Find a mentor. It’s easier to learn from someone else’s mistakes than to make your own. Trust me, you’re not the first one to face whatever the problem is.
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 Tobias Heaslip.
Tobias Francis Heaslip is a mission-driven entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Trading.TV, the world’s first social livestream and immersive chat platform for traders and financial content creators. He spent more than a decade as a trader and analyst at some of the largest institutional banks and hedge funds in the world including Barclays Investment Bank, Och-Ziff Capital Management, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. Tobias graduated from Southern Methodist University with a bachelor’s degree in Finance and Alternative Asset Management.
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?
I worked on Wall Street for over a decade as an equity trader at some of the biggest investment banks and hedge funds in the world. I was lucky enough to come into the industry at a time where social media was just becoming an investable asset class in the public markets, and was at Morgan Stanley when the firm was winning the IPO business of all these companies. As the youngest person on the desk (and the only person that actually used the products at the time), they asked me to become the resident social media expert — -which I did. I’ve been focused on social media and fintech ever since.
This focus led me to see an opportunity to build a segment-defining company at the intersection of the creator economy and the retail trading revolution. This combined with a professional trading background, made me uniquely qualified to found and built a social fintech company like Trading.TV.
Can you please share with us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
This is a fun one! The day we took Facebook public at Morgan Stanley. I was a junior trader on the desk but was covering Facebook and all the other social media stocks at the time. Meaning, I was responsible for making markets in the stock. This was the most hotly anticipated IPO in years and the trading floor was buzzing with excitement. Facebook’s top East Coast brass was on the floor and everyone had Facebook hats and merch. It was a huge moment.
We had simulated the opening cross with Nasdaq several times before the actual day of the IPO. Everything was fine. No issues whatsoever. But as Mike Tyson famously said, “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.”
On the day of the actual IPO, everything was normal until we opened the stock for trading. We broke the system. It was marketwide, but at the time, we thought it was an issue exclusive to just us. We couldn’t give confirms to buyers or sellers, and even worse, we had no control of our risk! For all we knew, we were losing millions of dollars a second, with no way of being able to tell how to fix it. All this with Facebook execs standing behind us clapping, totally oblivious to the MAJOR issue we were dealing with, while clapping and trying to mentally calculate how rich they now were.
We ended up doing the entire thing by hand, OLD SCHOOL! Trying to keep track of millions of shares on pieces of paper (it didn’t work). Still not sure how the firm ended up from a Profit & Loss (PnL) perspective, but the issue was on Nasdaq’s end. It’s still one of the reasons why some companies choose to list with the New York Stock Exchange.
Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?
Work hard. Show empathy. Doing the right thing is always the right thing. Help people less fortunate and remember the journey is the destination.
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”?
We invented tradeable livestreaming — the ability to watch streams on everything from stocks and crypto to NFTs and rare sneakers and buy/sell the underlying assets while you do it. Think Twitch for trading.
How do you think this will change the world?
Entertaining educational formats that connect industry experts with the millions of people around the world seeking this knowledge. Through this format, we can introduce countless people to financial markets that would otherwise never get started on their investing journey. Through investing, many of these people will become financially free and be able to pursue their true passions and live life on their own terms.
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?
Yes, content moderation is always a challenge. It’s also hard to keep people from treating trading like they are in a casino.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this idea? Can you tell us that story?
The tipping point for me was the realization that retail traders in Reddit forums and on Twitter had answers to questions that me and the other traders at big investment banks and hedge funds didn’t have. Once I realized that, I knew it was time to leave institutional Wall Street and join the rebels!
What do you need to lead this idea to widespread adoption?
Great creators and content, great technology, and the ultimate — time.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
Find a mentor. It’s easier to learn from someone else’s mistakes than to make your own. Trust me, you’re not the first one to face whatever the problem is.
Release the product before it’s ready. The goal is to learn what doesn’t work fast and find what does.
Getting to simple is hard. The product should literally only be able to do the action that you want the user to do. Validate the assumption.
Small teams move faster. More people just means more coordination is necessary.
Take a break. Burnout is real. Mental and physical health is paramount to long term success.
Can you share with our readers what you think are the most important “success habits” or “success mindsets”?
Start everyday with a workout, yoga, or mediation. It sets the tone and keeps you physically fit and mentally sharp.
Audiobooks > Music. I listen to audiobooks when in transit. For most people this is at least an hour a day, meaning you can get through at least 3–4 books a month. That knowledge is priceless.
Cold call your idols. You’ll be surprised how often they pick up.
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 🙂
Trading.TV is the Fintech lovechild of Twitch and Discord. A social livestream platform for the new generation of Millennial and Gen-Z traders and financial content creators. As the first fintech platform purpose built for the creator economy, we empower users to stream, chat and trade everything from stocks and option to crypto and NFTs on a single platform. Welcome to the future of investing.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
IG: Tobias_Francis, TWTR: TobiasFrancis
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
Glen Bhimani of BPS Security: Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Transparent Communication — Communication is absolutely paramount to good leadership. If your team hears something important from someone else, they may begin to doubt you and think you are trying to hide something from them. Once, one of our clients was going through a merger which I informed my staff about. Even though it was about a year out from being finalized, I let them know and was able to answer their questions about whether or not they would be able to keep their jobs (they were kept on the job). So when the merger happened a year later and our client’s employees were worried about losing their jobs because they didn’t know what was happening, our staff was calm and didn’t think much of it. It was a stark contrast between their employees who were panicked with only a week’s notice and ours who were aware and calm.
Glen Bhimani is the CEO and Founder of the fastest growing Security Firm in the United States and has over 20 years of experience under his belt. His business savvy and technological expertise are just one part of the reason his company is growing so quickly, and his quick thinking and vast understanding of the small business world makes him an expert in the field of small business.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. 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?
Getting started with BPS Security was always about not settling, for myself and for others.
Prior to starting BPS, I worked in a larger security firm. And one day I found myself arguing with my Regional Director of Security about how there are more efficient, cost-effective methods to increase the service to the client while reducing the cost to the security company. He told me “No this is how we have always done things and if you don’t like it you can leave.” I was done settling for less than great service for clients and employees, so I said “Sure, I’ll leave.” I handed him my two week notice and I walked out of his office.
A similar situation occurred with my Commanding Officer when I served in the United States Army. I couldn’t settle for less than excellent service and they just didn’t care.
I spent a lot of time thinking about growing up in poverty, and how I would go to bed hungry some nights. I remember that my family members who had a blue collar job were having a hard time getting by and those who were professionals were doing well but were constantly lonely. But my family members who had opened a business were happy, doing well for themselves, and making changes in the world. That was when I realized that I needed to open a business.
My lovely wife and I opened BPS Security both for ourselves and to improve the lives of those around us, clients and employees both.
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 was following a movie quote. I listened to the quote from Field of Dreams (“If you build it, he will come.”) and thought it was great life advice. I thought if I built a security guard business the amazing service that no one else was offering, all the clients would just appear.
Boy was I wrong. No one came.
The lesson that I learned was that just because you have a better service or product does not mean you will sell more. A great service/product does not necessarily cause people to flock to you, because there is more to business than just a better product.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
Yes, my best friend and former business partner Omar Gonzalez.
When we started, he just came alongside me to help me out. He said to me, “Glen, I don’t want to be in the security business or have that kind of responsibility. But I am here to help you with your dream.”
Omar helped the business and me by working many hours for free in the beginning until we were stable. Until we were able to pay the employees and vendors needed to grow the business, he poured his heart and soul into it. Three years after we started the business, he separated from the company and moved on to follow his own dreams.
If it was not for Omar and my wife, BPS Security wouldn’t be successful today.
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?
Our original vision was to help and be a resource for all the small businesses that needed quality security guards but could not afford them. Bigger firms charge a lot more because they have higher overhead, and our purpose was to be able to provide the small businesses with security so they could be safe and protected on their own property.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?
I believe clear and consistent communication is crucial to leadership, and I utilized this during an uncertain time in BPS.
We pay our guards on a weekly basis, and when we began to gain more corporate clients who wanted to pay on a monthly basis, our employees were worried about payroll. It was a major concern, because we wouldn’t be able to make payroll if we took on these bigger corporations on their terms. I was working on a payment arrangement that would allow us to get paid weekly (thereby making payroll), and I made sure my staff knew what I was doing.
I knew it would work, even if my employees were worried about the uncertainty of it. But through consistent communication so they were aware of everything going on, they realized it would work and weekly payment arrangements became easier with each new client.
Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?
There were several times I considered giving up.
The first time was because we could not figure out how to get clients the first year we opened (see my mention of “build it and they will come” earlier). The second time occurred in our second year in business, when we almost ran out of funds.
The motivation came from my wife. She encouraged me so much and said we just needed to get over the hump: if we made it past two years, we would survive. She told me that we were almost halfway there. Because of her encouragement, we redid our website and changed our marketing a bit and at the end of our second year in business, we got our first client that allowed us to remain open.
My drive comes from knowing that we’re making a difference in the lives of our employees. The quality of life my security officers are able to have is based on the living wage and medical benefits they receive with us, which they wouldn’t get with other companies. Knowing their lives are drastically different drives me.
What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?
The role of a leader during challenging times is to help their employees at all costs. Even if sometimes it doesn’t seem in the best interest of the company. Here’s why: employees do not typically remember when they were hired, but they remember when and why they were let go. They return the favors you send their way, and they will go above and beyond if they truly feel you have their best interest in mind.
If you want to fulfill the role of a leader during difficult times, find ways to prioritize your team and staff.
When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?
When the future seems uncertain it is important to be there for employees.
For example, one way we boost morale on a regular basis is by getting individual employees their favorite meals and having it delivered to them (or their families) for dinner.
Another way to inspire, motivate, and engage employees is to just honest and transparent with them. Ask them what their thoughts are on the issues that are coming up. Get their recommendations, and listen to what they have to say. You will be surprised by the great information some employees have, and they will feel like their input and place in the company is greatly appreciated.
What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?
In my opinion, difficult news should not be a surprise to your team or customers. It should come as a confirmation based on a prior conversation (Going back to consistent communication).
For example, in the middle of covid last year we ran into staffing issues when many of our staff and subcontractors staff came down with covid. I called my clients three weeks in advance and informed them we might be running into a shortage and might not be able to provide further services until my staff recovered. My clients stated they appreciated the heads up and to give them weekly updates. Thankfully, in the end, we did not have the shortage because we were able to make other arrangements for temporary staff. But it could have been a much different conversation, had I not been proactive about being clear when I saw issues down the road.
If you are proactively communicating with clients and team members about potential issues, you head them off at the pass and make it easier to have those conversations when they do have to happen.
How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?
By simply making plans that are flexible. One of my favorite movie quotes comes from Forrest Gump, where he says “life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.” And unlike earlier, this is an actually applicable quote. It’s better to make a decision and move forward than be paralyzed by fear.
Jeff Hoffman, the inventor of the Airport Checkin Kiosk, once said “It’s easier to turn when you’re going down the highway at 70 mph than when you’re still parked.” And that’s very accurate. Regardless of whether you make the wrong decision or not (or have to change it), it will be easier to pivot if you have already started down the road.
Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?
My number one principle is to not make decisions based on emotions (Or worries, such as “am I going to be able to make payroll in 2 months?”), but rather to use logic based on facts (such as “I have the money for payroll this month, I’ll worry about next month if it’s an issue.”)
Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?
1: Cutting vendors (especially marketing and suppliers) in order to save cash short-term.
2: Shutting down communication out of fear.
3: Waiting to adjust because “it might pan out down the road.”
The best thing to keep in mind is that you cannot act out of fear. Be proactive about potential issues and make the best, most long-term logical decisions you can to avoid these mistakes.
Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?
The primary strategy I utilize is to be proactively engaged with the world, and shifting my business to adjust for the changes in current events that will eventually impact my industry.
For example, right before COVID-19 hit the United States I was noticing China closing down their country. I knew this might come to the US, and that people would need more security in buildings that would no longer be occupied. So I placed a large order of supplies because I knew there would be supply chain issues. I bought firearms, ammunition, security uniforms, and placed hiring ads well in advance to be prepared. As soon as COVID-19 caused the United States to close, we had the influx of clients I’d anticipated. Instead of running into supply chain issues, we were able to hire 23 full time employees within 5 days and take on thousands of hours of work from incoming clients.
Being proactive is one of the best and most effective strategies you could ever use.
Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times? Please share a story or an example for each.
1: Lead By Example
I can’t say this enough, it’s imperative to lead by example. When we were struggling to cover all the security sites for clients, we were often asking guards to work close to 60 hours a week. They only wanted to work 40, so they could spend time with their families which is understandable. So I made sure I was out there working 60 hours/week with them myself so they could have a little more time to themselves and to ensure our clients had coverage. The security officers later told me that they could not believe I was out there with them, and that it led to them being more dedicated and loyal to BPS because other owners would threaten them with losing their jobs instead of helping with the insane assigned hours.
2: Listen
Even in ordinary times it is important to listen to your staff and care about their personal lives, but more so in turbulent times. And I truly mean listen. Most employees won’t tell you directly that something is going on, but if you listen and carefully ask if everything is okay they will likely let you know. We once had an officer that was having personal and financial issues at home after separating from a significant other. It soon became apparent something was going on, because work performance began to suffer and there were constant requests to leave early or come in late. When initially asked if everything was okay at home, the officer shrugged it off. But when we said anything spoken was confidential and free of judgment, we found out that childcare was a necessity and work hours needed to change as well, but the officer was too afraid to ask because of how recently their employment had begun. At that point, we knew we had to take care of the employee and worked with the officer to give a week of paid leave and a readjusted schedule so childcare could happen. It drastically changed the performance as well as the officer’s life.
3: Transparent Communication
Communication is absolutely paramount to good leadership. If your team hears something important from someone else, they may begin to doubt you and think you are trying to hide something from them. Once, one of our clients was going through a merger which I informed my staff about. Even though it was about a year out from being finalized, I let them know and was able to answer their questions about whether or not they would be able to keep their jobs (they were kept on the job). So when the merger happened a year later and our client’s employees were worried about losing their jobs because they didn’t know what was happening, our staff was calm and didn’t think much of it. It was a stark contrast between their employees who were panicked with only a week’s notice and ours who were aware and calm.
4: Take Care of Your Employees
Taking care of your employees is one way to lead extremely efficiently and effectively. Earlier this year, when sick leave for COVID was no longer a mandatory payment for employers, we had a security officer that was out sick for two weeks. We knew she wouldn’t be able to work, but she needed the income so we paid her for those two weeks off. She called us when she got her paycheck, stating that we made a mistake with her paycheck and that she hadn’t worked those two weeks. When we told her that it wasn’t a mistake, she was extremely grateful because she hadn’t known how she was going to make rent that month. On the back side of that incident, she has become one of our best employees and will do anything to make sure our clients are taken care of no matter what.
5: Appreciation
Effective leadership is about more than just holding people accountable to do their jobs (although this i important), and efficient leadership often comes down to making sure your employees know they are appreciated so they will do their best for you. One of our favorite things to do (before and now during COVID) was to randomly buy all of our staff meals and get the meals sent to their work sites or homes. It has proven to regularly boost their confidence in us and perform better, for more than just the fact that we bought them food and saved them a little time and money. Food is always good to have, and it shows them that we’re thinking about them and know what they’re doing for us.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
One of my favorite life lesson quotes is actually tattooed on my left arm: “Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold.”
It speaks to me and is relevant because it encourages me to enjoy life and not worry about what might happen. It has encouraged me to do so much like joining the military, picking up daring hobbies such as motorcycle racing, and helped me jump into entrepreneurship.
How can our readers further follow your work?
My social media is pretty active with my content (I’ll include links below), and the website for BPS Security is a great place to find my blogs. I also post regularly to my youtube channel.
Do The Right Thing — This might seem like an obvious one, but I take it very seriously. I’m not a leader or CEO who is going to suggest unethical behavior to solve a problem, and when we recently added this value to our core values at Weave, it wasn’t because we had a problem with people acting unethically. It was because we already had this culture in our company and wanted to double down on its importance as we grow. We don’t take shortcuts to success, we do the hard work and the right things because those are the things worth doing and the ones you’ll be proud to look back on. I want that for every employee — to feel the pride in themselves and their leaders when we do the right thing.
Roy Banks is Chief Executive Officer at Weave. A pioneer in digital payments, Roy has 20 years of experience in high-tech software development, e-commerce, internet marketing and payment processing.
Roy most recently served as CEO Partner at Tritium Partners. Prior to that he was President of the LoadPay Business Unit and a Board Member for Truckstop, where he helped Truckstop’s payment initiative grow into the leading payment solution for the industry. Previously, Roy served as CEO at Network Merchants and Open Edge Payments.
Roy served in the United States Navy and holds a Bachelor’s in Business Management from Utah Valley University.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
I started my career in tech in a pretty unconventional way, at least for most CEOs. I was a young guy with a wife and kid, working two jobs and trying to work my way through college — failing miserably. To make things even more difficult, our son had a major medical condition which added significantly to my already significant financial burden. As the son of an Air Force Veteran, so I knew that enlisting in the Air Force was always an option available to me to help support my family, pay my bills and obtain the G.I. Bill to pay for college. Contrary to my original intention, I ended up enlisting in the Navy because they could get me into basic training faster than the Air Force, and I’m truly happy to say it changed my life in a positive and unexpected way. I was able to learn software engineering while I served, and that made it easy to find a job when I left. I worked my way from software engineering to product management, marketing and then to executive leadership roles. In the late 90s, I joined a company called Authorize.net, which was one of the early pioneers of this e-commerce revolution — by enabling businesses to take credit card payments over a website that used to be just seen as a research tool. I see that same revolution happening right now for small business software, and what brought me to Weave was the vision of how we help small businesses communicate, attract, retain and engage their customers in meaningful ways through enterprise-level software that is designed for small businesses.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?
I don’t know whether this is funny, but I can tell you what was one of my biggest mistakes. Before I actually joined Authorize.net, one of the first e-commerce payment gateways, I actually rejected the first invitation to join the company because I thought taking credit card payments online from a website was a ridiculous idea and concept that would never work. Boy was I wrong! Several months later I was once again invited to join Authorize net only this time I accepted. I had to re-orient my thinking towards technology and realize that innovation comes from doing things that are disruptive, transformative and even against conventional thinking. As I thought about the idea of excepting credit card payments from a website, I realize that this indeed could become a new commerce platform and sales channel, especially for small businesses.
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 believe anyone can look back on their career and identify, not just one, but many people who either mentored or encouraged their progression and development. One person I would like to call out is my good friend Matt Vettell. He is a principal partner at a private equity firm called Great Hill Partners. Early on in my career he saw and recognized my potential to become not only a CEO but an effective business leader. He took a chance on me because he saw in me what I sometimes failed to see in myself. I think this is what makes great leaders and mentors. Without any CEO experience, he gave me an opportunity to lead one of his newly acquired portfolio companies as a CEO. I realize that this was a huge risk, but it was also a significant vote of confidence in me and my potential. Because of his willingness to believe and invest in me, I have now been the CEO of several companies who have all had success for exits and continue to flourish in my absence today.
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 took over from the founders of this company as CEO in December of 2020, and part of what connected with me was that the vision from our founders has always been around serving small businesses which aligns with whom I’ve served for the past 20 years. Small businesses deserve the access to the products and services that enterprises has had for years. Weave started as a smarter phone system for dental practices, and now we’ve taken that original vision and turned it into the all-in-one communication platform for small business, serving way more industries than just dentists (though we still serve thousands of dental practices!) and making ourselves an essential tool for the businesses that really are the backbone of the economy. Our vision to serve small business is still a part of the fabric and DNA of our company. We recently updated and added to our company values, and we very intentionally added a new value — The Customer Is Everything — our purpose is to serve small businesses. And small businesses are customer-obsessed as well — Weave’s platform actually helps small businesses better serve their customers with personalized and meaningful communications and efficiencies that give them more time to spend with their customers.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?
Every business will face uncertainty and difficult times, not just once, but many. I have lead companies through the Y2K threat, 9/11 terrorist attack in the 2008 Great Recession. Each of these events impacted and affected the business I was leading at each time differently. These events all required me to invoke and call upon a leadership style that keeps everyone calm, pulls together teams and focuses on solving key challenges. One experience I had was when one of my companies had experienced a data security breach. Unlike today when data security breaches have become fairly common, at the time my company experienced this breach it was relatively new to the landscape of e-commerce. The incident was reported in the media and jeopardized the integrity and very existence of our business. To address this issue, we had to invoke and mobilize a crisis management response team where we identified the weaknesses in our security measures and remediated them within just a few hours. Once again, rather than panic, I needed to lead with a calm and decisive approach that required me to assemble the people and resources to effectively deal with this crisis event. Effective leadership is best measured by how you respond and conduct yourself in the face of challenging adversity.
Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?
I love a saying that we have in the Navy — the only easy day was yesterday. I expect tomorrow to be harder, but I also know that today’s challenges help prepare me for tomorrow’s hardships. I think that work ethic can help overcome those hard times, as well as learning from the hardships and challenges of others. I truly feel there is no better or faster way to acquire knowledge than from the experience of other people, so I read a lot of biographies and autobiographies of great and influential people. I came out of retirement to become the CEO of Weave because of the impact this company can have supporting small businesses, and that mission also is of personal importance to me.
What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?
In the Navy, whenever there is an actual or threat of attack, there is an alarm called General Quarters that is sounded. Upon hearing this alarm, every sailor on a ship immediately goes to their battle stations awaiting further instruction and operational readiness. The role of a leader is to ensure that everyone is at their battle stations, knows what their job is, and has the resources to carry out their specific task. A good leader is one that has sufficiently trained and prepared their organization to respond to challenging times well before they arrive. While a good leader will always be defined by what they do during times of crisis, I believe it is also important that a leader be measured by how they have instructed and prepared their organization to respond to a crisis before it even happens.
When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?
The best way to make progress is to approach it one day at a time. While mission and vision are critical to any organization, it’s what we do each and every day that helps us achieve them. I have found that if we operate and focus on things that are too far out into the future, we lose sight of the incremental progress and gains necessary to achieve our long-term goals for the company. Hi celebrating and recognizing our incremental wins, we can boost morale, inspire and motivate teams to build a resilient and high-performing company.
What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?
I believe it is always important to be intellectually honest and forthright with the people who work for me and the customers we serve. People deserve to know the good, the bad, and the ugly even if it’s unflattering or embarrassing. Truth and transparency will always earn respect and appreciation.
How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?
Every organization needs a plan, even when the future is unpredictable. Leadership requires the humility to understand that we cannot control everything. The key to strategic planning is always recognizing that as conditions evolve and change, companies need to be able to pivot or adapt quickly. What’s the saying, “If you don’t have a plan, you’re simply planning to fail.”
Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?
One of our most important values at Weave is the “customer is everything.” Any company that wants to manage through the ups and downs of business can do so if they focus on the customer. Without customers, businesses don’t last. By taking care of your customers during turbulent times, you will build long lasting and loyal relationships that can help you whether any difficulty or storm.
Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?
Failing to financially manage the business to absorb the shock and impact of an economic downturn or crisis.
Eliminating headcount or being too quick to terminate employees.
Unable to adapt to changing market economic conditions. Managing a business requires both macro and micro economic understanding as well as the business.
Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?
Depending on the issue or nature of the challenge, companies must be able to quickly adapt, change and embrace new technology. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic required us to develop new technology and services to help our customers operate in a new socially distant environment. Internally, we also had to give it the way we market our products and services. We are now Leveraging Digital Demand Generation to promote our products to the market we serve. I’m a believer that turbulent times can actually make companies better if they can quickly learn from them.
Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times? Please share a story or an example for each.
I really like the Weave values as guiding principles because they represent values that don’t just get dropped on the floor the moment you leave the office.
Stay Hungry
When I did my first major company meeting as the new CEO of Weave earlier this year, we had a mantra — Game On! Whenever a new CEO comes into a company, there’s always nerves and uncertainty from the team members on what to expect. And, we had just come through a year of turbulence in the world at large — COVID had really put our small business customers through a lot and they fortunately leaned into Weave as a tool to help them tackle challenges like how to create curbside waiting rooms, confirm appointments and update customers on covid protocols all with a text. It’s easy to sit back and feel comfortable when you’ve had a year of innovation and hard work that resulted in great revenues and customer retention. But we have to keep pushing to serve more and more customers, to help them continue to modernize their business and add efficiencies. And that’s what “stay hungry” is all about — never settling for good. I like to say “the only easy day was yesterday” and our Stay Hungry value is all about that.
2. Care More
We’re human beings. When you’re a business leader, you are leading people. Our Care More value is about leading with your heart, assuming the best intent of one another. This is the secret sauce to what makes a great company a great team. Disagreements are always going to arise in the business, but going above and beyond to be caring in your interactions is so crucial. There’s a great story of this at Weave. One of our team members got an entire product prioritized, built and launched because they kept hearing from customers over and over again how being able to manage multiple offices on Weave’s platform wasn’t easy. WE hadn’t designed the product to suit multi-office locations yet, and some of our dental office customers were consolidating with other practices in recent years. This team member marched directly into our COO’s office and flagged the problem, and told him she’d like to help solve it. Was it her job to do this? No. Not at all. But she CARED. Caring about our customers and our team members actually solved a business problem.
3. Do The Right Thing
This might seem like an obvious one, but I take it very seriously. I’m not a leader or CEO who is going to suggest unethical behavior to solve a problem, and when we recently added this value to our core values at Weave, it wasn’t because we had a problem with people acting unethically. It was because we already had this culture in our company and wanted to double down on its importance as we grow. We don’t take shortcuts to success, we do the hard work and the right things because those are the things worth doing and the ones you’ll be proud to look back on. I want that for every employee — to feel the pride in themselves and their leaders when we do the right thing.
4. The Customer is Everything
Customer obsession is essential. There’s almost no other way to put it. Our customers tell us what they want and need all the time. Almost every week, I take the time to review emails that real customers sent to me as the CEO of Weave. It might be a frustration, it might be praise. But if they’re taking the time to email me, I’m taking the time to read it. Because feedback matters to our business and it matters to our customers’ businesses. We tell them all the time about the power of their customers’ reviews and feedback in delivering top-notch experiences in their business.
5. It’s a universal business lesson — a great idea can die on the vine if it’s not focused on solving a need or problem that others experience.
And the business is the experts on the solution, while the customers are your best experts on the problem. It’s a winning combo when those two expertise come together.
How can our readers further follow your work?
Check out Getweave.com and learn a bit more about our business. You can learn more about our customers and some of the challenges facing small healthcare businesses due to COVID and shifting patient expectations by checking out our 2021 Healthcare Business Insights Report.
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
The Future Is Now: Andre Hudson of INDI EV On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Don’t take criticism too personally. As designers, everything is personal which means we are naturally defensive. Everyone has different perspectives and thus different input. Embrace that input and put it to use to make your work better.
As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Andre Hudson, Head of Design at INDI EV.
Andre Hudson is Head of Design at INDI EV, a company that specializes in the design of the next generation of electric vehicles. Having designed cars for Chrysler, Chevy, Cadillac, Saturn, Hyundai and more, Andre is one of the most revered Black car designers in the automotive design game. In his current role at INDI EV, Andre was instrumental in launching INDI ONE, the world’s first electric vehicle with an onboard supercomputer.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I grew up in the Mile High City of Denver, Colorado, and always had an eye to sky, wanting desperately to fly for the Air Force. When my eyesight began to falter in high school, I saw an article in an automotive magazine highlighting the design team of the Dodge Viper concept. I took a chance and sent a letter to Chrysler Design and received a response a few months later, which changed the course of my life forever. I went to Detroit, where I studied at Detroit’s College for Creative Studies. Shortly after, I was hired by General Motors, where I worked on production and advanced concepts for Chevy, Cadillac and Saturn. I was so very blessed to be a part of some iconic vehicles for General Motors, including the Cadillac Cien, Cadillac Sixteen, Chevy SSR and eventually Saturn Sky Roadster. After my role with General Motors, I moved to Los Angeles to work for Hyundai Motors, where I lead the design of key products, including the 2011 “Fluidic Sculpture” Sonata and Elantra and the 2017 Genesis G90 luxury sedan.
After working with some pretty big names in the automotive industry, I decided to take a chance and joined INDI EV, an electric vehicle startup, in 2019. The role captured my interest in more ways than one. For instance, there’s a disconnect in the software experience when consumers transition from using their computers or phones to getting into their cars. INDI EV saw an opportunity to bridge this gap and create a car that’s more than just a mode of transportation — but as a device that can support and enhance your life.
Fast forward two years later and we just recently launched the INDI ONE, the world’s first electric car with the sector’s first onboard supercomputer. Built with a Vehicle Integrated Computer (VIC), the INDI ONE allows drivers to create content and engage with audiences, assists with everyday life tasks, and offers an unprecedented range of customizable hardware and software features. I’m incredibly proud of what my team has accomplished as we’ve truly pushed the limits of what a car can do.
I have always loved machines and I inherited an artistic/creative gene from my father. When I found out that you could fuse these two passions together and build a career path, I was determined to succeed. I was fortunate to have two parents that have always been encouraging, so when I told them I wanted to head off to art & design school they said “Andre, go get’em.”
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I have so many amazing stories from my career. From working on pieces for show cars on Christmas eve in England and flying them personally to Detroit to make it in time for the auto show, to designing theme proposals that I truly believed were right to shape the company. Take the design for the Sonata, for example. It started out as a ‘B-side’ model as we say in design, something you just try on the other half of an already existing model. That effort was compelling enough for Hyundai leadership to pick it out of the three finalist themes and it went on to truly shape the course of the company in the public eye for nearly the next decade. And of course, this latest endeavor of being able to build a new kind of product and brand from the ground up like we are doing at INDI EV.
Can you tell us about the cutting edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?
At INDI EV, I realized that the future of electric vehicle architecture is actually more compelling if you focus on what this architecture can do for you as a digital tool, not one that moves you from 0–60 in break-neck speeds. If you take advantage of having an electric, self-contained mobile device with the latest digital hardware, computing capability, 5G connectivity and communication hardware integrated, you’ve created a powerful tool that people can use to create, communicate, connect and even educate. Also, giving developers this package as an open toolbox means the potential possibilities are endless.
How do you think this might change the world?
Most simply, the average consumer sees their vehicle as a mode of transportation that gets them from point A to B, but that is because that’s all it’s ever been. The future of vehicles can potentially be so much more, allowing you to engage with people socially, explore the world around you and create content and applications that can be used in limitless situations, from personal family time to social services.
Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
I loved that series! Like any set of tools, I imagine there will be someone from the onset that is trying to figure out how to use it maliciously. Staying on top of these potential mis-uses and coming up with ways to counter those uses will be a task for not only the developers and manufacturers, but for the users themselves as well.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?
The INDI EV team and myself saw an opportunity that other automotive cars haven’t — that thoughtful design and technology can expand the horizons of how a vehicle can support and enhance your life. We want to empower drivers with the ‘you do you’ mentality, and that’s at the core of everything we do at INDI EV. I’m so honored to have the opportunity to bring this ambitious concept to life and make it real. Filling in the pieces of this innovative concept has been incredibly rewarding.
What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?
I think as we launch our first vehicle, the INDI ONE, and continue to share with people what it means to have a computer integrated within a vehicle to serve multiple tasks, and them give them the digital tools to build on the foundation, this idea will run like a wildfire. As I said before, one of the most exciting things about this project is hearing what other people do with it that we have not even thought of!
What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?
We are just launching as your readers digest this. We have taken a less direct and traditional automotive approach to how we are introducing this first product offering, not so much auto show “ta-da!” and cover pulled but more of, “hey, did you hear about what these guys are doing?”
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 have had mentors and Heads of Design that believed in me along the way and gave me a shot. My parents and particularly my grandfather was always my biggest fan. He encouraged me through college and would always help out financially along the way. Of course, he was the first to brag about his grandson’s latest projects to his bicycling crew. And through the last nearly 25 years of my career my beautiful wife, Jaymini, has always held down the fort on the home front and supported me through all the business trips away and late nights at the studio.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
Let’s face it, a lot of people get really excited about their cars. I do get joy knowing that my emotion and passion gave people this object of joy that does become a member of the family. Also, I have had the opportunity to spend time in elementary, middle and high schools sharing with our younger generations that you can make a great life for yourself being creative. This is not encouraged in our world today, particularly here in the US. Kids need to know that many of the things that shape their life are here because a creative person envisioned and brought to fruition that product, whether it be your smart phone, shoes you are wearing or car you are driving, they started in someone’s imagination.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why.
Don’t take criticism too personally. As designers, everything is personal which means we are naturally defensive. Everyone has different perspectives and thus different input. Embrace that input and put it to use to make your work better.
There’s going to be a lot of times your work doesn’t advance as far forward as you’d want. Cherish the times it does.
No matter how passionate you are about what you are doing, you are not always right. My wife would say I still haven’t learned this one.
If want to own the Lamborghini, don’t be the designer, be the owner of the company ☺
Remember through the stress and challenges of timing and cost constraints that you are still being paid to be creative. How awesome is that!
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. 🙂
Just let people know you see them. Look a stranger in the eye and ask how they are doing. I’m serious, most don’t believe you asked. In today’s world everyone’s head is down in their dang screens. Look up, smile and listen sometimes, your world is actually right in front of you.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Treat everyone like you want to be treated. I learned from my grandfather that I mentioned before to treat everyone with the same courtesy and respect. He was a successful businessman that built and owned various real estate holdings, and he would talk to the person cleaning the pool in one of the hotels they same way he would speak to his executives. People always respected him for that and worked hard for him, and I try to do the same in my own life.
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 🙂
We at INDI EV believe we are creating the next generation of electric vehicles. We want to create a future where the automobile is no longer defined by the metrics of horsepower and acceleration, but by the software technology and artificial technology at its core. There will be a limitless amount of possibilities that people can and will do with this mobile tech toolbox.
Gary Tubridy of Alexander Group: Five Things You Need to Be a Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Communicate early: Let the team know you understand the situation. Tell them what you are doing, and work on demonstrating that the management team is all in.
Gary Tubridy is a senior vice president of the Alexander Group and the general manager in charge of the firm’s management consulting business. He also leads the Alexander Group executive events series and hosts the Women Revenue Leaders, Operations and Executive Forums. Gary is a frequent speaker and author on the best practices of leading revenue organizations. He is one of three founding stockholders of the Alexander Group.
Gary holds a B.A. from Brown University and an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. 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 career began at IBM, where I learned about the role of selling and the importance of the sales function. After about five years, I left IBM to go to business school, which led me to consulting with a firm that focused on Human Resources issues and had a small practice in Sales Effectiveness. At that time, Sales Effectiveness translated primarily into Sales Compensation work; the thinking was that if you build the right pay plan you can motivate all the right behaviors and results. The concept of Sales Effectiveness is what led me to founding the Alexander Group. I founded the Firm with two other partners on the premise that Sales Effectiveness was a great deal more complex than simply building the right compensation plan — you had to consider sales strategy, sales channels, organization structures and management programs (including compensation). We felt that, in all this complexity, clients could gain a lot of top line growth with the right kind of help from a consulting partner. Turns out we were right.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?
As a new consultant, I felt it was my job to give clients precise, technically correct answers to any issue we addressed. In other words, I thought my job was to give them answers. One client during that time opened my eyes when she told me after a final presentation, “Gary, these are great ideas, but we can’t possibly implement them. We don’t have the talent or the systems.” Bingo! I had defined my job as giving them technical answers when what they needed were practical solutions…and some help in getting those solutions implemented. Takeaway: never let perfection get in the way of progress. The job is to help clients make progress toward their 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?
One of the founding partners of Alexander Group was such a person. His name was Reed Roberts; he passed away a few years ago. If there was one lesson he taught me, it was that you can solve any issue for a client if you first figure out the right questions to ask. The right questions lead you to the right people, the right insights, the right data, the right analogs. Before we even visited a client, we would spend a couple days just articulating the right questions.
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?
Our motto was simple, “nothing happens until the sale is made.” We espoused the notion that if you were not innovating new products or selling value to customers, you were overhead. We felt it was our mission to both help clients achieve their revenue growth goals and, at the same time, elevate the importance of the sales function within our client organization.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?
I have been in the leadership of Alexander Group at some precarious moments in our history. In 2001 when the .com bubble burst, in 2008 when the financial system melted down and we experienced the great recession, and in 2020 when we entered the COVID-19 pandemic. In each case there were three principles we followed. One, recognize the gravity of the situation early ‒ take action fast. Two, preserve your team. Cut pay if you absolutely must but do NOT cut jobs, the business is the team, and it must be preserved. Three, shift your service emphasis rapidly to recognize what clients are going through and try to help them. Deploy your team, which you have kept together, to help clients through difficult times and you will have a client for life.
Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?
No, we never came close to giving up. You simply have too many valued team members who have given Alexander Group so much that you can’t walk away. The team depends on the firm and there will never be a time where you can let them down.
What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?
You have to provide calm and steady guidance through the turbulence. No hysterics allowed. Always be sure to listen to your people and clients along the way and be prepared to adjust your course as appropriate. The key is to be prepared to act, being calm does not mean being frozen.
When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?
Uncertain times are when clients need our help the most. That message is important to both our clients and our consulting team. We help clients manage the top line of their business in both boom-and-bust cycles. I try to make sure our organization, as a whole, is confident in the value it brings to market anytime and anywhere.
What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?
Tell the team right away, there’s no good in waiting. It’s also crucial to make it clear with no sugar coating. Once the news is announced, offer guidance, although the news may not be great there’s a way to manage through it.
How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?
I like the 80% rule, get about 80% of the data and insight that is available and be prepared to act on it. The wait for perfect data is not worth it — it never comes. Also, keep the data coming in. The shelf life for solutions is much shorter these days and is measured in months not years. After you have implemented your business plan, listen and be prepared to adjust.
Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?’
As long as you take care of your team, they will in turn take care of your customers. This key principle ensures both loyal employees and loyal customers.
Can you share three or four of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?
Denial: Some companies wait too long to recognize difficult times. The earlier you can act the less dramatic your actions need be.
Over-reaction: After waiting too long, companies can sometimes take too drastic of actions and cut both fat and muscle out of their marketing/sales/service team. Preserve as much muscle as possible to rebound rapidly when the time comes.
Peanut butter coverage: After cutting back on coverage resources, remaining assets are “spread evenly” across all customers. Instead, segmentation is critical here. For some accounts, especially enterprise accounts, the same or even enhanced coverage is warranted. For others, perhaps at the transactional end, more efficient coverage techniques can be used, such as inside or hands-free channels. At times like this it is best to be innovative.
Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?
Difficult times call for innovative solutions. When the pandemic hit, clients needed to pivot to virtual coverage techniques overnight. New tools were needed, new techniques were applied and new skills were learned. With the new process, new team motions were conceived and executed. In change like this the need for consulting help is huge. We had to make sure that we commercialized and promoted the capabilities that our clients needed most. You have to understand what customers need in a difficult economy and shift your investment and promotion plan to the services that meet this need.
Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times? Please share a story or an example for each.
Scan the market: Work to understand what is happening and assess the extent of the impact on your business.
Plan: While running the scenarios and pressure test for weakness, it’s also important to engage the leadership team and lock arms around the scenario that works best.
Communicate early: Let the team know you understand the situation. Tell them what you are doing, and work on demonstrating that the management team is all in.
Listen: Get insights from the ground up and from clients — make sure to do this often and to let everyone know that you care about what they think as well.
Be flexible: Make adjustments where needed — let people know you really are listening and that their ideas matter.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote?” Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Have strong opinions, loosely held.” Strong opinions derive from experience and research. In areas that matter a leader does indeed need to have a strong opinion. That said, when situations change or a better idea comes along, don’t be afraid to update or even change your “strong opinion,” to not do so simply means you are stubborn.
How can our readers further follow your work?
A great place to start is our website (https://www.alexandergroup.com/) where they’ll find a library of articles, whitepapers and videos on revenue growth focused topics. I’d also encourage them to become part of Alexander Group’s revenue leadership community where they can participate in our ongoing research efforts and marquee events like the Women Revenue Leaders, Operations and Executive Forums.
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
Meet The Disruptors: Stephen Houck of SLRRRP Shots On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Don’t be afraid to change your mind. Working on Slrrrp is a balance between art and information. We can have what we believe is a good Idea and review the data afterward seeing less than favorable results. It’s okay to move on if something isn’t working.
As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Stephen Houck, CEO of SLRRRP Shots.
Stephen Houck, co-founder and CEO of SLRRRP Shots, is an entrepreneur and seasoned veteran of the alcohol industry. Throughout his nearly 20 years in the industry prior to starting Slrrrp Shots, he was a leader with Coors Distributing, Oskar Blues, and Stone Brewery. He led international expansion for Oskar Blues and spearheaded Stone Brewery’s international presence.
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 done just about everything in the beverage industry: fulfillment/data entry, truck loading, merchandising, sales management, regional and international business development at both the distributor and supplier level. I was a sponge, a beer geek, and loved learning about brewing processes. This ‘Fan Boy’ was in heaven hanging out with brewers.
When the co-founder of Slrrrp Shots, Ed Farley, reached out via Linkedin, of all things, and told me he had something he’d like to share with me. It was very unusual but made a ton of sense and sounded like an incredible amount of fun. I let him know it would take a lot of work and discipline but it sounded like something achievable. When we started Slrrrp Shots, I’d already spent 18 years learning the ins and outs of the beer industry which was critical to honing in our process and developing a Jello shot we would actually enjoy as consumers.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
For me, Slrrrp was finding an amazing thing: Jello Shots. Everyone knows about them, and there is no set standard for making them. We spent over 18 months fine-tuning the formula to create the perfect balance between texture and flavor before introducing them to the world. We decided to move forward with a proprietary plant-based blend for our gelatin which fits the texture profile we were trying to achieve. The fact that this makes our product vegetarian-friendly is an added bonus. If you’re bored, You should Google how traditional gelatin is made — we’re happy we could find a great alternative to that process.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
There are lots of funny mistakes you make as a Jello shot company. In the beginning, we had some issues where the shot tops would stick a bit too much. This caused the user to squeeze the shot for more leverage while trying to open them — creating a pressurized situation when the top actually came free (insert head slap right here). Needless to say, I’ve shot myself in the face with SLRRRP Shots more than once. We’ve improved that aspect of the user experience significantly since launching the product.
Lesson — continually look for improvements in all aspects of your product and packaging, doing your best to “fail forward”.
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?
In the 80s and 90s, I watched my mom tirelessly climb the ladder at Coors Brewery. As a kid she was my idol. I did a research report on brewing in the 3rd grade, spent my youth at the Coors Softball fields, and over weekends would play hide and seek in the engineering department as my mom tried to progress her career.
I was close with my mom, I saw her struggles growing up and how she fought to be the provider for the family and try to do her best for her children. It’s really had an effect on me and the philosophy of our company — I believe in taking care of the people on our team and celebrating them with work from home and a great environment where we have no expectation of people working weekends or having to choose between career and family. Slrrrp’s ‘Celebrate Everything’ philosophy extends to how we treat our employees. We encourage our team to take the time they need to stay healthy, both physically and mentally, investing time in family and experiences outside of work.
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?
Wow, this is like a 5-part question. Disruption, in the alcohol industry, is often a good thing. There are a lot of really cool things that we have put together and miles of runway in this brand-new category. We have really fun smart people who are hitting their stride and constantly thinking about how we can improve our approach as we essentially lead the development of the Ready-To-Drink Shots category. Conversely, I think how you treat people matters. Being disruptive with a new/fun product or package and how you go to market with it takes TLC.
There are a lot of brands that get really excited about things like celebrity endorsements. They see a ton of initial success but don’t think past ‘this will be really cool’. The question you need to ask yourself after something like that is ‘what’s next?’ — if you are not brand-focused and continually working on improvement from within — that big win you had will fade quickly. It’s about taking time and scaling all aspects of your business to keep up with the disruption you are causing.
Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
It’s all coming full circle!
If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. Even if the answer is no, there is tremendous value in understanding why. Example: Slrrrp is in concert venues and stadiums. We ask for those placements and we hear “no” more than “yes”, but now we are in 20+ large venues which are driving a great deal of volume.
You can’t always control what happens but how you react is up to you. Example: There are always setbacks in business, projects take longer than expected or something doesn’t go right the first or second time. Working on large projects, it’s really important to understand that you can set the tone for the whole project. Bad news is inevitable.
Don’t be afraid to change your mind. Working on Slrrrp is a balance between art and information. We can have what we believe is a good Idea and review the data afterward seeing less than favorable results. It’s okay to move on if something isn’t working.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
We have lots of great ideas! We recently launched Cinnamon Whiskey Slrrrp Shots. To my knowledge that’s never been done before. We also have our seasonal football packs leveraging shot color combos to drive regional excitement (I’m a big football fan so I really love these packs, especially the orange and blue pack one, since I’m from Denver).
Lots of new flavors and styles are coming out that we will work with our distributor partners to finalize before we share them.
We also have been making big moves as a business and how we go to market. We will have a big announcement coming soon…
Last but not least, our company is actually SLRRRP Alcohol-Infused Innovations. That leaves us a great deal of room to explore different categories within the industry.
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?
Oh, My God! Anything by Malcolm Gladwell! No Joke, in 2007 (or so), I had the privilege of hosting Oskar Blues Brewery Founder Dale Katechis in a suite at a Rockies game. I had just finished my master’s degree and had read The Tipping Point, Blink, and I think Outliers had just come out. Anyway, I start talking with Dale and he had just read the same books. We talked about a lot of the amazing inferences Gladwell would tie together. Later when I started working at Oskar Blues with Dale, in the middle of a meeting after he was done speaking, I would look at him and just say “Gladwell”. He would just smile and laugh at me.
To this day I still use Dale as a sounding board, and Malcolm Gladwell still comes up from time to time in our conversations.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
This one is deep for me — I am a Columbine High school survivor and my journey has led me to this, “don’t take life too seriously, you’ll never get out alive.”
To me this is about making the best of every day.
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 Future Is Now: Justin Zealand Of Uproad On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Don’t expect everyone to agree your idea is great. We are a small, agile part of a larger company. There were voices from within the organization that expressed why we might fail. It is healthy to consider these concerns and just as healthy to use these challenges as motivation to overcome them. It’s best to respond with results.
As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Justin Zealand.
Justin Zealand is the head of technology at Uproad, a tech company focused on transportation solutions. He has more than two decades of experience in programming and architecture, spanning a variety of native mobile apps, Web products, and Internet/SOA services. Justin has served in project management in various industries, including transportation, retail, e-commerce and lifestyle apps at companies ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies. At Uproad, he manages engineering teams in the development and operations of the company’s native iOS, Android, CRM and native AWS cloud-based API platforms.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I am one of those curious programmer types who came to engineering through a classical education in Music. Who could pass up the opportunity to attend college with an out-of-state scholarship to play drums? However, with a master’s degree in hand, it made sense to pivot to a career path in my other passion, technology. It meant, however, an intensive catch-up of self-study and the hands-on opportunities that thankfully the dotcom revolution provided. I also had many mentors to map my way, which proved invaluable. Likewise, it was vital to be in an environment conducive to such hands-on experiences and mentorship that Silicon Valley provided.
Another curious element in my development was related to my parents, who ran a psychology practice. I credit them for instilling in me the benefits of emotional intelligence necessary in effective people management. These soft skills are often lacking in the more formal educational and vocational paths. This diverse background ultimately made the transition to management/leadership a natural evolution of my talents in programming. I was used to creative problem solving and the benefits of teamwork. I strongly believe that hard work pays off, that to be successful, you must be fueled by passion and value lifelong learning.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
Of the more interesting challenges I have faced in my career is the opportunity to manage overseas teams. While the march toward globalization has arguably changed the expectations of a career in technology management, it was a bit surreal to pack a bag for the climates of both Buenos Aires and Belarus on the same trip. I always loved travel but came to appreciate that business travel is a unique type of travel. It’s an opportunity to create many memories and indulge in the exciting stories of people, places and cuisine. Furthermore, international travel is great for innovative thinking as it provides the opportunity to step out of your comfort zone and gives time for contemplation. And an added bonus is that speaking regularly with people whose native language isn’t English helps me to refine my communication skills overall.
Can you tell us about the cutting edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?
As a mobile-first application for tolling management, Uproad is fundamentally ahead of its time, both with consumers and the tolling agencies we partner with. It is a significant piece of the digital disruption and transformation in our industry. Much education is needed on all fronts, thanks to this being a newer product offering in the tolling space.
We help people by meeting the expectations of a mobile world in experiences from toll account management to customer service. We also built a state-of-the-art back office to support our app development. It allows us to provide real-time notifications of toll activity nationwide. Taking a note from Apple, it’s good to control as much of the stack as possible if you need to innovate quickly.
How do you think this might change the world?
While Uproad is revolutionary to our industry, it is part of a larger evolutionary process of digital technology transforming the world. Uproad has moved quickly to be a market leader in our sector and to be out in front of these trends. The biggest challenge we face is the expectations and agility of the industry, which is as much mindset as it is execution.
Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
Hopefully, we are a long way away from a storyline for a Black Mirror episode, but one area to be sensitive to is location tracking. While it’s optional to give Uproad permission to location, we provide the best customer experience when users trust us with this sensitive information. We have worked hard to ensure that location information is kept on the device and only tracked when close to a toll gantry location, etc. Still, there is naturally a significant population of users for whom such requests are a quick “no’’ across the board. We have to win our users’ trust, and that is definitely in society’s best interest.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?
The biggest tipping point in Uproad’s technology platform was during the innovation of real-time tolling notifications. There were many reasons to suggest why this wouldn’t work initially. The tipping point came after many months of development, at a point in time where our results were less than satisfactory. I brought our engineering leads together in Vienna for a summit. I asked the team to identify why the technology we were building was not going to work. We filled up two sides of a whiteboard! After a lengthy break, I brought the team back to challenge each item. By allowing the engineers room to offload their concerns surrounding challenges, I refocused the team on solutions. After much-spirited debate, we crossed off most concerns. Of the remaining challenges, we identified mitigation strategies. The entire process reset the expectations of what success looked like and aligned both engineering and leadership around this vision. Just weeks later, we had a market-ready product.
What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?
Uproad brings value to both consumers and tolling agencies. Like anything new to the market, there is a substantial amount of education that must take place. We’ve worked hard for our product to “just work,” keeping it as simple as possible to use. It is important, however, to understand certain aspects due to the nature of tolling. For example, although we can alert a user in real-time that they passed a toll, it can be confusing that payment might settle with the toll agencies a few days out. And for the agencies we want to partner with, we need to bring them up to speed on the cost savings our solution provides so they’ll give us the green light and prioritize our integration.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
Don’t expect everyone to agree your idea is great. We are a small, agile part of a larger company. There were voices from within the organization that expressed why we might fail. It is healthy to consider these concerns and just as healthy to use these challenges as motivation to overcome them. It’s best to respond with results.
The startups I have worked with that did not succeed did not fail because of technology. While engineering is vital to get right, so much of the success of a product comes from areas of execution outside of technology. Because a product needs to be built before being marketed, it’s natural to obsess on just the tech stack. But engineers should also consider market fit and product marketing strategies as input to how to build.
Don’t be afraid to change your mind when the data suggests you got it wrong. Innovation is a balance between vision and execution. The startup “pivot” is a typical experience, but pivoting is costly and complex, no matter when it happens. Seek to evolve your product rather than reinvent it.
Strive to be a servant leader. Company culture starts top-down but works best when focused on bottom-up. Treat your team with the same respect you expect from them.
Always commit to adding value. It’s easy to come unhinged from this mooring, especially after a product is launched and the team to operate and support it grows. When making decisions based on time, energy, and budget, it’s never a bad idea to consider the options through the basic lens of what adds the most value.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Going back away, the senior yearbook quote I chose was “Everything in moderation, including moderation” (attributed variously to Oscar Wilde, Horace Porter, and Petronius). Back then, it was probably a clever excuse to go to a party. However, it has stuck with me. These days, I pay more attention to the first part of the quote, as it speaks to a life in balance. Meanwhile, the second phrase speaks to the value of occasionally taking risks. Everything meaningful in my life had an element of risk to overcome.
Customer congruence — more diversity is linked to more satisfied customers and/or more loyal customer. Organizations that succeed in creating inclusive and diverse environments lead to a 31 percent uplift in employees’ responsiveness to customer needs. This responsiveness translates to more satisfied customers and more loyal customers, increasing the lifetime value.
As a part of our series about “How Diversity Can Increase a Company’s Bottom Line”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kay Formanek.
Kay Formanek is a global speaker on Diversity and Inclusion, visiting lecturer at leading business schools and founder of Diversity and Performance, committed to unleashing the power of Diversity Performance within profit and not-for-profit organizations around the world.
She has also worked for leading global professional services organizations for over 20 years as Partner and Managing Director, actively supporting their D&I strategy realization.
In Beyond D&I: Leading Diversity with Purpose and Inclusiveness (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), Formanek shares her proven approach to leading diversity strategically by drawing on extensive research and her advisory work with over 50 organizations.
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 passionate about diversity. In fact, diversity has shaped my life journey. Born to parents who had emigrated from Austria to South Africa, I grew up in South Africa in the late 1960s and 1970s at a pivotal time in the country’s struggle for equality and inclusion. Black South African schoolchildren who protested apartheid policies were met by violent government reprisals in the Sharpeville killings. Nelson Mandela, leader of the African National Congress (ANC) was sentenced to life in prison, and the ANC banned. The 1976 Soweto Riots followed and economic sanctions were applied. By the early 1990s, we finally began to see progress and, with Mandela’s release from prison, the first multi-racial elections were held. The formation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission supported the slow process of healing the scars of apartheid.
Growing up in a country with legalized discrimination shaped the person I would become and the career I would pursue. I researched and reflected on the complex, intertwined elements of diversity, inclusiveness and leadership within organizations and across society. My parents taught me to question bias and prejudice, and I also saw how society created a smaller world for my sister, who was a brilliant lawyer and poet but had a physical disability. Then, as a student at a multiracial girls’ boarding school in Johannesburg, a close-knit group of diverse students was my family, in stark contrast to a society characterized by stereotypes and enforced racial segregation. I learned to move beyond the differences in color, background or culture to find those strands of humanity that connect us.
At the start of my career, as a consultant in a professional services organization, I was part of a transformation in which a homogenous (mostly male and white) organization had to change with the wider societal shifts occurring in the post-apartheid era in South Africa. I realized that stakeholder voices are increasingly demanding organizations to embrace diversity and provide an inclusive environment and courageous leadership.
When I moved to the Netherlands some twenty years ago, I experienced for the first time what it feels like to be a stranger in a foreign culture and I felt an intense yearning to belong. As an outsider, I confronted this feeling on multiple levels — as a new resident speaking a different language, as a female senior executive in a mainly male-dominated work environment, and as a full-time working mother in a society where the caretaker role of women is deeply ingrained. I realized that belonging is a powerful survival need and that feeling excluded hurts to the core. I also learned how one’s own authenticity can be compromised when trying too hard to belong.
Transformation was also central to my day-to-day work. As Partner and sponsor for many D&I initiatives at one of the largest management consulting organizations in the world, I oversaw the transformation of many life science firms on their journey to become patient-centric enterprises. It became crystal clear that to transform an organization, you must transform the culture, and to transform a culture, you must transform the person — and that without leadership, all transformation is difficult to achieve.
Eventually, diversity became the anchor point of my work, and I founded Diversity & Performance in 2014 to help organizations realize the benefits of diversity and create the conditions for inclusiveness through strategic leadership that would deliver performance outcomes. This approach recognizes the unique context and diversity maturity of each organization, validated through research and real-life application in organizations. By collaborating with business schools, leaders of organizations and diversity practitioners, I developed a strategic approach to diversity performance leadership and a Diversity Leadership Certification that can be applied in any organization.
Not least, my lifelong work with diversity is also intended to serve as an inspiration for my three children and their generation of future leaders, who bear the huge task of advancing diversity, equity and sustainability in our world.
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?
While completing my MBA part-time in South Africa, one of our lecturers asked us to imagine a post-apartheid model for South Africa. At the time, the situation in South Africa seemed hopeless. Few people believed in a future South Africa that was united and peaceful. We were asked to consider other political models, searching for one that might suit the country’s uncertain future. I had a deep sense that the answer was not in an operating model but rather in courageous leadership, someone who could inspire a way forward. And indeed, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, Madiba, emerged as the unifying voice. That moment of truth is now part of who I am, shaping my conviction and my teaching that inclusive leaders are required for diversity to flourish — with the incredible role model of Mandela, as a truly inclusive leader.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you tell us a story about how that was relevant in your own life?
My favorite “Life Lesson Quote” is one I gleaned from Grace, an inclusive leader whom I met on my travels. Grace conducts her life with these words imprinted on her approach for life:
“Never stop seeing your brothers and your sisters in the streets. Never stop having the informal conversations, from your heart, to find out how someone is doing. You have been lucky to have opportunities; don’t forget those who feel they have no opportunities.”
Growing up in South Africa as a person of color, the daughter of a housekeeper and a gardener who worked for a stately home in an affluent part of Johannesburg, Grace was able to attend a private school. It was a great opportunity but her parents were anxious that Grace might forget her roots and her friends while in that privileged environment. The quote I share above was offered to Grace by her parents and she embraced the quote by her actions. During lunch breaks, Grace would take her lunch into the school gardens and chat with the gardeners, or to the staff in the canteen, inquiring about their family or a sick aunt. She spoke to the other students at school, who were seemingly confident and “had it all,” with compassion and curiosity and learned that “a person’s outside face masks much internal pain.”
These informal discussions influenced her post-academic life as she began to hold leadership roles in organizations, a recognition that all people have value, and that all people have something to say, want to be seen, and want to be heard. As she told me, “If you take the time for the unique individual, they grow like a flower in the sun. And this is good for the person and also good for the organization.”
Grace’s motto is one that I hold dear. It is easy to listen with one’s mind, and yet some of the most important truths in life occur when one listens with one’s heart: with empathy, compassion and interest.
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?
Many people have played an important role in my life, and yet I would like to acknowledge my only sibling, my late sister, Celine. My sister, a brilliant lawyer and poet, taught me that the way society sees you defines your access to opportunities. Her premature birth had led to a walking impairment and her ‘disability’ created a smaller world for her. She certainly did not want pity or special favors — all she wanted was a fair chance to exercise her talents. Her struggles to overcome the bias that so many persons with seen and unseen disabilities face inspired me to work towards advancing diversity, inclusion and equity in our world. My friends and family tease me about my energy and drive to empower people with knowledge. That drive is in part due to me wishing to live life, and contribute to life, for the both of us.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Diversity and Performance is dedicated to fostering diversity in profit and non-profit organizations, so as to liberate the benefits of diversity. Our organization has a clear credo: respect each human being; embrace versus tolerate diversity; create a sense of belonging and inclusion; acknowledge systemic bias and advance equity; walk-the-talk of inclusive leadership; and create an authentic and compelling narrative (purpose) for diversity.
