Smash Brothers players are keeping an eye on each available event and we try to keep them in mind when hosting each event.

The third trait would be a combination of kindness and acceptance for all who would like to participate in esports.

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

Virtual Reload has offered many players the opportunity to grow and showcase their talents and create a community of like minded individuals to meet, form relationships and enjoy themselves playing esports. We also hope to utilize Virtual Reload to assist individuals with disabilities through the use of adaptive technology so they too can experience competition at a high level. This will also open doors for them not previously available. Everyone deserves a chance to follow their passions and esports is a great equalizer.

How do you think this might change the world of sports?

At the moment, adaptive technologies excite me the most. Adaptive technologies allow those who may not be able to compete in physical activities, but can compete in esports and open doors for them they would not have access to, such as scholarships for competitive sports.

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

One potential drawback would be becoming so engrossed in esports or virtual reality that you neglect the important things in life: family, your personal health, and work or your education. This is a pitfall that has been around for some time, and with esports becoming prevalent at younger ages, we have made it our mission to make sure that we can not only train and educate young people in esports but help them moderate the amount of time and attention they put into esports, so that it remains a healthy extracurricular activity that they can still benefit from.

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

My first concern is that esports do not consider the player first. My personal view is that esports companies are too concerned with their bottom line to take the health and well being of the players who play for them or represent them as one of their first priorities.

There is a lot of pressure on players at the highest level of esports to perform, however, they do not have the same level of protection or representation as players in other professional sports leagues. Long term contracts, for example, are few and far between.

Burnout amongst professional esports players is the third concern. Professional esports careers last an average of two years. There should be a way to avoid such churn in the industry. At this point, professional esports players are putting in a substantial amount of work for much less reward than we believe they are owed. We hope to correct this in the future through our efforts with Virtual Reload.

Fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?

One thing I wish I knew about before I started was toxicity in business. I was well aware of toxicity when it came to esports but I was unaware it also existed in other areas of business as well.

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 would inspire a movement to get as many people involved in esports as possible. We started Virtual Reload to help those who unfortunately are unable to achieve scholarships or other opportunities that are currently offered to the athletically gifted. Our focus is on individuals who have other gifts, and should be rewarded for those gifts, in the same manner, but do not have the same opportunity. Our movement would consist of helping create those opportunities and helping those individuals achieve their goals.

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 🙂

Gary Vaynerchuk, also known as Gary Vee, inspires me. I appreciate where he came from, what his goals are, and what he has accomplished. He also owns the Minnesota Rokker, a professional esports team, so it appears he has a basic understanding of esports, and we have something in common. It would be amazing to have the opportunity to meet with him and discuss our work. We could collaborate on improving esports as a whole. His advice would be invaluable.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Website: http://virtualreload.com

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/VirtualReload

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

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/thevirtualreload

Discord: https://discord.gg/PkEVQYbN

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


Ron Hamlin Of Virtual Reload On 5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career In eSports was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Meet The Disruptors: Matt Ovenden of Borrow a Boat On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your…

Meet The Disruptors: Matt Ovenden of Borrow a Boat On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

“Be Bold” — from a former boss who was wishing me on my way as I left a role in his team for a promotion somewhere else. It’s so simple — but is such great advice for both career and life.

As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Matt Ovenden Founder of Borrow A Boat Group.

Borrow A Boat Group is an international business in the boat rental and yacht charter sector, with multiple brands and a presence in more than 65 countries, operating on a global scale, including in popular sailing destinations such as the UK, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, North America and southeast Asia. A variety of boats are available for rental, which include sailboats, motorboats, riverboats, RIBs, catamarans, gulets, superyachts and luxury yacht charters.

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?

Absolutely! Having been involved in various tech businesses in the past the focus was to launch a user-friendly platform which offered peer- to -peer charter offering boat owners the security in offsetting the costs of owning a boat or yacht coupled with a marketplace that enabled those wishing to rent a boat or charter a yacht an easy hassle-free booking system. I had considered buying a boat, then thought how about renting a boat that was sitting in the marina, resulting in a peer — peer charter economy. As a tech entrepreneur I had identified a missing part of the market where one could browse for a boat in a user-friendly way. Boating has always been a traditional marketplace, so my view was to digitise it enabling a accessibility that had not been seen before

And of which resulted in the launch of Borrow A Boat in 2017.

Borrow A Boat is my 4th business as a tech entrepreneur, previous businesses have included a cleantech consultancy, a wind farm development business, and a specialist eco-island business in the Caribbean. I once worked with Richard Branson on a project to make Necker Island as sustainable and energy efficient as possible, and then worked with him to promote clantech across the Caribbean.

We have since built the UK’s leading boat charter marketplace, now one of the largest in the world, listing over 45,000 boats in more than 65 countries for charter — with everything from a RIB up to a superyacht.

Our purpose is to digitise the boat rental and yacht charter industry worldwide, harnessing technology to make the booking process simpler and easier than ever. Using digital technology to scale the business and become the leading boat charter group in boating worldwide.

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

The focus for us was to launch a user-friendly platform which offered peer- to -peer charter giving boat owners the security in offsetting the costs of owning a boat or yacht coupled with a marketplace that enabled those wishing to rent a boat or charter a yacht an easy hassle-free booking system. In a traditional space such as boating the access to such was always via individuals, Now you can go online and search thoroughly in just a few clicks.

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 think this one was rather a lesson moreso than funny, however at the very start of Borrow A Boat — we had focused on a peer-to-peer charter platform only (hence the nickname which stuck at the time “the Airbnb of boats”!) we realised that we wanted to enter the market in a fresh capacity and communication was very important in making sure that clients knew exactly what we offered. Our plan wasn’t based on professional charter fleets at the very beginning. But when fleets such as Sunsail and Dream Yacht wanted to list hundreds of their vessels from their commercial charter fleets in one go, we thought — why not!? So, we opened the channel to commercial fleets and have been growing the number of listings ever since, with the number currently running at around 45,000+ in more than 65 countries!

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 met Richard Branson when working in one of my previous businesses as I was specifying renewable energy and other cleantech solutions for his home on Necker Island. I had dinner with him there and he was full of support to keep going as an entrepreneur and ignore anyone who tells you that you can’t do it, or it won’t work! I worked on a number of events and summits with Virgin Unite and Carbon War Room subsequently.

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?

I think new companies perceived as “Disruptors” can often be positive for industry sectors. Often, they are just a bit different or operate in a different way to the norm, but this can often bring added benefits to the customer for example, or help the sector overall e.g., a business that moves a traditionally offline business more online — to increase the reach of it and ease of access, which may in turn help it grow. Disrupting can of course go too far — we’ve seen some competitors attempt things such as cutting all middlemen out and removing and up-ending the normal way an industry operates — only to find themselves blacklisted and barred from trading with large chunks of the sector!

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

“Be Bold” — from a former boss who was wishing me on my way as I left a role in his team for a promotion somewhere else. It’s so simple — but is such great advice for both career and life.

“Your time is limited so don’t waste it living someone else’s life” — Steve Jobs. It was around the time of the iPhone and iPad before Steve died that I was starting my first business — and he was an inspiration to me. He was big on innovation and ideas, which was particularly encouraging when I was thinking about whether to leave the comfort of a safe, salaried position to go it alone on a new idea and business.

“When you’re going through hell — keep going” — Winston Churchill. Perseverance and resilience are absolutely key for some things in life, and certainly there are moments when one has to really take the plunge. Steve Jobs said it as “I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the unsuccessful ones is perseverance”

“Life is not a dress rehearsal” — by my Dad! I grew up with boating, travelling a lot and spending time in Spain, and the UK boating. My Dad was a self-made businessman who was living life to the full, and he always used to say as we drove down to the river for late summer evening water skiing together, or early Sunday morning catamaran racing — Life is not a dress rehearsal, it’s happening to you now — you need to live it now!

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

Borrow A Boat is certainly not done and won’t be done until we are the biggest and best boating marketplace in the world! Boating should be accessible to all worldwide. Booking a boat for hire should be as easy as booking a rental car, apartment, or train ticket, easily browsable and bookable for anyone online, anywhere — and we are making that happen.

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?

The Lean Startup was a great read — I found the writer’s story fascinating and very helpful from starting with an MVP and what to focus on and what matters the most in the early days of a business.

Also, Tribes by Seth Godin — and the mantra to “build your tribe”, I believe in making your customers your investors, and your investors your customers… we’ve done that a lot over the years with the abundance of crowdfunding and we’ve engaged boaters to help grow Borrow A Boat. The company has more than 2000 shareholders at the moment — and mostly all boating enthusiasts — our “tribe”!

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

“Get out of your own way” — we are defined by the decisions we make, and that is the case for everything from where we live, who we choose to live with, the clothes we wear, to the job we do. We are in control of all of it — we make our own future by our own choices. Some people seem to think they don’t control these things — but we do, look back and a decision you made somewhere leads to where you are now. It’s empowering to remember we’re fully in control — and that means you’re free to build the life you want — set up the business you want, change the industry sector you want, create the work / life balance you want — it’s all within our power, just start making the decisions and taking the steps, one by one, and see what happens.

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 would love to see more people embrace the outdoors and the benefits of an outdoor lifestyle — embrace the planet at the same time — embrace healthy living — for the mental health benefits, the physical health benefits — and the planet’s benefits, including raising awareness of how good it is for you to be in the outdoors, and both how amazing nature and our planet are, and that we need to build sustainability into our thinking both now and in the future.

How can our readers follow you online?

Website: https://www.borrowaboat.com

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

Instagram: @borrowaboat

Twitter: @borrowaboat1

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


Meet The Disruptors: Matt Ovenden of Borrow a Boat 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.

Meet The Disruptors: Raanan Naftalovich Of Shamir On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your…

Meet The Disruptors: Raanan Naftalovich Of Shamir On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Don’t be proud — let people give you the advice you need to grow.

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

Raanan Naftalovich has been President of Shamir North America since January 2015. Throughout his tenure, Raanan has been responsible for advancing Shamir’s cutting-edge designs and service capabilities, while investing in developing the North American region’s distribution network. He has played an integral role in the company since its inception, guiding the company’s manufacturing processes, marketing efforts and research & development departments.

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 began at Shamir at the age of 18 and have had a passion for the optical industry ever since. I’ve worked at various positions in Shamir, including product manager, marketing director, international regional export manager, and now, president. Throughout my career, I’ve seen two main factors as essential to our success: delivering truly personal service to our customers, and a dedication towards finding cutting-edge technological solutions that move our industry forward.

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

At Shamir, we’ve always been at the forefront of design innovation in the lens production industry. We utilize the latest advancements in Visual Artificial Intelligence and Big Data processing to develop lenses and coatings that improve the lives of our end consumer. We’ve also answered the call to develop products suited to the modern customer, who spends many hours watching digital screens.

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?

My first boss once told me that your right palm is different from your left, in the same way that one person is completely different from the next, and different business approaches are unique to each other.

When I met with a customer, they asked me tough questions about the competition. I tried to make a point that customers are different, using my palms as an example. The customer had no idea what I was talking about. I was a bit lost at that point, too. So I just put my palms together and said we’re stronger together.

Sometimes when you try to make a point it’s hard to put into words. The lesson I learned is to be honest and be human — and it’s ok to not know everything.

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 have had a mentor for many years named Hillel, who is now 83 years old and lives in Israel. He has been instrumental to my success, and I believe everybody needs to have a mentor. These are people who guide you, support you, and help you when you’re lost — in business, personally and on every level.

Hillel once told me this old saying, that “sacred cows make the best steaks.” This rather blunt philosophy meant that no approach in business should ever be put upon a pedestal; that once common wisdom can disappear with modern ideas in an instant. So you should never hold one truth to be unchangeable — as every business is adapting to new challenges every year.

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?

I feel that a disruption is positive in an industry, when it encourages all competitors to quickly adapt and compete, for the betterment of the end consumer. When a disruption is not positive is when a development occurs that decimates many of the competing companies in the industry, thereby limiting the natural competition.

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. Sacred cows make the best steaks.
  2. Be curious, and study every day.
  3. Be as human as you can, honest as you can. And admit mistakes as soon as they happen.
  4. Don’t be proud — let people give you the advice you need to grow.
  5. Hire people better than yourself, that’s how you improve.

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

Looking for what’s new, and what people need so we can be their solution.

We are on the lookout for the next big thing. With any luck — we’ll be the cause of it. At Shamir, we’re in the business of creating innovative solutions that modern customers actually need, to not only improve their vision, but their lives. An example of this is when business moved to video calls and conferencing, we knew instantly that we had to change our focus to developing more effective and supportive computer lenses. Another example of this is the fact that we implement AI technology to determine different needs for customers of different age groups — and with these algorithms, we can do it in a fraction of the time.

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 listen to a number of media, including the New York Times Daily Podcast, the Smart List, CNET, Ted Talks Daily, and the Dropout. I feel that paying attention to the political dynamic in the United States is key to understanding the business environment here. I listen to what’s happening on the ground, for insight into what’s coming next, even in business.

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

I’d say that I look at life, as I would a jar. When you’re filling your jar, there’s only so much you can take. When I feel overwhelmed, it’s important to revisit my values and my mentors, who help me unload the burden and release some of the pressure, giving me more room in my jar.

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 would love to inspire a movement towards a healthy soul, mind and body. Combining physical, intellectual and personal activities is key to staying as healthy and happy as you can be.

How can our readers follow you online?

I’m most active on LinkedIn, where I also share frequent updates on new technologies and products Shamir is working on.

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


Meet The Disruptors: Raanan Naftalovich Of Shamir 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.

ShiftKey: Tom Ellis ’s Big Idea That Might Change The World

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

A less fun one, but get your paperwork in order because it really matters. Big ideas are great, and they are what we specialize in as entrepreneurs, but documentation and paperwork are key to making that idea a sustainable, long-term reality.

As a part of my series about “Big Ideas That Might Change The World In The Next Few Years” I had the pleasure of interviewing Tom Ellis.

Tom Ellis is the founder and CEO of ShiftKey, a marketplace technology platform transforming the future of work by empowering licensed professionals to choose their pay rate, define when and where to work, and connect directly with facilities looking to fill open workforce needs. After spending more than a decade in healthcare staffing, Ellis recognized the limitations of the traditional agency approach and was inspired to create a solution that wouldn’t just create business efficiencies, but would transform the future of work and empower licensed professionals to embrace independence and flexibility. In 2016, Ellis founded ShiftKey, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Since then, facilities have posted more than 50 million hours of open shifts on the platform, and Hundreds of thousands of licensed professionals have engaged on the platform. In 2022, Ellis was named #1 on the Dallas 100 Fastest-Growing Companies in DFW list and was also a winner for EY’s Central Plains Regional Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.

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 please tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

ShiftKey was created to solve America’s workforce shortages by empowering licensed professionals to choose their pay rate, define when and where to work, and connect directly with facilities looking to fill open workforce needs.

ShiftKey was officially launched in 2016 and has made a significant positive and ongoing impact across the healthcare industry. The platform was built such that the facilities themselves are the ones posting available shifts — creating the first healthcare marketplace for licensed healthcare professionals, rather than simply another tech-enabled staffing company.

Over the years, I continued to add talent to the in-house development team, which worked to streamline and automate the verification process. With the need for manual recruiters and the inefficiencies of paperwork/faxing eliminated, ShiftKey 2.0 came online in 2019. Thanks to these efforts and continued investment in the platform, nurses and CNAs now have access to the ShiftKey App and can view open shifts directly on their phones. The entire ShiftKey experience, from signing up and getting their licenses and credentials verified, to browsing, bidding on, and scheduling shifts (and much more), can all be done within the ShiftKey App. 2.0 happened in 2019 but was a re-write of the entire system to a new development framework along with a ton of new features. We released the self-registration process in 2018 that eliminated the need for emailed & faxed paperwork. We have always been “mobile friendly” but the actual native applications were released in 2020.

Prior to 2020, ShiftKey achieved product-market fit with features such as an intuitive interface and powerful reporting tools that enable facilities to better manage their operations while empowering healthcare professionals with more control regarding where and when they work.

At present, ShiftKey helps managers at top-tier healthcare facilities schedule, manage costs, and maintain compliance within their facility, and ultimately improve patient care with a full schedule of nurses and professionals. Even today, I work tirelessly with the team to continue to find ways to improve and increase the value of the ShiftKey platform as a scalable tool for licensed professionals across many different industries.

Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?

When you see a gap, step in and fill it. In past jobs, whether it was a healthcare staffing agency or a sales job, my brain would immediately jump to the questions: How can we make this more efficient? How can we make this work for more people?

With ShiftKey, that is what I did and continue to do. ShiftKey’s technology platform is driving the future of work, considering all key stakeholders to create business efficiencies, solve major workforce challenges, break down workforce barriers, maximize ROI and ultimately put the focus on patient care.

And at the end of it all, it’s all about people — surround yourself with the right people. The best people will motivate you, drive you and move your business forward — those you work alongside and those you want to help empower. The ShiftKey team works collaboratively and tirelessly to offer the freedom and flexibility that licensed professionals need to allow them to effectively balance their personal priorities and values.

Ok thank you for that. Let’s now move to the main focus of our interview. Can you tell us about your “Big Idea That Might Change The World”?

Simply put, we are leading the way in transforming and expanding the future of work through tech to build a more sustainable, profitable economy. ShiftKey’s marketplace platform enables independent licensed professionals to choose their pay rate, set their availability, and connect directly with healthcare facilities with workforce needs. This approach creates a relief valve for facilities, addresses workforce shortages, and allows facilities and licensed professionals to focus on expanding access to quality patient care.

Every day, we see the headlines — healthcare workers are burning out and leaving the workforce, while workforce gaps persist and patient demand increases. If “traditional employment” was working, we would not currently be in a workforce crisis. ShiftKey addresses a persistent, increasingly relevant challenge — how to offer freedom to licensed healthcare professionals, while balancing 24/7 on-site patient needs — through a highly accessible, user-friendly platform. We are creating and providing a supportive economic environment for independent licensed professionals who value a flexible work schedule so they can prioritize their personal needs and well-being.

How do you think this will change the world?

ShiftKey is transforming the future of work, leveraging technology to empower licensed professionals to define their value, embrace independence, and prioritize their personal health, family and lifestyle needs. We are expanding access to work for licensed professionals who have been shut out of the workforce or forced to make unreasonable decisions about family, finances and well-being to conform to traditional work models.

Most importantly, we are addressing persistent barriers for both the facilities and licensed professionals, and putting the focus back on patient care, driving positive impact for communities and creating a more sustainable, equitable health system. Our technology streamlines facilities’ processes by providing easy access to synthesized, relevant workforce data, including credentials and licensing, budget analyses, and the tools to make strategic scheduling decisions.

As ShiftKey grows, our technology-driven approach provides a scalable solution to address workforce shortages in a number of other industries while empowering licensed professionals to seek the work they want, when they want. ShiftKey’s scalability transcends healthcare and is poised to revolutionize the entire licensed professional workforce. We are embracing and expanding the future of work, empowering people to work on their own terms and reinvesting in the community.

Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this idea that people should think more deeply about?

Up until this point, I think technology has largely been used to help people work remotely, but the innovation has stopped there — and that leaves out a significant portion of our workforce. The main issue I see is what could happen if we don’t move forward and embrace truly unique and different ways of approaching work that address these barriers that have persisted for decades.

We certainly hear the fear from people “What if everyone moves to a platform like ShiftKey and facilities have no full-time staff?”, but that’s just not going to happen. In fact, we’ve seen the opposite happen with facilities that we partner with — because ShiftKey acts as a relief valve for facilities experiencing workforce needs, facilities can avoid overscheduling and burning out their existing teams, alleviating pressures and improving retention. We’re providing a solution to long-existing workforce challenges in order to focus on the things that really matter like licensed professionals’ mental and physical well-being, and a focus on patient care. We believe that licensed professionals should have a choice about how to work — whether that’s traditional employment or a more flexible model.

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

In 2012, while running a healthcare staffing company, I realized that the traditional agency model was broken and in desperate need of change. The legacy method of making phone calls to find licensed professionals to work was time-consuming, inefficient and ineffective for both the professional and facility. Even more modernized, tech-enabled staffing agencies presented many of these same challenges, introducing third parties and limiting visibility into potential opportunities. I even approached an independent software platform about posting available shifts online. I waited to see if nurses would be willing to log in to pick them up, and they did. However, the third-party platform had limitations — there was no feasible way to ensure each nurse had proper credentials.

Dreaming of a solution that would eliminate the endless games of “phone tag,” while also slashing costs associated with traditional agencies, I set out to create a true marketplace platform, one that would connect healthcare facilities directly with independent, verifiably licensed healthcare professionals. The idea for ShiftKey was born.

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

We need people to buy into the vision for a very different workforce strategy in the future. We’re literally working against decades of traditional hiring and corporate structure.

