Author: Fotis Georgiadis

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Know your value and your limit. When I started out in business I was doing everything I could to get projects in the door. I knew my work was good but I thought that I’d edge out the competition by offering better service and a lower rate. All I ended up with was a bunch of cheap clients who didn’t respect me or value any of the work that I was providing for them. I was making less money and working more hours. When I finally got fed up I switched my strategy. I actually tripled my rate, dropped all my clients and started getting calls from major brands and companies who were willing to bring their projects to me. I was working less and making way more than I had ever made before. And I haven’t looked back since.

As a part of my series about “Grit: The Most Overlooked Ingredient of Success” I had the pleasure of interviewing Courtney LeMarco.

Courtney LeMarco is the CEO and Founder of MOTSI, a Black-owned beauty and lifestyle brand that offers clean skincare, cosmetics, sustainable swimwear, and more. Consciously designed to be inclusive, Courtney created MOTSI to compliment and celebrate the unique beauty and power in every person. A California native, LeMarco has over 25 years of experience in business development and management, having built several successful companies throughout his career. Also the Founder and CEO of LeMarco Brands and TLG Motion Pictures, Courtney’s client list includes some of the biggest brands and organizations in the world, such as Neiman Marcus, Amazon, Conde Nast, Comcast, and Disney. He’s also the Executive Producer of the Emmy-nominated unscripted series on A&E, Hoarders.

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

Ever since I was a little kid I’ve been interested in fashion. I think that’s because my mother always made sure I was the best dressed kid when we went to the Kingdom Hall, which is the Jehovah’s Witness version of church. I also worked as a model up into my teenage years, which helped to deepen my passion for the fashion industry.

When I got into media and advertising, I gravitated towards clients like Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus, which helped to fuel that fire. My production company kept growing to the point where we were doing a lot of branded content for major fashion retailers, so I was able to learn a lot about various aspects of the fashion industry.

Eventually we started doing bigger projects and graduated to television shows and feature films. We were constantly bringing in brand partners from the fashion industry and then a light bulb went off. I figured that we would be better off integrating our own brand into some of these projects which would allow us to have more control, reduce our costs and increase our overall revenue. So I did some research on the market and manufacturing and came up with a name, and that in a nutshell is how Motsi was born.

Making a transition from entertainment to fashion may seem like an unexpected move considering the amount of success we’ve had. However for me, it only makes sense that we move in that direction. Fashion and entertainment go hand in hand, so it’s the right thing to do and the perfect time to do it.

What do grit and success mean to you? Please include a story or anecdote about any hardship you faced when you first started your journey.

For me, success is having the ability to do what you love in life without having to impede on anyone else’s ability to also be successful in their own path. And grit is being able to withstand every single opposing force and obstacle that comes your way throughout your journey. That last part is definitely not always easy to do, but it’s part of what makes the journey worthwhile. That’s one of the reasons why I enjoy being an entrepreneur. I want to build companies and brands that create opportunities for people to find their own version of success.

But despite that, there are many hardships that I’ve had to deal with. Not just when I started this business but on a daily basis. They range in their level of complexity but they’re constantly there, and I’ve grown very accustomed to dealing with them.

As an entrepreneur there are a lot of things that you have to understand and manage. You’re dealing with a lot of financial data, marketing, vendors, ever changing technology, and of course the human element. And humans are not just numbers in a database. We have emotions, health concerns, families, mental issues and many other things that need to be taken into consideration. I believe that taking care of the human element first is paramount to the success of any business. That’s the type of culture we’re building at Motsi Luxury Group.

We started this company shortly before the COVID pandemic hit. Obviously not the best time to get into skincare and apparel, but we came together as a team nonetheless and put together a plan to move forward regardless.

Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?

The situation that I grew up in plays a big part when it comes to my motivation and drive. When you’re born into a poor, single family household with strict religious guidelines and a parent with mental illness, you find ways to make ends meet regardless of the hardships you’re facing. It’s either sink or swim. Make do or be homeless. The latter is not an option for me.

Regardless of the situation that I’m facing I know that it could always be much worse and that the difficult times are just temporary. I tell myself this all the time. I’ve seen people who have hit rock bottom. Some of it due to circumstances, but most of it due to choices. And with all the opportunities that exist in life, I would love to be able to use what I’ve learned to inspire people to make better choices. To help people learn how to deal with the situation when it gets tough. That possibility motivates me to keep going.

But on a different level, the fact that I can even sit here doing this interview about success is only because I’m standing on the shoulders of a lot of people who suffered more than this generation can even imagine. I owe it to them to keep going. And I owe it to the generations that will come after me to make whatever difference I can make while I’m here.

How did grit lead to your eventual success? How did grit help you turn things around?

One of the biggest challenges I’ve had to face is my credibility in the industry. A lot of people question how someone with my background in entertainment would have the knowledge and skill to be able to take on the fashion and lifestyle industry. But being doubted is the story of my life, so this challenge is nothing new.

Regardless of the doubters, I stay focused on the goal. I understand that there’s a lot I know, and a lot that I don’t know. And there’s a lot more that I don’t even know that I don’t know. But I’m intelligent enough to realize that the resources I need are out there, and if I take the time and energy to educate myself and stick with the plan, then I can only progress. Given my upbringing, I’ve learned at a very early age to never give up and what it means to make sacrifices to achieve my goals.

It definitely takes a lot of grit to stay focused when you’re surrounded by distractions. You miss out on a lot of social events and you have a lot of late nights and early mornings. The upside is you’ll eventually find yourself surrounded by people who think and approach life the same way you do.

Based on your experience, can you share 5 tips/pieces of advice about how one can develop grit? (Please share a story or example for each)

1. Don’t take things personally. I used to get upset when I got turned down for jobs or projects. I often wondered if something was wrong with what I was doing. As I got older, I realized that in some cases I wasn’t what they were looking for. But in other cases, they were just off the mark and woke up on the wrong side of the bed that day. Sometimes people’s decisions or negativity has more to do with their situation than it does with you. So I don’t take anything personally these days.
2. You get the same energy that you give. If you come into a situation with negativity, then you should expect to receive that same energy back. Of course there will always be minor variants to this equation, but overall, if you go through business and life with a positive attitude and the will to do good, then you will find amazing opportunities opening up that you’d never imagine.
3. Hard times are temporary. There have been several times in my career when I thought I was at the end of my rope. I was really struggling to the point where I was scrounging for change in my couch cushions to drum up enough money to get food for the day. I didn’t know how I was going to turn things around and get myself to a better place, but I didn’t let that stop me from pursuing my dreams. That persistence and determination eventually put me in a position where the opportunities started pouring in. My financial situation improved and my company started growing. The key is simply the fact that despite the odds, I never gave up. There are still days when things get heavy, but I know it’s only temporary. The hard times will always pass.
4. Live in the present. Sometimes you can be so focused on the future that you forget to take time to enjoy the present. It’s ok to take a moment to stop and look around at what you’ve accomplished. For me, it’s in those moments where I find true joy and peace. Being in the present allows you to gain a clear perspective on your situation. The past cannot be changed and the future is yet to be. The only moment that exists is the present. Enjoy it.
5. Know your value and your limit. When I started out in business I was doing everything I could to get projects in the door. I knew my work was good but I thought that I’d edge out the competition by offering better service and a lower rate. All I ended up with was a bunch of cheap clients who didn’t respect me or value any of the work that I was providing for them. I was making less money and working more hours. When I finally got fed up I switched my strategy. I actually tripled my rate, dropped all my clients and started getting calls from major brands and companies who were willing to bring their projects to me. I was working less and making way more than I had ever made before. And I haven’t looked back since.

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? Please share a story or example.

In regards to Motsi, the help I received came in the form of inspiration from several individuals who most likely don’t even know how much they’ve inspired me.

The first person who comes to mind is Ken Downing. Ken is the current Chief Creative Officer of American Dream, an amazing retail destination that’s over three millions square feet located in New Jersey. Ken and I met on the set of a fashion show when he was the Senior Vice President and Fashion Director for my former client, Neiman Marcus.

Ken downright is the dopest, most stylish and classiest individual that I’ve ever met. Especially in the fashion industry. Considering his resume and the people that he knows, his humility is something to be admired. I want to emulate that type of energy in everything I do.

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

One of the exciting things we’ve done at Motsi is our swimwear line which is made from over 75% recycled ocean plastic. We’re doing our part to help tackle one of the biggest problems we’re facing. The fashion and cosmetic industry as a whole has been a major contributor to the problem of single use plastics and unsustainable packaging. It’s amazing that we can now refine the manufacturing process to create solutions to the bigger issues facing our planet.

But we don’t plan on stopping there. We’re also looking into programs that will help ensure that our containers are recycled properly and that our customers are further rewarded for their efforts in doing so. There’s a lot of work to be done but we believe that it’s possible if we work together.