Let me share a story: a leader of an organization approached me to support their diversity journey. They had started that journey 10 years earlier, but questioned whether their efforts were translating to results. They feared their environment was still biased and people were leaving, claiming they did not feel included or psychologically safe. We evaluated each element of Diversity Performance — Diversity, Inclusion, Equity, Leadership and Purpose — and realized that the diversity journey was being navigated top down. Diversity cannot be enforced. It needs to be stoked like a fire, allowing diversity to breath with the coals of engagement. We began a diversity reset, bringing meaning and purpose to their diversity journey. Now when one enters their organization’s headquarters, the celebration of diversity is vividly on display, from lobby walls adorned with full-color, framed pictures of people in all their diversity. The overall impression is one of abundance, summed up by a sign on the wall that reads, “We Serve: Our People. Our Stakeholders. Our Society.” Beyond the lobby, along a corridor, multi-colored papers taped to brown paper are linked by arrows. This is the Diversity Wall. Each colored paper reflects a different initiative that supports the shared diversity purpose. A traffic light legend indicates whether the diversity initiative is up and running and delivering results.
This captures what makes our organization, Diversity and Performance, different: we believe that diversity is a journey of many steps and the journey is more successful when there is clarity on the why, the what and the how, and by sustaining and celebrating the journey.
Are you working on any new or exciting projects now? How do you think that might help people?
I am collaborating with the national armed forces of a country in Europe seeking to advance diversity, inclusion and equity in their organization. Many readers will know that the armed forces in many nations have faced scrutiny for human rights transgressions in their foreign missions, including sexual intimidation, and lack of inclusion for women, people of color and the LGBTQ+ community. So when a national armed forces organization commits to advancing diversity, inclusion and equity, it matters. If successful, they can be highly influential in advancing diversity in other armed forces around the world. I feel incredibly privileged to work with inspiring leadership who are genuinely committed to embarking on a bold and courageous diversity journey. Of course, another exciting event is the forthcoming launch of the book that I wrote: Beyond D&I: Leading Diversity with Purpose and Inclusiveness (Palgrave & MacMillan, December 2021). Already I am celebrating the arrival of the book with a flurry of interviews, podcasts and speaking events. It is very exciting.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
Diversity is not an abstract concept in my life, it is my purpose, it is my ikigai (生き甲斐, ‘a reason for being’, a Japanese concept). Diversity is larger than my personal success and I see myself as a mere instrument to inspire leaders to be courageous diversity leaders. I do this as global speaker and author, researcher and leadership coach. All people deserve to have respect, dignity and safety and to apply their talents without facing discrimination and bias. I hope to be able to use my platform as writer and speaker to equip leaders and anyone else who is interested in advancing diversity and equity, with proven tools and frameworks.
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. (Please share a story or example for each.)
Today, the business case tends to be the dominant driving force for organizations to pursue diversity. It is often cited by leaders as the rationale for taking action. Certainly, it is a case that has merit: diversity has been shown to deliver clear performance benefits such as increased profitability, greater innovation, and better talent attraction and retention. Yet relying solely on the business case is insufficient to meet future challenges. Leaders are well advised to also pursue diversity for on the ethical case for diversity (“it is the right thing to do”) and the societal case for diversity (support social cohesion and equality and advance sustainability).
Significant research has shown correlational evidence for the link between greater diversity and bottom-line performance. This performance is linked to five levers: financial performance, customer congruence, innovation, employee engagement and better decision-making.
Financial performance — more diversity is linked to higher profitability and/or increased return on investment (ROI) and/or higher return on equity (ROE), and/or increased revenue growth. McKinsey has done significant research here and has shown that organizations with top quartile gender diversity on boards were 28 percent more likely to outperform on profitability. Also that organizations in the top quartile of diversity in terms of ethnicity and culture in senior executive roles were 33 percent more likely to have above-average profitability than companies in the fourth quartile of ethnic and cultural diversity.
Customer congruence — more diversity is linked to more satisfied customers and/or more loyal customer. Organizations that succeed in creating inclusive and diverse environments lead to a 31 percent uplift in employees’ responsiveness to customer needs. This responsiveness translates to more satisfied customers and more loyal customers, increasing the lifetime value.
Innovation — more diversity is linked to higher innovation and creativity, as evidenced by higher revenue percentage coming from new/innovative products and services. Organizations with above-average total diversity (measured by migration, industry, career path, gender, education, age), had 19 percent higher innovation revenues and 9 percent higher EBIT margins, on average. The conclusion was that a broad-based approach to diversity that values multiple aspects of diversity is most likely to benefit an organization’s innovation outcomes.
Employee engagement — more diversity is linked to happier employees, more engaged employees, more loyal employees, less sick employees and the improved ability to tap into scarce resources. Organizations that invest in initiatives that support the feeling of inclusion and lead to an inclusive climate have the benefit of higher employee satisfaction, more engagement and higher employee commitment. Employee experiences of inclusion contribute to engagement and retention; indeed, 35 percent of an employee’s emotional investment to their work and 20 percent of their desire to stay at their organization is linked to feelings of inclusion.
Decision-making — more diversity is linked to better decision making, such as risk management, lower occurrence of fraud, better functioning boards. There is an increasing focus on women on boards in response to quotas and also because gender-diverse boards are shown to have better decision-making. Research shows that gender-diverse corporate boards are associated with more effective risk management practices, increased engagement among board members, fewer controversial business practices and a higher propensity to invest in higher-quality audits. For example, adding women to a board can improve investment efficiency and prevent risky overinvestment decisions.
What advice would you give to other business leaders to help their employees to thrive?
Leaders, through their daily actions and words, have a significant impact on whether people feel included in an organization. Leaders need to embody and practice inclusiveness. They need to demonstrate a personal commitment to diversity and show that this is genuine. They need to walk the talk. This means creating opportunities for team members to feel connected and contributing and belonging to the team. Inclusive leadership is about each individual ‘leading themselves’ to be respectful team members — up and down the chain of command. Employees cannot bring their diverse perspectives to a work environment if they do not feel safe to share their perspectives and if they do not trust their leaders.
What advice would you give to other business leaders about how to manage a large team?
There is a risk that members of a large team feel isolated and not connected to their fellow team members. So, I’d advise a leader managing a larger team to ensure that people are connected to the purpose of the team and understand how they individually contribute to this purpose. Leaders underestimate the impact of doing the “small things”, for example holding a check-in at the start of a meeting; rotating the chair role of the meeting; inviting members of the team who are less confident to contribute in the meeting; being a good listener and being curious by obtaining feedback; and being courageous, yet humble, when regulating biases that may occur. All these small interventions create a sense of inclusion and confirm that the leader “walks the talk” of diversity.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this 🙂
I would like to have lunch with MacKenzie Scott. That’s not simply because of her generosity in donating more than $2.7 billion to 286 “high-impact organizations,” but also because the recipient organizations have been hand selected for the impact they have demonstrated. They are often overlooked organizations that advance diversity and inclusion in society on topics such as racial justice, higher education, combating domestic violence, and advancing talent. I believe that MacKenzie sets an important example for leaders and makes the case for re-deploying wealth to support the advancement of equity and diversity.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Make a list: The goal of this activity is to understand the pressures your organization is facing and to help prioritize action plans. Try to be as comprehensive as possible. Include worries, fears, and concerns — anything that can pull focus away from taking action for you and your team. Once the list is done, group like themes together to see the trends in the issues. Lastly, go through each theme and identify the degree of actionability as in — areas where taking action on your part can influence or potentially affect the outcome. Now you have a list of actionable areas you can work to prioritize action and level of effort against. You also have what I call an “empathy list” of all the issues people are worried about. The key as an effective communicator is to acknowledge the concerns but then return everyone’s focus to what is ultimately actionable, which are the aligned priority themes you’ve identified. This measure goes a long way to keeping your team moving in the right direction and helps you avoid valuable time loss debating issues that you can’t ultimately control.
Omar L. Harris. is a Former GM (GSK and Allergan), Intent Consulting Founder, Leadership Coach, Speaker, and Award-Winning Bestselling Author of 5 books, including “Be a J.E.D.I. Leader, Not a Boss: Leadership in the Era of Corporate Social Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion” (2021),“The Servant Leader’s Manifesto” (2020), and “Leader Board: The DNA of High Performance Teams” (2019). With 20+ years of global pharmaceutical executive experience building teams, Omar has worked on 4 continents (U.S., Middle East, Asia and Latin America) for Pfizer, Merck, Schering-Plough and more.
His books and work have been featured by CNN HLN Weekend Express, WPXI-TV NBC News Pittsburgh, Black News Channel, KPLC NBC/FOX/ABC News Lake Charles, Roland Martin Unfiltered (Book Club), The Beating Alpha Podcast, The Living Corporate Podcast, Real Leaders, SHRM Blog, Thrive Global, CEO World Magazine, Human Capital Innovations (HCI) Podcast, VoiceAmerica and many more. As fun facts, Omar speaks 5 languages, plays 7 instruments, and started his first company at the age of 7. https://www.omarlharris.com/
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. 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?
Hi! I’m originally from Pittsburgh, PA, but consider myself to be a global citizen. Growing up, I moved from Pittsburgh to Charleston, WV, and then to Lake Charles, LA, where I attended junior and high school. I was grateful to receive a full 5-year academic scholarship to Florida A&M University, where I majored in marketing and received my MBA. After doing an internship at Pfizer during my BA/MBA program, I started my pharmaceutical career with Pfizer at the age of 21 as a sales rep in Detroit, MI, and embarked on a journey that would take me to Sao Paulo Brazil, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Brazil again, Jersey City, Turkey, Indonesia, and back to Brazil before starting my own company as of July 2020. Along the way, I became the youngest director and senior director in my company’s history (even more remarkable doing this as one of the only African-Americans in marketing in the entire company), a 38-year-old General Manager in Indonesia (the only African American GM in the world at the time), and ultimately author of 5 books and becoming a global leadership thought leader.
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 almost had a full on panic attack the first time I had to present in the corporate boardroom to my company’s CEO and President along with my team. I only had 3 slides to present but as the moment I had to speak arrived, I was sure I was going to faint or die of a heart attack instead of speaking. I actually blacked out what I said, but apparently it went very well! Lesson learned — these executives are just people like you and me and don’t deserve you killing yourself to impress them!
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
I’m very grateful to 5 key managers who really invested in me and believed in me. I call them the raw materials molder, the strengths discoverer, the strengths developer, the diversity diviner, and the safety net. Let’s focus for now on the strengths developer, a man named Mike McCann who managed the most successful part of my career when I was just getting started. He was a breath of fresh air when he came in — a no BS, humble, very real guy. Not to mention the fact that he was hilarious and used his sense of wit and humor to relax everyone around him and get the best out of his team. When he found out my talents, rather than give me some typical marketing assignments, he basically molded the position around my abilities and then applied the right balance of pressure and release. I truly blossomed due to his coaching and approach to leadership. His door was always open and he was the first manager I’d ever had who would make the impossible possible for his people who in turn would run through walls for him. To this day, I try to embody the principles of realness he embodied and remember that a leader’s job is to serve their people first.
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?
The purpose of Intent Consulting is to empower people to live actualized lives by embracing servant leadership principles and eliminating toxic boss behaviors. The great thing about a start-up is you can define this WHY right from the beginning versus course correcting a million times.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?
There was a key moment where my leadership acumen was significantly challenged. I was with my leadership team at a conference in Chicago when an all out crisis erupted due to something presented on our products in front of 10,000 top customers. I realized that my team would emulate my emotions and so I projected positivity and told them to do the same while they checked in with their customers. I was able to step up to the pressure of the moment and hold the line and instill confidence in my people when our world appeared to be crumbling around us. From this experience, I learned that your people are always watching and taking cues from you as a leader. And in moments of crisis — the ability to project calm and focus others on what you can control is an invaluable skillset.
Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?
I never considered giving up.I’m built in such a way that I rise in moments of crisis — I actually thrive! What sustains our drive is the need to take care of people and make sure that they don’t give up and stay motivated.
What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?
We live in a VUCA world — VUCA meaning volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. During challenging times and good times, a leader must keep the focus on the overarching objectives while prioritizing the fires that need to be put out and more importantly, empowering others to step up and lead as well.
When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?
The future is always uncertain, but it is also somewhat predictable. I believe we manifest the future in the mindset, habits, and commitments of each day. By keeping people focused on what they control, which is the spirit of Can, Will, and Do — you keep an organization marching forward despite obstacles. “Can” is about the positive, proactive mindset. “Will” is about the discipline to stick to agreed upon norms despite external pressures. “Do” is about commitment and accountability. Successful leaders inspire, motivate, and engage by letting them know what is possible (Can), if they stick to the basics (Will), and gaining their strong commitment and accountability (Do).
What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?
The best way to communicate difficult news is honestly and transparently. Provide the context behind the decisions and describe what actions are being taken to improve the situation.
How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?
70% of all strategic plans fail according to some sources. Plans fail because of the people involved — they are either unprepared, apathetic, lack accountability, flexibility, leadership, analytical capability, and/or good judgement. Leaders can make plans by practicing the principles of “good” decision making and not being concerned with “right” decision making. Whether a decision is right or wrong will only be proven with time, so leaders should focus on making “good” vs. “bad” decisions.
A good decision is one that takes measure of all available information and basic facts, assumes and weighs relevant risks, considers contingencies, and drives toward a positive outcome. Examples of good decisions would be deciding to navigate toward your destination via a GPS app versus trying to find your destination without a map. Or deciding to take advantage of the calorie counter on the menu to select a meal option that fits within your dietary goals. Good decisions usually lead to good outcomes. Bad decisions are those that empirical evidence has shown have a very low likelihood of success. To make a bad decision usually involves ignoring one’s intuition or moral compass, not listening to advice, outright ignoring facts, and/or maintaining an unrealistic attitude regardless of what the evidence shows. The fallout from bad decision making is usually catastrophic and very difficult to recover from.
Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?
I like Jim Collins “20 Mile March” concept, which is all about maintaining discipline despite good or bad conditions or fortune. This means having clear milestones that need to be reached within reasonable timeframes, focusing the organization on hitting these milestones regardless of what is going on, and also not going beyond them just because you can. The discipline to operate within certain constraints is crucial. Objectives and Key Results or OKRs are how leaders operationalize their 20 mile marches.
Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?
They don’t take care of people first and foremost. We witnessed the companies that at the first sign of trouble during the pandemic resorted to mass lay-offs versus the companies that took care of their labor forces.
They lose sight of their north star. The best way to see if a company’s purpose is meaningful is to see how well they stick to it in good and bad times. So many companies ditch their WHY and go into survival mode and therefore disengage and demotivate people at the exact moment they need their highest level of capacity and productivity.
They don’t communicate effectively. It’s difficult to align people during good times — and so much more difficult when times are tough. The best companies are able to cut through the noise with their clarity and honesty about the current situation and what needs to happen to navigate through it.
They go into damage control mode. Some companies focus on the hard work of succeeding despite difficulty while many others focus on covering their back sides and blaming others instead of leading.
Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?
Imagine you have a corn farm and are having a particularly bad season both in terms of maintaining supply due to environmental factors and drops in customer demand. What to do? Well, bad times such as these were only a matter of time, so I would already have built in contingencies on the supply side in terms of partnerships and investments made in other corn fields. If demand fluctuates, which is also predictable (although undesirable), having deep customer understanding and relationships as a focus point prior to the crisis and working to support and serve them will enable innovations to manifest. Finally, strong financial discipline in good times allows you to successfully weather the bad times without too much fuss. Ensuring that you stick to key milestones in investment, spending, cost reduction, and efficiency as a matter of course is fundamental. So, my playbook is about anticipating what could go wrong and planning for the most likely scenarios, building and enhancing customer relationships and understanding of evolving needs, and maintaining financial discipline.
Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times? Please share a story or an example for each.
I have 3 for you.
Make a list: The goal of this activity is to understand the pressures your organization is facing and to help prioritize action plans. Try to be as comprehensive as possible. Include worries, fears, and concerns — anything that can pull focus away from taking action for you and your team. Once the list is done, group like themes together to see the trends in the issues. Lastly, go through each theme and identify the degree of actionability as in — areas where taking action on your part can influence or potentially affect the outcome. Now you have a list of actionable areas you can work to prioritize action and level of effort against. You also have what I call an “empathy list” of all the issues people are worried about. The key as an effective communicator is to acknowledge the concerns but then return everyone’s focus to what is ultimately actionable, which are the aligned priority themes you’ve identified. This measure goes a long way to keeping your team moving in the right direction and helps you avoid valuable time loss debating issues that you can’t ultimately control.
Stay Balanced: This is much harder than it seems. Even though you have now aligned a hit list of actions, the situation will remain volatile and unpredictable with each day bringing a new list of concerns and worries. In addition to constantly repeating the list activity, you also need to make sure that you as the leader stay on balance. Most of us have another gear we kick into when confronting a crisis. We forego sleep, food, exercise, and most healthy habits in order to dedicate every waking moment to trying to solve the myriad issues we are facing. One of the areas of control is what you put into your body, the amount of physical activity you are getting, and how much rest you are achieving. A crucial aspect of proactivity is also understanding and reinforcing the importance of providing your body, mind, and spirit, what is necessary to maintain clarity and calm no matter what you confront with each day of the crisis. Make sure you prioritize balance. Get a minimum of 6 hours of sleep each night. Eat at regular intervals and ensure you are getting the necessary nutrients in. Drink the right amount of water. Take a few minutes at the top of the day to move and get some exercise in to get the blood pumping and help reduce your anxiety levels.
Practice Intentional Positivity: It’s natural to drift toward pessimism during a crisis. Things don’t move fast enough. Everyone is wrapped up in their own adjustments to the volatility. Sense of urgency may not be fully aligned. And news gets worse with each passing day. A leader’s role is to accept and acknowledge the brutal facts of the situation, but then create the feelings of compassion, stability, trust, and hope that people need to positively move forward. We’ve already discussed the need for empathy and acknowledgement of how your people are managing their stress and worries — this compassionate approach humanizes your leadership approach and lets people know you understand their challenges and are meeting them where they are. Stability comes with routine — setting up regular touch points and providing regular communications throughout the crisis goes a long way toward keeping people focused. It is tempting as a leader to absorb a lion’s share of the decision-making responsibility during hard times. But it is exactly this type of attitude that burns you out and doesn’t empower others to fully perform their roles. Trusting the capability of your team during a crisis is an essential step that demonstrates your confidence in your people and divides the workload so each person can maintain their balance throughout the crisis. Hope then comes from proactively showing each silver lining that presents during the length of the situation. Using historical context is a great way to provide hope — demonstrating that this situation will in fact blow over eventually and things will return to some state of normalcy. The fact is that most crisis are never as bad as they seemed during the heat of the moment. Maintaining calm and perspective about the situation helps people manage their worst fears. By categorizing worries versus controllable areas, maintaining balance for yourself and your colleagues, and practicing intentional positivity throughout the crisis, you will find that your attitude towards the crisis is assuredly impacted, you have consistent stamina to keep moving forward, and your people remain optimistic and proactive despite the external noise.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“No excuse is acceptable, no amount of effort is adequate, until it is effective.”This is the quote all business students at The School of Business and Industry at Florida A&M University must internalize.Basically, I interpreted it to mean more action, less excuses and used it to formalize my Can, Will, Do philosophy of leadership. It’s particularly important now in this age of corporate social justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion which is a business reckoning of enormous proportions. The more leaders focused on effective effort versus window dressing, the more progress we can make and potential we can unlock!
How can our readers further follow your work?
To book Omar L. Harris as a speaker or contact him about leadership coaching and consulting services, visit https://www.omarlharris.com/. Follow his updates on LinkedIn @omarlharris, Twitter @strengthsleader and Instagram @omarl.harris.
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
Brand Makeovers: Cindy Knezevich Of Salesloft On The 5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Give yourself a year. You’re going to tell yourself, “It won’t take that long! I can pull this off in six months, tops.” I don’t care how quickly you work as an individual. This is impossible. There are so many moving parts involved in an overhaul of your brand that you’ll need the full year to make sure every tiny detail is in place across your whole organization before you launch your rebrand.
As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interviewCindy Knezevich.
Cindy Knezevich is the Vice President of Brand and Communications at Salesloft. She is a SaaS marketing rockstar, having led marketing for both Jacada and The Network prior to her role at Salesloft.
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’m a people person. I’ve always found communication to be kind of second nature for me. Early in my career I gravitated to marketing and comms quite naturally. About ten years or so into my marketing career, I had an interview with an industrial psychologist. He told me something that I found fascinating: I’m considered “split-brain dominant,” which is rare. My left brain and right brain scores were only two points apart, and the psychologist said “no wonder you are flourishing in technology marketing. The right side of your brain is satisfied by marketing and the left side by technology. This interaction helped underpin and inform my decision to stay on my path in marketing within the technology space.
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?
Oh, I have many! One of them is pretty simple. Very early in my career I was in a corporate communications role. During a presentation, I put a slide up and introduced a colleague named Brian, but his name was spelled “Brain” on the slides. That was an easy lesson to learn: proofread, proofread, proofread!
Later in my career I was leading Customer Marketing for a software company and sending out a March Madness promotion to our existing customers. My first big email of the promotion had the subject line “Are you ready for March Madness?” And…. it bombed. Very few opens, no responses. I redid it with the subject line “Extra licenses 30% off until March 31” and it was hugely successful. I learned it’s good to be clever and creative but at the end of the day, you need to be direct in your comms or they won’t land.
And while I wouldn’t call this one funny, I learned valuable lessons around branding from it. A few years after that March Madness promotion, I was leading marketing for another software company and launching a rebranding project. I didn’t do as much internal enablement or hype around the rebrand as I did with our external constituents, and that was a mistake. People liked the new look just fine, but they weren’t willing to go out and shout it from the mountain tops. I learned that your internal ambassadors should be the biggest champions of your brand, and you have to help them become as passionate about any marketing efforts as you are. Once you have them on board, your internal teams will help your customers, influencers, and prospects get excited about what you’re doing too.
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?
The tipping point for me was when I stopped believing in impostor syndrome.
I was the Director of Global Product Marketing and Communications at a software company for three years, and in that time span I got engaged, got married, and had a baby. I was always a confident person but so much change in a short time — and there were very frequent professional changes happening in that company — had me wondering. I don’t know how it happened, but once I did all of that my belief in impostor syndrome flew out the window. I know it exists for other people, but not for me anymore.
When I stopped putting energy into “can I do this?,” and instead started saying “yes I can and if I can’t at first, I’ll figure it out”, it changed the way I approach my career. I’m not going to focus on how certain areas are lacking; I’m going to focus on building those areas up. Sometimes you just have to be your own biggest cheerleader.
This is now the standard I hold myself to. I have empathy for folks who feel like they’re not up to the position they’re in, but it’s my job to help them do their best work or coach them into a place where they feel confident — whether I’m doing so as a peer, direct report, or manager. I still have bad days and projects that go awry, but I know I can handle problems like that now. Once you realize that you have the power to choose where to direct your energy and what to give credence to, impostor syndrome disappears.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
Right now I’m working on completely overhauling Salesloft’s online content strategy. I’m encouraging the team to start with a blank sheet of paper and think outside the box. How can we better meet the needs of people who come to our site looking for education and inspiration?
I want to really understand who our audience is and how we can best serve them. Let’s focus on who is coming to the site, what content would best meet their needs, and then on creating engaging and inspiring content.
This all boils down to making sure everyone who interacts with our brand has the best experience possible. Whether they’re visiting our website, running into us at a conference or attending one of our events, our customers and community should have a consistently amazing Salesloft experience.
What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?
The most important piece of advice I can offer is this: you must be protective of yourself and your time. This is something that I struggle with to this day. Sometimes it’s hard to protect your work/life balance, but if the pandemic has taught us anything it’s that you don’t get any time back. It’s important to do the work that you’re invigorated by and give it 110% while you’re doing it, but you can’t lose sight of what really matters: your family, your health, and your life outside of work.
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?
At their very base elements, here’s how I see the two: Brand marketing is who you are. Product marketing is what you do.
With brand marketing, the goal is to generate awareness and make sure everybody understands who your company is and what you stand for. Prospects and existing customers need to know what your promise is as a brand and how you show up to solve problems. We want them to think “I have a sales problem; I need to call Salesloft.”
The goal of product marketing is to ensure your audience understands what you do and how you can help them. We have to constantly ask questions like “How do we position ourselves? How do we package this solution in such a way that it meets the needs of different customer personas? How do we put together an enterprise packaging plan?”
Let’s use Nike as a brief example to illustrate this difference. Nike’s brand marketing centers around their slogan “Just Do It.” Nike’s brand marketing tells the world, “We’re here for athletes. We make the world more active.” Nike’s product marketing, on the other hand (or foot!), tells the world, “Here are all of the shoes we offer. Here’s why they’re better than Adidas.”
If marketing is a hub and spoke model, product marketing is the hub. Product marketers are constantly feeding market information back to their product team. If you notice your customers are struggling with something, as a product marketer you can relay that back to your product team, and they’ll work on prioritizing a solution. Product marketing is responsible for taking that info to the rest of the organization, too — comms, demand gen, promotions, community marketing, and so on. Strategy is embedded in everything product marketers do.
Combined, brand and product marketing are very powerful. They help you package and price your solution, generate awareness, and educate your market on why you’re the best to solve their problems. And, ultimately, drive more revenue.
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?
A former colleague of mine who worked in sales used to say “It’s one thing to generate business. It’s another thing to generate business when everyone knows who you are.” You’re going to have a much easier building and closing pipeline if your market is already familiar with and has affinity for your brand. My job is to make sure everyone knows who we are when we show up. People should know that you’re the best choice to solve their problems before you even knock on the door. That’s why branding is so crucial.
Spending time and effort into generating a brand also differentiates you from your competition; it’s not always enough to know who you are — people need to know why you’re different and why you’re better.
Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?
You may consider rebranding when your current brand doesn’t reflect who you are anymore. That was one of the driving factors in our own rebrand here at Salesloft. Right now, Salesloft is a rapidly scaling, hyper-growth company with unicorn status. We’re certainly not the same company we were 10 years ago, and we’re not even the same company we were before the pandemic. Salesloft is an enterprise SaaS company now serving some of the biggest and most well known brands in the world. We needed to evolve our brand so it reflects who we are now, not who we were when we started a decade ago.
If your brand identity has served you well for a long time, that doesn’t mean you have to stay with it until the very end. Your brand needs to evolve as your company evolves. You need to stand out and make sure you’re keeping up with ever-changing markets and customer expectations.
What’s more, you may want to consider rebranding to differentiate yourself from your competitors. Salesloft’s people, product and service have always stood out, but for a long time our brand blended in. On G2 grids for example, our logo was indistinguishable from all the other sans serif blue-purple sales tech logos. So, we took the leap and completely reinvented ourselves to guarantee the brand identity the world sees matches the way our customers and employees see us.
Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?
A brand makeover may not be a great idea if you already have a lot of positive equity. By rebranding you risk inadvertently destroying positive sentiment around your brand.
Remember New Coke? A lot of Coke drinkers in 1985 reacted poorly to it, including myself! “What are you thinking?” we asked. “Nothing was wrong with Old Coke!” This example is more about product than brand, but the message is the same: you shouldn’t do it just to do it. You should do it for strategic reasons or to solve big problems. What’s in it for people who already love your brand? Why would you risk all of that just for some new typography and colors?
You always, always, always need to weigh the risks before rebranding. We all have limited funds, time and attention. You need to be aware of the amount of energy you spend on anything. If you’ve got bigger fires to put out, don’t waste your time on a rebrand; if you’ve got a product that doesn’t work or your customers aren’t happy, rebranding isn’t going to fix anything.
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.
Stop using stock photography. Your audience needs to see themselves reflected in your brand. Nobody sees themselves in photos of ladies sitting at their desks and laughing at salads.
You can be bold with color, font or typography, but not all three. For a successful rebrand, you need to be willing to stand out. But you don’t want to give anybody a headache, so don’t go overboard.
Give yourself a year. You’re going to tell yourself, “It won’t take that long! I can pull this off in six months, tops.” I don’t care how quickly you work as an individual. This is impossible. There are so many moving parts involved in an overhaul of your brand that you’ll need the full year to make sure every tiny detail is in place across your whole organization before you launch your rebrand.
Think as hard about the rebrand process as you do about your actual, final brand. How are you going to excite, engage, and enroll your internal employees? How are you going to activate your influencers and customers? What happens when someone inevitably finds materials with your old branding? Are you going to rebrand your products at the same time? These are questions you need to ask and answer during that year-long rebrand process. You can’t just show up one day and say “Look, we have a green logo now!” A rebrand is so much more than that and committing to a brand makeover means committing all the way.
Finally, rebranding is about your whole company, not just marketing. When you’re developing your new brand, your marketing department can’t do it by themselves. You need buy-in from your sales teams, product team, people ops, etc. When we were developing our new brand at Salesloft, we worked with an agency and a cross functional team of Lofters. You need reactions from people with eyes and ears and experiences outside of marketing. This will help inform your rebrand process and ensure your entire organization is engaged and involved in your new brand identity.
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 want to inspire a movement that eliminates impostor syndrome for good. There has to be a way to convince everyone who tells themselves they’re not good enough to stop believing that nonsense. I want to encourage people to trust that they’re awesome the way they are — you may have flaws, but who doesn’t? If you want to do better work, stop wasting your energy questioning yourself and channel that into generating results.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
There’s a Babe Ruth quote hanging on my son’s wall that I always come back to: “Don’t let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.” For me, this message aligns with how I feel about impostor syndrome. If you let fear stop you from doing what you know you can do, you’ll never get anything done. Sure, you may strike out a few times, but at least you played. And that’s how we learn to win!
Jay Kulkarni Of Theorem: Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Empathy: Much clichéd and a difficult emotion to recognize and build into the leadership repertoire, primarily because empathy is learned through one’s own life experiences. The richer one’s experiences, the more empathetic a leader’s emotional palette is. Just as consummate actors recognize and file away emotions from real life, only to muster up them at will on screen, leaders should be able to take their own life events and map them to the teams they lead.
Jay Kulkarni founded Theorem, Inc., in 2002. Over the last 12 years, Kulkarni has been the driving force behind the company’s extraordinary expansion. Prior to founding Theorem, Jay was one of the earliest employees at DoubleClick, where he headed up product management for advertiser solutions and email platforms. As a veteran in the online advertising space, Jay is published by several leading trade publications and is a participant in the digital marketing conference circuit.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. 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?
Thank you! I’m happy to share more about my background and Theorem. I founded Theorem in 2002 and since then, we’re accelerating and moving forward to expand into the marketing services industries. Our solutions evolved to be end-to-end flexible marketing and service-oriented to meet the demands of the ever-evolving market. As a company, we strive to continually optimize today, build for tomorrow and pioneer the future of flexible marketing services. These two ideologies of optimizing today and building for tomorrow are the underpinning of our company’s culture and business growth. The Theorem team continues to push the boundaries of marketing services capabilities and provide superior work for our clients.
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 started the company in my spare bedroom when my daughter was 3 months old. Right on cue, during any client or sales call, she would start to cry loudly. This was before WFH was in Vogue, so most sales prospects would question if the startup I was leading had proper infrastructure — meaning, would a crying baby be in the background of every call and could I confidently help run their businesses? After a few months, I moved out to flex office space so I could focus and also make the right impression on first-time clients. Learnings were; sometimes perception is reality, and managing initial perceptions as you launch a start-up business is critically important. Business leaders should never lie or be misleading when it comes to personal capabilities, but it’s critical to manage the market’s perception of your company. You want to ensure potential clients fully understand your business and your solutions offerings so there is no room for assumptions based on misconceptions.
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?
Of course, my family’s support was critical to my success. Even when my family wasn’t too sure of my plans to generate revenue, they always supported me. I’m also grateful to my former DoubleClick colleagues for helping pave the way on my initial projects and queueing my initial breaks into the marketing services industry. Each one of these instances lent a hand to help me build a track record, which permitted me the ability to pitch to new brands and build the Theorem you see today.
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?
Theorem’s vision is purpose-driven and focused on our mission of “optimizing today, building for tomorrow,” for both our clients and team members. Our client-first business model is deeply rooted in our company culture and ethos, which are both driven by our mission. We strive to optimize today and build for tomorrow by operating as a true extension to our client’s in-house teams, through understanding and supporting overall business goals and marketing strategies. We’re aware that achieving results in the current market environment is increasingly challenging. Our team at Theorem is dedicated to supporting a thriving media marketing industry — an industry that is vital to ensuring the free flow of information — which in turn helps brands thrive in an ecosystem dominated by large tech behemoths, and creates a work culture where individuals thrive. Our mission is deeply ingrained in our solutions and methodologies, by creating a purpose-driven business model that benefits both internal teams and clients, in terms of results and growth.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?
A year before the pandemic, Theorem went through cost restructuring. For the first time, we had to conduct layoffs to right-size the business. Cutting down my team was very difficult, but ironically allowed the company to be better prepared for what was to come when the pandemic struck. We, as an organization, moved quickly as the pandemic lockdowns began and created a full scope strategy to manage teams across 4 different countries, and implemented a business continuity plan. As a result, Theorem experienced minimal downsizing, maintained operations without any real impact on operations and delivery, and created an emphatic work-from-home policy that continues to this day. We heavily focused on supporting the teams by contributing to organizations leading the way in inclusiveness and equality in workplaces.
Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?
I would never consider giving up because giving up means not only giving up on myself but giving up on my team, and that’s just not who I am as a person or a leader. My team’s hard work, determination, and agility motivates me every single day. Here at Theorem, we challenge traditional working models by creating a flexible and full-service approach to digital marketing services for our clients. Our motivation comes directly from the results that we consistently bring in and our mission to optimize today and build for tomorrow.
Theorem is an innovator in the industry, pioneering flexible, full service digital marketing solutions to meet the end-to-end current and future marketing needs of our clients. We leverage a blending of new ideas and new ways of applying technologies with the power of our people to fuel the digital marketing and advertising initiatives of our clients. My motivation stems from our core mission and our ability to execute great work for our clients. Theorem’s mission sustains my drive to push forward and find new, innovative ways to showcase my teams, partnerships and clients, while also giving back to our communities. Because of our mission to optimize today and build tomorrow, not just for clients but for our employees, Theorem has been a launch pad for many of our team members to start and grow their careers. Even after leaving Theorem, the majority of former team members give their early years at Theorem credit for where they are in their lives and careers. As a leader, I can’t tell you how gratifying and humbling that recognition is for me.
What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?
A leader holds many roles, during high and especially during low or challenging times. The three most critical aspects of a leader’s role are staying transparent, ensuring compliance and remaining agile. Leaders must stay transparent to their clients, audiences and their employees on how decisions are made. Ensuring compliance as a leader means that all strategies implemented are fully compliant with new and evolving regulations both internally and externally. The last critical role of a leader is to remain agile in all situations. The pandemic seismically upended everyone’s world in all aspects. Now is the time for leaders to stay agile, create clear and consistent paths of communication with our employees and our clients, and continue to lead teams into a better, more optimized tomorrow.
When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?
I fully believe that the best way to boost morale when times are uncertain is to listen and communicate. A leader can only inspire, motivate and engage their team when their team feels respected and appreciated as an essential part of the company. According to Forbes, one of the key elements of a strong company culture is communication. Email, video and other company communication portals are integral mechanisms in facilitating connectivity. Although desk-less workers make up over 80% of the total workforce, they typically don’t have access to these tools, which often creates a disconnect in a hybrid environment.
I like to compare our team to a sports team, where we all play very key and specialized roles. In the same way a coach leads a team, a business leader’s role is to give their employees the time and space to listen and communicate situations, offer training, give constant feedback and invest in their skills.
It’s no secret that today’s work model is structured so that businesses are at the mercy of their employees. Trusting employees to work from home efficiently and in a productive manner is crucial and comes naturally when a well-rounded company culture is upheld. If a business leader is able to successfully implement a positive and impactful company culture for their organization, employees are more inclined to stay, which ultimately leads to a more successful business. This employee-first approach at Theorem has proved to empower our teams to execute excellent work for and rally around our clients.
What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?
Establishing a clear line of communication with all teams and employees makes difficult news digestible and addressable. Transparency and timeliness of all communications is key, especially regarding difficult types of communications. It is also critical to follow up on these initial open communications with regular and transparent updates as the situation progresses. Where possible, a strong leader should communicate directly with teams and individuals instead of through many layers and managers. Effective, direct communication not only earns a leader respect but also credibility. With the communication technologies available today, clear communication is easier now than ever before.
How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?
Marketing is constantly evolving, and the innovations and evolution seen over the past 18 months are occurring at a rapid pace -unlike anything ever seen before. It’s critical that marketing leaders and teams across the board stay ahead of trends and pivot strategies accordingly. The marketing leaders who look to the future and heed the call of consumers’ want for more personalization and transparency, will find success. In other words, no one can really predict the future when it comes to marketing but agile leaders can ensure that their teams are properly prepared.
There are a few best practices to follow when looking to create a foundation for an undefined yet successful future in marketing: Implement strategies in small steps, constantly evaluate how the strategies are working, put guard rails in place to make quick pivots and changes, constantly invest in training your teams, while working towards the company’s future goals. Given the unpredictable nature of marketing, it’s vital to constantly match the “macros with your internal micros,” to confirm your organization is headed in the direction of the puck.
Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?
The number one principle to help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times is to accept reality and embrace it. Very often companies fall into the trap of wishful thinking, and wish things were different. Acceptance of reality and what that reality means for both a leader’s organization and employees, should be followed by quickly discarding methods that worked in the past but no longer work in the current environment. Our principle of optimizing today while building tomorrow helps us continue to leverage accepting reality, embracing it and evolve accordingly — even during the most turbulent of times.
Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?
I cannot speak for other businesses, but at Theorem we: a) accept the difficult reality quickly and early — eschew wishful thinking, b) craft processes that constantly evaluate how Theorem fits in this reality and add value to clients needs where they need it most, c) invest in teams and communicate transparently with internal and external stakeholders about our plans to get through difficult times
Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?
As an end-to-end marketing solutions provider, we’ve seen the impacts of the past 18 months across the marketing industry. The trends constantly evolve, but there are a handful of trends that stand out in this new endemic world that are critical for marketing teams to latch onto and fully optimize. Among these trends is the evolution of consumer needs and the call for more transparent marketing practices. Marketing teams must work towards a first party, data-driven future that puts consumers in the driver seat when it comes to digital property. In addition, customer engagement and loyalty evolved over the past year in ways marketers haven’t seen before. The methodologies for success in customer acquisition, engagement and retention pivoted heavily towards omnichannel and micro-moment marketing. Omnichannel and micro-moment marketing means marketing teams need to diversify their strategies to include a multitude of mediums, channels and platforms while ensuring relevant and personalized messaging to their consumers. The name of the game is offering tailored content when and where consumers need it most.
Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times? Please share a story or an example for each.
Empathy: Much clichéd and a difficult emotion to recognize and build into the leadership repertoire, primarily because empathy is learned through one’s own life experiences. The richer one’s experiences, the more empathetic a leader’s emotional palette is. Just as consummate actors recognize and file away emotions from real life, only to muster up them at will on screen, leaders should be able to take their own life events and map them to the teams they lead.
Health: All three elements of an individual’s health are key; physical, mental and spiritual, because high-performing teams need all three to work. A leader should make space at work for all three elements. Heath is projected at our workplaces with increased emphasis placed on societal well being, increased diversity, and planet sustainability.
Balance: It’s increasingly hard to separate the personal and professional work spaces. A leader should recognize and empower their teams about balancing both personal and professional spaces. Work from home has advantages that needs a new kind of discipline at a personal and professional level to ensure efficiency and maintainability for both employees and the organization as a whole.
Change: As the pace of change accelerates, leadership must also keep pace, while recognizing and accepting reality. Sometimes molding leadership principles in response to ever-changing reality is how to effectively lead
Values: While reality may change, a North Star or purpose needs to be constant. Our purpose is rooted in our human values. Since humanity is ever constant, leaders must ensure that they are leading with values, especially in turbulent times.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Good things come to people who wait, better things come to people who chase them! In business, my Life Lesson quote translates to being proactive, taking chances in entrepreneurship and the “fierce urgency of now.” I found that actively pursuing your dreams and passions is always a better approach than expecting results to fall into your lap.
How can our readers further follow your work?
You can find more information on our website at Theorem.com and check out our blog, case studies and all Theorem news here. Make sure to follow us on LinkedIn and like us on Facebook.
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
Thank you for having me! The same to you and your audience.
Believe in yourself. It’s acceptable to doubt yourself at times, you can even feel defeated momentarily, but when it matters most, you must get back up and it’s only self-belief that will allow you to do so.
As a part of my series about “Grit: The Most Overlooked Ingredient of Success” I had the pleasure of interviewing Mohamed Alkassar.
As Alpareno Restaurant Group’s Founding Partner, Mohamed Alkassar is a high energy, passionate, and meticulous hospitality expert whose innovative spirit is further enhanced by his extensive local and international experience. His success is attributed to his passion for mentoring talent resulting in managerial consistency and company wide longevity. Born in Spain, he cultivated a passion for food during his trips to Spain’s many gastronomical towns where he learned how various cultures influence food, wine, and dining habits. After kick starting his career at Maison Blanche in the bustling dining scene of Madrid, he went on to further develop his skills by working for some of the most well recognized hospitality groups in the Middle East. His achievements include successfully launching the food & beverage arm for one of the leading development companies in Qatar, which boasted names such as the Mondrian Hotel, Morimoto, Wolfgang Puck, Magnolia Bakery, and Shakespeare & Co. Following his success in Qatar, he moved to Dubai to become the Operations Manager for 4 European F&B brands overseeing over 50 outlets, including Lavazza’s concepts in the Middle East and North Africa.
Within this period, he opened 12 new restaurants and played a key role in the company’s expansion. Upon the recommendation of his mentor, F&B industry icon, Michael Bonadies, Mohamed relocated to Miami to learn American-style service from the ground up. After developing a deep understanding of the U.S. market during his time at the Genuine Hospitality Group, he partnered with his dear friend, Chef Niven Patel, to launch the food & beverage programming at THesis Hotel, inclusive of Mamey and Orno. Alpareno Restaurant Group is the culmination of the late nights they spent perfecting a vision set out to enhance the lives of everything and everyone that they touch.
Can you share your story about “Grit and Success”? First can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?
Syria
My first big challenge came early in my career while working as a manager for a failing restaurant in a prime location in Damascus. My friends and family told me not to take the job as they feared the negative reputation of the place would follow me. There were few guests that went there, and they worked in frowned upon businesses to say the least.
During my interview, the owner, Mr. Bachar Sabbagh, a renowned businessman, explained to me that his brother, who runs his business in Syria and was sitting across from me, had tried multiple experienced managers to no avail. Therefore, he decided to give a young inexperienced manager a shot before closing it. “I think you can turn it around, but my brother Kamil thinks you’re just a kid who’s going to get clobbered” he said to me. An awkward silence filled the room, “it wouldn’t be the first time I get clobbered, I’m up for the challenge” I replied.
My first big decision was to fire all management, mind you this was a restaurant that operated 16 hours a day, 7 days a week. Bachar caught wind of my decision and told me “This is a huge risk, but it’s your risk and your reward.” This taught me a valuable lesson early in my career, hire the right people, and then trust them to do what you hired them to do; a simple lesson that few managers apply.
The staff hated me, they laid traps for me every chance they had in an effort to ensure my “short” tenure would be as unpleasant as possible. I was the only manager, a predicament I had put myself in, so I worked 16 hours a day 7 days a week. I identified a few talented, committed, and good hearted associates and put in all the extra effort needed to nurture them. I taught them all that I had learned in Spain, spent countless nights mentoring them outside of work, inquired about their families and helped reduce their personal struggles, and in turn they gave their job all they had in them.
Within months, these associates were the ones enforcing my strict standard on their colleagues, a sign of success to come. A couple months later our sales had tripled, every stakeholder prospered, the entire team got behind me, and those early believers rose to become the first managers of my time.
6 months into the job, Kamil, the brother who had no faith in me, suggested to his older brother that I help him run the entire company. The war in Syria had started and he needed all the help he could get managing 5 restaurants, a 5-star boutique hotel, a nightclub, and a distribution company.
The success of having turned a failing concept into arguably the most popular restaurant in the capital, gave me rise to an Operations Manager position. Even during war, with a shortage of staff, supply chain breakdowns, and a life in fear, we continued to outperform the competition because we had a team that felt appreciated. There is a bond that is rarely achievable without suffering, the joy of success never tastes as good without the memory of less fortunate times.
United States
I was a Regional Operations Manager based out of Dubai overseeing over 50 outlets across the Middle East and North Africa. My mentor, Michael Bonadies, an industry icon, had been harping on me to move to the United States for years. He believed that I was more talented than he was at his age, and with my character, I would become even better, but that was only achievable overseas.
My girlfriend at the time also wanted to make the move, so we took a leap of faith and moved to Miami knowing I wouldn’t have a job for an extended period, and not knowing whether I would even get a work permit. I had never been unemployed, and for someone who thrived on excelling in his career, I felt frustrated. Not used to having so much time off, I found myself spending dollars I didn’t have due to the abundance of time that I did have; I blew through my savings discouragingly quick.
By the time I received my work authorization, 7 months later, we were struggling mentally, emotionally, and financially. We had left a comfortable and secure life to live an uncomfortable unknown. With light at the end of the tunnel, I called Michael with joy to inform him of the great news! He said to me “great, now you should take a step back in your career to ensure future success”. I was perplexed, I didn’t understand why with my talent and experience I should take a step back. His reasoning was simple, “if you want to remain very good at what you do, take an Operations Manager position as anyone would hire you. However, if you want to become the best at what you do, and break barriers, take a step back”. He informed me that though I had experience in Europe, the Middle East, and the Gulf, the United States was different. There was a learning curve when it came to culture, HR policies, capital markets, etc.
Seeing his logic, I was inclined to follow his advice. When I inquired about how far back of a step I should take (thinking maybe junior ops or GM) he said server or floor manager! I was gutted, I trusted this man, who has become a father figure to me, with my life, moved halfway across the world, and now he’s jerking me around instead of helping me get a job. My entire support system of friends and family told me it was completely crazy for me to listen to him, that I had sacrificed enough and taking on another road of struggles would be career suicide.
Michael Bonadies had always given me sound advice and my gut told me to trust him. So upon his advice, I took a floor manager position with The Genuine Hospitality Group, an institution that produced some of the top talent in Florida. I was making $45,000 annually while living with my wife and her mother in a 500 SF apartment. Not the worst set up, but far from the comfortable life I had worked up to in Dubai.
I was managed by colleagues I deemed inferior in talent and many set me up for failure because they felt threatened by my presence. I was offered a big promotion twice my first two months and declined, staying true to my mission to learn. The less responsibilities I had, the more time I had to focus on learning and filling in the gaps in my experience.
It was tough, I had been the person making the rules for years and now I was forced to follow directives I didn’t always agree with. It was frustrating to experience the lack of authority, but enduring it allowed me to become a more complete manager. I learned how to do things the right way, and I also learned what not to do. But Most importantly, I was reminded how middle management and staff are affected by the smallest of executive decisions. There lies the importance of working for different operators to perfect your craft, and stepping back at some point to re-learn some of your missteps.
Nearly 18 months later, I looked back with joy at all that I had accomplished and as frustrating as it was at times, I’m eternally grateful for the experience. For starters, I built a loyal following amongst staff; only then did I realize I had been distant for too long from those who carry the business. The satisfaction of being a “we” again (staff) and not “them” (upper management) anymore was inexplicable. Furthermore, I finally understood the intricacies of what makes a manager successful in the United States. Mastering the tip system alone, which is very specific to the US, enables you to create a highly motivated codependent team.
First can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?
I stumbled into F&B management during my last year of college in Madrid. As I waited for my i20 visa to move to Miami and attend culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu, Richard Foster, an owner of a restaurant that I frequented, heard of my plans and offered to teach me in the meantime. He also questioned my desire to become a Chef explaining that from the little he knows me, I belong in the front of house.
Richard, a character to say the least, gave me two options, “you can start as a server, I’ll pay you, and you can work your way up or I won’t pay you a penny, but I will place you in all FOH & BOH positions and let you shadow me so you can learn the entire business.” I replied, “don’t pay me, I just want to learn.” In all fairness, I was banking on my mother supporting me enough to live.
I very quickly learned that my family thought this restaurant gig was a ploy to continue to live in Madrid on their dime, so they cut me off financially. This only further fueled my desire to learn and in turn succeed. Three girlfriends of mine who shared a flat for university offered me a couch to sleep on. A few weeks later, a good friend of mine offered me his parents’ penthouse which was still under construction. He placed his little brother’s old bed, that was half my size, in the middle of the loft, and got me a blanket and a pillow. The loft was marvelous with mahogany wood and 180-degree views of all of Madrid, it was their dream retirement home. The only issue was it had no lights, no heaters, no hot water, and we were in winter! I was the richest broke man in Spain!
Seeing me struggling financially, Richard asked me again, “would you like to work one position and get paid, or do you want to continue learning”. Again, I chose the latter, after all, the beautiful part of our business is it takes care of one of the basic needs of life, food. I opened Maison Blanche every morning seven days a week and worked every shift until closing well past midnight. A young kid, I still found time to blow off steam in the infamous party scene of Madrid. It was then that I learned I could live quite a colorful life with very little money as I had the interpersonal skills needed to develop strong bonds with strangers which quickly allowed me to practically party for free. Nonetheless, hungover or not, I showed up for work every morning and lived the cycle all over again.
Nearly 6 months later, I found out that my visa process did not work out and I would be missing my January program at Le Cordon Bleu in Miami. The next day, Richard came back from his usual scouting walks where he snoops around other establishments to see how they are doing, but this time he was crying. He said to me, “Mo, I was at another restaurant and a few elderly ladies were about to sit down for lunch when another friend approached them and said, ‘no let’s not sit here, let’s go to Maison Blanche, they have this young kid who’s always so patient and hospitable with us, it makes my day’”. They were tears of joy, and the look of pride on his face is an image that motivates me to this very day. He then informed me that I was shockingly ready for a paid managerial position as I learned faster than he could have ever imagined.
This passion for the industry, people, and food, coupled with my willingness to do whatever it takes to hone my craft, is what got me to the first step of success.
Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?
Grit comes from within; you must be self-motivated!
My drive at times came from a combination of proving something or someone wrong and proving to myself that I could achieve what I set out to achieve as long as it was attainable. I wanted to prove to my family that working for free at a restaurant wasn’t an excuse to party my life away in Madrid. I was adamant on proving to my boss in Syria that he was right to believe in me as a young, talented, and hungry individual. It only motivated me more to hear his brother call me an incapable kid in the interview. The move to the United States was my Everest, I wanted to become the best version of myself and prove that a step back to learn wasn’t career suicide. No different than refraining from selling a losing stock, when it comes to grit, you only fail when you stop trying.
I set myself one BIG FU**ING GOAL, and that is exactly how I word it to those I now mentor! That is what fuels me every single day; in psychology I believe it’s called a superordinate goal. I always wanted to be the owner and operator of multiple internationally recognized and respected hospitality brands. Alpareno Restaurant Group is a major stepping stone towards that goal.
Since the distance between me and that goal was very long, that distance could have led me to feeling defeated. Therefore, I continuously establish smaller milestones that are going to help me justify my hard work and close the gap between me and my BIG FU**ING GOAL.
My drive was also further fueled by the setbacks I experienced; take a risk, fail a little, then taste the sweetness of a comeback. Overcoming adversity is addicting!
So how did Grit lead to your eventual success?
I chose a career I am passionate about, a career I love so deeply, a job that is so me that it’s hard to differentiate between who I am and what my job is. That made it a little easier to endure the pain, it’s a long and often lonely road to success.
I stayed true to my BIG FU**ING GOAL. I took risks, I moved 7,000 miles overseas to a foreign land not knowing whether I would even legally be able to work just to become the best version of myself. I sacrificed many aspects of my life to succeed in my career; everything I did was with the intention of taking a step towards that goal even when it seemed I was going backwards.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Alpareno.
The Food and Beverage industry is about presence, it’s about being there, it’s as simple as that! When have you had a bad experience at a food and beverage establishment where the owner is present daily working hard alongside the team? I am the luckiest person I know to have Chef Niven Patel as a partner in Alpareno Restaurant Group. He lives on his farm, Rancho Patel, he hand-picks his produce daily, delivers it to our restaurants, and tailors our seasonal menus to incorporate the freshest ingredients. He is there on the cooking line at Ghee, at Mamey, at Orno and still finds time to work on the new concepts we have coming.
I received a call a couple months ago from Dr. Garg, our first investor in Alpareno Restaurant Group. He said, “Mo I just closed on a chateau in D.C and will be holding my next seminar here; all I want is for you and Chef Niven to cater the event!”. I thought to myself, he is either joking or he is out of his mind; I wouldn’t consider “catering” an event a couple miles away on Miami Beach let alone halfway across the country. I told him I’d sleep on it regardless and that though we don’t do any catering, he means the world to us, so we’ll always consider his requests. I discussed it with Chef Niven, we both agreed it was nuts, and we simultaneously said “F**k it let’s do it!”.
We flew to DC with 3 of our core team members, on a weekend where our restaurants were extremely busy, to cook for a group of doctors out of an outdated home kitchen. Dr. Garg was thrilled, the doctors at the seminar were beyond impressed, we took the spotlight from the seminar and the joy it brought everyone was all we had hoped for!
This is what sets us apart, our mission with Alpareno has been to put an equal amount of effort into enhancing the lives of all our stakeholders. This trip wasn’t financially motivated as it was done at cost, our sole motivation was to satisfy our dear friend Dr. Garg! We had no support staff, we were washing dishes, going for ice runs, shopping at the farmers market, prepping, cooking, and serving ourselves. That is why we are different, we will never be too big for any one task, we love what we do, and we will continue to lead from the front. Chef Niven Patel’s humble way of life is what we all strive for.
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
Choose an industry you love, you’re less likely to burn out if you enjoy what you do.
Refrain from the overuse of mass texting, mass emailing, group chats, etc! They’re toxic, you cannot disconnect even if it’s your day off when you’re constantly reminded of work.
Take days off, take vacations, we all need them, you’re only as good as the state of your mental health.
Differentiate between being at work and actually working. It’s not always about the hours you spend at work, it’s about the impact you make in the hours you spend. It’s sometimes better to spend less time and be more effective than spend long hours in complacency.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I recently experimented with how to help female Syrian refugees become self-sufficient. It’s an initiative my sister started, and I have only now begun to explore ways to help them live a better life. My goal is to teach them how to sell the food they cook through the means that make the most sense to them.
My management style revolves around mentoring my team; this involves putting a great deal of personal time developing their attributes. The best way to give back is to teach others the lessons life taught you, in hopes you are giving them an edge to succeed as well.
Based on your experience, can you share 5 pieces of advice about how one can develop Grit?
1) It starts with focusing on something you love, the more passion you have for what you do, the more likely you’ll continue to do it when times get tough, and they will!
2) Show up, it’s as simple as that! Show up day in and day out, and keep showing up until you become very good at it. Once you become so good at what you do, it becomes difficult to stop doing it and you become hungry to get even better.
3) Get out of your comfort zone and push your limits, that’s when you learn the most. As my brother-in-law once told me, “There is a time to learn and a time to earn”. Travel as far as possible and as often as possible, there is nothing more shocking than adapting to a new culture you weren’t expecting!
4) Surround yourself with people who possess grit. Watching the passion and perseverance of those close to you should positively impact your decision making. This starts with having a good mentor who truly cares about you as a person; everything I achieved in my career I owe to Michael Bonadies who guided me ever since I “was a kid”. Find someone who gives you tough love, knows how to push, when to push, and how far to push you; make sure you’re upside-down dangling off the edge every now and then!
5) Believe in yourself. It’s acceptable to doubt yourself at times, you can even feel defeated momentarily, but when it matters most, you must get back up and it’s only self-belief that will allow you to do so.
You are people 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?
Better pay for kitchen staff. These are literally the people that put food on your table and those that usually work the longest hours in the toughest conditions. The gap between front of house staff and back of house staff is disheartening. There are industry greats out there experimenting with possible solutions, but I don’t believe anyone has come up with a scalable solution yet. This challenge will likely require everyone involved to sacrifice a little, from owners to suppliers and staff. The greatest challenge with this goal is the solution will most likely involve educating the guests, and that takes a lot of time.
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
Charles Meitus of LUCID SOLAR: Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Keep your eyes on the end goal. This way, you won’t be able to get distracted by challenging times. You will adapt to the environment, pivot if necessary, shout out outside the environment, and create a safe environment at work. Just stay focused on the tasks.
Mr. Charles Meitus is the CEO and Co-Founder at LUCID SOLAR, an innovative provider of renewable energy equipment and systems.
An entrepreneur dedicated to creating modern solar energy solutions in the USA, Mr. Meitus is a pioneer who combines his strong knowledge and background in the solar panel sector with finance and business development to create LUCID SOLAR, the next generation solar panel providing platform.
He has patented a system in LUCID SOLAR to build a global sales, technical and finance team with a platform committed to providing high quality products with superior service.
As the Founder, Mr. Meitus created the first and only full pledge global solar PV (Photovoltaics) distributor, as the one-stop source solar equipment supplier, offering high quality, high efficiency film modules, with the most competitive pricing and valuable solutions in the solar market.
Disrupting the solar panel sector with Mr. Meitus’ state of the art technologies, competitive price points and excellent customer service solutions, LUCID SOLAR is one of the leading renewable energy startups in the world.
He is an innovator, business leader, financier and a talented entrepreneur recognized for his product and technology innovations, leadership talents, business formulations skills and focus on solar energy investments. He combined synergies with the top Fortune 500 companies globally to offer the best product and service in the renewable energy sector.
Today, Mr. Meitus’ renewable energy solutions can be found in more than 10 states in the US, offering some of the world’s best known, full line high end solar products, from panels and inverters to mounting.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
I was born in Minnesota, Minneapolis and I grew up in San Francisco along with three brothers.The upbringing with brothers was fun but it had a mental toughening component to it. My father is a professional trader who instilled a strong work ethic in me. He is a very hardworking, structured, and disciplined person. He would leave for work at 4 am, every morning. This was my predisposition to hard work and strong work ethics.
Our mom is also an entrepreneur and a full-time mother, who taught us personal skills, life, and people skills to be great communicators. She took care of a small business while driving us to football practices and making sure there was family dinner every night. I feel lucky to have grown up in a family environment where both parents gave me different sets of successful business skills in life. I also learned how to multitask from my mother while my dad was the source and showcase of work discipline and ethics.