The future of work is independence, freedom and choice, affirming the value of the individual and addressing systemic workforce barriers. If “traditional employment” was working, we would not currently be in a workforce crisis. ShiftKey is a solution to workforce shortages, and is addressing the needs and wants of licensed professionals and facilities to help people and advance the future of work.

We must recognize that the solution is forward-looking and based in technology, and in order for us to move towards the next phase of work, we must embrace that. The future of work is now and ShiftKey is meeting the market’s need while innovating and evolving to ensure licensed professionals are prioritized and facilities are able to care for patients. As we continue to grow, supportive, proactive, and progressive policies are needed to support independence for licensed professionals and build a more sustainable workforce for the future.

And if we get the continued support and adoption of our workforce solution, we will be able to scale our technology and solve workforce gaps across industries.

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

Too much business

Something no one tells you as a start-up is that’s actually possible to have too much business. It’s really important to have a realistic, data-based assessment of your bandwidth, resources and the business you can take on — that way, instead of setting yourself up for failure, you set yourself up for strategic growth.

Paperwork!

A less fun one, but get your paperwork in order because it really matters. Big ideas are great, and they are what we specialize in as entrepreneurs, but documentation and paperwork are key to making that idea a sustainable, long-term reality.

People

It’s all about people — surround yourself with the right people. Ultimately, they are what will motivate you, drive you and move your business forward.

Top-Down Team Build

There’s a lot of debate about how to hire and who to hire first. What I’ve learned is, when you’re starting out, hire the best leader you can and let them build their team in alignment with their vision and priorities.

Bank evaluation

Interview your bank and other partners to make sure they truly understand your vision for your business and what you’re trying to do — otherwise, you could get taken to market with inaccurate positioning, which can not only hurt prospects in the short term, but can disrupt your positioning strategy in the long term.

Can you share with our readers what you think are the most important “success habits” or “success mindsets”?

  • Intentional growth mindset: Something no one tells you as a start-up is that’s actually possible to have too much business. It’s really important to have a realistic, data-based assessment of your bandwidth, resources and the business you can take on — that way, instead of setting yourself up for failure, you set yourself up for strategic growth.
  • Get used to paperwork: A less fun one, but get your paperwork in order because it really matters. Big ideas are great and they are what we specialize in as entrepreneurs, but documentation and paperwork are key to making that idea a sustainable, long-term reality.
  • Find your people: It’s all about people — surround yourself with the right people. Ultimate, they are what will motivate you, drive you and move your business forward.

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 🙂

ShiftKey is positioned to be the leader driving workforce solutions and economic empowerment through technology, impacting industries and communities across the globe.

By investing in ShiftKey’s marketplace platform, you can be part of transforming the future of work and creating more equitable access to critical services. Addressing persistent barriers for both the facilities and licensed professionals, ShiftKey’s marketplace platform is putting the focus back on patient care, driving positive impact for communities and creating a more sustainable, equitable health system.

ShiftKey’s scalability transcends healthcare and is poised to revolutionize the entire licensed professional workforce. We are embracing and expanding the future of work, empowering people to work on their own terms and reinvesting in the community.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

They can follow my personal profile Tom Ellis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-ellis-27117539/

They can also follow along with ShiftKey’s most recent business updates on LinkedIn, Twitter & Instagram:

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


ShiftKey: Tom Ellis ’s Big Idea That Might Change The World 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: Gianfranco Lopane On The Future Of The VR, AR & Mixed Reality Industries

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Strong communication and collaboration skills: The VR, AR, and MR industries are highly collaborative, so being able to communicate effectively and work well with others is essential. This may involve working with team members from various disciplines, such as designers, developers, and artists, to bring a project to life.

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 for other parts of life? To address this, we had the pleasure of interviewing Gianfranco Lopane.

Gianfranco Lopane is the President of Smarterver, Inc., and serves as Head of Business Development in charge of the team responsible for revenue growth enablement within DatChat’s Social Network+, Metaverse, NFT, and blockchain initiatives. In his 20 years of experience, he has worked with startups as well as Fortune-500 companies like Nestle, Hertz, and XPO Logistics in different senior-level positions.

Back in 2017 he started his career in the blockchain space and co-founded an advertising network company for the metaverse and by 2018 he founded Generiqo, the company that is currently helping dozens of companies to migrate to the blockchain space. In 2014 Gianfranco obtained his Master’s degree in Commerce and Marketing (MCom) from EUDE Business School in Madrid, Spain.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Has a particular book, film, or podcast significantly impacted you?

I have read many books, but the critical three are Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, and Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan. All three novels feature complex, multi-layered plots that involve action, adventure, and philosophical explorations of the nature of virtual worlds and the human experience.

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

Back in 2017 was the boom of the ICOs in the crypto industry, and I was an investor in many of these technologies, and one day talking with one of my friends, we thought, “How about with run ads in AR, VR, and MR for big companies?” He and I, both marketers, wanted to combine our knowledge with our passion. The continuation of the story is in the following questions.

Can you share a story about your funniest mistake when you first started? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

My friend and I created a company, actually one of the first companies created in Wyoming under the new crypto law, to be able to raise money to start building the technology to launch it in an ICO. We worked countless hours, and we spent money on our project. We couldn’t even raise a penny just because I was pitching the company like I was talking with developers instead of regular people who didn’t know the “Metaverse” back in the day. I learned to be plain and simple in my speech and, most importantly, to educate before moving forward in communication.

We need some help to achieve success along the way. Is there a particular person you are grateful to who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Darin Myman, without knowing each other, we shared the same idea to make a significant impact in the Metaverse, and when we met, it was a perfect match. With his help and support along this Metaverse journey, we have gone so far together, and this is just the beginning.

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

I could interoperate between all the decentralized metaverses running ads across all the Metaverse with just a click of a button, our proprietary Dynamic NFT DRM technology. Because of this achievement, we noticed that there is almost no one there, and we decided to create our Metaverse called Habytat Smarterverse, making it simple, fun, and accessible for everyone in a near photorealistic world where everybody is part of it, owning land and a house for free.

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

Habytat Smarterverse is making the Metaverse simple, fun, and accessible to all, providing a near-photorealistic world where you will own an essential part. Habytat will be full of shops, galleries, entertainment, games, pets, and other resources that will improve and change how we interact, socialize, and communicate, connecting our real lives with virtual ones. As a founder member of Habytat, you will receive premium NFT-deeded land and a house to call your own for free. For more information, visit http://smarterverse.com.

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 three things that excite you about the industry? Can you explain or give an example?

Some of the key benefits of these technologies include their ability to provide immersive experiences, enhance our perception of the world around us, and facilitate remote communication and collaboration.

For example, VR headsets can allow users to experience fully immersive virtual environments, allowing them to “visit” places and engage in activities that would be impossible in the real world. This can be especially useful for training, simulation, education, and entertainment. AR technology can enhance the real world by overlaying digital information and visuals onto our view of the world, providing helpful information and enhancing our ability to interact with our environment. This can be useful in various gaming, retail, and industrial applications. MR combines the best of both VR and AR, allowing users to interact with virtual objects in the real world and enhance their perception of the world around them. This can be particularly useful for tasks requiring a high spatial awareness, such as manufacturing and design. Overall, the VR, AR, and MR industries offer many potential benefits and will continue to evolve and develop in the coming years.

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

There are several potential concerns associated with the virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) industries. Some key issues to consider include the potential for addiction and adverse effects on mental health, the potential for misuse and abuse of the technology, and the potential for privacy and security breaches.

For example, VR, AR, and MR technologies can be highly immersive and engaging, which can be a double-edged sword. While this immersion can be beneficial for specific applications, such as training and education, it can also lead to addiction and adverse effects on mental health if not used responsibly. Additionally, the ability of these technologies to enhance and alter our perception of the world raises concerns about their potential misuse and abuse. For example, VR, AR, and MR technologies could be used to create false or misleading experiences, which could have negative consequences.

Some potential solutions include implementing responsible design practices, promoting education and awareness about these technologies’ potential risks and benefits, and establishing regulations and standards to ensure their safe and ethical use.

For example, the designers and developers of VR, AR, and MR technologies can prioritize the health and well-being of users in their design decisions. This can include features that encourage responsible use, such as setting limits on usage time, providing warnings about potential health effects, and allowing users to customize their experiences to reduce the potential for adverse effects. Additionally, promoting education and awareness about these technologies’ potential risks and benefits can help users make informed decisions about their use and seek help if needed.

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

These technologies can enhance training and simulation, improve collaboration and communication, and provide new ways of engaging with customers and clients.

For example, VR headsets can create immersive training simulations that allow workers to practice and hone their skills in a realistic but safe environment. This can be particularly useful for jobs that require complex tasks or dangerous situations, such as surgery or firefighting. AR technology can provide workers with real-time information and instructions, allowing them to access information quickly and easily without switching between multiple screens or devices. This can be useful for tasks requiring a high spatial awareness, such as manufacturing and assembly. MR technology can create mixed-reality environments where workers can collaborate and interact with virtual objects and information in the real world. This can be useful for tasks that require a high level of collaboration, such as design and engineering. Overall, the entertainment potential of VR, AR, and MR technologies can be harnessed to improve efficiency and productivity at work.

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

  • Some potential ways in which VR, AR, and MR could improve our lives include:
    It provides new and immersive ways to learn and experience new things. VR, AR, and MR technologies can create interactive and engaging educational experiences that allow users to learn in a hands-on and immersive way. This can be especially useful for subjects that are difficult to teach in a traditional classroom setting, such as history, science, and art.
  • We are enhancing our ability to communicate and collaborate with others. VR, AR, and MR technologies can provide new ways of interacting with others, allowing us to communicate and collaborate in real time, even when physically distant. This can be useful for remote work, education, and social interactions.
  • They are improving accessibility and independence for people with disabilities. VR, AR, and MR technologies can provide new ways for people with disabilities to engage with the world around them. For example, VR headsets can provide people with visual impairments with audio-based navigation and orientation. In contrast, AR technology can provide real-time text-to-speech translation for people with hearing impairments.
  • We are improving our ability to access and interact with information. VR, AR, and MR technologies can provide new ways of accessing and interacting with data, allowing us to quickly and easily find and use the information we need. For example, AR technology can provide helpful information and context in real-time, allowing us to quickly and easily understand our surroundings and make decisions.

Overall, the potential benefits of VR, AR, and MR technologies are vast and varied. As these technologies continue to evolve and develop, they have the potential to improve our lives in many different ways significantly.

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

  • VR is only for gaming: While VR is undoubtedly a popular platform for gaming, it has many other applications, such as education, training, therapy, and even journalism.
  • AR is just a gimmick: While AR may have started as a novelty, it has many practical applications in fields such as medicine, manufacturing, and retail.
  • MR is the same as VR: While MR shares some similarities with VR, it is a different technology that combines elements of the natural and virtual worlds.
  • VR is unrealistic: Despite the improvements in VR technology, it may not always feel fully realistic, but it is still a natural experience. However, many VR experiences are designed to be highly immersive and can provide a sense of presence in the virtual world.
  • AR and MR require special equipment: While some AR and MR experiences may require specialized hardware, such as headsets or smart glasses, many can be experienced using a smartphone or tablet.

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

  • A strong understanding of the technologies; to create a successful career in the VR, AR, or MR industries, it is essential to have a deep understanding of the technologies and how they work. This may involve studying computer science, engineering, or a related field and staying up-to-date on the latest developments in the industry.
    Creativity and problem-solving skills: The VR, AR, and MR industries are all about creating new and innovative solutions, so being able to think creatively and solve problems is essential. This may involve developing novel ideas for applications or experiences or finding creative solutions to technical challenges.
  • Strong communication and collaboration skills: The VR, AR, and MR industries are highly collaborative, so being able to communicate effectively and work well with others is essential. This may involve working with team members from various disciplines, such as designers, developers, and artists, to bring a project to life.
  • A portfolio of work: To be successful in the VR, AR, or MR industries, it is essential to have a portfolio of work to show potential employers or clients. This can include examples of projects you have worked on, demos of applications or experiences you have created, or any other relevant work that showcases your skills and abilities.
  • A willingness to learn and adapt: The VR, AR, and MR industries are constantly evolving, so being willing to learn and adapt to new technologies and techniques is crucial. This may involve staying up-to-date on the latest trends and developments in the industry and being open to new ideas and approaches.

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 will call it quality education for all.

Access to quality education is essential for individuals’ and communities’ overall development and well-being. It provides individuals with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in life and helps to create a more just and equitable society.

One way technology, specifically virtual reality (VR), can enhance the education experience is by providing immersive and interactive learning opportunities. VR can transport students to different locations and periods, allowing them to experience and learn about new concepts more engagingly and interactively.

In addition to enhancing the learning experience, VR technology can also make education more accessible to all. For students who may not have the resources or opportunity to visit specific locations or experience certain events physically, VR can provide an alternative way to learn and engage with the world.

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

Elon Musk, he’s a guy that thinks outside the box, and he seems funny.

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


Makers of The Metaverse: Gianfranco Lopane On The Future Of The VR, AR & Mixed Reality Industries was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Tammy Ramos Of LatinaVida On How Diversity Can Increase a Company’s Bottom Line

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Increased employee retention and promotion of diverse talent.

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

Tammy Ramos, J.D. is the Executive Director of LatinaVIDA, a nonprofit who partners with organizations to support DEI goals to equip the next generation of diverse leaders to rise to the top in their careers. Tammy is also a well sought after speaker who is known for her ability to connect, engage and inspire a broad range of audiences. Her passion is to empower women of color by building community and unity while celebrating diversity.

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 am a first generation Latina in my family to not only graduate from college and law school, but I’m also the first to graduate from high school. I’m also the first non-teen mom. My mother was a 16 years old girl who had run away from home and came back pregnant with me. My father was an illegal immigrant from Mexico who left her out of fear he’d be deported. I often say that I grew up on the other side of the tracks into a life of poverty, homelessness, abuse, neglect and great sadness. Today, I have the privilege to live on this side of the tracks. I’m eternally grateful for all those along the way in my journey to success who believed in me, inspired me, opened doors for me and basically — took a chance on me. I find myself in this career because my high calling has always been to make my life count for something — to do good in a broken world, and as the last sentence of my essay for law school admittance says, “… to be the voice, power and strength of the unheard, weak and helpless.”

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, you took out of that story?

The funniest — I can’t think of anything, but the most interesting may be the fact that I went to law school with Amy Coney Barrett who now sits in the U.S. Supreme Court. Unlike Amy, I entered the legal profession with no privilege, connections, resources, etc. I entered a law firm of 35 attorneys — 33 were middle aged white men and one white woman; I was the only person of color. I did not feel like I belonged. I saw my diversity, my cultural identity, and my gender as liabilities. I did everything I could to assimilate, to fit, to belong. It was painful, lonely and exhausting. Back in 1996, we didn’t talk about DEI. Women of color like me were simply trying to survive in a world never created for us and often hostile to us.

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?

“I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13 As a girl born into poverty, abuse, addiction, neglect and great trauma, I came to know the Lord in an orphanage at the age of 11 years old. Through the deepest, darkest traumatic and painful moments, I would repeat, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.” Although I was helpless, I found comfort in knowing that there was someone else I could count on to give me strength.

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?

The most important piece of advice I share often is that we need people along the way to support us in life and career. Some may be mentors, others sponsors, coaches, counselors, colleagues, friends, family, professors, bosses, allies, etc. What all these people have in common is — your best interest. They want to see you happy and successful. I have been blessed to have had many lifelong believers in Tammy Ramos. One story is of my foster mom, Mary Pena. She was the leader of the Mecha Club at my high school. She saw that I had no home, no family, no hope. So, she took me in and gave me a home, family and hope. She changed the course of my life and helped me to see that there was so much more I could do and become. She inspired me and helped me apply for college where I would meet Dr. Maria Hernandez who took a chance on me and gave me a seat in the High Potential Program at Saint Mary’s College. Dr. Hernandez has been a lifelong friend who has opened doors for me where I didn’t even know doors existed. These two women continue to build me up to continue to dream big dreams and see them come to fruition.

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

LatinaVIDA was originally founded by my dearest and longest mentor of over 30 years, Dr. Maria Hernandez. While sitting around a kitchen table one day with the other two co-founders, Santalynda Marrero, EdD and Julia Arellano-Sullivan, MBA were reflecting on the challenges they faced as first-generation Latinas trying to navigate corporate America. They realized that many Latinas, who are first in their families to have advanced degrees and professional careers, often do not have the skills or knowledge to navigate their careers in a world dominated by white men. LatinaVIDA was birthed to empower and equip the next generation of Latinas to rise to the top in their careers. Today, LatinaVIDA has expanded its mission to partner with organizations who want to support all first generation professionals of color to advance in their careers.

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

Personally, I’m always working on exciting projects. Currently, I’m preparing myself to get on a corporate board, write a book on Latina leadership and do a TedTalk. Professionally, I’m working to broaden LatinaVIDA’s reach into Fortune 500 companies through the support of our developing Corporate Advisory Board. My goal is to see a minimum of 1,000 professionals of color to have gone through our PODER Leadership Academy by the end of 2023 with it resulting in their increased promotions, self-confidence, pay equity, sponsorship and joy in the work they do.

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

Absolutely! As I mentioned earlier, at the young age of 21, I knew the calling on my life was to be “the voice, power and strength of the unheard, weak and helpless.” I am privileged to get to earn a living doing what I am passionate about which is creating inclusion and equity for women and people of color through my DEI work in coaching leaders on how to create cultures of inclusion and through my partnerships with organizations who invest in the leadership development of their diverse talent.

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.

  1. Increased employee engagement and productivity.
  2. Increased employee retention and promotion of diverse talent.
  3. Increased employee innovation and creativity.
  4. Increased employee morale.
  5. Increased profits for the organization.

Where there is diversity, there is greater innovation because there is a broader and deeper knowledge base to pull from. This leads to profitability and success for organizations and individuals. I will use an example of a time when an organization failed to do this. Chevy came out with the Nova back in the 1960s. They came to realize the reason they couldn’t sell it to the Hispanic community was because “no va” means “it doesn’t run.” This is a prime example of what happens when you have homogeneous voices at the table. Organizations who invite ALL voices to participate in the decision making process reap the rewards of the diversity of thought, lived experiences and knowledge which results in the bottom line success for the organization with all stakeholders — employees, customers, clients, vendors, suppliers, etc.

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

If the goal is to support employees’ success, organizations must recognize that employees are first human beings. As humans, we all have a deep need to belong and to believe our lives matter. Today we live in a much more diverse, complex and multifaceted world. The workplace is made up of a global, multigenerational, multiethnic, multilingual, multidimensional community which is beautifully rich in knowledge, culture and lived experiences. Organizations that invest in this diverse talent pool will be the ones who are able to successfully attract, retain and promote this talent and reap the benefits.

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

Lead with humility, curiosity and empathy and your teams will manage themselves.

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 🙂

Melinda Gates and Oprah because both women have a long history of demonstrating love, commitment and resources to underprivileged minority groups. I believe they both would value and be moved by my personal story and passion to inspire and empower the least of us — especially women of color who continue to face the greatest discrimination, bias, lack of access and equity. For those who stand on the side of justice, fairness and righteousness — will naturally see the need to support a nonprofit like LatinaVIDA who is changing and shaping the world for the next generation of diverse professionals.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tammy-ramosjd/

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


Tammy Ramos Of LatinaVida 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.

The Future Is Now: Jack Jia of Musely On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech…

The Future Is Now: Jack Jia of Musely On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Never stop experimenting. Even if you build a winning team, you will still fail exponentially more times than you succeed. Accept that failures will happen, but be prepared to fail fast and iterate faster. Never stop running experiments, measuring the outcomes, and repeating.

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

Jack Jia is an American entrepreneur. He is known for founding and leading Musely, an online platform to provide skincare medical treatments through technology, as its chief executive officer since its launch in November 2017.

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?

Having been a serial entrepreneur in internet technology for many years, I can tell you that skincare was definitely not my planned career path, but the result of a series of steps and an “aha!” moment. Believe it or not — the story of my 4th company, Musely, starts with my own personal passion for DIY and home improvement tips. Years ago, we created an app called Trusper Tips (short for Trusted Helper’s Tips) to empower women to create and share lifestyle tips. Within a year or two, 8 million women flocked to the app and created over a million tips! Can you guess the #1 most popular tip category? Beauty and skincare!

By late 2017, we had created a marketplace allowing 900+ skincare brands to promote and sell their skincare products to this community we had created of dedicated skincare junkies. This was a particularly hopeful moment for my wife, Cherry, who had been fighting her own decades-long battle against melasma. At this point, I thought our community (Cherry, included!) would be thrilled to see and experience the endless options of skincare products we added to the app. Boy, was I wrong!