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

Our next big project is called Motsi By You! We’ll be using social media to reach out to our customers so we can learn more about their lives and experiences. We’ll select some of them to appear in our upcoming campaigns and give them the opportunity to share their struggles and successes with others. We want people to understand that we’re all the same and have to deal with a lot of the same issues. That ultimately, we’re all a community and are stronger together than we are alone.

Some of the individuals we’re currently working with have physical disabilities and some have mental health issues. The amazing thing about them is that they’re able to put themselves out there publicly and can share their stories despite the hardships they’ve faced. To us that’s the true definition of beauty.

What advice would you give to other executives or founders to help their employees to thrive?

I think an open door policy is critical for companies that want to help their employees to thrive and prosper. Not just on an administrative level but also on a creative and cultural level. Everyone wants to feel as if they’re a part of something greater than themselves, and employers should take every chance they can to make that a reality.

At Motsi, we take input from everyone in the company on everything from internal initiatives to our branding, messaging, product line and creative content. It creates a better working environment and helps to boost productivity all around.

If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

I would love to challenge the standard of beauty that is prevalent in the fashion industry. As a whole, the industry has a history of elitism and exclusivity, particularly when it comes to Black and Asian representation.

One of the things that we’re looking to do with Motsi is bring more diversity to the industry, not only in our branding and marketing but also in our product development and overall company structure. We want to represent the landscape that we live in.

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

I’m going to keep this very simple. My favorite quote or saying, if you will, is “Do You!” It’s not more complicated than that.

And here’s why I love that saying… I personally know a lot of people who invested their time and energy into so many life distractions and it never paid off. People who have spent a lifetime working at a company only to get laid off with a small pension that barely allows them to pay their bills. I myself used to be a loyal employee who wanted to make the boss happy. And despite my efforts I was never truly happy or satisfied, and in fact, I was often looked over for promotion or my talents were marginalized.

When I stopped putting energy into other people’s ideas and started focusing on my own everything changed. It definitely wasn’t easy but eventually I started seeing success and making more money. I always encourage people to learn how to start a business and become their own boss. It’s a lot of work but it also gives you freedom that you’ll never get working for anyone else.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

@courtneylemarco on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

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

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Courtney LeMarco of MOTSI: Five Ways To Develop More ‘Grit’ was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Future Is Now: Paul McBride of Peroptyx On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Love thy customer and if you can’t love your customer, love your customer’s problem so much that you’ll stop at nothing to solve it.

As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Paul McBride.

Paul McBride is a co-founder and Managing Director at Peroptyx. The company has recently completed a seed round raise of $2m to support the expansion of its customer base, team and global footprint to 20 countries. Prior to co-founding Peroptyx, Paul was founding GM and VP of Lionbridge AI, building that business from startup to reach over $100M in revenues with a remote worker presence in over 100 countries. Paul began his career as a software engineer with Microsoft, working in Dublin and Seattle on their operating system printing and imaging software for global markets.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

The idea for the name came while watching the emergence of a synchronous, almost magical flashing of swarms of Pteroptyx (sic.) fireflies as they congregated around mangrove trees, mostly in southeast Asia! It is an unforgettable experience for those who observe it and is one that delivers significant economic benefits to the region. This visual spectacle became synonymous with our passion for operational synchronicity and swarm intelligence. The company was born out of the belief that my co-founders Maeve Bleahene, Internet pioneer Dr. Dennis Jennings and I all shared regarding how the everyday human experience was not being adequately reflected by consumer-facing AI systems, or in the Machine Learning models and data underpinning them.

Our combined experience over the prior decade showed conclusively that the quality of the AI experience will ultimately be determined by the quality of the human contribution to the data powering AI. Together, we recognised the huge potential in Machine Learning for companies prepared to make the leap, and put data at the heart of their approach to developing market-facing platforms, applications and services.

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

In 2006, being invited by Google to help design and implement a feedback system to evaluate the in-country performance of their search engine algorithm. The experience was a career-changing collaboration with some very cool and clever people, and what we co-produced over the following decade is still relevant and widely used today.

Can you tell us about the cutting edge technological breakthroughs that you believe are capable through accurate machine learning? How do you think that will help people?

Three breakthroughs that I believe will benefit people, or have the potential to benefit people, are in the fields of payments, customer experience and health.

• Payment mediation — while a lot of focus in the world of online payments has been on the payments themselves; their security, user-friendliness, accessibility and so on — there is another aspect to consider and that is when payments themselves represent the main point of contact with customers. For example, when customers are paying for (mostly recurring) services such as utility bills, machine learning can help identify when and where problems might occur before they actually occur, and assist with interventions designed to promote a positive and supportive resolution. Since behaviours and expectations change with country and culture, accurately and contextually representing these aspects in machine learning models will transform the bill-paying experience for consumers struggling to make ends meet.
• Customer interaction — While natural language processing enables virtual assistants to interact with customers at scale, and across markets, it has a long way to go before the interactions themselves feel more ‘natural’ or ‘human’. This lack of ‘realism’ has mostly to do with the quality of data used to train these systems as well as the methods being used to source it. We believe the next significant breakthrough in ML-assisted customer interaction will come with the ongoing, persistent participation of people from all sectors of society who are most suitably qualified to evaluate, influence and improve the models and algorithms being used to serve them.
• Digital health — Recent advances in deep learning enables companies such as Enlitic to optimize a physician’s decision-making by analysing a patient’s past medical history, diagnostic information and symptoms to provide actionable insights. Advanced ML models learn as they process data, improving their ability to identify diseases and provide treatment planning. Once the key issues of data privacy and anonymity are substantially addressed, the potential for ML-assisted, physician-led diagnoses that lead to better quality life outcomes for the seriously ill will be unleashed.

How can it help people — Applied Machine Learning can help people — by tailoring the structure and content of information to meet individual needs and expectations — to be as productive as possible.

How do you think this might change the world?

Machine learning is already shaping our lives in respect of how we travel, eat, shop, search, share and shelter. It has the potential to contribute to a reduction in the world’s carbon footprint by matching the greenest energy outputs with more accurately predicted energy consumption levels.

Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about these hyper-personalised ML results that people should think more deeply about?

Left unchecked, the potential for misuse of personalized ML outputs, for example relating to payment profiles, online interactions and health status, is significant. One potential drawback is if governments — who make the laws that govern society — begin to think and act like the corporations who create these advanced, increasingly ubiquitous technologies.

So, the brilliance of the creative endeavors of technology companies must be balanced by the wisdom of conservatism in governments, to maintain responsible social equilibrium through appropriate lawmaking.

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

Throughout the 2010s, the team I led successfully scaled a global business, mostly as ‘intrapreneurs’. Throughout that journey, the joy of working with and learning from industry leaders was highly motivating as we experimented and collaborated to solve some challenging human-centered problems in search, advertising, maps, speech, and so on. It also became clear to me that a significant number of next-generation enterprises wanted to or were preparing to embark on the journey to become data-centric, but were missing key guidance and insights around operationalizing machine learning and AI deployments at a global scale. At the same time, our vision around the future of data and its place at the heart of technological shift towards an AI-driven future was not being fully grasped by the C-suite.

With that, we decided to start a company fully focused on delivering sustainable value to enterprises taking a data-centric, cloud-first approach to building and deploying ML and AI in their online products and services.

We gathered a team and together we went to work on building the company, born in Ireland with global talents, committed to creating the future we had envisioned: to place human insight at the heart of machine learning and help brands deliver online experiences to meet the needs and expectations of their individual customers anywhere in the world.

What do you need to expand this method of Machine learning to widespread adoption?

• Evangelise the future value of data-centric AI. Andrew Ng does this very well.
• Educate decision-makers on the value potential of their data and how to unlock it for individual benefit at global scale
• Showcase the exponential returns that result from more persistent engagement with (machine learning-enabled) personalised digital products and services.
• Show how it’s possible to do this in a data privacy compliant way by sourcing and retaining the ideal expert people to evaluate machine learning outputs, to identify and address bias and errors in ML training data on an ongoing basis.

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

We are embarking on the journey to publicize the idea, to follow in the footsteps of the early adopters who have seen and experienced the significant benefits and potential for good that ML can bring. Featuring in Authority magazine helps!

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?

There are two:

• The first is my oldest friend and eminent psychiatrist Dr. Martin Lawlor with whom I shared a decades-long friendship before his untimely passing. ‘Write everything down, carefully!’ he used to say of any significant event or encounter in business, ‘and you’ll always be attuned to who and what’s really changed, including yourself.’
• The second someone is my co-founder Maeve Bleahene for her unlimited resourcefulness and belief in the possible — this was the foundation of much of our past success and today it has resulted in us building the most incredible team and global infrastructure at Peroptyx.

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

We used our success to develop a global network of tens of thousands of remote working locals in over 4,500 villages, towns and cities around the world. We put significant effort into their education and upskilling to ensure they could do their best work, and be paid for it.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each)

1. The necessity of balance in thought and action, the practice required to achieve it and the benefits of taking the time to do it well.

Learning how to bring myself back to ‘the present’ is the single most useful self-management / self-preservation technique I wish I had known about sooner. It helped me deal with many challenging situations in work and life.