I can easily say that my entrepreneurship spirit was influenced by watching my parents and learning from my parents in terms of discipline, structure, and communication skills at best practice, but I also knew that I never wanted to work for anyone. Because I always have the need for freedom to succeed and grow, entrepreneurship is the only channel that would allow me such freedom and vision to grow. My entrepreneurial spirit has been within me since the age of seven or eight. I just needed an opportunity to catch and seize.
Everything started when I had an idea for my first company at the age of 17, in college. I wanted to help reduce the amount of trash built up in the elevators of college dorms and apartments. I created and patented a trash can that could be installed into the elevator without taking up excessive space. From this idea, I got in touch with one of the largest steel manufacturers in Chicago. We made this trash can from scratch ready to go to the elevators. This project brought out the passion I had for creating businesses. This is how my initial and amateur entrepreneurship started. I had to learn how to create and build a business from ground zero. This was my first real-life experience. I can easily say that nothing, not even years of school education, is a better learning experience than a hands-on real-life business experience. This business was very profitable, but I sold it to a big Company and went on with my purpose in life. I loved how my little project helped the environment, which led me into the renewable energy field.
I got into the energy sector, through energy deregulation; I would partner with third- party suppliers that would deliver the same energy at a lower rate. I would offer a superior rate than the rate they got from their region’s utility. The utility still was the provider. We strictly handled the supply charges. That is how I got into the energy field as a broker for about half a year, and that’s when I started realizing that there’s more to this energy industry than what it is.
After selling energy as a deregulated energy broker, I transitioned into the solar panel sector. I got into the solar panel sector, mainly renewable energy, as a distributor, because I wanted to learn it and work at something that would make an impact in the world. I started making some very strong connections in the industry; learned bottom-up; loved what I was doing; and shortly thereafter, I opened my own 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?
The funniest mistake was with a client. A couple of months after I started my business, a client asked me very technical questions about how the panel and the inverter worked in regards to their house and storage. He was asking very technical questions about the engineering side of the solar products that we are offering. Being very young and passionate about my business,I was trying my hardest to answer him on something I did not know about. I just sort of stumbled my way through dancing around it because I didn’t have the answer. That was a learning lesson for me. The thing I learned was if you don’t know the answer, be honest and say that “you do not know” or find the answer for him or hire someone who knows the answer. That is the biggest takeaway from this for me. That if you think you’re the smartest person in the room, then most probably you are in the wrong room, and that’s what I learned that delegating is one of the most crucial functions that you need to have as a CEO.
I lost the client for that sale, but he is a recurrent client now. We laugh at it at times, but it was a fun learning lesson for me.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
To pick one person would be very difficult to do as several people and mentors helped me get to where I am today. I will share one story that came from my father. He always set an example to me and my brothers of what hard work means. When I first started my journey in the business world, it was not easy. After going through a rough patch for about 5–6 months, I was on the verge of quitting, and it was at that moment I went to talk with my father. He said to me if you quit every time something gets difficult you will never get anywhere.
It is not just that you open a business and become a superstar CEO overnight. You have to do your part, the side hustle, the good and bad, everything that comes with it, and you have to have a strong work ethic and value.And you have to keep going. Not quitting. These are the things I learned from my father. And therefore, I am eternally grateful for his teachings and influence on me.
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?
Since day one, our vision has been to make solar equipment easy and accessible for clients to purchase without having to worry about shipment delays and access to top brands. Our purpose is to make the procurement process easy and affordable for every type of client, not just those with large purchasing power.
While I was in the other solar panel’s distributor program, through their portal, I realized pricing was not the best. Through the program we had some favorable pricing because we were distributors selling to them, but your everyday person, the blue-collar solar installer, can’t get access to premium brands without paying crazy prices. They are buying enough for a month’s worth of installs, maybe seven houses or ten houses so, that’s like a couple hundred pounds. They do not have the funds that the big solar energy players have. They are in more than 30 different states with Tier 1 products. Lots of competition, lack of funding. I struggled myself..I realized the big players’ business structure, and I also realized the business flaws in them, and I wanted to democratize the sector in a way by making it affordable for everyone, with the highest quality products.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?
During Covid, we had to completely migrate from in-person operation style to 100% virtual. We also had to deal with production being shut down from our factories in Vietnam/Cambodia/Turkey/Asia. During times where the world is going through a global pandemic it was very important to stay strong and positive as the head of my team. If people see their leader down, that can easily spread to a negative work environment. So, I knew I had to stay positive and adapt to the new world.
I knew I needed to lead by my own actions, reacting to uncertain times in a positive manner. Even the Zoom meetings had to have a positive energy , to execute successfully. Also, I had to take one day at a time..
The way to do it is through interactions. You can listen to many podcasts or listen to a YouTube video about motivational speakers. You can hear all the right things you want to do. But people react a lot stronger to watching you do what you do on a daily basis. And showing up to a meeting, even though it was a Zoom meeting by giving off this positive energy to the listeners, even if you are hurting and struggling on the inside, you have to just put on your poker face because the second the team sees you struggling that’s just how they are going to react.
If you are the strongest and you’re the front runner of the tug-of-war, and then they see you tired, well, they’re all just gonna start falling. Therefore, you have to just stay strong.
I wanna give you an example from my role model Tom Brady. Tom Brady, the greatest quarterback of all time who led the greatest Super Bowl comeback. They were down 28 to 3 with the Atlanta Falcons. If you go on YouTube and search that game and you listen to the mike, all the mikes of the players in the game, you will hear that not once did he ever look discouraged or down. Every time he was on the sideline, it was just play by play which is the same sort of attitude I like to take.
Take it day-by-day. Take one day at a time in a positive manner and have the positive energy to lead successfully!!
Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?
I got my motivation from my inner strength and my inner voice, which kept telling me that I had to just continue and not give up. I knew that every pass, like in the famous saying ”this too shall pass” So, I showed up every day, woke up, and kept going. I listened to my inner voice, that “giving up was not an option” like my father had taught me. My inner voice… It told me everything.
I knew I needed to lead by action otherwise, the whole thing would fail and default. That is why
What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?
Keeping the team morale up. Having constant reminders of our end goal. You have to just keep going. Quitting is just an option. You need to keep going. When life hits you, you just hit back..
In general, you have to come back to the same conclusion, which is like yeah, I just keep going you know, it’s not like it’s not an option to stop. You just keep going because you stop then, everything stops but then what? Are you just gonna quit? No, you cannot. When things get harder, you get up on your feet and keep going to create a positive work environment. This will definitely translate to your team, workers, and clients.
When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?
You must keep your focus on the goal. People will easily let the darkness of the world and external issues eat them alive, so it is important to keep the workspace a place where people can look forward to coming to. Also, it is important to have a physical component, in addition to keeping the morale high. You need to create a fun, comfortable work environment.
So, when you are a kid at school, all you wanna do is to get recess. We CEOs need to create a work environment that will feel like a recess. Make the work environment a “recess”. How do you do that? The news is very negative with inflation, economy, pandemics, and all the other challenges everyone is facing. Let’s stay positive inside, inside the office, inside the work environment. You have to find a way to shut out what’s going on outside so when they come into work, it’s a safe environment, and all you do is just focus on the task; stay focused on the task at hand. As the leader, how do you get through those times, you just keep finding a way to keep the tasks in hand. Draw the focus to a task, even if it’s a one-day goal. Make sure you create short-term goals so when people accomplish them, they get a sense of success in life. Also, the feeling of reassurance will be created this way. People need reassurance when things go dark. As leaders, we need to provide it.
What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?
The only way I know how to communicate is with brutal honesty. Nothing good comes from sugar-coating something. You need to deliver the news, and then either find ways to problem solve or take extreme ownership.
Whatever it is, YOU need to deliver the news and tell how it is, and if it’s your fault, you deal with the consequences. Nothing good comes from dancing around the problem. If it’s a problem, it was either someone on your team’s fault or yours. But please don’t throw the sales rep under the bus as the leader. You have to just take ownership, express your apologies but don’t try to act like it didn’t happen, and don’t point the finger at someone on your team. They don’t need that. Just take it, wear it on your chest, take it, deliver it, go and move forward.
How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?
You need to continuously adapt to the environment you’re in, Then you need to create a plan A, B, C, and contingencies.
Because of the industry I am in, I learned to adapt to everything. It is such a long-term industry that there’s gonna be setbacks for sure. There’s gonna be different presidents, either Republicans or Democrats, throughout my years, with different climate change politics, changing the solar energy, renewable world constantly.
There is going to be another pandemic and other setbacks, so you have to just prepare; have plan A, B, C,; adapt to a different political environment. The future is so unpredictable, to begin with. Having multiple plans to adapt is essential.
You do not go on an airplane and plan there will be a landing on the Hudson. You do not plan to hit a flock of birds, but because you have placed all these plans As and Bs all the way to Z, you will save 300 plus lives so you have to be prepared for the worst-case scenario you might walk into.
Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?
Keep your eyes on the end goal. This way, you won’t be able to get distracted by challenging times. You will adapt to the environment, pivot if necessary, shout out outside the environment, and create a safe environment at work. Just stay focused on the tasks.
Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?
Yes, I can. 1. They prioritize their high-end clients which is a great short term solution. But that leads to a lot of clients leading you. And that is not good.
They don’t understand the needs of the non-executive employees. They tend to forget about the small fish internally, which leads to bad team morale. Everyone matters on your team. Our coach used to say you are only as strong as your weakest link. That’s true because you can’t just forget about people that have been there for you, just because they’re not the CFO or high-level executives. People matter and if you start forgetting about them, watch that loyalty switch and watch them go to your competition so I would say the first answer I gave is: do not prioritize only high-end clients. All your clients matter. And all of your employees matter all the way down to the entry-level.
Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?
Taking a pay cut to pay the employees. I had to take a pay cut to pay my employees at whatever cost.
I literally have not taken a single paycheck in the past 16 months
Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times? Please share a story or an example for each.
5 most important things during uncertain times for me:
Keep your eyes on the task
Focus on your goal
Take one day at a time
Do not ever give up, just keep going
Adapt and pivot. Have multiple plans handy
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Stay hard” from David Goggins. JUST KEEP GOING.
During these times, there are plenty of motivational speakers everywhere, in this world of social media Instagram and Facebook. There’re so many “gurus” that tell you that you can get rich overnight, look at all my money, in the background here’s my mansion with my 20 lamborghinis. Then people just jump to it, and that’s when they fall down the rabbit hole. They end up entering these billionaires learning school programs that they think it’s free because it’s free to start, but if you want to access more content, you’re gonna pay a little bit and then more.
David Goggins is not selling you anything. He is just there, sharing his own life story. He doesn’t ask you to watch him or pay him anything. He just innocently tells his story, and his story is so compelling because it’s a roller coaster of what he went through, but he never gives up. He just keeps going! Whatever life throws at you, you have to just push through!
Regardless of your upbringing, whatever life throws at you, regardless of the specific challenge that you get hit with it. By the way, it’s different for every single person. Everyone has a different human experience but sharpening your mental capacity,
He calls it “callus your mind” If you callus your mind and become unbreakable, you become mentally sharp, and as long as you’re mentally sharp and you’re mentally strong, you get through anything. This is the biggest life lesson.
That is why you just need to keep going because there’s gonna be another pandemic; you’re gonna get hit with another stuff that you didn’t think of. There is no guarantee for tomorrow. No one knows what will happen tomorrow as you’re not promised a tomorrow, so just do what you do, and keep going.
It might sound like a cliche but live every day like it’s your last. But Goggins takes it to the next level, which goes like this: “Everyday just go, get up How can our readers further follow your work?
Heroes of The Homeless Crisis: How Kay Wilson-Bolton of Two Associations of Realtors is Helping To Support Some Of The Most Vulnerable People In Our Communities
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Hope is what everyone needs no matter the economic situation you’re in. While we decided early on, we can’t solve the world’s problems, we could make a dent and make a difference in our community. We first began with a meal program and pantries — promoting it through Facebook. Initially, the community was against the idea, but now they are kinder and support our shelter and meal programs.
As a part of my series about “Heroes Of The Homeless Crisis” I had the pleasure of interviewing REALTOR® Kay Wilson-Bolton.
Kay Wilson-Bolton has been a full-time Realtor® since 1976. She has served her community as mayor and president of two Associations of Realtors. Kay has been twice named as Realtor® of the Year and as a NAR Good Neighbor. She also serves as the Volunteer Director of SPIRIT of Santa Paula, working to end homeless in her community.
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 personal background, and how you grew up?
Thank you for letting me share my story. I was born and raised on a farm in New Hampshire where I learned early on from my five siblings and mother that you always help those in need. It can be foster kids or a “hobo” as we called them then, who stopped by our home, and my mother would always have an extra plate ready when dinner time would arrive. No questions asked, she always cared for them.
Those experiences stayed with me.
In my adult life, after I became the Fire Department chaplain, I was informed a homeless man died in one of our churches on Christmas eve, and a janitor at the church had been letting people in during winter nights. I wasn’t aware we had homeless people in our town of 30,000-people. My upbringing kicked in and I felt a calling to take action. I started with a hot meal and a passion to end homelessness. It’s been a journey, for sure.
Is there a particular story or incident that inspired you to get involved in your work helping people who are homeless?
It really started with that incident at the church on Christmas Eve 2008 but was solidified with the struggles and tribulations of the 2008 troubled economy. We saw an emerging class of homeless individuals that struggled with rehabilitation. The country viewed them as “no good or useless” — someone else’s problem. I made it my mission to help.
Homelessness has been a problem for a long time in the United States. But it seems that it has gotten a lot worse over the past five years, particularly in the large cities, such as Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, and San Francisco. Can you explain to our readers what brought us to this place? Where did this crisis come from?
As a REALTOR® I can pinpoint it to lack of housing and a loss of hope. We have to start by looking at the cost of not only the housing market but renting too. People in the margins don’t have a safety net if they incur a big expense and rent is very expensive, at all levels. You need an income of about $7K-$8K a month to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Southern California. Anyone with a pet is especially challenged.
As rent moratorium becomes a more popular discussion, we face a housing disaster in all of our cities. We will have more people moving into their cars than we already do, and freeways will be further lined with tent cities.
For the benefit of our readers, can you describe the typical progression of how one starts as a healthy young person with a place to live, a job, an education, a family support system, a social support system, a community support system, to an individual who is sleeping on the ground at night? How does that progression occur?
It starts with one bad decision somewhere in childhood that transitions into an adult not willing, capable, or understanding the benefits of making multiple good decisions. It begins with something small — a little kid who doesn’t want to do homework and doesn’t have a parent to show why it’s a good habit. That turns into a teenager who moves in with friends, works part-time and then spirals into a mess — evicted, losing jobs because of personal behaviors and self-medicating. We’ve had shelters with three generations of homeless people — grandmothers and grandkids. How does that happen? Are we teaching our youngsters they can be homeless and be OK?
Without “housing first” as a global priority in every jurisdiction, more and more individuals will choose to sleep on the ground after being evicted versus moving in friends and working a job to get back on a healthy progression track. It’s a hard cycle to break, but that’s why SPIRIT of Santa Paula is here to help.
A question that many people who are not familiar with the intricacies of this problem ask is, “Why don’t homeless people just move to a city that has cheaper housing?” How do you answer this question?
First of all, there isn’t a city on the planet that welcomes people who need cheap housing. Secondly, most people want to stay close to family who can help provide resources. However, when family or friends are gone, how can anyone really afford to move? Whether they’ve been evicted in the past, their credit score is zero to un-rentable and money is scarce for deposits. With no job to go to in the new city, how are they supposed to move? Instead of moving, we need to focus first on providing housing and keeping those in need housed to prevent homelessness.
If someone passes a homeless person on the street, what is the best way to help them?
Just say “hello”. While a homeless person asks for money for food, or just money, there’s a good chance they may use the cash to feed their alcohol or drug addiction. A food or gift card to a fast-food restaurant is the best way to help them in the moment. If they are in the area where I serve, tell them to call me or give them directions so I can provide them with help they need.
What is the best way to respond if a homeless person asks for money for rent or gas?
Be direct — you cannot throw money at the problem and really help. Work with heart and soul if you want to make a difference in their life and speak a kind word. If someone is asking for gas — ask where their car is? Better yet, say “follow me and I’ll put gas in your car.” For rental assistance, contact my office, we have a rent subsidy program through United Way. There are other similar programs in other states that can try to help, too.
Can you describe to our readers how your work is making an impact battling this crisis?
Hope is what everyone needs no matter the economic situation you’re in. While we decided early on, we can’t solve the world’s problems, we could make a dent and make a difference in our community. We first began with a meal program and pantries — promoting it through Facebook. Initially, the community was against the idea, but now they are kinder and support our shelter and meal programs.
Most families do the best they can to help a homeless family member, but often times they are burned by the ones they are trying to help. Valuables are stolen, cars are crashed, and they reach a breaking point. We have a number of case managers providing insight, encouragement, and resources for families. We encourage them to continue to reach out and we will do what we can for their loved ones.
How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the homeless crisis, and the homeless community? Also how has it affected your ability to help people?
From our vantage point, COVID barely impacted the homeless community, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t taking precautions. In a homeless shelter, distancing is difficult, as is keeping people happy and motivated. Hopefully the tough days are behind us, from the beginning we have provided masks and sanitizers, now we are continuing to test every week in the shelter.
Can you share something about your work that makes you most proud? Is there a particular story or incident that you found most uplifting?
When I first began, the police and I did not see eye to eye, they believed I was enabling those I was helping to stay homeless. What they failed to see then was by feeding them, there was a reduction in stealing and panhandling residents. Part of the disconnect came from leadership in the city manager’s office who worried about only a portion of this community. We’ve grown into a very mutually beneficial relationship.
In 2018, they referred a young couple to me who became a great success story.
This young couple was homeless after renting a room and paying a tenant who was not paying a landlord. One night, they were told they had to be out by 6 am the next day because the sheriff was evicting them.
The young couple was forced to rig up a stroller in the back of their bikes and ride around town every night with their five-year-old warm and asleep in the trailer. The police told them they had to stop doing that and took their child away to a foster home under the care of child protective services. The officer told them to come see me and I shared hope and counseled them. Fast forward to 2021–4 years later — both have jobs, a car — and most importantly, have their child back. This was the result of a police officer who trusted me and our work.
Can you share three things that the community and society can do to help you address the root of this crisis? Can you give some examples?
Before anything, we need to stop criticizing people who want to do this work. In reality, we have a common goal of bettering our community as well as the people who call it home. From there we need to change the way we think about housing by supporting unique programs such as accessory dwelling units.
Cities need to show initiative and allow housing near points of transportation.
Lastly, for those who don’t want to engage or are unable to do the work, donations go a long way to keep us in business ultimately helping those who are able to put in the hours and make the commitment.
If you had the power to influence legislation, which three laws would you like to see introduced that might help you in your work?
The first law would enforce rent regulation policies. We need to sit people down and talk about a proper structure, so landlords and tenants are protected. This isn’t a new idea but it is always controversial, especially when it comes to property rights. We support rent control in mobile home parks to protect tenants with a vested interest, perhaps we can engage tenants in rental units the same way. If things aren’t working now, we have to change.
The next legislation would make it easier for homeless shelters to be established. There are too many zoning restrictions that prevent them from being constructed. Industrial centers may be better than the center of town for shelters, however they are not near services. Businesses don’t want groups of homeless people near them either.
Lastly, we should create more opportunities for healthcare among mentally ill and those who need rehab. Far too many times do people walk into a facility only to be turned away by a lack of available beds. A major issue is the cost, a person may have to go to the emergency room a handful of times throughout a year and those bills begin to stack up. By providing additional primary-care physicians, we may have a better understanding of the cause of mental health challenges that result from homelessness or is caused by it.
I know that this is not easy work. What keeps you going?
This was my calling in life. There was a reason I was on that call in 2008 when someone died in our church. God prepared me as a kid, watching my mother being kind. If there was no success — would I still do this? Yes, because success comes in different packages. You have to look for it, sometimes it’s hard to measure.
Do you have hope that one day this great social challenge can be solved completely?
Yes I do. Our goal is to prevent and end homelessness in Santa Paula. Every community needs to decide what’s possible for them to accomplish and go out and do it. Every community needs a group of people with the same goal, same heart, and the same determination. I believe we can solve this problem but there is equal value in making someone’s life easier and better even if just for a day.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
You can’t save everyone. Not everyone wants to be saved.
Your heart will be broken every day, but it doesn’t mean you’re not making a difference.
You have to be consistent. When I say “no” — I mean no and here’s why. People with addictions are clever and manipulative. They have to be in order to survive.
I wish I had known more about addiction when I started this. There is no one immune to the struggle, addiction does not know race, color, gender, my own daughter died of a prescription drug overdose. These experiences have not only shaped me but help me relate to those I am trying to help. In fact, twenty years ago, I decided to stop drinking wine to lead by example, so I could look people in the eye facing addiction and let them know that it is possible to do.
These problems didn’t develop overnight. While we can make progress every day, this will not be solved in one day.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
The movement would be towards viewing housing differently. Not everyone needs or wants a three bedroom home with a fireplace. We have to look at providing safe shelter for everyone. We can popularize “minimal living” by helping people think about it.
One person can make a difference, but eventually you need others to invest in the work. Not everyone can be a spark, but everyone can be a log on the fire.
The first days can be scary, but it’s simpler than you think. When we began in 2009, I emailed a dozen people asking if they could cook an extra dish for us to distribute, after 10 people said yes, I knew we had something special. People will support a brave idea. Most people are kind, but not everyone knows how to relate to people on the street. If I had to start over again, I would incorporate a kindness dimension. While not everyone can reach out to a homeless person, everyone can be kind.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Give somebody a chance to do something great and they will. I have watched so many people blossom because someone said — “come with me”. Everyone wants to be included and be a responsible person, but they may not be equipped with those tools yet. With mentoring, they can be guided to do some pretty extraordinary things.
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, especially if we tag them. 🙂
Mother Theresa — if living — what an inspiring person she was.
Father Greg Boyle. He serves in south LA and is the executive director of the world’s largest gang intervention program in the world, Homeboy Industries. He talks about kinship, which inspires me to build that into programs that put people to work. We were designed to work. When we don’t, we flounder.
Katie McLaughlin of McLaughlin Method: Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Time
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Ground your team and yourself in the things that we can control in our day to day. We want to control the things that are uncertain, but we can’t. It’s helpful to focus on the things that we can accomplish each day so we don’t get lost in the overwhelm of what may or may not happen.
Katie is passionate about creating happier, healthier workplaces. In her business: McLaughlin Method, Katie leverages her decades of experience driving organizational change, transforming processes and training programs, and applying principles of adult behavior & performance to create people focused leaders and team cultures. Companies who work with Katie, learn from the benchmarks and successes of over 15 software companies that have coached and trained with her. Katie believes that culture must be consistently reinforced and brought into all interactions at work. Through leadership development programs, executives and rising leaders learn how to inspire and motivate their diverse teams, plus make inclusion and engagement priorities in the team culture. Katie believes all trainings must develop real skills and go beyond theory so her sessions are highly interactive, employing theatre exercises and games to go deeper while cementing the learning.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
I started my career in nonprofits and education administration before entering the startup/tech world where I found my sweet spot in my career. I left college with loads of theatre training and a passion for sharing the life lessons from theatre with others. Then I stumbled into the fun world of technology and software startups. I say “startup” but at the point where I joined these companies, they frequently had more than 150 employees. But they wore the term startup as a badge of honor for how they were moving quickly and looking to create a different kind of company culture.
After spending more than 10 years in technology startups working in people-related roles — from training, talent, sales enablement and change management, I realized that I was leveraging my knowledge of human behavior from my theatre training. I’ve had success coaching employees, developing managers, and executing training and change management programs that get results. So now in my business McLaughlin Method (www.mclaughlinmethod.com), I help my clients adopt behaviors that will help them connect to and motivate their teams through an application of theatre concepts and exercises.
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?
A funny thing that has happened throughout my career is running into the leader or head of the company without knowing who they are. When I did research before starting to work for company, rarely did I look up who the CEO was. Especially since my early career positions didn’t have me working with the CEO. So there were a number of times when that CEO or other senior leader would “pop” into a team meeting or I would encounter them in the elevator and not realize who they were. What I took away from this experience was the realization that very few new hire onboardings include mentions of their senior leadership. There’s just this expectation that people figure out who the senior leaders are by osmosis. This reminded me of just how “invisible” senior leadership can be to the rest of the organization.
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?
Taking the leap to start a business is not an easy one. I’ve definitely struggled with self-doubt. In fact, I’ve been wanting to start this business for over a decade, and I am just wrapping up my first year in business. There are too many people to name who have helped support me on the journey to entrepreneurism. I want to celebrate one individual, Morgan Thompson, who has been a mentee and former employee of mine. Her positivity, belief and confidence in me, at just the right moment, has really stuck with me. In the end, it wasn’t about who was teaching whom. We need people in our lives that can reflect back to us what they see in us, and not just what our self-doubt or gremlins are telling us about ourselves.
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?
The passion driving my company, McLaughlin Method, is a deep passion for people and creating happier, healthier workplaces. I have seen and felt the joy of people seeing their own potential, using their skills in new ways, and being fully accepted for who they are at work. But I’ve also seen the flip side. There’s been too many promises made by companies to create a workplace where you can be your authentic self, to then have the experience of toxic leadership, bullying, and other forms of workplace hurt. I am on a mission to stop this workplace hurt and transform the ways that we all relate to each other in the workplace.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?
Working in startups, there’s uncertainty every day. One particularly difficult moment was when our department’s executive was terminated suddenly. Like my team, I had no advance warning, and we were all filled with questions about our own jobs and what this meant for our team. The first thing I did was to meet with my team directly. I wanted to know what they were feeling or what questions they had. Then I leveled with them, and helped them know that this was news to me as well, and was bringing up all kinds of questions for me too. Ultimately, I encouraged all of us to focus on what we could control — the work that we were doing that day. We all left that conversation feeling closer, more connected and supported because we knew that we were all going through something challenging. It also helped knowing that there were things we could still focus on.
Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?
We all consider giving up when things get tough. It’s a very human response. Whenever I’m faced with swirling challenges around me, I do my best to focus back on the present moment. Getting grounded again in who I am and what I can do in the moment. Many times, the best thing I can do is take a break from work or whatever the present challenge is, get some fresh air, move my body. I can only be there for others as a leader if I am also taking care of myself and my needs.
What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?
During challenging times, leaders need to be a steady, grounded presence. This doesn’t mean that we have to have it all figured out or together. We are human after all and we have emotional responses to challenging times, just like our teams do. What’s important is that we recognize that our teams will take their cues from us. If we are calm, they will be more calm. If we are frantic, they will be frantic. What’s challenging as a leader is finding your outlet to express your real emotions about a challenging situation. It is never a good idea to unload on your team, so it’s important to have a peer, a mentor, a coach, or someone outside of work that you can vent to and get support from.
When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?
This is a great place to look for something nonwork related to connect with their team. We regularly do Team Health Rebuilding workshops for teams to connect, play, and have fun again as a team. Think outside the box on what your team needs right now. It can be super helpful to remind your team that they matter as individuals and not just as an employee.
What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?
It’s always best to communicate difficult news live with voice and video. This gives you a chance to communicate using empathy and you can use your emotional intelligence skills to observe and tease out what your team member’s reactions are. If you’re not able to do this live, then a recorded video could also work well to communicate a message more broadly like to your customers.
How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?
I could take that question at face value and assume you mean that leaders shouldn’t make plans because of that unpredictability. When in fact, if we don’t make any plans, we feel even more like we are floundering and lost. Having some plans is very grounding and helps you stay centered and focused. You have to be willing to change those plans though once you get new information. Generally, as leaders, the best that we can do is focus our companies and teams on goals and let go of the prescriptive nature of being overly directive or controlling. When we get to prescriptive, we limit our team members’ creativity, too.
Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?
Focus on people first, and the business outcomes will follow. People show up all over our businesses — as employees and customers. When we focus on our employees, giving them what they need, our employees then help make our customers happy. When we focus on our customers, learning what their changing and shifting needs are, the better we’ll be able to design and build the products and services that they need. Focusing on people is a lasting strategy.
Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?
Sure! First up: Sticking with a plan that isn’t working. This should be a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised the number of times I’ve seen businesses stay stuck in their previous plans. When the market and the needs of our customers change that dramatically, our business plans need to be willing to change, too. Driving towards goals that are unrealistic or no longer are what the customer needs breeds distrust, reluctance and disengagement within your team.
Next: Pulling important discussions behind closed doors. When you’re faced with difficult times as a business, you have to make difficult decisions about employees, hiring, and the direction of your company. You’d be surprised at how much your team can feel the uncertainty in the air. You might think that by bringing these conversations behind closed doors that you’d be sparing your team members from the fear or swirling on various topics. What you create is the opposite. When our team members don’t get communication about the challenges that the company is facing or the tough decisions that the business has to make, they will start to worry and possibly project their own worst fears out into their teams. Use your team to help you make these tough decisions. They might have amazing, thoughtful ideas that you’d never even considered.
Lastly, Losing sight of their values and overfocusing on revenue or profits. When your business isn’t making money the way that you’d expected, it’s easy to overly focus on the data of costs vs. revenue. What you miss out on is an opportunity to look again at your company values and make decisions for your business, your team, and your customers that are informed by those values. Many companies spend a lot of time considering their values when starting the company, but they can be the backbone that you lean on when you have to make decisions at critical junctures.
Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?
Whenever I’m faced with uncertainty or am trying to gain traction again, I look back at what information or data I have about what my customers want. Not being afraid to pivot or innovate into new revenue streams has been key. Turbulent times always call for innovation and being nimble to pivot quickly when needed.
Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times? Please share a story or an example for each.
Be present for your team. You can make a world of difference during uncertain times by showing up to meet with your team members — either 1:1 or in team meetings. If you’ve gotten away from these important check ins, now is the time to restart! While being present, you’ll also better understand how your team is internalizing and experiencing the uncertain times. The more you know, the better you can get ahead of it.
Refocus on your people in your team. How long has it been since you’ve thought about the professional development of your team? The more that you shift into a role of mentor and coach, the better that you’ll be able to retain your team members and that they’ll feel supported during these uncertain times.
Get support. You can’t support your team if you are operating from an empty cup. Whether it’s a peer, friend, or coach, get support from people outside of your day to day.
Find ways to make things fun again. Uncertainty and change can be really heavy things for all of us to bear. Look for ways to bring a little fun back into your day to day and to your team. We do some fun workshops at McLaughlin Method if you are looking for some ideas.
Ground your team and yourself in the things that we can control in our day to day. We want to control the things that are uncertain, but we can’t. It’s helpful to focus on the things that we can accomplish each day so we don’t get lost in the overwhelm of what may or may not happen.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
My phone background has this quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. right now: “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” This quote is so helpful during uncertain times when it can feel like we should just stay until we can see that staircase. But in reality, we can always take just one step. Then we can take another one after that. It’s been my phone background for so long that I forgot it was there. It’s definitely going to be back in my awareness now!
Find your own way as a new CEO. Being a female founder in tech, I realized that my road to success relies on me just being me. I don’t need to try to become someone else. If someone is looking for something different, then they can go elsewhere to find it.
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 Jenny Holmström.
Jenny Holmström is the CEO of Coupleness, an app for couples with a mission to make it easy and mainstream to invest in your relationship. She has worked for the UN and big corporations, and co-founded a child rights organization. Jenny is an award-winning communicator, always striving to make a positive social impact.
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?
From a young age, I was motivated to make a positive change in the world, and that has been the driving force behind my career from the beginning. I have been fortunate to work in many different settings and organizations, like UNHCR. Building my previous organization, and the movement Pornfree Childhood — raising awareness about kids’ consumption of pornography and what adults can do about it — taught me so much. What was most powerful for me was that once I fully understood the extent of the problem, I felt compelled to take action; I just had to do something. But as much as I was driven by my passion, it was also tons of work and very stressful, and I started to realize how fragile a relationship can be. With small kids and not much time to nurture my relationship, I learned the hard way that I could not take my relationship for granted anymore. I knew we needed to do something to nurture and maintain a healthy relationship, but when I looked for things that could support us, it was hard to find proactive tools. Couples therapy seemed to be the only solution, but that doesn’t always fit in with people’s schedules and finances. When I met one of my co-founders, Ted Rosén, we discovered that we shared the same frustration about how tough it can be to juggle everyday life with kids, a career, a house and a relationship. Just like with my previous organization, it was one of those moments when I just had to take action. It was clear that a convenient, proactive tool for supporting relationships was missing, so we teamed up with one of Sweden’s most renowned relationship experts, Registered Psychologist Linn Heed, and created one ourselves.
Can you please share with us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
This is a tough one. What to pick?! Let’s go with one that has some depth. A few years ago I worked for UNHCR. I traveled to Jordan to visit Zaatari, one of the largest refugee camps in the world. The camp’s evolution from a small collection of tents into an urban settlement with bridal stores and hairdressers shows how resourceful people are, even in the most challenging times. I went there with a philanthropist creating UNHCR’s first philanthropic campaign Time to Act, raising awareness and funds for Syrian refugees. Among the group of people was a doctor who was in the philanthropist’s network. One day we sat down with a family to listen to their experiences, and their dreams and hopes for the future. They were all very traumatized; they told us about how the kids can’t sleep because they’re so close to the border, and at night they still hear the sounds of war, causing them to relive the trauma.
The father had very poor health and was really struggling. When we left, the doctor in the group turned around and told him to eat tomatoes — lots of tomatoes. Then she left. We went to the hotel and in the car I started to think about tomatoes. I didn’t get it. It seemed so shallow. Why did she say that? Imagine going to a doctor back home and they tell you to just eat tomatoes. In this setting it was even more strange, after the family had shared so many struggles.
That encounter and my reaction to it has stayed with me. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I realized why she said that. There were no other resources that could support him in the situation he was in. She knew he would be able to find tomatoes somewhere in the camp, and she knew they were good for his health. This was better than nothing, and was the best realistic advice she could give. My biggest learning from this is that the advice you give people will differ a lot depending on the person, context, and how delicate you need to be in some situations. And sometimes it’s ok to refrain from giving advice at all.
Other than that, I have tons of more fun stories. I had a blast hanging out with Burton’s snowboarders in Aspen Breckenridge working for Volvo Cars, and turned down a ski competition with Steve Sanders in Vail (90210 will forever be in my heart). Another powerful meeting was with Denis Mukwege, the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner. As I shook his extremely warm hand, I could really feel all the women who have been supported by him and the Panzi hospital throughout the years.
Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?
I love this question because the more challenges and successes I’ve gone through, the more guiding principles I have added to my tool box. So here are my favorite three:
For myself: knowing myself and who I am is not a one-off, it’s continuous work. It’s a process and a journey I continue on every single day. I keep reflecting and looking into myself, and I think I will for a long time to come.
For my career: if you don’t like how things are, stop complaining and do something about it. In that sense, I think it’s in my blood to be an activist and entrepreneur. I can’t really accept things when I think they’re really wrong. I just need to do something about it.
As a mother: be as intentional as I can, and shower my kids with love. It can be challenging to be mindful, and not always check my phone or be somewhere else in my mind. Sometimes I need to remind myself to be present, and sometimes it comes more naturally. And I try to give my kids different kinds of love, like hugs, encouraging words and actions, which is most often spending time together.
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”?
Active Love is the concept that drives me. It is the idea that we can actively invest in our relationships. Sometimes, good relationships can just happen. But great relationships require effort and attention. Just like with your personal wellness, your relationship needs to be thought of and tended to. Active Love is about recognizing that there are habits, practices and activities you can do to strengthen your relationship.
When you want to have good physical and mental health, there are actions you can take: eat well, go to the gym, do something creative, get enough sleep… you know the drill. The same goes for your relationship’s health. The initial spark at the beginning of your relationship isn’t enough to sustain a fulfilling, enduring partnership. Active love is taking action in your relationship.
Small steps for big changes: Active Love is not necessarily about making a big drastic change, but rather is about small improvements in everyday life. When you train to run a marathon, you don’t start by running the full marathon on your first day, right? All it takes is a first step, and then a second, and then a third. No giant leaps necessary. With Active Love, aim to do something small for your partner every day. You might not even realize things are getting better until one day you look back and can see how far you’ve come. A 1% improvement per day leads to a 37x better relationship in one year.
Coupleness helps you get started with Active Love by providing tools you can use, even on your busiest days. Our daily tracker takes just 3 minutes a day, but creates a foundation for better communication and a deeper understanding of your partner.
How do you think this will change the world?
We will redefine what it means to love. The world will be a happier place. Why? We simply can’t ignore 75 years of research done by Professor Robert Waldinger from Harvard University.
Waldinger presented findings from the world’s longest study on happiness. It shows that good relationships with others make us happier and healthier, and having a partner you can trust and share things with makes you better prepared to handle life’s challenges. The study also shows that it is close relationships, rather than money and success, that make people happy in the long run. So I truly believe that with all of us embracing the Active Love movement, this world will become a happier place. Not bad, right?
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?
I like the challenge you’re presenting, but honestly, I believe that if people start valuing relationships — romantic ones, friends, family, etc. — the Active Love movement could have positive effects on other relationships as well. So contrary to your question, I think there would be a ripple effect of positivity. If we really learn to prioritize our relationships and make that a habit, I think we as humanity are on to something really powerful.
But let me actually answer your question:
Strong relationships can make us healthier, so if our life expectancy extends, what could that lead to?
Divorce lawyers will have less work — but don’t get me wrong, some divorces will still happen because sometimes that’s the right move.
A decrease in loneliness could result in fewer songs about heartbreak, and what would the world be without “All By Myself” or “I will always love you”
Dating apps will have fewer recurring users, as people will build strong, lasting relationships
In healthy relationships, there is less phubbing (when you are on your phone instead of being present with your partner). So bye bye scrolling in bed before going to sleep? And less social media in general?
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this idea? Can you tell us that story?
As it is for many founders and entrepreneurs, I discovered a problem, and then created a solution. My tipping point was that I found myself not prioritizing my relationship as I would like to. With two kids, a house, a career and other engagements, my relationship was not on my priority list. It became clear to me that this would not be sustainable in the long run, and that I needed a tool to help me maintain and grow my connection with my partner.
I didn’t shy away from the tipping point because I’m very driven to make a positive impact on society. I’m used to working with large scale issues like the experiences of refugees, and kids’ consumption of pornography (which is bigger than any parent wants to think, and more devastating than the adult world has realized). So I’m not afraid of trying new things, and can step up when something needs to change.
When it comes to relationships, I had an inkling that we could do this in a better, smarter way. Because ultimately, all we want is to be loved, but sometimes we don’t know how to love well, or don’t have the time or energy to put into it. I wanted to change that and find a way to make it easy and fun for people to really feel love in their relationships.
What do you need to lead this idea to widespread adoption?
Two things: a great product and a cool brand. I’m super excited about both.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Coupleness” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
Mindset is the foundation for everything. One way to embrace this in my everyday life is that I ask myself, “will this state of mind get me to the results I want?” Sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes it’s no — and that’s fine too. Recognizing how I feel and why is important for me as I decide on a productive next step.
Don’t forget to walk the talk. Prioritize your family, friends and partner. This might make me a relationship nerd, but before I fall asleep I ask myself, “what have I done for my relationship today?”
Find your own way as a new CEO. Being a female founder in tech, I realized that my road to success relies on me just being me. I don’t need to try to become someone else. If someone is looking for something different, then they can go elsewhere to find it.
Strive for presence. It’s challenging for sure — in a startup, you need to have a laser focus on what’s most important, and it’s so easy to get distracted and feel scattered.
You are more than your startup. I live and breathe Coupleness 24/7 but I’m also a mother, partner, friend and a daughter. I’m so much more than Coupleness.
Can you share with our readers what you think are the most important “success habits” or “success mindsets”?
Embrace therapy. I really believe in the power of working through disappointments and set-backs with someone who really knows their stuff. And it’s also important to share the good things, and learn from positive situations.
Be active. Schedule your favorite sport or physical activity each week, and the only reason to skip it is if you’re sick.
Brain rest. Schedule some time for your mind to relax. I believe many of us have discovered the power of working hard, but haven’t really embraced the power of letting your brain rest. And I mean completely — not listening to a podcast while you’re doing something. Just being present with where you are, and less multitasking.
Don’t forget those closest to you. Schedule time (it might sound boring, but it’s so beneficial) to maintain your relationships, whether they’re your partner, friends or family.
Be kind to yourself. As kind as you are to your best friend. Especially when life gives you lemons.
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 🙂
My team and I are here to redefine love. To make our relationships a priority for millions and millions of people. To make it easy, fund and rewarding to invest in your relationship. By doing this, the world will be a happier place. Exciting, right?
How can our readers follow you on social media?
On Instagram I’m @jcholmstrom. However, LinkedIn is really my cup of tea, and I would love to be in your network: Jenny Holmström.
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
I do find that seeing someone in person can be easier to convey thoughts, and ideas. We do live in a digital world, and especially with the pandemic out there, we all still are somewhat working from remote locations. I try to be as direct as possible and give steps with bullet points on what I think we need to do to accomplish our goals. I also, for a healthy working relationship, ask for their suggestions too, this way all objectives are met, and everyone has a happy medium both ways.
As a part of our series about “How To Give Honest Feedback without Being Hurtful”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Lillee Jean.
Lillee Jean is social media digital artist who has a beauty tutorial website, and media website, as well as runs her YouTube and Instagram channels. She brings lifestyle, makeup tutorials and beauty blogging to the internet, as well as often vlogs for her fans. Lillee Jean is also known for her documentaries that air on her YouTube channel and are IMDB accredited, which she writes, directs, produces and acts in. She is a young entrepreneur and influencer, known for her advocacy towards the environment as well as matters to do with online bullying. Hailing from New York, she often touches on current event topics such as the current pandemic that is globally happening, as well as climate change. In 2020 she created a live web series, which she airs on her verified Instagram channel, called “Lillee Jean TALKS! Live”. It is also on her YouTube channel, as well as on her website, and is IMDB approved.
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 was always interested in the arts, even from a young age, and when I started to get into makeup, the best place to go was YouTube. Once I started watching the artistry behind the makeup looks that were created I was hooked on color theory, and the art involved in creating beautiful pieces of walking art.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
I think the fact that everyone treats each other with respect, we all have ideas that need to be heard, as well as we are all one big family is of great importance to being successful.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
That is such a hard thing to do. Every day I am learning and growing as a person. If I didn’t find what I do interesting, I would absolutely stop by now, so I can’t pinpoint one thing, the list would be way too long.
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 always leaving my eyelashes all over the place. One time, when I was first starting, I had put them down on top of the sink in the bathroom, when my mom went into the bathroom, she thought it was a bug and started hitting it. That pretty much made my day!
What advice would you give to other CEOs and business leaders to help their employees to thrive and avoid burnout?
You absolutely must listen to people. You need to think about giving them breaks, people are not computers, nor clocks to be wound up. Everyone needs a break, even if it is just to take a mental health day. I think more compassion towards employees, leads to better workers.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
Leadership to me is being there for people when they need you the most. If a problem needs to be resolved, you need to have alternate plans of action. People that work for you need to know you are a constant person they can depend on and will feel safe working for and with.
In my work, I often talk about how to release and relieve stress. As a busy leader, what do you do to prepare your mind and body before a stressful or high stakes meeting, talk, or decision? Can you share a story or some examples?
I meditate. I think everyone could benefit from meditating and creating a more worry-free zone for themselves. It certainly, for me, leads to fewer headaches.
Ok, let’s jump to the core of our interview. Can you briefly tell our readers about your experience with managing a team and giving feedback?
I’ve been doing this a while, but being young, a lot of people tend to underestimate my talents and abilities. I’m someone with a vision, and I know what I want. The most important thing to me is that my team can depend upon me for anything they need, whether it is to run ideas by me, or even if it is something personal. People need to know that the person they work for is always present.
This might seem intuitive but it will be constructive to spell it out. Can you share with us a few reasons why giving honest and direct feedback is essential to being an effective leader?
I can’t lie to anyone. It is counter-productive to me as the brand, and to me as a person. I think the only way to succeed is to be straightforward and honest with someone. Attempting to find excuses to address a situation has never been useful to me.
One of the trickiest parts of managing a team is giving honest feedback, in a way that doesn’t come across as too harsh. Can you please share with us five suggestions about how to best give constructive criticism to a remote employee? Kindly share a story or example for each.
You need to be clear and direct about what the task you need to be done will require;
You need to ensure that people know that good or bad they come to you, to run ideas off of you;
Never belittle those who work for you and with you;
Always be objective at what someone is sharing with you;
Be diplomatic in a gentle but firm way.
Can you address how to give constructive feedback over email?
If someone is in front of you much of the nuance can be picked up in facial expressions and body language. But not when someone is remote.
How do you prevent the email from sounding too critical or harsh?
I do find that seeing someone in person can be easier to convey thoughts, and ideas. We do live in a digital world, and especially with the pandemic out there, we all still are somewhat working from remote locations. I try to be as direct as possible and give steps with bullet points on what I think we need to do to accomplish our goals. I also, for a healthy working relationship, ask for their suggestions too, this way all objectives are met, and everyone has a happy medium both ways.
In your experience, is there a best time to give feedback or critique? Should it be immediately after an incident? Should it be at a different time? Should it be at set intervals? Can you explain what you mean?
I think that the best time is after you have thought through what has occurred. At the moment, when something happens, whether it is good or bad, you might say something that is not as well thought out as you would have liked, and it might come out a different way than you wanted it to come out. I always wait, like I said, even if it is good or bad, to give a final on something.
How would you define what it is to “be a great boss”? Can you share a story?
I define that as being somebody clear in what they want, attends to the people that work for them with respect, and also with appropriate compensation.
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. 🙂
Probably to respect each other more. I feel like there is a huge disconnect, especially with social media, for people to have respect for each other’s space, and thoughts.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Winston Churchill once said, “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” Truer words could not be said, and I believe that anything in life that we do, should always come with a reminder to give back to society.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Better performance. When you create a work environment that values diversity, people will feel more comfortable being themselves. If people don’t feel safe to be themselves, it can stifle creativity and happiness. They can fear rejection and not produce their best work. When employees are happy, they are more productive.
As a part of our series about “How Diversity Can Increase a Company’s Bottom Line”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Guy Kamgaing.
Guy Kamgaing, a Los Angeles-based Cameroonian entrepreneur, is the Founder and CEO of StarNews Mobile (launched in 2017) and a 20-year veteran of the African mobile space. Guy started his career by supplying network equipment to mobile operators and ISPs in Africa and other developing markets, later entering the Value Added Services space by founding Mobile-XL and creating the XL Browser, the first mobile browser using SMS as a content bearer, before data and smartphones became mainstream. Guy holds an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management and a mechanical engineering degree from France.
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 was born in Cameroon, raised in France, and I have been living in LA for over 20 years. I have worked in the telecom industry for 20 years, starting on the infrastructure side, supplying network equipment to mobile operators and ISPs in Africa as well as other developing markets.
After that, I moved into the Value Added Services space and founded my own company, Mobile-XL, which is a mobile SaaS company. I also created the XL Browser, the first mobile browser to use SMS as a content bearer before data and smartphones became mainstream. So for the past 10 years, I have worked in content and monetization.
Through this experience, I decided to work on creating another platform, one that would deliver African content at an affordable price to consumers. I started working on StarNews Mobile in 2015 and officially launched in 2017. After only nine months of pilot deployment in Côte d’Ivoire in partnership with operators MTN and Moov, we reached over one million subscribers. Today, we have more than 10 million subscribers.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? Can you tell us the lesson or takeaway you took out of that story?
When we launched there was a dancer in Cote d’Ivoire who I met with and didn’t take very seriously. I didn’t think she would be as popular as she has turned out to be. She was performing at weddings and now her content on our platform is generating an income that is almost four times what she was making. I’m very impressed! But it goes to show you that StarNews is serving its purpose. We’re not so focused on A-list celebrities but the B-level performers who can reach a wider audience than they may have originally thought. Our platform is actually proving to be a bit of a barometer of social media and content consumption, at least in Africa. We’re finding that celebrities have more subscribers on StarNews than they have on other social media platforms.
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?
“Hire slowly, fire quick.” That’s my favorite quote because I’ve hired a lot of people and I didn’t fire them quick enough, which cost me a lot of money and equity. It also caused a lot of distraction and opportunity cost. For example, we recently found out one of our front-end developers was terrible and we kept him, but the real cost was not the amount of money we paid but the delay it created in research and development. Had we fired him and replaced him with somebody better, we would have resolved our issues with digital acquisition.
I have so many examples — at least ten — of people we should have fired or fired sooner than we did. In a startup environment, that just cannot happen.
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?
To me, my success comes from inception. I think about my pop. Whatever I’m doing today was instilled in me by my father. Not only was he my inspiration but he’s also the guy who set the bar. Everything else — everything that I’m doing or what I’m going through started from there.
The other person I think of is a guy named Norm Schiffman. He was my mentor for many years and is still a friend today. He made me understand life in a different way. I had never experienced failure until 2011 when I lost everything. I had never failed because I never really experienced adversity and I was an optimist. I always thought ‘things will always work out.’ Norm taught me that things will never just work out–it’s up to you to make them work out. Norm was the total opposite of me, more of a glass-half-empty kind of guy. But 99% of the time Norm was right.
My entire life, my pop was always there. Whenever there was a tough situation I knew he would help me out of it. With Norm–man–every time I would meet with him I knew he was going to tell me things I didn’t want to hear, but he was right. He taught me to approach a situation assuming it’s not going to work out and prepare for the worst because then I’ll work harder. With everything I do, I always prepare this way. Norm taught me to stop preparing for the best because the best never happens.
Success is rare. Failure is so much more likely. If you prepare yourself for success and you fail, you don’t know what to do. But if you prepare yourself for failure, you have a greater chance of reaching success.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
StarNews Mobile is unique in a few key ways, starting with the reason why I founded the company. I started StarNews because I saw how local content creators were struggling despite being very talented. I figured if we can create a platform through which creators could monetize their content, they could earn a decent living. I also saw an opportunity to provide a platform for consumers. At the time, local populations were not able to consume local content, as many other places in the world do. In the United States, you can watch shows and movies — all kinds of entertainment — created by Americans for Americans. In Africa, people were consuming only foreign content because local content simply did not exist. Through StarNews, we were able to establish a local content ecosystem that provides local content to local populations and puts money in the hands of creators.
Another differentiating factor that makes StarNews stand out is that we are two companies in one — we have a content piece and a billing piece. Our competitors are usually one of the other and most are content creators who let someone else manage billing. In the western world, platforms push out content and rely on ads to monetize. That’s what YouTube does. We set ourselves apart because we not only manage billing, but we own our content and aggregate it for platform distribution at the local level. Nobody else is really doing that, and if they’re trying, they don’t know how to monetize it. Additionally, our technology caters to a wide audience in a mobile-only market. We reach everyone whereas our competitors target the top 1%.
We are also very diverse; our team consists of experts in each field, located all over the world. We are not just an African company employing African people, although we do provide many opportunities for the continent. Rather, we position ourselves as a global company, looking for talent in every corner of the world.
Are you working on any new or exciting projects now? How do you think that might help people?
As a startup, we’re always working on new stuff. From the product side, we’re working on a feature that will revolutionize the way people consume music. We’re going to sell music by the track and take another angle towards music streaming, making it even more convenient for people to listen to local music. It will also put more money into the pockets of the musicians, so it will be better for creator monetization than competitors like Spotify and Tidal.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
StarNews has had a great opportunity to help African artists monetize their content. In the past, this was not possible. Many big-name companies weren’t paying musicians the royalties they deserved. StarNews offers a different business model where African artists are at the forefront — they’re seen and they’re paid.
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? (Please share a story or example for each.)
Women are better workers than men. They are more loyal, more dedicated, and more serious about the job. Obviously, that’s a blanket statement, but it has been my experience. We have many women on the StarNews team and many in leadership positions.
More diversity means acceptance and patience. At StarNews we have people with so many backgrounds, ethnically, religiously, etc. With so much diversity, people are able to learn more about each other, learn boundaries and what matters and doesn’t matter to each person. Our company spans five or six countries. In Cameroon alone, there are 250 ethnicities. That teaches our employees to learn from people who have different backgrounds, different values, different ways of doing business.
Different opinions. This builds on the last point. When you have people with very diverse backgrounds, you have the opportunity to hear diverse perspectives. This leads to better problem solving, decision making, and increased productivity.
Better performance. When you create a work environment that values diversity, people will feel more comfortable being themselves. If people don’t feel safe to be themselves, it can stifle creativity and happiness. They can fear rejection and not produce their best work. When employees are happy, they are more productive.
Wider talent pool. Not only do we have people on the StarNews team from all over the world, but we also have employees who span different age groups. There are people with decades of experience in the industry and those who are just starting out. These different perspectives help us make informed business decisions and also help us develop new ideas to reach a wider, younger audience.
What advice would you give to other business leaders to help their employees to thrive?
Give your employees the space they need to be creative and feel free to express their ideas and opinions. A lot of companies have upper management that doesn’t listen to their employees, which is a shame because sometimes they have really great ideas that go unheard. If you take the time to listen to your employees, you create an environment where people feel comfortable working and creating great ideas. With that, you may find the next great idea that propels your business forward.
What advice would you give to other business leaders about how to manage a large team?
The advice I would give is to be able to delegate well and trust your team to get things done. You need to trust each person is able to support one another and be held accountable. More importantly, make sure each person’s voice is being heard equally from the support level all the way up to the executive team. At StarNews, we have about 30 employees worldwide and we are growing quickly. We have been able to do so because we value each person’s opinion and ideas, making our company culture unique and a work environment where employees can thrive. It makes more people want to join our team and help us grow.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this 🙂
I’d like to have lunch with somebody who can relate to what I’m doing, not just because they’re a big name, you know? Somebody who can understand the problems I’m trying to solve with my business.
I know it’s cliche, but I’d really like to meet Bill Gates. He’s a visionary. I think he’s a guy with a kind heart. His heart is in the right place. He’s not a pure capitalist. He just happens to be smarter than all of us. He’s a businessman who is always going to win and when he wins, he wins big. But he also seems to be a caring person.
But I wouldn’t want to talk with him about business. I’m more interested in his view of the world and how he gives back. It’s something I feel strongly about and I know he does, too. So I’d like to understand his thought process on giving back and what criteria he uses. The difference between Bill Gates and others like him (like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, etc.) is that he still seems to be grounded. He’s not trying to go into space, he’s not trying to do something super futuristic. He’s more concerned with being a humanitarian. Those are the things I think are important.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
You can keep up with the latest exciting news from StarNews Mobile on our website or LinkedIn.
Thank you for these excellent insights. We wish you continued success in your great work.
Don’t mistake “wants” for “needs” in your life. We hardly need anything to survive, and if we don’t get caught up on the materialistic world that media, corporations, and politicians sell us in order to perpetuate their agendas, it leaves us free to pursue our passions. Passion is the “secret sauce” to many big achievements. Brains, hard work, and passion can allow us to achieve something great. A team of smart, hard-working, passionate people can change the world.
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… Jeff Galvin the CEO and founder of American Gene Technologies™ (AGT).
Jeff Galvin is the CEO and founder of American Gene Technologies™ (AGT). He earned his BA degree in economics from Harvard in 1981 and has more than 30 years of business and entrepreneurial experience, including founder or executive positions at a variety of Silicon Valley startups. Several of his companies were taken public and/or sold to public companies, including one in the medical-technology arena that was sold to Varian, the leading maker of linear accelerators used in cancer therapy. Following his startup experience, he retired to become an angel investor in real estate and high tech. He came out of retirement to found and fund AGT after meeting Roscoe Brady, MD, PhD, at the National Institutes of Health in 2007.
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?
I have a long history in technology, having become fascinated by computers in the seventh grade in the early 1970s. I loved the idea that technology could make life better, and computers were my first exposure to a new industry that would ultimately touch everyone’s lives, improving efficiency and productivity, and eliminating many of the most mind-numbing tasks that humans performed daily. I had a 30-year career in computers, software, IT, internet, and apps, including teaching at MIT as a high-school student on weekends, and later as an undergraduate at Harvard. Teaching allowed me to share my excitement for the usefulness of computer technology and prepared me for success at Apple and a series of startup companies in Silicon Valley that eventually allowed me to retire in 2001 (just before 9/11). The timing was good. I was only 42, and the drop in the economy allowed me to stretch my “mad money” to purchase a house in Hawaii, where I lived across the street from one of the best beaches in Maui and walking distance to downtown Kihei. It was an amazing break from all my hard work and long hours since high school. But long term, paradise was not enough stimulation for my brain and creativity at that age. I longed to get back into business. I had money to invest, so I ended up seeing a lot of business plans, one of which was from a lab at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) where I learned about “viral vectors” from an accomplished drug-developer and physician, Roscoe Brady, in early 2007. Viral vectors were a relatively new technology that allowed scientists to “repurpose” viruses from delivering “bad” genetic elements that cause disease, into delivery vehicles that can bring “good” genetic elements into the body that fight disease. These elements were genetic sequences of something called “nucleotides” that are symbolized by A, C, T, and G, and make up all the genes that control everything in our bodies. A, C, T, G reminded me of the 0’s and 1’s that control everything in the computers of my previous career, and I realized how many parallels the human cell had to a computer. Genetics were just like software. It was an epiphany.
DNA was an operating system, which sometimes came with “mistakes” in the software called inherited disorders. DNA also had benefits: commands in the “software’ that gave resistance to diseases. Viruses could now be converted into “updates” that could repair the cell’s operating system or even improve it! I saw the incredible power of being able to address the function of every detail of the human body at the root drivers of everything: DNA! That original vision turned out to be right, and now the power and breadth of this new technology is generally accepted, as cures to formerly incurable or untreatable diseases are being approved. For example, cures for blindness (Leber’s congenital amaurosis), some incurable cancers, spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), server combined immuno-deficiency (SCID), are being developed by a growing industry of gene and cell therapy companies. My company is a technological leader in this new industry, with a potential cure for HIV in human trials right now, and a possible solution for a range of deadly solid tumor cancers where we can “improve” the immune system response to naturally clear malignancies. The future of pharmaceuticals to greatly improve and extend lives by eliminating disease is truly bright and everything I imagined on the day I learned of this science.
Can you please share with us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
Every part of my career has been interesting: Wandering around MIT in junior middle school learning about robotics and sensor technologies, and finding free computers to use back in the 1970s when they were rare and expensive. Traveling around the world for Apple when I worked as product marketing manager, educating distributors, Apple offices, and consumers about the revolutionary new “graphical user interface” (GUI) that we believed would help bring computers to everyone. (And it did, even though the established computer industry and all the experts told us it wasn’t important. Can you imagine your smartphone without a “point and click” user interface where you had to type commands?) My passion continued right up through last night, when I had dinner with a team of AGT colleagues that may eventually cure HIV, as we celebrated the third patient in our clinical trial receiving therapy without any signs of safety issues!