After doing a little digging, here’s what I learned about these 900+ brands and the $300B skincare industry:

  • Most of them shared the same contract manufacturers — just with different packaging and marketing stories. They may spin a different narrative to reach different audience segments, but at the end of the day — it is still the same generic formula and nothing is truly effective.
  • Over-the-counter creams have no proven impact whatsoever except being a fragranced moisturizer. While moisturizer does, of course, serve a purpose in our skincare routine, surely it should never warrant a $300 price tag.

When I discussed my revelation with industry experts, I learned two more shocking facts that revealed the “smoke and mirrors” behind the cosmeceutical industry.

  • Fact #1: OTC skincare cannot have a real impact.

My friend and renowned Board-Certified dermatologist, Dr. Marie Jhin, told me that OTC skincare creams were actually not allowed to have a real impact on your skin except for being a moisturizer. By legal definition, over-the-counter products cannot directly interact with our skin cells.

  • Fact #2: The skincare industry promotes scent over science.

Next, I connected with Lori Bush, founding CEO of Rodan + Fields, and Kimber Maderazzo, former top executive at Proactiv. Both of these experts confirmed that the cosmeceuticals industry is more focused on spending money on supermodel spokespeople than any research & development behind their products. But — both Rodan & Fields and Proactiv had no choice, since prescription medicated skincare products were out of the question for their business models.

Aha! Now, I finally understood why my wife, Cherry, continued to struggle with melasma even after spending tens of thousands of dollars over the years on expensive creams (and even IPL and Fraxel laser treatments), while her dark spots only got worse.

Dr. Jhin invited Cherry and I to visit her practice in the Bay Area, and with some convincing, Cherry very reluctantly agreed to make one last ditch effort to treat her melasma. Using Dr. Jhin’s prescription treatment, Cherry’s stubborn dark spots had been erased in less than two months,, and even her wrinkles started to fade. Just like that, Cherry became “Patient Zero”, and Musely FaceRx was born!

Can you share an interesting story that has happened to you since you began your career?

In my early conversations with Dr. Jhin, who is now the Chief Medical Officer at Musely, she told me a story I’ll never forget. The story was of a patient who came into her office with a tote back literally filled to the brim with dozens of OTC skincare products. The patient dumped the tote bag out on the counter in front of Dr. Jhin and asked, “Which one of these products will work for my melasma?”. Dr. Jhin, knowing the truth about OTC skincare, had no choice but to tell the patient, “None of them”. After painting this picture, Dr. Jhin revealed she actually encounters multiple “tote bag ladies” each month — all with the same saga of failed attempts with OTC skincare.

This was when I realized that the cosmeceutical industry was born as a compromise. One example that illustrates this perfectly is that of retinol versus tretinoin. We all know that the skincare industry loves retinol. But the little-known secret is that retinol is simply riding on the coattails of its more powerful distant cousin, tretinoin. In reality, tretinoin is a derivative of Vitamin A (as is retinol), but tretinoin is at least 20x stronger than retinol! In fact, it’s the only ingredient that is FDA-approved to reverse signs of aging. But, of course, since tretinoin is only available with a prescription, the OTC skincare industry doesn’t want you to know this! Instead, they market retinol as having the same anti-aging benefits. And this is just one example of many similar OTC versus Rx comparisons!

My goal with Musely is to debunk the misinformation put forth by the skincare industry by offering medications that are scientifically proven to slow down and even reverse our biological clock.

Can you tell us about the cutting-edge technological breakthroughs that you have created? How do you think that will help people?

With Musely, we’ve successfully disrupted the skincare industry not only from a technological standpoint, but an efficacy and affordability standpoint, as well. Let me explain:

On the technology front, we have custom-built a streamlined telemedicine platform that connects patients with board-certified dermatologists and pharmacies in a way that is at least 100x faster, easier, cheaper, and more accessible than any in-person or online alternatives.

In addition, with our custom eNurse app, patients have 24/7 access to the highest accredited skincare experts in the country, all from the comfort of their home, with just a few taps on their smartphone. With each treatment purchase, Musely patients also receive 60 days of unlimited access to their prescribing dermatologist — truly a “first” for the skincare industry.

Not only have we applied cutting-edge technology to medical science, but we also developed clinical and pharmacy processes to continually test and improve efficacy. We have commissioned advanced research & development initiatives and built state-of-the-art compounding facilities so that we have the ability to constantly develop, test and produce new formulas. This is something that dermatologists have only ever dreamed of providing to their patients before.

Since Musely FaceRx launched in 2019, we have also created several of the world’s first and only skincare medications such as:

The Body Cream: The first and only prescription-strength body cream specifically formulated to treat dark spots and signs of aging on the body. This was a tough nut to crack, since the body skin is too thick for normal base molecules to penetrate. Therefore, body conditions like dark spots or signs of aging were considered untreatable by the derms. So, we developed a custom Musely Micro Base to effectively penetrate the thicker body skin.

  • The Private Cream: The first and only affordable and easily accessible prescription-strength dark spot treatment formulated for intimate areas like the groin, genitals, underarms, inner thigh area and anus.
  • The Spot Peel: The world’s first affordable fast-acting peel formula designed to reduce dark spots in just days instead of weeks.
  • And most recently, The Eye Serum, the world’s first ever prescription-strength eye serum formulated by dermatologists to treat fine lines and crow’s feet around the eyes. This is a dream treatment for dermatologists and patients who didn’t have access to anything similar until just weeks ago.

Lastly, we have successfully disrupted the inefficient and highly outdated chemical and packaging industries, allowing us to pass major savings along to our patients. By removing the middlemen in the supply chain of doctors, pharmacists, and suppliers, Musely has made skincare and medical services 10x cheaper, 10x faster, and 10x more efficacious!

These advances in technology, efficacy, and affordability have allowed us to completely turn the skincare industry upside down, and allow people across the country (and eventually, the world!) access to skincare that actually works.

How do you think this might change the world?

By flipping the script, we will revolutionize the way consumers think about skincare! From the outside looking in, it seems like truly effective skincare is reserved for the rich & famous. The rest of us, on the other hand, pour billions of dollars into brands that aren’t at all concerned with the efficacy behind their products (so long as they have the top A-list celebrities to promote them!).

By now, you understand why this is not fair. So, why don’t more people know about it? Throughout many conversations with Dr. Jhin and our medical board, I asked about the pain points that prevent most Americans from seeing a dermatologist. Their answer? Cost, accessibility, and availability.

Because there are so few board-certified dermatologists in the country, appointments can require weeks or even months to secure. And then, you’re required to sacrifice time out of your busy schedule to accommodate trips to the doctor and pharmacy, and pay out of pocket if your health insurance doesn’t cover it. If you’re one of the lucky few that do get to see a dermatologist, you will likely be prescribed a generic medication that ranges from $200 to $1000 per treatment. These treatments are often a “one size fits all” formula that does not take into account your unique skin concerns — a concept that we wholeheartedly reject. Instead, we’ve created over 100 formulations that you and your dermatologist can customize into a treatment plan (all within minutes, from your phone!)

We’re on a mission to expand knowledge, affordability, and access to the only effective skincare solutions by completely obliterating those three barriers to entry. So far, in the three years since launch, Musely has allowed hundreds of thousands of patients access to prescription skin and treatments, turning long-time skeptics into believers. It’s this social cause and real-life impact on our patients that makes Musely not just a business but a social movement. And we’re only just getting started!

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

Yes, there were several tipping points!

The first tipping point was the realization that effective skincare medications have existed for years (for many of the most prominent skin conditions). However, 99% of women (and men) are not aware of their existence, and the skincare industry wants to keep it that way! Because how else would they sell you their $300 scented moisturizer?

The second tipping point is that compounded ingredients make the original medications 5–10x more effective and 10x cheaper at the same time. Compounding is the process of combining, mixing, or altering ingredients to create a medication tailored to the needs of an individual patient. It is the oldest and most widespread form of medicine — dating back centuries before the modern pharmaceutical drug manufacturing. In the last century, compounding pharmacies lost the battle to big pharma factories, who claimed to automate the process and lower costs. But there is a catch! It all comes down to efficacy.

Many don’t realize that even prescription skincare has a shelf life, sometimes as short as 2–4 months. With extremely volatile skincare ingredients that can oxidize in the air, the medication can lose potency very quickly, making the treatment far less effective. This puts over-the-counter skincare products, and even other prescription products, at a severe disadvantage because of the lengthy manufacturing, storage & distribution process before it gets into your hands. A product from a brick-and-mortar store could have been sitting on the shelf for months before you pick it up and purchase it!

Knowing this, I knew it was essential that Musely be able to freshly compound our medications, just days before our patients receive them in the mail. We pride ourselves in compounding the freshest medications, which is really the key to seeing any results. By compounding and shipping directly from our pharmacy, we’re able to deliver the medication in its freshest, most powerful state, which will allow you to actually reap the benefits of the ingredients.

Ironically, this “pharm to table”, customized approach is up to 10 times cheaper than pharmaceutical medication (because of monopoly power and insane margins). Yet another way we’re able to pass savings onto our patients.

The third tipping point is that software and internet technology are the key components that allow patients, dermatologists, pharmacists, and chemists to work together simultaneously. Each of these different players can be working over the internet, on the same platform to carry the patient from point A to point Z, all within minutes!

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

Lack of awareness is the glass ceiling to widespread adoption. People don’t know that teledermatology exists, and that better treatment exists outside of the skincare products found at your local department, beauty, and drug stores. We’re up against a $300B industry that leverages the platforms and recognition of global celebrities to continue pushing the false narrative of efficacy.

In order to disrupt the status quo, we must lead with education and foster our own community of brand advocates, who, together, can be even more powerful than celebrities! Having seen my wife, Cherry, go through her own decades-long struggle with melasma, I understand that celebrities are not the way to relate to women who are truly suffering with seemingly “untreatable” skin concerns. Our patients are not “aspirational” or driven by the latest skincare trends. Instead, they are very skeptical, defeated, and they aren’t convinced by gimmicky marketing ploys. For our 500,000+ patients, the glimmer of hope is seeing the transformations and reading the heartfelt stories of other women who have been in that same dark place.

Our ticket to widespread adoption is our patients themselves. Word-of-mouth and real patients testimonials are what drives our business and will ultimately promote widespread awareness and access to efficacious skincare. In fact, as we speak, we are building new technology to help our patients spread awareness digitally. Stay tuned for that launch!

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?

Many mentors have helped me along the way, including my NYU professors who allowed me to graduate early, and several angel investors who offered me more than money, but their collective wisdom on how their companies succeeded. I am also extremely grateful to our current investors who have displayed infinite patience as we pivoted three times in three years before we took off.

But, if I had to choose one person in particular who guided me to where I am the most, it would be my late mother. She was an accomplished professor of geophysics who was willing to try anything and everything. When I was 10 years old and living in China, she taught me (along with herself) to use punch cards for computer programming. This was in the 1970’s when “computer” was barely even a word! Then, in the 1980’s, she visited NYC and managed to convince professors at Columbia University and NYU that I would be a great computer science PhD student for them, all with very poor & broken English! She never gave up regardless of how nascent or naive a field was to her, and her mentorship and tenacity have been the fuel for my never-ending entrepreneurial journey. I miss her and am forever indebted to her!

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

  1. Your team is everything. Without co-founders that are passionate, talented and somewhat (just somewhat) experienced in the area of your business, you will absolutely not be able to reach your true potential.
  2. Find an ocean to play in, not a pond. More often than not, successful entrepreneurs are the ones who discover unique and ground-breaking business opportunities in a large market rather than a small one.
  3. Never stop experimenting. Even if you build a winning team, you will still fail exponentially more times than you succeed. Accept that failures will happen, but be prepared to fail fast and iterate faster. Never stop running experiments, measuring the outcomes, and repeating.
  4. Accept that moments of feeling lost and in despair are just part of the entrepreneurial journey. These moments can break you, but without them, you cannot break through.
  5. If you are passionate and talented, you already have a great foundation for being an entrepreneur. While it’s not a linear or stress-free journey, I have never heard of an entrepreneur regretting their choice in starting a business. Enjoy the journey and you’ll be grateful for what you learn along the way.

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

As an entrepreneur, the single greatest reward (in my opinion, at least!) is seeing the real life impact that your brand, product or service has made. Seeing the transformations and hearing the stories from our 500K+ patients as they have regained their confidence and restored their love of life. These heart-wrenching, inspiring stories and profound emotions have created momentum that fuels the entire Musely team. It’s this shared passion and sense of a bigger purpose that allows us to be so much more than merely a skincare brand.

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

First time entrepreneurs may be drawn to the motto “fortune favors the bold”. But at this point in my career, I cherish the message “1% inspiration & 99% perspiration” far more.

Building a successful business (or a happy life for that matter) is never a straight line. There will be many zig-zags and back-and-forths — so many that you’ll lose count. You’ll face dead ends and impasses along the way that will make your initial idea feel like the easiest part (as soon as you get far enough to look back!) This is why you’ll hear many experienced entrepreneurs, executives or investors often say: “Ideas are cheap, but execution is everything!”

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


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

Erik McKinney of Impact XM: Five Things You Need To Build A Trusted And Beloved Brand

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Building Community. Jeep is an excellent example. I drive my wife’s Jeep Wrangler on occasion, and I still haven’t gotten used to everyone else in a Wrangler waving at me when they pass by. Jeep continues to grow and foster this community through loyalty events, social media, and celebrating their drives. And then there’s the whole rubber duck thing. Just Google it.

As a part of our series about how to create a trusted, believable, and beloved brand, I had the pleasure to Interview Erik McKinney.

Erik McKinney has over two decades of experience in the industry leading award-winning, needle moving experiential work across a long list of Fortune 500 clients. He is a B2C-B2B creative hybrid with demonstrated ability in crafting compelling stories that drive engagement across the live and digital world.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

The crux of my job now is creating live events and experiences between brands and people. Growing up as an only child in rural Pennsylvania, I found myself playing alone quite often. To keep myself entertained, I was constantly imagining new games, new worlds, and new experiences. In many ways, I’m doing the same thing now for brands except I’m crafting the experiences for specific audiences, not just myself.

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 didn’t start my career as a creative, but I wanted to be one. I started as an Assistant Account Executive at an old school New York ad agency. I specifically remember working on a brand and I thought I had this great creative idea for a new campaign. Fueled by my youthful ignorance, I went to the head of the creative team to share my “brilliant” idea that I had sketched out. I don’t remember the exact idea, all I remember is that it was horrible. There was no strategy, no understanding of the brand and no consideration for the audience we were trying to reach. The only person that this idea was relevant to was me.

He could very easily have laughed me out of his office, and he would have been completely justified in doing so. Instead, he actually sat down and took the time to explain why the idea wouldn’t work and how I should have approached it differently. He taught me the best ideas require you to truly understand what the brand means, what the audience wants and the context within the two will meet. It’s a lesson that I carry with me to this day.

The bigger lesson it taught me was the importance of being a mentor. My dreams of being a creative could have been crushed that day and my career path forever altered. Instead, I was met with kindness, wisdom, and encouragement that kept my dreams alive.

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

I feel there are a lot of things that make Impact XM special to our people and our clients. However, given the chaos of the world over the last couple of years, I think our ability to adapt quickly and intelligently to our clients’ needs and realities of the world stands out to me the most.

During the pandemic, our business got crushed. We are in an industry built on creating live experiences that bring people together, and all of the sudden we couldn’t do that. So, we very quickly pivoted to doing it in the virtual world. We went from doing a handful of virtual events a year to several hundred. This was accomplished through a combination of necessity, innovation, collaboration, and the humility to know what we didn’t know, and then figure it out. The fact that we were able to do all of this so successfully is a testament to who we are and what we’re made of.

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

The most exciting project I’m working on currently is a confidential one. All I can say is it will be a one-of-a-kind event that celebrates a diverse range of cultures and creativity coming together in one place.

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?

The simplest answer is one is rational, and one is emotional. The best marketing finds the intersection between both. Product marketing is typically very rational; what is the product? How does it fit into my life? How does it make my life better? Brand marketing on the other hand is more emotional. You’re telling a story that connects with people and aligns with their values that define who they are and the aspirations of who they hope to become.

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?

The brand and its purpose should be the north star for all marketing efforts. The products, the audience, the world around us and the challenges we face are ever-changing. An enduring brand adapts to the change, but always stays true to what it is and, by doing so, builds its credibility in the eyes of the audience. This credibility makes it easier to introduce new products and ideas into the world.

Can you share 5 strategies that a company should be doing to build a trusted and believable brand? Please tell us a story or example for each.

  1. Consistency is key. The idea “Red Bull gives you wings” has been a constant across Red Bull’s advertising, extreme sports sponsorships, and proprietary events (like Flugtag) for decades. They’re so committed to it that they dropped a dude from space. However, no matter how crazy the idea may manifest itself, it always reinforces the brand’s commitment to empowering people to do the incredible.
  2. Being able to innovate while remaining true to who you are. Lego is a great example of this. Legos are constantly innovating with new products, films, licensing partnerships, and even theme parks. However, every innovation ties back to their brand mission to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow.
  3. Building Community. Jeep is an excellent example. I drive my wife’s Jeep Wrangler on occasion, and I still haven’t gotten used to everyone else in a Wrangler waving at me when they pass by. Jeep continues to grow and foster this community through loyalty events, social media, and celebrating their drives. And then there’s the whole rubber duck thing. Just Google it.
  4. Demonstrating through action. It is easy to talk about what you can do, but doing it is what matters. An example is the United States Postal Service who live and breathe their slogan — it doesn’t matter how bad the weather is, the USPS always delivers. They were also frontline workers during the pandemic, demonstrating through their commitment that they are a brand people can trust.
  5. Authenticity. You can say all you want about your brand and brand story, but it’s important to practice what you preach. A great example of this is Patagonia who literally put their money where their mouth is when the founder made headlines for giving away the company to fight climate change. This proved to customers that from the top down they remain true to the values that they promote.

What role does social media play in your branding efforts?

The role social media plays in branding efforts depends on your objectives, but the things that popped to mind are the ability to connect in real time, generate conversation and discussion through a two-way dialogue versus a brand speaking their message into the world. Through that dialogue you build community and loyalty. Also, I think it’s this amplification of your efforts. When working in live events we can take the stories we are creating and amplify them on a broader scale through the use of social media.

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 don’t know how you would do this, but the combination of advancements we are making with the Metaverse, VR technology and artificial intelligence to allow people to walk in someone else’s shoes (as cliche as that sounds). Simply put, the ability to see the world through others’ perspectives and understand how they process information and how it impacts them. In our country there’s so much divisiveness due to the fact that we do not have the ability to see things through someone else’s perspective and we become blinded by our own thoughts and beliefs. So, if we could use all this wonderful technology to actually provide that opportunity to see other perspectives it can probably go a long way and help bridge the gaps.

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

“Creativity is intelligence having fun.” — Albert Einstein

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 lunch or breakfast with? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂

George R.R. Martin. I’m fascinated by storytellers that create immersive, complex worlds.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

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

Impact XM social media:

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


Erik McKinney of Impact XM: 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.

XPO’s Diana Brown On 5 Ways To Create a Wow! Customer Experience

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Make it easy for customers to do business with you. A great example of that at XPO is our customer onboarding process. We have a dedicated project manager who oversees the entire process, so we know everything’s in sync from the very beginning. That’s a big piece of simplifying the engagement with customers.

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 Diana Brown.

Diana Brown has more than two decades of leadership experience with customer-centric sales and service organizations. She currently serves as senior vice president of sales operations and customer experience at XPO, a leading provider of less-than-truckload freight transportation services.

In that capacity, Diana leads the company’s customer experience team and is responsible for onboarding new accounts and ensuring high customer satisfaction across multiple customer service channels. She joined the company from Amazon Business, where she was head of customer success.

Diana holds an MBA from Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA, and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and economics from Indiana University.

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 initially wanted to be an actuary but realized pretty quickly in college that it wasn’t the right path for me. When I graduated from Indiana University, I started building custom supply chain software as a consultant. I loved my experience working with customers and helping them solve their problems through technology. I’ve been passionate about working with customers ever since. Over the course of my career, I’ve built multiple customer support teams. I like to look ahead and build solutions that delight customers. I’m at my best when I’m at the crossroads of leading teams, working directly with customers and thinking big to drive change.

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?

Early in my career, I was selected to lead a project during a three-month consulting boot camp. It was a great moment for me because I was super competitive and wanted to win. I had one hour to set up the team structure and kick off the project. I quickly assembled the team and led a discussion for 45 minutes and then assigned responsibilities based on everyone’s interest. Within the first few days, I learned that delegation was going to be a problem in this group. We were a bunch of Type-A successful students, and everyone had their own ideas they were passionate about. It became clear that the way we had assigned responsibilities wasn’t going to work. I needed to ensure everyone had a voice and felt they were part of the solution. I also needed to appreciate the different ideas but know when it was time to stop exploring and get everyone rowing in the same direction. This experience taught me the value of being authentic and apologizing for mistakes. Being humble and listening to others remains foundational to how I lead my team and approach my work with customers.