2. The only long-term growth is the growth in what you don’t know. Always be learning!

Pursuing a doctorate was one of the most rewarding academic experiences of my life and while it remains incomplete (circumstances got in the way!), it reminds me to keep learning, to prepare for the eventual success that learning will bring.

3. Failure is never fatal, success is never final.

Taking the long view, despite the near-term pressures, always works for the best,

4. Build a team of people who can do anything better than you.

5. Love thy customer and if you can’t love your customer, love your customer’s problem so much that you’ll stop at nothing to solve it.

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

To build a global movement of local people representing every sector of society — with the authority to evaluate and improve AI systems that influence our life choices and outcomes.

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

My favourite life lesson quote is: “If you tell, they will forget. If you show, they will remember. if you involve, they will understand.”

The relevance of the quote came home to me as a 28 year old, newly promoted General Manager. Early in my career as an engineer, telling stories and showing how something worked (or didn’t) was generally sufficient to make progress. As a general manager with responsibility for a team of diverse talents, effectively orchestrating them proved much more difficult. Thanks to the wisdom and guidance of my mentors at the time, I developed a deeper understanding and appreciation of the importance of involving everyone in the journey.

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

Peroptyx is a technology company that helps medium to large businesses outperform their competitors by placing data with insight at the heart of the local user experience — on every device, in every location.

Our team has solved global data quality and model evaluation challenges for the major internet platforms and search engines over the past 15 years. We are bringing this unique expertise and insight to the next generation of global unicorns,

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

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

Rising Through Resilience: Sue Monhait of The Ribbon Print Company On The Five Things You Can Do To Become More Resilient

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Recognize your achievements. If you’re anything like me, once you’ve completed a project, you’re off to the next one. I think that’s a quality of entrepreneurs. We’re always onto something more, the next thing. I’m still working on this. By nature, I’m a creator so that’s where I’m the most comfortable. When I produced my Inspired! Daily Planner and completed the launch to promote it, I was onto something else. My right hand everything, Lauri, has to continue reminding me to let people know about all the resources available to them. I know they’re there, I just forget that not everyone does and I need to tell people about them.

In this interview series, we are exploring the subject of resilience among successful business leaders. Resilience is one characteristic that many successful leaders share in common, and in many cases it is the most important trait necessary to survive and thrive in today’s complex market.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Sue Monhait.

Sue Monhait is a business owner, podcast host, speaker, coach and best-selling author for the community she’s lovingly named, “Gifters-Bakers-Crafters-Makers” — people who create beautiful and/or delicious products that they want to share with the world.

Sue owns two businesses serving this audience. The Ribbon Print Company offers custom ribbon printing systems creating the ability for businesses to produce on-site personalization and branding of products. Gift Biz Unwrapped provides free and paid business development and growth direction through a weekly podcast and other virtual courses including her signature program, Makers MBA.

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?

I was fortunate to experience a corporate career in sales, marketing and management that I loved. There I had the chance to learn, stretch myself to new heights, and was acknowledged and rewarded for my achievements. Was every day fulfilling? Of course not. But the good outweighed the bad and it’s where I gained the insight and knowledge I apply to my businesses today.

I’ve started three of my own businesses, two exist today. One is a product-based business, The Ribbon Print Company, where we provide turnkey systems giving other companies the ability to customize ribbon on site adding text, logos and graphics to just one ribbon or thousands. This service has been a solid income producer for our customers. I’ve been told many times it saved their businesses both back in 2008 and again in 2020.

It was through The Ribbon Print Company that I identified the need for training and coaching on how to start and grow a business. I heard over and over again at trade shows about the uncertainty and fear women have around this. The passion is there, but the knowledge and confidence is missing. That’s something I can provide through my vast learnings from my corporate days and validated by starting my own profitable businesses.

This started a new mission to help these women. I began with my podcast, Gift Biz Unwrapped, which has now expanded into other ways to support the fabulous community of handmade product makers.

Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

I have many great stories but one in particular comes to mind based on the topic of resilience we’re discussing today. This was back when McDonald’s was rolling out salads in their stores nationwide. I was in charge of the program from the marketing end within my company. It was our direct marketing (mail) program in competition with the large newspapers in every market across the country. Given McDonalds also had corporate and franchise stores, and each group had decision power, the project was huge. And exciting!

As you can imagine, it also received major attention within my company. Leading the project is something that can make or break a career. In one of our first meetings with McDonalds Corporate, my manager decided he was going to be the one to present our program. Usually, it would be me. It was still very much the “good ole boy” club back then and I knew it. I had come out of radio and television where it was even worse.

I’m still not sure who initiated this behind the scenes switch, but five minutes before we were to start, I was told I would be doing the presentation instead. Totally set up to fail. I had no time to prepare and hadn’t even seen the slides. Inside I freaked out. I excused myself and rushed to the ladies room. In the stall after a momentary breakdown, I paced, took some deep breathes and decided I’d do the best I could. I knew my stuff and here was my chance to perform. There was no more time to think — it was show time.

Giving you all the details would take much too long but I will tell you that I felt let down and betrayed by my own company and the client. It was clear that having a young woman be the star didn’t sit well. The presentation went only okay. But the results of the entire project were fabulous. We were chosen for the program for half the country and my team rallied and performed.

What did I learn from this? That the best person and the one I know for sure I can count on is myself. And I’m capable of greater things than I realize when pushed. To be clear, I went on to have many great (and not so great) managers but I always knew to be ready for the unexpected. That was freeing and built up my confidence too.

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

Standing out in your industry is a valuable strategic move that paves the way for everything else. I teach people how to do this through a technique called a Unique Special Power. It’s what you point out about your brand that helps people remember you and assists them in referring you to others too.

The Ribbon Print Company’s Unique Special Power is that we are the only ones in the industry worldwide who ever used the ability to custom print on ribbon to grow a business. Everyone else has hardware expertise but not the business development or marketing experience. This allows us to enhance the value of our systems by providing business direction on pricing and selling the service not just the mechanics of running the printer. That extends to our training programs and software development too.

These stand out qualities can exist as product features such as Brighton’s heart that is integrated into the majority of their products or Tiek’s signature teal shoe soles.

A Unique Special Power can go beyond product features too. As a small business owner, deepening the relationship with your customers by sharing about you personally goes a long way. I have a friend who always (and I mean always) wears leopard. If I think of Claudia, my mind immediately envisions a leopard print. My mom was known for her love of red and chocolate. As long as those two things were in her life, all was right with the world.

My personal Unique Special powers are yellow and snow. Not connected of course but here’s how this works. When a blizzard is on the way to Chicago, I get phone calls, messages and emails from all over the world — not kidding! The general message is they’re thinking of me and know I must be so happy and excited. They’re right!

How does this relate to business? When you’ve set a trigger that associates you with something that naturally comes up in your customers’ lives, they think of you. When they think of you, they also naturally think of your business. Maybe they’re in the market at that exact time for a gift or to replenish their supply of candles … or whatever other service or product you provide.

The great thing about this strategy is you prompt sales without even selling. It’s the visibility and the mind space you’ve occupied that triggers the thought of you and creates an action. Sometimes this extends even further with your customer talking to someone else about you.

“Of my gosh, I know this crazy girl in Chicago who loves huge snowstorms. I bet she’s doing a happy dance right now. She has a really good podcast for handmade product makers too. It’s called Gift Biz Unwrapped. You should listen since I know you’re thinking of selling your jewelry.”

See how this works? Standing out in this way is subtle yet powerful! It’s how you show up as not just another cupcake shop or handmade soap maker.

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 had several mentors in my life and my husband, Michael is one of them. He’s also my biggest supporter and fan. But to answer this question, I’m going to point to my parents. Maybe it’s because I’m adopted so they felt the need to give me added assurance. But I grew up believing in myself and that I could do anything I wanted. That doesn’t mean I didn’t hit rough patches, I definitely did. But I never felt I wasn’t worthy or lacking in any way.

We’ve all heard stories about how one sentence from an elementary school teacher, positive or negative, set the stage for how a young child lives out his life. Word are impactful. We can all be a source of inspiration, motivation and kindness to another person that have positive ripples we’ll never even know about. I’m grateful that I experienced this early on and try to pay it forward every chance I get.

Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. We would like to explore and flesh out the trait of resilience. How would you define resilience? What do you believe are the characteristics or traits of resilient people?

The first and most important trait of a resilient person is self-belief, having confidence and knowledge that you are worthy and deserving of whatever it is you’re trying to achieve. I think this is what’s missing for so many who turn to violence and drugs. They’re lashing out at a world they think doesn’t see their value and importance as a person.

We rely on each other in this world and most times, self-belief needs to be reflected back by reinforcement from others for us to instill it in ourselves. I just talked about how my parents formed the base for me. But it could be found through friends, work associates, teachers or club associations. Self-belief lays the groundwork for positive action.

Then when encountering a time when resilience needs to be called upon, there are three additional traits of importance.