One of my trips for Apple stands out as particularly interesting. I left Apple’s Cupertino, California, headquarters for a six-week trip to visit a series of computer events and Apple affiliates around the world. I headed east and just kept going until I ended up back at Apple headquarters again, going from the U.S. to London, Saudi Arabia, Kenya, South Africa, Israel (I needed a second passport to do that because Saudi Arabia and Israel didn’t allow each other’s visas to enter their countries), Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, (a short “break” in Hawaii), and then home!
Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?
I think that my fundamental belief is in the “specialness” of humankind. I believe that everyone is of equal value as individuals from a universal perspective, even if we differentiate ourselves in life with our choices and our efforts, so we are all important. Empathy for each other is critical to a better world, and when humans take the time to communicate ideas and collaborate (unlike any other species can do!), we can move mountains and lift ourselves up together. I love technology because it improves lives, and my love for powerful technologies that positively impact all of us has led to a life of continually “falling forward” into cutting-edge scientific discoveries and engineering marvels that has given me a fascinating perspective from the early days of computers, software, IT, and the Internet, as they permeated the public and changed society for the better, bringing new opportunities for people around the world. Now, I am running a company that has developed technology that could fundamentally change healthcare, making it possible to usher in a new era of health security where fewer and fewer diseases or conditions threaten our lives.
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”?
Gene and cell therapy is a powerful new drug technology that operates directly on cellular mechanisms to produce potent therapeutic effects with high specificity and targeting. In other words, we can now develop drugs that only affect the desired cells in the body and make precise, predictable, powerful changes to them. While traditional medicines diffuse indiscriminately through the body, gene and cell therapies are delivered selectively to specific cells and tissues using viral vectors. The ability to narrowly target the drug to just the cells that need it avoids the failures of most traditional medicines in human trials. Most adverse events that prevent further testing or approval of new drugs are caused by off-target effects in healthy cells that did not need treatment. We can now make more potent drugs with fewer side effects because the drugs can be targeted to diseased cells and avoid healthy tissue.
Consider the example of chemotherapeutics for cancers. They tend to be damaging to all cells, but are designed to be the most deadly to rapidly dividing cancerous cells. Because chemotherapeutics are relatively untargeted, they affect every cell, and drugs that are toxic enough to reliably kill cancer cells sometimes damage too many other cells in the process of clearing the malignancies. We all know the classic story of people losing their hair and having stomach problems in treatment. In direct contrast, viruses tend to go only to specific types of tissue and have a very low ability to infect and affect other types of cells. For instance, a certain virus may tend to go only into the liver, so if we need to treat the liver and avoid the heart, that virus is a good choice as a “carrier” of our drug.
Besides the targeted nature of the viruses themselves, the “drugs” that they carry can contain an “if/then” statement (called a specific promoter) that can measure any protein or enzyme in the cell to determine whether the drug should even turn on in cells that are infected by the virus. That allows us to “query” the cell to see if it is the right type, or even if it is expressing a cellular product that is indicative of the disease we are trying to treat, and then only turn the drug on if it is.
Imagine a “chemotherapeutic” that is so toxic that no cell can survive it, but that we can reliably “program” to only turn on in a cell that is malignant (cancerous)! We could ratchet up the killing power of the drug while preventing it from going into or turning on in healthy tissues. You probably understand that we would have a highly effective cancer drug with very low side effects. I am greatly simplifying gene and cell therapy approaches to cancer chemotherapeutics for illustration purposes. There are actually much more effective (yet more nuanced) ways to rid the body of cancer using gene and cell therapies that are being developed today. These new gene and cell therapeutics leverage repurposed T cells (known as CAR-Ts) that hunt and kill malignancies in the blood such as leukemias, and immunoregulatory approaches that activate the natural immune system to attack and eliminate solid tumors. AGT has undertaken a therapeutic development for solid epithelial tumors (breast, prostate, lung, liver, colon, etc.) that stimulates natural gamma-delta T cells to clear malignancies, and has obtained promising preclinical data in animal models. We are exploiting a natural attribute of gamma-delta T cells that they only “see” human cancer cells. They are “blind” to every other (non-malignant) cell. So, when we activate them, they selectively attack malignant cells while never becoming toxic to surrounding healthy tissue. Gamma-delta T cells may be able to destroy cancer cells in the body with a precision that is impossible with surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy. Yet, they are effective enough to clear primary and secondary solid tumors while simultaneously hunting down and killing metastases. This research could lead to a treatment that only requires a single shot of viral vector to the primary tumor that an ordinary syringe can deliver. Imagine if your doctor could treat even your late-stage breast or prostate cancer in their office without surgery with only a single shot. My goal is to send radiation and chemotherapy the way of bloodletting and leeches. I know it is possible.
How do you think this will change the world?
I believe that nearly every disease will be eliminated over the next several decades. There is already a “drip” of miracle cures arising from this nascent industry. That will turn into a steady stream, and finally a deluge of solutions for thousands of formerly incurable or terminal diseases that plague humankind. This highly competitive industry will lower the cost of medicine while profoundly increasing the effectiveness, and these new drugs will spread around the world just like computers have done. Many folks didn’t predict that the multi-million dollar computers of the 1970s would increase in power, shrink in size, and become affordable even outside of “first-world” economies, but now they do things that people barely imagined and we carry them in our pockets. This is the pharmaceutical industry of the future: miracle cures that eventually come down in price so that most people can afford them and can avoid the suffering and mortality that are common in the diseases that threaten everyone now.
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?
Every powerful new technology is a two-edged sword. The discovery of radioactivity led to nuclear technology, that at its best can heat and cool millions of people in cities and towns, but at its worst can destroy whole cities with its misuse. Our new abilities to create viruses that modify DNA will have good and bad uses, too. This technology could ultimately be weaponized, and it may be misused to the detriment of humanity as well. It is my hope that society and humankind will continue to mature and refrain from our worst instincts so that most uses will be good.
There is another obvious unintended consequence that will have policy implications within society. Especially in the early days (the first several decades), this technology will be relatively expensive, and it will also yield life-extending, life-improving treatments that may increase lifespans (for those who can afford it) by 100 years. It may also allow us to select the qualities and attributes of our children (see the 1997 movie Gattaca). This is another potential chasm between the “haves and the have-nots” that we will inevitably need to deal with. Fortunately, I think this is decades away, so we have some time to think about it.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this idea? Can you tell us that story?
When I decided to “enhance” my retirement with some business activity to keep my mind stimulated and continue to fuel my creativity, one of the ideas I floated was investing in startup companies. It was a business plan from a lab in NIH that led me to meet Roscoe Brady and learn about the cutting-edge technology of viral vectors and gene therapies. My “epiphany” about the future that science would bring gave me a vision for the future that I fell in love with. That love gave me the energy to come out of retirement and jump in with both feet, risking my retirement by investing nearly everything I had and motivating me to work 24/7 to get to the better world I imagined for all of us.
What do you need to lead this idea to widespread adoption?
This revolution is inevitable. It is good, and the more awareness amongst the ultimate beneficiaries (all of humankind), the faster the revolution will come.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
People that are “good” and helpful look just like people that are “bad” and selfish. Trust but verify. Anything good attracts sociopaths. One self-serving, narcissistic, con artist can destroy or rob the productivity and accomplishments of a team of hundreds.
A good attitude can be more important than experience. Smart, motivated, passionate people can do almost anything. Anything new (like gene and cell therapy) has never been done before, so attitude, flexibility, perseverance, ability to learn, commitment, and even love for each other is what allows teams of people to achieve innovations and breakthroughs.
The team is the “thing.” Even an individual athlete has a team of people around them to train and refine them so they can achieve the “gold.” Almost nothing of significant impact is done alone these days. Pick your team wisely.
Mutual respect, appreciation, and gratitude is critical for a good team. There are no small jobs. Everything is critical. Success is not doing one thing right; it is getting everything right. Even the janitors at AGT have stock in our company. We don’t take anyone for granted.
Don’t mistake “wants” for “needs” in your life. We hardly need anything to survive, and if we don’t get caught up on the materialistic world that media, corporations, and politicians sell us in order to perpetuate their agendas, it leaves us free to pursue our passions. Passion is the “secret sauce” to many big achievements. Brains, hard work, and passion can allow us to achieve something great. A team of smart, hard-working, passionate people can change the world.
Can you share with our readers what you think are the most important “success habits” or “success mindsets”?
Train your mind how to learn, but don’t get caught up on “what” to learn (particular subjects or information). A powerful mind comes from exercising every part of it, and one subject is like a dumbbell, it can only strengthen a limited set of “brain muscles” or skills. Life is an intellectual decathlon, and the challenges (the games) in it are constantly changing. Time is on your side if you are curious and motivated to stimulate every aspect of your most important tool to survive and thrive. Never stop learning! The world is constantly changing, so you must always be aware to determine, and intellectually flexible to quickly adapt to, the ever-changing parameters of life (the games). If you can reorient your thinking and learn new things quickly, you will be able to choose and influence your environment to benefit yourself and others. Even Arnold Schwarzenegger famously said that the brain is the most important muscle. He was right!
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 🙂
AGT is the “Microsoft” of the “software” revolution for the next 100 years (new genetic components to improve health) with the “Apple” attitude. We have developed a platform of reusable components that can be mixed and matched to form the foundation of thousands of new treatments and cures for previously un-addressable health conditions. We are in the middle of a clinical trial for an HIV cure that has a good chance of success, but that will just be the tip of the iceberg. Over the last 13 years, we have created the “MS-DOS” for the organic computer (the human cell), and we have built the corporate culture of an “Apple” with vision, mission, a team of top scientists and professionals, creativity and passion. Now that you know about us, you have two possible futures: invest, or kick yourself later. 😉
Hans Phillips of Ontoco: Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Commit to a bold future. State it powerfully. Have faith in the vision, so your people can follow you. Keep talking about the future. Focus on what is possible and the discovery it will take to get there. Be willing to forge a path into the unknown while focusing on the future. A leader had personality dynamics on his team. The current product was not working. Politics and gossip ensued. By creating a new future, he galvanized his team, they created a new product and were ultimately able to reinvigorate the business.
Hans Phillips provides consulting, training and coaching for people worldwide. He supports people to discover permanent solutions to long-term challenges. With a focus on sustainable high performance, Hans works to transform people’s actions and results. He also assists in creating new avenues of communication and empowering workable relationships with others. Whether the project is professional or personal, Hans has the experience and ability to create lasting change. Using proven processes, methods and philosophies from the fields of ontology, phenomenology, emotional intelligence and psychology, Hans helps his clients get what they want from life. His clients report high levels of satisfaction and fun, as well as powerful new results.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. 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 father was a top executive in corporate America as I was growing up. I watched him grow as a leader and achieve record breaking success while mentoring hundreds of people to be more than they ever dreamed. At the same time, I saw the price he paid for the excess that went with his success. He was dead by the time he was 50. This was heartbreaking for me and a lot of other people around him. How could someone so dynamic and successful let his inner demons kill him? I began to study success, communication and relationships and 10 years later met my wife Desiree. She was into metaphysical science, and I had never heard of such a thing. At first I resisted. If I can’t see it, it’s not real. But after watching her create seemingly impossible results in her life, I jumped in with both feet. We started a self-esteem program for teens in California and hired consultants and coaches to make sure we were on track. One of the people we hired was a man named Tex Johnston. He created amazing results with us, and I could not figure out how he was doing it. He offered a two-year training program, and I loved every minute of it. I hung my shingle and started my own consulting business the second year and had 23 clients by the end of the year. Year two I had 33 (too many!), and year three I started a training program for others. 33 years and 33,000 client hours later, here I am. I get paid to explore and discover how to have a sustainable, high-performance, balanced and successful life.
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 hired a consultant to look at my business before I opened my doors. Everything looked good until I told her my hourly rate. “For what you provide and what it’s taken you to get here, that is underpriced. You need to double your rate.” she said. Wow. Double? The first five times I had to voice that new price to a prospect were TERRIFYING! So much so that one woman asked me, “Are you ok?” I was not ok! Say yes or no and let me get the heck out of here! What I learned was I was pricing myself and my identity/ego, NOT the results. Selling yourself or the process is easier for you but far less enthralling for the prospect. But listen to them, reflect their vision, goals and dreams back to them and sell them that! Challenging for you, but so much more exciting for the prospective client.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
My first mentor was my father, Dick Phillips. It was such a mixed bag of ego, dysfunction, brilliance and success, it was hard to emulate. The man who trained me was Tex Johnston. His patience, support, clarity, commitment, sense of humor, love and generosity got me where I am today. Looking back, I was young and earnest. No matter what I came up with as a ‘good idea,’ he always responded, “not bad.” And then he would share his wisdom, insight, processes and tools. He had such patience and compassion for my growth process. I will be in his debt forever.
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?
This is my favorite part of my business. My purpose is to share love, presence in the current moment and choice with as many of the people on this planet as I can until I die. I was SO enthusiastic when I started. I was in service of that purpose, and it made the conversations, marketing, sales and delivery so easy. I was passionate, positive, clear and in action. I loved my life. All of that was infectious for others.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?
I had a consulting company many years ago. We were ‘recession proof’ because of our attitude and beliefs. In good times, we did great. In bad times, we had to be more patient, but we still did great. I read years ago that successful people have habits you can follow. I remember three in particular. They don’t watch TV, they don’t read the newspaper and they get up early in the morning. My heart sank when I read that because I loved to watch TV, read a newspaper and sleep in! It took years of practice, but I mastered all three in the end, and I understand why successful people do what they do. It is critical to manage your focus, manage what you let into your mind and heart, manage your time and your purposeful work and manage your exposure to our current ‘culture.’ So much is invented and NOT meant to have you or your team be successful. A powerful vision can withstand the current dire circumstances.
Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?
I did consider giving up a couple of times. Not to get too hippy dippy, but each time I was faced with the likely prospect of having to stop my work, I received clear signs that I was meant to keep going. So clear that I would laugh out loud. Because the circumstances that led to me almost quitting seemed insurmountable. And then the path forward became clear. I take extraordinary care of my well-being on a daily basis, so I am able to make good choices and take powerful actions in the moment. So many people deplete themselves, and their reactive thoughts and feelings run their personal and professional lives, ultimately impacting their results. It seems like a mystery to them, so they try to work harder. As Tex used to say, “If hard work was the answer, everyone who is working hard would be successful. And they are not.” So my focus is on work/life balance and sustainable high performance. I am in the best shape of my life at 60 years old. My EQ is high. My IQ is high and focused. I have worked on healing the family dysfunction from my childhood that bled into my adulthood. I practice what I coach and train people to do. I live my work. It keeps me humble, grateful and graceful.
What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?
Listening, encouraging, supporting, holding the vision and sharing it again and again, not being reactive to the team’s fear/insecurity/anxiety, managing expectations on both sides and practicing acknowledgement and straight talk.
When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?
Create a short-term vision. Have the team co-create the vision with the leader. CELEBRATE the milestones along the way. Have the team appreciate each other on a weekly basis. Check in with people to see how they are doing mentally and emotionally. Care a bit about their personal lives. Resist the urge to burn people out chasing an elusive dollar. Play the long game AND the short game. Give unexpected breaks.
What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?
In person or via video. Be responsible. Short apology. Be direct. No reasons, excuses or storytelling. Ask how to make it better. LISTEN. Make promises about the near future and then get to work keeping those promises.
How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?
You have to do what every explorer in history has done. You propose a vision and an outcome. Gather your resources and your team. And then go for it, knowing you will encounter challenges along the way. And perhaps fail. But proceed with enthusiasm and optimism. Manage the mood as you go forward.
Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?
Be authentic. Say when you don’t know something. Be a bit transparent. Share some of yourself. Also share your passion for continuing the journey and making it to the other side. Someone is going to make it. Why not you and your team?
Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?
Stop all training and coaching
Drive the executive team to work long hours and demand that employees follow suit
Text and email in the evenings and weekends sending the message that work is 24/7
Not taking rest periods to regroup and remind yourself why you are working in the first place
Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?
I just assume that business is being done. Why not do it with me? This is a great time to get support. If the dollar is harder to get, why wouldn’t you and your team get training on how to best pursue that dollar? There is so much training/coaching/consulting that goes right to the bottom line for a company. And they don’t realize it. So they just work harder and longer, and they miss the opportunity that challenging times present.
Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times? Please share a story or an example for each.
Review the vision, mission, core values and fundamental operating procedures for the company. Fine tune all of it. Ask the team to add their feedback. Take it or don’t but ask, as this leads to buy-in. Then take the time to present and talk about each item. If you want your team to be fully invested, you have to guide them to investing in each part. I know a company that was in turmoil. Everyone came on board because they loved the product, the service and the leader. When I came in, I discovered they were 12 months into a ’sprint’ and no one knew when it was going to end. They had lost all sight of the foundation of the company. Everyone was busy, and nobody was happy. Needless to say, I did not get hired, and the sprint continued.
Focus on appreciation. People will work far harder for love and appreciation than they will for money. You can appreciate your peoples actions (“Thanks for turning in that report on time last Friday.”), but it is more impactful to appreciate their core qualities and who they are as they take the actions (“I appreciate your focus, integrity and attention to detail. It really improved the report you submitted). A number of executives I have worked with see appreciation as a demotivator. When I had an executive include it in each of his team meetings, one of the members said, “This is my favorite meeting each week.” Appreciation works!
Double down on higher levels of self-care. Most people work harder and longer in challenging times. But this has a limit, which people often exceed. And then you have to deal with burnout. Instead, work on being more efficient and effective. Make sure you rest, recharge and play when you are off work. Give up living to work and take on working to live. Share about some of your experiences during your time off with your people, so they can see you enjoying yourself. An executive I was working with was able to manage his mood and his psychology in a new way that had his people be optimistic and enthusiastic about the current and future challenges. He inspired them with his vitality.
Take the time to coach/train/mentor. Oftentimes people isolate during difficult times. Many companies throw coaching and training out the window to cut costs. When you see a team member who needs support, put them with someone who can coach/train/mentor them. You may want to consider being proactive about this vs. waiting for people to need it. A leader I was working with created a buddy system so each team member had someone to share support with. Productivity increases as people focus on the vision and actions versus negative thoughts and feelings.
Commit to a bold future. State it powerfully. Have faith in the vision, so your people can follow you. Keep talking about the future. Focus on what is possible and the discovery it will take to get there. Be willing to forge a path into the unknown while focusing on the future. A leader had personality dynamics on his team. The current product was not working. Politics and gossip ensued. By creating a new future, he galvanized his team, they created a new product and were ultimately able to reinvigorate the business.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Boldness has magic in it.” — Goethe
I have failed my way to success. I have been bold, tried and come up short. AND there have been magical moments where boldness has created what is next in my life and work. It works to be bold, but you need to make sure you can sustain it. Mood is a critical part of enjoying the process and the success.
How can our readers further follow your work?
Under the forms section on my website at ontoco.com. There are lots of helpful tools, processes and questions.
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
Make plans but don’t be afraid to change them. It just comes with the job and territory so don’t let it discourage or frustrate you. You learn, assess and then you make new plans.
Jessica Latham has amassed over 15 years of event & entrepreneurial experience. She launched her career in public relations at PMK-HBH before moving into the world of event production. From 2004–2011, Jessica oversaw special events at Vanity Fair, including the brand’s legendary Oscar campaign. During her tenure at the magazine, Jess created the VF Summer Guide, which garnered a massive following, including coverage from the New York Times. In 2011, Jess launched Social Studies Productions, a physical event production company with a distinguished client portfolio. In fall 2019, she co-founded Social Studies with venture capitalist Amy Griffin. Social Studies is the go-to destination for all things entertaining with rentable party kits and more. She is also an Academy Award-winning film producer. Jess currently serves on The Aspen Film Board of Trustees.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. 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 grew up in Amarillo, Texas, and attended college at The University of Texas at Austin. I began my career in public relations before moving into the world of event production, where I produced numerous celebrity charity events, brand launches, and premieres for clients in entertainment, philanthropy, and fashion. From 2004–2011, I oversaw special events at Vanity Fair, including the brand’s legendary Oscar campaign. During my tenure there, I created the VF Summer Guide. My time at Vanity Fair was the ultimate training ground, not only from an events perspective but also as it relates to style, fashion, and culture. Being immersed in the zeitgeist was part of the job and I really developed a love and passion for it. In 2019, I co-founded Social Studies with fellow Amarillo native Amy Griffin.
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?
At my very first job working in celebrity PR, I was tasked with escorting my client down the red carpet. I was told by my boss to announce the client to the photographers on the red carpet before he walked down so they were aware of who was coming. As I saw his car pull up, I announced in a grand fashion “excuse me, excuse me, I have so and so arriving!” All the photographers looked at me like I was crazy. When the next celebrity arrived and the publicist simply walked up and quietly mentioned who was coming, I realized that it didn’t need to be a State of the Union Address. I was very embarrassed as it was clear I was young and green. But the real lesson learned was “just jump” — you don’t have to know it all and it’s okay to figure it out as you go to some extent.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
My husband Ryan. He’s like the secret weapon of Social Studies. While he’s busy with his own career and doesn’t have an official position at the company, he is my rock and constant advisor and confidant. The past year has been a ride and he’s been right by my side strategizing, pitching in wherever there is a hole or need, and heavy lifting — quite literally with our marketing road tour — for nothing in return…just because he believes in me and the company.
Also, my cofounder Amy Griffin and her husband John. So many wonderful opportunities have come into my life because of them, and we wouldn’t be here without them.
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?
Social Studies is about so much more than what’s on the table. We’re here to help people facilitate community and create lifelong memories. Special occasions make up the timeline of our lives. And we are here to help people celebrate them, without the stress. As a longtime event planner, I was frustrated by the lack of easy, affordable, and high-quality party rentals, particularly for small to medium-sized events. I thought, why isn’t there a company out there where I can order everything needed, pre-curated…A one-stop shop if you will. Social Studies was founded to empower anyone regardless of experience to seamlessly plan the perfect event, without guesswork.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?
It’s important to remain positive and be strong for sure, but it’s equally important to be truthful and direct. While we are very focused at Social Studies on an upbeat and optimistic culture, it’s important not to sugarcoat — we’re a small but mighty team and I always say, “no one is going to do this for us.” Tough times often call for difficult decisions and I think it’s important to be decisive and confident in those decisions. It is also so important to focus on and celebrate wins, both big and small.
Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?
No. Giving up just isn’t an option. Too many people who I care about have invested in and believe in me. And I genuinely believe in the concept, the team, and myself. Times can get tough for sure. Building a company is harder than I ever could have imagined. But when the going gets tough, I think of my team and those who are behind me and pick myself up.
What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?
Being resilient. You must get up and show up every day…and show your team the way. Put your own oxygen mask on first so you can remain calm, steady, and confident. Find out how you can support your team so they stay motivated.
When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?
Figure out how to connect as human beings, not just colleagues. Do fun things after work and drum up some friendly competition.
What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?
Truthfully and directly with empathy for the other person’s situation.
How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?
Make plans but don’t be afraid to change them. It just comes with the job and territory so don’t let it discourage or frustrate you. You learn, assess and then you make new plans.
Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?
Be flexible. You must be willing to learn and adjust along the way.
Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?
Not accepting reality. You have to make adjustments decisively and swiftly.
Spending too much time with excuses and blame. You must be solution oriented.
Lack of connectivity. You must communicate and stay connected to your employees.
Burnout. It’s a marathon, not a race. Take care of yourself and your employees, especially during difficult times to avoid burnout.
Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?
Innovation has been number 1 for us. How can we serve the CURRENT need, not the need that existed previously? How do we message and speak to our customers differently based on current circumstances? Where can we find opportunities and perhaps even new use cases for our product that we wouldn’t have dreamed of before? And equally as important, where can we cut and be lean at the same time?
Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times?
Be Resilient and Show the Way
Be Honest and Transparent
Be Decisive but Remain Flexible
Stay Connected
Practice Empathy
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
”Your playing small does not serve the world.” — Marianne Williamson. I constantly remind my colleagues to dream big.
The Future Is Now: Bob Proctor of Link Labs On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Embrace failure. Angel investors and venture capitalists all build portfolios because a small percentage of investments disproportionately drive returns. What few people talk about is the tremendous amount of failure you’ll experience, and possibly for an extended time (i.e., years), before the smashing success becomes apparent. The same can be said for the first few years of development of many companies. It may take failure followed by a pivot or two…or three, before you hit on the thing that becomes a smashing success. In my view, people don’t talk enough about how psychologically challenging it can be to fail over and over. I believe it leads a lot of people to give up too early. Expect failure, accept failure and embrace failure. More often than not, failure drives learning and insights that ultimately lead to success.
As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewingDr. Robert Proctor.
Dr. Robert Proctor joined Link Labs as CEO in April 2016. He was a founding investor and advisor to the company from the beginning. Prior to Link Labs, Bob was the Co-Founder of Blu Venture Investors and CEO, Board Director and Investor of FlexEl, LLC. He is the Co-founder, Board Chairman, and Investor of Wiser Together, Inc. and Phase 5 Group, Inc. Bob served as Global Head of Marketing reporting to Chairman and CEO of Corporate Executive Board. He has decades of Senior Executive experience in public companies, including line, staff, and IPO leadership positions. Bob led teams that won corporate-wide awards for Best Business Breakthrough, Managerial Excellence, and Spirit of Generosity. Bob also served as an associate Principal McKinsey & Company, Inc. He holds a PhD in Applied Physics from Cornell University.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Investing in early stage companies has been an interest of mine for a number of years. With this passion, I am also focused on the formation of new companies where a critical mass of world class talent comes together. At its founding in 2014, my company Link Labs brought together a veteran group of engineers from Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Lab who had worked together for years building, tracking and monitoring solutions for the U.S. defense and intelligence industries. They saw an opportunity to build commercial products for the IoT industry and so Link Labs was born. The opportunity became so compelling that I joined the company as CEO a few years after the company’s founding.
Link Labs is driven by advanced software engineering and innovation, primarily at the firmware level of IoT devices — we don’t make IoT devices; we engineer the software that makes IoT devices more effective and efficient. This requires a lot of innovation and our company holds more than 25 patents for its technological innovations that provide the means to locate, monitor and manage critical business assets anywhere at any time. There is a near limitless number of business use cases for IoT, including tracing the journey of high-value shipments, enhancing workflows, ensuring compliance, improving resource allocation, tracking returnable assets, tracking movements of personnel, monitoring and preventing loss, boosting safety alerting, enhancing property and facility management, detecting costly equipment leaks and failures and tracking prefabricated elements, among others.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
One of the more memorable moments in my career happened on a flight from New York to London, prior to 9/11/2001. I was a consultant at the time and my client was kind enough to fly me first class on Virgin Airlines. There was a full bar in first class and Richard Branson sat down at it not long after take off. I ended up having drinks with him for the entire flight across the pond. It’s not every day that you get to hold a billionaire captive for hours! What I remember most was how much he listened to and cared about the people he worked with and how he gathered and processed ideas from anyone he met. I came away from that flight confident that if I stuck with my passions for people, technology and building companies, I’d be successful over the long run.
Can you tell us about the cutting edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?
At Link Labs, we’re pushing on three general areas. First, we’re constantly aiming to drive down the cost of IoT solutions by utilizing lower cost tags, such as those incorporating energy-harvesting technologies, or by extending the battery life of tags through more efficient location determination and communication. We see many opportunities for significant further gains there. Second, we’re aiming for interoperability with a broader set of technology partners up and down the technology stack. Solution buyers don’t want to be locked in to a particular vendor, they want maximum flexibility so the more interoperability we have, the more global we become as well. And third, we are driving toward greater insights and impacts from location information. It’s not enough to know where everything is or how it is doing. You need to draw insights from that — think analytics and artificial intelligence (AI). You also need to be able to take action based on those insights. That means someone does something differently than before. With workflows, alerts and better reporting, at the end of the day the customer doesn’t care about the underlying technology. They want their business to have higher productivity, better customer service or more efficiency. That means taking data and generating insights and making it easy to take action from those insights and generate a return on investment (ROI).
How do you think this might change the world?
What will be interesting to see over the coming years is how customers turn RTLS into a source of competitive advantage and differentiation in their own industries. We’re already seeing that with many of the projects on which we’re working. These projects are allowing our customers to disrupt their own industries with new business models, lower prices or better customer service. I don’t think most companies fully appreciate how fast this change is coming. It reminds me of the time prior to the widespread use of video on the internet. There was a lot of talk about video delivered over the Internet for years. Suddenly, data transfer rates and storage capability and lower costs all crossed a tipping point and the use of video online exploded. RTLS will reach a similar inflection point soon, certainly within the next year or two. RTLS technology will move from a “nice to have” capability to a “must have” in industries as diverse as supply chain/logistics, manufacturing, warehousing, construction, oil/gas, hospitals, aerospace and hospitality. IoT was over-hyped early in its evolution. Today, it is now delivering on its promise.
Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
That’s certainly an interesting question. All new technologies ultimately find their way to both constructive uses and, sadly, harmful uses as well. As an entrepreneur, you are naturally optimistic and focused on all the possibilities and positive benefits you envision. In some ways, that blinds you to the potential downsides. The one area that comes to mind is tracking people and the implications for privacy. There are a lot of positives, from billing verification to safety and security. But, when data falls into the wrong hands, and then is combined with other data, that is worth thinking more deeply about.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?
I don’t think there was a single “tipping point,” as much as a series of “tipping points” that collectively have had a multiplier effect. One of the first for us was realizing how thin purpose-built IoT data pipes are as well as how remarkably expensive they are on a per megabyte basis. For example, the data fees by network operators for LTE-M services are approximately 100 times more expensive than data fees for mobile phones. I think of IoT data backhaul as a gold-plated soda straw — very thin and very expensive. This high cost led us to focus on edge processing.
A second tipping point for us was our focus on Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE) chipsets as the edge device of choice. IoT is fundamentally about tracking things that already exist. All of these things would be tracked today were it not for cost. The necessity of achieving very low cost is complicated by the simultaneous need for a plethora of required form factors and onboard sensors. You need both mass customization and mass production of edge devices. With more than four billion Bluetooth LE chipsets sold every year and a robust ecosystem of companies making every form factor and onboard sensor imaginable, we wanted to co-opt that ecosystem and provide better firmware for those devices.
Finally, and crucially important, we recognized that the gold standard of location determination is range finding. That’s how GPS and ultrawideband (UWB) work. But it hadn’t been done before with Bluetooth LE chipsets. Our timing was fortuitous. The latest generation of Bluetooth LE chipsets have the underlying radio controls that are needed to perform phase ranging. This gives us much higher location accuracy and a structural cost advantage relative to alternative Bluetooth-based location technologies. Anytime you achieve higher performance at a lower cost, you’ve reached a significant tipping point.
What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?
To date, the technology sector has only been modestly successful in driving adoption of wireless IoT solutions for asset tracking. But I don’t think the problem has been one of awareness of RTLS as a category. IoT has already peaked from a “hype cycle” perspective. I think the key issue is awareness about how fast the underlying technology is improving and how these changes are positively impacting ROI.
For some use cases, such as fleet tracking using GPS receivers powered via on-board ODGB ports, there has been generally widespread adoption. And historically we have seen adoption of RTLS solutions where there is a high concentration of high value assets. Large hospitals are a good example. But to date, we have not seen mass adoption of wireless asset tracking solutions for mid- and low-values assets, such as returnable plastic containers in the supply chain, power tools and calibrated instruments in manufacturing or even medical equipment in smaller footprint facilities such as same-day surgery centers.
We think we’ve hit the tipping point where tracking mid- and low-value assets now
has a compelling ROI. For us, phase ranging using Bluetooth LE chipsets has allowed us to improve the accuracy of Bluetooth LE based RTLS solutions, while simultaneously extending the battery life of a tag by 4–5x over traditional asset tracking solutions. This is making RTLS solutions accessible and affordable for many companies for the first time.
Given these latest improvements, we do have work to do to get the word out. Companies that have evaluated earlier generations of RTLS solutions need to be educated on this next generation of technology.
What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?
Our marketing team has been driving multiple campaigns to inform the IoT community and companies in search of RTLS solutions about the technologies Link Labs is using to enhance the asset tracking industry. Part of this initiative includes creating educational content such as ebooks and white papers through online journals related to radio-frequency identification (RFID) and RTLS.
Naturally, the marketing team benefits from its SEO strategy. Each week, our goal is to post two blogs related to hot asset tracking topics that interest our prospects and customers. For example, earlier this year, marketing drove a multi-channel campaign around Apple AirTag vs. Link Labs AirFinder. The goal was to inform prospects of the difference between a consumer tracking device (AirTag) versus a commercial asset tracking device (AirFinder). We’ve had many prospects come up to us at conferences telling us about the limitations that occur when they’ve used AirTags for commercial asset tracking, which is an opportunity to steer them toward Link Labs.
We’ve also expanded our presence this year at both in person and virtual events. In addition to dedicated IoT expos, we’ve found great interest in our product at healthcare and elections conferences, among other sectors.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
It’s definitely hard to pick one person when there are so many people that have been instrumental in helping me on my own journey. One person that stands out is Jon Katzenbach, whom I worked with when I was consulting with McKinsey & Company. I met Jon after a year or so at McKinsey. I was a nerd lacking business polish and experience. As a newly-minted Ph.D. in applied physics. I was initially assigned to a series of quantitatively intensive engagements, which made sense given my analytic background. But I wanted to learn about other areas of business for which I had zero experience and gain exposure to and interact with senior executives. Jon enlisted me to work with him on a succession planning engagement for a Fortune 100 company. It’s hard to understate Katzenbach’s credentials — he’s a prolific author, a renowned consultant and a great mentor. He was widely respected both inside and outside of McKinsey and took me under his wing as a young associate with some very rough edges. I ended up working with “Katz” for several years and ever since have applied an HR lens to almost everything I do.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
In thinking about giving back, early on I struggled with where to place my emphasis — direct impact (“give a person a fish”) or indirect impact (“teach a person to fish”). Where I have the most impact is the latter, as a mentor and angel investor for first time entrepreneurs who have a mission I support. I provide the capital to “go for it” and get started and then get behind the business with substantive coaching and involvement until it takes on a life of its own. I’m looking for people with a passion for changing the world for the better.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
1. Embrace failure. Angel investors and venture capitalists all build portfolios because a small percentage of investments disproportionately drive returns. What few people talk about is the tremendous amount of failure you’ll experience, and possibly for an extended time (i.e., years), before the smashing success becomes apparent. The same can be said for the first few years of development of many companies. It may take failure followed by a pivot or two…or three, before you hit on the thing that becomes a smashing success. In my view, people don’t talk enough about how psychologically challenging it can be to fail over and over. I believe it leads a lot of people to give up too early. Expect failure, accept failure and embrace failure. More often than not, failure drives learning and insights that ultimately lead to success.
2. Aggressively discount customer forecasts. Most customers overpromise what their future orders will be in order to get more service or better pricing. If you relay customer excitement to your investors, you set yourself up for a situation where you can overpromise and underdeliver. At Link Labs, we made the mistake early on of getting our investors excited about specific customer projects, where the customers were giving us aggressive scaling forecasts. While our customer champions believed what they were telling us was true, their own organizations were much more conservative. They missed their forecasts wildly. In our early years, we regularly overestimated our revenue growth despite backing it up with specific customer calls and forecasts. We simply weren’t conservative enough in discounting what our customers were telling us and we ended up with too much unsold inventory and disappointed investors as a result.
3. Big companies can move fast by partnering with small companies. We often think of the large network operators as big and slow. But when Sigfox, for example, raised hundreds of millions in funding to build a global IoT network, the network operators felt threatened. The response by them was to aggressively launch capabilities for LTE-M, a type of 4G cellular network specifically designed for IoT, and Narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT), a low power wide area technology that enables a wide range of new IoT devices and services. The roll out of those two standards was much faster when compared to the evolution and roll out of 3G, 4G, 5G, etc. Our assessment back then projected that LTE-M and NB-IoT were still years away from being commercially viable. My company was fortunate to be able to leverage the accelerated timetable of the network operators and positioned ourselves as a key partner in helping to monetize those initiatives, which led to strong partnerships with both Verizon and AT&T. Those partnerships wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for the strategic need for those big organizations to move faster by partnering with a small company like Link Labs. Since then, our partnership with AT&T has been instrumental to our growth and success.
4. Identify assumptions that are not true and use that knowledge to drive differentiation. Our product strategy and strategic focus became a lot clearer when we realized that IoT challenged two key assumptions. First, many people and companies were focused on data processing in the cloud because of its capabilities for scaling massively and lowering operating costs. Second, many companies assumed that sending data to the cloud via IoT network technologies was inexpensive. Both of those assumptions are true for mobile phones, but not for IoT. Data transport via purpose-built IoT network layers technologies — for example, LTE-M or NB-IoT — is many orders of magnitude more expensive than data transport for mobile phones. And sending mountains of data to the cloud from battery operated devices means those devices will need frequent battery replacements, which also is not an inexpensive proposition. Once we realized that sending massive volumes of data to the cloud was too expensive and killed the business case for many IoT applications, we began to instead focus on edge processing using the available processing power and memory in standard Bluetooth LE devices. We invented techniques for sending only useful, actionable information to the cloud, which led to a 100–1,000x drop in data transport requirements, which also extends the battery life of devices — which means a large drop in costs as well. Our R&D efforts around edge processing within Bluetooth LE chipsets led to the creation of a significant portion of our intellectual property and today gives us both a cost and performance advantage in the market.
5. Global crises happen more frequently than we’d like to think. I’m old enough to have experienced multiple economic crises in my lifetime — including the dot-com bust of the 2000s, the financial crisis of 2007–2008 and today’s global pandemic. I also remember the oil shocks and stagflation of the 1970s and the deep early 1980s recession with soaring interest rates. If you’re going to lead a company, at some point you’re going to have to deal with a crisis. An early stage company rarely has the balance sheet strength or financial freedom to be conservative and plan on the possibility of a crisis. But you can act quickly and decisively when a crisis occurs. Before the pandemic, Link Labs was heavily concentrated in the hospitality industry. But as it became clear a pandemic was on the horizon, we spent one full week revising our strategy and developing our “pandemic playbook” that enhanced our offerings and diversified our customer base. We executed against this new strategy with lightning speed and adjusted our spending to be in line with a revised and quite dire forecast for the next 12–18 months. It was a very risky and stressful decision to make. However, I firmly believe our quick actions saved the company. We not only survived as a company, but we also used it as an opportunity to reinvest in our R&D and become stronger than ever.
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 the early stage investment community must tackle climate change head on. Angel investors can lead a “live carbon neutral” movement that can drive the capital markets to accelerate the utilization of carbon offsets by high net worth individuals, family offices and ultimately the LPs behind venture capitalists. Individual investors need an easy path to carbon neutral living and seed stage companies need an investment community that allows them to choose investors that are helping lead the transformation to a carbon-neutral society. This is what I am focused on as the next chapter in my life.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Inch by inch, life’s a cinch. Yard by yard, life is hard.”
Every time I’ve felt overwhelmed or that a goal was too high to reach, this quote comes to mind and keeps me going. The saying is widely attributed to author John Bytheway. My mother utilized it so often that I have a hard time believing she didn’t come up with it. Regardless, it has helped me continue to work through challenges across most of my career when I could have easily given up. I tend to be guilty of the other extreme — not recognizing when something is futile early and moving on. For example, I struggled to find the technical breakthrough that ultimately led to my Ph.D., but ultimately set the world record for the shortest pulse of light generated directly from a laser — a record that’s been broken by others since. The credo also helped me stick with executing a business pivot when not everyone was onboard with the decision, even when I feared it might not work. Sometimes when you’ve set a big goal, you have to focus on incremental progress and not worry about how long or hard the entire journey will be. Lastly, I was in a pretty bad accident two years ago and it has taken almost the entire two years to fully recover. The first few months were rough but I set a simple goal — find one thing that was better each week and celebrate it. After a year, I was well on the way to being fully healed.
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 🙂
Link Labs has a massive total addressable market (TAM), patent-protected cost and performance advantages, a world class team and is enjoying 100+% YoY growth!
The Future Is Now: Dr Ali Emadi of Enedym On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Life is about comebacks and the power of second chances. If you have been knocked down, counted out, written off, and left behind, pick yourself up, dust yourself off…and start all over again.
As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Ali Emadi, Founder, President, and CEO of Enedym, a technology start-up company from McMaster University in Canada that develops next generation switched reluctance motors (SRMs), electric propulsion, and electrified powertrains. Enedym has ownership of over 50 patents and pending patent applications and related inventions developed by Dr. Emadi. Enedym’s vision is to reduce the cost of electric propulsion motors significantly and power a new paradigm in the electric motor industry through novel switched reluctance motor (SRM) drive technologies. Enedym aspires to help save the planet, one electric motor market at a time.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Thank you for interviewing me!
My story begins 11 years ago when I was named the Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Hybrid Powertrain as well as a Professor in the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and Mechanical Engineering (ME) at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. The CERC appointment meant I would receive $10 million in Canadian federal funding over 2011–2018, as well as significant financial support from the university, to conduct electrified vehicle research. The appointment also included a new electrified vehicle research facility that is part of the new 80,000 square-foot McMaster Automotive Resource Center (MARC) at McMaster Innovation Park.
I was very fortunate to not only have this tremendous funding with a new facility, I was also given nearly a decade to conduct my research — which meant we could do it the right way and not worry about a ticking clock on the funding.
During my time at McMaster I have founded two spin-off companies — Enedym Inc. and MenloLab Inc. I am currently President and CEO of Enedym, which develops next-generation electric propulsion and electrified powertrains. Our goal — and a lofty one — is to cut the cost of electric propulsion motors significantly and power a new paradigm in the electric motor industry through novel switched reluctance motor (SRM) drive technologies. We aspire to help save the planet, one electric motor market at a time.
Can you tell us about the cutting-edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?
In a nutshell, Enedym is building electric drive technologies that have simpler construction, lower cost, higher efficiency, better robustness, and a more stable supply chain.
We are building a new paradigm for energy systems. Our technology is truly cutting edge and as a company we have ownership of over 50 patents and pending patent applications and related inventions.
A significant portion of the 15 million electric motors manufactured around the world each DAY, are permanent magnet motors that use rare earth metals. In the long run, this poses a tremendous problem. Rare metals are exactly what you think — rare — which means they are hard to source, hard to procure and very expensive. We believe that it is critical that this dynamic be changed. At Enedym, what we have created is technology free of rare earth metals– a new generation of electric motors that take the rare earth metals out of the equation.
Our vision is to power a new standard in the electric motor industry through novel SRM drive technologies. To accomplish this, we have developed game changing IP, innovative engineering digitization processes, andsoftware tools to meet demands across multiple industries in a state of rapidtransformation. This is all a part of Enedym’s truly analytical approach to motor design and manufacturing, powered by advanced software technologies that allow us to develop motors at a fraction of time and cost of conventional methods.
Global dependence on rare earth metals has not gotten the press that the current computer chip shortage that is currently plaguing the automotive industry has. It is our view that this chip problem is ultimately solve-able and will lead to a future investment into making these chips. Of course, what’s happening with the chips is not an ideal situation, but we feel the supply chain will adjust over time to accommodate the chip demand.
Dependance on rare earth metals is a much bigger problem that is not easily solved, and is not just a supply chain issue. It is a lot more expensive to solve the rare earth metals dilemma — these are finite natural resources and most of them are in China thus making access by the U.S. incredibly difficult, expensive, unsustainable, and risky for businesses
How do you think this might change the world?
There is rapid electrification across major industries, coinciding with an increased emphasis on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) regulations. The fact is that there are geopolitical supply chain risks associated with a dependance on rare earth metals that could be quite troublesome in the future.
Our solution aims to change the world by addressing these risks and, most importantly, changing the way people think about electric motors. There are 15 million motors manufactured every single day, which of course has a tremendous impact on the planet. Our technology is much more environmentally friendly and sustainable, more efficient and lower cost.
Currently about 46% of global energy demand comes from electric motors and 95% of current traction motors use permanent magnets, with 84% of rare earth metal production in China. This dependency on a rare natural resource is not good, particularly from a hard-to-access entity like China. In our process we have removed rare earth metals from electric motor construction which improves supply chain and sustainability, reduces costs by about 40% and improves efficiency. In addition, we have digitized electric motors development with our proprietary software, our patented technologies and an advanced, next generation manufacturing strategy.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?
The real tipping point for me was, as I mentioned, when I received the $21 million in funding from the Canadian Government ($10 million) and McMaster University ($11 million) in 2011. With a 7-year timeline, I had a long runway to conduct research and commercialize the results through the establishment of an automotive spinoff company.
We had the time, the money and the luxury to think BIG. We wanted to change the game and we were able to take our time, focus on fundamentals and, in the end, invent a new generation of electric motors.
What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption or usage?
One of our prevailing goals is in the tagline for Enedym: “We want to change how the world moves, together.” In order to gain widespread adoption or usage, we need unprecedented collaboration, working partnerships and camaraderie among industry participants. The next chapter for us is in improving production quality and the opening of the rapid prototyping facility.
What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?
We’ve had a few exciting announcements recently, including a $15 million fund raise and the addition of talented people to our Board. But we have yet to use aggressive marketing to position ourselves as a disruptor in the electric motor industry. Many companies have lots of marketing “sizzle” and not a lot of “steak” — we are different in that way. Our core focus is to continue to improve our technology and get the job done. This article is one of the first profile pieces we have done and we’re very excited!
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?
For me that person would be Randy Reisinger, Enedym’s co-founder and Board Member. He is one of the most thoughtful people I have ever known. A former Apple executive who helped form Apple’s first corporate sales group and an advisor to the famed Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) where the “mouse” was invented and icon computing originated, Randy’s strategic long-term thinking has had a tremendous influence not just on me, but on Enedym as a whole. His DNA is all over our corporate structure. I have been very lucky to have Randy as a confidant and strategist. Not many start-ups are fortunate enough to have such talent behind them.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
We strongly believe in building things that will last from generation to generation. To that end, one of the most important things to us — and one of the best ways to bring goodness to the world — is through mentoring and training others. Our goal is to prepare the next generation to be entrepreneurial, to conduct responsible, ethical research and represent McMaster and Enedym in the best way possible and do good things in the world.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started My Company” and why.
You cannot do everything — delegate to your team and focus on a few big strategic wins.
Mentors are critical — recruit as many mentors (and mentees!) as you possibly can.
Life is not always fair; your whole world might turn upside down in an instant.
Life is about comebacks and the power of second chances. If you have been knocked down, counted out, written off, and left behind, pick yourself up, dust yourself off…and start all over again.
Follow your heart and be different…even if it means people will look at you like you’re crazy.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Nothing fails like success.
This is one of the many lessons I have learned from Robert (Bob) F. Anderson. Bob was the co-founder and CEO of my first start-up company, Hybrid Electric Vehicle Technologies, Inc. (HEVT), a spin-off company of the Illinois Institute of Technology. More than 15 years ago, Bob told me that in order to move from laboratory research concept/idea to experimental proof of concept, we would need to increase our efforts nearly 10 times. And then 10 times that to do product development and 10 times again for final marketing and commercialization. The pace seemed dizzying! I did not fully believe him back then — although he had also told me that he had pants older than me and I needed to listen to him, which of course I did. Many years later, I fully agree with what Bob had taught me — meaning eventual success would require 1,000 times more effort than the initial technology idea/concept. This makes you humble — which I think is a good thing in all areas of life.
Warwick Fairfax of Crucible Leadership: Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Cultivate resilience. It’s not just about digging more deeply within to find fortitude, it’s also about reaching more widely to find friendship and resources outside of yourself. The Bible says a cord of three strands is not easily broken. The more support you have from your team, your family and friends and colleagues, the more equipped you will be to weather the crucibles when they come — and they will come. Young Walt Disney was swindled out of the cartoon creation he thought would allow him to make his mark, Oswald The Lucky Rabbit. But after the theft of his unscrupulous distributor, Disney simply created a new one: Mickey Mouse. Disney believed in his vision, and had the support of his wife, and over the course of his career, friends and colleagues who would help make his vision a reality.
Warwick Fairfax is the founder of Crucible Leadership. He was only 26 when, as the fifth-generation heir to a media empire bearing his family name, he led — and lost — a $2.25 public takeover bid.
The lessons of that loss, as well as his life’s principles and what he’s learned from family members who came before him and some of history’s greatest leaders, fuel his helping others learn from their “crucible moments” and emerge to live and lead with significance.
He is the author of Crucible Leadership: Embrace Your Trials to Lead a Life of Significance (Mount Tabor Media, 2021).
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
I was born into arguably Australia’s largest and most respected media dynasty, a company founded by my great-great grandfather in the 1840s. I was the fifth-generation heir, and in the late ’80s, fresh from Harvard Business School with my MBA, I launched a $2.25 billion takeover that succeeded in the sense — I took control but failed due to a mix of unwise decisions by me and economic circumstances of the time. My effort to restore the company to the vision of my great-great grandfather resulted in my family losing the company after 150 years.
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?
Losing a century and a half of family legacy didn’t inspire a lot of laughs from me — but the editorial cartoonists had a good time with it, I must say.
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?
It took me more than two decades after the takeover failed, years spent mostly in the U.S. after moving there with my wife, who is American, for me to focus not on the fact that my failure had happened to me, but that it had happened for me. I slowly began to reassemble the pieces of my life into a vision that was all my own — not inherited from my ancestors.
A key moment was the pastor of my church asking me to tell my story as a sermon illustration. I was amazed that for days, weeks, months afterward, people came up to say they had found hope and healing in my story. That surprised me — after all, there were no other ex-media moguls who lost $2.25 billion in the congregation. That was the moment I realized my story could help others — and the impetus for my founding Crucible Leadership and writing my book of the same name.
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?
Our mission is to help people live and lead with significance. By that we mean we hope to encourage and equip them to lead lives on purpose dedicated to serving others: from leaders of large organizations to community groups.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?
Authenticity and transparency are always important in leadership, but never more so than during difficult times. The men and women on your team must know that they are more than just cogs in a machine to you and your organization. Be a real person, not just a name on an org chart, to those you lead — and treat them the same way. Let them know, in appropriate ways, the challenges you’ve faced in your life and career and how you overcame them. This will help build trust with your team and commitment.
Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?
All of us, if we’re honest with ourselves, have felt like giving up — whatever that might look like for us. But feelings aren’t actions, and we’re all more than how we feel on our worst days. The key to moving beyond what I call crucibles that can devastate us is to learn the lessons from those moments. Then we need to take small steps rooted in those lessons to begin a journey to a life of something more lasting and fulfilling than mere success: significance.
What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?
Identifying with and inspiring those who look to you for leadership. Think Winston Churchill in World War II, George Washington in the American Revolution, Abraham Lincoln in the Civil War. Their words and actions gave hope to others that better days were ahead — and made those better days possible.
When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?
There was an old TV commercial for deodorant that carried the tagline “Never let ’em see you sweat.” As a leader in a crisis, that’s not good advice. It’s OK for your team to see you sweat — to see you concerned about the circumstances your business is facing — internally and externally. But never let them see you without hope. Always model a can-do — better yet, a will-do — attitude.
I interviewed a woman on my podcast, Stacey Copas — a successful resilience coach — and she shared a great metaphor. Hard times, what I call crucibles, are like a trampoline: the lower down you go, the higher up you can launch yourself. That’s a powerful truth to communicate to those you lead.
What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?
As soon as possible and without pulling any punches. Sugar is a good coating for strawberries — not truth. This doesn’t mean, of course, you adopt a the-sky-is-falling attitude. It just means you share the reality of the situation along with your commitment to work with them to tackle the problem.
How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?
With 100 percent commitment, even boldness. Victory is not for the timid. Plan for victory and reality in equal measure: invest emotional energy into your team to let them know you believe the vision you have for the future is achievable, and you need their help to make it so.
Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?
A shared vision has a better chance of being a successful vision than a stand-alone vision. Get buy-in from your team on the journey you’re taking; give them the opportunity to really speak to and even help shape the plans you’re making.
Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?
Not being willing to adjust a vision is a big one. That’s what doomed Blockbuster. Companies have to be willing to adapt to market and corporate conditions as they change. Trying to soft-peddle or sugar-coat realities, especially hard realities, adds fuel to an already damaging fire. Be straight with your team about the challenge you’re facing and clear in your vision for how to overcome it. Inauthenticity of any kind stops forward progress on anything — a corporate goal, a bounce back from a crucible — in its tracks.
Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?
Keeping in mind that, yes, there’s something bigger and more fulfilling than the bottom line can keep morale high even when, say, sales fall. Cast a vision with input from your team that acknowledges not only that hard times don’t necessarily condemn us, they can be fuel for us to take our lives to the next level. To achieve success, yes, but — more importantly — to achieve significance.
Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times? Please share a story or an example for each.
Embrace life’s and your business’s crucibles: From the ashes of even the most devastating setbacks and failures can come lessons that set you and your business onto the road to true significance. My great-great grandfather, John Fairfax, who founded the family media company I lost in my failed takeover bid, could have given up before he got started on his vision. He was sued by an unscrupulous lawyer on a libel charge — and even though a judge ruled in his favor, John Fairfax was bankrupted. But he kept his vision top of mind, moved from England to Australia to change his fortunes, and bought the newspaper, the Sydney Morning Herald, that started the Fairfax media empire.
Discover your purpose, and act in light of that. Pursue those things you are off-the-charts passionate about, that are grounded in your fundamental beliefs and linked to your skills and talents. Your vision might be forged out of the ashes of your crucible. If you crafty your vision around something that is anchored in your fundamental beliefs, in line with your design and will serve what you believe is a higher purpose, you will not just have a greater chance at being successful — you’ll have a greater chance of leaving a legacy you’ll be proud of. Winston Churchill is a great example here. Churchill might have wanted to be Britain’s prime minister, but he found a higher purpose than just political success. In the 1930s he raised the alarm in warning the British public about the dangers of Nazi Germany, at a time when few wanted to listen. In 1940, amidst one of the darkest times of the war, Churchill finally did become prime minister. But he had a higher goal, to save Britain from destruction in its toughest hour.
Craft a vision that is uniquely yours. I inherited a vision as the fifth-generation heir to my family’s media dynasty — and after the company was lost on my watch, I realized I was ill-suited for the role. I am not a take-no-prisoners executive leader; I am more of a reflective adviser. Crucible Leadership is my vision. It seeks to help leaders in business and in life realize they are not defined by their worst day. That there is hope in coming back from their crucibles to lead lives of significance. This the vision that I am indeed off-the-charts passionate about.
Seek advice from a few you can trust. The solitary hero can make a memorable movie hero, but an unsuccessful business leader. Surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals, key ones with skills different than your own, who are not afraid to speak truth to power, is an excellent recipe for being refined by your crucible, not destroyed by it. Franklin Roosevelt is considered one of the greatest presidents in U.S. history. He likely would not have been if he did not have an adviser with the skills, character and honesty of Louis Howe. All leaders need to have men and women behind them who will both support them but will also give them advice they may not want to hear.
Cultivate resilience. It’s not just about digging more deeply within to find fortitude, it’s also about reaching more widely to find friendship and resources outside of yourself. The Bible says a cord of three strands is not easily broken. The more support you have from your team, your family and friends and colleagues, the more equipped you will be to weather the crucibles when they come — and they will come. Young Walt Disney was swindled out of the cartoon creation he thought would allow him to make his mark, Oswald The Lucky Rabbit. But after the theft of his unscrupulous distributor, Disney simply created a new one: Mickey Mouse. Disney believed in his vision, and had the support of his wife, and over the course of his career, friends and colleagues who would help make his vision a reality.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
We do not have to be defined by our worst mistake or our worst day. Out of the ashes of our crucible can come hope, hope for a life that is on purpose dedicated to serving others. We should not be timid and “lead lives of quiet desperation,” as Henry David Thoreau said. We should instead be the leader who dares greatly, as Theodore Roosevelt said. Let’s live lives of loud significance instead.
How can our readers further follow your work?
You can listen to my podcast, BEYOND THE CRUCIBLE, read my blogs and sign up to receive regular newsletter updates on our work at www.crucibleleadership.com
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
Mary Hood of Hollywood Sensation Jewelry: Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Prepare yourself, before and during turbulence. This means having a back-up plan ahead of time, and if a crisis hits, enlist your team to make sure you understand what the outcomes might be so you’re less likely to be blindsided.
Mary Hood is the Founder and CEO of Hollywood Sensation, an online jewelry store that offers beautiful, responsibly-sourced jewelry that creates a red carpet sensation without the red carpet price, so every woman can feel confident, inspired, and empowered. Mary Hood began her business with $500 in the kitchen of the home she shared with her husband — with a baby on the way! Now Hollywood Sensation is a nationally recognized brand featured on television shows like The Talk, The Real, and Hollywood Live Today, and on QVC.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
I was raised, educated, and introduced to the business world in Iran, where I became a manager at a large oil company. Working in a male-dominated culture gave me thick skin and a strong backbone. Still, I always dreamed of going to the United States. Often I watched videos of different cultures around the world. Glamorous red carpet events captivated me. I noticed how these powerful, confident women were able to take certain classic pieces of jewelry and make an incredible statement. I immigrated to the United States wanting to be a part of that industry.
In the early days, though, I didn’t have the resources to spend money on gold or diamonds. I did the research until I found beautiful, quality jewelry at an affordable price for myself. The piece was a hit when I wore it, and everyone wanted to know where to get one. I snapped up the chance, realizing that I could sell these items, and even design my own.
Soon afterward, I was pregnant, and due to health issues was assigned to bedrest. If we’re speaking of turbulent times, that was certainly one for me. But with time on my hands, I watched some episodes of Shark Tank, and felt inspired by those business entrepreneurs, particularly Lori Greiner. I had plenty of time to take online classes in jewelry making, and to research crafting and promotion. With $500 seed money, I literally started Hollywood Sensation in our kitchen. I purchased earrings and had great success selling them on forums like Groupon and LivingSocial. I was in business.
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 came into e-commerce knowing almost nothing about how to really make it work. However, I had read that I needed to stuff my search engine titles and descriptions with “key words.” Key words were supposed to be the magic formula to make customers come flocking to my product! So, I gave it my best shot and really loaded up those key words. My search engine titles and descriptions were about two miles long, using every possible permutation of the words “bracelet for woman.” The only results I got were tired fingers from all the typing. Eventually, I had to admit that content writing was just not one of my strengths. I hired a professional SEO writer to help and the difference was quite clear. Now it’s really funny to see one of those old links.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
My constant source of strength has been my husband. At my side through every win and every loss, he’s always there to pick up my spirits and celebrate my successes. Things would have been much harder without his support through the years.
Just one example of how he has contributed is in the area of customer reviews — or rather, my reaction to them. In e-commerce, customer reviews are a vital component of success. I take them quite seriously and even now, with my jewelry sold through so many distributors on different sites, I try to read them all.
In the early days of my business, I took negative reviews quite personally, and I’d fret over them, feeling guilty and helpless. My husband was able to talk me off the ledge, so to speak. He help me realize that a negative review is not a personal attack but an invitation to improve, Instead of worrying, I could hear what the customer was saying and find a way to adjust and evolve. He helped me reframe my whole way of thinking. Level-headed, productive advice like that is priceless.