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 my first job as a consultant, I worked for a Partner who was great about providing visibility to newer employees. He’d often take one or two of us to senior-level meetings and ask us to “act like furniture,” meaning to be an active listener without speaking so we could absorb and learn. Following each of these opportunities to gain exposure to senior-level discussions and negotiations, this leader would take the time to debrief with us. It was such a great learning tool, and super motivational for me. He was an amazing team leader who fostered a culture of curiosity and excellence. About three years ago, I reconnected with him and thanked him for his mentorship. I try to replicate that experience with my team as often as I can.

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?

A great customer experience is critical for brand loyalty and growth. People have choices and will exercise them if they’re unhappy. It’s easier to retain customers than cultivate new customer relationships, although both are important.

At XPO, growing our business demands best-in-class customer service, and we take it seriously. From our drivers, dockworkers and customer service representatives to our CEO, everyone sees providing quality service as our number one job.

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 think a lot of it is about humility. Many companies can get a false sense of security that they’re the best, or that there are no other options for customers, or that people won’t have an appetite to deal with switching providers because of the cost. Staying humble and grounded, and focusing on your customers’ needs, has to be as natural as breathing every day.

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?

Absolutely. If you’re in a monopolistic market, customers don’t have a choice. They have to accept the experience provided by that organization if they need that product or service.

On the flipside, when there is significant choice, people will make decisions based on the customer experience — the full customer journey. Think about buying a car. There are so many different approaches to the customer experience. There are dealers that are more receptive than others to haggling. Some offer nice touches, like a great place to wait while your car’s being serviced or free car washes. Others tout the convenience of their internet buying process. There are so many ways to differentiate yourself as a dealer, even at similar price points.

I learned in Economics 101 that competition is good because organizations are forced to differentiate, and that drives loyalty and brand evangelism. There’s little that’s more powerful than having brand loyalists advocate on behalf of your business.

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

Sure. I typically get involved in customer escalations, so by the time someone gets to me they’re usually frustrated. A recent example involved one of our large service centers that had been impacted by weather. We were late getting a shipment delivered because of the weather and then having a truck break down. The customer reached out to me and asked that I expedite the delivery. I contacted our service center manager and found that delivery had already been scheduled for the next day. Within two hours of getting this customer’s email, I was able to inform him that our team had a full plan in place for expedited delivery. I followed up the next day and confirmed the delivery had been made as promised. Freight transportation isn’t a problem-free business, but when you show customers that you genuinely care when they have an issue, you create those “wow” moments that enable you to retain and grow business.

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

Absolutely. In this case, the customer was extremely appreciative and sent thank-you notes to me and our operational leadership. And their shipping volumes haven’t just been sustained — they’ve even grown a bit. These small moments are very important to preserving and growing business with customers.

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.

There are five things we always make sure to think about at XPO:

First is to walk in the customer’s shoes — you need to thoroughly understand their requirements and deliver more than they expect.

Second is to go above and beyond to deliver extraordinary value. At XPO, it’s really our technology that makes that possible. Our piece-level-tracking, for example, allows us to track every pallet in a load independently. The nature of LTL shipments is that one truck carries freight for multiple customers, and this technology allows us to give each customer the individualized attention they deserve.

Third is to make it easy for customers to do business with you. A great example of that at XPO is our customer onboarding process. We have a dedicated project manager who oversees the entire process, so we know everything’s in sync from the very beginning. That’s a big piece of simplifying the engagement with customers.

Fourth is to respond quickly and effectively when things go wrong. To do that, you have to provide thorough, ongoing training for customer service representatives, and have a well-oiled escalation machine in place to ensure no issue is left unresolved.

Finally, it’s essential to recognize and reward customer service employees. A culture of recognition and accountability fosters a sense of pride that incentivizes employees to do their very best to deliver an exceptional customer experience. At XPO, that means supporting every employee in a way that makes them feel a personal connection to our tagline, “Your Freight First.” We have similar quality programs for our operations team, who handle our customers’ freight, and also tie incentive compensation to quality for all XPO leaders.

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?

Absolutely — that’s been an added benefit of the “wow” effect. Given the extensive interconnectivity that exists between shippers, vendors and carriers as freight moves through the supply chain, it’s unsurprising that customer service experiences are routinely shared. We have relationships with several national customers who make their vendors aware that they endorse us as a preferred carrier. In many cases, these national relationships have helped us secure contracted pricing agreements with new customers.

If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

What comes to mind for me is the phrase, “better together.” We all win when we focus on how we work together to take care of each other, our communities and our customers. This past holiday season, many of our service centers and administrative offices joined together to adopt families in need of support through local schools and shelters in nearby communities. Pooling our resources for a worthy cause was a great way to get to know each other better, to lift each other up through volunteering and to make an impact in our local communities. We truly have a service-oriented spirit at XPO, and it’s a spirit that resonates with me very much outside of work, as well.

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


XPO’s Diana Brown 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.

Meet The Disruptors: David Fenton Of ECM Technologies On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your…

Meet The Disruptors: David Fenton Of ECM Technologies On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Look a person in their eyes when you are speaking so they know you can be trusted.

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

David Fenton, managing director at ECM Technologies, is a creative, analytical and responsive entrepreneur and business executive with a proven history of success and leadership. A former residential and commercial real estate developer and founder and CEO of Twin Oaks Construction Company, Fenton is a persistent problem solver with a passion for green building and sustainable solutions that contribute to reducing a building’s carbon footprint.

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?

Over the course of my development and construction career, and not by my choosing, I became much more entrenched in understanding HVAC equipment due to it causing the biggest ongoing headaches along with customer complaints. Most of the issues were around thermal degradation due to oil-foiling which attributed to lost cooling capacity. So, when I became aware there was a recent technology that cured this issue and the opportunity to bring it to market, I jumped in with both feet.

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

Like I mentioned above, oil-fouling is something that occurs with almost all HVAC systems, and it can leave units operating at 70% or less of their original capacity. It creates excessive work for compressors in delivering called for BTUs, leading to substantial energy loss, higher electricity bills and a shortened system or component life.

Our technology at ECMT is remedy for this issue, making HVAC equipment more efficient therefore extending its operating life. A single treatment of our ThermaClear solution lasts the life of the equipment, improves HVAC efficiency by 10–15% and has a payback period of 24 to 36 months.

In turn, equipment manufacturers do not sell new replacement units and component parts as 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 am not sure if this is the funniest story, but certainly one of the best eventual outcomes. Early in my career, I arrived at a co-working space for a meeting with people I had never met. I was a bit early, as I like to always be prepared. I walked into the reserved conference room to find two people already sitting down. I introduced myself and we began talking. After about 10-minutes, they realized they were in the wrong room and not who I was supposed to be meeting. Impressed with the start of our conversation, they asked if we could schedule a time for an actual meeting. I ended up forming great relationships with both and they later helped me in my business. This situation showed me how a quick unintentional conversation could lead to something great. You never know who you are speaking with — always be polite and professional.

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?

There is a big difference between a “hand up” and a “hand out.” Having been a recipient over my business career of a “hand up” had a tremendous impact on where I am today. All of us, when having the ability to do so, should always be willing to extend a hand up to those that deserve it and just need that little break. I have had the privilege of having some remarkable mentors in my life that not only gave me a hand up but also gave me some of their best wisdom that did not fall on deaf ears. No question, I would not be where I am at today if not for all of them. (Out of respect for the individuals, I cannot disclose names, but let’s just say they are well-known leaders in their respective areas.)

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?

I am not sure if it is never good to be disruptive within an industry. A big part of disruption is changing, and change is good. It’s one of the main ingredients that build capitalism. “Withstanding the test of time” can have many interpretations; to me, it simply means that nothing new or better has been developed yet. Just because something has withstood the test of time does not equate that it is the best and only way. Take our technology — We will always look for better ways to improve what we have now and not just rest on what it is today.

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

1. Show up early before anyone else and make sure you get noticed.

2. Only pay the same tax once.

3. Invest in yourself as much as possible.

4. Always start your day with a complete breakfast.

5. Look a person in their eyes when you are speaking so they know you can be trusted.

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

At this time, I am not really focusing on what’s next to shake up. But when I do, it will be big because at this stage in my life, I do not need any more practice.

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?

One book, “Tuesdays with Morrie,” changed my life when I was 30 years old. If you have not read–do so and you will understand why it had a profound effect on me then and still does today.

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

“Don’t confuse efforts with results.”

This taught me grit, determination and how to focus on what matters.

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. 🙂

Having physical conditioning and nutrition coaching be part of every employee’s workday. I encourage employers to include this for everyone in their dedicated work week schedule.

How can our readers follow you online?

https://ecm-technologies.net

https://twitter.com/ThermaClear

https://www.linkedin.com/company/thermaclear

https://www.instagram.com/thermaclear

https://www.facebook.com/ThermaClear1

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


Meet The Disruptors: David Fenton Of ECM Technologies 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.

Meet The Disruptors: Mike Mabin of MABU Agency On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your…

Meet The Disruptors: Mike Mabin of MABU Agency On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

“Keep it simple, slow it down, and pause,” are the words of advice I received from my dad. In life, and in business, things get complicated and fast-paced. It’s easy to get swept away by the whirlwind of activity. When this begins to happen, my dad’s advice helps me stop the madness, pause to organize my thoughts, and chart a course that makes sense for myself and others.

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

Mike Mabin, a North Dakota-based entrepreneur, is carrying on a family tradition started by his grandfathers — one who owned a company that delivered automotive products to rural gas stations throughout the Dakotas, and the other who ran a boat rental and bait shop on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation. Mike started his first company, Agency MABU, 21 years ago and currently co-owns several others — Shutter Pilots, Innovatar, Pemmican Patty Food Company, and JamesLee Properties. He has also invested his time, talents, and resources to support dozens of other entrepreneurs in starting and running their own businesses.

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 first passion was filmmaking and photography. My dad used an 8mm camera to film his buddies while on fishing trips to Canada. I loved watching him edit the footage and show his homemade movies to family and friends. The joy I experienced when my parents bought me my first camera — a Nikon 35mm with telephoto lens — is unforgettable. It was my constant companion, and I became an obsessed “shutterbug.”

After high school, I planned to attend the local college to study business and start my own photo studio. However, life had other plans. In my last year of high school, my parent’s business failed. This harsh event caused me to rethink my plans to start my own business. So, instead of going to the local college to study business, I set my sights on attending art college to study photography.

In hindsight, this was a great decision. After four years of study at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design, I was hired as the Audio-Visual Coordinator for a large hospital in North Dakota, where I worked for over 20 years, becoming a top executive reporting directly to the CEO and overseeing dozens of departments and hundreds of staff.

While nurturing my career in healthcare management, I continued to hone my business skills, earning a master’s degree and developing a business plan for an ad agency. When I hesitated to give up my career and start a business for fear of failure, my wife assured me I could always get another job if it didn’t work out. Within a month, I was implementing my business plan and opened Agency MABU.

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

I’ve never considered myself to be a disruptive sort of guy. Instead, I journey down paths that attract my interests and curiosities. One such path involved starting a company named Shutter Pilots. Its claim to fame is being the first firm in America to receive approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to combine unmanned drones with 3D geo-mapping technology for creating aerial images. Equally amazing is that our first client was National Geographic. I wasn’t trying to change the world. I was just having fun combining some interests I have in the fields of photography, 3D animation, and remote-controlled aircraft.

Another example of exploring my interests involves changing the way society views the first inhabitants of the Americas. As an enrolled citizen of the Little Shell Band of Chippewa Indians of Montana, I have focused the efforts of Agency MABU on serving clients and causes representing Indian Country. My co-workers and I create and share stories from a vast array of Native American perspectives. The stories challenge deep-rooted stereotypes that often depict American Indians as noble warriors of the past or poverty-stricken communities of the present.

At Agency MABU, we’ve worked with renowned clients such as the U.S. Capitol, the Smithsonian Museum, Discovery Education, and the National Indian Education Association to uplift Native American voices and new narratives surrounding topics such as the Thanksgiving holiday and the discovery of America. We’re using modern day communication methods including 360° virtual tours, 2D/3D animation, and augmented reality to show the world that the first Americans are “still here.” We’re also working with leading non-profit organizations such as The Nature Conservancy, Red Star International, and the Swift Foundation to incorporate traditional Indigenous practices and values into healing our planet and our people through stewardship, sustainability, and spirituality.

We are being disruptive by collaborating with our clients to shine light on the first Americans living in today’s world as artists, teachers, scientists, spiritual leaders, business owners and so much 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?

Most of my work involves using words in one form or another. That said, every letter matters, especially if a critical one is missing. Early in my career, I was the editor of a health & wellness publication produced by my employer (a Catholic hospital) and distributed to area residents through the local newspaper. In one memorable issue, the cover story featured an invitation to attend an open house for a new clinic. The headline featured the words “Public Open House;” however, the letter “L” was conspicuously missing from the word “public.” This embarrassing fact was first brought to my attention by a nun who handed me a copy of the publication with this request: “Please be more diligent when proofing our magazine.” Needless to say, I immediately put stringent practices in place to minimize the potential for repeating such errors. On the upside, I am pleased to report that the clinic open house attracted a record number of attendees.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors?

It would take a book rivaling the page count of War & Peace to acknowledge the myriad of people who’ve inspired, molded, and mentored me along the way. Beyond my wife, sons, parents, sisters, grandparents, and other immediate family members, I’d say the first person who comes to mind as a mentor was the owner of the lawn care and snow removal company where I worked while in college. Despite being in his late 50’s, he outworked everyone. From sunup to sundown, he operated a large, walk-behind mower called a Gravely, as well as a large snow blower. He also maintained and repaired all of the equipment long after his crew was gone each day. Beyond this, I was impressed that he invented and patented a number of contraptions that he affixed to the mowers, blowers, and other equipment.

At the time I worked for him, there were three other employees — me, his oldest son, and a long-time friend. I truly felt part of the owner’s family. One day, while having lunch together, I asked him if he ever wanted to grow his business and have more employees. “Not anymore,” he answered. He went on to say that at one time, he had five separate crews with over 25 employees who mowed over 400 lawns weekly. He said the work consumed every moment of his time and attention.

It wasn’t until one Sunday morning while doing the books that he realized his company was making less money with two dozen employees than it made when he first started it with four employees. At that moment, he made the decision to downsize. By wintertime, he was back to his original size of operations. He said, “I was once again free to attend Church on Sunday, and also have time to spend with family and friends.” This story has helped me keep my priorities in mind, thus allowing me to run my businesses instead of my business running me.

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?

By its very nature, disruption ignites change, which enables our world to continually evolve and adapt to the future. However, whenever change occurs, some things are lost, while other things are gained. Consequently, the “not so positive” side of disruption involves that which is being left behind. To minimize these downsides, we should acknowledge that the old ways of thinking or doing aren’t always bad. It’s just time to change.

Such is the case as it relates to my passion for telling stories from a “first person” view of history. Telling stories through the eyes and voices of American Indians doesn’t need to destroy or dimmish other stories of U.S. history. There’s no need to tear down something in order to build up something else. We can simply add new voices and shine light on people who’ve been in the shadows.

Far too much of what we see in the media these days in politicized and polarized. It causes people to take sides and not see others with differing views as being fully human. That’s when being disruptive to the systems that have “withstood the test of time” can turn negative. To take a more positive approach to disrupting a prevailing narrative about Native people, we’re simply adding their voices to the equation. We can more effectively disrupt the hearts and minds of people through addition rather than subtraction of history.

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

“Let’s name our newest baby MABU.” These words of advice came from my wife when we started our first business. MABU was a nickname of mine in college. She nixed naming our first child MABU. However, several years later, when discussing a name for our business, she said “Marketing & Advertising Business. Those are the first three letters of your nickname. All we need is a word for the U — Unlimited!” So, our incorporated name became “Marketing & Advertising Business Unlimited,” but we simply go by my favorite nickname — MABU.

“Keep it simple, slow it down, and pause,” are the words of advice I received from my dad. In life, and in business, things get complicated and fast-paced. It’s easy to get swept away by the whirlwind of activity. When this begins to happen, my dad’s advice helps me stop the madness, pause to organize my thoughts, and chart a course that makes sense for myself and others.

“Creativity is the ability to flip and redefine.” These are the words of advice I received from one of my fine arts college professors. Although I initially didn’t have a clue as to what this meant, the professor went on to reveal the secret behind being “creative.” He said it’s based on the premise that “there’s nothing new under the sun.” Thus, we need not waste our time trying to create something altogether new. Instead, we should simply flip and redefine what already exists. He advised his students to “take something old and change it into something new. Then, tweak it until it becomes creative and a part of you.”

“Don’t forget to bill your clients,” are the words of advice I received from a colleague of mine when I started my first business. I thought she was joking, but she was dead serious. She had been running her own consulting company for several years and said she got so busy that she failed to set up the proper bookkeeping systems to track her time on projects and issue invoices. She ended up doing a lot of work which wasn’t documented, and therefore couldn’t be billed. So, one of the first things I did upon going into business was to set up QuickBooks.

“Do what you think is right and ask forgiveness later, if necessary.” These are the words of advice I received from a nun and board member at the Catholic hospital where I worked. She shared this advice with me shortly after I was promoted into an administrative position, explaining that the hospital is a big organization with lots of people and processes that could impede progress. She encouraged me not to let divergent voices or red tape get in my way. This advice gave me the courage and confidence to get lots of things done.

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

I’m excited about the cutting edge work we’re doing at InnovatAR (www.innovatar.io) — a mixed reality company started a few years ago with my older son Alex and a few co-workers. Last year, we launched Yondar, a web-based wayfinding app that uses augmented reality to make finding people and places fun. It operates somewhat like Google Maps, except it’s designed for unmapped, walkable locations. Our first clients have included a national park, a city center, a university, and a music festival. Our most recent client is the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, California.

InnovatAR also recently launched a product called Seekers (www.seekersnft.io). It features non-fungible tokens (NFTs), gamification and cryptocurrency technologies to create meaningful experiences in the metaverse. We call it the Betterverse.

I’m also focusing attention on helping my older sister and younger son start a company called Pemmican Patty Food Company (www.pemmicanpatty.com). We’re working to bring pemmican back as a modern-day snack food. Pemmican is a mixture of dried meat, rendered fat and dried berries which originated with the Metis and other Indigenous people of the Great Plains and Great Lakes regions. The company is dedicated to our Grandma Ida who made pemmican while raising my mom and her siblings on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in North Dakota.

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?

One book that has impacted me deeply is titled “Neither Wolf Nor Dog” by Kent Nerburn. The author chronicles the life and times of an American Indian elder named Dan. Readers are exposed to the harsh truths about the Lakota people’s experience in America. I relate to many of the stories in this book since they all occurred in and around my home state of North Dakota.

Dan speaks eloquently on topics such as the power of silence, the commercialization on Indigenous culture, and the indoctrination of Native children, something my own mother experienced when she was taken to an Indian boarding school in South Dakota at the tender age of six.

This book also resonates with me because of the story behind the title. “Neither wolf nor dog” refers to the way in which many of the Native warriors were viewed after being captured and imprisoned by the U.S. government in the late 1800’s. They had been stripped of their identities and were no longer free like wolves, nor were they tame like dogs. Having been raised by a mother of Native American descent and a father of European descent, I understand the confusion that can result from living in two different worlds.

This is a great read for anyone who has an interest in learning more about Native American history and culture. The following review from the Yoga Journal sums up my thoughts about the book “It is a sobering, humbling, cleansing, loving book, one that every American should read.”

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 “It’s not about you.” This is the first line in The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. By shifting our focus away from ourselves and toward others, I believe we find greater peace, joy, and purpose in life. Don Clifton, a renowned psychologist, educator, author, researcher, and entrepreneur called it the “Bucket & Dipper” theory. It purports that if we go through life focusing on ourselves, we use our “dipper” to pull whatever we need out of other people’s “buckets.” However, if we use our dipper to fill other people’s buckets, not only are they filled, but so are we. Miraculously, our buckets become overflowing, thus creating an even greater capacity to fill others. Living outwardly feeds us inwardly, not the other way around.

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 start a global smile movement. It could become the fastest, largest, and most impactful movement in history. Within a matter of moments, it could have billions of followers spreading their goodness worldwide. By simply smiling, they would join the movement. Instantly, they would feel better, as would the people around them. Their smiles would become contagious and infect others. Before we know it, the world would forever be changed for good. We’ll know the movement is alive and well every time someone smiles.

How can our readers follow you online?

I joined LinkedIn nearly 20 years ago when I was just getting started in business. It has been my “go to” social media community ever since. Folks can follow me at www.linkedin.com/in/mikemabin/

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


Meet The Disruptors: Mike Mabin of MABU Agency 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.