• Resourcefulness — the ability to find alternative solutions towards the same goal when one way doesn’t work out.
• Determination — the feeling deep inside that what you’re pursuing will bring results important enough to fight for. Not physically but with a sacrifice of personal time, focus and energy.
• Commitment — being so dedicated that walking away isn’t an option.

Not every situation calls for someone to be resilient. There are times to close the book and set your sights on something else. But these are the traits to call upon when the project is important enough for complete follow through.

When you think of resilience, which person comes to mind? Can you explain why you chose that person?

Here I’d like to honor the thousands of American families who are part of our military efforts. I watch with utmost respect the families who send their loved ones off to serve, those who are wounded physically and mentally who come home to a new life, and again the families who have to adjust to a new reality.

I’m not touched by this as dramatically as others. My dad would never talk about his time on a submarine in Japan. Nor would my uncle whose plane was shot down and he served out the rest of WWII as a POW. But I could sense the toll it took.

To me, these men and women represent the model of resiliency. What choice is there? The bravery and courage. Nothing I encounter in my businesses comes close to that. It helps me put everything in perspective.

Has there ever been a time that someone told you something was impossible, but you did it anyway? Can you share the story with us?

The first business I formed was a gift basket company called Basket Thyme. It was the perfect business to start because it allowed me to still be at home with the kids yet get back into a profession role. When I first presented my plan to some of my friends, I saw the underlying reaction. Although they didn’t say it verbally, their eyes said, “Oh how cute. What a fun little business to play around with.” It was infuriating and insulting.

That “cute” little business grew from my home into a 2,000 sq ft production facility with employees and multi-six figure sales within three years. At that point I decided to fold the business because I saw an even bigger opportunity with The Ribbon Print Company.

Did you have a time in your life where you had one of your greatest setbacks, but you bounced back from it stronger than ever? Can you share that story with us?

I’m going to take this question in a different direction because I’ve struggled with this so much and have finally found resolution. I know others suffer as well. And I use the word “suffer” intentionally.

What I’m referring to is the emotional impact that social media can have on our self-esteem and, not to be dramatic, life overall. For me it was focusing on follower counts on social media, or watching what others are doing and feeling like I don’t measure up. If I’m being really honest, I also discount my years of experience and have felt intimidated by the fact that I’m getting older.

I know logically that social media followers don’t equate, in all cases, to financial success. I also know that filters affect how someone looks and most people post only the best of their lives — the highlight reels. But it can play games with my mind and where I fit (or don’t fit) in.

I’ve finally resolved this for myself and maybe my solution can help you too. Want to know how? By focusing only on my community and the value I provide to them. They are so generous and reinforcing in their accolades for both my businesses. This comes from comments on social, emails and notes of thanks, conversations in person at trade shows and conferences, in phone calls and in public customer reviews.

There is no reason to look for outside, sometimes fake, reinforcements of my business value when those I’m actually serving do that better than anyone else. Once I released myself from “comparisonitis” my world became much brighter.

Try it. This adjustment in thinking may be my greatest gift to you.

Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resiliency? Can you share a story?

Thinking back to my teen years, I zero in on a specific heartbreaking experience that really knocked me down. One of my favorite athletic activities was an acrobatic class I took at the local park district. This lead me into cheerleading in fifth grade. Through cheerleading I made a core group of close friends and it was my life.

Then came the morning after seventh grade tryouts. My brother drove me to school early, as usual I stopped at my locker, met up with my friends and we made my way to where the lists were going to posted. Excitedly we waited to see who else would be joining us on the squad. The activities director opened the door with lists in hand. She pinned them to the corkboard and wait … my name wasn’t there!

This must be some mistake. But no, it wasn’t. I didn’t make the team. How could that be? I was one of the team members who did all the hardest tricks. My friends couldn’t believe it either. It didn’t make sense. But sure enough, I missed the list by one spot.

The adage, “life isn’t always fair” hit me hard. I was devastated. All my friends would be involved in an activity I loved — without me. Would we still be friends? I felt all alone, rejected and like a loser. It didn’t help that everyone came up to me saying they couldn’t believe it.

My mom’s sympathy, albeit meant as support, was even harder to bare. Of course, she wanted me to be happy and not see me suffer. I had to face it, every day that year, I wasn’t a cheerleader. Every Friday when they had their uniforms on. Every game when I sat in the bleachers rooting on our team when I yearned to be on the field doing jumps the Spartan anthem cheer.

Over time I had no choice but to accept my fate but there was never a question of whether I’d try out again. Did I have my fears of further rejection — sure did! I trained extra hard and practiced the tryout routine way more than necessary. The next year I made the team. The following years too, all the way through high school, college and even to the professional ranking of being a Chicago Bears cheerleader.

Resilience is like a muscle that can be strengthened. In your opinion, what are 5 steps that someone can take to become more resilient? Please share a story or an example for each.

I completely agree that resilience is a muscle that can get stronger from use. Each time we need to employ resilience we prove something to ourselves and add another layer of evidence that we can accomplish and overcome. Here’s what helps me strengthen my resilience.

1. Define the deeper “why” behind a challenging endeavor. Going beyond the specific action and being clear on its purpose motivates me to follow through. This is true of podcasting. It takes a lot of time, energy and resources to stay consistent and produce a quality show. Hearing that it helps people and that they rely on the information I put out reminds me of my “why” and keeps me going into soon to be my eighth year for Gift Biz Unwrapped.
2. Create an action plan as the starting point. Do you have a friend who has the vision of writing a book, getting healthy by eating better or opening a business? You hear about it over and over again but nothing ever happens? Having an idea is one thing. Doing something about it is something else entirely. The key to taking action is making a specific plan. Step one, decide on the topic of the book (which helps define the “why”). Step two, research where to find out the specifics on book publishing. Even defining and taking these first two steps will lead to the next ones. The point here is that to accomplish anything, you have to get started by taking action.
3. Obstacles will arise. They are meant to be tackled — not shut you down. There’s more than one way to get to your goal. If one path doesn’t work, don’t give up, find another road. Currently many of us who use Facebook ads are seeing dismal results in what used to be a high performing lead generator. Thanks Apple iOS 14. Instead of complaining about it (anymore) I’m finding alternative methods to gain visibility and leads. I just got back from a conference where I shared access to one of my lead generators at the end of my talk. It resulted in more leads for the week than my FB ads did even in the best of times. I have other ideas of things to test to switch it up too. There was life before Facebook. The key is to find new solutions to get to the same end result.
4. Premeditated psychological boosts. Celebrating the small wins along the way does a couple of things. It highlights your progress with positive rewards, and it motivates you to keep going to get to the next milestone. When I was writing my book, I would allow myself special bonuses at certain points. When the outline was complete, I treated myself to a pedicure. As I neared the end of writing, I decided to finish all the content by dedicating a day at a quaint coffee shop in Seaport Village in San Diego. That environment in and of itself was a special treat. When I was done with the final edit, I bought an outfit from my favorite store. And when the book arrived in my hands, my husband and I went to a fancy restaurant to celebrate. I had all this figured out in advance so I could anticipate being at the next step and enjoying my reward. Another way to do this is to have an ego-booster center. This could be a google folder for emails, a corkboard for thank you notes, whatever fits your situation. When uplifting messages or reviews come in, add them to your dedicated location. Then when you need a lift, go there and see how what you do benefits others. It will right your thinking and help you through the slumps.
5. Recognize your achievements. If you’re anything like me, once you’ve completed a project, you’re off to the next one. I think that’s a quality of entrepreneurs. We’re always onto something more, the next thing. I’m still working on this. By nature, I’m a creator so that’s where I’m the most comfortable. When I produced my Inspired! Daily Planner and completed the launch to promote it, I was onto something else. My right hand everything, Lauri, has to continue reminding me to let people know about all the resources available to them. I know they’re there, I just forget that not everyone does and I need to tell people about them.

For you it might be your first sale, participating in a craft show for the first time, or getting publicity in the local newspaper. It could be finally getting the design right on your new line of specialty soaps, or having the nerve to push that “live” button on Instagram and showing up face-to-face with your followers. There are many achievements large and small that we need to point out to ourselves. We are the only ones who truly know how difficult they were to do. Be proud!

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. 🙂

Today with Gift Biz Unwrapped, I focus on supporting handmade product makers. I recently created a nationally recognized holiday called “Bakers Crafters Makers Day”. Its focus is to highlight these handmade creators and the value their skills provide. Making a product comes from the soul. It involves reflection, passion and skill. The final result provides happiness for both the creator and its recipient — something our world needs and continually seeks.

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

Over the last couple of years, I started listening and reading the works of Gabby Bernstein. I’m a Law of Attraction believer and have seen it play out many times in my life. I’m fascinated by the idea that our thoughts and the energy we put out into the universe comes back to us. That power of returning to us what we project is worth investigating.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Come join me over on Facebook or Instagram at Gift Biz Unwrapped. If you’re a gifter-baker-crafter-maker looking for support and learning with a group of other creators, join us in my private Facebook Group, Gift Biz Breeze.