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?
The purpose of Hollywood Sensation has always been the empowerment of women. I believe that a beautiful piece of jewelry can add that extra sparkling layer of confidence to any woman, but that privilege shouldn’t be only for the rich. Affordable, quality jewelry makes empowerment accessible to all women. Every move that Hollywood Sensation makes and every product I sell is in line with that purpose.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?
When COVID-19 struck, it impacted businesses everywhere. Yet I saw that some companies were having success with realigning their products. Liquor companies began making hand-sanitizer. Clothing companies began making masks. I run a jewelry company — not exactly a situation where we could retool and start making face masks. What could I do?
My mother was in Iran, and I was in the U.S. We were unable to visit each other due to the travel ban. I took my own grief and designed a teardrop bracelet for my mother, because I was truly shedding tears over missing her. Inside, the bracelet was engraved with the words, “The love between mother and daughter knows no distance.” Then I remembered that there were a lot of mothers and daughters out there feeling the same way. I sent the design to my manufacturer. It came out beautifully. My employees — mostly women — loved it, and I made sure they each got one. When we launched the bracelet, it sold out at once.
Crises create new needs, some of them physical, some emotional. If you can find a gap your business can serve in the midst of a difficult, turbulent time, you can fulfill a need, lift spirits, and hopefully also stay profitable.
Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?
I’ve never considered giving up. I came such a long way, there was no chance I would ever turn back. When I considered what I had accomplished so far, my work and sacrifices, and then imagined myself on the path of achieving everything I want, I see that giving up is absolutely not an option. Life is full of unexpected curves in the road; this is part of the adventure. I stay educated about my business and my competitors. I reach out for support when I need it. I remember my purpose.
What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?
This is a burden of leadership: all eyes are on you. You don’t want your own fears to spread, so whether or not you’re feeling it, you must be positive. Fear is contagious, but confidence is as well.
Then, I believe leaders have to make the decision not to fail, and do whatever it takes. Go to the bank, put your life savings into it, start knocking on doors, and do what you must to keep your employees safe.
When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?
Keep communication with your team open and honest. You cannot help each other if people don’t have the complete picture. Honesty allows you to ask for their advice as well. You’ve hired good people, now listen to what they have to say. They may have some brilliant ideas or strategies for keeping the business running, and they’ll appreciate being heard.
In the middle of a crisis, short-term goals can be helpful to keep morale high and keep the business moving forward. What can we do in the next week, day, or hour? Having done so, we’ve got a measurable accomplishment. It’s kind of like the rule of making your bed every morning — having accomplished that, you’ve set yourself up for getting things done the rest of the day. One day I simply announced, “Okay, everyone, we’re going out for a walk.” We walked around the block together for ten minutes, and I gave out gift cards. Just finishing that ten-minute walk relieved stress and anxiety, and it felt like we accomplished something together.
Have empathy for your employees and your customers. Make a real effort to see how they are impacted by the uncertainty. Let them know that you’re aware of the impact and help if them if any way you can. Stress and fear can overwhelm people and they may not know where to turn for assistance. If I couldn’t directly help my employees during the pandemic, I tried to provide them information about who could.
What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?
Above all, take responsibility for the news you are presenting. Be caring and respectful to your audience. I recommend rehearsing ahead of time. Then, follow through, and deliver the bad news without sugar-coating. People can tell when they’re being strung along, and they don’t appreciate it.
How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?
Flexibility is vital. If you’re too rigid in your planning, any disruption can cause problems. Listen to the ideas of those around you and don’t assume that your way is the only way.
Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?
Remember your “why.” On the toughest days, this will keep you going.
Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?
They overestimate the difficulty. There’s no need to assume it’s the end of the world. Try instead to think through and then beyond the crisis.
They give up too quickly. I see them backing away from the challenge. Instead, listen to advisors for new ideas and explore every avenue.
They lack empathy for their employees. They simply let people go, or refuse to accommodate for special requirements. This is absolutely not the time to treat your employees like so much ballast to be dumped over the side. Employees are your greatest resource and should be treated as such.
They stop communicating. You’ve got to keep the lines open with your employees and your customers. It’s best to be open about plans and what’s going to happen next. When everyone is scared, a leader must speak up and lead.
Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?
It truly helps to pivot to a new outlet, finding a need to fulfill during the hard times. The COVID-19 crisis actually created an entirely new culture for my brand — people separated from each other and feeling a real need to connect. My mother-daughter inspirational bracelet was a huge success, and it spawned an entire line of products to express the bonds between all the women in our lives, like our sisters, grandmothers, mentors, and friends.
Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times? Please share a story or an example for each.
Keep a wide-open mind. Keep learning. Read, study, take classes, attend lectures, or watch videos. Always be aware of chances to learn. During uncertain times, you have an incredible chance to shake off the old ways and find new solutions.
Show persistence. Few people make it to leadership roles without considerable persistence, so now is the time to truly pull that trait out of your pocket. Refuse to give up. Refuse to believe there is not a way to make this work.
Prepare yourself, before and during turbulence. This means having a back-up plan ahead of time, and if a crisis hits, enlist your team to make sure you understand what the outcomes might be so you’re less likely to be blindsided.
Have a strong support system. You’re likely burning the candle at both ends in a crisis situation and providing support for a lot of other people. Therefore, it’s important to remember to make time to talk to someone you love and trust. Accept any help that is offered. You don’t have to do this alone.
Find the value in any setback. If a leader can convey that she is looking for the value in a setback, her team will follow. Adopt the mentality that turbulence is an opportunity. You’ll be amazed at how this will inspire those who work for you.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
My favorite quote is from Napoleon Hill: “The ladder of success is never crowded at the top.”
I’m in a busy, crowded industry. I’m always hearing that “the market is saturated.” Well, that’s why I want to be on the top! There’s a clear view up there, and I intend to be able to enjoy it someday.
How can our readers further follow your work?
I welcome your readers to visit the Hollywood Sensation website. This is a great place to keep up to date with all of our charity events, television and other media appearances, and specials.
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
Aim for deeper and more personal connections with your customers. Being transparent with your customers is a great way to form deeper bonds with them. Sharing aspiring business goals, heart-felt messages, or personal history allows your customers to feel like they are a part of your business and not just someone looking from the outside in. When customers connect with you or your business philosophy on a personal level, they are more likely to fall in love with your products, too.
Olivia Wu is a writer, creative director, and founder of Innergrated Media, a conscious marketing communications agency. With over 20 years’ experience leading successful campaigns in ad agencies and corporations, Olivia has worked with companies across multiple industries such as Allergan, Amgen, Lennar Homes, Opera Pacific, and Yamaha Motors. She is known for her creative visions, market knowledge, and strategic thinking.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I started out my career as a graphic designer after graduating college in visual communications. Coming from both an artistic and entrepreneurial family, accompanied by my own fascination with psychology, I quickly decided marketing and branding was the space I wanted to be in.
What led me to start my own agency goes way back and gradually built up to this point in my life. I had always wanted to do good in the world since I was a child but never really knew what that would look like as a career. As I see more and more organizations now, as well as individuals, realizing our society needs better awareness and to be uplifted, they are doing their part making noticeable changes, whether in the products they develop or how they treat employees. Myself included — I want to be an agent of positive change.
So after 20+ years of working for advertising agencies and corporations in multiple industries, I made a leap to start my own business to help other companies with similar values. It had occurred to me that even though I don’t have a tangible product of my own to sell to a consumer audience, I can still help those who do succeed by using all the marketing and branding experience I’ve accumulated over the years.
I believe we are living in an era of transformation right now, for the better. We’ve come to realize how destructive we have been to our planet; how important mental health is to our well-being and livelihood; how our lifestyle and diet affects our health; and the kind of influence media has in the way we perceive social issues. Launching new products and services now also carries a responsibility to address some of those issues. Consumers are more informed than ever and equally want to contribute to our collective well-being. Many businesses are in need of a marketing and branding service who understands that responsibility and can translate that to powerful storytelling and effectively represent them and communicate to their customers, with integrity.
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?
One funny (and embarrassing) story comes to mind. I was in my mid-twenties and working at the headquarters of a large fashion merchandising corporation. It was my first job fresh out of design school and an exciting opportunity. One of my first assignments was to design a digital birthday card for the president of the company, to be sent as an announcement company wide to over a thousand employees.
I was given a brief on what the card should be about and that it should include a photo of the president. The VP of Marketing whom I was working with emphasized that the president had a sense of humor and would appreciate something funny and wacky.
The assignment tickled the fun-loving and silly side of my 24-year-old self and I decided to perform some photo shop magic. The finished product was a very cute (and very pink) digi-card with the president dressed in a pink polka-dotted dress wearing a pink, you guessed it, polka-dotted birthday hat, blowing out candles on a pink birthday cake. The VP of Marketing walked over to my desk within what felt like a matter of seconds after I had emailed her my creation. She was stunned, but ever so politely said to me: ”Um, I don’t think we can send an image of our president in a little girl’s dress out to the entire company.”
I learned that day the importance of asking questions and communicating my ideas, especially when working on an unfamiliar subject with high exposure.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
On top of understanding responsible marketing and looking out for our clients’ best interests, I believe what makes us stand out is our holistic approach in marketing strategy and developing powerful messaging. We focus on getting to know not only the product we are helping to sell but also your business philosophy, mission, and how this product fits into your big picture — the heart of your business and why you started it. We don’t want to just tell a story, we want to tell YOUR story, and build a lasting relationship for you and your customers.
I often refer to it as putting emotional intelligence back into marketing and branding. While numbers and statistics play an important role in measuring performance and consumer behavior, forming a connection with new customers is often not seen at first but felt. In a world saturated with brand builders and social media content, earning consumer loyalty takes a genuine connection on a deeper level and a steady communications strategy over time. And customer retention for any business is based on authenticity and trust — exactly what this interview topic is about.
We recently did a campaign for Olokoi, a gourmet sauce company who produced Pacific Island-flavored sauces. Their goal is to become a household staple, like ketchup or soy sauce. In my process of getting to know the founder of the company I found out she has such a rich, multicultural family background that started on the island of Palau, where her sauce was born. I felt we really needed to bring that family history to the forefront and share with her customers, along with a campaign built around a scenario relatable to almost every family — having to put dinner on the table every night. It was an all-around beautiful and successful campaign in that it not only brought the brand to life, it also communicated the versatility of the sauce, formed a connection with anyone who cooks often, and provided a solution for making a quick and easy last-minute meal taste good.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
I am always grateful and excited about any new projects and collaborations. We are currently developing a self-improvement e-workbook that will help people get in the habit of positive mindsets in everyday life. We are also always working on new social media campaigns and creating content.
And to be perfectly honest, I find it exciting and am looking forward to building a solid brand for Innergrated Media. It is both a challenge and a dream project. I connected instantly with this interview topic as soon as I saw it, not only as a marketing and creative professional but as a business owner as well. It is always challenging for any business owner to brand their own company because it is so close to their hearts. Whether we are starting a brand new endeavor or are already established and looking to transition to the next growth phase, we are faced with many possible marketing angles and the pressure to make the right decisions.
For me, it became a manifesto of what I want my business to stand for, and what sets us apart from others — why I started this journey — to develop an authentic voice and create a powerful presence for our clients, so they can better reach new customers as well as retain current ones.
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?
A company’s brand is an overarching identity of the organization. It covers the company’s mission, its culture, its products, and the way it projects itself to the public — its image. It would be the equivalent of someone’s core personality, their purpose, their interests, what they look like, and the way they carry themselves. Brand marketing serves as a pillar and can support many different business goals for a company. Branding done right can disrupt an industry, make a noticeable impact, and generate new business leads rapidly; it can also work magic in customer retention for businesses with a preexisting market share.
While there are definitely some overlaps, product marketing, on the other hand, is more specific and has a narrower focus. It concentrates more on communicating information or benefits of specific products or services a company has to offer. The goals are typically more direct than brand marketing, which is to instigate a purchase from the audience, or in some cases, publicity.
However, branding and advertising go hand in hand and need to be in alignment with each other. Great advertising or product marketing can add to a company’s overall brand equity; conversely, great branding can support overall product sales and reinforce customer loyalty.
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?
Investing in branding is one of the most important things for a company. It can be a hard sell because the ROI is not as clear-cut and predictable. But more and more companies, even in less image-conscious industries, are seeing what a solid brand can do for the overall success of the business. It can create or change the course of an entire company.
If I were to illustrate an infographic of how branding can affect an organization, it would be in a pyramid shape cascading down from the very top: from reinforcing values, inspiring leaders, helping build a stable foundation for the company, boosting employee morale, increasing value in the public eye, generating sales leads, gaining customer loyalty, creating organic publicity, etc. A great brand will stick around for many years, and in time, sell itself without considerable advertising. That initial investment in branding efforts will return exponentially in the long run.
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.
Don’t try to be all things to all people. I say this often, because it’s difficult for a business to not try to market to anyone who is a potential customer. But what that does is dilute your brand value and confuses customers as to who you are and what you stand for. That makes you forgettable as a result. Instead, develop a distinct brand personality and commit to it.
Always live up to your brand promise. No matter how beautiful and effective your marketing and branding campaign is, you can only build trust and loyalty with your customers if you deliver what you promise. That includes truly living the image you project and delivering what you promise in every single one of your advertising campaigns.
Aim for deeper and more personal connections with your customers. Being transparent with your customers is a great way to form deeper bonds with them. Sharing aspiring business goals, heart-felt messages, or personal history allows your customers to feel like they are a part of your business and not just someone looking from the outside in. When customers connect with you or your business philosophy on a personal level, they are more likely to fall in love with your products, too.
Consistency. Make sure your business mission, campaign messaging, visuals, and communications are cohesive and consistent across the board. Sometimes when there are many different moving pieces to an advertising or branding campaign, details can slip through the cracks. If those pieces become disjointed from each other, it can come across as confusing for your customers and can take away from the impact of each campaign.
Offer valuable content for your audience. These days, social media presence is a must for most businesses. But instead of being there just to be there, make sure the content you publish is of value to your audience. This is a great way to share news about your company, engage with your customers, and reinforce your overall brand personality.
In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job building a believable and beloved brand. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?
As a creative professional it’s hard not to mention Apple and their brilliance in branding and advertising. They have been committed to modern design, simplicity, and user friendliness since the conception of the company. Their comeback campaign, “Think Different,” along with their candy-colored new iMacs caused an immediate disruption to the otherwise dull and cold PC world. Since then, they’ve continued to disrupt the industry and commit to their modern and minimalistic designs. Year after year, Apple is still seen as the trusted and premium brand for high-tech electronic devices.
But I also want to take this opportunity to highlight the less sexy brands that are equally successful and have done a great job committing to their brand promises, such as Patagonia. They have risen recently to be one of the most reputable brands in the world because of their commitment to quality products, customer service, and their continued efforts in helping the environment. It is not an obvious brand that comes to mind when we think about marketing brilliance, but it is their steady effort in marketing, PR, and involvement in environmental contributions that make them a solid, trustworthy, and loveable brand to consumers.
In advertising, one generally measures success by the number of sales. How does one measure the success of a brand building campaign? Is it similar, is it different?
Measuring the success of a branding campaign can be a little tricky, and different from measuring sales. But oftentimes, a successful branding campaign can drive the number of sales up quickly, therefore seeing instant success. In general, results for a branding campaign seem to work a little slower and more in the background rather than the foreground but can create a ripple effect. Results from a successful branding campaign can be seen in a number of areas, such as increased sales, more publicity, increased customer engagement, new leads, returning customers, increasing number of inquiries, as well as increased general interest in an industry.
What role does social media play in your branding efforts?
Social media can play an important and effective role in branding, but it is all relative. For example, the role social media plays for a personal brand will be very different from a consumer product or B2B relations. We assess and customize that role for each client and work to maximize its benefits. In some cases, social media marketing without cohesive and valuable content can even have an adverse effect on a company’s brand.
What advice would you give to other marketers or business leaders to thrive and avoid burnout?
That is always a good question! After many years in the ad agency world and having gone through my fair share of thriving and burning out, I am now adjusting to a new role as an entrepreneur and feeling a different kind of pressure. One thing I have learned over the years and on this new journey is to let go of perfection and accept that there are some things outside of my control and that is okay. It is also helpful to be honest about our own limitations and not take on work beyond our capacity. That is part of building a trusting relationship with clients and coworkers as well.
Other than that, I do have a consistent meditation routine every day. I am a big meditation advocate. It helps me tremendously in reducing daily stress and increasing mental clarity. It’s important to make time for mental and physical health, and it shows in the quality of work that we do and in client relationships. When we take care of ourselves, we indirectly take care of our clients.
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 hope I am somewhat inspiring that movement by launching my agency — for responsible marketing and media.
With easily accessible marketing tools available to just about anyone these days, there is also more clutter than ever out in the media world. It’s hard to tell the difference between what quality information is and what isn’t. The real and truly moving stories are often missed or hidden because they are either buried or not shared. I would like to help find a voice for those types of stories and inspire more quality interpersonal connections, the kind I feel are much needed in the world right now.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
There are many life lesson quotes I find brilliant and inspiring. One of which I often say and always try to live by is:
“Anything worth doing, is worth doing right.” — Hunter S. Thompson.
I believe our intention drives our thoughts, ideas, and executions. You can always feel the difference between something that is quickly thrown together versus one that is well thought through and nurtured with attention.
To me, this quote resembles the way I want to do things, both professionally and personally. Whether it’s materializing a vision, customizing a strategy, or executing a design, the intention of doing it well commands the attention in return, as I’ve seen the difference in results over and over again in the past 20+ years.
We are blessed that very prominent leaders in business and entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world with whom you would like to have a lunch or breakfast with? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
I don’t even know where to begin. I’d like to fill my lunch schedule with meeting every single prominent leader out there. LOL.
One person who comes to mind right now (since we’ve been talking so much about authenticity and bettering the world) is Brené Brown. To me, she is the embodiment of authenticity. She studies and teaches vulnerability, talks about daring greatly, lives what she teaches, and she built a great personal brand and organic following because of it. And she talked about all of it with a great sense of humor. She had turned a simple subject, a fleeting feeling for many, into something extraordinary. I would love to have lunch with her and get to know her in person, so fingers crossed she sees this and responds!
Lillee Jean: “Making everyone more conscious about the consequences of what they put out as a digital imprint in the world, will make a huge impact going forward”
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
We live in a digital age, so nowadays, we no longer look at things in a 2-D format. I believe along with the privilege of accessing information quicker, we need to enforce real laws, that will bring actual change to the “Wild West” which is the internet, right now. No rules, no laws seem to apply. I think making everyone more conscious of what they are doing online, educating them about the consequences of what they put out as a digital imprint in the world, will make a huge impact going forward. Even with as technological we are as a people, right now, people tend to weaponize their usage on the internet in a way that can not only have mental side effects for them, but also the people that they affect. I think this will change how we look at privacy, freedom of speech as well as dissemination of information.
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 Lillee Jean.
Lillee Jean is a content creator who focuses on beauty, wellness, and advocacy for her YouTube, website, and Instagram channels. She is also well known for being a young entrepreneur in the entertainment business, who is an influencer, actress, model, writer, producer, director, and model. Born in New York in 2001, her content is relatable and often touches on such items as the global pandemic as well as climate change. You can catch her self-produced web series, “Lillee Jean TALKS! Live”, which airs on her IG TV, her website, and her YouTube channel, and is IMDB approved.
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?
Even as a little girl I loved entertaining people, I just didn’t realize my niche would become more than just makeup tutorials. I’m grateful I cannot only bring joy to people by giving them fun tutorials to watch, but also to be able to touch people with current events that need to be talked about, instead of ignored. I think I always knew that entertaining was a good fit for my personality and this would be where I would start my path.
Can you please share with us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
One of the most rewarding things that have happened to me, has been having the ability to work with organizations, such as CHOOOSE Today, to help spread awareness on climate change. I think that while entertaining is in my blood, being able to also have a teachable moment with my fans, is equally of great importance.
Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?
I believe that following your gut is always the best way to do things. There have been so many times throughout my career, I have allowed, my heart to rule, what I knew was a bad decision, and ended up with a poor result. Nowadays I live by the “follow my gut” rule all the time, the “Lillee Gut” is never wrong.
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”?
We live in a digital age, so nowadays, we no longer look at things in a 2-D format. I believe along with the privilege of accessing information quicker, we need to enforce real laws, that will bring actual change to the “Wild West” which is the internet, right now. No rules, no laws seem to apply. I think making everyone more conscious of what they are doing online, educating them about the consequences of what they put out as a digital imprint in the world, will make a huge impact going forward. Even with as technological we are as a people, right now, people tend to weaponize their usage on the internet in a way that can not only have mental side effects for them, but also the people that they affect. I think this will change how we look at privacy, freedom of speech as well as dissemination of information.
How do you think this will change the world?
It will put an end to a certain degree, the online bullying that exists out there, on the wide vast internet, which is bigger than most people realize. It will emotionally help a lot of people that not only depend upon their addiction of being “connected” on the internet, but also will end their dependence on feeling powerful enough to hurt others because they cannot be found. It is a bit like crypto in away. Crypto is not traceable, and fake profiles, to a certain degree, are untraceable too. It takes the screen away from the people who commit, what they believe are victimless crimes.
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?
I was once told if you aren’t doing something wrong, then you have nothing to worry about. That stands true for anything you do in life. In this instance, people who are affected, will be those who are doing something wrong. They’ll argue that you are taking their rights away, and that you are stepping on their Freedom of Speech. Lots of arguments, all empty, without texture. The potential for good here, outweighs any argument these internet fake protector of rights might have.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this idea? Can you tell us that story?
The tipping point started when I was 15. I was a teenager when online bullying started. It was a 24 hour a day onslaught that has lasted still to this day. I have learned over time, after talking with law enforcement, that better laws need to be put into place. There are, it seems limits, to what even law enforcement can do on the internet, and the pain and suffering I have gone through, not to mention having to rebuild, at my age, a reputation, when I’m only 20, is preposterous to me. The time starts now, for all of us to make a real change, and I believe I can be part of that change.
What do you need to lead this idea to widespread adoption?
I am aiming for a Federal law to be put into place. This is my goal, and I do have a Senator that is interested in pushing this agenda forward. We have been sidelined because of the global pandemic, the insurrection and other things that are deemed (and I agree on this point), far more important at the moment, for Congress to deal with. I intend, however to continue pushing forward, and I hope to make some real headway in 2022 on this subject. We have lined up next year (hoping Covid is not as prevalent as it is right now) some speaking I will be doing at schools, etc., as well as interviews I plan on giving. My ultimate goal is to go to Congress to testify on having some real substantiative laws put in place.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
Be ready for anything because what you envision as something bad coming your way, probably is not one-tenth of what is going to come your way.
Success is not ever easy.
Don’t sweat the small stuff, because there is going to be a lot of big stuff that is going to drive you over the edge at times.
Build a team you can trust, don’t build it on pity for giving someone a job.
Surround yourself with people who will nurture and live your dream with you.
Can you share with our readers what you think are the most important “success habits” or “success mindsets”?
I believe to be successful, you must believe in yourself. I find a mood board to be quite helpful when I am envisioning what I want my goal to be that I am aiming for. Being meticulous, waiting for the right moment to do something, even when you want to burst at the seams and tell the world about an upcoming project, sometimes is better when you wait, and allow the idea to flourish and grow.
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 🙂
The old elevator pitch I am guessing you mean? I would say that my ideas are easy to attain, this in five points is what needs to get done to achieve the goal I am looking for, and to be part of the bigger picture with me, join forces with me to make a change that is meaningful.
Chelle Neff of Urban Betty: Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Ask for help from your trusted advisors. Never weather the storm alone. When the pandemic hit, I immediately called my therapist for business help and emotional support. If you don’t get yourself in check first, nothing else is going to work. On a Tuesday, we found out that we could only have 10 people in each location at a time, I put my problem-solving hat on, and we have made it work. When we first moved into our larger salon, we only had 5 people, so I focused on that last journey and how we overcame it. I chose solutions and hope at that moment, and without a call to my therapist, I wouldn’t have been able to do that.
Chelle Neff has been a leader in the U.S. salon industry since founding Urban Betty in 2005 and has more than 20 years of experience creating innovative practices in the salon and beauty worlds. Neff has successfully grown Urban Betty’s revenue year after year and today has two salon companies that house more than 70 employees. For four years consecutively, Inc. 5000 named Urban Betty as one of the fastest-growing privately held companies.
Due to its continued success, the salon is expanding and opening a third location in 2022 and launching an Urban Betty product line in the fall of 2021.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. 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 began my journey as an entrepreneur by first being an employee in the salon industry. I knew from a young age that I wanted to do hair. At the age of sixteen, I was offered the chance to enroll in Cosmetology school at my high school. During my junior and senior years of high school (1993–1995), I attended half days of regular classes and half days of Cosmetology school.
When I received my license in 1995, I started working behind the chair at Supercuts. I slowly worked my way up the ladder to higher-end salons. I got a small suite at the Gallery of Salons and was an independent contractor five years later. That was my initial stepping stone to running my own business.
I was all by myself for the first week when I opened Urban Betty Salon and had only one hairstylist/contractor for the first 3 months. I didn’t hire my first employee until 6 months after opening. At that point, everything that I did behind the chair paid for the entire salon and my household. It was a very stressful situation. I figured out after having one employee that it was much more profitable to have employees rather than booth rental/contracted hairstylists. After about six years, I slowly phased out all of my hairstylists that were contractors and transitioned to a 100% commission-based salon.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?
In 2002, I launched a website with a terrible logo. At the time, I thought my logo looked good. It was a lady with a city background, and she seemed very cartoonish. Think Sex and the City if it were a children’s book. Not good. We reworked it after a couple of years. I recently found an old scrapbook with my first brochure and the original logo. I showed it to my employees, and they couldn’t believe how bad it was. We all had a good laugh! I learned that you should constantly be re-evaluating your brand and evolving to stay current.
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 wouldn’t be where I’m at today without my life coach/therapist, Rebecca Hamm. I met with her once a week for the first five years after I opened my business. I am down to every other week now. When you are an entrepreneur, you frequently need someone in your corner who can call you on your B.S. in a gentle way. She does that for me. She has helped me overcome my ego and become a boss in every sense of the word.
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?
My purpose and vision were to elevate the salon industry. In a world that considers college as the only option for success, my salon company empowers women and gives each person that works here the ability to become a future shareholder and grow to have an income well over 100k without a college degree. At Urban Betty, we pay our employees well above the industry average WITH BENEFITS (¼ of the stylists make six figures in my salon, where the industry average is $22k).
I have brought on two current employees to be shareholders in our salon company — encouraging entrepreneurship and helping women achieve their dreams of owning a business. I’ve also created a plan for more employees to become future shareholders in 2022. We host personal growth retreats for our employees and have developed an innovative system of mentorship. We want to shatter the glass ceiling and elevate our industry.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?
Our biggest obstacle was overcoming the pandemic. In 2020 the pandemic affected the salon industry significantly. Urban Betty had to close for two whole months while many salons had to close permanently. We chose to stay strong during the pandemic and keep our industry positive through Zoom calls (and even a Zoom Happy Hour P.J. party) and connection. I joined a weekly mastermind with other salon owners so that we could all uplift each other. I also updated our Social Media with inspiring updates about our salon reopening and safety protocol. I wanted to ensure that our staff/guests received the message that 1. “We care about you.” and 2. “We want you to feel safe.”
Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?
Yes, I considered giving up multiple times. There were days when it was hard to get out of bed, and my business checking account was consistently in the red. The bank used to call me several times a week to make sure that I had money coming in to pay for all the expenses coming out.When I first opened Urban Betty, my leadership ability was weak, and my budget skills were even more inadequate. I was behind the chair 90 percent of the time, and I delegated everything that I could to my manager. I had one admin day a week for bookkeeping and one on ones. I wanted to be liked by my guests and staff, and it was hard to step into my power.
There were times I questioned why I was even doing this. I could be in a studio somewhere making more money with way less stress. The drive to keep going came from a desire to do better than where I came from. I grew up extremely poor, and I never wanted to struggle again. Not having a safety net or an option to fail propelled me to keep going; I never had those things when starting my salon company. I decided never to become a victim of hardships that I couldn’t control and instead became a leader to defy the odds.
What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?
The most critical role of a leader is to remain alight for others around them. When you get overly emotional and become a fear-based leader, all those around you can sense it. I’m not saying be a robot, but I’m also not saying to freak out in front of everyone. Save your freakouts for therapy. That’s what works for me. Anyone who owns a company needs someone (preferably a professional) on their side to help them with anxiety and stress. I see a therapist twice a month. Employees will not feel safe if I’m not outwardly showing that I can handle pressure and challenging situations. You have to do the work yourself and be vulnerable around others. Your mind is like a gym. If you just work out (or go to therapy) when you don’t feel like you are in great shape, you’ll never get into great shape. You have to consistently do the work and be willing to share it with others.
When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?
Much like what I said above, remain calm, connected, and engaged. If you checkout or freak out, that’s precisely what you will get back from your staff. When we closed for 2 months, I typed out weekly updates (and even recorded a couple of videos) with where we were as a company and what we were doing to keep our guests informed. I posted those updates and videos on our private Facebook Group page so that my staff could still feel connected to us and everything that we were doing behind the scenes. I also knew that some of the team were struggling financially. I created an online Employee Relief Tip Jar. We sent out several emails and posted on social media how guests could help supplement our staff’s income during the shutdown. We raised just over $6k for all of our team. Those small acts helped keep the culture strong and the morale intact.
What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?
Digital media was a massive vessel for us to communicate difficult news. We posted Instagram Stories and posts stating how we were navigating the pandemic. We also highlighted a story on our page with all of our Covid-19 protocols and news about reopening. We also sent out bi-monthly emails to all of our guests about handling the pandemic as a company and what we were doing to survive. The most important part of this process was to remain honest, vulnerable, and optimistic all at the same time.
How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?
I love the saying: “How do you make God laugh? Tell him your plans.” I think of that often. The piece of advice I would give any leader is to keep going no matter what. Make those plans. Don’t fret over when or where things will happen. If you want to manifest something, you have to set a goal and get very specific. You also have to give up control and know that when and how it will happen can look very different than what you envision. I spent 6 years with a positive cash flow and had 3 months of fixed expenses saved. I never knew what for until the pandemic hit. What took me 6 years to save up was pretty much gone in 2 months of having to be closed. If I hadn’t taken my business coach’s advice and found a way to become profitable and save that money, we may not be open today. So my advice is pretty much the standard, have a savings account, have systems and structures in place, know what 3 months of your fixed expenses look like, and put that in an account you can’t touch.
Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?
Keep your cool. Stay calm and focused on solutions, not the problem. When the pandemic was just starting, and we learned we couldn’t have more than 10 people at a time inside our store, the first instinct was to panic. Instead, I immediately looked at how many staff we could have, how many guests we could have, and what we would need to cut. Instead of worrying and shutting down, I went into solution mode. Within one hour, we had a strategy, and a plan announced it to our staff and instantly felt better. If you can’t find a solution inside yourself, ask for help! It’s always there.
Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?
The 3 most common mistakes I see are out there are:
Blaming the guest. When you shame others online about being late, no-showing, or being sick, it tells future guests that they are not safe to be themselves inside your company. Things happen, and how you react to them in the moment says everything about you, not the other person. Keep your emotions in check and be professional.
Acting like nothing is wrong. While I say, keep your cool, I’m not advocating for a person to ignore any issues that come up. If you stick your head in the sand and don’t say anything to your staff or guests, they will come up with their own story about what is going on, and it’s not always going to be great. And again, they won’t feel safe if they don’t think you know what is going on. It’s better to say XYZ is happening, and I’m working on a solution because I don’t have all the answers yet, instead of ghosting and pretending everything is fantastic.
Borrowing money you don’t have at a high interest rate. When things are failing, and you have to use credit cards or high-interest lines of credit to stay afloat, it’s time to reassess your budget and systems. I know this because I was that person for a long time. It can only sustain your issues temporarily and cause you undue stress. I call that the slow business death. Get ahead of your financial problems by learning how to profit and have at least 3 months of fixed costs in savings.
Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?
I utilized the following strategies to keep forging ahead during a difficult economy. First, I reached out to my most trusted advisors, my therapist, my salon consultant, and my business coach (yes, I have 3 different people). I listened to podcasts, and I launched the Profit First method. Through all of that research, I broke down all my fixed and variable costs to run Urban Betty (both locations). A fixed cost cannot change and is always there, no matter if we close or stay open. A variable cost fluctuates depending on how busy we are and how much stuff we have on hand. Through that research, I learned we had several unnecessary subscriptions that we could cut to save money while we were shut down.
Another new concept we adopted from the restaurant industry implementing a service charge. We figured out a way for everyone to win and our stylists to make more money, jump levels faster, and have higher retail sales. Urban Betty added a small service charge ($5-$25) to each guest upon checkout. We pay our Service Providers up to 20% of that charge based on their current retail to service percentages. This new protocol helps cover our sanitation processes, PPE, group health insurance, and retirement plans.
In June of 2020, we had our highest grossing month ever. We thrived by spacing Service Providers at every other chair, creating split shifts, and opening up seven days a week, 13 hours a day. Our salon manager reworked our entire schedule to give most Service Providers 30+ hours per week. They agreed to work whatever schedule we gave them during the pandemic to utilize time and productivity for the entire salon company, and it WORKED!
Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times? Please share a story or an example for each.
Ask for help from your trusted advisors. Never weather the storm alone. When the pandemic hit, I immediately called my therapist for business help and emotional support. If you don’t get yourself in check first, nothing else is going to work. On a Tuesday, we found out that we could only have 10 people in each location at a time, I put my problem-solving hat on, and we have made it work. When we first moved into our larger salon, we only had 5 people, so I focused on that last journey and how we overcame it. I chose solutions and hope at that moment, and without a call to my therapist, I wouldn’t have been able to do that.
Know how to read a P&L. If you don’t learn what your expenses and your income look like, you won’t be able to properly adjust your budget for a temporary shutdown or setback. I use Quickbooks online, and it took me a while to figure out how to run reports. And even after running them, that doesn’t always mean you know how to read them. I know it sounds simple, but so many people out there don’t know how to do this. When I first started working with Quickbooks, I wanted to pull my hair out. But then I figured out you can literally learn how to do everything on there with YouTube tutorials.
Be transparent with your staff. Let them see the numbers and know what your income, expenses, and budget are. If you’re embarrassed about making too much money or not enough, you’ve got some emotional work to do. People want honesty, and in turbulent times you have to give them that. After the first week of limiting our staff during the pandemic, I typed up a whole update with our fixed income and actual profit so that they would know where we were at financially and feel secure that the salon would be okay.
Be available. We instilled the message that our door, or, in this case (phone/computer), is always open if you have any questions. I let them know that while I may not have answers, I will always listen. This method helped us stay strong and kept our staff engaged and our culture intact.
When help is offered, take it! Don’t let your ego run the show. I am so thankful for PPP loans, friendly advice, masterminds, books, and podcasts. I have so many outlets that help keep me sane. 99% of the time, someone out there has gone through the same thing or something close, and they can give you advice. It’s up to you if you want to take it. I thought 6 years of business savings would float me for a while. After a 2 month shutdown, it was pretty much gone. That was a rude awakening. If I hadn’t applied for a PPP loan, it would have been terrifying. I’m thankful for that help every day!
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
My favorite quote is, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” I heard this quote right after opening my salon company, and I was utterly overwhelmed with everything that I needed to do. I believe that all movement is forward movement. Even the most minor thing like having coffee with another business owner — asking them one question may help you get to where you want to go.
The Future Is Now: Stephan Beringer Of Mirriad On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Don’t compromise on something just because you’ve been asked to. As you try to constantly watch, learn and optimize for your team and yourself, so do others who rely on you expressing your views, giving different perspectives or pushing back. I really believe that we all have a responsibility for each other, may they be peers, colleagues, superiors, partners, clients, or investors. Staying true to this responsibility isn’t always easy, but it is the only approach to true value. Even when you lose a customer by having been outspoken about the real issues, such as trying to convince a market dominating mobile phone brand about a new strategy to remain competitive against a smartphone just being released in California, people need to know, even when they don’t like what you have to say.
As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewingStephan Beringer.
Stephan Beringer is the CEO of Mirriad, an in-content advertising platform powered by AI and built on Academy Award-winning entertainment technology, that enables builders and creators of brands to engage with audiences at new levels of relevance and impact.
Stephan belongs to a small group of executives who’ve successfully worked across multiple disciplines in marketing and communication from creative, account leadership, strategy and business development to technology, data, media and digital. He is regarded as a true digital pioneer and as one of the leading forward-thinkers in the marketing, communication and technology industry worldwide with a proven track record of re-engineering businesses multiple times.
Blending long-term disruptive thinking with the building of implementable strategies, operational excellence and a highly inclusive people/talent approach, Stephan has led organizations to new heights in the immediate-, mid- and long term.
Prior to taking on the reins at Mirriad, Stephan worked for Publicis Groupe as the Global President Data, Technology and Innovation (2016–1018), Global CEO Vivaki (2014–2016), and as the International CEO Razorfish and Digitas (2009–2013). Before this, Stephan was part of Omnicom Group (1994–2009) where he held various positions, among which stands out President EMEA and Chief Strategy Officer WW: Tribal DDB (2003–2009)).
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
While I was in school, studying law, I earned money on the side to pay for my apartment, my car, books, etc. by doing production jobs in the film and television industry. At some point I got involved in productions of TVCs, which really fascinated me in terms of the strategic and creative “art” involved in marketing and advertising. I was so intrigued and excited by that, that after receiving my master’s degree in law, I decided to go into advertising as a creative producer for a very renowned agency. The next turning point came in the early 90s, where I guess I must have been one of the first to see the rise of the Internet and the impact it would have on literally everything including marketing. So, I started building the digital arm within our agency, by doing interactive CD Roms and first banner ads in 1994/95. From that point on I’ve tried to always stay ahead of what is coming.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I find it really hard to come up with THE most interesting story, having done so many different things in my career that luckily, so far, have all been very exciting and rewarding. With that said, a highlight was certainly working for Sir Sean Connery for a few months, launching an industry-first award for TV and movie script writers and co-building one of the most exciting agency brands (Tribal DDB). Another experience that comes to mind was turning around the programmatic media buying proposition and architecting the new data platform at Publicis.
However, the most interesting story is happening right now, as I’m heading a company that is bringing a true paradigm shift to the world of media and advertising with an AI-powered technology that is so fascinating, that one is tempted to think that adoption will come overnight. The truth is it doesn’t. It takes patience and persistence, the ability to adjust fast, the trust and backing from partners and investors, and a lot of energy in a great team. From the outside, this might not sound overly interesting, but when you’re driving it, every day comes as a new challenge and ends with many steps forward and backwards. There’s something unique about what I’m doing today, and it feels like having this big invention like a light bulb, a combustion engine or a computer in your hand, and the mission is to make the world see it, embrace it, and adopt it.
Can you tell us about the cutting-edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?
Our technology can weave brands into films, television shows, music videos and even influencer content after production and in a way that it actually augments the drama, storytelling and viewing experience rather than disrupting it. This is the exact opposite of what advertising in its current form does, which is all about grabbing your attention by interrupting you when you’re passionately watching something or about to start viewing a piece of content. At Mirriad, our algorithms work to create a perfect symbiosis between the storytelling, the scenery, the emotions and the brands we insert. Because of this, there’s a guarantee that the experience will be pleasant. It will help everybody as advertising transitions from current practices to what we offer.
How do you think this might change the world?
We cannot change the world, but we can certainly change the game in the content, media and advertising industry. One of the key benefits of our technology will be for content creators. We are bringing a new monetization opportunity to the content creation space that does not compromise their creative product.
Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
Our technology and stack are developed and geared towards marketing in content. We would put ourselves out of business if we did anything people could get concerned about. The superior experience of the viewer is always our North Star.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?
Interestingly, we have a constant flow of tipping points, versus one that stands for the sudden difference. Think of it this way: every outstanding result our solution delivers for an advertiser, motivates the advertiser to come back, and the next advertiser to test. Every new partner we onboard, motivates another partner to eventually accelerate negotiations with us. Every new tech development we bring to the market underlines our strength as leaders in this new category.
What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?
Adoption at scale will be the result of a progression across partnerships with content owners, engagement with advertisers and their agencies, and of course the integration with the ad-tech ecosystem.
What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?
At Mirriad, we’re using a lot of social media tactics and are heavily leaning into public relations and comms. A constant “drumbeat,” fueled by a constant flow of news is key to our success. So, I would say that the innovation is less in the strategies and tactics themselves, but in the development and delivery of news and innovations that we can take to the market.
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 been very fortunate to have worked with some of the brightest people in the industry who were my bosses, peers, team members, partners and clients. I could name a long list of people, but the reality is that I’m grateful towards everybody who intentionally or not has helped me understand, learn, correct, and move forward. My philosophy is all about curiosity, open-mindedness, respect, and agility. I firmly believe that my progress has been a result of that. I’ve kept learning every day, from everyone repeatedly.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
The world is big, so I’d rather say the world I’ve been able to impact. Here I would say that I’ve been able to lead with ethical values that I try to live as much as I can myself. This, I hope, has had an impact on thousands of colleagues, partners, and clients. As to my strategic and creative capabilities, I’ve certainly been able to contribute to many success stories in marketing that helped companies on their journey. But, there’s also an important goodness factor in what we do as a business today, and where we’re headed even more in the future. By helping content creators with monetizing whatever they produce, our platform is contributing to funding popular culture, may this be in film, music or any other form of content. Advertisers who are investing into this new form of marketing and advertising are the main contributors, but I definitely see ourselves as being key enablers.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each)
Don’t let anyone stop you from following your convictions, visions and beliefs as you build a business and your career. Successful products, services and companies are always created by those who see an opportunity to do something that is new, different and better, and who are prepared to go through tough times to achieve what they’ve set out to do. Beware: many people will say it’s not going to work or that it will be too difficult to pull off, others won’t even understand the idea, ambition and rationale behind it. This is where resilience, persistence and grit make the difference between achievement and non-achievement. This is exactly what I went through when embarking on our digital journey and building a new agency business. I don’t know what people thought when they were hearing our modems all day long or when they saw our enormous excitement about 5000 clicks on our first banners, it probably wasn’t anything overly positive. But we did it, without support, and somewhat against the odds. In hindsight, we could have gone much further than “just” building an agency business. We presented eBay to an online platform two years before eBay actually came to market, and weren’t bold enough to pursue the idea independently after the client had rejected it. We built one of the first web directories (before Yahoo) and did not pursue that, because management told us to focus on services rather than a product, the list is quite long.
There are three ways to look at challenges: Things you directly control, things you can influence, and things that are outside of your control. Once you look at your world this way, you control almost everything including your own and others’ expectations. I find this understanding very helpful whenever I strategize and plan a year, a project, a business. It is helpful when you’re on a roll and when you need to ask yourself some anti-complacency questions, and of course when times are tough, and you need to get yourself out of the place you’re in.
Validating views, convictions, strategies, and plans at all times is key. There are always more views to consider, so don’t go with the first you get — even if first instincts often give the best direction. Forcing yourself to ask for different perspectives is critical and it’s a process that requires humbleness, curiosity, and a lot of discipline. I had a true “aha” moment many years ago, when I was part of a Due Diligence acquisition team and we netted out with a don’t-buy recommendation. While we were right on the operational perspective and the EV, our Chairman and CEO decided to go ahead anyway, seeing integration opportunities across our wider group we just hadn’t been looking at.
Mistakes are good, and if things are getting too easy, you’re probably not making the progress you should. Backslashes and failures are the most natural way to learn, correct, optimize, and move forward faster. This is also why striving for perfection is the biggest enemy of progress, and eventually the one and only mistake one should truly avoid. Changing the programmatic media buying model a few years ago was one of these moments. It felt like having the world against us. People said it couldn’t be done and that it was too difficult, progress was hard to track and measure during the transformation phase, and whilst we had a great plan, we couldn’t know how we’d exactly land the planes.On top of everything we got criticized by the press, as we went through some major pain. Twelve months later, we found ourselves with a streamlined new structure and process, growing satisfaction of our clients, +50% growth, and a new blueprint for the democratization of data and technology.
Don’t compromise on something just because you’ve been asked to. As you try to constantly watch, learn and optimize for your team and yourself, so do others who rely on you expressing your views, giving different perspectives or pushing back. I really believe that we all have a responsibility for each other, may they be peers, colleagues, superiors, partners, clients, or investors. Staying true to this responsibility isn’t always easy, but it is the only approach to true value. Even when you lose a customer by having been outspoken about the real issues, such as trying to convince a market dominating mobile phone brand about a new strategy to remain competitive against a smartphone just being released in California, people need to know, even when they don’t like what you have to say.
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 passionate about education, about exchange, respect and openness. In a world that is increasingly polarized and radical, where nobody seems to be listening anymore, I’d wish for news and information hubs that would offer a full spectrum of points of views, for anyone to see and hopefully reflect on.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Every day is the start into something new”
I really believe that everyone can go for the next chapter every day, both personally and professionally. I also believe that you need the freedom to be able to think and act that way, which is where your health comes in, which can stop you from everything. This is why taking care of yourself on both physical and mental levels is absolutely critical.
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 🙂
The three-digit billion dollar advertising marketing is ready for a big disruption. Why? Because people are annoyed by ads, they skip them, block them or avoid them altogether by going ad-free in streaming services. Something new needs to happen, so that advertisers can reach consumers and engage with them again in a powerful new way. That’s where we come in with our AI-powered platform. We blend advertising, products and brands into the content itself, making it become a seamless part of the movie, series, music video or influencer content itself. Viewers love it, the advertising impact is off the charts, and content owners have a net new revenue stream that is not based on the concept of viewing interruption but on the natural integration with the content. More and more advertisers and content partners are adopting the solution and we’re experiencing real momentum, especially in the US. Now is the best time to invest into what will become the new paradigm in advertising.
Loren Shifrin of Revolution Capital: Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
The first thing people do during uncertain times is look to the leadership for support, guidance, direction, encouragement — whatever they need to get them through it. Calm energy is infectious. Whenever my team is worried about something, I mindfully practice being as stoic and confident as possible.
Loren Shifrin is a highly ambitious young entrepreneur with seasoned experience building brands and scaling companies in multiple industries. As CEO of Revolution Capital, Loren has been instrumental in the reshaping of the factoring landscape in Canada. He has started and acquired multiple companies in the factoring, alternative lending, and hospitality markets and has a proven track record of building successful businesses.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. 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 like most, at the bottom. Fifteen years ago, I started working as a collection agent at Baron Finance, which was, at the time, a small factoring company. As the company grew, I seized every opportunity I had to grow with it. Over four years, I rotated through almost every position the company had: Account Manager; Head of Accounts; “Legal Department”; Operations Manager; COO; and, eventually, minority owner.
At the end of 2015, it became clear that I wanted to lead my own factoring company — I had ambitions of doing things differently — so I quit (just a few months before my wedding). I left my secure salary, sold my shares, and bet everything I had on myself. I immediately recruited my first investor, and together we went out looking for institutional funds. After being laughed out of half of Bay Street, we finally struck gold with Morrison Financial. For some reason, one that is still unfathomable to me (yet appreciated beyond measure), David and Alex decided to take a risk on two young founders, and Revolution Capital was born.
On June 1, 2017, we opened our doors and began to grow at a pace never before seen by our industry. By 2018, we ended up acquiring and merging with Baron Finance. In 2020, we made four more acquisitions and solidified our place as the largest factoring company in Canada. We are now expanding very heavily in the United States, intending to become the North American industry leader.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?
I made many mistakes at the beginning of my career and did not feel any were particularly funny, at least not at the time. One of the most infamous of my mistakes is the one that started me on my journey. My initial interview with Baron Finance completely slipped my mind until I received a call asking if I was still coming. I told them I was on my way and raced straight over. I showed up at the office, over an hour late, wearing shorts and flip-flops. I went into my interview with the owner of the company and somehow aced it. For some unbeknownst reason, Michael, who is now my partner and CFO, offered me the job. I quite arrogantly declined. I wanted an extra two dollars per hour. To my immense surprise, Michael agreed, and I accepted the position. The cost of this minor increase was to be nicknamed “Shorts and Flip-flops” for nearly a year.
Eventually, I became responsible for all interviewing and hiring at the company and never judged a candidate by their appearance or previous experience. The only thing that matters to me in an interview is a person’s character and perceived work ethic. Much like Michael, who, by chance, hired the man who would buy out his partners to become CEO, I eventually hired the best COO, despite his resume and initial position within the company.
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 often think about my career and how I got to where I am. I can attribute much of my success to three mentors and friends. Michael Lukhton, my former boss and current partner, taught me much of what I know today, despite him not always passing on these lessons intentionally. When we grew Baron Finance together, Michael would often entrust me with tasks or projects that I was unqualified or inexperienced to handle. I never challenged or rejected any assignment, so they just kept coming. Thanks to Michael believing in me, I developed much of my knowledge through hands-on experience. I was eager to learn and hungry for the job title I wanted rather than the one I had.
When I left Baron Finance, the first person I went to see was Amer Sabanadzovic. He was infinitely supportive and genuinely wanted nothing more than to see me succeed. While looking for funding for Revolution Capital, we bought and sold a few stocks together — shared profits, shared losses. After picking two winners, I got cocky and convinced him to go big on a third. We lost most of the money we invested. It was my first financial loss. I immediately panicked, wondering how I would ever pay him back. To my infinite surprise, Amer calmly said, “Don’t worry, it’s just money. They print more of it every day.” He fundamentally changed the way I view and react to losses. We have since made much more than I lost on that unfortunate investment.
When we opened Revolution Capital, I approached Sam Ibrahim, a close friend, and persuaded him to take a chance on me. I asked him to close his line of credit and factor all his accounts with my company. Being the incredibly supportive and loyal human he is, Sam convinced his partners that moving their account to my start-up was a smart decision. This was the first of many meaningful gestures that helped me along my path. Since then, Sam’s company and Revolution Capital have both grown exponentially and in direct synergy with each other.
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?
Most finance companies and lenders believe their value is derived from the size of their portfolios. I have heard many financial executives say, “They need us more than we need them” when referring to both clients and employees. To these people, tangible assets are the only ones that have value and the bottom-line rules all. We named our company Revolution Capital because we wanted to do things a little differently — and because we wanted to challenge what we believed was an archaic view held by many (though not all) in our industry.
Our business is built on people. Our strength comes from the relationships we build both internally and externally. Our purpose is to help small-to-medium-sized businesses achieve their potential by alleviating worries about payroll or how they will afford more equipment or take on new business. We need them as much as they need us. Every facility is mutually beneficial, and we believe that this understanding is what sets us apart.
Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?
I’ve held management positions for most of my career, and through the years, my leadership style has changed and evolved. I am by no means perfect, and I am constantly learning and trying to improve how I lead my team. Over the past few years, I have found that the best way to lead is by empowering my department heads, middle managers, and team leads. We saw moderate success when I was attempting to do everything myself. We’ve seen immense growth since I have begun trusting my team to do what they do best.
At the beginning of 2020, we monitored the COVID-19 situation closely and began planning for a finance company’s worst-case scenario: off-site work arrangements. It was uncharted territory for our industry as we were not equipped for remote work.
After completely reworking our IT infrastructure, we decided to allow everyone to work from home before Ontario went into its first lockdown. Employees were encouraged to take their computers from their desks if need be. Those who took public transit were sent home in Ubers (at our expense). We were going to work from home until this all blew over.
We made the decision swiftly and without hesitation. We put the interest of our employees ahead of our fears and insecurities. It paid off. The following week most of our competitors were offline for a few days while they scrambled to adapt. Any concern we had about loss of productivity was also immediately appeased — because we had shown our staff that we care about their wellbeing above all else, they wholeheartedly returned the sentiment and did not let us down.
Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?
Never. I have always been highly ambitious and very hungry. I understand the path I have chosen will not always be easy to navigate and that every challenge is part of the journey. I sincerely believe that if I am too comfortable, I am not growing.
Although it seems that every new challenge is larger in scale and complexity, these challenges also become easier for me to overcome because I have a solid support system (at home and at work), a wealth of experience to draw upon, and unwavering conviction.
I am committed to my clients. I am committed to my staff. I am committed to my partners. I am committed to my investors. They have all taken risks on me, and I owe it to them to overcome any challenge that comes my way. I am eternally grateful to all of them for what they have done to support me, and I will never let them down.
What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?
It is a commonly held belief that the role of upper/middle management is to support the CEO. I’m sure that on some level this is true and that for many CEOs this is of utmost priority. However, I believe, especially during challenging times, that the opposite is true.
Occasionally, I find myself in a meeting where staff from various departments must introduce or reintroduce themselves. “Hi, I’m Joe, and I’m in charge of Supply Chain.” “Hi, I’m Susan, and I am responsible for marketing initiatives.” When it comes to my turn, I usually answer jokingly, “Hi, I’m Loren. I’m the CEO, and I take credit for all your hard work.” It usually breaks the ice by inspiring a laugh, but it isn’t a joke. My job as a leader is to inspire, value, appreciate, encourage, and support all those who work with me and allow me to do what I do. It’s during the challenging times that people most need to feel valued and supported, and that’s precisely what I strive to ensure.
When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?
Communication is key. I am (almost) always in a good mood and looking forward to the future, but I can’t expect the same from my team if they don’t know what I am thinking/planning.
Every Monday, I meet with my department heads to go over any pressing issues, address any concerns, and plan for the week ahead. These meetings usually involve more laughter than a productive discussion, but that’s part of the appeal. Happy managers inspire happy staff.
Whenever I come up with a crazy idea, want to make an acquisition, implement some new software, or create a new department, I share the vision and encourage open discussion. The only successful way I can implement a new idea is if everyone understands and agrees with the logic behind it. If it’s solely my idea, there is a chance somebody won’t accept it. But if it becomes our idea, buy-in and enthusiasm are almost always guaranteed.
What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?
Directly, openly, honestly, and without hesitation. Bad news is a part of life — and of business. Deceit and duplicity don’t have to be.
Luckily, we are rarely put in a position where we have to give bad news. If it impacts the team, I will tell the bad news personally as I feel it’s better coming from the top. If I expect my staff to deliver bad news honestly and compassionately to clients when necessary, I owe them the same courtesy.
Giving bad news is only half the battle though. We also must be ready to suffer related consequences or make adequate accommodations, even to our detriment.
How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?
The future is always unpredictable. Even some of my best-laid plans wound up derailing at the 11th hour. Knowing how to make a solid plan isn’t the concern — it’s learning how to freestyle, adapt, and pivot quickly and efficiently. That is key — and that takes practice and a strong stomach.
Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?
People over profits. I believe that people are the most important intangible asset of any business. By treating company stakeholders ethically and with respect, you lay a foundation that can weather any storm.
During turbulent times, we rely on our customers to support the company, our employees to maintain the company, and our investors to finance the company. Showing our commitment to them during the good times increases the likelihood that they will return the goodwill when we need them most.
Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?
When outside factors impact your business in ways you cannot control, it’s easy to make short-term reactionary decisions out of panic or fear. I watched a few of my competitors have knee-jerk reactions to the pandemic that I doubt they will ever be able to recover from fully.
One of my competitors was so desperate for business at the beginning of the pandemic that they reacted by cutting corners on due diligence to close deals more quickly. They ended up acquiring another portfolio (without doing adequate diligence) that we had ourselves passed on due to poor credit underwriting. They missed many of the problems we caught and ended up losing millions on the deal.
Another tactic that many in my industry resorted to was cutting prices. In the early days of the pandemic, leads were scarce and there were two or three factors fighting over every deal. It was easier to compete on price rather than service. The irony of this decision is that lower margins cannot support quality service, and poor service damages a company’s reputation resulting in fewer deals.
Some competitors became so preoccupied with increasing sales at the cost of margins that they had no choice but to start applying additional pressure on their staff to do more faster. They forgot about the importance of treating their people well. Some people who worked for years at their old shop ended up leaving for greener pastures. Their losses became our gains.
Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?
Since the inception of our company, we have relied almost exclusively on word-of-mouth referrals for our growth. It’s been a great strategy that has led to quality leads and excellent close rates. That said, we naively assumed that this growth strategy would sustain our ambitions forever.
At the beginning of the pandemic, our natural sales funnel dried up completely. Although it has since recovered, we had no option but to diversify our growth channels. I immediately reached out to several competitors to see if they were looking to sell. Given the uncertain nature of the economy and the industry as a whole, I felt confident many would be. We acquired four companies and have since engaged an investment bank to help identify additional acquisition opportunities. We hope to make some announcements before the end of the year.
We also began building a dedicated marketing team and investing in SEO and digital ads. We are starting to see the fruits of our labour now with an overflowing digital funnel.
We engaged head-hunters to recruit salespeople from within the industry. Interestingly, this proved difficult, so we opted to pivot and asked the same head-hunters to find candidates with sales experience outside our industry. We asked them to identify targets who were unsatisfied with the overall culture at their current places of work. We invested in training these recruits, and they are performing better than anticipated.
When the world changed dramatically, almost overnight, we didn’t dig our feet in the sand. We immediately employed multiple complementary strategies, took risks, and ventured into uncharted territories.
Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times? Please share a story or an example for each.
The first thing people do during uncertain times is look to the leadership for support, guidance, direction, encouragement — whatever they need to get them through it. Calm energy is infectious. Whenever my team is worried about something, I mindfully practice being as stoic and confident as possible. Things were highly chaotic when we did our first acquisition and merger. No one on our team had ever done anything like it before (including myself), and they would come to me every day to tell me about new issues that had arisen and say things like, “We will never survive this.” One of my top managers was convinced that this transaction would be our demise and that every day could be our last. Each day I listened to his concerns, reassured him that everything would be OK, and watched him leave my office only slightly calmer than when he had entered. Looking back, when it was all over and done with, he admitted to me that I was right and that it hadn’t been that hard. Little did he know that much of my confidence at the time was sheer bullheadedness. In fact, we are doing due diligence on a significant acquisition now, and he was the first to volunteer to take the lead on the project.
Open and effective lines of communication are essential to the success of any enterprise. That is especially true when times are tough, and the strength of the team/company is put to the test. I never fully appreciated just how intricately intertwined every department is until I started getting my department heads in the same room once a week. The more I share my thoughts and ideas, the more insight and feedback I receive from people with completely different roles and experiences from myself that is of immense value. The more I listen in these meetings, the more my managers participate. And now, if we have a problem or issue that we need to overcome, we do it together.
My job as a leader isn’t to come up with the answers to all of our problems — it’s to make the best decision I can with the information I have available to me. By allowing my key people to participate in the conversation actively, I am more informed, and my ability to make the right decision is greatly improved.