Meet The Disruptors: Thomas McLeod On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Be curious- curiosity keeps your mind active vs. passive. It allows you to imagine the impossible and drives you into the unknown, which is where discoveries happen.

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

Tom McLeod is a 5x founder. Most recently, he was the CEO and Founder of Omni (exited to Coinbase in 2019). Currently, he is building Arkive, unlocking the value of Smithsonian-like museum treasuries by letting members curate a distributed collection of offline valuable cultural artifacts. Prior to Omni, he founded Pagelime (acquired by SurrealCMS in 2015), LolConnect (acquired by Tencent in 2012), and Imaginary Feet, which developed 15+ profitable iPhone apps enjoyed by over 10 million users. Along with a passion for tech and the arts, Tom has a dedicated interest in service and supporting diverse communities. He sits on the board of Camelback Ventures and advises numerous founders and startups. Originally from Plainfield, NJ, he and his family recently relocated from San Francisco to Santa Monica, where you can find him in search of his new favorite mall and movie theater.

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 story begins when my parents were school teachers. They worked an exorbitant amount to put me in a fancy school, but by the second grade, they realized the quality of education was not particularly better than less prestigious ones. Instead, they enrolled me in a creativity-focused school that specialized in the arts and sciences. It opened my eyes to the world of computing and the possibilities of what the internet could become.

In college, I majored in audio engineering and started a recording studio and small record label that I ran until 2008. At this time, the music industry was changing significantly, and Web 2 was really taking off. I started to shift my focus from album creation to platform creation for artists. I realized that building out custom MySpace pages was a surprisingly lucrative business. A few years in, the business evolved into a SaaS content management company to help small business owners make changes and update their websites.

When the iPhone AppStore emerged, we expanded into app development, launching 17 apps in 3 years. Simultaneously, my wife and I moved from DC to SF, significantly downsizing our life and putting a large majority of my belongings in storage. Five years later, I realized I had been paying to store these items I had never been back to enjoy. That’s when it hit me; if I could have seen all of these items in storage, I would have been able to use them more, sell them off, or just simply do more than have them collect dust.

That’s when Omni was born, the DropBox for urban living. This platform created a way for users to see what they were storing. What surprised me most, however, was that people found value in simply having a secure location. While I originally envisioned this as a place to store utilities you would only need on occasion (think camping gear for the urban dweller), it grew into a curated and vaulted museum right before my eyes. Everything from original sealed Nintendo units to rare sneaker collections were coming in. These were the things that people cared most about and paid money to store. This always stuck with me — the items they were storing were the things they loved and were passionate about, things they were experts in, but things they weren’t necessarily scaling. These little rooms in Omni, where people were storing pieces of amazing memorabilia, culture and art, inspired the genesis of what would become Arkive.

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

Arkive is rethinking the way the world interacts with the art and artifacts that define human culture. We’ve created a platform that lets everyday people curate and create culture while providing access to the most exclusive asset class ever created — art.

Since the first museum opened in 1693, curated spaces have remained the arbiters of culture worldwide. From the Louvre in Paris to the National Palace Museum in Taipei and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, museums have become some of the most iconic symbols of contemporary culture. Yet, despite representing the history and taste of entire populations, none have completely opened their doors to decentralization. Traditionally, museums use curators to decide which artifacts are important and worthy of display. As a result, the artifacts we see that are meant to represent the culture of the many are largely still determined by the few.

Arkive is the first entirely decentralized physical museum redefining what it means to be part of defining the narrative of culture. It’s allowing our community to vote and ultimately build world-class collections. We’re answering the simple question: what if the Smithsonian was owned and curated by the internet?

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?

Aaron Batalion was there as a sounding board and mentor at the beginning of both Omni and Arkive. He was one of the founders of Living Social and has had a similarly unique professional experience as me. Never sticking to one lane and always evolving his work alongside his personal interests. He’s helped me think through setting long visions and some of the early technical hurdles I would encounter. Also, when I first moved to SF, he and Micah Baldwin (another mentor) used to throw donut meetups down in the peninsula on weekend mornings. It was nice to have a small network of friends one generation ahead of me when I was 25 and basically winging entrepreneurship every day.

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?

Art is meant to be disruptive, challenge conformity, and provide alternative perspectives. However, as it currently stands, the majority of the art world is defined and curated by a small group of individuals. This homogeneity leads to a lack of diversity in not just selection but in what it means to define cultural relevance and the history of art.

While the art world — and the art within it — has withstood the test of time, I think that way of thinking about collecting art fundamentally limits our ability to see advancements. Who is to say Beethoven is more important than Drake? Who is to opine that the patent for the first computer is more worthy of display than the first Burton snowboard prototype? The answer is the community.

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. Be curious- curiosity keeps your mind active vs. passive. It allows you to imagine the impossible and drives you into the unknown, which is where discoveries happen.
  2. Be fearless- be fearless in your pursuit of success. Don’t allow others to dictate your path. It can be lonely at times, but when you know you’re on to something groundbreaking, don’t give up.
  3. Be disruptive- challenge the status quo, be destructive. Sometimes we have to completely rethink normalcy to create magic.
  4. Be intentional- don’t disrupt for the sake of disruption. Disrupt for the sake of change. Disrupt for the purpose of a mission. Disrupt to build a path others didn’t have but have yearned for.
  5. Lead with passion- my career has taken me to a lot of different places in life. However, the best outcomes have been when I am most passionate about what I’m solving for.

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

Just a few months after launching out of stealth, Arkive is well on its way to finalizing its first member-curated collection and we’ve debuted at Art Basel Miami Beach — one of the most defining art events of the year. Simultaneously, we are exploring ways to further democratize access to the appreciating asset class of art with more physical and digital experiences.

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

A friend’s father passed away a little over a decade or so ago, and he updated his Facebook status to simply say, “Keep Punching — [Dad’s Name].” I have no idea why it’s always stuck with me. So many times, I’ve felt like there have been obstacles and stumbling blocks on the path to accomplishing anything, and this idea of just simply taking another swing has managed to get me back in the fight more times than I can count.

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. 🙂

We are all artists, and art comes in so many different forms. We see it often in traditional forms like music, painting, literature, and cinema, but today we have so much more access to digital art, creators and curators. My movement would be to inspire people to never stop creating art. And, importantly, never stop sharing it.

How can our readers follow you online?

TWITTER: @tmcleod3

LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tmcleod3

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


Meet The Disruptors: Thomas McLeod 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.

The Future Is Now: Jon Hu Of Pepper Bio On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The…

The Future Is Now: Jon Hu Of Pepper Bio On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Don’t think about how others want you to act. You don’t have to be that typical entrepreneur who is prim and proper, like a caricature of corporate America. Like-minded people will gravitate towards you when you show up as yourself, leading you to a stronger team.

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

As co-founder and CEO of Pepper Bio, Jon’s vision to end untreatable diseases starts with building the world’s first transomics drug discovery solution. The many stops he’s made along his journey have given him a unique perspective on the drug development process and R&D.

At Shire, he gained valuable insights into bridging the gap between unmet patient needs, science (e.g., biology, technology), and business (e.g., finance, strategy). As an R&D analyst, Jon saw promising therapeutic programs shut down in early stages, due to perceived inadequate return on investment, despite potential drug effectiveness.

Having personally experienced the relief of life-changing medicine for chronic debilitating migraines, he knew first-hand how much life improves when effective treatments exists. After watching his grandmother’s neurological condition deteriorate from Alzheimer’s without access to disease-modifying therapies, Jon wanted to pursue cures for untreated diseases by mitigating scientific risk and better managing the pharma development process. He spent the next few years trying to find the right set of technologies to achieve these goals.

After work and on weekends, he spent time speaking with researchers to understand why, despite so much technological progress over the last few decades, there were still so many diseases, that don’t have effective treatments.

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?

My journey to the world of drug discovery began when my grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. The diagnosis was devastating for my family, and I felt compelled to take matters into my own hands and create hope for the millions of people and families affected by untreatable diseases.

My search for answers led me to partner with my co-founder Samantha Dale Strasser, whom I had known since college at Northwestern. She was developing innovative technology to shed light on highly complex biology, which could be used to probe diseases and drug effects. Today, Pepper Bio uses proprietary technology to find new targets, select the best treatments, and identify the optimal candidates for treatments to optimize the drug discovery process. Our mission is to end the era of untreatable diseases by gaining a comprehensive understanding in the early stages of drug development.

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

Earlier in my career, I worked at Shire Pharmaceuticals to prioritize its R&D portfolio. I saw the decision-making process behind either progressing or killing a drug program. Programs that could significantly impact patients’ lives could be considered ‘low priority’ if they had low financial returns, even if they had strong credentials in every other dimension. I’d heard stories like this before, but I never thought I’d be the one making these calls and being an obstacle in other patients’ journey to recovery. To be the person saying, “We recommend killing this project because it’s not going to be profitable,” was something I never imagined I’d have to do.

These experiences fueled my passion for entering the pharmaceutical space and forced me to question how I could change the economics of cutting-edge research.

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

We designed Pepper Bio to be the Google Maps of drug discovery. Our technology unlocks a new layer of sophistication to significantly reduce the cost and time required to develop drugs — specifically for neurology, oncology, and inflammatory diseases. Using a computational platform that integrates genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and phosphoproteomic data, we’re building the world’s first transomics database, which provides researchers with a complete, real-time map of disease mechanisms and interactions between therapies and surrounding cells. Leveraging our technology, other developers can engineer and select drugs with less toxicity, higher efficacy, and higher response rates, ensuring that patients can get rid of their disease symptoms with limited side effects.

Historically researchers focused solely on the “big data.” They’d collect as much data as possible because there was no downside to having more data. Over time, the industry learned that this approach was hindering the development process, and we pivoted toward collecting the right data. AI algorithms are only as effective as the data they are deployed on, which is why the use and integration of phosphoproteomic data into biological analyses is a complex but vital component of treating disease. Pepper Bio’s ability to stack protein phosphorylation information on top of more common data types, such as genomics, allows researchers to find effective therapies more easily. Minimizing time spent creating a drug while increasing its probability of success ensures therapeutic research into “riskier” diseases is less challenging.

Our ability to help researchers pre-vet drug targets and avoid costly mistakes during the trial phase is enabling a future of faster, safer, and more cost-effective drug discovery — bringing the same miraculous speed of Moderna and Pfizer’s mRNA vaccine innovations to neurodegenerative disease, cancer, and inflammatory disease.

How do you think this might change the world?

Pepper Bio has the potential to change the drug discovery industry and provide hope for millions of people and families across the world impacted by currently untreatable diseases.

Today’s drug discovery process is expensive and time-consuming. The combined cost of successful and failed attempts at developing a single successful therapy is upwards of $2.6 billion, and it can take 10+ years to bring a new drug to market. For pharma companies, risky and complex diseases are a bad financial bet, leaving patients who suffer from these ailments without hope.

Any individual drug has a 3% probability of success in drug discovery. These odds are so low because we still don’t have a comprehensive understanding of disease or the effects drugs have on disease and patients. Instead, drug developers conduct targeted analysis with limited data types, which only look at one or two specific pathways for the drug. As a result, developers miss other pathways that could interfere further down the road or miss potential side effects deemed intolerable by the FDA.

Our transomics technology addresses issues starting at the earliest stages of drug development. By bringing a new layer of understanding to drug discovery, we can make causal inferences about disease mechanisms and provide partners with functional insights into biological occurrences in real time.

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

I think all revolutionary ideas, concepts, and technology that can save the world carry some potential risks. Our technology can be used to map out what can potentially save a patient from pain or long-term decline. The platform can be used for so much good because it finds the best way to help people based on a new approach to transomics, but on the other hand, it could be used for the exact opposite. Hypothetically, a person with ill intentions for the world could utilize our technology to find the most effective way to hurt people. This is something we are always aware of and careful to consider as we do this research. Ultimately, the guiding question we ask ourselves is whether the direction we are heading in is serving the patients and caregivers we want to help.

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

My grandma’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis was the tipping point for me. At the time, I knew anything I could do would be too late for her because there were no current treatments on the market. But I wanted to work hard to make sure no other families had to go through this feeling of hopelessness in the future.

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

We need the adoption of our technology through educational institutions and drug research facilities. We plan to do this through new and existing partnerships to continue the expansion of validated targets and get drug candidates into the clinic. Early adopters will be important to test it out and champion the idea to those around them.

Additionally, the drug discovery industry needs a new spark, a sense of wonder. It needs imaginative, adventurous people to take calculated risks and leaps forward by adopting new technologies. More potential to develop curative medicines can’t come from doing the same things year after year, we need people who can think both inside and outside the box.

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

We’ve presented at various conferences, panel discussions, and award ceremonies and have done media interviews and case presentations at Harvard Business School. We also have various partnerships in the works right now that will play an important role in presenting our mission to the pharma industry and beyond. We’re looking forward to when we can provide more details on the collaborations we have behind the scenes!

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’ve met so many people throughout my journey that have helped me immensely, but my biggest supporter and motivator has always been my grandfather. When I was growing up, China was very different from today, it was much less developed and recovering from the aftermath of the cultural revolution. My grandfather was self-taught in so many different areas like chemistry, agriculture, and even in building day-to-day items like kitchen pots and pans out of survival and necessity. Though it was a cultural shift, the revolution brought starvation and poverty to families, and there were nights when he had to eat stew made from tree bark and leather belts… but this didn’t stop him. He became one of the most cited successful chemists in China and President of Lanzhou University.

He’d take me around the rural areas in China and show me that so many people who don’t have the financial means or opportunities still have incredible skills and innovative ideas, but they don’t always get the chance to show the world. These areas sometimes had no running water or electricity, and his goal was to show me how much help the world needs and encourage me to be one of those people helping others.

My grandfather nourished my curiosity for the world by showing me the interesting part about problem-solving. It’s about using your unique set of skills and experience to make a lasting impact on the world.

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

I use every opportunity I can to mentor the upcoming generation of leaders just like people have done for me. Through Pepper’s technology, the team and I are putting in a lot of hard work to make this company the gold standard for the future of drug discovery. This means continuing our mission of finding new cures for untreatable diseases.

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

  1. It’s all about the people — Don’t hire for skillset only.

Motivated people with high drive will be phenomenal in any work environment. Our head of business development, Caitlin, came to us with a banking background. She had no sales experience but was highly motivated and took ownership of her work. She ended up building a massive network of relationships. Because of this, we’re on track to sign multiple partnerships before the end of the year, well ahead of our initial plans. Had we been hung up on the fact that she didn’t have the sales experience, we would’ve missed out on a great teammate and leader.

2. Pitching highly innovative ideas is about finding the right partners and not changing people’s minds.

Building on each other’s ideas is essential and creates a lot of value by opening new ways of thinking about growth. Arguing with folks very rarely gets you anywhere.

3. Be yourself.

Don’t think about how others want you to act. You don’t have to be that typical entrepreneur who is prim and proper, like a caricature of corporate America. Like-minded people will gravitate towards you when you show up as yourself, leading you to a stronger team.

4. Listen broadly, but make your own decisions.

Everyone has opinions, and they’ll likely contradict each other at times. Get as many perspectives as possible and make decisions based on what’s best for your mission and vision.

5. Know why you’re starting a company.

Inevitably, you’ll have bad days. Remind yourself of why you started the journey, get out of bed, and keep moving forward.

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 try to get people to be more curious. Curiosity is the foundation for human progress, whether we’re talking about innovation in science or social science. We need curiosity to understand how things work and why others think the way they do.

In solving physics problems, we learned that simply changing your point of view can make an intractable problem solvable. That goes for most things in life. New perspectives can make challenges easier to overcome.

Unfortunately, our society’s infrastructure is built to dampen curiosity, and we frequently read and subscribe to things that reinforce our pre-held beliefs. For instance, our social media and purchasing patterns get analyzed, and we’re sent ideas that we already agree with, which doesn’t inspire curiosity or creativity.

Whenever possible, I’d encourage everyone to consider new ideas and perspectives, get out of your comfort zone and bring the right people into the room to challenge you along the way. There’s no doubt it will benefit you in the long run.

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

I live by hundreds of quotes, but my favorite would have to be the following by Eddy Zhong: “No one has ever changed the world by doing what the world has told them to do.”

This quote is very relevant to my life goals and Pepper Bio. What we’re doing isn’t traditional; we’ve created this technology to find solutions that may be applicable in other areas of medicine and drug development. In life, people will tell you to follow a traditional path and emphasize how hard it is to do something different than those before you, but early on, I noticed something. If you look at the history of the world, things have generally been changed by the outliers. The nontraditional, nonsensical approaches, the people who dared to be different and build upon a traditional foundation made significant, notable progress toward their end goals for the greater good of humanity. Trying to affect change can’t be done the exact same way each time if those methods aren’t working and moving us forward. That quote has resonated with me since the first time I heard it.

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 🙂

Pepper Bio is solving a multi-billion dollar problem in today’s drug discovery industry; the time and costs it takes to bring drugs to market. Our technology, dubbed the Google Maps for Drug Discovery, maps out the best treatments for diseases, whether that be discovering the new use of an old drug or the development of a new drug. Our methods cut costs and accelerate timelines, all while using reliable and repeatable methods.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Twitter: @Pepper_bio

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


The Future Is Now: Jon Hu Of Pepper Bio 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.

Meet The Disruptors: Greg Parker Of Parker’s On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Value opportunity and flexibility. As you achieve success in your career, it’s o.k. to give yourself permission to take a vacation, spend more time with family and live a life beyond work. Having the freedom to do what you enjoy is one of the richest rewards of professional success.

As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Greg Parker, founder and CEO of Parker’s convenience store company.

Greg Parker, the founder and CEO of Parker’s and Parker’s Kitchen, stands apart as one of America’s leading business innovators and disruptors. He has earned acclaim for his uncompromising commitment to high-quality foodservice, dedication to operating the cleanest convenience stores in the industry and passion for cutting-edge technology.

Inducted into the Convenience Store News Hall of Fame, Parker has been recognized as the Convenience Foodservice Leader of the Year, Tech Executive of the Year, Frank Callen Boys and Girls Club Citizen of the Year, Savannah Morning News Entrepreneur of the Year and Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneur of the Year.

Under his leadership, Parker’s has been honored as the Convenience Store Decisions Chain of the Year, included on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies in America for six years, voted one of the America’s Top 10 Gas Brands by USA TODAY readers and named one of America’s Best Convenience Stores by Food and Wine. The company also specializes in preparing and serving Southern-inspired food and has earned a Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice Award, which recognizes the top 10% of restaurants around the 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’m originally from Collins, Georgia, and I opened my first convenience store in 1976, right after I graduated from the University of Georgia. I considered going to law school, but opened my first convenience store right off I-95 in Midway, Georgia at the age of 21. In those days, I-95 had just opened and my father worked as an Amoco distributor. His territory included one exit that touched the new interstate, so this was a great opportunity.

After the store opened, I was the main employee and literally did everything. I wore a change belt, and would go out and pump the gas, clean the windshield, check the oil, check the air in the tires, cook food, make deposits and do the books. In fact, I never took a day off for three and a half years. I would get up before sunrise and work until I had to go home. I worked Christmas, I worked every day and have never regretted working hard to achieve my goals. When you’re starting your career and creating a foundation for success, you have to be willing to make sacrifices. I wasn’t a believer in work-life balance when I was younger. I just worked hard and kept my head down.

Creating a foundation of success affords you the luxury of work-life balance later in your career. It provides you the luxury of flexibility, once you have laid that foundation. Now, I pursue other interests and enjoy working hard and playing hard. I think it’s important to have balance as you progress in your career. My family, my friends and my health are all very important to me now.

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

At Parker’s, we have a culture of innovation that’s focused on excellence at every level. We’re doing a number of things that are disruptive and have recognized the fact that the three main profit centers that historically drove the convenience store industry — which are known as “gas, Cokes and smokes” — are diminishing. There’s going to be a seismic shift in the consumption of fossil fuels in the coming years, which means that we have to look for alternative ways to supply our customer needs and to make money.

As the consumption of cigarettes and carbonated beverage have been going down, we’ve realized that we needed to transition from a convenience store company that sells food service into a food service company that sells convenience. We want to continue to have the best products to satisfy the needs states of the consumer. Another thing we’ve done is develop technology for people to order food, turn the gas pump on and make payments from their phone. We have a loyalty program that allows the customer to get additional tiered discounts on gasoline for every 25 dollars they spend. We’ve found that the customers who use your mobile apps are much more loyal than other consumers.

We’re continuing to improve how we do food service. Using machine learning, we know in real time what the consumer demand is going before they place an order, which helps make sure our food is as fresh as possible. We also use “smart kitchens” in our stores, which use machine learning to predict how many chicken tenders or other items we’re going to sell in the next 30 minutes. We want to ensure that our hot food is freshly prepared, but we don’t want customers to have to wait on us to prepare it.