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

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Rising Through Resilience: Sue Monhait of The Ribbon Print Company On The Five Things You Can Do To… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Follow in the lead of your employees. Make sure to hire people you trust and lead from behind. This allows for employees to feel included, valued and in charge of their work outcomes. Not only will this motivate and empower employees to contribute to the vision of the company, but it will also develop them to become more confident in and skilled at their respective work of focus.

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

Dr. Ebbie Parsons, III, is the Founder and Managing Partner of Yardstick Management. He is a seasoned business executive with a passion for intentional impact, he has been applauded for his strategic thinking, engaging leadership, and results-oriented mindset throughout his successful career. He launched Yardstick Management with a vision to become a leader in transforming and impacting the global landscape of the management consulting industry.

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 raised with an entrepreneurial spirit at a young age, often seeing my father develop and grow his ideas into businesses with little to no resources. I observed him use his network to bring his visions to life, and I’ve always known I wanted to do the same, but I wasn’t yet sure how I would make my mark and continue a legacy of entrepreneurship that my father instilled within me. My wife, Ayana, and my mother were actually the inspiration behind Yardstick Management. They noticed my frustration with minority students being underserved in education while I was working in that sector, and they encouraged me to “do something about it!” Without a thought, I used the skills I examined from my dad for years to build Yardstick Management from the ground up, with the goal of leveraging my business and education expertise to help charter schools and universities better serve their students in an inclusive and equitable way. Since then, Yardstick has only grown, now serving the largest, most recognizable organizations in the world in the field of management, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and talent consulting. I truly believe that the organizations we serve can do well while doing good at the same time, and my team is committed to helping them do that by giving them the tools and the roadmap to get there.

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 that you took out of that story?

During the early days of starting Yardstick, I was introduced to someone by the name of an extremely influential French-Algerian businessman and we set a breakfast meeting. Over the course of our conversation at a hotel in NYC, he inquired about my assistance to get his film in front of diverse audiences in the west. He had all the receipts showcasing his success as well as shared his connections with global influential leaders, but I was still skeptical to pursue business with him considering the massive deal we were making and the possibility that this may not be a realistic opportunity. Despite my skepticism, I decided to take a leap of faith to work with him. Through the course of my engagement with him, I’ve learned that while some things may seem unrealistic, I should always take everybody and every opportunity seriously with an open-mind. Within a couple of hours of that breakfast with him, I had secured the deal and a significant amount of money was transfered into my bank account. Because of this experience, I truly live by the “believe and you shall receive” mindset!

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

One of my favorite quotes that continues to inspire me on a daily basis is “go hard or go home,” from my favorite rapper, E-40. When I’m stuck, unsure of what to do next, or trying to work through the difficulties of being an entrepreneur and CEO, I remind myself of this saying and fight through adversity with a positive, determined attitude. I am an all-in type of person, so I don’t believe in giving up without first trying my hardest to deliver my best work.

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?

Following my mother, sister and wife, I am most grateful to Ronni Ephraim who believed in me and my company during our very early days. At the time, she was the Chief Academic Officer at 2U and gave Yardstick Management a huge opportunity to play a key role in the growth of their organization by leading and developing critical successful partnerships. This helped build momentum and credibility for the company, opening doors to many more future opportunities. I am forever indebted to Ronni for entrusting Yardstick with this responsibility and chance to prove ourselves and build our reputation in the industry.

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

Our team is intentionally hand-plucked to fit the needs of the clients we serve. While we are small, we are rich in diversity, both in background and experiences. After working for years with several midsize to large corporations, government agencies, and nonprofits, I know that most companies don’t actively embed DEI in their practices. That’s why we purposefully lead by example and practice what we teach. I want our organization to be the new normal, and not to be seen as breaking the status quo because we dare to be different. I know our approach is valued because companies like LinkedIn, the largest professional networking platform, and Facebook, the largest social media network, reached out to us to tap into our network of underrepresented minorities. We are truly mighty in our thought-leadership because we have always been deliberate and intentional about our work and the team players we choose to be part of Yardstick Management.

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

We have been working with Netflix through several engagements in the past few years. Most recently we are supporting them to further diversify their leadership team which has in return contributed tremendously to a shift in their content creation now produced through a DEI lens and thus impacting their global audiences and creating a more inclusive space for both creatives and consumers across the world.

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

We are honored by the constant reminder that our organization exists solely to level the playing field for marginalized people across global organizations impacting thousands of people. Because of this continued success, we are ecstatic to roll out a new initiative soon in the form of an in-person institute where senior leaders and executives can learn from our in-house team of world-class consultants, and additionally, thought-leaders from our own personal network. This is a revolutionary step forward for our business and for St. Simons Island, in Georgia, where we plan to host the institute.

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.

1. Business has the transformative power to create and contribute to a more open, diverse and inclusive society. Fundamentally, we can only achieve this by initiating change from within organizations. The prioritization of increased diversity gives organizations access to a larger customer base. We’ve helped Netflix place several leaders of marginalized backgrounds at the executive level which, in-turn, disrupts and innovates the content currently being shared on their platform and opens them up to becoming marketable to many audiences.
2. Another example of diversity aiding in a company’s bottom line is enabling them to have a larger market share. Our client, Klaviyo, witnessed a tremendous increase in revenue by diversifying at the leadership level and keeping DEI as a company goal, thus growing their reach in the global marketplace.
3. Employee retention is a third example of how diversity can impact the company’s long term goals. Our client, Davita, not only focused on DEI but positioned itself to concentrate on belonging which significantly increased their retention of employees at their company.
4. Companies also benefit from equitable compensation as an outcome of focusing on diversity when it comes from the top to ensure employees are paid fairly. We recently were able to support this intentional effort with our client, Group Nine, as we conducted their pay equity analysis identifying gaps and areas of improvement.
5. Lastly, companies can gain from making better financial decisions as a result of focusing on diversity. Our client Frazier healthcare, a leading healthcare private equity firm, is now considering diversity and inclusion as a major business goal embedding it into their strategy for their portfolio companies to help level the playing field for marginalized communities.

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

Follow in the lead of your employees. Make sure to hire people you trust and lead from behind. This allows for employees to feel included, valued and in charge of their work outcomes. Not only will this motivate and empower employees to contribute to the vision of the company, but it will also develop them to become more confident in and skilled at their respective work of focus.

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

I would advise business leaders to take the time and make sure every employee is grounded in the company values, which means those must be determined collectively. Leaders should define the non-negotiables and set clear expectations and awareness of them amongst employees, but in return, they must also have a lot of flexibility everywhere else to allow employees the space to do their work creatively and effectively as they feel most comfortable.

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?

If I can get the opportunity to spend some time with Greta Thunberg, 18-year-old Swedish Environmental Activist, I would ask how I can help bring her incredible vision to fruition. I truly admire Greta for her courageousness and bravery and I would love to speak with her about ways I can contribute to making the world a better, safer and more environmentally friendly place for my kids to grow. The future is for Greta and all the young visionary leaders who live with a passion to transform the world and impact lives.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

To learn more about the work we do, I would strongly encourage readers to subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on our social media pages. We are Yardstick Management on both LinkedIn and Facebook, and TeamYardstick on Twitter and Youtube. Our website is also constantly adding more additions to capture our growth, so check out yardstickmanagement.com and stay-tuned for some new updates we are launching this Fall!

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

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Dr Ebbie Parsons of Yardstick Management: How Diversity Can Increase a Company’s Bottom Line was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Heroes of The Homeless Crisis: How Mark Horvath of Invisible People is Helping To Support Some Of The Most Vulnerable People In Our Communities

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Homeless services treat the symptom, not the cause. We must address the affordable housing crisis, domestic violence, the foster care system, and more. We need housing and healthcare as human rights.

As a part of my series about “Heroes Of The Homeless Crisis” I had the pleasure of interviewing Mark Horvath.

Mark Horvath developed Invisible People to give a face and voice to homelessness, something he knows all too well since he once lived among them. He regularly works on cause campaigns with major brands like Hanes, Ford, Pepsi, General Motors, and Ritz Crackers, and has consulted for the City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, Los Angeles Police Department, Utah, the City of San Francisco, USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, and more. In addition, Mark has served as a guest lecturer at educational institutions across the globe including Geneva Forum on Social Change, UCLA, USC, NYU, and Syracuse University. In 2018, The Nonprofit Times included Mark in their 2018 Power & Influence Top 50 nonprofit executives.

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 including me! Years ago, I had a great job in the television industry, making sure the world got “Wheel of Fortune,” “Jeopardy,” and other syndicated shows. Still, I ended up homeless on Hollywood Boulevard. With help, I rebuilt my life into a three-bedroom house, a 720 credit score, and a cushy marketing job. Then in 2008, when the economy crashed, I lost everything except my sobriety. At the time, I was close to crashing into homelessness again. It was a really dark time. With $45, a dinky laptop that could not edit video, and a $200 camcorder I bought before getting laid off, I started to empower homeless people to share their own stories. Today, Invisible People reaches millions of people every month through storytelling, news, and advocacy.