Morale often suffers when times are tough. Although my focus is usually solving the problem at hand, I always ensure that I am also spreading optimism and positivity. I encourage my managers to do the same. Throughout the pandemic, each of my department heads spoke directly with each of their employees daily. Many employees told me that in an uncertain world with the challenges of working from home combined with the impacts of social isolation and loneliness, it meant a lot to have friendly and meaningful interactions with colleagues who cared about them. The efficiency and quality of our interpersonal communication have greatly improved over the last eighteen months, and I believe our work culture and company pride have been enriched as a result.
Always be ready to pivot. If there’s anything the last year and a half has taught us, it’s the importance of being able to adapt, willing to try new things, and open to change. Two years ago, I would have said that working from home was not viable for our industry. I would have said that a flex-work schedule wouldn’t be conducive to a productive work environment. I would have said that no one would read a monthly company newsletter. I would have said the only salespeople worth hiring are the ones with proven track records. I would have been wrong on all counts. Empathy is a strength. It took me a very long time to understand this fact and many people, including myself, had to suffer while I figured it out. For years, I had a reputation for being a hothead who would argue to the death just to get my point across without regard for the person I was arguing with. I would “win” any argument by being the loudest and most forceful voice in the room. Being right was what mattered, regardless of the cost. I’ve since learned to listen. I am now far more successful at de-escalating and negotiating difficult situations as a result. A few months ago, we had an account debtor who was livid and making all manner of threats against the staff and the company. As it turned out, we hadn’t done anything wrong, and he was directing his anger at the wrong party, so I decided to give him a call. He started the call by threatening to find and kill me. He spent the next few minutes calling me names and insulting me. He spent a few more minutes letting me know how upset and insulted he was. I spent about nine minutes being verbally abused and didn’t say a word. Eventually, after he’d rid himself of this toxic energy, he began to calm down. It was only after I had listened to him, without interruption, and allowed him to work through his anger, that I was able to explain the situation to him and help him understand that he was actually mistaken. The total call lasted over an hour. In the end, he apologized and offered to send flowers and cakes to everyone in the office and my immediate and extended family.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I can’t think of any “Life Lesson Quotes” that really resonate with me, except maybe what Amer told me about the printing of money. I do, however, really enjoy “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost.
Although I am always conscious of what my competitors are doing, I remain true to our origins and encourage the team to remember our vision and hold fast to our core values of honesty, integrity, and transparency. In general, I believe that when we chase what someone else is doing — following a trend for the sake of conformity — we lose a little bit of what makes us special. That’s why, at Revolution Capital, we are committed to forging our own path.
“I shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” — Robert Frost
How can our readers further follow your work?
Readers can find more information at www.revinc.com. They can follow our company Revolution Capital on LinkedIn and Instagram @revolution.capital.
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
That whenever you stop growing, you have to make a move. In my twenties, I worked in higher education and I really enjoyed what I did as well as the university itself. But after five years I wasn’t growing in the profession and I made the mistake of staying another five years after that realization. I never did that again!
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 Steve Pemberton.
Steve Pemberton is chief people officer for Workhuman, the leading online platform bringing positivity to the workplace through social recognition. Prior to assuming his role at Workhuman, Steve was a senior human resources executive at Walgreens. Steve and his wife, Tonya, are the proud parents of three children.
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?
I’ve had several different career paths. What I was doing in my twenties (working in higher education) was different than what I was doing in my thirties (entrepreneurial ventures) and forties (writer and senior executive in multi-national companies). And now in my fifties, I’m a Chief Human Resources Officer for Workhuman, former candidate for the United States Senate and author of three books. I am doing something different again. What has driven those different career paths is not a story as much as it was a set of childhood experiences where my fate and fortune were completely out of my hands. Those were difficult times and though I managed to get through them, I resolved then that never again were my choices going to be dictated to me by the randomness of chance.
Can you please share with us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
When my first book was published, it found an audience I was not really expecting. After all, it was meant to be more of a family history. But soon enough I realized I had inadvertently touched a chord of other people’s lives and they often write to me to let me know. One morning, I arrived at my office to find a letter from a fifth-grader telling me that he really appreciated my book and that I was his favorite author. It occurred to me almost immediately that I should repay the favor by going to his school to surprise him. His teacher immediately agreed to the idea and sought to get permission from the principal. Unfortunately, the principal said no, citing the school’s schedule and the time of year. The next day the teacher shared my book with her, and in that moment the principal realized that she had been my second-grade teacher!! When the young boy was writing to me, he did not realize the connection and I did not know either when I responded back to him. It was an amazing and beautiful coincidence-and, yes, I did go see him, his teacher and my second grade teacher.
Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?
I try to answer the question: what is my best? Not that which is best for somebody else but my best. Here are some other principles that guided me personally and professionally: the victory is in the effort, not the outcome; live with honor and integrity; always try to better someone’s else life; explore new worlds, spend some part of each day in gratitude, appreciation and reflection; leave the world better than you found it.
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”?
The Big Idea That Might Change The World is The Lighthouse Effect.The Lighthouse Effect is the idea that any of us, in any given moment on any given day, can both find a lighthouse for ourselves and be a lighthouse for someone else. What if we woke up each day with a first thought of looking to extend gratitude? That could be someone in our life whose impact we want to recognize or a complete stranger to whom we might extend a kindness. At the same time, each interaction gives us the opportunity to find a connection that guides us in times of uncertainty or difficulty in our own lives.
Think of all the wonderful attributes of the lighthouse: humble, steadfast, noble, selfless, resilient, courageous, resolute. These are also the best elements of humanity. It is why we remember our own lighthouses as fondly as we do because we realize that our journey would almost certainly have wound up in a very different place were it not for those human lighthouse who lit the way for us.
How do you think this will change the world?
We live in a time of incredible cynicism, negativity, and polarization. It seems so rooted in our culture these days that it can be hard to see our way through it all. Changing this dynamic means focusing on what we as individuals and as communities can do in our daily interactions. The secret to this Big Idea that is The Lighthouse Effect is that it gives us, the seemingly ordinary people, the power to bend the arc of lives.
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?
The one potential drawback is that this might be seen as too idealistic or naïve. This might lead us to think simple acts of goodness might remedy systemic issues that are more complex.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this idea? Can you tell us that story?
There were two of them in fact. The first tipping point was my first book in which I shared my coming-of-age journey. It has continued to find an audience, but it was also an invitation to hear other people’ stories and it’s helped me better understand the heroism of seemingly ordinary people. The second is my company, Workhuman, where I serve as Chief Human Resources Officer. We power the recognition platforms of companies all across the world so each day I get to see how daily recognition makes such an impact on people’s lives.
It got me to thinking about how each of us, in our small ways, can recognize someone who was a lighthouse in our life.
What do you need to lead this idea to widespread adoption?
If each of us took a moment to recognize the human lighthouse in our life or share a story of how someone provided that for you, we can ignite a movement that can fundamentally re-shape the world. That is one of most important aspects of The Lighthouse Effect. It does not require any special skills or degrees to help someone in moments of doubt or to find others who might help you find your own way through uncertainty.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
That whenever you stop growing, you have to make a move. In my twenties, I worked in higher education and I really enjoyed what I did as well as the university itself. But after five years I wasn’t growing in the profession and I made the mistake of staying another five years after that realization. I never did that again!
That it’s okay to trust yourself and your vision. I vividly recall sitting in front of some publishers who were working really hard to disguise that they simply didn’t know what to do with me. I didn’t fit into their mold of what a writer should be. But I was resolved that I had to write my life the way I lived it as opposed to the way they wanted me to write it.
That your greatest dreams and aspirations do not require approval or permission. There is, within all of us, dreams that live within the quiet of our own heart. Often, we do not share them because we fear rejection or criticism.
That the very adversity that scarred you is the same one that now empowers you to take on new challenges. It’s no accident that successes come after there have been several setbacks. Each setback is a learning that you take with you onto your next venture which you will do with better understanding and wisdom.
That there are fewer things better than helping someone along their life journey. In a way I knew this before I started but I am reminded every day of the responsibility I have that we all have to one another. If we can wake up each day thinking about how to touch someone’s life, we can usher in a new world and a new way of being.
Can you share with our readers what you think are the most important “success habits” or “success mindsets”?
It can be trite to say it, but there are few things more important than discipline and good habits. On your next full working day, keep a log of what you do that day and how much time you spend on those tasks. Track everything!! At the end of the day, look back at the log and see what you accomplished and where you spent your time. You’ll be amazed at what you’ll find and where you can create better efficiencies.
That approach applies not only to your daily life, but also to your longer-term goals, whether that be monthly goals or yearly goals. It forces a mindset of consistency while at the same time breaking down your goals into a series of achievable objectives. That’s really what creates success-goals, discipline and the good habits necessary to achieve them.
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 🙂
Imagine a platform, be it an app or a social media community, that is focused solely on goodness. Whenever you have a lighthouse moment with another human being, this is the place you would go to share that experience or tell that person how that person impacted you. In most cases, those who have touched or impacted you would not be aware they had done so until they received that notification. Similarly so, you would also be on the receiving end of messages from those who were touched by you or something you did. Imagine the power of millions of messages of gratitude flying all across the world on a daily basis. We could quite literally change how humanity interacts.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
They can find me on all the major social media platforms: LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter @istevepemberton.
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
We need to make it so that accessibility isn’t the hardest part of a developer’s job. Every developer I have talked to wants to do it but can’t slow down velocity and doesn’t have time to learn one more thing. Nor do they want to do it in a “kludgy” way or in a way that creates technical debt. They want to do it right, from the beginning. That’s why we have committed to the “shift left” and making it easy and reliable to do accessibility testing.
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 Preety Kumar.
Preety is the CEO of Deque Systems. She founded Deque in 1999 with the vision of unifying web access, both from the user and the technology perspective. Under Preety’s leadership, Deque has grown to be the trusted leader in digital accessibility. Offering tools, training and services to organizations around the world, Deque’s mission is Digital Equality — making the web and all digital assets accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities.
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?
Just like accessibility is beginning to gain traction today, similarly, the Internet was gaining traction 21 years ago when I got introduced to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and Section 508 standards. These are the standards and laws that help us understand what we consider to be accessible. At the time, Amazon was just 5 years old but was already changing how we shopped. It struck me as I was reading the WCAG and Section 508 draft working copies that the implication of the Internet not being accessible to people with disabilities would limit access to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. As a result of this incredible innovation and culture shift, people with disabilities who are unable to use the Internet and its full capabilities, are being discriminated against and left behind, unable to fulfill this basic hierarchy of needs in the same way everyone else can. Obviously, this is especially concerning during a pandemic.
Instilled in me by my mother from a young age, inclusion has always been important to me. I knew that if these guidelines and laws were going to make a real impact, following them had to be as easy as possible. As a developer at heart, I also know that dev teams are critical to practicing accessibility every day, ensuring inaccessible features don’t get developed in the first place. This is what led me and my colleagues at Deque to building automated tools to help dev teams find and fix accessibility bugs while they code.
Can you please share with us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
That is difficult. There are so many. I remember being at the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) conference and going for dinner after the sessions were over for the day. This was in the mid 2000’s. I saw a young man who was blind standing outside the lobby describing himself. He would start the description and then repeat himself over and over again. I realized he was trying to get a date. Dating sites weren’t too accessible to his screen reader so he found a way to get a compatible date by using the oldest way of communication. Not convenient but ingenious.
Well, the evening got even more interesting. Our dinner party included the technology leader from the NFB who happened to be an adventurous individual. It goes without saying, but he is also blind. We were in Texas, and it was a life-long dream of his to ride a mechanical bull, so we called around and found a place. We called ahead and cleared what would be required for him to ride the mechanical bull — signing a disclaimer and so on and so forth. When we got to the facility, the mechanical bull operator refused to let him on. Obviously, management hadn’t informed the operator of our pre-clearance. We had to threaten to have all 6,000 attendees of the nearby NFB conference to come and protest if they didn’t honor what management had cleared for us to do. The smile on our friend’s face while he rode the bull is something I’ll never forget. The “inaccessibility” of life and experiences we take for granted, is something he had to fight for. People with disabilities shouldn’t have to fight for access to fun, knowledge, job opportunities, growth, voting and all the things we take for granted in our increasing reliance on the digital world. The Internet and Mobile world have become so centric to our lives that it is really not an option to not have it be accessible to everyone.
Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?
I created Deque’s core values to reflect principles I hold dearly. They guide my work at Deque and everything else in my life. Very simply they are:
Innovation with results that matter
Deliver what you promise
Can-do attitude
Open, Direct and Respectful communications
We care deeply
We practice humility
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”?
Making the ADA for the digital world a reality. Digital equality, to me, in so many ways is like the other movements such as human rights, racial equality and independence movements around the world. Self-sufficiency means independence. How can a person, in today’s world, be independent without being able to have equal access to the Internet? While this may seem obvious, removing obstacles to make it so is really the big idea. Gutenberg started the printing revolution by reducing the cost of printing books. We want to make digital accessibility a reality by reducing the cost of making digital properties equally accessible to all.
How do you think this will change the world?
Again, I think the printing press offers us keen insights of how this may change the world. Democratization of knowledge and reducing friction to accessing knowledge for people with disabilities will increase opportunities and contributions from people with disabilities. Frankly, diverse voices and contributions previously unheard will change society and I don’t think any of us know how. My prediction is that we will be able to look back and understand all the ripple effects it has.
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?
There are little downsides to the democratization of knowledge that I can think of.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this idea? Can you tell us that story?
I think the tipping point was hiring my first blind employee and watching him work every day using his screen reader, sitting next to him and watching the challenges he had to face to do the things I took for granted, like fill out a rental application when he moved to join Deque, filling out the form to get on payroll. Just everyday things that need not have been challenging but were impossible because of the way the applications had been developed or coded. I’m sure every developer on the planet would never create inaccessible experiences if they got to spend a day observing the challenges faced by people with disabilities in using their applications and websites.
What do you need to lead this idea to widespread adoption?
We need to make it so that accessibility isn’t the hardest part of a developer’s job. Every developer I have talked to wants to do it but can’t slow down velocity and doesn’t have time to learn one more thing. Nor do they want to do it in a “kludgy” way or in a way that creates technical debt. They want to do it right, from the beginning. That’s why we have committed to the “shift left” and making it easy and reliable to do accessibility testing.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
I’ve been fortunate to have several great counselors in my life, though these five ideas would have been very useful in my early years:
Brand Makeovers: Michael Crooks of Solaray On The 5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Learn the terrain. First things first: get to know your brand inside and out. What is the back story? How did things start? How far is too far of a stretch? This seems obvious, but countless rebrands fail because they skipped this foundational step and instead operated only on their preconceived notions of what the brand should be. Humility is important here — because what you find out may change your plans.
As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interviewMichael Crooks.
Michael Crooks is Vice President of Marketing for HFS Brands at The Better Being Co., headquartered in the United States and sold globally. His portfolio oversight includes Solaray, founded in 1973 and known as one of the original pioneers in multivitamin health & wellness. Crooks is a proven brand builder with experience across luxury apparel & footwear, travel, and health & wellness. He leverages an unconventional range of applied experience across the creative-analytical and digital-physical spectrums to generate growth in volatile markets. Drawing on a prior background in cognitive-based psychology & biochemistry research conducted at the University of Pennsylvania, Crooks employs a new multidisciplinary approach embedded in cultural relevance, psychographic storytelling, and brand-first methodology, balanced across quantitative & qualitative components.
Several of Crooks’ initiatives have been shortlisted as finalists for the Glossy Awards including: 2020 Best Product Launch (winner); 2020 Best Brand Collaboration; 2019 Best E-Commerce Experience; 2018 Best In-Store Tech. He also conceptualized and led Stuart Weitzman’s first-ever sneaker collaboration and global launch, which became the company’s #1 best-seller worldwide and won the 2020 Glossy Award for Best Product Launch.
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?
Initially I was dead set on pursuing a career in experimental psychology. While at the University of Pennsylvania I had the privilege of conducting research under acclaimed psychiatrist Dr. Aaron T. Beck, known as the founder of Cognitive Therapy, and what I learned from him still shapes my marketing approach today. When it came time to commit to graduate school, I had this lingering curiosity about how psychology could apply to the business world — so I switched gears.
Later that spring at a Wharton job fair, a recruiter from Lord & Taylor oddly gave me an interview because he liked my outfit — and thus began my career working in the fashion, luxury, and travel sectors. To gain hands-on expertise in a variety of specialties, I worked in positions focusing on analytics, creative, and everything in between. I quickly learned that this space would be an ideal intersection to blend my interests in brands and psychology, since the customer’s ideas and feelings about the brand and its products are what dictate behavior — and a staggering array of factors go into helping shape those ideas and feelings. At the end of the day, my passion now is still the same as it was when I worked in research: to understand people. And my non-traditional background in terms of coming from a separate field of study has helped me tremendously in helping me see things a little differently and approach scenarios from a new angle.
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?
Early in my career at a large national department store we had spent a good deal of money on a rebrand, working with one of the most noteworthy ad agencies in NYC on creatives meant to appeal to a younger demographic vs. their core customer at that time. It was a comprehensive rebrand effort and helmed by some titans of the industry. Ultimately, the creative missed the mark because the way it was shot inadvertently devalued their core base — and some of the most valued clients were not shy in speaking up to voice their displeasure.
However obvious this point seems now, it certainly was not then — and truth be told, we all missed it within the organization. From this experience I learned that anyone, regardless of how seasoned they are, can make mistakes like this if they take their eyes off the road, and that it is important to remember that. Stay humble and always be open to the possibility that your idea needs adjustment.
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?
A tipping point in my career happened when I started operationalizing cognitive principles from my psychology days directly into marketing campaigns. Leveraging a combination of optimizing creative design around segmentation, it amounted to early-stage psychographic messaging that produced significant gains over control groups in engagement and conversion. This showed me for the first time that considerable value existed in layering different approaches on top of one another to create a better aggregate result or outcome. This basic framework has proved indispensable to me to this day, just applied to different arenas.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
I am currently at the helm of the Solaray global rebrand and first-ever marketing campaign, Live Brighter. Solaray has been a longtime leader in the vitamin & supplement space, having pioneered several industry firsts, but since its inception in 1973 has never engaged in much formal marketing or advertising. With the growing demand for reliable and environmentally conscious wellness products, now felt like the right time to amplify Solaray and its core values of quality, service, and innovation to a wider audience.
The Live Brighter campaign is all about highlighting life’s most precious moments and underlining that we can best protect those moments by being the healthiest versions of ourselves. Solaray tapped into the power, passion, and quality behind the 900+ products that our customers know and love — and at the same time, leveraging some of the best creative teams from my previous worlds of luxury, fashion, and travel to create a beautiful campaign shot in film that really stands out in the health & wellness industry. Most importantly, with the support of exceptional teams behind this, we were able to create a campaign that brings the same level of precision and detail to creating the Solaray visual universe that the brand has applied to formulating efficacious supplements for nearly 50 years.
What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?
Put all your creative, strategic, and analytical marketing power behind a brand and product you honestly believe in and, as cliché as it might sounds, fall in love with the process. Not everyone has the luxury of finding work that they love, so if you are fortunate enough to do so, make the very most of it. That extra level of care for a greater mission and value proposition to the public can propel you through those late nights. That is something I have been fortunate to find with a few brands along the way, but none more so than Solaray. The pandemic has shifted society’s focus to health and wellness in a way that is permanent. So, bringing a brand like Solaray to the forefront is an endeavor that in some ways is greater than just my career or even just the company.
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?
Brand marketing is putting a visual and emotional narrative to the world that your product sits in, the values they stand for, and matching that to different lifestyles across the board — it is all about giving context to what you are selling. So, in the case of Solaray, we created Live Brighter to give customers the context that Solaray products can be an efficacious tool in helping to live life to the fullest through achieving our healthiest selves, and thereby embracing those moments that matter most.
Product marketing is directly projecting the product qualities and characteristics of what you are selling. There is considerable and necessary overlap — you create the world it sits in, and then you can give context to sell that product. In addition, your corporate values matter — now more than ever — in portraying this world. Customers today care about what you stand for — not just about the product you want to sell them.
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?
Short answer — it is the only way to really connect brand and product marketing at the visceral, emotional level. Longer answer — this goes back to something fundamental I learned in my early days from Dr. Beck: it is not just about the thing itself, but about the meaning people apply to that thing. And this applies directly to brands and their products, regardless of category. People are looking for context that they identify with on several levels, so brands that build that compellingly will connect more deeply with customers. And long gone are the days of consumers blindly picking a product off a shelf without considering where their money is going and who their money is supporting. This is something I welcome with open arms.
But the caveat is marketers need to make sure they are building a brand that consumers are willing to get behind. An example of Solaray investing the resources on this front is an extension of the new Live Brighter campaign, The Light House, where we will host health and wellness change makers for a personalized dining event at a one-time, customized pop-up restaurant, providing an exclusive experience based on their current health goals and interests. Our goal with The Light House is to highlight how and why consumers need to invest in their supplement routine, how a trusted brand like Solaray has the expertise and the products to do just that, and how this is sits in the context of relevant events and discussions on a wider scale.
Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?
Nuances aside and using overly broad strokes, it comes down to two reasons — either to boost sales, to become more relevant — or both. And once in a blue moon, the timing, environment, and brand DNA is perfectly aligned such that it would not make sense not to.
As for Solaray, we leveraged a rebrand simply to meet consumers where they are now and to support the growing demand and needs of today’s consumer for trusted wellness products. Solaray found so much success over the last 48 years flying under the radar and building this community of health of wellness gurus but after a certain point, if a brand is creating a product that is helpful to consumers, why let it remain an industry “secret” of sorts? This rebrand is not about rewriting the history of Solaray, bur about fleshing out what has always been there from the start and communicating it on a larger scale.
Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?
As a marketer, you need to ask yourself if the rebrand feels right. As overused as the word “authentic” is, that is really the key — does it feel authentic to the brand story, or does it feel forced? If you stretch the narrative too far then it comes across as inauthentic and consumers can feel that instantly, especially today. When designing this rebrand for Solaray, we knew immediately that all we had to do was tap into the brand’s existing roots because of the rich legacy that was already present but just not really being talked about. We tapped into the retro, classic DNA of the brand and by doing so we have created a campaign that feels singularly authentic to the Solaray people have known and loved for nearly 50 years.
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.
Learn the terrain. First things first: get to know your brand inside and out. What is the back story? How did things start? How far is too far of a stretch? This seems obvious, but countless rebrands fail because they skipped this foundational step and instead operated only on their preconceived notions of what the brand should be. Humility is important here — because what you find out may change your plans. In approaching Solaray’s rebrand, I did not necessarily have an agenda coming in that indicated the brand should go retro. As a nearly 50-year-old brand, I knew I had some things to learn before the strategy fully materialized. That said, after talking to the right people (some of whom have been with the brand longer than I have been in the workforce), the strategy became clear: they all shared the same facts about a brand with humble beginnings in the heart of Utah, founded in 1973 starting from 40 homemade herbs that grew into the global health & wellness presence it is today. The legacy was solid — that is what made the path clear — and the strategy in its simplest form is just to share with a wider audience what has already been there since the start. Those who had been with the brand far longer helped me get there the quickest.
Talk to your customers — and have vision to see into the beyond. Your customers are your heartbeat. They also cannot tell you everything. Another obvious point, but healthy balance is necessary if you want to move your brand forward. Listen to your customers to help attune your compass and key you into the things that matter most to them — incorporate their direction into your strategies and have vision to be able to deliver something new to them that they have not even conceptualized yet or do not know how quite to articulate. In this regard, it is your duty as the steward of the brand to be able to see around the next corner. Maybe it’s the right collaboration with another brand that brings more incremental value to the customer. Maybe it’s a new product born straight out of the innovation lab. In either case, listen to the customer data, and have the fortitude to see into the beyond to flesh out what customers want but may not yet know how to verbalize. After all, it took some foresight to deliver a device to the public that was a telephone, a music player, and an internet browser all in one device — maybe we did not know we needed it at the time, but now most of us feel like we cannot live without it.
Invest in the dream. The product quality must be solid, no doubt about that. But without the context of the brand universe to connect that product to deeper brand values, there is no emotional anchor. Customers regularly spend more on branded products despite generic versions being the same in composition or formulation. Why? Behaviorally speaking, this is the definition of irrationality. But if the brand has taken sufficient root in the psyche of the customer, they will keep returning. The best brands in the world understand that this type of loyalty is directly proportionate to how much and how thoughtfully they invest in growing it over time and across channels, and how closely they tangibly align customer and brand values in the same arena.
Invest in the team — and have conviction. Cheating a little here, since this is technically two, but they are closely related. And this is a tough one coming from a data nerd. Having started my marketing career in CRM, I am obsessed with segmentation, response rates, control groups, and statistical significance. And in today’s world, there’s so much data available at our fingertips that it is easy for the modern marketer to become paralyzed and drown in a sea of spreadsheets. Data is essential — but in the specific arena of brand building, once you have done your due diligence it is even more essential to have creative conviction about the direction, you are taking the brand in terms of how it looks, feels, and sounds. In addition to analytical and technical knowledge, this requires a command of cultural nuance and aesthetic relevance — which is extremely difficult to find in a single person. So, invest in the team, and bring in the best of the best — because it cannot be done alone. Leverage data to fine-tune decisions but have a strong creative point of view after you have thoroughly done your homework and looked at all the numbers. The Solaray head-to-toe rebrand has taken a village — both of internal/external teams from the regional and global perspective, and the conviction to tap into its roots has only been furthered by these key partners that can help scale the vision.
Be consistent — even (*especially*) when it hurts. Rebrands take time — and it does not happen overnight. There will be times when it is painful, when the numbers might lag, and when changing direction feels like the best course of action. If you are trying to build a brand, lack of consistency is the single leading cause of failure. It sends mixed signals to the customer which then leads to ambivalence about the brand work done up until that point. I have been part of companies both public and private that were not aligned at the leadership level in terms of brand building, and when push came to shove later in the quarter, this lack of alignment leading to inconsistency and course reversal amounted to one step forward, two steps back, never fully taking root with the customer. Resist the temptation to reverse course when things get tough — often, that is exactly the moment to keep pushing through, assuming you have done your due diligence properly. If you have, and it resonates with the customer, the sales will come. The best in the brand building business are singularly committed from the jump — and they set proper expectations internally and with shareholders regarding how long it may take to get there. Much easier said than done, but so is building a brand that stands the test of time.
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?
I had the privilege to work at Gucci at the time when Marco Bizzarri became CEO and Alessandro Michele became Creative Director. Together, they turned Gucci around comprehensively, from their creative aesthetic to their flagging sales, to return to form as the leading luxury brand of the era. And they did it through knowing the terrain, communicating effectively with the teams and with customers while having the vision to see around corners, investing comprehensively in the dream, investing in the team, displaying conviction, and by not wavering in their consistency. And to do so on a global scale with such a large machine of an organization was nothing short of remarkable — business schools will be writing case studies about it for decades to come.
And I might be biased, but I think what Solaray has pulled off through Live Brighter is meaningful for the health & wellness industry overall, as more brands in the space move towards a more lifestyle approach — it stands out as a career accomplishment because it is in service of a nearly 50-year-old brand with the historic following and rich legacy to back up the idea of our campaign approach in general. Solaray continues to set itself apart through some of the most stringent in-house testing protocols, meticulous dedication to quality, commitment to pioneering innovation, and dedication to wide-scale global sustainability initiatives that give back to the environment and the communities within.
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 people can begin to have a deeper understanding of their health and wellness needs and become more educated on the power and benefit of Solaray products, even that level of preliminary education is worth all the work put in thus far. I think back to my roots in psychology and mental health, and from a holistic perspective, working with Solaray does feel full circle.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Life is a game of inches” — that Al Pacino quote from Any Given Sunday. It is ubiquitous at this point, but no less true — any success I have experienced has not been so much from magic silver bullets, but from the cumulative effect of putting in the unglamorous workday in and day out, in the context of great teams like all the people behind Solaray. But over time, those inches do really start to add up. This is the best descriptor of my approach.
Stop being right. I used to be a leader who needed to be right on every single debate, dialogue, or discussion. In my mind there was always a winner and a loser. As with many senior leaders, this was amplified during turbulent times. This is the worst type of egocentric leadership as it restricts input, challenge and fresh perspective from others — all invaluable when times are tough.
Hamish Thomson, author of It’s Not Always Right to be Right (Wiley $29.99), is a former CEO/Regional President and global brand head for Mars Incorporated (UK, Australia, Chicago), a senior sales and marketing lead for Reebok International (England and the Netherlands) and an account exec in the London advertising scene. Based in Sydney, he is a strategic consultant, key-note speaker, start-up investor and non-executive director of OzHelp Foundation. Visit www.hamishrthomson.com
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
I was born and raised in New Zealand and attended Massey University, graduating with a business degree majoring in marketing and commercial law. Most Kiwis are inherently curious, so I ventured to England for a supposed 12-month experience and ended up doing a 10-year European working stint. I started life in London advertising as a very junior copywriter and shortly moved into client management. For a young and naïve bloke, the UK advertising scene was certainly an eye opener. I loved the creativity, pace and energy (and inevitable daily hangovers) of the industry. I then joined Reebok who at the time was the leading sports and fitness brand in the region. I did various brand and sales roles before moving to the Netherlands to head up European marketing. A cool job, vibrant entrepreneurial sector and one heck of a fun country. Following the birth of our first son, my wife and I moved back to this side of the world where I joined the amazing team at Mars Incorporated. I was there for almost 20 years, with the last dozen doing various CEO/Regional President and Global brand head roles in Australia, UK and Chicago. Approximately 18 months ago, I ventured into the world of start-up’s, boards, leadership writing and consulting. It’s been different and energising to say the least.
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 love the notion of mistakes — particularly your ‘best’ mistakes. All are invaluable as long as you seek out insight (content and context) and turn specific learning into tangible action. Insight without action is an all-too-common phenomena within the corporate world. Probably my funniest pertained to my advertising days. During a new client pitch to Toyota, I was half-way through my presentation when I cut to the hero image of a massive outdoor billboard campaign. Unfortunately, instead of a shiny new Toyota, I had forgotten to replace the “positional image” of a Ford Sierra Cosworth! Needless to say, we lost the pitch. Learning was two-fold: you become very thick skinned (I still get annual ribbings from former colleagues), and secondly, double-down on your diligence. Detail is now a reluctant but necessary competency of mine.
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?
Exceptional companies have exceptional leaders. I have been very fortunate in this sense. One mentor that comes to mind was the former President of Reebok International. Roger mentored me to believe that the best leaders are modest and humble. They promote others ahead of themselves and are not concerned about being right or wrong. They are concerned with mutually beneficial outcomes and that relationships matter above everything else. He had a strength in inspiring others to be their very best and provided significant freedom and autonomy to do so. He also instilled a belief that the best leaders are those that are both ‘respected and liked’. I have dedicated an entire chapter within my book to this topic. Many exec coaches disagree with the necessity to be liked (respect is a given) but I know from experience, that I walk over coals to support a leader that I both respect and like.
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 am a firm believer that “performance without purpose is meaningless and purpose without performance is impossible’. Organizations have a responsibility to be purposeful, yet in order to do so, they must perform successfully. A few examples that come to mind (in each case, motivating me to be at my best and making me a better leader of others); Mars Petcare — driven by a desire to “make the world a better place for pets’, and Mars Food — ‘better food today for a better world tomorrow’. In both cases, driving meaningful behavioral change. On a personal front, I am a board member of one of Australia’s leading mental health and suicide prevention organisations, OzHelp Foundation. The concept of creating a ‘world without suicide’ is both inspiring and purposeful.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?
The first thing I would say is that I believe we have always lived in unprecedented times. The idea of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity), has been talked about for ages. I believe change, uncertainty and difficulties have always existed. It is a reality of both corporate and personal life and the earlier we embrace it, the better we will be. Like many, I have faced instances of turmoil — from factory closures, product recalls, team redundancies, to safety and crisis management issues. Probably my most interesting, was when I was brought in to lead the UK division for confectionery. The business had been in a period of decline for almost 5 years and the team was almost “apologetic to grow’. Despite being an incredibly talented team, limited mindsets and beliefs relating to share and category growth were commonplace. In turnaround situations, people need conviction leadership. A clear and purposeful vision, defined focus areas and key enablers and aligned cultural behaviors to execute. Teams need assurance, direction and answers — not endless discussion, and it is a leader’s responsibility to provide this. I love turnaround situations. When you achieve them, it is a magical feeling for all involved.
Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?
There is a big difference between giving up and refining direction. The latter is reality. The former, a sign of average leadership. In the above example, my biggest learning was around creating a catalyst for change. Ideally this is ignited through vision and opportunity. In this case, the burning platform for change was created by the harsh reality of a headwind category and concerning P&L. Additionally, I discovered the importance of getting key sponsors within the organisation to be early sponsors of change. Earlier in my career, I used to try to ignite change alone. Whilst it was often quick to do so, seldom was it enduring.
What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?
Outstanding leaders do three things; they honour the past, they respect the present and they provide hope for the future. In challenging times, ‘hope’ is paramount. If I was to add one more — empathy. Compassion relates to both the past and the present and during tough times, it matters considerably.
When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?
A collective purpose and a shared team agenda. I am a massive believer in the power of ‘radiators and can do’ people within business and in life. They breathe possibility, are infectious with action, and people stand that much taller when they are next to them. The concept of “drains and radiators” is probably my favourite leadership philosophy (chapter 2 of my book!)
What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?
Do it early (no-one likes surprises), do it honestly (do not sugarcoat or divest blame), and do it authentically (with high fact and high emotion as to why it matters). Ahead of this, organisations must create exceptional relationships with relevant stakeholders — based on mutual trust, understanding and support. I have a working model that talks about how relationships will always be more important than law and logic. Mistakes and learnings make me confident this is 100% right.
How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?
Interesting question. I concur that detailed long term planning (5+ years) can often be redundant, distracting and non-value add. However, all leaders must provide crystal clear clarity on long term purpose, organisational vision and goals. Strategic choices (what we play with, where we play and how we play) will always change when macro and micro conditions dictate. This is totally ok, so long as leaders effectively communicate why changes and refinements are taking place. Always talk through your assumptions (known and forecast) behind your strategic choices. Teams accept change when leaders are consistently transparent.
Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?
Stay true to your north star — your purpose. It is the reason you exist and whilst conditions, strategies and activities may change, your overarching purpose should be enduring.
Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?
The first is panic and unnecessary distraction for your teams (away from core priorities and profitable revenue segments). Time in motion analysis will ensure resource focus — painful to do, but it works. Next, businesses and leaders can start to become insular. Narrow perspective and an internal mindset usually result in declining stakeholder relationships. Always start with an ‘outside-in’ and ‘servicing others first’ mentality. Finally, increased pressure valves often lead to leaders not being authentic and transparent to those around them. Increase your visible presence during tough times and always do so with honest and open communication.
Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?
I dedicate two chapters of my book to this very topic. The first is about the importance of never being content with current levels of performance in both good and bad times (Chapter 16, ‘Constant Dissatisfaction’). Outstanding leaders look outside for new perspective, revenue opportunities and operating procedures. I term this as having an insatiable curiosity for doing things better. One model that I use is called the 30% rule. Leaders set stretch objectives that can only be achieved by doing something completely different from current ways of working. It is amazing how much dormant potential and untapped thought leadership this creates. Chapter 18, ‘Who is Writing your Agenda’, talks about staying ahead of the curve and leading change versus simply managing change. It is difficult to achieve and requires a mindset committed to transformational agendas versus simply operational ones.
Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times? Please share a story or an example for each.
Stop being right. I used to be a leader who needed to be right on every single debate, dialogue, or discussion. In my mind there was always a winner and a loser. As with many senior leaders, this was amplified during turbulent times. This is the worst type of egocentric leadership as it restricts input, challenge and fresh perspective from others — all invaluable when times are tough.
Hire radiators and remove drains. Do whatever you can to have optimistic and results driven, passionate people in your team during difficult times. Equally, be bold and fast on removing negative people. It not only adversely impacts a leader, but worse, it lowers the culture within an organisation.
Deliver performance and purpose. This matters more than ever for internal and external motivation. Make communications compelling, motivating and importantly, regular.
Lead versus manage. Ensure leadership agendas focus on getting ahead of the curve and setting a new agenda. Do not get distracted with operational matters as that can be handled by exceptionally talented people below you.
Value relationships ahead of both law and logic. Enough said.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“If you are not in control, you are not driving fast enough”, IndyCar racing legend, Mario Andretti. Push the boundaries and see how tall you can be in all that you do. One of the reasons I even attempted to take on writing again, after starting corporate life as a very average London agency copywriter!
Headphones, a ball cap, and sunglasses can help prevent overstimulation. Keep them close by, especially when traveling or even going to the grocery store. One time my husband and I were visiting his cousin in NYC. We would be riding the subway, which I knew would be challenging due to the noise and crowds. I specifically chose an inside seat where I could burrow into the safety of my husband’s side while he used his body as a barrier of protection. I tucked my hat down and plugged into some calming music on my phone. I was able to keep myself from getting anxious and overstimulated.
Lori Ann King. is the Amazon best-selling author of Come Back Strong, Balanced Wellness after Surgical Menopause, and a two-time contributor to the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. Her latest book, Wheels to Wellbeing, is a self-care guide and tool to help readers go from unbalanced, chaotic, and overwhelmed to a more balanced, calm, and happy existence. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her with her husband, Jim on their bikes, paddleboards, kayaks, or in the gym.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell our readers a little bit about yourself and what you do professionally?
Sure. My name is Lori King and I currently live in Las Cruces, NM, although I grew up and lived most of my life in upstate NY. I have an eclectic background, having worked in recreation, marketing, and web development jobs. I am currently a freelance writer, author, and speaker.
Thank you for your bravery and strength in being so open with us. I understand how hard this is. Can you help define for our readers what is meant by a Highly Sensitive Person? Does it simply mean that feelings are easily hurt or offended?
Being a HSP is more than being someone whose feelings are easily hurt or offended. It is directly connected to our energy or nervous system. A few years ago, I met a woman who referred to herself as highly sensitive. When I asked her to clarify what she meant by that, her description struck a chord with me. She was easily overwhelmed by bright lights, strong smells, and loud noises. She needed to withdraw during busy days to a private place where she could recalibrate, refresh, and re-energize. She became overstimulated when a lot was going on around her, and excessive hunger disrupted her concentration or mood.
I could relate. Bright lights, loud noises, and crowds are definitely challenging for me. For example, one time I got so agitated and frustrated at a Super Bowl party, I had to leave early. The same thing happened at a convention where I was surrounded by a crowd of over 7,000 people that was super high energy and enthusiastic. The price for being around that is an emotional crash or low period. It’s just my normal ebb and flow of life. I retreated to an exhibit outside the arena where I collapsed into a friend’s arms in tears. She took one look at me and said, “Ah. Too much peopling. You’re overstimulated.”
Does a Highly Sensitive Person have a higher degree of empathy towards others? Is a Highly Sensitive Person offended by hurtful remarks made about other people?
I believe that as an HSP I do have a higher degree of empathy toward others. I seem to sense the feeling or emotion beneath the words someone is speaking. I especially see it watching television. I am easily moved to tears of sadness or joy, depending on what I’m watching, especially shows that portray people pursuing their dreams.
I think it’s human nature to be offended by hurtful remarks or criticism, but as a HSP I find it harder than most to shake off. As an author I get a lot of reviews, and it’s the negative ones that seem to stick out in my head, regardless of how many positive ones I get. And I can still hear the snide remark a woman made years ago when I walked into a networking event. “Here comes little Miss Perfect.” I didn’t even know her and she certainly didn’t know me. To this day, I’m not sure why she said it or what I did to invoke her sarcasm. Her words still hurt.
Does a Highly Sensitive Person have greater difficulty with certain parts of popular culture, entertainment or news, that depict emotional or physical pain? Can you explain or give a story?
In today’s world, we are inundated with music, movies, newspapers, social media, texts from our friends, and television programming. This is an area I have to choose what I allow in.
When my husband and I started dating, he would ask what movie I wanted to see. I always picked the drama. He always picked the comedy. He still does. The dramas were my way of leaning into sadness, darkness, and negative emotions. The comedy was his way of lightening things up and adding more laughter to our lives.
During challenging times in my life, I realized how much I needed comedy to heal me and help me unwind. I took an inventory of what I was listening to, watching, and reading. I made sure I had a balance or overflow of things and people that lifted me up, changed my mood for the better or empowered me.
Can you please share a story about how your highly sensitive nature created problems at work or socially?
While on a double date at a popular restaurant I became so disengaged from the conversation that my friend’s husband picked up on it. He must have thought I was rude as I tuned into my own little world. It wasn’t so much that I was disinterested in the conversation as much as I was overstimulated by the highly charged discussion of politics. Add this to the noise level and the fact that my back was to the room, so I was being bombarded with multiple conversations from other tables that overpowered the one in front of me. With all that stimulation, I was unable to be present, engaged and connected, something I truly value. Later that night we retreated to the quiet of their home, and I was much more comfortable and able to enjoy deeper conversations.
When did you suspect that your level of sensitivity was above the societal norm? How did you come to see yourself as “too sensitive”?
I always knew I was an introvert and had prided myself in being a practiced extrovert. Yet ‘extroverting” took its toll on my emotions and energy. When I met a woman who referred to herself as highly sensitive, I had my “aha” moment. I suddenly understood myself better and I felt less alone.
I also realized that not everyone is like me. Apparently not everyone freaks out internally over the sound of the “Put your seatbelt on” alarm. Others don’t leave the mall on Black Friday feeling traumatized, and need three days to recover. Now I realize that while I hate a crowded mall, it’s not that I hate people or that all introverts or HSP’s feel that way; it was that I got overstimulated by the sounds, noises, voices, lights, signs, sales, babies, and emotions.
I’m sure that being Highly Sensitive also gives you certain advantages. Can you tell us a few advantages that Highly Sensitive people have?
Being HS forces me to really know myself and know what I need to feel calm and healthy. It makes me more in tune with self-care and knowing what triggers overstimulate me, so that I can quickly do something that grounds me and brings me back to a place of balance or equilibrium. And being more empathetic than most makes me a great listener.
Can you share a story from your own life where your great sensitivity was actually an advantage?
One time, a friend and mentor made a passive aggressive criticism of me in front of a group. She said something like, “Oh Lori doesn’t need help with organization. She’s got that all figured out.” It was on a Zoom call and I remember hanging up and thinking, Huh. I wonder what she meant by that? I do pride myself in being organized but I’m also open to learning new tools and tricks. But her comment felt snarky and sarcastic. Something about it stung.
I could have very easily drawn my own conclusions, wondered what I did wrong, or simply just put a wall up — which is my default — and let the relationship go. But she was someone I looked up to and respected. I chose to pause, take a breath, and call her back. I asked if she could clarify what she meant by her comment.
What ensued was a beautiful intimate conversation. She revealed that she actually admired me for my organization. She knew as soon as the words had left her mouth that they had the wrong tone and could have been received negatively. She apologized and we were able to move on. Today, we still collaborate and mastermind together, and our friendship continues to grow.
There seems to be no harm in being overly empathetic. What’s the line drawn between being empathetic and being Highly Sensitive?
Being highly sensitive, we sense or know or have deeper compassion for others. It’s our gut instinct or “Spidey” sense that tells us when something is off.
Being empathetic, we absorb and are deeply affected by the emotions of others. It is sometimes hard to differentiate between what emotion is our own, verses someone else’s.
Social Media can often be casually callous. How does Social Media affect a Highly Sensitive Person? How can a Highly Sensitive Person utilize the benefits of social media without being pulled down by it?
People seem to hide behind the anonymity of social media. They tend to be more critical or cynical or negative. My mission and purpose and intent are always to inspire on social media, and at times, I’ve felt attacked. I have to consciously choose to ignore the negative and take a “bless and release” attitude. But also, I know that social media works off an algorithm, and even a negative comment might bring more awareness to a post. So, my hope is that a negative comment increases my algorithm, causing the right person or someone that can benefit from what I’m saying to see it be feel blessed, hopeful, or less alone.
How would you respond if something you hear or see bothers or affects you, but others comment that you are being petty or that it is minor?
I would probably relate it to sexual harassment, in that it’s not the intention, but how it’s received.
What strategies do you use to overcome the perception that others may have of you as overly sensitive without changing your caring and empathetic nature?
I try to educate and empower people through my writing. Overall, just bringing an awareness to terms like highly sensitive or empathetic can be powerful.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a Highly Sensitive Person? Can you explain what you mean?
That being highly sensitive is a bad thing. I mentioned that I was highly sensitive to someone in a casual conversation one time and they literally laughed out loud. This person was highly extroverted, social, and loud. I’m more introverted, a loner, and quiet. One is not right or wrong, we’re just different. Each has it’s benefits and strengths; each has a lot to offer the world.
As you know, one of the challenges of being a Highly Sensitive Person is the harmful,and dismissive sentiment of “why can’t you just stop being so sensitive?” What do you think needs to be done to make it apparent that it just doesn’t work that way?
Kindness goes along way. We all need to learn to be more self-aware as well as to know those people in our inner hub. Knowing how we’re each wired. Acknowledging that we’re not the same. We all have different temperaments and mindsets. What’s right for you may not be best for the people closest to you in your inner hub. If someone is an introvert or highly sensitive, you can care for them by
respecting their need for privacy and quiet time;
allowing them extra time to think or process;
listening when they speak, don’t interrupt or override them;
giving them advance notice if you know change is coming;
giving them time to finish what they are doing;
not asking them to be more extroverted or outgoing — their superpower is their introversion and their high sensitivity.
Ok, here is the main question for our discussion. Can you share with us your “5 Things You Need To Know To Survive And Thrive As A Highly Sensitive Person? Please give a story or an example for each.
To survive and thrive as a Highly Sensitive Person, you need to know that
Headphones, a ball cap, and sunglasses can help prevent overstimulation. Keep them close by, especially when traveling or even going to the grocery store. One time my husband and I were visiting his cousin in NYC. We would be riding the subway, which I knew would be challenging due to the noise and crowds. I specifically chose an inside seat where I could burrow into the safety of my husband’s side while he used his body as a barrier of protection. I tucked my hat down and plugged into some calming music on my phone. I was able to keep myself from getting anxious and overstimulated.
It’s ok to take a break. When you can’t avoid a crowd, such as at a large event or mall during the busy holiday season, give yourself a break. Escape the crowds and duck into a quiet space or step outside. One time I was at a convention where I was surrounded by a crowd of over 7,000 people that was super high energy and enthusiastic. I could feel my energy and emotions dropping. The noise and energy of the large crowd was too overstimulating. There were multiple screens and conversations and music going on all around me. I retreated to an exhibit outside the arena that was quiet and had a small number of people that, probably like me, needed to take a break and recalibrate.
You can manage your energy, not your calendar. Often, people manage their calendar, filling up every vacant spot from before sunrise to well after sunset. I certainly did for decades of my life. After years of trying to be a Superwoman every moment of every day, I accepted the fact that I am human, with limited energy. The old way involved jamming things into a calendar. The new way clears a space to live with intention and be fully engaged and connect with loved ones while practicing self-care. There are days my energy abounds and I put six or eight or ten hours into a project. And, there are days where I don’t have the physical or creative energy to put in any time at all. On these days I give myself permission to zone-out in front of the TV or get lost in a romance novel. After pushing for days and weeks, that’s exactly what I need. Some experts would advise me to write every day. I choose instead to follow the cycles of my energy, knowing that some days, the energy comes simply by parking myself in the chair and beginning to write. But on the days when it simply is not there — my creativity or energy — I don’t force it. I simply try again tomorrow.
It’s ok to say no. Part of mastering this skill involves knowing your priorities and your purpose so that you can schedule things thoughtfully and with intention. It’s learning to say no more often, especially to things that don’t align with your health goals, purpose, passion, and priorities. Some weeks you can cross off the morning and evening hours on your calendar and schedule those as sacred “me” time. If you have an early morning Zoom call or yoga class, limit your activity that afternoon and evening. Plan on an afternoon nap or an earlier bedtime. If you have a late-night meeting or event, plan a slower, quieter morning the next day with a later start. When invited to add something to your schedule, ask yourself, “Is this something I really want to do? Does it align with my passions and purpose?” If the answer is not “heck, yes,” then it is “heck, no.”
Self-care is non-negotiable. And the best self-care involves being self-aware. It’s about knowing yourself and what you need to feel calm and healthy. Growing up, I had a built-in system to get my needs met. I had plenty of alone time in my room. I received comfort from my feline friends Mittens, Muffin, and Spaz. We had a pool in the backyard and a powerboat to enjoy on weekends and week-long camping trips, nurturing my needs to be outside and near the water. I had softball and soccer games where I could hit, throw, and kick. I could safely bike around the neighborhood, walk barefoot in my backyard, and run around a four-mile block. Even mowing the lawn was meditative. In my late teens and early twenties I worked mostly outdoors on boats and at a resort. There was a built-in network of self-care all around me. In my mid-twenties, thirties, and forties I moved inside and away from those self-care practices. My technical, administrative and marketing skills developed. I became more responsible and productive. And I became really, really tired. I slowly moved myself away from the curious, playful, warm, whimsical adventurer I was. I told myself I could thrive in a fast-paced noisy world. I was strong, tough. I didn’t need a break. I didn’t need self-care. I used to fight the whole idea of slowing down. But beating myself up only intensified the energy and emotional crash that came from pushing too hard for too long. Now that I’m fifty, I recognize that I am content, cooperative, and calm when I’m not overstimulated, worn out, or hungry. When I don’t sleep or become overly fatigued, I lose my words and can’t focus or communicate; I’m helpless to autocorrect. My body relies on me to take care of my basic needs: water, food, sleep, and movement.
Knowing yourself and whether you are an introvert or extrovert — or something more, like a highly sensitive person or an empath — provides tools to cope and rebalance. Embracing who we truly are takes courage and hard work. But it can lead us from a life of struggle to one of strength. It can relieve anxiety and allow more room for empathy.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Know yourself. Love yourself. Empower yourself. Life and health are so much about being self-care and self-aware. When we learn to take care of ourself and our needs, especially emotionally, we are better able to serve others, and live a life of passion and purpose.
Many religions and spiritual traditions teach a version of the principles “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” It’s the premise of treating others the way we would want to be treated. The problem is, we don’t love ourselves enough, which adds to our stress levels.
Today, choose love, especially when it comes to yourself. Decide to love all of who you are… your past, history, flaws, misgivings, mistakes, weaknesses, and fears. In doing so, it allows you to love your present, future, blessings, victories, successes, strengths, dreams, and hopes.
How can our readers follow you online?
My website is LoriAnnKing.com, where you can find links to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and more!
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Brian Pallas of Opportunity Network: Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Have a clear purpose, and genuinely believe in it. Our purpose is central to everything we do, from our recruiting process to our product innovation, to our sales pitch, to our customers. We have made many tough decisions over the years to stay true to it. During the pandemic, we stood to gain financially from the huge inflow of new members, but instead, we decided to offer the year’s membership for free to all the companies that joined while struggling due to the pandemic. It was a big commitment on our part, but we felt it was the only ethical choice.
Brian Pallas is an Italian entrepreneur, CEO, and Founder of Opportunity Network, a private business matching network for vetted CEOs and private investors worldwide. Brian holds a B.S. in Business Management and an M.S. in Economics, graduating with honors from the Catholic University of Milan. He also worked at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where he gained experience in venture capital, private equity and investment banking, before being sponsored by them to complete an MBA at Columbia Business School in New York, where the idea of Opportunity Network first began.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
I was born and raised in Italy, where I completed my BSc in Business Management and a Master’s in Economics with honors from the Catholic University of Milan. After that, I worked for 2 years at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and gained experience in Venture Capital, Private Equity, and Investment Banking. I then moved with my wife Henriette to New York to study for an MBA at Columbia Business School.
Intent on helping my father expand our family business, I joined the Family Business Club and started circulating an internal newsletter anonymously connecting my fellow club members with each other’s business opportunities. Soon I found myself with almost a billion dollars’ worth of deal flow passing through my inbox, and when I saw people successfully closing deals, I realized we were on to something.
That was just the beginning. Now, 7 years later, our digital deal-matching network hosts 50,000+ CEOs across 130+ countries and 100+ industries, as well as $450Bn deal flow.
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 is a hard one, while we did make many mistakes at the beginning, none of them felt particularly funny at the time… If I had to pick one it would be my first hire. He did not last a day. I was eager to find someone to help me as I was swamped and barely sleeping, so I picked literally the first person who came forward and after 5 minutes, I was already onboarding him. By that same night, he started asking how much longer he was expected to work. I looked at him with a puzzled look and responded: until we’re done, of course. He nodded, smiled, and resigned.
I am glad to say that we have since learnt to put the most attention into selecting the right people for our team. We want to make sure everyone that works with us really shares our burning desire to make our purpose come true and leave a dent in the world.
Every 3 months we run a survey asking people three simple yes or no questions. We ask whether they believe we will manage to increase global GDP, whether they think everyone does their best to live according to the values we picked for ourselves, and if they would recommend us to their best friend as clients, employees, AND suppliers.
Everyone receives the survey from myself all the way down to the interns and even contractors. It’s completely anonymous and untraceable.
It’s now 11 quarters in a row that we’ve received a 100% response rate and >90% of people responding yes to all 3 questions. The last one was 94% average, and what we love the most are the comments from people.
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?
Everyone talks about some famous mentor or inspirational leader they look up to. I must admit that I learned more from my colleagues than anyone else.
We are fortunate to have people that are incredibly senior in our team and on our board. If I had not founded this company, they could have easily been mentors for me.
Working with them every day is what really enables them to give me punctual input and to grow. The most important thing that we’ve achieved is a culture where no one is scared to speak up and ideas are truly accepted and welcomed.
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?
We’ve always dreamt of a world where every reliable CEO/investor has equal access to business opportunities. A world where it doesn’t matter whether you are located in the New York, Bologna, or Nairobi.
Most companies’ success is driven by having access to the right people at the right time.
Finding an investor when capital is needed, new clients for global expansion, new suppliers in times of crisis… These are the things that separate winners from losers, sometimes even more than the quality of one’s product or service.
Our purpose is to foster economic growth on a global scale by breaking down first vs third world barriers in an effort to increase global GDP and improve standards of living, wages, and employment opportunities in emerging markets.
Our network connects vetted CEOs and decision-makers worldwide with their reliable counterparts for any business need. We want to address issues such as unmet financing needs and eliminate economic inequalities in order to create a real global level playing field where every entrepreneur grows based on merit.
Since the pandemic, we’ve also been striving to help businesses recover, whether it be through helping them replace trade partners, address urgent liquidity needs or overcome logistical and supply chain disruptions.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?
Transparency has been key for us. We want people to be aware of any risk they’re taking by staying with us.
A few years ago, we had very little cash left, and we put our bank balance on a screen for everyone to see, alongside all the other KPIs.
People saw the number decrease each month; 3 months, 2 months, 1 month and a half…
A few people (very few) looked for other jobs, scared by the uncertainty. Everyone else fought ten times harder to make it happen, and I believe it’s because of that, that we’re still around to tell the tale.
Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?
No, I have not thought about giving up, despite the fact that we’ve had no shortage of challenging moments.
I believe that very few people have the privilege in their lifetime to be able to fight to make a real difference on a large scale.
Here we all feel proud that we have a shot, even during the times when it looks like a very long shot.
What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?
Show resilience, have empathy, and be fully transparent.
People need to know how hard it is going to be and how risky it is going to be. Hiding the truth only destroys trust.
What really builds trust is recognizing challenges, showing a clear direction, and proving with concrete actions that we’re all here shoulder to shoulder fighting tooth and nail to make it happen.
When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?
Every month we have a Town Hall where we meet any newcomers, discuss our targets and KPI progress, inform everyone of what’s going on in each area of the company, and answer any questions.
And when I say any, I mean it.
We pride ourselves on being a transparent company and any suggestions or questions are welcomed. By being so transparent and open with our communication, we are able to create an atmosphere where everyone feels comfortable to speak up and trusts one another, which I feel is what makes us such a strong team.
What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?
First, transparency, transparency, transparency.
And then again, a little empathy goes a long way. Before you even speak to your team and customers, think about how you would feel if you were receiving the same news. Keeping your teams’ emotions in mind will help you navigate the situation better.
How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?
Moving forward, leaders must focus on their ability to adapt. And for that, you need a Plan B mentality. Executing strategies are far more difficult than creating them. There are too many forces at play during the execution phase of the plan to prevent it from succeeding.
Whether it be the introduction of a new technology/innovation, a new competitor to worry about, market pricing dropping suddenly, or government policy and customer demand changing without warning.
The only effective coping mechanism in the face of such situations is to have multiple contingency plans ready to go.
Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?
Yes, and that’s never to lose sight of why you’re there.
Your purpose is what will guide you through turbulent times and tough choices.
Many companies during times of crisis just try to survive and weather the storm.
I believe that companies go down when they start playing for survival rather than to achieve their purpose.
Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?
Failing to adapt to market demands — Lots of organizations like to lay low through challenging times when what they should be doing is re-evaluating how they can evolve their business model to adjust to the ever-evolving market needs. We can always do better and keep growing. Who knows, you may even find areas of new revenue that you’d missed previously.
Failing to measure business operations — Storing and tracking data is key to measuring the success of business operations. After all, you can only manage what you measure. If you don’t have a clear, objective picture of what is happening in each aspect of your business, it is very difficult to pinpoint the areas that need improvement or attention.
Under-communicating — Business leaders who under-communicate tend to exacerbate issues rather than alleviate them. Business is all about people. People are human and they have insecurities that can be a significant hindrance to daily work life. Over-communicate and eliminate that air of uncertainty.
Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?
Well, since we offer a means to continue growing your business at a time when it is easy to stagnate, business leaders have actually been drawn to the platform. Since the start of the pandemic, more than 15,000 new companies have joined Opportunity Network, and our levels of activity have skyrocketed. We’ve seen a 70% increase in conversations among members and a 60% growth in the number of new business opportunities posted.
As we all know, we are now in the digital era, and people are starting to realize that many of the things that were previously done in person can now be done by the click of a button, at a fraction of the cost, and at much greater convenience.
Our members simply have to post their business opportunity on the network and our matching algorithm and account managers share it with potential counterparts within our network of 50,000 business leaders. On average, every opportunity receives at least one connection in the first 48 hours. This offers unprecedented scale and capacity for any type of company to grow faster than any competitor.
Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times? Please share a story or an example for each.
1. Have a clear purpose, and genuinely believe in it. Our purpose is central to everything we do, from our recruiting process to our product innovation, to our sales pitch, to our customers. We have made many tough decisions over the years to stay true to it. During the pandemic, we stood to gain financially from the huge inflow of new members, but instead, we decided to offer the year’s membership for free to all the companies that joined while struggling due to the pandemic. It was a big commitment on our part, but we felt it was the only ethical choice.