At Parker’s, we’ve created a scorecard for success, incorporating key metrics. I truly believe that in order to make success achievable, you have to make it measurable. We’ve enjoyed 20 to 24 percent growth over the past 24 years and have been included on the Inc. 500 list of the fastest growing private companies in America for six years, which is truly an incredible achievement.

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?

Warren Buffett says that you need to know exactly what you’re investing in and you also need to know more about it than anybody else. I got the lamebrained idea that I needed to have a tow truck when I was first in business because I opened a convenience store on I-95. I borrowed $5,000 from the bank to purchase a wrecker and didn’t really think it through.

The only time that I actually used the wrecker was when somebody from the Sheriff’s Department called to tell me that a vehicle had broken down on I-95. I was the only game in town, and there was nothing else around. However, in order to go get the person whose car had broken down, I had to lock the store up and close everything down. Also, there weren’t any mechanics around to fix anything, so it just made no sense and was a big waste of time and money. I should have played to my strengths. Lesson learned.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors?

Absolutely. I’m a big believer in the power of mentors. My key mentors over the years include Bill Martin, a dairy farmer in Midway, Georgia who taught me the nuances of real estate, which includes understanding the nuisance value of property. John Cay, a Savannah business leader, was another mentor who dared me to think big and inspired me to create a board of advisors. I’ve also learned so much from former BP Amoco Marketers Association Executive Director John Kleine, who took me under his wing and taught me about the importance of relationships, in business and in life.

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?

With disruption, as with most challenges in life, there’s often a silver lining. I think that disruption often allows for greater growth and a fresh way of thinking. I’ve certainly experienced a lot of challenges and things that seemed like insurmountable hurdles at the time. Then, as time progresses, I’ve realized that those things actually gave me a competitive advantage.

I think the successful companies are the ones that are most adaptable to change and to disruption. In our company, we’re quick to respond, and we’re quick to think about what’s over the horizon. How are we going to best deal with it? How do we apply the capital? We take the human resources and the financial resources and then create a scorecard around it, so we can measure the efficacy of our efforts over time.

In our industry, there was a great disruption that occurred when everybody was scared of the hypermarkets selling gas very cheap. What ultimately happened is that convenience store owners learned that they need to build stores that are going to be able to compete with the hypermarkets, so it’s sort of forced everybody to up their game.

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

First, remember that the first decade out of school is the most important time to build a foundation for future success. That is the time when you will develop the core habits that will help you succeed over the years. It’s the perfect time to be “all in” on your career and to be laser focused on achieving your goals.

Second, embrace curiosity and lifelong learning. Be a reader, explorer and adventurer. Keep an open mind. As I get older, I see more grey in my life and less black and white. Remember that curious people are happier and live fuller lives. There’s so much to learn in life and so many incredible resources to explore. Take a deep dive into the subjects that interest you most and find others who share those same interests.

Third, value opportunity and flexibility. As you achieve success in your career, it’s o.k. to give yourself permission to take a vacation, spend more time with family and live a life beyond work. Having the freedom to do what you enjoy is one of the richest rewards of professional success.

Fourth, remember that you only have one body and you need to take care of it. Eat right, exercise, do yoga and cardio, meditate and sleep. All of these elements are critical for physical, mental and psychological growth and to stay as healthy as possible over time. If you choose to neglect your body now, you will pay the price in the future.

And, finally, create your own personal and business board of directors to help you achieve your goals and hold you accountable. In business and in life, surround yourself with people who lift you up, challenge you and are loyal. Choose to spend time with people who embody the characteristics you aspire to have. In many ways, we are a reflection of the sum total of the people we associate with. Surround yourself with high-quality people who help you become a better person.

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

I love growth and trying to figure out how to grow in smart, strategic ways. I’m a futurist by nature and am intensely curious. I think the future is always evolving. As an industry, convenience stores are going to have to expand the definition of fuel as our nation moves away from petroleum-based gasoline. We need to become a gathering place for commerce and a hub of innovation.

At Parker’s, we’re going to shake things up by offering a better experience for our customers, which means nicer stores, better landscaping, better architecture, cleaner stores, better service and a faster way to get in and out of the store by using technology and other means to be able to have a frictionless experience. We want to make sure that when our food is served, it’s hot, delicious and freshly prepared.

We’re also really focused on loyalty and having the technology that allows us to mine data to find out how to best satisfy our consumers. We are very focused on trip generators and the profits that they bring into our store. A major trip generator for us is gas, so we’re not going to be undersold on gas. We want to harvest the data from various transactions to find out what the other ancillary sales are that come with those trip generators, and then making it compelling for the consumer to come to you to get those things. So, we’re not looking at just the profit on a single item. We’re looking at the profit on the basket of what that item facilitates.

We want to continue to expand the technology on our phones. Now, when you come to our stores, you can turn on the pump and pay directly from your phone. We want to make the process as frictionless as possible so that it takes fewer steps to get what you want. There’s also a lot that’s happening with technology to help us better operate stores to mitigate expenses and to make sure that we have the right number of personnel on site for the demand of the transactions that we know that are going to occur. We have the business intelligence that can predict how many transactions will happen at each store for a particular period, so when we’re doing labor and budgeting, we will make sure that we have the right number of team members taking care of customers at each store.

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?

Books I’ve read recently that I’ve loved include Sapiens, The Psychology of Money and The Almanack of Naval Ravikant. Those are all great reads, with lessons that apply to life as well as business. I also enjoy listening to podcasts by Joe Rogan and Tim Ferriss. They have great messages about how to live life and how to make smart decisions.

I especially like Ravikant’s perspective on short-term pain for a long-term gain. I’ve naturally always done that and have never been a procrastinator. I watch other people and marvel at the fact that they don’t want to make the tough decisions today to live their best life long-term.

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

I love Naval Ravikant’s quote where he says, “All the benefits in life come from compound interest — relationship, money, habits — anything of importance.” I definitely agree that one of the greatest lessons of life is understanding the importance of compounding. It’s true in relationships, financial investments, how we run our business and how we treat people. Everything truly adds up and compounds over time.

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 one movement that is taking place now is the importance of meditation. I listened to a Tony Robbins podcast recently where he said that every successful person he knows does some form of meditation. Entrepreneur, writer and innovator Naval Ravikant says the two most important things he does in his life are exercising and meditating daily. Billionaire Ray Dalio trains all his top-level executives in Transcendental Meditation, which I find fascinating.

I think another great movement would be a shift toward trying to understand other people’s point of view. We’ve become so polarized as a country, but we can’t just be a fragmented nation of single-issue voters. We need to recognize that the world is changing. Ultimately, allowing ourselves to be more accepting and more adaptive to change will make us stronger as a country and will help us create a better world.

How can our readers follow you online?

Follow Parker’s at @TheParkersKitchen on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

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

My pleasure!


Meet The Disruptors: Greg Parker Of Parker’s 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.

Making Something From Nothing: Jim OMeara Of NetBandz On How To Go From Idea To Launch

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

You’re going to make mistakes through trial and error! Whenever you start something new and forge out into the great unknown, there are going to be bumps in the road. You’re going to make mistakes, it’s a given! Just try and do your best to minimize your downside risk.

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

Jim was Raised in New Rochelle, NY and was always into sports. He graduated from Fairfield University in 1988 with a degree in Marketing and is married to a fellow Fairfield Alum, Alice Giff. They have two daughters, Patti (24) and Jillian (18) and live in Fairfield, CT.

Jim also has a Master’s degree in counseling from Manhattan College. He has been a Career Counselor/Executive Recruiter for the past 23 years and owns his own executive recruiting agency in Westport, CT. He enjoys spending time with family, watching crime shows, reading self-help books, golf, fantasy football and playing with his two dogs (St Bernard Nory and golden retriever Lily)

Jim loves the game of basketball and always hated to see rims without nets in public parks. He thought that every kid wants to shoot on a hoop with a net! So in 2019, he set out to find a way to brand basketball nets so that companies could advertise their brands on the net which would incentivize a movement to put nets up in all public parks across America.

The idea for NetBandz finally came to him by chance in the bookstore of the college where his daughter was a student, William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA. He saw a tube-top apparel item on display in the store and a light bulb went off! This could be a potential way to brand the net. All that was needed was to have 12 openings around the top circumference of the band/tube which would allow the top loops of the net to go through allowing for the band to hang on the outside of the net where it would never interfere with the ball going through it.

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 in Westchester County in a fairly-well to do neighborhood. My father was an accountant and my mother was a stay-at-home mom.

I’m the youngest of six kids. I have a twin sister as well. We’re all very close in age (six kids, five years apart) so it was never a dull moment in our house.

I think growing up with all these people around me helped to shape my personality to one who gets along with people, adapts quickly and who is unselfish. Looking over my life, I’ve always been good around people and can easily engage with anyone and fit in quickly, so I can thank my upbringing for that!

I wasn’t the best student growing up but managed to squeak by somehow. When I got to high school, I only played basketball and was a three-year starter on the varsity team and did well.

I went on to play my freshman year in college at Fairfield University in CT. However, I found the adjustment to college and mixing academics and basketball to be challenging. Although basketball was such a large part of my life, I was forced to focus on academics and stopped playing after my freshman year. That was a big inflection point in my life where my identity shifted from being this basketball player “sports jock” to just being a regular everyday college student. I went on to graduate from Fairfield U in 1988 with a degree in marketing.

I stopped playing basketball many years ago, but I still follow some of the NBA teams and colleges. It’s ironic that the sport of basketball that I loved so much in my childhood would be where I have my invention.

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

I’m a self-help person and read all the books (James Allen, Og Mandino, Napoleon Hill, Tony Robbins etc.). I also have a Master’s in Counseling Psychology from Manhattan College so this question is right up my alley.

There is one quote that sticks out above the rest and is easily remembered and it’s from Tony Robbins.

“RAISE YOUR STANDARDS”

Don’t settle for the status quo. Always try and get better and do more. This quote serves as a constant reminder for me to convert my “want to haves” in my life to “must haves”. It keeps me committed and determined.

As an inventor, there are a lot of times when things don’t go your way and there are set- backs. However, set the bar high and keep grinding and pushing through. I also use this quote to help guide me across all areas of my life including my health (exercise and what I choose to eat), business and relationships.

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?

As A Man Thinketh by James Allen.

I read this in my early self-help reading days and it opened the door to me learning that human beings have control over their thoughts and as a result they themselves can control their destiny and happiness. People are not on “autopilot” when it comes to their thoughts.

I picked this book out because of the profound impact it had on my life. It turned me into a life-long curious person and really opened up my mind. It changed me.

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?

Moving from idea to an actual business is very hard. I have other inventions/patents that have gone nowhere. It’s a combination of things and many things have to line up in order to get there. I think a lot.

My advice to inventors about moving from idea phase to a real business phase is two things and they flow into one another:

  1. Action — just thinking and talking/brainstorming about your invention and how great it will be won’t get you where you want to go. You must take action. People come to me for advice with an idea they have and I’ll say “That sounds great where are you with it?” and they’ll say something like “Oh I’m too busy with my job” or “I’m looking into getting a patent” or some other weak reason that tells me they’re not really serious and passionate about taking the idea to the next level. If you’re serious and passionate about your idea and believe in it, you have to take action to enhance it and bring it forward and shouldn’t let it just sit on a shelf in your mind.
  2. Incrementalism — Focus on the next task only.

With the mindset of incrementalism and action, you’re constantly asking yourself “What task do I have to perform next to move this forward?” and do that task as soon as possible. You should always be in task, never idle.

It’s a one step at a time thought process, each task building on the next, but it’s constant. Once a task is done, you ask yourself again right away “What task do I have to do next?” and just keep going.

There’s a vision an inventor has when thinking of their product of many people buying and using it and it’s a big hit and they are rich. Of course, this is a great vision to have and hold and should be the primary driver, but along with that in parallel the inventor has to come back down to earth and put in the daily grunt work to move the invention along so it can evolve and expand.

For example, when developing NetBandz, I was personally in the back of a dry cleaner every week making samples of my bands with a seamstress for over a year until we got the right prototype. I remember having two weeks of phone calls at 11PM with manufacturers in Asia just to get the care tag that goes on the inner hem of the band that tells the customer how to wash it. It’s just things you have to do as an entrepreneur, and you do these things because you believe in where it will go eventually.

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?

The first thing I do is Google it. See if it’s out there in the public domain. After that, get curious and educate yourself on the patent process. Learning the patent process is valuable by itself because you may invent other things and it’s just good to know. The website is uspto.gov which is the USA patent website.

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.

3. First my advice is the inventor should never be paranoid that someone will steal their invention. This fear leads to stagnation and procrastination. Move fast! Be cautious and cover your bases with NDAs with manufacturers and people you don’t know but don’t let this slow you down!

4. Make a prototype and have people use it and get feedback. You must ensure that people who use it like it and it solves a need.

5. Cost: What would someone pay for it? Can it be manufactured at a cost that will make the business worthwhile? There are tons of good products where the economics/margins just don’t line up!

3. “How to file a patent” — Once the above is done and satisfied, find a patent attorney. The first thing the attorney will do is run an official patent search with the USPTO to see if there is anything like your product already in existence. After their patent search, they will make a recommendation based on their experience if they think your product has a chance of being granted a patent. (Note: Even if your lawyer says you have a good chance of getting a patent after the search and recommends you apply for one, the USPTO Examiner can still reject it based on prior patents issued. It’s a very subjective process based on the “opinion” of the examiner).

After the patent search, the attorney will ask you for drawings (referred to by the patent office as ART) or they may have an artist on staff to create the drawings for submittal. The lawyer will then carefully write out a list of “Claims” which explains in detail the invention in written form. The lawyer will then submit your invention to the patent office for “provisional” patent status. This is a “place holder” patent certification for your invention, it is not a patent itself. Once the attorney files the provisional patent, it will get assigned a certification number. Your invention is now “in the que” and you have protection from others submitting your idea so you’re free to show it to anyone. If asked if you have a patent, you say “I’m patent pending”. If someone else invents a similar item to yours and files a provisional patent after you, your patent would take precedence over there’s because yours was filed first.

Once in Provisional status, you now wait until you hear back from the lawyer on if it’s officially granted or not and the lawyer will tell you how long it will take. I think our patent was granted 8 months after we got the provisional patent but could be up to a year or more depending on how busy the patent office is.

4. While submitting patent, you should be sourcing manufacturers for the product. We used Alibaba for NetBandz, as ours is an apparel item but they have all types of different manufacturers on Alibaba, so I would start there. You can select manufacturers and contact them through the site. We called about ten different manufacturers in Asia we got through Alibaba and selected two (You should always have more than one just in case your primary can’t produce for whatever reason). Always have a backup!

Find out total costs and minimum quantities and get a contract with manufacturer as well as time to deliver which is critical in this market with slow supply chains etc.

We started selling retail ecommerce online with an Amazon account. There’s a monthly fee of $39.99. Once you have inventory on hand, photos created, you create your pages on Amazon yourself which is straightforward. You set your inventory and pricing levels for the product and then go live. I recommend keeping inventory of your product yourself and ship everything yourself at first just to see how it goes before engaging with a fulfillment center (a warehouse that ships your products for you). Fulfillment centers can be expensive and a little slow with delivery plus you don’t get to see the quality control. At least when you ship yourself, you can oversee quality control and know exactly how it’s packaged and delivered and when it’s shipped out.

5. How will you ship the item? In a box or a mailer envelope? If you ship yourself, you’ll have to have the shipping materials on hand as well. You’ll also have to get a printer label machine for postage which is easy to set up. Shipping material can be expensive and should be factored into the cost of goods.

6. In addition to Amazon, we also built our website and sell our products through there using Shopify. Shopify is also easy to set up for online orders. You’ll have to create all the product pages again just like on Amazon.

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

I wish someone told me:

  1. That you must be patient. Things take a long time to develop! There’s a lot of little things that pop up that slows things down. For example, it took over a year just to develop a prototype to get it where we wanted it to be. Another area is manufacturing turnaround. It could take up to five weeks to get product and time seems to drag on, so you have to be patient with everything.
  2. Things get harder and more time consuming as you go along. I always thought things would get easier as time went on. They don’t, they get harder. It seems that once you get over one hurdle, there’s two more in front of you! For example, I thought once we got on Amazon that was it. We could sit back and crank out the sales and enjoy. That was not the case at all. Once you’re selling on ecommerce, now you must develop advertising, social media, your website, new product development, SEO optimization, get designers for new products, deal with manufacturing issues and maintaining inventory levels, dealing with licensing agreements — the list goes on and on.
  3. The costs of running the business are more than expected and really eat into profits such as costs of goods rising and advertising etc. Over the past year, our cost per unit from manufacturers has doubled. Cost of advertising was a higher than we thought too. Pay per click advertising is expensive on Amazon.
  4. You must be prepared to make final decisions on your own because in the end, it’s your call. It can be difficult sometimes because you may have partners that want to do one thing and you think it’s best to do another. I was always part of a team and now with NetBandz, I make the final decisions on what direction to go in and how to allocate resources, which is new to me. Inventors should be ready to make the final call, be decisive and live with their decisions.
  5. You’re going to make mistakes through trial and error! Whenever you start something new and forge out into the great unknown, there are going to be bumps in the road. You’re going to make mistakes, it’s a given! Just try and do your best to minimize your downside risk.

At NetBandz, we made a few mistakes ordering too much inventory of certain items that we ended up not even putting up for sale. It was costly, but we take it as a learning experience.

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? Find out if it’s already on the market. Google it and do a patent search.

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 have nothing against idea consultants. For me, it’s always best to go out and learn everything on your own. You’ll learn a ton and be better for it! I have learned so much over the past two years that I wouldn’t take that back for the world. Plus, now when I invent my next thing, I’ll know what to do and can hit the ground running. Never pass up an opportunity to learn!

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 recommend exploring both avenues and gathering as much information as possible and see where it takes you. It all depends on personal preference and risk tolerance and what structure you want to work out of etc. I do think having a VC who specializes in your market could accelerate things a lot quicker and create greater enterprise value and would be potentially good for optics. Of course, it comes with a price, and you have to give up equity and control.

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

Interesting question! In addition to being an inventor, I’m also a career counselor who spends a lot of time coaching people, giving them guidance with their careers and other personal matters. My hope is that what I’ve learned over the years both as an entrepreneur/inventor and as a counselor/coach comes through and impacts the people I come in contact with in a positive way and makes the world a better place.

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 inspire a movement to cure ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) Disease. I personally have two friends with the disease and seeing what these people and their families are going through just makes me want to help them and give them hope. I envision a future where there’s a cure, but it needs more attention and resources behind it. 5,000 people in the US get diagnosed with ALS each year. It’s a terminal disease and we MUST find a cure!

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.

Mark Cuban!! Mark is someone we would love to connect with as he’s a basketball guy and invests in cool ideas.

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


Making Something From Nothing: Jim OMeara Of NetBandz 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: Elsa Jean Of The Elsa Jean NFT Community On The 5 Things You Need To Know To…

Non-Fungible Tokens: Elsa Jean Of The Elsa Jean NFT Community On The 5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Do your own research by looking into the creators, founders and engaging in the community.

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 Elsa Jean.

Elsa Jean, known as the “sexiest woman in Web3,” is using blockchain technology to revolutionize the way women can monetize their brands. At 26, the former adult film actress has built a multi-million dollar brand, The Elsa Jean Community, and established herself as a leader in the Web3 space. Her Elsa Jean NFTs launched in November 2022, giving her fans lifetime ownership of a limited number of digital keys that unlock access to her exclusive Web3 community. Elsa is flipping the traditional subscription-based payment and distribution model on its head.

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 am a small town girl from Minnesota. I had to provide for my family at only 16 when my mother, who battled mental illness, left me and my sisters. After working multiple jobs, I joined the adult film industry and built a brand that established me as one of the top adult film actresses in the world. After leaving the industry over a year ago, I am now pioneering Web3 business models and helping to onboard users into the space.

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?

Legally blonde : it sounds like a cliche that I would say this , but this movie teaches women that brains and beauty are not mutually exclusive in the realest way to me. I love it!

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

I heard of a former adult performer who had promised fans a safe place to invest in their community and then they did not follow through, really losing trust in their community and tarnishing a new and promising way to do business. I couldn’t sit by and leave the space tainted for fans and not see the light for millions of other creators in web3 to flourish and utilize all the incredible tools blockchain technology offers.

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

The outpouring of love and support from women. Coming from the industry I do, I’m not used to such beautiful support and feeling so welcomed into a new space by other women. It’s a wonderful feeling and a testament to how inclusive the web3 space is slowly becoming.

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?