Is there a particular story or incident that inspired you to get involved in your work helping people who are homeless?

While I wasn’t a do-gooder growing up, I have always cared about people. That is not new. I also knew after experiencing homelessness myself how invisible homeless people are to the public and even service providers. At the start of the ’08 crash, before anyone was saying the R-word, I kept getting laid off as marketing budgets got slashed. One of my bosses had a coffee table book of photos of homeless people in his office. As I looked through the book, I thought to myself, “I could do this with video.” Soon after, my boss laid me off, and that’s how Invisible People started.

They say necessity breeds innovation. Well, when I lost my house to foreclosure, I also lost my video editing workstation. All I had was an old laptop that would not cut video. I am a television producer by trade, so for me, video has to have broll and graphics. I almost didn’t start Invisible People because I could not edit the videos. I thought, no one will watch this anyway, so I went out and interviewed a homeless person raw and unedited. That was the magic — authenticity has replaced production value. Last year, our YouTube channel had 137 million views, and we are soon to reach one million subscribers.

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?

Homelessness has been a crisis for many years, and not just in major cities (though it may seem that way in proportion). In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan cut $15 billion of affordable housing funding that has never been replaced. Chronic homelessness didn’t even exist before 1982, and the “homeless industry” of large nonprofits and mega-shelters grew almost overnight. Over the past five years, we have seen housing prices skyrocket, while the federal minimum wage hasn’t increased in 12 years. At the moment, we have over six-million households at risk for homelessness when the eviction moratorium lifts. As for the increased visibility of homelessness, the CDC recommended that homeless people keep their tents up in response to COVID-19. This changed the previous criminalization of homeless people disassembling what little shelter they had each day. The tents up, coupled with the ongoing financial crisis, has made homelessness more apparent, but the numbers were increasing for decades.

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?

Homelessness is as complicated as people. We just released our first scripted film, Mobile, that illustrates how life can snowball into homelessness. The film is about Lydia who lost her job and was evicted. She ended up living in her car and driving for rideshare to make a small income. And she is not alone: “mobile homelessness,” also called vehicle residency, has increased 200%. The typical progression is someone who loses their job and tries to couch surf for a while, but ends up living in their car. Fortunately for Lydia, she found a safe parking program that allowed her to park her car to sleep safely at night. If she had been without a car, she could have ended up in the shelter system or sleeping on the street.

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?

Which city are they referring to? Cities with less expensive housing have fewer job opportunities. It’s also not realistic for a homeless person with no income to relocate. And once they theoretically move, they are no longer connected to a support system. Your question is important because we need to fix the affordable housing crisis if we are ever going to solve homelessness.

If someone passes a homeless person on the street, what is the best way to help them?

The best way to help homeless people is advocating for more affordable housing. If you see a homeless person on the street, and feel safe approaching them, I recommend giving them a clean pair of socks. There is also nothing wrong with giving them money if you are moved to and, frankly, there are certain things only money can buy. One example: a homeless friend was sitting outside of a CVS with a cardboard sign asking for a toothbrush. Multiple people generously brought him food, placing it at his feet for all to see, but no one gave him the money for a much-needed toothbrush.

What is the best way to respond if a homeless person asks for money for rent or gas?

If a homeless person asks for money, and you are moved to give, there is nothing wrong with that. It’s also important to consider how homeless people are treated everyday: people ignore them, taunt them, threaten them, and even spit on them. Oftentimes, the best gift you can give is your attention and a warm smile.

Can you describe to our readers how your work is making an impact battling this crisis?

No other campaign connects the public to homelessness in such a positive way that builds empathy and inspires individuals and organizations to make an impact. There are individual stories of people being housed by our work, and housing programs and feeding programs have started, but more importantly, millions of people have been educated on the true realities of homelessness and poverty. While hard to measure, the impact from that is vital for stakeholders to influence policy change to solve homelessness.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the homeless crisis, and the homeless community? Also how has it affected your ability to help people?

No one was prepared for this past year. At the beginning of the pandemic, advocates were concerned about COVID spreading rampantly in the community. In congregate shelters, often with 100 cots in a single room, COVID quickly became a crisis. Shelters suck! However, for the homeless population on the streets, there were generally fewer COVID infection rates than expected because homeless people live outside and generally do not travel interacting with others.
The pandemic created a significant problem for homeless people. The majority of homeless people rely on change from kind strangers on the street for their survival, but due to many people quarantining at home, foot traffic was significantly reduced. General access to food, water, and restrooms was greatly reduced or all-together eliminated. I know of one story of a homeless individual in Las Vegas who died of dehydration. There was also an understandable decrease in volunteerism.

Can you share something about your work that makes you most proud? Is there a particular story or incident that you found most uplifting?

As I travelled to different cities and built a social media presence, lots of people affected with homlessness started tweeting me. This inspired me to start an online peer support group we dubbed “online case management,” and the results have been terrific. Homeless people share meals and resources with each other, and just help each other get through the day.

Without sharing real names, can you share a story with our readers about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your work?

I’ll share one heartfelt story of a woman who posted in the forum. I could tell just from reading the post that she was scared — it was probably her first night homeless — and she shared that she had a medical disability. I tweeted a “Hail Mary” asking for help in the area and hoped the right person would read it. The director of street medicine (doctors who travel and give medical attention to homeless people) in the town asked me to connect them. As it turns out, the homeless woman was parked two blocks away from the doctor and was able to receive immediate care.

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?

Most people blame homelessness on the homeless person. They believe they are lazy or addicted to drugs, that they want to be homeless, or that they made bad choices. If homelessness was a punishment for bad choices, we would all be homeless. The truth is, the leading cause of homelessness is the lack of affordable housing. Then, there is lack of a living wage, racism, a broken foster care and criminal justice system, domestic violence, and other circumstances beyond a person’s control. Addiction and mental health are serious issues, but most addicts live in houses and will never end up homeless. Same with mental illness. In fact, 1.4 million children under 16 years old experience homelessness every year. That’s the homelessness you don’t see, but need to see.

The best things that individuals can do:

1. Educate yourself.
2. Get politically active.
3. Support your local nonprofit. Invisible People is the only nonprofit that will encourage you to support your local nonprofit!

In a world filled with misinformation and propaganda, Invisible People works to make the truth louder.

If you had the power to influence legislation, which three laws would you like to see introduced that might help you in your work?

Homeless services treat the symptom, not the cause. We must address the affordable housing crisis, domestic violence, the foster care system, and more. We need housing and healthcare as human rights.

I know that this is not easy work. What keeps you going?

I genuinely love homeless people. I have traveled to over 300 cities connecting to thousands of homeless people. The work we do is needed, and no other organization is educating the public at a national level like we are. Invisible People now produces daily journalism on Apple News and Google News, mini documentaries, and now scripted films like Mobile. We’ll always share the first-person storytelling we are known for.

I’ll be vulnerable with you: I am 60 years old and lost everything in the 2008 crash. There is a very real possibility that I will end up homeless again, and I’m not alone. Boomers are hitting 65 at 10,000 people a day. Senior populations will double in the next five years, and like me, many lost their savings in the recession. Maybe I am trying to solve homelessness so I don’t end up back on the streets.

Do you have hope that one day this great social challenge can be solved completely?

We know how to end homelessness and have known for a long time, but I don’t see this happening in my lifetime due to the lack of political motivation (despite the fact that housing homeless people saves lives and taxpayer money). However, I am tremendously energized by millennials and Gen Z. Their advocacy, empathy, and volunteerism is on fire. Solving homelessness is the third-most important cause to young people.

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. 🙂

David Letterman — no explanation needed! But in the real world, I wish everyone would get vaccinated, so we can end this pandemic. One of my favorite things to do is take homeless people to a fancy restaurant, but because of COVID, I have not been able to do this for over a year. David Letterman is cool and all, but taking my homeless friends to lunch once this pandemic ends cannot happen soon enough. Now of course, Mr. Letterman is welcome to join us.

How can our readers follow you online?

Check out our YouTube channel, where it all began! You can also see our website for information on how to get involved.

This was very meaningful, thank you so much!

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Heroes of The Homeless Crisis: How Mark Horvath of Invisible People is Helping To Support Some Of… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Brand Makeovers: George Gill of ApeSonic On The 5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

The most important thing is figuring out what you stand for, what the core of your brand is, what it means to you, and what it’s going to mean to your customers. If your product isn’t meaningful to you, you’re probably going to have a hard time convincing other people that it should mean something to them!

As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview George Gill.

ApeSonic is a small business that is connected to both nature and its roots. George Gill, the CMO of ApeSonic, strives to provide high-quality audio at an affordable price with great customer service all while contributing to the preservation of ape habitats. Their mantra at ApeSonic is to maintain their company’s core values, which is why they donate $1 for every purchase to conservation efforts targeted at ensuring wild, natural living spaces for primates.

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?