2. Set a clear direction towards that purpose, one that everyone can understand and embrace. Every year we write an email to all employees and investors. It always starts with the purpose, and then goes on to discuss our honest understanding of the business and its direction, the choices we’ll have to make and the assumptions on which we’re relying on. We then hold a town hall meeting and allow everyone to ask any questions about it.
3. Be unyielding in the pursuit of the purpose, and very flexible on the means. We have often tried different paths to achieve our goal and switched around things until we found a solid sustainable recipe. Looking backwards, we feel that for the first few years, we did not have a solid economic model on which to rely. The reason why we were able to continue our journey in an industry such as business matchmaking where there is not a clear market leader example to follow is due to our relentless pursuit of our purpose. As a result of our unwavering commitment, our investors kept backing us.
4. Be completely transparent. In our company, every employee that stays for more than a year gains access to the same information we share with all existing and new shareholders. The shares they own are the same we issue to new investors. We’re all in the same boat, and we all have full visibility on where the company is going.
5. Remember to create occasions for celebration and socialization. Otherwise, the daily struggle will make the mood unnecessarily gloomy. Recently, we organized a BBQ for the first time in a while (due to COVID, all in-person activities were suspended) and the turnout was amazing. It was wonderful to see everyone socializing and getting to know each other on a different level. In fact, many of our team members got to meet their colleagues that they had been teleworking with in person for the first time. And even though the occasion was purely social, many took the opportunity to brainstorm ideas, talk about their roles in the company, and understand more about what others’ roles entail, too.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I’m not too keen on inspirational quotes. They often just sound nice.
I’m a big believer in full dedication to a worthwhile purpose.
Be ready for anything because what you envision as something bad coming your way, probably is not one-tenth of what is going to come your way.
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 Lillee Jean.
Lillee Jean is a content creator who focuses on beauty, wellness, and advocacy for her YouTube, website, and Instagram channels. She is also well known for being a young entrepreneur in the entertainment business, who is an influencer, actress, model, writer, producer, director, and model. Born in New York in 2001, her content is relatable and often touches on such items as the global pandemic as well as climate change. You can catch her self-produced web series, “Lillee Jean TALKS! Live”, which airs on her IG TV, her website, and her YouTube channel, and is IMDB approved.
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?
Even as a little girl I loved entertaining people, I just didn’t realize my niche would become more than just makeup tutorials. I’m grateful I cannot only bring joy to people by giving them fun tutorials to watch, but also to be able to touch people with current events that need to be talked about, instead of ignored. I think I always knew that entertaining was a good fit for my personality and this would be where I would start my path.
Can you please share with us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
One of the most rewarding things that have happened to me, has been having the ability to work with organizations, such as CHOOOSE Today, to help spread awareness on climate change. I think that while entertaining is in my blood, being able to also have a teachable moment with my fans, is equally of great importance.
Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?
I believe that following your gut is always the best way to do things. There have been so many times throughout my career, I have allowed, my heart to rule, what I knew was a bad decision, and ended up with a poor result. Nowadays I live by the “follow my gut” rule all the time, the “Lillee Gut” is never wrong.
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”?
We live in a digital age, so nowadays, we no longer look at things in a 2-D format. I believe along with the privilege of accessing information quicker, we need to enforce real laws, that will bring actual change to the “Wild West” which is the internet, right now. No rules, no laws seem to apply. I think making everyone more conscious of what they are doing online, educating them about the consequences of what they put out as a digital imprint in the world, will make a huge impact going forward. Even with as technological we are as a people, right now, people tend to weaponize their usage on the internet in a way that can not only have mental side effects for them, but also the people that they affect. I think this will change how we look at privacy, freedom of speech as well as dissemination of information.
How do you think this will change the world?
It will put an end to a certain degree, the online bullying that exists out there, on the wide vast internet, which is bigger than most people realize. It will emotionally help a lot of people that not only depend upon their addiction of being “connected” on the internet, but also will end their dependence on feeling powerful enough to hurt others because they cannot be found. It is a bit like crypto in away. Crypto is not traceable, and fake profiles, to a certain degree, are untraceable too. It takes the screen away from the people who commit, what they believe are victimless crimes.
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?
I was once told if you aren’t doing something wrong, then you have nothing to worry about. That stands true for anything you do in life. In this instance, people who are affected, will be those who are doing something wrong. They’ll argue that you are taking their rights away, and that you are stepping on their Freedom of Speech. Lots of arguments, all empty, without texture. The potential for good here, outweighs any argument these internet fake protector of rights might have.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this idea? Can you tell us that story?
The tipping point started when I was 15. I was a teenager when online bullying started. It was a 24 hour a day onslaught that has lasted still to this day. I have learned over time, after talking with law enforcement, that better laws need to be put into place. There are, it seems limits, to what even law enforcement can do on the internet, and the pain and suffering I have gone through, not to mention having to rebuild, at my age, a reputation, when I’m only 20, is preposterous to me. The time starts now, for all of us to make a real change, and I believe I can be part of that change.
What do you need to lead this idea to widespread adoption?
I am aiming for a Federal law to be put into place. This is my goal, and I do have a Senator that is interested in pushing this agenda forward. We have been sidelined because of the global pandemic, the insurrection and other things that are deemed (and I agree on this point), far more important at the moment, for Congress to deal with. I intend, however to continue pushing forward, and I hope to make some real headway in 2022 on this subject. We have lined up next year (hoping Covid is not as prevalent as it is right now) some speaking I will be doing at schools, etc., as well as interviews I plan on giving. My ultimate goal is to go to Congress to testify on having some real substantiative laws put in place.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
Be ready for anything because what you envision as something bad coming your way, probably is not one-tenth of what is going to come your way.
Success is not ever easy.
Don’t sweat the small stuff, because there is going to be a lot of big stuff that is going to drive you over the edge at times.
Build a team you can trust, don’t build it on pity for giving someone a job.
Surround yourself with people who will nurture and live your dream with you.
Can you share with our readers what you think are the most important “success habits” or “success mindsets”?
I believe to be successful, you must believe in yourself. I find a mood board to be quite helpful when I am envisioning what I want my goal to be that I am aiming for. Being meticulous, waiting for the right moment to do something, even when you want to burst at the seams and tell the world about an upcoming project, sometimes is better when you wait, and allow the idea to flourish and grow.
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 🙂
The old elevator pitch I am guessing you mean? I would say that my ideas are easy to attain, this in five points is what needs to get done to achieve the goal I am looking for, and to be part of the bigger picture with me, join forces with me to make a change that is meaningful.
The Future Is Now: Mike Betzer of Hypergiant On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Taking care of yourself is not selfish. To be the best you have to feel your best and you do that with sleep, exercise, spiritual time, learning time and away time. Prioritizing those things is what enables you to perform at 100 percent when you’re working. I meditate every day. I schedule routine vacations, and I often spend them with my grown children. I work on my spiritual health and my physical health. Altogether, I think that helps me lead big teams and make hard decisions — I know that I’m balanced in what I am doing, and that balance makes me capable of making the right decisions.
As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs I had the pleasure of interviewing Mike Betzer.
Mike Betzer is the CEO at Hypergiant, an enterprise AI software company. He joined the company in May of 2021 to continue Hypergiant’s aggressive growth and expand the three-year-old startup’s customer base, which includes the likes of Sumitomo Corporation, Boeing, Schlumberger, Booz Allen Hamilton, and the United States Department of Defense, among others.
Betzer previously served as the Chief Digital Transformation Officer at Khoros — a role he took on following tenure as Chief Product Officer. Prior to Khoros, Betzer served as the SVP of Lithium Technologies and CEO of Humanify. He has held multiple CEO and C-suite roles throughout the past three decades at companies including Social Dynamx Inc, Convergys, and Siebel Systems.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I’ve been in enterprise sales for over thirty years. That makes me, in some regards, a dinosaur. But it’s always been something I’ve been extremely passionate about: helping companies solve big technical problems is the backbone of industrial and social progress, and I’ve loved being a part of that. Watching this industry change over the past thirty years has been a journey that I’ll never forget.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I’ve worked at several different organizations since I started, and I have a lot of stories about teammates and leadership. The one through point in them all is that culture always wins. When you find the right way to fire up and win over the hearts and minds of the team, the team will win. I’ve seen this over and over again in every single company I’ve been part of — and in nearly every sports movie you could watch.
Can you tell us about the cutting edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?
Artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and 5G are the “big three” of the next decade. Together they are the technologies that will enable us to radically respond to and transform our world. Leading an AI company that is part of this moment in history is an honor that I don’t hold without humility. We are building technology that is helping to reinvent supply chains, to create commercial resiliency, to respond to economic and environmental dangers and save lives.
Right now, the biggest challenges with AI and the ones we are working on, are sort of boring. Over 80 percent of data science models never make it into production which means that a lot of good technology just doesn’t get seen. This matters because the better AI/ML models we have the better they all get. It’s like early websites: they were all terrible, until they weren’t.
To respond to this challenge, we are building Hyperdrive which will help data scientists and ML engineers scale models into production faster and, down the road, the same tech will help business leaders understand and respond to their data better too.
The long-term journey here is towards what we call Common Operating Pictures, which are dashboards that essentially everyone at all levels of the company can use to access the right data and make real-time decisions. These dynamic, data-rich visualizations and predictive simulations of potential outcomes help customers fully understand the sometimes complex data interactions needed to improve supply chain logistics, fleet management, employee-machine tooling and other vital business optimization areas. That is going to change the way we build, operate and respond to a company’s challenges. It’s not a particularly glamorous process, but I think it is extremely important to get right.
How do you think this might change the world?
The more control we have of our data, the more we can change how things work, remove inefficiencies, improve systems and reduce our negative impacts. That is the work everyone should be doing and thinking about right now.
Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
All technologies are only as good as the people who build and use them. This is why we are focused on ethical AI, not just in our own company, but also helping others to build ethical frameworks into their company’s solutions. Will Griffin, our Chief Ethics Officer, has helped us and continues to help us peer into the future, wondering where our technology might fall apart and where we might not think about something that ends up being critical to our success. But this isn’t his job alone in the world; he helps to train our teams and other teams to have ethics top of mind, but every company and employee needs to uphold these ethical principles as part of their own personal job.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?
For us at Hypergiant, the “tipping point” to focus on Hyperdrive and the development of Common Operating Pictures was a direct response to the products we were building for clients like the U.S. Department of Defense, GE and Disney. These clients were having vastly different business struggles but utilizing similar ML/AI solutions to solve for them. As we built these solutions, we started to see the need for more comprehensive software and have since brought that solution to the market.
What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?
We need more data scientists building models, and we need more businesses including data science and AI/ML as part of their business strategies. By 2025, 50 percent of businesses will be using ML/AI — those who aren’t will be left in the dust.
What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?
We believe in building the best company and the best culture for our teams. I think there is no greater marketing than a great product evangelized by customers and employees. That is what we are focused on and what we really want to build.
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 was helped so much by Vint Cerf. I worked with him at MCI during the years of great innovation: the internet, email and the power of data centers were all becoming a reality and changing the way that people worked in every single industry. It was incredible to watch that process come to life; Vint taught me that even though technology changes, businesses are made with good people, strong processes and great technology management.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I have a deep religious and spiritual practice and honestly believe my ultimate role as a leader is to serve my community. That’s what I try to do with each success. I want to make the world around me a better place by bringing jobs, leading from the heart and trying to improve the lives of everyone I meet.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
It is harder than you think. We always hear about the great successes, but we do not hear about all the amazing hard work along the way. When you just hear the highlights from others, their journey always seems easier than it actually was.
Have fun with the difficult parts. The challenging eras are where you learn the most. I’ve run marathons on nearly every continent and, to be honest, they are always terrible. But they are also rewarding and have kept me healthy, energized and engaged ever since the first one I ran. The secret is that while we hate the pain of mile 18–25 of the marathon, that pain is really what makes mile 26 so great. You only love the last mile because you ran all the others.
Slow down and listen to people, the environment and your soul. Technology is made by a lot of people who want to work very fast to bring something to market. Mark Zuckerberg has made “Build Fast and Break Things” an industry mantra. But faster is not always better. When we go too fast, we aren’t listening. When we stop listening, we build things that are irrelevant, harmful and destructive. That doesn’t feel good in your soul. And, at the end of the day, if your soul doesn’t feel good then whatever you’ve built wasn’t worth it.
Take care of people. If your team can count on you, they will perform at their best and that is what creates an amazing culture. I do this in little ways by ensuring we send birthday gifts, and in big ways by really listening and paying attention to my employees. When I’m on the phone with someone, I’m on the phone 100 percent. When they need something, I work hard to make it happen. We need to be focused on helping others win.
Taking care of yourself is not selfish. To be the best you have to feel your best and you do that with sleep, exercise, spiritual time, learning time and away time. Prioritizing those things is what enables you to perform at 100 percent when you’re working. I meditate every day. I schedule routine vacations, and I often spend them with my grown children. I work on my spiritual health and my physical health. Altogether, I think that helps me lead big teams and make hard decisions — I know that I’m balanced in what I am doing, and that balance makes me capable of making the right decisions.
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. 🙂
You have one body — learn to take care of your body, mind and spirit. If we all do this, we will be better partners, leaders, teachers and parents.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I have to share my top three favorite quotes:
Enjoy the journey — The highs and lows of life is where we learn. Enjoy them as you experience them.
Be humble — You either are humble or will become humble, you choose
Have a Servant’s Heart — The Servant boss will win over the long-haul. Think every day what you can do to serve those around 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 🙂
AI is the future. Our company makes that future possible.
Allison Moss of Type:A Brands: Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Conserve cash — as one of my investors shared early on, as a CEO my job was to manage the strategy, the team and always make sure we have cash in the bank. When times are uncertain, a small or emerging business likely has less cash reserve and also is more susceptible to being hit hard by small changes. If a key retailer’s foot traffic drops by 50%, that future cash flow you had been counting on is suddenly now also likely cut in half. Small businesses especially need extra runway as truly anything can change on a dime.
Allison Moss has 22 years of prior marketing and management experience working with some of the biggest beauty companies in the business. But her passion for wanting to bring cleaner, safer beauty & personal care products to market brought her to where she is today, Founder & CEO of Type:A Brands.
Since launching Type:A Brands three years ago, Allison has created award-winning, non-toxic, high-performance body care items. Allison has led the company to develop an impactful foundation and immense growth. This includes the hero product, a game-changing aluminum-free deodorant, being awarded a patent for it’s exclusive sweat-activated technology that delivers best-in-class odor and wetness protection. Type:A Brands is a certified B Corporation, carbon neutral, cruelty free, woman-owned and all products are made in the USA.The brand’s commitment to making a difference through the business has recently garnered actress, activist and clean beauty enthusiast Sophia Bush as an investor.
Type:A Brands has gained a well-respected reputation in the industry winning multiple beauty awards from top publications such as Health, SELF and Women’s Health and has developed incredible retailer reach, with Type:A products being sold at CredoBeauty, Whole Foods (California), HEB, Bed Bath & Beyond, Thrive Market, Target.com and many more.
With all this, Allison has stayed true to her word and mission and continues to strive to be better, do better and offer others better in the beauty industry.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. 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 grew up outside of Los Angeles, and moved to New York City after college (Boston University, go Terriers!) to start a career in Marketing. I’ve spent 20 years in the beauty industry, focused on brand and product marketing. At the start, I worked with mainstream brands like Estee Lauder, MAC Cosmetics, Lancôme and L’Oreal Paris, and more recently I’ve shifted to work with smaller brands that have a clean or natural focus, including Jurlique and Beautycounter.
On my own personal journey into using safer products, I naturally made clean-beauty swaps in my daily routine. When I decided to switch to a natural deodorant, I tried dozens of them, but each and every one was a disappointment. With my background bringing amazing products to the market across the beauty industry, I saw that a better deodorant was absolutely possible. So I engaged a freelance chemist, took a leap of faith, and never looked back.
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’ve made was thankfully completely innocent. I was moving way too fast, trying to do 500 things at one time — typical founder life — and I sent an email intended for my husband to someone else involved with the business. There was nothing embarrassing in the email, thank goodness! But the simple act of moving too fast and sending the wrong message to the wrong person was embarrassing. The lesson of taking an extra beat before hitting send on EVERY email has stuck with me ever since. It’s a good practice to have in place 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?
My husband. We met in business school and he’s an entrepreneur at heart, having started several side businesses over the years. So when I first had this crazy idea, we sat down and geeked-out on what starting a full-fledged personal care brand could look like. One afternoon, I presented my competitive analysis to him and we had a very detailed discussion while the kids napped.
Of course its been invaluable having someone I trust, who also has a different approach than I do, to strategically brainstorm with and work through all sorts of business questions and challenges along the way. But even more important, once we decided I would start this business, he started to volunteer to take on more responsibility at home. Like making school lunches and grocery shopping are now his tasks. His support at home, tactical support for the business, and emotional support throughout for my own mental sanity have made this all possible.
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?
From the very beginning, I was inspired by having a product that worked differently from what was on the market, and better for people who tried it. I was motivated that this could help more people make the switch they wanted to make and stick with it. The idea of helping people make this healthier choice in their lives is a huge part of why I left my corporate career to take on starting a business. And it’s been the best decision!
We could use this business as a force for good, and we try to do that and are always looking to improve. I wanted to get our B Corporation certification as early as we could for just this reason, to help us do a better job of making a positive impact for all stakeholders.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?
Leading a team during Q2 2020, at the start of COVID-19, is the definition of uncertain times. The biggest challenge was not knowing how long the pandemic would last and how it would impact consumer behavior short term and long term. We reacted immediately in mid-March, and further in April and May, to revise marketing plans dramatically, conserve cash, re-evaluate our runway, and revise our sales plans. It was an exhausting and emotionally difficult time for everyone. I approached this by being honest with the team, and giving everyone space to adjust and cope in their own ways. We had an advantage in that our team was partly remote pre-COVID. Even so, we doubled down on finding alternate ways to stay connected as a team, starting a cadence of 2x / week all-hands zoom meetings that we’ve continued to this day, and identifying a block of work-hours across time zones where we can all be available to connect.
Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?
I’ve had my moments where I feel overwhelmed, as anyone would. I run a growing, early-stage business and am a mom of two. For the business, there’s a never-ending amount of work and always more that we can be doing! My biggest challenge is not get bogged down by what we haven’t tackled (yet!) and stay focused on moving forward, motivate my team and continue to make progress.
What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?
Finding a way to process your own reactions to the times so that you can be there for your team as humans as well as professionals. And also letting the team be there for you, and recognizing you’re all in this together. That sense of unity can be an advantage to the business.
When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?
I’ve found in the last 18 months that as a small team, we’ve all supported each other in so many ways. My first step was to connect individually with each person, see what they needed on a personal level and how as their employer we could support this. If a person feels supported and in a safe space, they can be more present for the job as well (or take the time they need so they can return fully present). In connecting with the team, I found my spirits lifted and really felt we strengthened our connections which inspired all of us to get creative, and be flexible, to get through the tough times.
What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?
Finding a way to process your own reactions to the times so that you can be there for your team as humans as well as professionals. And also letting the team be there for you, and recognizing you’re all in this together. That sense of unity can be an advantage to the business.
How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?
Making plans when the future is unpredictable is about conservation and flexibility. When it comes to future commitments, be selective. Take calculated risks on people and programs that are low-risk or deliver on necessary goals (e.g. — ramp up a new sales channel that makes sense for your business regardless of an unpredictable future). And make sure every program that carries uncertainty has the ability to be paused, rescheduled or cancelled without penalty or with an acceptably low penalty.
Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?
We wouldn’t be here without having doubled down on cash-management, and making our weekly 13-week cash forecast our north star. This allows us to revisit decisions weekly to invest or cut spend across every aspect of the business, to shift with the ups and downs of the times.
Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?
Keeping plans as-is hoping things will go back to normal
Not giving yourself and your team time for personal and emotional well being
Be compassionate with yourself and your goals, as they will change
Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?
Our mentality of being willing to revisit our entire strategy and putting everything on the table was important to our success in generating new business. We worked quickly to reconsider our sales and marketing plans, and stayed open to all ideas.
We also took a calculated risk and followed-through with a new hire we had identified just before the pandemic took over. The role was Head of Retail Sales, with the goal of managing our retail channel for success. We brought in an incredible candidate and now key team member, and quickly together we revised our retail expansion strategy. That was over a year ago and today the result has been opening 1400 doors with incredible regional, national and e-tail partners including Meijer, Whole Foods (California regions), Bed Bath and Beyond, and Thrive Market.
Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times? Please share a story or an example for each.
Be compassionate — keeping the team motivated requires first ensuring everyone feeling supported and safe. With that, they can ‘show up’ (over zoom) and be present to do their roles and stay flexible as the landscape shifts and tasks/projects inevitably change.
Be flexible — be willing to let go of what was planned and re-evaluate every inch of the business and team.
Conserve cash — as one of my investors shared early on, as a CEO my job was to manage the strategy, the team and always make sure we have cash in the bank. When times are uncertain, a small or emerging business likely has less cash reserve and also is more susceptible to being hit hard by small changes. If a key retailer’s foot traffic drops by 50%, that future cash flow you had been counting on is suddenly now also likely cut in half. Small businesses especially need extra runway as truly anything can change on a dime.
Seek out partners / advisors / friends of the brand — we spent a lot of time socializing with other brands at our stage, across categories. It was good for our combined mental health to know we were facing similar challenges. But equally if not more important, we learned from each other, shared tips, ideas, advice and resources.
Take calculated risks. When COVID-19 hit, despite the immense uncertainty, what we knew that investing in sales growth was mission critical, it had to be our #1 focus. Moving forward to add a strategic retail sales lead was one of the best decisions we’ve made as a business.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Staying positive does not mean pretending to be happy even when times are tough. Rather it means knowing that even through tough times, remembering it is temporary and that better times are coming soon.
A team member shared this to me during COVID, I have revisited this countless times since Q2 2021.
Be kind to yourself after having to push through something. Using your grit can be exhausting. When I was called on to fill in for my boss at a senior management meeting, it was exciting, but pressure-filled. My boss was awesome, and those were big shoes to fill at a very important meeting. I had to dig deep, knowing that what we had to present was not great news. My grit got me through it; my self-care helped me move on joyfully.
As a part of my series about “Grit: The Most Overlooked Ingredient of Success” I had the pleasure of interviewing Marisa Dore’.
Marisa has had an unorthodox and interesting career leading to being a chief marketing officer and marketing and product vice president. She is currently a business consultant, advisor and mentor. She began working as soon as she could. She worked multiple jobs through high school and college with the goal of having a good job and being able to live without roommates. We are glad to report she surpassed that goal years ago.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what events have drawn you to this specific career path
My career chose me, and I am grateful. I could never have dreamed of my success. I am a worker; I like to get things done. After years of doing miscellaneous retail, food service, sales, bookkeeping, quality assurance and print production jobs, by strange circumstances I landed my first career position.
It turned out to be a great fit, and I was on my way. The company was family-owned, wildly successful and was doing fundraising for schools and organizations. I was drawn to the company goal of helping to do good in communities. I stayed with the company because of the wonderful people that were my coworkers and leaders. Who knew that making copies would lead to great things?
Can you share your story about “Grit and Success”? First, can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?
The chip I had on my shoulder started in high school. I was often told I could not do things, which made me more determined to do them, including making the softball team and the tennis team. I was elected the tennis team captain in my senior year. Then I was kicked off the team for “not taking seriously” the role of leading the warm ups and introductions at matches. I did take them seriously, but thought they should also be fun, often giving our players pro-wrestler type introductions. This was my first experience with being in a leadership position. I was devastated, but it turned out great. My teammates refused to play unless I was brought back onto the team. I had to agree to be a bit more serious. I learned important lessons about balance, responsibility, support and humor.
My sheer determination and hard work in college and at jobs while in college helped me earn my bachelor’s degree in art and minor in business. The art people did not think I was good enough, and the business people thought I was a bit to nonconforming. Once again, I had to prove myself better and worthy. These are more valuable traits honed by grit. I did not have a career plan after graduation. I tried several things before landing on what I was meant to do.
My first career opportunity came by fate. I was staying with a friend, sleeping on the floor in my trusty sleeping bag, when a past co-worker called and said I needed to get my act together and get a “real” job. She had an interview scheduled at Entertainment Publications for a job in the manufacturing department, but she decided to get married and move out of state. She suggested I go to the interview in her place. Neither she nor I told them I would be showing up for the interview. We both had done the same job at another company, so I decided to go for it.
I sat in the lobby in the new ugly business suit my parents had bought for the occasion, with my extra short Annie Lennox hair, tapping my foot, waiting for her name to be called. When they called her name, I confidently walked up, but there was a woman I knew from college who said I was not the person she called. I explained I was there for the interview to be the manufacturing clerk. She was shocked, as were the others interviewing me. It took coming back four more times before they offered me the position, and I started making photocopies. My career had taken off!
Over the years, I was promoted several times, worked in many departments and eventually became the director of manufacturing at that company. Then I was transferred into marketing and product management by the new owners. That was my next best move, again by fate and hard work. It was not planned.
Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?
My grandparents were immigrants and farmers. They were hard workers and loving people. I saw their drive and listened closely to their inspirational life stories. As the last girl of three in my religious and close family, I felt like I always had something to prove. My oldest sister is a kind person and talented musician. The middle sister was great at school, sports and was a cheerleader. I had a sense of humor, a creative mind and was okay at math.
I always felt like I did not fit in, but I had faith. My drive came from being decent at things, but I learned early that it is not the cards you are dealt, but how you play those cards. I had to try harder, be more creative and learn from failures to be good or great. At a young age, I figured out that if you got up and worked hard you could compete. I enjoy a healthy competition.
So how did Grit lead to your eventual success? How did Grit turn things around?
My grit lead to my eventual success because I said yes to anything I saw as an opportunity. They do not always go well, but that is okay. In my early 20’s I got a job over the phone at a printing plant as a quality assurance clerk. I was living in Michigan, and the job was in California. I packed my little car and drove across the country. My bicycle and half of everything I owned was stolen on the way. At the facility, I was introduced to the midnight shift staff — 30 men and several were second- or third-generation employees. I had the responsibility to shut down the presses if the quality got to unacceptable levels.
The guys were big and older; I was the only woman, young and short. I took my job seriously and had the authority on paper to shut things down, but had no idea how I could make that happen. The approach I took was to earn their trust, communicate often, get to know them on a personal level and demonstrate that I would be fair and work with them before shutting things down. On breaks, slowly they accepted my presence, and I even started playing football with them in between the huge reams of paper. At our holiday party, my table was covered with drinks bought by the guys, and I felt triumphant. We ended up with the best quality of all the shifts.
Grit on sandpaper has ranges — course, medium and fine. My grit has changed over my career. When I was at the beginning of my career, I was course. I felt like I had to work harder and get things done on my own to prove my worth to an organization. Rough sandpaper is used on rough wood, just as pure determination might be rough on others.
Medium-grade sandpaper is primarily used for removing planning marks. As a middle manager, my grit became more communal. I wanted my teams to do well and started mentoring my staff and others in the organization. I listened more and pushed more gently.
To finish a project, it takes fine sandpaper. In my later years, I have become more like fine sandpaper. I find joy in helping others to be successful, projects to run smoothly and efforts to be appreciated. I have experience with all levels of grit and consider it to be one of my best tools in facing adversity or challenges. I started with grit and am now grateful, though sometimes I have to still grit and bear it.
Based on your experience, can you share 5 pieces of advice about how one can develop Grit? (Please share a story or example for each)
Celebrate your accomplishments, big or small — the first big budget project I was responsible for was a difficult and important piece of work. When my team and I got it approved, we had a team potluck. It increased our comradery and commitment to the budget. Grit is like a muscle that needs to be exercised.
Challenge yourself to try something new at least a few times a year (say yes to things that will make you uncomfortable). Keep your grit going by exercising it. I recently joined a Zoom meet-up for improv games. The others clearly had been doing it together for some time. I was very uncomfortable at first, but enjoyed the event.
Be kind to yourself after having to push through something. Using your grit can be exhausting. When I was called on to fill in for my boss at a senior management meeting, it was exciting, but pressure-filled. My boss was awesome, and those were big shoes to fill at a very important meeting. I had to dig deep, knowing that what we had to present was not great news. My grit got me through it; my self-care helped me move on joyfully.
Recognize grit in others; seeing is believing! I have seen people who have overcome real and traumatic adversity who have reached deep to be successful. I find them to be so inspirational and motivating.
Look for opportunities to help encourage grit in others. I have had some great young talent cross my path. Many of these people were underestimated and passed over. They kept at it and kept going. As a manager, I had the chance to make a difference in their career paths. When I am able to reward grit, my grit is re-enforced. And laugh often.
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 you when things were tough? Can you share a story about that?
I have been blessed with many encouraging people over the years, personally and professionally. The two biggest professional influences are Mark Metcalfe and Sheila Potiker. I am going to focus on Mrs. Potiker. She was the co-founder of Entertainment Publications, along with her husband. They started it in their home and sold the business for hundreds of millions of dollars after running it for about 30 years.
Mrs. Potiker was one of only a few successful business women of that time. She was a shrewd negotiator, stately, intimidating, brilliant, yet quietly kind. It was only because she enjoyed having company-wide events to celebrate successes and build teams that I got on her radar. There was an annual Halloween costume competition in which you could win gift certificates to high-end restaurants which at the time I could not even dream of being able to afford. I hated attention, I disliked Halloween, but I wanted that award!
I was able to make myself a real page-turning, full-body Entertainment coupon book costume. I won! I was working at the lowest level of the company and because I went out of my comfort zone and used my creativity, she noticed me. It was the beginning of her taking an interest in my daily work. Up to that point, I had felt like an imposter in my job. I went to work and did the best I could and pushed through due to my grit. Once she took notice and started mentoring me, everything changed. I felt like I belonged, then knew I belonged.
One of the best skills she taught me was to listen. I would be asked to accompany her to lunch meetings with vendors. I was not to join in the conversation unless I was asked to say something. It was made clear I was there to listen and then report back after the meeting what I had heard or observed. This became a very valuable skill. Not only did I learn the value of actively listening, I learned by observing her how to gracefully handle important negotiations, sometimes difficult people and how to control yourself. These are only a few of the great lessons she taught me. How lucky am I?
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I have done my best to take what I have learned and help others be successful. If you can in some small way help another person be successful in whatever they pursue, who knows what impact that can have down the line. It has been a joy to encourage some overlooked or negated, talented people to get hired or promoted or helped to have opportunity. I am so proud of the young people I have been able to manage or mentor and see the good they are doing in the world.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
In recent months, I have started conceptualizing a life choice-related to financial health learning tool. I believe education is as important as handouts in changing lives for the better.
I work with youth groups, teach art and crafts to grade-school children and volunteer for projects related to feeding underserved or ignored communities. These are the people who show true grit. I am always inspired after an event.
What advice would you give to other executives or founders to help their employees to thrive?
The best advice I can give to help their employees thrive is, be kind whenever you can. Look for ignored or under-utilized talent and give them an opportunity; it will have an impact on everybody. Seek ideas from everybody all the time. Create open communication, be honest and give consistent updates and feedback, and encourage the same at every level of management. Find humor during difficult situations. Reward your employees’ success. Lastly, encourage acceptance and diversity.
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. :-
This is a simple idea that I have started doing in the last couple of months. When I am out in public and I am interacting with anybody, I say, “May I ask your first name?” Not how are you doing, which always gets a response of “fine, how are you?”
It is so interesting, the wide variety of responses. I love it. Even with masks on, more often than not comes a smile and their name. It makes people feel seen, appreciated and sometimes just surprised and they wonder why I asked. Most times, that is it; other times it creates a conversation. Try it. You may like it, and it does not cost a thing and only takes a minute.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
There are so many great ones….
Here is one of mine:
“I never know how much of what I say is true”
-Bette Midler
This is so true, not only of what I say but what others say. It makes me laugh every time I think about it. Not that people are lying, but it is more that we hear, see, absorb so many things almost every minute of every day. It is a good reminder to take a minute and think about what you hear and say, plus it is funny. I try to listen actively and try to speak with caution.
Another is “If you knock and a door that doesn’t open, build a new door”
The Future Is Now: Emmanuel Addy Of The Money Cloud On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Be prepared to be out of your comfort zone. Often you’re juggling several different plates, some of which you know and some of which are very new but you have to be able to adapt to the situation.
As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Emmanuel Addy.
Emmanuel is the CEO and co-founder of The Money Cloud, he started the company in 2004, before starting his company with co-founder Huw Jenkins, he was a solicitor. Throughout his career, Emmanuel has gained versatile leadership experience in legal, publishing and financial technology sectors. Emmanuel has extensive experience and expertise in financial services and the payments space. He has been a commentator on Radio 4’s The Money Box program and is a guest lecturer at Warwick Business School and the IESEG School of Management, Lille.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I started my career in Law, did a law degree, qualified as a solicitor. But I decided that I didn’t want to work in my professional life as a solicitor. I moved into the world of publishing which is where I met my cofounder. We worked on a project for the UK government’s Department for International Development to look at remittances from the UK to 3 African and 3 Asian countries. That’s how I got started in the world of cross-border payments.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
International payments have always resonated with me. Every person who has moved from one country to another to study or work or search for a better life has their own story of trying to look after the family in the country they have left and need to send money to them. I’ve seen it first-hand in my family from Ghana. Sending money for education or day-to-day living expenses can make a massive impact on their lives. Working hard for that money and ensuring you get the best deal and it’s sent safely and quickly is obviously hugely important.
Can you tell us about the cutting-edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?
Managing finances in this well-connected and materialistic world can be a challenging task for so many of us, as we look further into the future, we can see AI helping us to manage our finances.
Our AI tool aims to help users make smart decisions about their international payments and when they make them. The idea behind the tool is very simple it just accumulates all the data from your search and transactional data across the platform and creates your personal graph.
How do you think this might change the world?
It will be the first currency analysis tool that can enable a much more accurate prediction of volatile exchange rates and trends globally.
Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
In today’s connected world, data is the new oil. How we keep people’s data safe and in the hands of people who will use it for good is critical. We’ve made sure that we have introduced safeguarding, but we cannot predict world events that affect the volatility of exchange rates, so whilst being the most accurate prediction tool, it will never be 100% correct.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?
Most FX brokers and currency market specialists provide information about factors that affect exchange rates retrospectively. We saw a gap that would be able to provide information in real-time that affect the market
What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?
Money is essential. It will help us get us to market, we have a strategy and team ready to kick start. It will also help us continue with our tech development. We’re innovators and ensuring we stay ahead of the competition and top of our game is key.
What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?
We are raising funds currently to do just that.
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 my parents everything. They taught me the values of hard work, persistence, and treating people as you would like to be treated yourself.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I do think that if you can do good, then you should. That can be in small ways in local communities or charities or certainly as the pandemic has highlighted, being supportive to friends, family, and neighbors. The pandemic has certainly made us all think about how we live our lives and what is really important.
When it comes to technology, tech developments have massively changed the way in which we live our lives over the past 10–15 years. There is so much more development in the pipeline and hopefully, this will be used for good. We see our technology as part of that next generation that can bring goodness to the world.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
Surround yourself with people you trust.
Be prepared to be out of your comfort zone. Often you’re juggling several different plates, some of which you know and some of which are very new but you have to be able to adapt to the situation.
Build a team with people who are great at other things. You don’t need to be good at everything.
No one gives you anything, you have to hustle, meet people, listen to your customers, and work at it.
Look after yourself. It’s a tough and sometimes lonely journey. Your mental and physical health is a priority — don’t lose sight of that.
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. 🙂
Marrying the traditional retail banking infrastructure with mobile wallets in emerging markets to provide financial equality with the unbanked. We are already in the process of doing this pan-Africa
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Learn from yesterday
Live for Today
Hope for tomorrow.
The important thing is never to stop questioning.”
I’ve always loved this quote from Albert Einstein. Life experiences shape who we are today and it’s always been important for me to learn from my past and try to do better in the future. Having started my career in law and then as a fintech entrepreneur, there have been many experiences both good and bad that have shaped me. Building technology and developing something new is a difficult journey. You have to be resilient, hungry, and questioning if we are to leave a footprint in the sand and leave the world in a better place.
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 🙂
TMC first got involved in the world of money transfers whilst working for a publishing company that won a contract from the UK government’s Department for International Development (DFID) to study remittances to emerging markets and during the project created the world’s first money transfer comparison site.
TMC has created a truly global footprint, to simplify and level the playing field, to help anyone anywhere manage and move their money. Wherever you are in the world, wherever you are sending money to and from, TMC can match you with the best rates and enable you to register with multiple payment providers and execute trades on a single platform coupled with a bespoke FX management platform to help manage your overseas payments.
TMC is now a cross border payments marketplace for government, NGOs, business, and consumer segments that:
Aggregate multiple financial services and act as the backbone infrastructure serving up multiple services and payment types on one platform, offering choice and value to its users
Provides a money management platform, to which additional revenue-generating services can be added
Delivers transactional capabilities and services to other mobile/digital platforms through a single API
Generates business insights and market data utilizing UK Innovate award-winning AI/machine learning platform to provide currency trending and analysis in real-time
Empowers the unbanked in emerging markets by offering financial services on a digital platform.
Kim Cameron of University of Michigan: Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a positively energizing leader. All human beings are attracted to and flourish in the presence of positive, life-giving energy. The heliotropic effect is universal, so positively energizing leaders can have dramatic impact on helping other people and their organizations flourish.
Kim Cameron is a world-renowned scholar and best-selling author on positive leadership and virtuousness in organizations. In his latest book, Positively Energizing Leadership: Virtuous Actions and Relationships that Create High Performance, he provides in-depth insights based on validated research around the effect of positively energizing leadership on an organization and its employees.
Cameron serves as the William Russell Kelly Professor of Management and Organizations in the Ross School of Business and Professor of Higher Education in the School of Education at the University of Michigan and consults with a variety of leading business, government, and educational organizations around the world. He is a co-founder of the Center for Positive Organizations at the University of Michigan. Cameron was recognized as among the top ten organizational scholars in the world whose work has been most frequently downloaded on Google.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. 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 grew up in small towns in Utah — small meaning that my goal was to trick-or-treat every house in town. I assumed that I would be a school teacher since my father was in education, and it seemed the logical path to take. During my undergraduate years at Brigham Young University, I changed my major three or four times and landed on a topic that seemed to be an acceptable prerequisite for almost any advanced degree — sociology. I was exposed to an extraordinary scholar, Reed Bradford, who influenced me to be a university professor with my door open to any and all students so I could counsel with and influence them. My PhD at Yale University altered my goal; however, since I came to believe that instead of influencing 30 students face to face, I could positively influence 3,000 or even 300,000 by producing high-impact scholarly research. My university career has been focused on that goal, combining face-to-face interaction with students and colleagues with producing scholarship that matters.
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 interview after completing my PhD was at the University of Wisconsin. As a poor university student with three children, I had one suit and was to spend two days on campus giving presentations and being interviewed. I awoke the first morning in a hotel room to discover that my suit pants were split from stem to stern. The front desk did not have a sewing kit or safety pins, but I had one band-aid in my shaving kit. I did my best to tape the pants together and then spent two days making certain to not turn my back on anyone and to keep my knees tightly together while sitting. Since then, I have a safety in on every shirt, coat, and pair of pants that I own — just in case. I am much more empathetic of women in skirts.
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 have had many people in my life that, without their support and assistance, I would not have succeeded nor, possibly, even survived. Two colleagues — Dave Whetten and Bob Quinn — are especially noteworthy in making a difference in my life. I have published books and scholarly papers with both of them independently, but their most important impact has been on the small, unremarkable support they have provided as a colleague and friend. For instance, at a difficult time serving as the dean of a business school, I received an unrequested but very personal and supportive letter from Dave which offered emotional support and significantly changed my perspective. His letter mattered a lot at a crucial time. Upon returning to the University of Michigan after being dean, I taught an executive education class in which student ratings were less than desirable. In an open meeting to discuss the results of class, the lead faculty member in the course, Bob Quinn, simply dismissed the ratings by saying, “Don’t worry. Cameron will get his sea legs after coming back from being an administrator. He will be just fine.” This single statement saved not only my ego but, potentially, my future teaching career.
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 am a firm believer in the power of purpose. My own purpose — the overriding reason for choosing this profession — and the universities in which I have chosen to work share a common purpose. It is to contribute in meaningful ways to our understanding of important societal issues with an ability to do something about them. In addition, the purpose includes the dissemination of the knowledge gained through scholarship in a manner that it can be usefully applied by students and executives.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?
For more than a decade, I have studied how organizations succeed in conditions of volatility, uncertainty, uncertainty, and ambiguity — a “VUCA” environment. Empirical evidence confirms that the most important factor in predicting success is the organization’s leader. Strategy is important. Processes are important. Culture is important. Incentive systems are important. But if each of these things is in place but the organization has a poor leader, things probably won’t go so well. Among the most important attributes of leaders — which is frequently ignored — is their positive energy. A great deal of evidence confirms that positively energizing leadership produces successful performance in organizations. Positive energy, in fact, is far more important than the influence, personality, information, or the charisma of the leader. Several kinds of energy exist — physical energy, emotional energy, and mental energy all of which diminish with use. If I run a marathon, take final exams, or involve myself is an intense debate, I become exhausted and need recuperation time. The only kind of energy that elevates with use is positive relational energy. We never get exhausted around people with whom we have loving, supportive relationships. Positively energizing leadership is characterized by an abundance of relational energy, so these individuals are not exhausting to us but are elevating and life-giving. Importantly, anyone can be a positive energizer, and title or hierarchical position are not related to positive energizing.
Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?
At least three things sustain my motivation and drive. One is the support of my family including an incredibly patient, loving, and helpful wife along with seven children and 25 grandchildren. Almost everything else pales in comparison to that influence.
A second is the thrill of uncovering evidence that we really can make a difference as a result of the research being conducted. A third is the colleagues in my university. We have three criteria by which we hire new faculty members: (1) they must be world-class scholars; (2) they must be great teachers; and (3) they must be net positive energizers. They must add more positive energy to the system than they extract. This means that we do not hire selfish, self-aggrandizing, egotistical people. I have at least 15 colleagues who are committed to helping me get better every day.
What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?
All human beings flourish in the presence of light or of positive energy. This inherent tendency is known as the heliotropic effect, a concept adapted from a phenomenon typically ascribed to how plants respond to the sun’s rays. The evidence verifies that all human beings respond favorably to and are renewed by positive energy. The type of energy that is most powerful in affecting performance is relational energy, and it is created and enhanced through the demonstration of virtuous actions (e.g., generosity, compassion, gratitude, trustworthiness, forgiveness, and kindness) on the part of leaders. The science clearly verifies that virtuousness — especially as demonstrated by leaders — produces extraordinarily positive outcomes in individuals and their organizations (e.g., profitability, productivity, quality, innovation, customer satisfaction, employee well-being), particularly in trying times and in situations of loss or grief.
When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?
Mandating that employees behave positively, think happy thoughts, or be cheerful when they are depressed, anxious, or experiencing emotional pain produces false positivity. It is inauthentic, disingenuous, dishonest, and untrustworthy. The reason virtuousness in leaders is so crucial is precisely because it helps people cope in a genuine and authentic way. Positive energy increases rather than decreases when virtuousness is displayed. For example, studies show that individuals who suffered the loss of loved ones but who subsequently became stronger as a result, learned to appreciate life more, and flourished personally had experienced virtuous actions — compassion, authenticity, kindness, and higher purpose. Evidence suggests that organizations as well as individuals achieve significant improvement in trying times when leaders are the role models of virtuous behavior. For example, the former CEO of Prudential Retirement, John Kim, credited positively energizing leadership for the dramatic success achieved by his organization: “Implementing positively energizing leadership was initially seen as just being positive — smiles. It became clear, however, that this was a significant change. . . There is no end, no final grade. This is about changing our culture, our strategy, and our approach. It is not a destination or a conclusion but a process. I will know that we have succeeded when customers and employees see us as above average in all the technical aspects of our business, but then by succeeding above all understanding . . . If I wanted to stop this movement I couldn’t. It’s way beyond my control. People are doing things now that are self-perpetuating.”
What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?
Being a positively energizing leader does not mean being soft, fluffy, tolerant of low performance, or not holding people accountable. The best positive leaders, in fact, help us achieve more than we thought we were capable of. They give negative or corrective feedback in a way that helps us flourish and that strengthens the relationship rather than diminish it. One way in which bad news and negative feedback is positively delivered is by using supportive communication. Supportive communication is based on eight principles, but one of those principles (descriptive rather than evaluative communication) is especially effective in delivering bad news. It involves three steps: (1) Describe as objectively as possible the behavior, the situation, or the incident. (2) Identify the consequences, the negative outcomes, or your own feelings about the behavior, situation, or incident. (3) Suggest a more acceptable alternative. This eliminates blaming, labeling, defensiveness, and arguments and focuses, instead, on identifying acceptable alternatives for moving forward. (See my book, Developing Management Skills.)
How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?
Fluctuating directions from national leaders and institutions, contradictory scientific findings, and a barrage of social media advice for how to cope with the anxiety, stress, and apprehension often produce more confusion than clarity. In such circumstances, an important principle becomes even more relevant: In order to effectively manage turbulent circumstances, we must identify something that is stable, universal, and constant. Consider the case of John Kennedy Junior. He was flying his private plane from New Jersey to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts when the conditions became dark and cloudy. He had been trained to fly by sight navigation but not by instrumentation through conditions of invisibility. He ended up flying the plane into the ocean, killing himself, his wife, and her sister. He had not known he was headed toward water. When the plane’s black box was recovered, it was discovered that he had actually been accelerating toward the ocean, erroneously assuming he’d been climbing in altitude. When everything in the environment is changing, it is impossible to effectively manage the circumstances, especially over the long term. Something must be constant in order for people to navigate change effectively. Positive leaders articulate a vision of abundance, demonstrate virtuous principles themselves, and reinforce these universally accepted standards throughout the organization. A stable, universally accepted set of values, purpose, and vision of abundance in a sea of change helps the organization navigate more effectively.
Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?
PRINCIPLE: Every living system — from single-cell organisms to complex human beings — is inclined toward positive energy and away from negative energy, or toward that which enhances life and away from that which detracts from life. This is called the heliotropic effect, and abundant scientific evidence confirms its presence in human beings.
SUGGESTION: Not only leaders, but every individual, can capitalize on the heliotropic effect in their leadership roles, in their relationships, in their marriages, in their work, and with their children. Every person can enhance and engender life more than detract from life. All can be a source of thriving for other people by behaving in ways that are virtuous. This kind of behavior is not limited to senior executives and can positively affect performance throughout the system.
Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?
In addition to ignoring or failing to manage positive energy in organizations — that is, not recognizing, rewarding, hiring, or promoting positive energizers — organizations mostly ignore another important principle, namely, that contribution is more important in predicting performance than is recognition or reward. To illustrate, in a study of multiple sclerosis patients, half of the patient participants were assigned to receive a phone call each week in which another person expressed love, support, and concern to them. The other half of the patients were assigned to place a weekly phone call to someone in which they offered love, support, and concern to that person. At the end of the two-year period, patients were assessed on five factors: well-being, self-efficacy, physical activity, hope, and depression. An eightfold difference between the two groups was observed. Patients who placed the phone calls were eight times healthier on these five outcomes than were patients who received the phone calls.
Another study of individuals who had recently lost a spouse showed that those who provided instrumental support to others had no depression six months after their loss compared with substantial and lasting depression among those who merely received support but did not provide it. No receiving-support factors were positively correlated with an absence of depression, but giving-support factors were significantly correlated. (These are just two of multiple studies.)
The point is, when employees do especially well, they usually receive recognition or rewards, but seldom do organizations provide opportunities for these employees to contribute to someone else as a result of their high performance. Contribution is a more important predictor of subsequent performance than is recognition or reward.
Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?
In a study of 40 financial services organizations over a two-year period, we accounted for almost half their financial performance as a direct result of implementing positive leadership and positive practices — by far the strongest predictor. Furthermore, employee engagement, voluntary turnover, customer retention, and innovation scores rose substantially above industry averages. Another study of 30 hospitals showed improvement of almost 10 times industry average in nine effectiveness indicators as a result of the same positive leadership practices. Interventions included gratitude practices, contribution practices, relationship-building practices, feedback practices, strength-building practices, and trust-building practices. But the most important predictor of all was positively energizing leadership. Positively energizing leaders inspire others by clarifying and advocating profound purpose and meaning in the work, are trusting and trustworthy, expect and foster high standards, gather and deploy other positive energizers in the organization, focus on contribution goals more than achievement goals, and help other people flourish (customers and employees) without expecting a payback. These positive practices are not scripted and controlled from the top, but they are often generated by the innovativeness of employees given the opportunity to implement on their own.
Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times? Please share a story or an example for each.
A large number of practices are available for achieving extraordinary success in trying times (many are described in my books, Positive Leadership, PracticingPositive Leadership, and Positively Energizing Leadership), including exhibiting and fostering positive relational energy throughout the organization. One company with 69 different organizations in 12 regions throughout the world expressed a desire to become a more positive and successful organization. One strategy was to identify positive energizers — 46 were selected — train them for two days in positive leadership and positively energizing practices, and assign them to “infect” 90 percent of the 135,000 members of the company with positive practices and positive change in 90 days — a 90-in-90 challenge. More than 96 percent of the employees were infected in 90 days and company performance scores increased substantially over the next year.
A second strategy is to merely expose individuals to the findings regarding positive studies, positive practices, and a positive approach to leadership. In a set of studies, college professors in 14 different disciplines taught their classes by implementing a positive approach and using positive practices, and then various outcomes were compared with the same class taught the year before by the same instructor. Student attendance went up 10 percent; average grades increased more than half a point; test scores increased more than 10 percent; and student satisfaction ratings increased more than 10 percent. Still another strategy was to ground the reward and incentive systems in the organizations to attaining a profound purpose rather than merely completing the job. For example, the Rocky Flats Nuclear Arsenal was created in 1951 to produce the triggers that went into the nuclear weapons produced by the United States during the Cold War. At the conclusion of that war when the USA announced the intent to cease production of nuclear weapons, Rocky Flats was left with tons of nuclear waste — plutonium, uranium, beryllium, and other highly toxic materials. A blue-ribbon task force of energy experts estimated at least 70 years and $36 billion to clean-up and close the Rocky Flats arsenal. The company that won the contract — which had been exposed to and was practicing positive leadership strategies and applications — finished the job 60 years early and $30 billion under budget. This is among the most dramatic organizational change successes in the history of our nation, and much for the success was due to positively energizing leadership and positive practices. (See my book, Making the Impossible Possible.) The profound purpose changed from just cleaning up a dangerous mess to keeping the planet safe, keeping grandchildren and generations yet unborn safe, and accomplishing a mission that had never been attempted in the history of the world.
A third high impact strategy is to institutionalize gratitude practices throughout the organization — i.e., gratitude journals, gratitude walls, gratitude letters to families, and so forth. Several studies have been conducted in high school and college classrooms in which students were assigned to keep a journal during a semester — half the students were instructed to write down each day things for which they were grateful, and the other half wrote down events, interactions, or problems they encountered. At the end of the semester, students who kept gratitude journals were physically healthier, had higher academic performance, exhibited more creativity, and had higher attendance records than those not keeping a gratitude journal. In organizational research, gratitude has been associated with improvements in productivity, quality of outputs, profitability, innovation, customer retention, and employee turnover. Among organizations facing trying times and difficult challenges (such as downsizing or pandemic lockdowns), resilience and financial performance have also been shown to be significantly higher in organizations with high scores in demonstrating gratitude.
Fourth, a frequent complaint regarding our current culture involves the lack of trust in our nation’s leaders, the media, and most business, educational, and religious institutions. Trust in our society is at an all-time low. Empirical evidence confirms, however, that uncertainty and ambiguity are significantly reduced when trust is high, especially in leaders, and complex, ambiguous situations can be managed more efficiently. Flexible work arrangements and teamwork become more feasible. Innovation and risk-taking increase. Productivity improves as much as tenfold. Reciprocity among employees escalates. Expressions of gratitude are more frequent. Prosocial behavior and unselfish service accelerate. Generosity and sharing with others increase. Cooperation improves. Most importantly, the interpersonal relationships that provide positive energy are strengthened. Trusting relationships are almost always energizing, but positive energy is destroyed quickly when trust, honesty, and integrity deteriorate. Not surprisingly, telling the truth, being dependable, and demonstrating competence help strengthen trust.
Fifth, the fundamental motive of positively energizing leaders it to help others flourish. This is accomplished primarily through virtuous actions. The irony regarding virtuous actions (e.g., kindness, generosity, forgiveness, gratitude, compassion, courage, trust) is that, whereas they produce extraordinarily successful outcomes in organizations, they don’t need to in order to be valuable. If I am kind only to get a payback, it ceases to be kindness and becomes manipulation. So, virtuousness is its own reward. Yet, organizations and individuals flourish more abundantly in the presence of virtuousness. One simple example of this outcome comes from an acquaintance who is a senior executive and has a young daughter who hated to go to school. This child would hang on to her mother’s leg when it was time to go to school and would cry when her mother dropped her off, making the mother feel terrible. The girl’s teacher suggested that the mother ask the child to report on the best thing that happened during the day as a way to help her focus on something positive. Asking that question each day after school improved the situation somewhat, but it the symptoms didn’t resolve. The mother decided to change the question to “What is the best thing that you did for someone today?” Somehow, that made the difference. The child was excited each day to report on what she had done for someone else during the day at school. The payoff came when they took a trip to Disneyworld. They visited a restroom where a cleaning lady was present. Often, these service personnel are ignored or treated as just being in the way. This child went up to the cleaning lady and said, “I hope you have a magical day today.” The woman began to cry. She replied, “I have worked here for 14 years and no one has ever wished for me to have a magical day.” That incident, the mother reported, was the payoff — her daughter was consistently looking for ways to make a difference, to help someone else flourish, or to foster positive relational energy by making a small contribution every day.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a positively energizing leader. All human beings are attracted to and flourish in the presence of positive, life-giving energy. The heliotropic effect is universal, so positively energizing leaders can have dramatic impact on helping other people and their organizations flourish.
Flexibility-Be ready to modify your home for Airbnb. Remove items that are too “personal” like family photos. Lock away anything that you would be devastated to lose. (family heirlooms) When doing any renovations or repairs, keep in mind what will be easiest to clean and most durable.
Many people dream of becoming an Airbnb host but don’t know where to start. In this series called “5 Things You Need To Become A Highly Successful Airbnb Host” we are interviewing successful Airbnb hosts who share lessons from their experience about how to run a very successful Airbnb property. As part of this series I had the pleasure of interviewing Jennifer Weedon Palazzo.
Jennifer Weedon Palazzo is a video creator, editor, producer, and Mama-in-Charge at www.MomCaveTV.com, an online community of 80,000 moms and counting. Along with her husband, they have been Airbnb Superhosts for the past 5 years.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to first start becoming an Airbnb host?
My husband and I had been “landlords” before in the traditional sense, renting an apartment in Manhattan and multi-family homes in Massachusetts. When we decided to move from NYC to The Berkshires and buy a home, we knew that renting out the home we bought would help us afford it. The area our house is located in is a bit of a “resort” area, especially during summer and ski season. We travel often and had family in the area we could stay with for occasional rentals.
My husband is the bandleader of a touring jazz band. Once the pandemic hit, all of their gigs were cancelled for over a year. To replace his income, we started renting our personal home out as much as possible. Sometimes we’d travel in our RV, sometimes stay in town with family or at a motel.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this?
I’ve learned to actually get pleasure out of cleaning! I can’t believe it. I’ve always been a bit disorganized and HATED the tedium of cleaning. But now, it’s a challenge to see how fast I can do it and how thorough I can be.
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 once rented to a group of professional guys in their twenties. They said they were on a work retreat. I had forgotten to sign out of my Netflix and Amazon Prime accounts on the house’s televisions. So when they started watching a movie, a notification popped up on my phone. At 2am, they started “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” followed by “Priscilla Queen of the Desert” and then “The Boys in the Band.”
When they checked out, I found glitter everywhere, long neon pink hairs (like from a wig), a sequined evening gown and a large bag of toiletries.
I called them to tell them that they had left their toiletries (which included some upscale beauty products I’m too frugal to buy) and they told me to keep them. This group was definitely “Fabulous!”
But don’t forget to sign out of your streaming accounts.
What are some of the common mistakes you have seen people make when they first start hosting with Airbnb?
The number one mistake is not cleaning thoroughly enough. High-end renters expect a spotless house. If you hired someone else to do the cleaning, you are still going to have to go behind them and do at least 2 more hours of cleaning. Trust me. Not a hair on a pillow or a fingerprint on a lightswitch.
What are some of the things that can be done to avoid these errors?
Look at your house with fresh eyes. If you were paying top dollar to stay here, what would stick out to you? When it’s a house we live in, we start to overlook the little things that are out of place, need replacing, etc.
Can you share with our readers about the innovations that you are bringing to the Airbnb experience? In your opinion, what makes you different from the rest?
I provide personalized recommendations of things to do in the area and restaurants to try. I’m extremely responsive. When I have a rental, my phone is always next to me. But most importantly, you literally could eat off the floors.
Wonderful. Here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share “5 Things You Need To Become A Highly Successful Airbnb Host”? Please share a story or example for each.
Responsiveness-Airbnb rates properties based on how long it takes you to respond to messages. And renters expect to be able to get in touch with you at all times, day or night.
A thick skin-Some renters are difficult. You do everything you can to make them happy but sometimes things are out of control. Never lose your cool. Always behave like a “host” and don’t let it bother you too much.
Great Eyesight-People will be grossed out if they find a tiny piece of hair in the shower drain or on a pillow case. People will complain if they find a single ant crawling on the kitchen floor. Inspect everything more than once.
Organizational Skills-If you are renting on more than one site, keep them synced up at all times. Never over book. If you accept a booking for a date in advance and then someone tries to book that some date on the OTHER site, you will have to reject it, which will hurt your host ratings and you properties’ rank in the search listings.
Flexibility-Be ready to modify your home for Airbnb. Remove items that are too “personal” like family photos. Lock away anything that you would be devastated to lose. (family heirlooms) When doing any renovations or repairs, keep in mind what will be easiest to clean and most durable.
You are a “travel insider”. How would you describe your “perfect vacation experience”?
I’m a huge fan of cruises. I love having a vacation be about lounging by the pool or ocean by day and then getting “dressed” for dinner and trying lots of new restaurants. And cruises tend to have free childcare that the kids beg to go to.
Can you share with our readers how you’ve used your success to bring goodness to the world?
Raising two good humans is the best thing I can do for the world.
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. 🙂
Hmm… that’s a tough one. I wish there was a way to take all of the food we waste here in America and effectively get it to places where people need it.
How can our readers further follow you on social media?