Someone sent me 10M fake Shiba tokens. I told everyone some guy had taken a liking to me and quickly came to the realization when I transferred them that they disappeared into thin air. Let’s hope they weren’t real 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?

I had a mother-like influence with my first agent: Sandra from ATMLA. I was very lucky to have such a nurturing space to start my career and be kept on the right track.

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

I recently launched my Elsa Jean Community NFTs, which give my community the most exclusive access to me, my content, IRL events and so much more to come that we are currently building out. I think NFT technology is revolutionizing the traditional subscription-based web2 model for creators, and I certainly want to be at the forefront of that. I’m using this new technology to give my audience long-term value, a worthwhile investment, and as a business owner it allows me to have full ownership of my community and freedom over my content. I love onboarding other women into the web3 space and teaching them how valuable this technology is for their community and their business.

I’m launching my brand new podcast, “Heartbreakers with Elsa Jean & James” very soon, which will give a unique take on relationships, sex and dating that I hope will be helpful for people in a really compassionate way. I’ll also be releasing a line of merchandise in February with a portion of the proceeds going to charity, and my NFT holders will get first access.

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 digital collectible that is totally unique and non-fungible, meaning there is only one of that NFT that exists and it can’t be interchanged. In the case of my Elsa Jean NFTs, the NFT acts as a membership pass to the Elsa Jean Community. There are only 1,000 Elsa Jean NFTs in total, so by owning one of my NFTs, holders get unique long-term access to the infrastructure we’re building in web3 and beyond.

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.

I’m excited about so many things in this space. First of all, the fact that I’m able to give my fans something back that has the potential to increase in value while they enjoy perks and can trade at a later date. Building a new fan base that integrates nicely with my existing fan base, and learning all together as we go. Seeing web3’s integration onto social platforms and real world products excites me. The fact that buyers are able to use credit cards to purchase NFTs now and they don’t need crypto was such a foreign concept not long ago. I love seeing web3 agencies and divisions being implemented in top financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs, talent agencies like CAA and WME and studios like Warner Bro’s. It’s really exciting to see the leaders in finance and entertainment making room for web3 — it means we aren’t batting into thin air!

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

Celebrity endorsement and gifting. Specific rules and guidelines need to be established for anyone endorsing a product. If something has been gifted, it will have a cash value and that needs to be disclosed like any other paid endorsement.

I’m also worried that an over-course-correction from the initial ‘Wild Wild West’ approach people took in web3 could get in the way of what we’re trying to build and give freedom to. There needs to be a happy medium without overregulation. And there must always be very clear messaging about not investing what you don’t have.

The safety and protection of web3 assets. It’s so important for anyone onboarding into the space to learn first and foremost how to protect their assets. And also to do their research before investing in any project.

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

“NFT’s are a scam. NFT’s don’t hold value. NFT’s are difficult to comprehend or participate in.”

The web3 community is so inclusive and wants to succeed and help others do too. And the only way they are able to do so is to reach mass adoption and be able to cross over into the mainstream for them to make a ROI and grow what they came to build. Millions of people in web3 are on Twitter, Discord and other social media platforms ready and waiting to educate and help people onboard. And to learn web3 is actually a lot easier than people think. It can feel over-complicated by some of the content that’s out there, but that’s not the truth.

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

Starting too big!!! Start small and grow with your community. Educate them and go every step of the way hand in hand and you will succeed. You can always level up but it will be a lot harder to come back from a massive influx you are not able to control and deliver in a real way to each individual.

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

NFTs give creators ways to have their work seen and made come to life in ways they wouldn’t have had in traditional mediums. The window used to be small and the bar was set very high by a select few. Whereas now, creators have been given a safe space to play in the sandbox . No pun intended.

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?”

Do your own research by looking into the creators, founders and engaging in the community.

Create allies with other creators. Collaboration is KEY.

Host Twitter Spaces to have transparent conversations with your community and other web3 creators.

Create touch points with your NFT to keep your community engaged. An example of this could be delayed reveals, real world interaction, perks tied to your existing materials like brand deals.

To create a successful NFT project, my best advice is to start small but think big. Grow meaningfully and intentionally every step of the way.

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 was severely bullied my whole life right up to present day. If I could change the mindset of bullies and shine a light on people’s reactions to their own trauma, that would be my chosen movement. I would have people post their experiences of regret from saying something nasty to someone. Perhaps share a story from when they were in high school and go back to a moment to re-experience where they were at that time mentally and emotionally through a new lens and see how they’ve grown. Hindsight is a beautiful thing.

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 🙂

Julia Haart. She’s a success in every facet of her life in my eyes, and the fact she was able to get to the place she is today from where she came from and the suppression women face in her original community makes her legendary in my eyes. Bad Boss Lady!!! And a great mother.

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


Non-Fungible Tokens: Elsa Jean Of The Elsa Jean NFT Community 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.

Tara Miskelly Of M&C Saatchi One-to-One On How to Effectively Leverage The Power of Digital…

Tara Miskelly Of M&C Saatchi One-to-One On How to Effectively Leverage The Power of Digital Marketing, PPC, & Email to Dramatically Increase Sales

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Have Passion: Passion is contagious and as a digital marketer and as a manager you need to be passionate about what you’re doing. If you aren’t, it can be very hard to motivate yourself to want to run the best campaigns or be the best manager you can be. A lack of passion may manifest in to failed campaigns, unhappy clients or unhappy employees.

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 Tara Miskelly.

Tara Miskelly is an Account Manager at M&C Saatchi One-to-One — a CRM agency who have a portfolio of high-profile clients including Moët Hennessy, Brightpearl by Sage, Christie’s and more. Her main responsibilities here include leading and optimizing Moët Hennessy’s CRM activities and practices across their brands to increase brand awareness, loyalty and drive sales.

Tara has over seven years experience delivering successful digital marketing, PPC, and email campaigns across many industries from retail to real estate for clients including Moët Hennessy, CBRE, Spear Street Capital, and Dulux. Her speciality lies in her in-depth knowledge of the digital marketing landscape and her ability to create campaigns that drive conversions and turn online channels such as Social, Search, or Email into a company’s key source of revenue. Tara loves how digital marketing allows her to utilize both her creative and analytical skills.

In her spare time, she enjoys putting her Masters degree in UX Design to good use by working on her portfolio and building mobile apps (she’s currently working on building a mobile app to help better educate people about sustainable fashion). She also loves going to art museums, exploring New York City or FaceTiming with her family in Ireland.

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’ve always been a creative and analytical person so when it came time to choose my major in college I decided to pick Marketing as I felt it was the best of both worlds. At the time, digital marketing wasn’t known at the scale it is today. It wasn’t until my final year in college that I actually had a class that focused on digital marketing but after the first class I was hooked! I thought it was incredible how much data you could glean from platforms like Google Analytics and how this data could be used or presented to inform a marketing strategy. I wanted to gain real-world experience in this field so I got an internship during my final year of college. This internship involved me implementing the full digital marketing life cycle to successfully launch a mobile savings app into the UK market.

Once I graduated, I started running digital marketing for a popular retail store in Dublin, Ireland. By harnessing strategic campaigns across social media (paid and organic), Google Ads and SEO, I was able to turn the store’s online channels, specifically its social media, into its number one channel for sales, far surpassing in-store sales which had been its bread and butter. After this role, I spent several years in digital marketing and creative agencies leading successful social media, PPC and email marketing campaigns for clients including CBRE, Dulux, Hibernia Reit, Spear Street Capital, and Travelport. Leading so many digital projects sparked my curiosity in UX Design so I decided to pursue a Master’s Degree in UX Design whilst working full-time.

After my Master’s, I moved to New York where I was really exposed to the importance and best practices of email marketing and CRM. Currently, I am an Account Manager at M&C Saatchi One-to-One and I’m responsible for optimizing Moët Hennessy’s CRM activities and practices.

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?

This might be a classic intern mistake but in one of my earlier marketing internships, I misspelled a few words in an email and sent the email on the wrong day! At the time, I thought this would mark the end of my career and I’d be fired immediately but thankfully my boss wasn’t too annoyed. It’s funny to look back on that now as I’ve since seen big brands fall victim to similar mistakes.

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’ve been very lucky in that people took a chance on me at the start of my career when I didn’t have much experience.

In particular, Louise Stokes, who owns the retail store I worked with, really nurtured my creative side but also taught me how to present the data I found in a concise, compelling and easy-to-understand manner. Additionally, Ian Blake and Brona Donlon at Squaredot took me under their wings and introduced me to the best practices around the client-facing side of the business and how to be a better Account Manager. They also educated me on the more technical background of SEO — the information and principles I learned from this is still something I use today.

Lastly, all of my colleagues at M&C Saatchi One-to-One who truly embody what it means to be collaborative and a team. Their support has not only helped me grow in my career but in my personal life too.

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

We’re not your typical agency in that we don’t label ourselves as a branding agency or a marketing agency per se. Instead, we really focus on creating impactful, human connections between brands and their consumers at a one-to-one level and hone in on what the best platform to achieve that connection is.

Our focus on creating impactful, human connections is also deeply embedded in our company culture. The Leadership team genuinely cares about their employees which can sometimes be difficult to find in the agency world. Every employee can also set up an initiative dedicated to a topic that they each care about. I choose to focus on mental health and have started to implement ways to create a positive mental health environment in the workplace which has been well received so far.

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?

  1. Be Emotionally Intelligent: The difference between a leader who is emotionally intelligent versus those who aren’t is night and day. Being emotionally intelligent creates a positive, productive and collaborative work environment and gives space for people to be open with each other.
  2. Stay Humble & Be a Team Player: No matter how senior you are, no task should be ‘beneath you.’ You should always be willing to offer a helping hand to your team when they need one.
  3. Be Organized & Focused: It can be easy to get overwhelmed with the number of tasks you have to do which is why it’s important to be organized and stay focused. Every week I write out my top 5–7 goals/priorities for the week and I have a daily to-do list to keep on top of my deadlines. If possible, it’s better to plan your day the night before so that you’re clear on what needs to be done when you wake up.

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

Yes! I’m currently leading a rebranding project for our pro-bono client — the Carlton Locksley Bennett Foundation. This is an incredible charity which educates people about the effects of gun violence and supports the at-risk youth in their local community. Through our rebranding efforts, we’re hoping to give the charity more of a presence online and in the community to help them reach more people not just in their community but across the US. I hope, in turn, this will let young people at risk of homelessness, mental health issues and gun violence know there is somewhere they can turn to for help.

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.

  • Ignoring campaign & conversion set up: In my experience, a lot of companies tend to skip one of the most crucial steps — setting up their campaign and conversions correctly. I’ve seen it many times where companies push a campaign live without connecting platforms like Google Tag Manager or Facebook Conversions to their campaign. In doing so, they risk garnering the most accurate results from their campaigns and may not have a true picture of which online channel brings them the most conversions and has the highest conversion rate.
  • Jack of all trades, master of none: Companies can get super excited about digital marketing when they first start out and may want to try every platform. This can translate into a lack of focus or leave consumers confused. Of course, it’s important to have a presence online across different platforms but it’s also important to focus on channels where your customers are and being a ‘master’ of these channels.
  • Optimizing: Digital marketing, especially PPC, is an ever-changing, competitive industry so it is important to keep on top of campaign performance and optimize campaigns accordingly. With real-estate clients, I’ve actually found the market can change quite quickly so you’re always having to review keywords to make sure they’re as relevant as possible.

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.

A “blueprint” of a successful digital campaign would look like the following.

  1. Research: Get an understanding of the industry and the client to better inform your strategy and plan (see step two). This includes conducting a competitor analysis to see what platforms their competitors are on, what the industry average spend on search and social ads is, carrying out keyword research and more. This phase also involves reviewing the client’s existing social media, PPC, and email campaigns and assets to determine what performs well for them and what doesn’t.
  2. Strategy & Plan: The next step is to build a strategy and plan. This can include;

Campaign Objective

Time and Duration

KPIs to measure the success of the campaign

Platforms to be included in the campaign (if it’s multi-channel) and a breakdown of these channels e.g. ad budget and the estimated reach with this budget (if relevant), number of assets, the audience to be targeted or the audience the comms should be sent to

Campaign Timelines

3. Set Up: Ensure all conversions you want to track are successfully set up and tracking accurately. This stage also includes setting up or creating assets.

4. Execute: Roll out of the campaign.

5. Managing, Analyzing & Optimizing: Continue to monitor the performance of the campaign to determine when you might need to step in and tweak it to enhance performance or to check that all is running smoothly.

6. Results & Learnings: Post the campaign, put together a review of the results and learnings to determine what worked and where you should continue to lean into or what didn’t perform well and how you can learn from this.

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?

In my opinion, Google Ads. There are so many different ad formats for different types of campaigns. It also works with you to give campaign optimization suggestions and allows you to quickly remove keywords that aren’t performing well.

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

  1. Keyword research: Conducting keyword research to ensure you’re bidding on the best, most relevant keywords or phrases that your target audience is searching for is crucial. You can use free tools like Google Ads keyword planner or paid tools like Moz to conduct keyword research.
  2. Understanding the platform: Getting to know a new platform can be daunting, especially if you’re not super digital savvy, but it’s so important to know what a platform has to offer to make sure you’re fully utilizing it.
  3. Determining Your Strategy & Goals: Knowing why you’re running a PPC campaign and your goals for the said campaign will not only determine the type of ad you run but will also inform the messaging of your ads. Messaging is important as Google has a word count cap so you need to make sure you’re getting your message across and enticing consumers to click your ad, eventually turning them into customers.

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?

  1. Segmentation of your database is so important with sales as it allows you to better understand customers in the database and send relevant, targeted communications to them.
  2. Testing & analyzing subject lines, CTA copy, creative, etc. is crucial as it will help you understand what messaging your database is engaging with during what time of the day or year and can inform your strategy moving forward.
  3. Air traffic control and the cadence at which you send email communications are crucial. The last thing you want is for your sender score to go down or your email address to be reported as spam or blacklisted!

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’m a big fan of Moz and Semrush for keyword research, competitor analysis, page scores and more! Both tools are incredibly intuitive and insightful.

Google Tag Manager is a tool I’ve been using a lot over the last few years. It integrates so seamlessly with your website, other Google products, social media and more to make tracking (and your life as a digital marketing manager) a lot easier.

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?

  1. Stay Curious: As I mentioned earlier, digital marketing is an ever-changing industry and you need to stay curious to be on top of new tools, platforms or trends.
  2. Be Open: This ties into my first point, I believe you need to be open when it comes to being a digital marketer. Just because you’ve found a way that works doesn’t mean it always will. Even after years in the industry, you might be surprised as to how content you once thought wouldn’t work on a platform now does. I know this has definitely happened to me.
  3. Embrace Your Creativity: A big part of being a digital marketer is being able to be analytical. However, I believe embracing your creativity can often be overlooked. Digital marketing is a saturated industry, you need to add an extra flair to your campaigns to break through the noise.
  4. Have Passion: Passion is contagious and as a digital marketer and as a manager you need to be passionate about what you’re doing. If you aren’t, it can be very hard to motivate yourself to want to run the best campaigns or be the best manager you can be. A lack of passion may manifest in to failed campaigns, unhappy clients or unhappy employees.
  5. The Ability to be Concise: When a campaign performs well or content is highly engaged with, it can be hard to not want to list off all the amazing analytics that showcase this. However, it’s important to be able to shift through this data to create compelling and concise findings that others can understand or that indicate success at a high level to key stakeholders.

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

I really enjoy reading Neil Patel’s blog posts on his website neilpatel.com as well as content on sites such as Digiday and AdWeek.

A book I come back to time and time again when I need a little push is “Little Black Book” by Otegha Uwagba.

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. 🙂

Even more open and honest conversations around mental health and access to affordable mental health care.

How can our readers further follow your work?

You can connect with me on LinkedIn!

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


Tara Miskelly Of M&C Saatchi One-to-One 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.

Meet The Disruptors: Justin Schwaiger Of Manufacton by ViZZ Technologies On The Five Things You…

Meet The Disruptors: Justin Schwaiger Of Manufacton by ViZZ Technologies On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

“Do your best so doors will open.” They told me they didn’t know what those doors would be, but they were confident that the set of available opportunities would be more favorable if I tried my best.

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

Justin Schwaiger, PE, LSSBB, is an accomplished, results-driven leader with expertise in business operations, SaaS, digital transformation, consulting engineering, and data science. He currently serves as the Director of Customer Success for ViZZ and Manufacton, DSi-Digital-owned AEC software providers. In this role, Justin leads customer success initiatives and continues the development of a scalable implementation program for customers.

Throughout his career, Justin has been a transformational leader in the broader real estate development industry. This includes his prior experience at Katerra, Thornton Tomasetti, and more. In addition, he currently serves as an Executive Leader of the Urban Land Institute Partnership Forum program that connects leaders in commercial real estate and technology through year-long programs built around common professional interests.

Justin holds a Master of Science in Structural Engineering from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Architectural Engineering from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. In addition, he holds a certificate in Commercial Real Estate Analysis and Investment from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a certificate in Data Science from Harvard University. He is also a licensed Professional Civil Engineer and has a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt from the International Association of Six Sigma Certification.

His expertise and leadership are recognized through his continued thought leadership efforts, including his position as an industry mentor for Stanford University’s graduate-level AEC Global Teamwork project-based learning course. In addition, he participates in frequent speaking opportunities at Urban Land Institute’s Construction Technology Seminar, the Structural Engineers Association and Stanford University.

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 got into the real estate industry because as a kid I experienced the Northridge earthquake in the LA area. Bridges and buildings collapsed, and I wanted to be a part of making the world a safer place, especially in earthquake-prone areas. I went to graduate school to develop the skillset to design and build high-rise towers in high-seismic areas. I then went on to design and build tall buildings all over the world as an engineering consultant.

But as someone motivated to produce efficient and optimized processes, I struggled with traditional real estate development projects since they remain one-off, boutique projects with new teams solving and resolving the same kinds of problems on each new project. So, I left consulting engineering to pursue construction technology and develop ways to build efficiently and with more economies of scale.

New technology and construction methods can generate a step change in the way we design and build.

In the construction technology space, I’ve worn many hats: technology user (as an engineer), business operations, sales operations, customer success, product strategy, strategic partnerships. Really, I’m all about doing whatever it takes to build a successful product and team and then the harness the energy and ambiguity of the startup environment to make real progress toward operational innovation and scalability.

I’ve lived the status quo in real estate development and construction and I’m dead set on changing it. We have a severe housing shortage, for example, and construction technology that allows for more efficient construction practices is a market-driven solution to the affordable housing problem we’re facing.

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

I’m currently at a construction technology software company called Manufacton where we have developed a software platform that enables the “industrialization of construction”. This trend of taking construction work off of the jobsite and moving it into prefabrication factories is picking up steam and we are working with the innovators in that space to define the standard processes and platform by which the construction industry can innovate. The real goal here is to deliver higher-quality buildings faster through factory production.

For example, volumetric modular builders like Factory_OS, 3D printing companies like Mighty Buildings, and mass timber producers like Timberlab are using Manufacton to run their factories as they accelerate change in the construction industry. We’re building the software platform to allow them to do this work efficiently and to supply the data necessary for them to improve their processes to help usher in this new era for the construction industry.

My role is to drive new technologies into the industry and to understand where the next big opportunity is so we can build the right technology to continually innovate.

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 a fresh graduate engineer, and my boss couldn’t attend a meeting we were supposed to attend together. There was a room full of real estate developers, architects, and builders who were meeting to determine which material the building that was starting to be planned should be made out of. I ended up taking the floor and describing all of the possible options in far too much detail. They really weren’t looking for an engineering lesson, they were looking for an answer. I had a whole room of blank faces staring back at me.

I learned that day that my job as a consultant is to know all sorts of stuff that never gets said; instead, a lot of thinking goes into what to say so the answer sounds simple to others who have different priorities… that’s why they hired me as a consultant.

So, reading the audience, understanding expectations, and delivering concise responses was the lesson learned that awkward day.

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?

There have been so many who have mentored me along the way. I make an effort to pursue relationships with a few mentors at each point in my career. These relationships tend to evolve over time. This includes:

  • There were a couple of engineering “principals” (essentially, my bosses. Think partner at a law firm) who gave me the freedom to pursue new challenges and trusted my judgement, even as a young engineer. I spent hours in their offices working out problems that I didn’t know how to solve, and they would share their experience with me to help me solve them. This allowed me to grow in my skillset quickly and learn to think for myself and develop my own “engineering intuition” that I could leverage in the next meeting or on the next project.
  • One particular mentor of mine took a huge chance on me as I was pivoting from a consulting engineering role to business operations at a construction tech company. He brought me on his team and then gave me freedom to grow/take as much responsibility that I wanted. He also challenged me. One time I was asked to speak on a panel about the work we were doing at the company; I deflected and asked him who at the company would be the best to do the panel. He said I should just do it, knowing that I needed to grow in confidence in this way even if I didn’t think I had enough expertise to do so. That speaking engagement (and the extensive preparation that was required) has given me the confidence to do the same many times since. This mentor believed in me, challenged me, and helped me to grow beyond my own expectations for myself.