For me, it all started when I bought my first pair of expensive earbuds back in 2010. I had just started buying slightly pricier headphones — around $200 — for the first time ever, and I was convinced they would be so much nicer than the cheaper stuff I had been buying, but they sounded worse than the buds I already had! I was convinced that there had to be better stuff out there, so I started doing a bit of research on the internet, and I found a website called Head-Fi. That’s where I really got my first exposure to the world of upscale headphones, and it made me realize just how hard it is to find a durable, reliable pair of headphones that sounds good and isn’t overpriced.

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?

Well, my first real job in the industry was working for a company called Echobox. We crowdfunded what was, at the time of development, the first high-fidelity portable audio player with streaming capabilities. We were eventually beaten to market by a few larger brands, but the biggest lesson I learned was to under promise and over deliver. Electronics are difficult to design and build properly, and a touchscreen smart device is about as tough as it gets. We wound up trying to do so much that we ran into production delays, and even though we delivered everything we promised, the first round of players we made didn’t really meet our expectations, because we spent more time on design than quality control. I think that hurt our brand quite a bit, and it is a mistake I certainly won’t make again.

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?

You know, it sounds cheesy, but as soon as I started working on things that I’m passionate about, it felt like doors just started opening. When you focus on something that’s genuinely interesting to you, I think that just makes it so much easier to learn and grow and become better at what you do.

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

ApeSonic has an assortment of cool products in the pipeline. Right now, we’re crowdfunding the Mist, a pair of very ergonomic open backed earbuds. Our goal is to make it easier for people to enjoy music and live a healthy lifestyle, no matter where they are or what they are doing, so all our new products share the theme of personal wellness. The Mist let you enjoy music while staying in touch with your surroundings. They are very low profile and super comfortable, so they aren’t gaudy or very noticeable, and can easily be worn while you sleep. The Mist are really designed to become a seamless part of daily life. We are also in the process of developing earbuds that have a blood-oxygen sensor, so you can keep track of your own health and fitness.

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

Don’t take life too seriously! Brands should be fun, especially for consumer products, and personally I think that goes double for hardware and tangible products. People want to buy products that make them feel good, and the brand should reflect that. And if your brand is fun, you’ll have fun being a part of that brand and making content.

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?

Traditional advertising and product marketing is all about getting people to buy what you are selling — the product comes first, and then you figure out how to sell it to people. I think there’s a place for that industrial design/product marketing dyad — we need people out there pushing limits in design and finding ways to sell the things they can make. That’s how economies of scale become a reality, and that’s how you get to a place where you can try new things. But ultimately, if you are starting with what you can make, and figuring out where it fits in the market, and how to sell it, I don’t think your response will be as enthusiastic.

I think branding is a lot more subtle, subjective, and holistic, and it’s only becoming more important as technology proliferates and people have more choices. A brand is supposed to be something people can identify with and care about, and so it must be driven by values. Those values must inform everything you do, including the products you make and the content you put out into the world, or else your brand is just empty words. Brand marketing starts with people, and the technology must fit the human side of the brand. People can’t stand being pigeonholed, and that hits you twice if you’re selling something: you want to design something that’s easy to use, something that doesn’t force people to live their life a certain way to use it, and you also want your brand to be expressive enough to be interesting and appealing, without being so niche that you alienate people who might otherwise be interested.

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?

People want to buy things that say something about them, and they don’t want to give money to companies that don’t share their values. It’s really that simple!

If you don’t believe it — if you don’t have those priorities for yourself when you make purchases, and you can’t sense it intuitively — all you must do is look at the political and investing environment. ESG is becoming a huge priority, even for Fortune 500 companies. The most successful brands of our era — Apple, Tesla, Google — they all make ESG a big part of their messaging, and they are delivering on it, too. A 2020 Gartner survey showed that 85% of investors make ESG a priority in their decision-making process. Consumers want companies to do the right thing, and investors know it, because they know that if they don’t step up, voters are going to start forcing them to!

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

I think most people can come up with an idea for a product they like, and most companies that are selling products are selling stuff that people already want or need. If you’re making a product, and it does what it’s supposed to do, but you’re not seeing results, it’s probably time to start rethinking your brand.

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

Rebranding always costs money, and it takes time and deliberation. It’s the kind of thing you want to do either early on, before you’ve spent a lot of money putting your brand out there, or when you have the breathing room, in terms of capital and attention, to make a big change.

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.

I think most of the tips I would give come down to messaging and design.

The most important thing is figuring out what you stand for, what the core of your brand is, what it means to you, and what it’s going to mean to your customers. If your product isn’t meaningful to you, you’re probably going to have a hard time convincing other people that it should mean something to them!

So, start with your product. What is it supposed to do? How does it make someone’s life better or easier? Does it do that successfully? If not, where are you coming up short?

And that leads to the next question I ask: is your intent reflected in the design? If the product does what it’s supposed to do, but it’s clumsy, or too heavy, or too fragile, or not the right shape, that’s always going to hurt perception of your brand. There’s nothing more frustrating than buying something you wanted, and then finding out that it’s just a huge pain to use.

Functionality is always number one, but aesthetics is so important. Does your brand’s aesthetics match your values? What do your website, ads, and packaging say about your products and the brand?

And then, of course, does the design of your product match the brand you’re building? If your hero product doesn’t come in the colors that are on your website, you’re missing a major branding opportunity, especially if your product is something that’s large, visible, or wearable.

Last, but certainly not least, take a long, hard look at your messaging. Does your content reflect your brand’s aesthetics and values? Are you doing anything other than selling? If not, you should! If you are, does it reflect your brand?

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?

T-Mobile is probably the most impressive corporate comeback story of our generation. I was lucky enough to work for Magenta when John Legere took over, and it was incredible to watch from the inside: how he took a failing brand that had some fun elements but had kind of failed to really deliver on them, and turned it into this youthful, irreverent, progressive juggernaut that took the whole industry by storm. It’s really a testament to what a good executive with street smarts can do for a company. I think Leger proved to Wall Street once and for all that entertainment sells, and that you don’t have to be young to have fun.

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. 🙂

Oh wow, I don’t know about all that…but, if I could inspire a movement, I would try to get businesses and their customers to think more about material sustainability and repairability. Making products that are durable or easy to repair is tough sometimes, but it’s so important. Reducing waste should be a priority for every business, and it’s all well and good to buy solar panels or carbon credits, but the real change will come when companies start looking at their core business and products. It should really be obvious — people want to buy something that lasts. That’s good for your brand, too!

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

Stan Lee had a great bit when he did his TED Talk, about writing stories that he wanted to read — he said you can never really know how to please someone else, but people are essentially alike, so if you create something that you enjoy, odds are, there are a bunch of other people out there who will enjoy it, too! I can’t imagine any better advice for marketing or product design.

How can our readers follow you online?

ApeSonic is on all the major socials! Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter…we have a Discord server, too, if you want to come hangout with some fellow apes.

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

Thank you! It’s been a pleasure.

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Brand Makeovers: George Gill of ApeSonic On The 5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Attract the Best Talent — Candidates joining firms want to know those firms care about diversity. If a business wants to attract the most exceptional candidates who bring value and revenue to their firm, they have to have a diverse workforce.

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

Jason Wachtel is the Managing Partner of JW Michaels & Co. and heads up all business development, operation and strategic growth initiatives for the firm. Jason is one of the founders and partners of Compliance Risk Concepts (CRC) and Execusource. He has been designated as a Senior fellow to the Regulatory Compliance Association’s (RCA) community of over 80,000 executives. In addition, he serves as the RCA’s annual keynote speaker discussing compensation trends for legal, compliance, A&F and risk professionals.

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 grew up in a suburb of New York City and come from a family of entrepreneurs. My grandfather was the co-founder of the Members Only clothing brand, and I always knew I wanted to go into business for myself.

Ten years after graduating from Syracuse, I fell into recruiting and discovered I was good at it. It was 2008, and the financial collapse made starting a business risky. But I decided to focus my attention on recruiting compliance and legal talent in the asset management space, and it paid off. After many years of hard work, JW Michaels & Co has grown to a team of 160 people with 14 offices and is an industry-leading executive search firm placing professionals in the right positions

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?

None of us imagined that when we closed our offices for two weeks when the pandemic first started that we’d still be working remotely a year and a half later! The pandemic has been a struggle for businesses and the country as a whole. Personally, I learned through perseverance, hard work and creativity, anything is possible. As a company, our team learned we can thrive under any circumstance and even in the most challenging times if we hire the most amazing people and support them.

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

I always say, “You have to work harder and smarter than your competition.” I started JW Michaels 11 years ago in a closet with no windows, and I was competing against other entrepreneurs who graduated from Harvard. It was pure determination and grit that helped me build my business. If my competition was in the office at 9 a.m., I was there at 6:30 a.m.. If the other guys left at 6 p.m., I stayed until 9 p.m.. I worked harder and made more calls. In order to succeed, I realized that I wasn’t just competing with other people, I was competing with myself too.

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?