Britt Nichols of ExamSoft: Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Be transparent. Keeping your employees in the know about where the company stands leads to fewer misunderstandings down the road. We provide a monthly revenue report to the entire organization that doesn’t just share the actual revenue, but shows all the various activities we’re doing to achieve revenue goals. We want people to have that level of clarity so they can see what new accounts are being onboarded, what areas we’re focusing on, and what we’re doing to try to be successful.
Britt Nichols is SVP at ExamSoft, a Turnitin company, that builds scalable education technology software solutions that provide the highest level of exam security and integrity to education and certification institutions across a variety of verticals, settings and modalities.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. 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 had a varied background across different industries and with diverse roles. I started in the entertainment industry and transitioned to executive recruitment in the financial services industry before moving to entrepreneurship, which included launching a job board for senior care professionals. I learned a lot from that role, including many digital marketing elements that are still useful to me today. After selling that company, I moved into higher education working for an organization that was at the forefront of partnering with non-profit universities to them develop online degree programs. Now, I am at ExamSoft leading sales and marketing. With each role, I valued the opportunity to embrace accountability with a creative problem-solving mindset. Regardless of industry, I always look for the opportunity to work with talented people who are willing to work with me to tackle interesting challenges that will hopefully make a meaningful impact.
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?
After college I lived with roommates, and I didn’t trust a communal answering machine, let alone a roommate sticky note using the shared house phone number — it’s important to note this was long before cell phones. So I set had up a cheap voicemail service for people to get ahold of me and then I could call them back from anywhere in Manhattan. The problem was, when I had applied to a new professional opportunity, I couldn’t actually speak to the people doing an in-person phone screen or calling to talk about setting up an in-person interview. For this one opportunity, the gentleman kept leaving messages, and I’d call him back and leave messages of my own. This went on for six or seven messages before I finally just left a voicemail with the exact dates and times I was available for the initial phone screen and then I sat by the phone. The interviewer took this as positive persistence and decided to bring me on, but in reality, it was a very frustrating experience for a young kid trying to get a new job. From that experience, I learned to always have a good way to keep in touch and to set clear expectations of availability, especially when applying for jobs. Of course, that’s much easier with today’s technology!
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
Yes, one person who did have a significant impact on me was a man named Greg Finkelstein. He firmly believed in hiring for talent, not just focusing solely on industry knowledge or a specific skill. He always said, “We can teach the business; we can’t teach the talent.” This was particularly meaningful to me when I met him because I had previously worked in executive recruitment and often saw companies that would hire the second-best candidate because they were only looking at a very narrow area of experience or skill, and not necessarily the inherent qualities — whether that be a thirst for knowledge, strategic insight, or passion — that would be critical for success in the role or organization. Hearing his refreshing approach, I promptly joined his team and continue to employ that line of thinking when hiring today. I am very grateful to him for that opportunity and the license he gave to take risks on developing people with potential.
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?
ExamSoft started out as a computer-based alternative to a pencil-and-paper exams. The company has grown since then and the software has evolved into a comprehensive assessment solution that provides meaningful and useful data to our users. Our vision is to harness the power of data to transform learning for everyone, everywhere, and our mission is to deliver superior assessment solutions to increase learning performance for every student, teacher, and institution. Our vision remains our north star and guides us in delivering an elevated testing experience up and down the educational ladder.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?
Throughout the pandemic, our organization has kept all employees in the know on our protocols and return to in-person plans. Any plans we had for team members to work in-office were made far in advance and according to CDC guidelines. Employees were then given a 30-day notice before that specific date of any changes, to allow for accommodations to be made. We’ve currently pivoted to be a remote-first organization, meaning that for the most part, employees can choose whether to go into the office. We know navigating these COVID-times has been challenging for everyone, and we believe being transparent with our employees helps alleviate any unnecessary stress. Being transparent and having effective communication can make all the difference during uncertain circumstances and instill confidence in your employees.
Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?
As the song goes, knowing with hold ’em and knowing when to fold ’em is really important, but that is very different than giving up, and for me, giving up isn’t often an option. It helps to have a clear vision of what you’re committed to and to know how your actions may affect others. Maintaining a sense of ownership and a responsibility to my team helps me keep going even during the ups and downs of the day-to-day.
What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?
Knowing your company’s mission, vision, values, and direction and effectively communicating them is imperative for a business to succeed. Having this strong sense of direction when things are going well, will prepare the company to move forward when inevitably hard circumstances come into frame. When someone leads with the company’s core values and purpose for being in mind, everything else falls into alignment.
When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?
Some people say to find a common enemy. I believe it’s more successful to identify something positive to help motivate the team. Try to focus on the things that you’re already doing well and why you do what you do and then bring the areas that have room for improvement and need more attention to that standard. For most people, when they know what their core areas are to focus, and they can see that by focusing on those areas they are moving the needle, they become more motivated. If they understand the why and believe in it, then they’re going to try to do what’s best for both them and the organization.
What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?
The best way to communicate difficult news is to remember two things. The first is to be honest and truthful, and the second is to try to understand all perspectives. For example, it may be time to sunset a product and the employees working on that product and team may be frustrated by that. They need to understand the reason and logic behind the decision and how they fit into the organization as those changes materialize. Communicate those reasons and then listen and try to understand their point of view and concerns. A client using that product may also feel frustrated because perhaps they have a very specific need for it though they may be one of the few users. Again, sharing the reasoning for the product change and helping the customer find an alternative solution is necessary for mitigating a negative response or pushback. Above all, when communicating difficult news, do so with honesty and integrity.
How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?
When it comes to facing an unpredictable downturn, I like the Mike Tyson quote, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” This has played out throughout the pandemic. Everyone has a plan, until, suddenly, that plan no longer works. So, it’s really important to be flexible and to have structures in place that you’re able to quickly pivot and communicate the what, why, and how.
Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?
The number one principle is being able to have a plan for quickly creating a plan. This is almost more important than having an actual regular operating plan, because the standard operating procedures can get disrupted as soon as the challenging times approach. The same holds true for good circumstances. You can be in perfectly normal times and sailing in calm, smooth waters and suddenly there’s an opportunity that appears. If you don’t have that plan for disruption, then you can’t take advantage of change for the good opportunity either. If you have a plan for creating a plan, you should be able to take advantage of the best path forward.
Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?
Having an unclear direction. Leaders need to always know the answer to two questions: What are we trying to do? Why are we trying to do it? You need to know the motivation behind the goal and task at hand. Without these two questions in mind, you and those you’re leading will feel lost. Get everyone working toward a common goal and purpose.
Only focusing on financials. Doing the right thing is always more important than solely focusing on the revenue. This doesn’t mean that revenue isn’t important, because of course, it is, but only focusing on the revenue misses the bigger picture. Missing this point can not only mean losing focus on your core values, or worse the talented people in the company, but focusing on only finances puts you in a box. By focusing on trying to do what is right, you typically find that the revenue will follow and profit and loss will balance.
Not prioritizing people. All businesses are built on people. You have to appreciate and understand your clients, their customers, and just as importantly, your employees. Leaders need to do the work to understand everyone’s perspectives and communicate in a way that’s meaningful to them.
Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?
If you maintain a clear goal, are flexible, keep the plan for change in mind, communicate effectively externally and internally, and remember the perspectives of everyone involved, you’re going to ultimately be able to get all the boxes checked to support the business. It’s important to take one step at a time, knowing that acting with integrity and doing the right thing is the best you can do.
Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times? Please share a story or an example for each.
Communicate effectively. The most important thing a leader can do is to have open communication internally and externally. Both are equally as important, especially when moving through difficult times.
Keep mission and core values top-of-mind. Organizations won’t lose sight of their vision if they keep their values at the center of everything they do. At the beginning of company wide update meetings, highlight a core value and have a short discussion about what it means as an organization. This sets the tone of the meeting and helps guide decision-making to align with the mission.
Regularly touch base. Encourage frequent check-ins with your teams to make everyone feel more connected while working remotely. For us, this means cross-functionally as well — marketing meeting with sales regularly, for example. Finding small ways to stay present with each other helps bolster our company culture even when we can’t meet in person.
Hire the right people. Casting is the most important part of any film. If you hire people aligned with your mission, vision, and core values, then you’re always helping move the organization in the right direction. It’s much easier to keep people focused if they believe in what you’re doing.
Be transparent. Keeping your employees in the know about where the company stands leads to fewer misunderstandings down the road. We provide a monthly revenue report to the entire organization that doesn’t just share the actual revenue, but shows all the various activities we’re doing to achieve revenue goals. We want people to have that level of clarity so they can see what new accounts are being onboarded, what areas we’re focusing on, and what we’re doing to try to be successful.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
A couple of quotes that stand out to me and that seem particularly relevant for turbulent times are: “It’s not the size of the man in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the man” and “The harder you work, the luckier you get.” Especially during challenging times, it’s the ability to keep working toward your goals that will drive success. Another lesson I like, especially given my interest in the education industry, is the Dr. Seuss quote, “The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
How can our readers further follow your work?
You can keep up our company’s work on our website or follow us on LinkedIn. We also regularly publish insights on our blog, where readers can stay informed on the latest assessment and education-related trends and topics.
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
Know that you can always ask for help. Lean into your team, mentors, other entrepreneurs, and your entire support system. Never hesitate to ask for help because you alone can’t do everything. This will make you work more efficiently and open up new doors and opportunities.
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 Jenna Hua, RD, MPH, Ph.D., Founder of Million Marker — a health-tech startup that empowers people to detox environmental toxins out of their lives through mail-in test kits, lifestyle audits, product recommendations, and counseling.
Even at low doses, exposure to environmental chemicals has been linked to developmental delays in children and infertility and chronic diseases in adults. Frustrated by the lack of data for how harmful chemicals (like BPA, phthalates and parabens) from plastics and everyday products affect our health and clinical outcomes, and the absence of personalized approach to mitigate harmful chemical exposures, Jenna is set out on a mission to change these.
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 the story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I was always a health-minded, nature lover, a physically active person, but also an admitted lover of food! So, all of these passions have naturally created this path towards my career. I am an environmental health scientist and dietitian by training.I hold a BS in Nutrition and an MPH and Ph.D. in Environmental Health Sciences from UC Berkeley and completed my postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford Medicine.
I’ve followed what I’m drawn to, and loved challenging myself at solving hard problems. My love for food led me to become a dietitian, which exposed me to how serious the obesity and chronic disease epidemic is, domestically and globally.
Soon I realized that practicing dietetics alone wouldn’t be enough to move the needle to curb this epidemic, so I went back to graduate school to study environmental health, particularly the food environment, believing that if we can promote the availability, accessibility and affordability of healthy food, we can fundamentally change people’s behavior.
My research focused on how the changing food environment in China (i.e. increased fast and packaged food) and other environmental factors affect childhood obesity risk there. Through this research, I found that it is not only what we eat that influences obesity and chronic disease risk, but also what is in the food: pesticides, heavy metals, and other contaminants. When I measured the levels of pesticides and heavy metals in fruits, vegetables, and rice, the levels of toxic exposure in these foods were shocking. With over 30% (almost as high as in the US) of children in China considered overweight, it was pretty undeniable that these food sources could play a role in their health issues.
The issue of environmental toxic chemicals also became personal. As an active person who has the privilege of living in a country with safe products and organic foods, I never considered my own personal levels of toxic exposure. When I started experiencing fertility issues, including four late-term miscarriages, my instincts told me that environmental toxins could be the triggers.
Many of the environmental toxins are common chemicals used in everyday products that we use to eat, put on our bodies, and clean our houses. They also mess with your hormones. For instance, BPA can mimic estrogen, which can throw off your body’s natural hormone cycles.
When I went to my OBGYN to ask for a toxic chemical test, I was told the only test available was a test for heavy metals. There are also plenty of tests for lead, mercury, arsenic, and other common heavy metals. Consumers can even order genetic tests, but you can’t change your genetics. However, there aren’t any direct-to-consumer tests for toxic chemicals like BPA, phthalates, and parabens, which consumers can actually take action and reduce their exposures. Through curiosity and frustration, I decided to put all of my years of schooling, all of my passions, and all of my struggles into creating Million Marker. I wanted to provide an easy way for people to measure these toxic chemicals in their bodies and eliminate them from their daily lives, particularly those who are trying to conceive, staying pregnant, postpartum, and parents with young kids.
We measure the levels of 13 hormone-disrupting chemicals in a customers’ body through an easy mail-in urine test. The customer also logs diet and product use in an exposure journal.
This information is compiled in a personalized health report. We use the consumer’s own data and daily routine to expose which foods and products are increasing their toxic exposures. Then, we provide actionable lifestyle changes and safe product alternatives to help them reduce toxic chemical exposures and achieve hormone balance, health optimization, and potentially prevent chronic diseases.
Can you please share with us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
The most interesting thing that has happened to me since I began my career was changing my mindset and making a leap from academia to industry/startup. I was on the trajectory of becoming a professor in environmental health/public health, but realized that we need better ways to collect data for environmental health research and policy making, translate and communicate the research and scientific knowledge to the public, and activate consumers to push for safer environmental policies. Being a health-tech startup, we will be able to address these limitations in a much more time-efficient and cost-effective manner and use technology, citizen science and marketing to maximize impact.
Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?
There is a well-known saying that’s simple but really resonates with me. It’s kind of in line with this whole “big idea” article, as well. That saying is, “Be the change you wish to see in this world.”
Whether it’s me as a supervisor, a spouse, a friend, or an entrepreneur, I try to treat others as I would want to be treated.
I also lead by example. That’s why my own toxic exposures and fertility issues shocked me so much. I’ve always tried to eat healthily and use clean products.
However, there is so much greenwashing out there, giving false or misleading claims on labels. For instance, “unscented” products are still made with fragrance, which can be made of thousands of chemicals, including various phthalates. Food brands could write “organic” on their labels if just one ingredient out of dozens were grown organically. This lack of transparency is dangerous, and we’re seeing the effects of it now.
I champion for honesty, transparency, and sustainability. Million Marker is my platform for this change. We hope to collect as much data about toxic exposures as possible so that we can influence change on the corporate, local government, and global scales.
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?”
Million Marker offers a simple, science-backed way to detox your life. Let’s face it. A lot of education is required to understand, 1) what toxic chemicals are, 2) how they affect our bodies, and 3) what to do about it. I’ve studied for years to learn about these things. The average person doesn’t have the time, energy, or foundational knowledge to comprehend all of this.
So we’re breaking it down for the consumer to understand. We take the guesswork out of their toxic exposures. Our mail-in test can confirm your exposure levels of bisphenols, parabens, phthalates, or oxybenzone.
We then let you know which products are causing these toxic exposures. This information is priceless for people who are loyal to their everyday products. Confirming that your shampoo is safe can be a huge relief, trust me!
In the same respect, learning which products, foods, or supplements expose you to hormone disruptors can change your life. When you cut down on these exposures, it gives your hormones a chance to recalibrate.
These effects can positively impact a person’s health in so many ways. That’s because hormones influence our sleep cycles, moods, focus, stress, skin, and fertility.
Today’s consumers don’t have the time to read every item on an ingredients list. If they do, they might not know what they’re reading. These chemicals have some ridiculously long names. So, we did all the vetting for them.
Through the Million Marker app, customers can replace questionable products with toxic-free alternatives. Our team highly vets every ingredient, the company’s testing processes, and even their packaging. We want to make toxic-free living a seamless experience for the everyday person.
How do you think this will change the world?
It’s going to give a lot of people who are losing hope the answers that they need. As a registered dietitian myself, I can say that it is frustrating talking to doctors sometimes. When you turn to a trusted professional, and they say, “I don’t know,” it can be deflating. I was at an all-time low after each miscarriage. Million Marker wants to provide every individual assurance through science.
As we help the world get well, person by person, it allows us the unique opportunity to collect data about the exposome and key biomarkers. With this information, we can grow from supporting the individual to supporting the community.
Hormone-disrupting chemicals like BPA, phthalates, parabens, and oxybenzone aren’t easily biodegradable. They are messing up our hormones and the climate. It’s not a sustainable way to live by any account. Learning about your personal toxic exposures won’t just change the world; it could save it.
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?
One potential dystopian result of any health company is if that company sells user data for personal profit. That is not our intent. Our intent is to use this data for the greater good so that we can advance precision medicine by discovering and developing novel biomarkers and make tangible changes in manufacturing processes and policies.
Million Marker operates in full transparency. That’s a core belief ingrained in our company from the top down. We will not share anybody’s data without their permission. All samples are held for two weeks in the event the customer needs a re-test. After, it’s destroyed. We don’t want to risk the privacy of any customer.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this idea? Can you tell us that story?
Everything in my life was leading towards this tipping point. It really bothered me to see the raw data firsthand. Pesticides and heavy metals are causing innocent children to have health problems, including obesity. Obesity is a leading cause of so many health issues, including heart disease, cancer, and infertility.
When I was witnessing my own personal setbacks, I knew something had to be done. Not only are children being impacted, but people who are making what they perceive to be educated decisions about their health are also being impacted.
And once we address these issues, we hope to close the gap in toxic exposures. Underprivileged communities are at a far greater risk of consuming contaminated water or buying processed foods and everyday products (personal care, cleaning, and household products) with hormone-disrupting ingredients.
Even if we can’t test these populations directly for BPA and phthalates, we’re hoping to use the data we’ve compiled from our customers to influence change on a legislative level. That way, underprivileged communities will have cleaner options for purchases.
What do you need to lead this idea to widespread adoption?
We are still a burgeoning health-tech startup. So we’re fundraising, attending health conferences, and going through all those exciting growing pains successful companies do in the early days.
Right now, it’s about making connections and establishing partnerships. We’ve made some great relationships with fertility doctors, women’s health advocates, and environmental groups. We’ve recently entered a partnership with the Healthy Nevada Project (initiating an exciting pilot study that could lead the way to large-scale population studies) and are looking for other ways to spread via word-of-mouth.
It’s been a grassroots approach so far, which is what it needs to be. A lot of education is required. People are being confronted with truths about their health and pushed out of their comfort zones by discovering that their foods and products are causing toxic exposures.
We need more open conversations. We need people not to feel scared. Instead, they should feel empowered to learn about their toxic exposures and get rid of them. Change is scary, but it’s also necessary for growth.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Share examples for each)
Building a business is both physical and mental. You will be working many long-hour days and you need the physical energy to keep going. You will also need to make thousands of decisions day in and day out. So self-care is extremely important.
Building a brand takes time, especially one with an innovative product. It will take people time to get to know your brand, so you will need to be patient and persistent. You are in for the long haul!
Have thick skin and be resilient! You will hear 10 times more “no’s” than “yes’s” from investors, potential collaborators, and customers. This can be demoralizing, so growing a thick skin and being resilient will help you stay on track and keep pushing.
Learn to manage time, stress, and people. Management comes with experience and can be learned. You will realize that 24 hours a day is not enough to get all the work done. You will be stressed, and people expect you to lead and make decisions quickly. So it’s important to figure out a way to prioritize the to-dos, how to de-stress and relax, and lead by example. Treat people as you wish to be treated. Over-communication is better than under-communication to make sure everyone is on the same page to achieve the common goals.
Know that you can always ask for help. Lean into your team, mentors, other entrepreneurs, and your entire support system. Never hesitate to ask for help because you alone can’t do everything. This will make you work more efficiently and open up new doors and opportunities.
Some very well-known VCs read this column. If you had to make a 60-second pitch to a VC, what would you say? He or she may see this if we tag them 😉
Million Marker empowers people to detox their lives through mail-in test kits, lifestyle audits, product recommendations, and counseling. Harmful chemicals are present in food and drinks, plastics, and everyday products. These chemicals have been linked to infertility, IVF failure, child development, obesity, diabetes, and cancer. Million Marker is the first and only company that makes it easy for everyday consumers to learn about their toxic chemical exposure, and provides scientific and actionable solutions to minimize future exposure. While anyone who wants a healthier lifestyle can benefit from our service, our initial focus is on those wanting to start or expand their families. The company is led by a group of ardent scientists and professionals who are trained in environmental health, medicine, toxicology, analytical chemistry, big data, AI, design and marketing.
Our mission is to crowdsource biomonitoring and assessment of environmental exposures and build the world’s most comprehensive environmental exposure database and metabolic profiles.
Starting with a few markers of harmful exposures, our vision is to discover over a MILLION MARKERS to inform and improve individual health and advance precision medicine.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
We are on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram as Million_Marker. Don’t forget the underscore. We hope to see everybody on an upcoming IG Live, or in one of our DMs. Drop-in and say “hi” any time!
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
Jim Dischert of Three Sixty Wealth Management: Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Focus on your TEAM: Tough times often bring isolation, which tears at the foundation of any team. Be consistent, check in with your team, communicate, and show a genuine level of empathy. With the right FOCUS, your TEAM can thrive even in tough times.
Jim Dischert, RFC serves as Founder and CEO of Three Sixty Wealth Management based in the Chicagoland area. Since 1995, Jim has specialized in assisting business owners, affluent families, and individuals in addressing the long-term financial and retirement planning issues they face. In 2006, he founded Three Sixty Wealth Management, determined to provide a superior level of commitment, dedication, and service to his clients. Jim is an Investment Advisor Representative holding the appropriate registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He is a fully licensed Insurance Producer in the state of Illinois and holds his Life/Health and Property/Casualty licenses. Jim has also attained his Registered Financial Consultant (RFC) designation and is currently finishing his Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC®) and Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU®) designations from The American College. For three consecutive years in 2014, 2015, and 2016, Jim was named a Five Star Wealth Manager Award Winner and was also highlighted as a featured Financial Leader in Chicago by Forbes Magazine in 2013.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
After school, I started my career with a large global insurer, working with business owners on their transitions after selling their privately held businesses. I worked on a team of highly skilled professionals and gained knowledge on what the wealthy do when planning their financial futures. When I started Three Sixty Wealth Management in 2006, I decided that I would take the skills and knowledge learned to the clients I served. A big driver and influence on me delivering these solutions was seeing my grandparents run out of money in retirement. Initially, they had enough to make it to the end of their lives, but due to some bad advice, poor decisions, and an unfortunate bankruptcy, they needed to rely on their children to get them through retirement — not an ideal outcome!
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?
One of the funniest mistakes I made when I was first starting out happened during our first group presentation to an audience of 25 potential clients. I spent weeks preparing, rehearsing, and roleplaying the presentation. The room was perfect, overlooking a beautiful golf course. The sun was out, and the temperatures were warm outside. I started with my opening remarks and then completely went blank, followed by a dreaded 2 minutes of silence. Luckily, my assistant had printed off a hard copy of the presentation, so I was able to stand in front of the group and systematically read each of the slides to them, occasionally looking up at the clock, as well as checking to see if everyone was still in the room. The biggest takeaway from that experience was that being prepared ahead of time is great, but it is not until you are ‘live’ and deliver the real message that you truly learn from it!
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?
That person for me is Tony M., my first real mentor. I worked with Tony for several years before gaining enough confidence to go out on my own. Tony saw something in me before I ever did. Tony was not easy to work with — he was tough, challenging, and never let up. He gave great business advice that was hard to hear at times, but in the end, it has served me well: “This business is like constructing a building: You don’t start at the top — you start with a solid foundation and build one floor at a time. One day you wake up and you have built several floors, and the view there is better than where you started. You can see more and make better decisions from that point of view. From there, you continue to build, but with other people — people who believe in your vision and want to be a part of something greater than themselves — that is what gets you to the next level. Your movement is up — never stop moving up!”
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 can’t say that I had some elaborate vision or mission statement, but I did have a strong work ethic that drove me. Early on in my journey, it was survival and fear that kept me motivated to figure things out. Today, our mission at Three Sixty Wealth management is to serve a select few families that need the help that we have expertise in, and for our firm, that drives our everyday direction.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you led your team during uncertain or difficult times?
On June 17th, 2016, I fired 50% of my staff. Unfortunately, I let a toxic relationship ruin the culture of our firm. Once I realized how it was affecting me, my staff, and our clients, it became the easiest decision to make — it was just the hardest to execute. I fired my protégé and partner, which was extremely difficult to do. However, in the end, it was the right thing to do and was better for everyone involved. I led our remaining staff through these uncertain times and together, we built our firm up stronger than ever.
Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?
I never considered giving up — not once. I didn’t have a choice; my motivation has always been my family. I wanted to be a positive point of comparison for them, to have someone in their lives that they could point to and say, ‘That’s what hard work, sacrifice, and love looks like.’
What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?
I think that during challenging times, the most critical feature of a leader is the ability to remain calm and composed. It’s never as bad as your mind leads you to believe. When you panic, it creates the opportunity for desperation to set in, and that often leads to bad decisions.
When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate, and engage their team?
The best way for a leader to boost morale amongst their team is to acknowledge their fears and concerns but let them know that they have been well-prepared. This will create a sense of confidence, and when uncertainty is present, confidence will move you past it. Always be the leader that instills confidence.
What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?
The best way to communicate difficult news is through direct, personal, one-on-one, and face-to-face meetings. No one wants to receive a difficult message any other way. As a leader, you need to be able to see reactions and lead from the front.
How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?
How can you not? With a strategic plan, you have better VISION — otherwise you’re reacting to every situation that comes your way in real-time. Your plan gives you the ability to be PROACTIVE, not REACTIVE.
Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?
Have a NEVER QUIT mentality, no matter the circumstances! Times change quickly, meaning turbulent times are temporary. Never quit. I started my business right before the financial crash of 2008 — probably one of the most difficult times to start a wealth management firm. If I quit then, I would have failed many families, which was not an option. I made mistakes, but I learned from them and kept grinding. NEVER QUIT.
Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?
Here are some common mistakes I have seen other businesses make during difficult times:
Not saying ‘NO’ enough, or sooner
Giving up too soon
Avoiding the difficult and/or unpopular decisions that are often the correct decisions
Always trust your gut. You will know deep down what the right answer is for you and your business.
Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?
I’ve noticed in the last few turbulent market cycles that our referrals actually increase significantly. This is partially due to the nature of a market cycle, but also there is a big correlation to our branding and messaging of simplicity, clarity, and a sense of calmness when times and markets are volatile. For Three Sixty, continued conversations on the big picture and overall plan work well to reassure clients that are focused on the long game. There is volatility daily, but that’s not what we focus on to make progress with our clients.
Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times? Please share a story or an example for each.
Be Prepared: It’s very easy to lead when things are good, but TRUE leaders set themselves apart when times are tough. It takes discipline to be ready and prepared for when times are tough, and practicing your expertise daily/weekly/monthly helps to keep you prepared.
Remain Calm: It’s quick and easy to lose control — the hard part is remaining calm. If you buy into whatever the current hysteria is, your family, your staff, and your clients will too. Be the light that people can look to — you make better proactive decisions when you have a sense of calm. Your confidence is boosted and that feeds those around you.
Stay Positive: Focus on what you can control, reflect on small victories, and be grateful. Gratitude is the gateway to a Positive Mental Attitude (PMA), and with that, you can navigate through any difficult time.
Focus on your TEAM: Tough times often bring isolation, which tears at the foundation of any team. Be consistent, check in with your team, communicate, and show a genuine level of empathy. With the right FOCUS, your TEAM can thrive even in tough times.
Simplify: Get rid of the noise. Get back to basics.
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’re right.” — Henry Ford
This quote speaks to me in a way that helps reinforce my mindset when it comes to business activities. There are many things that influence my decision-making process, but what never changes is the fact that I believe I can accomplish all of my priorities.
Making a movie is like remodeling your house. The price is going to double, and then double again. And, the time it takes to do it will, too! But you know what? It’s worth it!
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 Michele Jourdan.
Michele Jourdan hails from Austin Texas, and after a decade in Los Angeles, she moved back home to Austin in 2020, with late-night comedy writer — Michael Jann, her husband. Michele co-wrote, co-created and co-Executive Produced “Bug Therapy” (2021), and she’s co-written four romantic-comedy screenplays. Michele is also a personal trainer and a gold-medal-winning bodybuilder. In fact, she likes working out so much, she actually married a dumb-bell: Mike.
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?
It’s been quite a meandering road! I’m a recovering self-doubter. I grew up believing that what I want didn’t matter. When you believe that, it’s easy to fall into things (jobs, relationships) that you don’t really like, and that aren’t good for you. I started my career in semiconductors, marketing, and abusive relationships. That life was slowly killing my soul. And, quite nearly, me.
After a decade of soul searching (ok, two decades) I finally met the love of my life. And with the help of a few great therapists, I finally learned that, “What I want matters”. That revelation led to my eventual escape from corporate life to became a personal trainer, and ultimately (nudged by the pandemic shutdown) a full-time writer/filmmaker with my husband, Mike!
Can you please share with us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I entered my writing career very timidly. When Mike and I first started writing scripts together, he’d write a first draft of a scene, and send it to me to review. If I felt some dialog wasn’t quite right, I’d write him a note saying, “What if she said something like this?” And I’d suggest some lines. Later, I’d see the script, with my lines in it! I was initially horrified, thinking, “I didn’t mean for you to use that!” Then, I slowly began to realize… What if I’m actually good that this?!
Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?
So many quotes and cliches are actually true: My younger years were a little troubled, so it was, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” As I started to get my life together it became, “whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right.” Once I hit 40 it was, “you’re never too old to do something you’ve always wanted to do.” And, “Consistency is key.”
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”?
My big idea is our short film BUG THERAPY!
How do you think this will change the world?
By encouraging people to talk about their mental health! Mike and I think, and hope, that our short film, BUG THERAPY (and the feature-length version, which we’ve written!) will help people open up about their struggles. We’re all human. We’re all in this life together. And let’s face it… it’s not always easy. ESPECIALLY lately! (I’ve been through some dark days myself, and if I hadn’t gotten help, I probably wouldn’t be here right now.) There’s a stigma around mental illness, and asking for help, and we think if we can get people to talk about their struggles, we can normalize asking for help. Because we all need help from time to time.
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?
Honestly, yes. I can imagine some people asking, “You think mental illness is funny?” And my answer to that is, hell no! I’ve suffered from it. It wasn’t funny. Shortly after we starting writing BUG THERAPY Mike’s son, Max suffered a severe mental breakdown. A full-on psychotic break. One of scariest and most heartbreaking things we’ve ever experienced. He ended up in a couple different psych wards, mental health in-patient facilities, and a sober living house for about a year. That wasn’t funny. It’s heart wrenching and painful. But, think of how much worse that period of time in our life would have been if we had to keep what was going on a secret, because it was shameful?!?!? I’m sorry. There should never be an added blanket of shame on an already difficult situation. So yeah… we come at this subject with humor… but from a place of understanding and compassion, having experienced it ourselves.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this idea? Can you tell us that story?
BUG THERAPY is about a mosquito who faints at the sight of blood. And her name is Citronella. In the short film, Citronella is getting up the courage to go to group therapy for the first time. The therapy group is made up of bugs with arguably bigger problems than hers, and run by a Pill Bug therapist named, Dr. Pill.
We laughed at the thought of Dr. Phil playing the role of Dr. Pill, and wouldn’t you know it — HE DID!
We stumbled upon the hugely important topic of mental health, and from there everything started to fall into place. NAMI the National Alliance on Mental Illness endorsed us, saying our movie is literally their mission statement. And we were able to attract the top talent we did because this is such an important topic for so many people. Our message is simple: Everyone struggles with something. And, there’s no shame in asking for help.
What do you need to lead this idea to widespread adoption?
We need the feature version of BUG THERAPY to be made, and seen by kids, parents, everyone! We need people to start talking about “what’s bugging them”. ☺ Go see a therapist! Get some help, get some support. I promise you, you are NOT alone in your struggle. And once you start talking about it, you begin to see that. Our vulnerability is what makes us human. It’s what allows us to connect to each other. And there is such beauty in that honesty.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
1. I wish someone told us how to make a movie! LOL
2. That India is 10.5 hours ahead of us. So, if you’re going to making a movie with an animation studio there via Zoom meetings, prepare to be up late!
3. Trust your instincts. If something — or someone — doesn’t feel right, listen to that.
4. Don’t fall too in love with your first draft. Because when you see the first “rough cut”, you’re going to want to vomit! And, frantically rewrite it!
5.. Making a movie is like remodeling your house. The price is going to double, and then double again. And, the time it takes to do it will, too! But you know what? It’s worth it!
Can you share with our readers what you think are the most important “success habits” or “success mindsets”?
Don’t ever let anyone tell you you can’t do something. Of course you can.
Never, never, never, never, never give up on something you believe in.
And my personal motto, “What you want matters!” YOU MATTER. Don’t ever forget that!
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 🙂
It’s a story about a mosquito who faints at the sight of blood. And, her name is Citronella. BUG THERAPY is a story about Citronella getting up the courage to go to group therapy for the first time. The feature film version is a MUCH bigger broader version of the short film, with more bugs, more mental issues, and more laughs! Wanna make a movie, and win an Oscar with us?
Bhumi Bhutani of Way.com: Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Encourage honest feedback- Not to sound cliché, butit is important, if not vital, for leaders to be open to hearing the good, the bad and the ugly about what members of the team think about the company, the mission, projects, and strategy. It is important to be questioned, as it yields more reflection and enables leaders to take a second look if something is missed as well as firm up their position.
Bhumi is the Co-Founder and VP of Sales of Way.com, where she’s responsible for the sales and operational leadership of the company’s online organization.
Bhumi brings with her over eight years of industry experience, during which she has made hundreds of direct alliances with parking companies and operators, further establishing Way’s presence to include thousands of parking locations throughout the United States.
Prior to Way, Bhumi was the Co-Founder and COO of Raksha International — and has held management positions at Genentech and the California Department of Health. Bhumi received her Master of Science degree from the London School of Economics and her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. 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?
Thanks for having me here. I grew up in the bay area and saw this place transform as Silicon Valley. I had the pleasure to see this first-hand when my father in partnership with Nolan Bushnell was able to change the gaming world with Atari. That was my motivating factor, and then slowly watching how Silicon Valley was able to transform the world with innovation fascinated me further. I always related innovation with convenience, and everyone was ready to pay for convenience. So around 8 years ago, when Binu (Girija, CEO of Way.com) and I were meeting up in San Francisco for a quick meal, it took me over 20 mins to find cheap parking, and during our dinner Binu pitched the idea of transforming the parking industry by adding convenience. I connected to that right away, and that’s how our Way journey started.
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?
Yes! It was one of our first Thanksgivings actually. We never anticipated the demand that we had and sold out of our airport parking inventory! We were scrambling, looking for more spaces to help our customers with their travels. We realized that the holidays required more sophisticated planning. A funny and true story which led us to think more deeply about market trends, develop a far greater understanding of travel, our customers’ needs and paved the way for available data in-house to equip up in advance for the peak seasons!
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 fortunate to have met and build friendships with smart and thoughtful leaders who were generous enough to offer their time to me at various stages in my journey. I recall in 2014 when I first met Frank Ching, Deputy Executive Officer at LA Metro. Frank was being honored by the National Parking Association with the innovator of the year award for his work in transforming the City of Santa Monica to adopt shared mobility programs and the latest eco- technology in his city sites. I had the pleasure of being introduced to Frank and within minutes we sat down sharing experiences. We had so much to share, and he had so much insight on the industry. I was new and he was open to listening to my challenges. He offered strategies, solutions, and helped me network across the industry. He never said navigating the industry would be easy, but he understood what we were trying to do and wanted to help because he understood the problem. His mentorship has been a boon for me and to this day I am grateful for him and his willingness to help me.
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?
When we set out to start Way.com we recognized that there were some key problems facing drivers when it comes to their vehicles. To start, car services are inconvenient to use, they are priced too high, and more than 40% of drivers are in debt due to a car-related issue, more than 50% of them are millennials. We set out to understand the industries and have set out to solve these problems.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?
Fortunately, for the sake of this interview, I do not have to think back too far. Let’s take March 2019. The world stopped for most, but not for us at Way.com. In fact, we went into hyper-mode. The individuals who thought the “ship would sink” jumped almost immediately, but those who remained worked because they believed far deeply in Way’s purpose and did not want to lose all that we had struggled to win. As a leader, your organization looks to you for stability, growth, and vision. At that time, no one could see from one day to the next as news headlines would lead to more unknowns. We did know one thing though; we knew our company’s mission and we knew we had to organize more closely with our partners and each other to sustain. At the most critical and uncertain time, I aligned myself more closely with each team member and spoke to each of our clients personally. I was not afraid to have the difficult conversations. The team saw that and gained confidence to do the same. Our CEO seized the uncertain time to reflect on a pandemic-resistant product line leading our engineering team into a full R&D cycle. As leaders, we aligned more closely with each other, were empathetic, supportive and transparent with our team about the company’s next steps. During the height of this challenging time, leadership asked the most difficult questions of everyone around them, reflected on what was working and what was not. We made our team more inclusive in the decision-making. The heightened level communication and clarity within our company during the period of uncertainty was energizing for the team and became deeply motivating. You could say that it made up for the lack of uncertainty around the world.
Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?
No, that is one characteristic that I refuse to take up. In fact, the thought never arose. For me, Way.com and the vision that we have, the problem that we set out to solve is far bigger than any of us and we know it is a big problem that needs solving. This is where my drive comes from. My motivation is derived from knowing that someone has to solve it and we have!
What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?
Over-communicating and articulating and repeating both the mission and targets of the company’s vision. During challenging times, people become insecure. Leaders need to ask the hard questions and include their team. Teams tend to look at leaders as having the answers all the time, but during challenging times, the role of the leaders shifts to one that asks the team the harder questions and creates a safe place for others to reflect on the business goals, the shifts in the industry, market changes, competitors’ strategies to enable new growth opportunities and new corporate strategies to take root.
When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?
Stay calm, focused, and confident. People follow good leaders and learn from them if they are at ease and stay consistent. In uncertain times, build more opportunities for team building. These moments do not have to be expensive, in fact it can be a white board session in which the team brings a dish to share. The purpose is for others to remain comfortable, engaged and open in their work environment. As a leader, be vocal of the challenges and ask questions of others in these sessions. Be open to receiving honest feedback and allowing the team to speak freely. You hired these individuals for their expertise — so trust their insight. Having these opportunities boosts morale and productivity and when people are at ease it allows for the free flow of ideas. There could be a new strategy which seemed impossible at the time. Another morale booster is sharing success and recognizing others for their accomplishments. Sharing your successes even if they are small wins daily, acknowledging and thanking teams for delivering their tasks and going above and beyond if they put in a great deal of effort. Staying engaged with the team as much as possible. If you are distant, they will read the signs and think something Is wrong. If you are engaged and going about your interactions with optimism, this will rub off on your counterparts and boost morale. I believe inspiration comes to those who watch leaders who roll up their sleeves and get work done. This is what inspires me.
What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?
In-person. During the pandemic this was a struggle, however, I took the opportunity to make a personal call to all of our clients and whenever possible we would be on zoom. Difficult news should always be communicated verbally. It is critical that you can make eye contact with the recipient of the news and express the tone and emotions attached to the news. Empathy and sincerity are difficult to convey over email and you need both deliver difficult news to anyone. In fact, they are vital to keeping the relationship.
How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?
As a leader, you look at uncertain times as opportunities. A great example is when the travel ban was mandated in March 2019, we faced uncertainty as overnight our airport parking sales had plummeted. The decline forced us to think beyond our day to day and reinvent our next product line.
Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?
I would say companies are meant to have ups and downs, successes and failures, that’s the beauty of innovating and part of the growing pains of expanding. You need to fail to listen more closely to your customers at times or evaluate your product so it can improve. The principle I follow is to remain agile and never stop learning. It’s a mindset for me. If you have this you can face anything your company goes through, learn and grow from it.
Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?
Keep doing what you have been doing hoping things will get better. It’s a mistake because difficult times would require you to pivot and try something new. It may mean taking a risk; make sure it is a calculated one, but if you do not shift you will only sink further. Another mistake is pretending or disguising that the company’s doing fine internally and/or to your clients. This is a huge mistake. During difficult times it is imperative that you over communicate and focus on solutions. Firstly, you will gain trust and support among your teams, and they will be motivated to brainstorm with you. Secondly, your clients will become trusted partners. A thoughtful leader shares the difficulties along with the vision and plan towards a solution.
Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?
I read as much as possible on market trends, politics, industry and technology. I use what I read to help influence my daily work with the intention to grow. There are many strategies, processes, and solutions one can utilize from outside one’s own industry to positively shape your growth strategy.
Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times? Please share a story or an example for each.
Transparency — One of our most challenging financial times was in 2017 when we had switched to a new database stack during holiday time. Our system was failing us because of the exponential growth of traffic on the site. We couldn’t wait any longer and our team had to make the switch, otherwise we would collapse. It was one of the most challenging times because we didn’t have any reports for our vendors for weeks. We had the difficult conversations with our business development and account management team as well as with our vendors. We were open and honest about the reason their reports were no longer available. They were upset, but we were committed to delivering whatever they needed even if it was manual. The vendors were trusting, and we stayed committed. It brought our teams closer and our vendors closer.
Stay Agility- We’ve heard this often and that is exactly the reason it is near the top of my list. In turbulent times, acting swiftly is most effective because you are quickly working to figure out what is working and what is not. As an example, when we started our city parking program at Way, we were not the first to market and it was a completely new product for us. We thought we knew what we needed to deliver to the customer from a business standpoint, which was successful, however we couldn’t quite get more eyeballs on our amazing deals, and we couldn’t figure out why! If we sat around waiting for customers to check us out without trying different levers on our side, whether it was adding more parking locations in San Francisco, or swapping out better images, we needed to be open and agile to shift and improve. When we did, we saw an improvement overnight!
Encourage honest feedback- Not to sound cliché, butit is important, if not vital, for leaders to be open to hearing the good, the bad and the ugly about what members of the team think about the company, the mission, projects, and strategy. It is important to be questioned, as it yields more reflection and enables leaders to take a second look if something is missed as well as firm up their position.
Nurture Collective Self-Confidence — I am big believer in Ronald Heifetz’s work in leadership, so I take from him and Donald Laurie here. It is critical to instill confidence in your workforce rather than have them place their dependence on you. Instead of controlling people give them the space to make mistakes because that is how they will find solutions. As a leader you must instill this for scalability.
Push Collaboration- As a business leader you often have to peel through layers of work politics to draw out individuals or teams working together. Blame tends to go around during challenging times quite frequency. I like to start my meetings with an agenda that expresses the mutual objective which I know everyone wants to reach. If you start with everyone’s best interest in mind and encourage open and thoughtful discussion this tends to encourage a spirit of collaboration even during the most difficult times.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Where there is a will there is a WAY.” There have been several obstacles and failures that I have had in my life, both in personal and in business. When I started, not all the deals came flooding in. Clients didn’t know who I was or what our company was. On top of that, I had to build awareness about our company, our value. I had to be persistent all the way and shake off moments of despair. I keep this quote close to my heart and it’s the first quote I have taught my daughter. If you are resilient, tenacious, and can envision yourself with the success you are seeking — whatever that might be, I truly believe you will achieve it eventually.
How can our readers further follow your work?
You can follow all the news about Way on all of our social channels and on LinkedIn.
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
The Future Is Now: Pavel Osokin of AMAI On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Don’t ask, just sell. Customer development played a bad joke on me. I used to hear from everyone that I needed to interview the market. Unfortunately, the clients’ ideas about an unfinished product often add up, and the result is dodgy. Today, I believe that Customer Development should only be done with those who already clicked the “Buy” button.
As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Pavel Osokin.
Pavel is a founder & CEO at AMAI. He is an entrepreneur with 15 years who founded and bootstrapped five startups. He is a mentor at Founder Institute, an investment scout for several venture funds and an advisor to two startups. Was named one of the top entrepreneurs to watch in 2018.
Pavel started his business with $100 and reached a $3.3M turnover in 3 years in the construction industry. As a tech innovator, in 2017 he founded Como Capital, a full-service provider of high loaded blockchain projects, and has worked with clients such as Coursera. In five months, the startup grew its team to 27 people.
Aimed to help entrepreneurs automate the selling process, in 2019 founded AMAI — a San Francisco-based startup that produces ultra-realistic AI Voice Engines. Pavel leading the operation and strategy at AMAI with a professional ambition to install its voice technology into every phone in the 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?
As a boy, I was fascinated by cars. One day when I was a child, I saw a Bentley Continental GT that belonged to the owner of a well-known Internet provider parked on the street. At that moment, I decided that I wanted to drive such a car and would do whatever I had for it. As well as enjoying early morning wake-ups, I was also curious about the world. So from the age of 13 on, I was looking for new opportunities to earn extra money and I tried my hand at everything that presented itself. My first buying and selling deals were when I was at school, buying and selling scooters, phones, and more. Entrepreneurship opened up many opportunities to me when I was young.
Later, I founded my first company. With an investment of $100, I reached a turnover of $3.3M in three years. Later, I became interested in blockchain and founded Como Capital in 2017. And when I needed synthetic voices, I realized that there was no single option on the market that would satisfy my business needs both in quality and price. Thus, in 2019, my partner and I began to develop our own code and founded AMAI — an AI voice engine startup.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
When I was 18, I served in the military. Mobile phones were prohibited by army regulations. I saw that this ban was distressing to the conscripts, and decided to create some sort of dark marketplace. The mobiles were brought to me by those who wished to sell them and then went to those who desired to purchase them. With 2,500 conscripts to serve, I was able to start a small but lucrative business.
Can you tell us about the cutting edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?
In a short period of time, we have developed a technology of such complexity that we are still unaware of its full scope. Over 97% of people cannot distinguish synthetic AMAI voices from real ones. There are obvious uses for text-to-speech technology, for example, voice-over for audiobooks and films. With the help of a synthetic voice, it will be possible to voice-over all the books in the world. But there are also less obvious uses that are no less important: for instance, medicine. Now voice assistants can recognize a person’s mood, which will help them in the future to help people more clearly, for example, in psychotherapy. Moreover, we strive to provide enterprises with convenient solutions. Our AI voice editor, for example, has a handy editor that, without coding skills, allows you to change moods, highlight accents, and change the language.
How do you think this might change the world?
The words about “technology changing the world” are a bit of a cliché, I know. Because of this, many young start-ups are trying to influence the global IT market without too much consideration for the end users. Meanwhile, it’s the end user who drives technological development even of the most complex enterprise solutions. Currently, we are developing the technology and looking at how people can use it comfortably. It may not turn the world upside down, but it will become an indispensable assistant in many area. Financial institutions, for example, will be able to process customer requests even more efficiently using AI call centers. In this way, foreign books in their language will become available to people from different countries, and they won’t be as expensive as they are currently.
Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
Of course, we are aware of possible dangers of technology and we attempt to address them during development. Right now, for example, the problem of deep fakes is becoming more and more urgent, and we are going to combat it through stricter regulation regarding the use of our votes and full control over the distribution process. Essentially, we are talking about a more conscious development of technology, and startups have an advantage here: they can enter the market with stricter principles and capture an audience that is always looking for safer and more reliable solutions. Large companies often kill technologies rather than develop them because of their own business model that forms the basis of their revenue streams but can’t keep up with the current demands.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?
Together with my business partner, I had a brainstorm on what any company would need, without exception. In our mind, there was no question that it’s sales. We saw the future in technologies that would replace people, but at the same time increase the companies’ efficiency. Thus, we began to create a robot that could write, respond to emails, messengers, etc. At some point, however, we realized that the robot should also call, not just write. After a short search for quality voices, we hired our first employee to prototype our own voice. As a result, we created voice technologies that were well-liked by the first users and we concentrated our efforts on that.
What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?
There needs to be more experimentation in using text-to-speech in different fields, as well as constant feedback from different markets. We are constantly developing our technology and extending it to different languages. We do this by searching for clients in specific regions, from which we receive feedback. We would like to experiment more, so anyone who comes to us (employee or client) and gives us a great idea will receive our comprehensive support. First and foremost, technologies are driven by ideas, then by money.
What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?
A lot of our effort is put into content marketing, where, by the way, our engine is more than useful — now everyone wants to turn their articles into podcasts. As a marketing company, we never say that our technology will replace humans — on the contrary, we promote the idea that it will complement human capabilities and give them super-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? Can you share a story about that?
This person (or rather people) may have been our first clients who paid us and believed in us when we only had a prototype. We believe this was the biggest help and confirmation of our hypothesis. It gave us strength and confidence that we are doing something worthwhile.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
We do not exaggerate the importance of technology when we discuss kindness. In order to be useful, technologies must be based on the needs of people around the world — only then will it make sense to do anything. For example, we do not want to limit ourselves to English for voice acting, as we see great potential in mastering other languages and even rare dialects. Everyone is now focused on the English-speaking market because it has the most money, but if a person sincerely writes a scientific publication or a book, he or she wants to share his ideas with like-minded people regardless of their country of residence and language. Localization is one of the major technology trends we support. As an international company, we hire people from all over the world and select them only if they have a real interest in the development of this field: we hire from countries as diverse as Russia, Kazakhstan, Greece, Spain, and the USA. Internationality helps to understand the needs of many.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
The number of attempts determines success. I founded several companies, but my experience wasn’t always positive, I went bankrupt three times. As a result, I learned to tolerate mistakes and realized that you have to keep doing what you believe in.
Make sure there is a demand before creating a product. Many of my mistakes had to do with the fact that you have to sell your product before making it.
Don’t ask, just sell. Customer development played a bad joke on me. I used to hear from everyone that I needed to interview the market. Unfortunately, the clients’ ideas about an unfinished product often add up, and the result is dodgy. Today, I believe that Customer Development should only be done with those who already clicked the “Buy” button.
Don’t be afraid to send cold messages, even to CEOs that lead large companies. To attract customers, I’ve always tried to use advertising. However, if you come up with a cool product that solves someone’s pain, they’ll buy it even after a cold call about an unfinished product. That’s how I signed the first contracts for AMAI and my other projects.
Look for partners that you will trust 200%. Five of my business partnerships have failed, but my current co-founder is the best partner I could hope for. So, if you can wait and assure yourself of the person, don’t settle for half measures.
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 suggestion would be to share your shares with another startup in exchange for its shares. Thousands of companies could form such a partnership and, thus, would be more assured against failures. On the other hand, they would be more interested in helping each other.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Success is measured in a number of attempts. Every wrong move gets rid of another failure and brings you closer to the coveted 20% of the right actions. Everything will work out if you don’t give up on your intentions.
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 🙂
Soon, we will be on almost every computer and phone. Our synthesized voice will be able to speak in all languages and translate unknown words automatically. Eventually, you will be able to watch videos in Farsi, talk on vacation in Bahasa, listen to Morgan Freeman in pure French, and even talk to your microwave about problems at work and ask your refrigerator to order bread. We already voice-over audiobooks, podcasts, articles and help call-centers. Investors have very little time left to catch the departurting train, because we are certain that voice is the next Internet revolution.
Get clear internally on who you are as a company. We had multiple iterations of leadership and marketing summits and meetings to land on our core vision and brand promise. The simpler we made it, the more interesting were our ideas on how to make the brand known and appreciated by those we attempted to reach.
Brad’s first professional job was as a U.S. Marine Corps Infantry officer after college. He spent one tour in a deploying infantry unit based in California and then a second in public relations and ceremonial duties based in Washington, D.C. Post-military, for over twenty years, Brad has been a ‘management generalist’, working as an operations manager for CarMax when it was a new and growing company, then in the staffing industry as a regional general manager, followed by a stint as the co-owner of a boutique executive search firm. Most recently, Brad has been the leader of customer-facing sales, marketing, and service operations for Air Oasis, a manufacturer and seller of premium air purifiers. In addition to his leadership and management roles, Brad is a trained executive coach and has served on a number of non-profit boards.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Most would look at my LinkedIn profile and think, “How confusing!” I have certainly thought that at times, wondering how or why I’ve moved from the military, to operations management, to sales and general management, to a start up, and then to sales and marketing with a manufacturing company — when I have no formal product marketing training or experience. (Sshh, don’t tell our CEO.) An executive coach once suggested to me that success most often follows our passion. That idea has stuck in my head and I often share it. As a result, I search out interesting challenges to solve and seek situations where my strengths are useful, preferably where I’m learning as I go. I have been so fortunate to work with great people, and anywhere I’ve stayed, it’s been because of passion for the work and the people I get to see each day.
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?
No doubt, our digital marketing agency partners have had more than a few chuckles at my expense. Not long ago, we did a complete strategic 180 in how we distribute and sell our products. Switching from 100% third-party resellers to selling directly to the end buyer via eCommerce created a steep learning curve for our internal marketing team and more than a few laughs — even some tears. Thank goodness for competent, patient, trustworthy service providers! There was not a digital marketing acronym I didn’t mangle or misuse. It became a running joke, yet we survived the experience of building the plane as we flew it. The biggest lesson from the strategic shift was to be honest when things aren’t working, and then take action without delay. As a smaller company, we’ve been able to nimbly make big changes and smaller course corrections with little time lost on our mistakes. More importantly, when we see an approach working well, we dedicate time and energy to maximizing it.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
We compete on the upper end of the price range for air purifiers. As such, shoppers weigh their decisions carefully, especially when the purchase is aimed at protecting or improving their health and wellness. At Air Oasis, we put our best foot forward without overstating our capabilities or overpromising results. We’re thankful to have been discovered by well-known schools, institutions, government agencies and businesses. Specifically, doctors treating environmentally acquired illnesses such as those triggered by mold are strong supporters of our technology. We believe they feel a sense of security knowing our products work well and that we don’t beat our chests too hard about it.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
We are developing indoor air monitoring systems that will complement the air purifiers we currently make. Customers want to be informed about the quality of the air they breathe, knowing we all spend 90% of our time indoors. In the age of IoT and connected devices, this is a natural next step in our product offering.
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?
We talk about this often at Air Oasis, and here’s where we’ve landed: Branding is letting consumers (and ourselves) know who we are. Advertising sheds light on what we do. This is true of companies and it’s also true of each of us as people. Our activity is not our identity, but the two are connected and shouldn’t be strangers. The Air Oasis brand reflects that we are a family-founded and owned business. Families thrive on love, and we want love to motivate consumers. Through our advertising, we illustrate how our products help people live healthier lives every day. I know that sounds aspirational, but we see it that way.
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?
Let’s continue with the identity idea. The people in a company need to know who they are and how that is portrayed externally. If our internal vision and external brand promise are aligned, our team will know it and experience the security that things are as we say they are, feel pride of ownership of something good, and hopefully show humility knowing that it’s not about us but who we serve. Jumping into marketing and advertising without the brand foundation leads to confusion, distractions, and wasted effort.
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.
Get clear internally on who you are as a company. We had multiple iterations of leadership and marketing summits and meetings to land on our core vision and brand promise. The simpler we made it, the more interesting were our ideas on how to make the brand known and appreciated by those we attempted to reach.
Run your brand through an objective professional framework. This is where fresh eyes can be valuable. An outside leadership consultant can be a great facilitator to make branding building work. There are also great books out there to be used as frameworks. We like Donald Miller’s book, Building a Brand Story. That framework was helpful to define our brand and it was also insightful about how key people viewed the company.
Make sure it passes the employee sniff test at every level. Your own staff, especially those who may not work in marketing, know the company well and want to be proud of what is put out there. See if your employment ads resonate when using your brand promise.
Make sure you have a way to project your brand through your marketing and advertising efforts. We want people to love the air they breathe. As a pure-play eCommerce company, we rely on imagery as much as words to project our brand promise. The Air Oasis brand must shine through in our ad copy, marketing emails, and social media posts, for example. We recently shot new images for our website. The models, including the dog, live under the same roof. Their love for one another really showed, especially in how the dog looked at its owner in the shots. (No offense to the couple!)
Regularly reevaluate how the brand comes across, and cast a wide net of advisors in doing so. It seems little time passes before we start thinking about ways to freshen our brand. We work as an internal team, consult outside, and then measure results. A/B test content with and without the brand hint. If the non-brand test wins, adjust accordingly. Our vision and core values may not change, but the message and the way it is told may.
In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job building a believable and beloved brand. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?
I’m going to cheat a little here and say CarMax. I worked there in the mid 90s when there were just four stores and now there are hundreds. It was my first job after the Marines, and looking back, their brand continues to reflect their honest, transparent method of selling cars. Their website, CarMax.com is on point and personal, just as our car choices are personal to each of us. Their brand reflects who they are, so naturally it’s believable. What can one do to replicate that? Have integrity in the branding process. Test and challenge the portrayal of the brand against reality. If it doesn’t pass the sniff test, don’t do it.
In advertising, one generally measures success by the number of sales. How does one measure the success of a brand building campaign? Is it similar, is it different?
You won’t catch me saying happy customers and sales don’t matter — they absolutely do. And below the surface, it’s also important to get to know our customers. As an eCommerce company, we read every review and weekly we discuss feedback from phone calls, our website, chat stream, and social media. If we are honest with ourselves, customer input will show how well we meet our brand’s expectations. I’ll add a less quantifiable lens: competitors who start looking like you and even saying what you say is a sign you may be onto something.
What role does social media play in your branding efforts?
Social media is a great channel to consistently reinforce our brand, speaking to specific segments of our customers while drawing in new ones. By remaining on-brand, we drop nuanced messages speaking informally to our audience, organically, and we broaden our reach with paid social media.
What advice would you give to other marketers or business leaders to thrive and avoid burnout?
Marketers and business leaders thrive in challenges well suited for their strengths, where they have time to focus their energies in a way that produces meaningful outcomes, and where they feel a valued part of a team and community. None of us grows in isolation. Investing in professional relationships outside one’s company is healthy; it adds valuable perspective in a number of ways. Learning from peers’ ups and downs while supporting one another keeps us sharp and fulfilled. Following a few thought leaders on social media and regularly listening to podcasts that feed fresh ideas inspires and informs our thinking.
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. 🙂
Nothing original to report here. However, the concept of grace and being gracious to others really resonates with me. I live in Southern California where traffic is part of life. If we were to treat being in traffic more like cotillion (compulsory fork and knife manners school) and less like tug of war (with only winners and losers), life would be a little better. Few kids enjoy cotillion. At best they tolerate it, though it is great comic relief for the parents. Those learned little acts of kindness, even when forced, do create feelings of good will. If we used our commute as practice time for good manners with a little grace sprinkled in, imagine how much more pleasant that drive could be. Let’s practice grace, in and out of traffic.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“None of us is as smart as all of us.” -Ken Blanchard
I started reading about business and non-military leadership in the early 90s as I prepared to enter the civilian workforce from the Marines. Ken Blanchard wrote “None of us is as smart as all of us.” That’s so true. Isn’t it? Too many times to count, the best ideas have come from teams trusting one another and working in a healthy environment where learning, growth, and making honest mistakes is not only forgiven but expected. The Marines debrief every operation to ‘hot wash’ it for lessons learned. Everyone attends. At CarMax, I saw C-level leaders participating in time studies of the sales process and in focus groups to glean valuable insights. At Air Oasis, the owners gather our leaders, staff, and our vendor partners regularly to work through difficult questions in search of solutions to better serve our customers. Isolation is dangerous, and we can’t leverage the power of a team without relationships that grow over time.
We are blessed that very prominent leaders in business and entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world with whom you would like to have a lunch or breakfast with? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