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?

No disruption isn’t always good. There are a couple angles to look at this:

  • What’s best for people? Disrupting (historically typical) in-person human community/communication with digital platforms that separate people physically and emotionally are not positive disruption. Especially when these platforms are built to attract eyeballs through algorithms that foster outrage, oversupply information that aligns with someone’s already-held beliefs, and drive people into information silos. Sure, there’s money here, but disruption like this isn’t a good thing for people.
  • Disruption is good especially when it’s necessary. For example, in the construction space, approximately 40% of the skilled workforce is expected to leave the construction industry by 2030. Simultaneously, we have a housing shortage of millions of units. So, the question is: without disruption to current operating models, who will build these buildings? Disruption in this case means finding novel solutions to problems in order to increase productivity. It’s the techno optimist view that technology combined with human ingenuity will provide solutions to unlock a better world. Even better when the solution can unlock value for investors.
  • In the industrialized construction space that means technology-enabled process improvement (design, procurement, factory production, jobsite installation). It also means expanding the workforce: in a factory a worker doesn’t need to do nearly the amount of heavy lifting, safety training, or specialty skill certifications. So it can pull in a whole new workforce to help address the chronic labor shortage, provide job skills to new populations, and keep people safer. These are the kinds of positive disruption that I can get behind.

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

Parents: “do your best so doors will open.” They told me they didn’t know what those doors would be, but they were confident that the set of available opportunities would be more favorable if I tried my best.

Wife (while dating): Choose a harder college major! Saw potential in me and challenged me to explore a larger set of opportunities. I changed my major to engineering after this.

Older mentor advising me on how to complete a career pivot: Go get an MBA, write articles on topics you want to be perceived as an expert in, and leverage my network’s contacts to make new important connections. He offered to connect me with his best contacts as I was exploring a career pivot so I could explore more opportunities. I followed his advice! Conference presentations, articles, constant networking, and I just wrapped up an Executive MBA program. These have become foundational building blocks that I’m standing on now.

Engineering mentor: Communicate clearly. For engineering, this meant building up to a coherent argument to clearly articulate a simple message to describe something complex. To clearly describe facts. Similar to my earlier funny mistake, this mentor taught me to take all of the complexity out of my explanations and only articulate what was critical for an audience to know. They don’t need to know the details of how an earthquake will affect a 1,000 ft tall high-rise tower, they only need to know enough to effectively solve the problem at hand.

During a job interview for a Biz Ops role: Communicate clearly. But in business, and for problems with uncertain solutions, this means leading with a high-level hypothesis and then developing a fact base that will prove or disprove the hypothesis. It’s the top-down approach to uncertain problems as opposed to the bottom-up method of starting with first principles to build up to a proof that I’d learned as an engineer. This relates back to reading an audience and providing information in a way that’s useful to them.

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

There’s so much to be done! Construction is a $10 trillion a year industry. Think about it, if we make a 1% improvement to that number it’s a $100 billion/year opportunity.

The world of industrialized construction and more broadly in construction technology is just starting to emerge. Today, I’m focused on driving construction work into factories. Next will be to drive the “productization” of construction components. Just like the automotive industry digitized and productized over the course of about 40 years, from hand-made, custom automobiles into mass-produced automotive products, construction is following that same path today. In the coming decade, we’ll see the emergence of standardized prefabricated and modular building components that can be easily ordered and easily installed on construction jobsites. The foundations for this revolution are being built now, but there is a lot more to come. I’ll be in the thick of it, driving things forward toward the goal of higher quality, efficiently produced buildings that can address both our current labor shortages as well as the high cost of housing.

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 love epic novels and historical accounts that look at many eras of history in one volume: anything by James Michener, Sarum by Edward Rutherford, the Old Testament in the Bible. My mind tends toward the present; these stories and accounts help draw me outside of the present and to see my place in the arc of history. To see myself as a part of a much larger narrative provides clarity for the present (who am I and where do I fit?) and purpose for the future (what am I here for?). For example, fostering positive traits in my three kids will have an exponentially increasing impact through time as they pass these traits on to future generations. I have to step out of my myopic, daily grind to see that kind of purpose.

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

“Do your best so doors will open” has been my operating principle to-date and has helped me navigate life thus far. It may be reaching the end of its usefulness though. I’m doing lots of thinking at this point around what success means going forward.

If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

Professionally, it’d be to leverage technology to build better buildings and to reduce the cost of housing.

For the world at large, it’d be to get people’s eyeballs off of screens and get together in shared community. Living in overly personalized digital bubbles isn’t good for people.

How can our readers follow you online?

LinkedIn mostly, for professional connections. I stopped using social media a long time ago. Or give me a call and we’ll get together in-person over a beer.

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


Meet The Disruptors: Justin Schwaiger Of Manufacton by ViZZ Technologies On The Five Things You… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Marcus Leonardo Boyd On The 5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

You need to have confidence and determination I mean you first get started depending on the topic you are speaking on you may or may not book a lot of gigs at first I don’t know how many doors get slammed in your face it’s not about the doors that slamming its about your wellness to never give up I can’t tell you how many doors closed in my face or how many opportunities I messed up on but I had to learn is what’s for me will be for me so I don’t take it as a lost I take it as a learning lesson.

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 7x award winning autism activist Marcus Leonardo Boyd.

Marcus Leonardo Boyd is a global figure he is known in so many countries and he uses his platform to help bring change and new opportunities for the Autism communities , Marcus himself has autism so he understands from a personal level the trails and tribulations you can face with having autism, Marcus is the first African American to have 7 awards as a autism activist also he is the first person with Autism to win a Distinguished Person Humanitarian Award and a Lifetime Presidential Achievement Award, Marcus has spoken in 10 different countries about autism places like Asia, Australia, South Africa, Dubai, London UK, Scotland UK, Philippines, China, Pakistan, South America, Marcus has a clothing line and a shoe line he is a book author with coloring books and a comic book and so much more he has been a international public speaker for over 5 years now he has 13 music awards as a music Producer and Composer so sit back and learn more about 7x award winning autism activist Marcus Boyd.

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 come from a place where roaches and rats walked the hall ways I come from a place where you smelled piss and vomit in the air I come from a place where Jr’s hard to make it out I’m from the projects the ghetto the hood or poverty just to name a few I was born in Atlanta ga and raised between Atlanta ga and Brooklyn ny I got separated from my family at a early age due to horrific abuse from my birth father I don’t think he was truly ready to be a father plus he had generational demons he was fighting so I got moved to foster care and I was in 16 different homes 16 different group homes and I was in a emergency children shelter and I was in 16 different mental hospitals 4 impatient centers and I dealt with electrical shock therapy in the hospital when I didn’t want to take my medications I was in therapy for years and years I had different doctors I was on so many different medications by me having Autism I was non verbal until I was 13 or 13 ½ then I started to speak at a 2 year old level I didn’t start speaking like j do now until I was almost 18 years old so my life was pretty difficult but I praise God for it

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

5 years ago I was in Atlanta ga and I needed to go to Walmart so a friend of mine that I grew up with offered to take me to the store so she picked me up it was rainy really hard that day and I got in her car and we started to talk and she asked me a question she said when are you going to let others hear your story about your journey with Autism and I said that’s not happening all of my life I just wanted to be looked at as normal so I am not telling strangers my story and then she got mad and said really you know I got a son who has autism and God allowed you to talk and you refuse to help someone else out who may be going through what you went through or may have some questions that you can help with again I said no I am not a doctor nor do I feel like having people in my personal business, so again it was rainy really hard outside so she said I tell you what and she pulled over her car on the highway and said for me to get out she said since I want to be selfish and not spread how God blessed me to be able to talk and function then I need to get out and walk to wal mart so at this point I was looking out the window and I see it’s coming down real hard and I didn’t see a wal mart in sight so I told her if I agree to tell my story at her church will she be happy and still take me to wal mart she said yes she would so I agreed and she took me to wal mart and back home safely and then that Sunday she came early to pick me up she had her son with her and she drove me to the church and when we got inside it was like a concert in their like kirk Franklin was preforming I mean people really had the holy ghost in there I loved the music and dancing so things calmed down and the pastor said do we have any visitors today and she pushed me to stand up I said my name and the pastor said o yeah I heard about you do you want to tell us your story and how God worked in your life so I began to tell my story and when I was done a lot of people came up to me to ask me questions about my story and autism and from their I realized it’s not about me at all its about the millions of families and individuals who has autism and they don’t get to have their stories told or their voices heard so right then I knew what I had to do was become a voice for Autism

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

Well about 3 years ago I was doing some spelling gigs around Atlanta ga and then j got a Facebook message by a Facebook friend asking me what’s my schedule for the next week and I replied back with I’m free why you asking and then they told me that they wanted me to be a guest speaker at a event they are having for autism by this point I been speaking a lot about autism so I’m comfortable you know feeling myself a little bit so I said sure where is the event located at how long will I have on stage and what is the budget so my Facebook friend told me that the event was in London uk and I will have 60 mins to speak you know in the speaking world that’s like a whole day of speaking and I was going to get paid but it’s more about the exposure value of it and I will be speaking via video to the national society of Autism in london uk I mean at this point I was blown away I was so excited I was crying because I couldn’t believe God would bless someone like me with this life changing opportunity so I got myself prepared and ready I practiced my speech harder then ever before and then when the time came to give my speech via zoom I know I delivered a powerful heart felt speech about autism in America and my story with having autism I truly believed that it touched some people’s lives and after that I was asked to come back to speak in London again

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?

About 5 years ago when I was first starting to do my speaking engagements I was always nervous and scared and not really sure of myself at that time so I got a chance to speak in front of like 100 to 150 people at a fundraiser event for autism awareness so I got my suit on my three piece suit at that my Stacy Adam’s on with the tip I mean j thought I was super Sharpe so they told me I had 12 mins to speak and I was one of the featured speakers for the eevents I was back stage practicing my speech and my voice on how I was going to deliver the speech I was sweating alittle bit but I was cool so then I had to go to the bathroom so mind you I was in a 3 piece suit so I went to the bathroom washed my hands and after that I left the bathroom so now I hear the woman giving me a introduction on stage so I’m saying to myself this is it you got this Marcus I was giving myself a pep talk so the woman said let welcome autism activist Marcus Boyd so I begin to walk on the stage and as I got to the middle of the stage and I said hello all of a sudden my pants fall right on the floor I mean you have to image how embarrassed I was all I hear was laughing people in shock my draws was showing and my legs so I tried to pick up my pants up real quick and I ran off stage the lesson I learned is to finish what you start regardless if you make a mistake and Too to always make sure my pants are zipped and fixed before I leave the restroom lol

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?

Everybody has someone who comes in their life and helps it in some type of way for me I was blessed to have more then one person, I truly believe in giving people their flowers while they are here to smell them so I have to start with God who is thr head of my life and without God guiding me through my hard times then I don’t know where I would be I mean I know a lot of people says that but I really mean it I was so messed up without having direction that it was hard for me to focus on the mission in front of me, next has to be my grandma Mary Boyd what she taught me and did for me is do priceless and I learned so much from her the things to do and the things not to do but she taught me the art of hustling and grinding and the real meaning of never quitting, then I have to show some love to my best friend Gary Sinatra thank you for supporting me and helping me out so many times in my journey, to My super supporter Queen carter thank you so much you are a amazing friend that has helped me mode and build my autism brand thank you for everything you have done for me and to my mentors John McClung Jr, Tracy bumpers, Manisha Holiday, jacquetta Quashie, Mary Mitchell, Dorothy Carr, Bob ordner, Anna Gibbs, thank you for being a light when my life was dark thank you for showing me what a true Legend and Leader looks like thank you for loving me when I couldn’t love myself.

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?

Well first off where you are reading this I want you to stop reading this and say out loud I am somebody I matter I am important and I won’t stop until I achieve my dreams, now that you have done that continue reading this answer what I know is that you can’t go into anything scared or afraid yes you are going to have challenges and you are going to mess up and fall but that’s OK pick yourself back up dust yourself off and you keep on the road to your dreams and goals we all fall short but God still loves and pushes us anyways so you have to see past you never done this before or it’s your first time or the fact that you might not have the money or resources to do it I mean trust me when I first started I didn’t have the money or resources either but what I had to learn is when you take a step God will take five it’s the faith in your dreams and goals and the faith in him that he wants you to have, then I would say to not listen to anyone that is not supporting you or giving you positive advice because there are some people that smile in your face but pray for your down fall you need real support around you and for people to speak life into you so pray to God and ask him who should you have around you and who should you make a team with because you can’t do anything alone, next you need to make sure you are making the right connections and resources if this is the field you want to do then you need to know what organizations you need to talk to how to get involved with speaking agencies and how to set up a paid speaking engagements please understand nothing comes over night it took me 5 years before I got my first real payment now it make take you a way shorter or longer time but the message that you keep going regardless of payment or not I do what I do because I have a passion and this is my purpose it’s way bigger then fame or money but you have to know your worth as well, and I would say make a strong team of believers and workers around you that will be on the mission to push your dreams and goals just like its there’s and will honor you with the work they put in to help elevate the dream and goal and finally just have belief in yourself a lot of times we get into things without having that full belief in ourselves trust me I know I have done it before so as long as you have that confidence in yourself then you are prepared to move mountains.

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 get up every morning feeling blessed and honored that God has given me another day when he didn’t have too, so I know I have a family To take care of and they need me like I need them so I strive to make my today better then yesterday and I know my why and when see a lot of us don’t know our why’s so it can be a little bury when you wake up every morning because you still trying to see pass your own reality but for me I see my vision and I know my purpose so it makes it easier for me to get up now my message I want to leave with thr world is that don’t look at the word autism as a death sentence because it’s not you have so many important and famous people who has autism so many lawyers and doctors and nurses and singers rappers actors actresses judges basketball players and Nascar drivers we all have to understand that autism is a diagnosis but you can still do anything you out your mind too I have autism so as a person who had Autism I fight everyday to prove the stereo type wrong when it comes too what we can’t do with having Autism what we don’t understand or will never read or get a education or do for ourselves I am not saying that there are not individuals that have situations like these because there are but every person with Autism is different I was non verbal for many years and on medication and had ieps and was in special Ed class rooms and went to hospitals the whole nine but God still will make a way with Autism you just have to continue to have that fighting spirit that never giving up spirit regardless the trail or tribulations we face with Autism we can still get to the other side, I want to encourage the world who has autism that having autism is a super power and we are the lucky ones because not everyone gets to ha e these powers and you are not different or less than and its ok for you to move at your time and speed and all we truly need is love patience understanding acceptance inclusion and support so my mission on this earth is to make people see autism differently and I will continue to raise my voice for Autism

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?

My team tells me all the time marcus you are doing to much you have to stay focused on one thing lol for me that’s hard because I want to touch the world in so many ways so currently right now I am working on a 30 page comic book called super marcus and the autism squad it’s a comic book for the Autism and special needs communities worldwide and in this book you will see super marcus and the autism squad who are the protectors for autism and special needs kids all around the world they come against the hate corps who hate anyone or anything that has to do with Autism or special needs and their sole mission is to wipe them off the face of the planet but we will just have to see what will happen, next I have a clothing line that I am working on it’s called the A collection clothing and it’s a urban/Casual line for men woman and children it will be in all sizes and have different designs and what I wanted to do was have a stylish designer clothing company and the autism and special needs communities can wear and be proud of but this line is for everyone next I have a shoe line called G soles with G Soles being the first ever spiritual tennis shoe ever created and what I wanted to do was bring positive messages and change the style for the shoe game putting God where he needs to ne first then I have my autobiography book I am working on called the boy with no voice it will be telling my true story with having autism and growing up in foster homes and group homes and being homeless and the things I went through up until this point then I have a tv series that will happen with the boy with no voice and then I have a coloring book called the Wayne’s which is the very first sitcom coloring book where you follow the story of a Christian family called the Wayne’s and see how life situations happen and how they come together as a family and who knows what I will do next you just have to wait and stay tuned

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

  • History has shown us that courage can be contagious, and hope can take on a life of its own. –Michelle Obama
  • “The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression.” –W.E.B. Du Bois
  • “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” –Nelson Mandela
  • “You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.” –Malcolm X
  • “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” –Frederick Douglass
  • “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” –Barack Obama

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?”

To me I know for sure the first thing is your belief and faith in God I mean we can’t build the ark by ourselves so we have to have help with our dreams and goals and the things we want to do so with having God on your side you can achieve all of your dreams plus more so I will tell anyone if you want to be a public speaker make sure you have a strong relationship with God so when you ask him for help you won’t be ignored. 2nd you need to have confidence and determination I mean you first get started depending on the topic you are speaking on you may or may not book a lot of gigs at first I don’t know how many doors get slammed in your face it’s not about the doors that slamming its about your wellness to never give up I can’t tell you how many doors closed in my face or how many opportunities I messed up on but I had to learn is what’s for me will be for me so I don’t take it as a lost I take it as a learning lesson, 3rd you need the right connections and contacts in this world you can’t do anything if you don’t know the right people to talk too yes you can do it on your own with nothing but that is so much harder so when you start on the public speaker journey you need to find other successful public speakers get their pr information o booking agent information and reach out to them learn from find out how they got into the door and take pieces of that and create your own yes when you book your gigs you need to know the locations or venues to go to how much you need to charge to speak and how your team needs to promote the event 4th you need to have a good talking topic I don’t know what your topic will be about but this is not to preach to people or tell them what they need to do or don’t need to do this is to give wisdom knowledge and encouragement with your story and your knowledge of the topic you are talking about make sure you are not boring you interact with the crowd make them feel like they can talk too and not just listen ask questions while you talking tell jokes make them laugh because as a public speaker you are only good from your last event so every event you have to prove yourself that you are on top and better then the rest so make them want more of your topic and you that’s your job is to give the audience something that will continue to talk about with you as the speaker and 5th and final thing is preparation and attack you have to put in your mind that you are about to play in the biggest game of your life when yiu step on that stage and you began to talk on the topic you speaking of you have to see it like your in a football game and the crowd is trying to tackle you and stop you so you have to fo plays that out wit and amaze the crowd you have to shake them and don’t let them tackle you one way to do that is make sure you are prepared before you do your speech go over your speech a lot of times do it in the mirror or in front of people become comfortable with the words so when you talk you are free handed and you can really deliver a incredible performance being a public speaker is no different from being a musician instead of singing or rapping you are delivering word with power and your words is the music so bring it ro them in a qay that they will never forget.

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

We all want to achieve our dreams and goals and get things we want but a lot of times what stands in our way is ourselves so I will say that you can’t be afraid or scared or fearful of anything if you try and don’t succeed guess what you csn do it again don’t get mad and say oh I quit no just go back and do it find out ways to make it better so you can succeed and I know this interview I been saying God a lot but honestly God never gave us a spirit of fear us as man made that to be reality we have to get pads our on self’s and allow God to take full control see that’s one of the problems we try to complete a dream when God is in the background saying please let me help your not alone but we would swear up and down that we have to do this by ourselves because we don’t have help and it’s OK to be nervous but you can’t stay in the nervousness you are a genius a inspiration a warrior and most importantly you are God’s child so we can do anything through Christ who strengthen us so I honestly think the devil uses our fear against us and have us to believe that we are no good nobody will give us a chance and we need to stop chasing a Dream and to me the devil is a lieee so my advice to you is to stand with God and stand on your dreams and goals and go get them don’t allow the devil to stop you I believe in 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 start called Autism Hearts where people would wear the Autism hearts on them and that would be a representation of the love and support they have for people with Autism like the shirt would say my name is Marcus boyd and I love with my Autism heart or it would say Jenny uses her autism heart to show love like I would do t shirts hats jackets bracelets chains sweat suits hoodies to continue to spread more acceptance inclusion and awareness for autism.

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!

Well a lot of my hero’s are gone people like biggie smalls j dilla proof from D-12 Luther Vandross but I would love to do lunch with les brown Eric Thompson 9th wonder dwele gucci mane Deb Anthony I mean honestly I would lobe to have lunch with anyone that is positive and who is influencing the culture I want to learn I want to be a student so that’s my people I would love to eat lunch with.

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

Autismactivistmarcusb.com

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0PqM69FX5C37thJ19G8d9Y2tdeT1ueAu8pJju1Q1bN5pqgiAesXaxsKiJXVoAvpEGl&id=100009450426523&mibextid=Nif5oz

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmFAYi9tA4A/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

https://twitter.com/ActivistBoyd/status/1600149683371851776?t=wLMgmrXHkIgAv5KQ5vp1bw&s=19

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


Marcus Leonardo Boyd 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.