My grandfather is a big role model for me. He started from nothing and became extremely successful, co-creating a global clothing brand. His perseverance and determination have set an example for me for a long time, and I admire him greatly

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

The caliber of people we hire at JW Michaels makes us stand out. We prioritize high ethics and morals, team players and great schooling. We support and encourage the entrepreneurial spirit, and our employees feel like they’re running their own business. As the company’s Managing Partner, my job is to coach and guide them. I’m proud to say that no one has left our business to go to another firm during the pandemic, and not many companies can say that

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

We are continuing to expand our footprint and create an even better work environment for our employees. We thrive for the best work/life balance that people can have by creating a culture where we work hard but don’t sacrifice time away from our families.

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

Giving back is very important to me, and I’m proud to serve on the board of Cohen’s Children’s Hospital in Long Island. I also believe in paying it forward by providing people with an opportunity to make more money than they ever thought was possible. Helping people create wealth for themselves is inspiring. Most importantly, being a good mentor to my kids is what keeps me going.

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.)

1. Meet Customer/Clientele Expectations

Customers and clients want to work with companies that have diverse talent because a diverse workforce not only gives businesses better insight into their customers/clients, it also helps them connect with them in a more empathetic way. Without it, consumers will choose to go elsewhere.

2. Foster Innovation

Diversity allows for different thoughts, ideas and a wide variety of opinions. A person or team may come up with a brilliant idea simply because of the experience and perspective they bring to the table.

3. Attract Investors

Investors care about diversity-owned businesses because they know it matters. In particular, studies show there’s a correlation between how diverse a company is and its success — the more diverse, the more successful. Having a high-performing diverse team can attract the right investors.

4. Attract a Broader Talent Pool

Companies that embrace diversity broaden their talent pool. They attract a wider range of eligible candidates — and thus, a wider range of talents and ideas. At JW Michaels, we work to make sure 50 percent of the candidate pool we send to our partners is diverse. We know one of the keys to a successful company is seeing value in diversity and how it completely transforms an institution. We deliver, and companies are better because of it.

5. Attract the Best Talent

Candidates joining firms want to know those firms care about diversity. If a business wants to attract the most exceptional candidates who bring value and revenue to their firm, they have to have a diverse workforce.

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

Empowering your people is important. Bottom line, you should hire for ethics, morality and hard work. You can teach people just about anything, but no matter how smart people are, you can’t have success without ethics and hard work. Never sacrifice ethics for intelligence.

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

Try to be even-keeled and don’t be too emotional. It’s good to have emotional intelligence, but we must try to balance our emotions in order to have clarity and make the right decisions.

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 love to sit down with basketball legend Michael Jordan, who I’ve met twice before on the golf course. He got cut by his high school varsity team, and look at him now. He worked harder and smarter than his competition, always — no matter the setbacks or losses. His work ethic is amazing, and no one could outwork him. That’s inspiring.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Feel free to visit our website at jwmichaels.com or connect with me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-wachtel-41871b4/.

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

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Jason Wachtel of JW Michaels & Co: How Diversity Can Increase a Company’s Bottom Line was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Philip Smolin of 100co: 5 Steps We Must Take To Truly Create An Inclusive, Representative, and Equitable Society

An Interview With Tyler Gallagher

Transparency: Don’t be opaque. Let consumers know who you are and WHY you are. It’s not always easy to execute, but when successful the result is consumers trust your brand. Not convinced? Think about the major U.S. airlines. Do you consider them to be transparent? Do they treat you with respect? And most importantly — do you trust them? Now consider Southwest Airlines. Did your opinion just shift a bit? Southwest nails providing transparency into their mission of, “friendly, reliable and low-cost air travel”, and they’re frequently ranked the most trusted airline in the U.S. for it.

As part of our series about ‘5 Steps We Must Take To Truly Create An Inclusive, Representative, and Equitable Society’ I had the pleasure to interview Philip Smolin.

Philip Smolin is a seasoned Silicon Valley technology executive, and Chief Platform Officer at 100.co, the Artificial Intelligence-powered consumer brand group disrupting the Consumer-Packaged Goods market.

Prior to joining 100.co, Smolin served as Chief Strategy and Revenue Officer for advertising giant, Amobee. Before that he spent more than a decade as the head of strategy and product for TURN, where he led the creation of the programmatic advertising and measurement platforms which define the global advertising industry today. A recognized industry leader in marketing analytics and consumer data privacy, he’s a frequent speaker for the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA), Future of TV Advertising (FOTV), and the industry trade press. Smolin has an MBA from Columbia Business School and U.C. Berkeley’s Walter A. Haas School of Business.

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?

Back in 2010 I was supporting the marketing team for a major consumer packaged goods (CPG) company in the food sector. The mandate was to promote a recipe website and increase engagement with Millennials, as brand engagement with this audience segment was super low.

We tried to reach this audience with increasingly aggressive ad targeting tactics but the traffic to the recipe content remained low. So, we stepped back and took a closer look at Millennials and what type of cooking content they were engaging with online. We quickly learned that Millennials were looking for video content that provided instructions on HOW to prepare the recipes vs. looking up the recipes themselves — point being…a lot of Millennials didn’t know how to cook!

This simple insight, which was kind of obvious in hindsight, completely changed the brand’s marketing strategy. The solution wasn’t more hyper-targeted ads, it actually needed a completely different content strategy. And once the website was updated with short, fun videos on how to prepare the recipes, engagement with Millennials skyrocketed.

Here are some lessons we learned:

1. Be data-driven: It took focused effort to rethink what we were asking. But once we looked at the results and pinpointed the right questions to ask, we were able to get to the right answers. We learned it’s really an operational and even cultural approach to being data-driven. Let the data take you where it will, and sometimes those will be very unexpected places!
2. Focus on what matters: It’s easy for teams to focus on what is most easily measured, and in this example, it was easy to measure advertising exposure to Millennials. The KPI was telling us to do more targeting, which was directionally wrong. Rather, we needed to understand WHY our content was not resonating with the audience.
3. Rethink assumptions: The brand had put a lot of time and effort into both its content strategy for the recipe website, as well as the ad campaign. It took an open mind to say it was wrong and discard all the work completed previously… but if you’re willing to course correct, no matter what’s already been invested, you can turn a losing situation into a winning one.

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

I think 100.co’s technology helps us understand audiences better than any other CPG company out there, and because of this we can bring authentic, purpose-driven brands to market in months vs years. Leveraging insights from the intersection of social media, e-commerce, and consumer-direct relationships, 100.co is reinventing the product development process that legacy CPG brands have relied on for decades.

Traditional CPGs frequently rely on outdated market research, advertising, and retail techniques, which creates real challenges for connecting with younger, digital-first audiences. In contrast 100.co is using artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data to predict product needs, market fit and custom tailor our retail strategies. Being able to predict what will succeed for specific audience segments before a product even hits the shelves is very powerful, and we combine these insights with influential partnerships to accelerate social media awareness and our market penetration. This is far more effective and cost-efficient than producing a “one-size fits all” product like traditional CPG methods.

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

100.co is a fundamentally new way to create products consumers will love. We’ve built some incredibly unique and powerful technology to help us understand product-market fit, and even to identify the right co-founders to partner with! The great part is that we’re doing it all with publicly available data vs. trying to monitor consumer behavior without their consent. It’s about using great technology to do a much better job of listening to what consumers are already saying in the market.

Our technology is helping us find under-served market segments ripe for disruption. We’re developing great products from day-one that are a better fit for those markets, while understanding how to launch and promote them via social media in ways that are 100 percent authentic and transparent. We have already seen great results with our technology and can’t wait to showcase our new brands and co-founders!

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?

In a nutshell? Easy: brand marketing is about influencing how you feel, where product marketing is about influencing what you want to buy. They are two sides of the same coin, of course. Do you want to buy products from a brand you hate? Probably not! But are you willing to buy a slightly more expensive version of a product if it’s from a brand you love? Probably yes!

Here’s a great example: do you remember Dos Equis’ Most Interesting Man in the World campaign? That was phenomenal brand marketing!

They could have told you about Dos Equis’ flavor, or its calorie count — that would be product marketing — -but instead they gave consumers a colorful character and charming vignettes, which created an incredibly positive association to a brand a lot of consumers didn’t know well. Just think of the Most Interesting Man’s tagline: “I don’t always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis.” Drop the mic and walk away — that’s some of the best brand marketing you’ll ever see. As a result, Dos Equis’ beer sales skyrocketed without it ever marketing the actual product.

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?

Today, consumers expect personalized and authentic products; and every product will need to be marketed digitally, socially, and very often with influencers. At the same time, brick and mortar retail will not go away, so products need to be available online and offline to maximize success.

If traditional CPG companies do not invest in technology and platforms like social media to better understand and communicate with their customers, they will continue to lose market share. This year for example, many CPGs will look at price increases due to increasing costs for ingredients, packaging, and transportation, which will likely lower profitability by the end of quarter. We can probably anticipate an increase in paid advertising spend to keep product sales up. But would a social media campaign around topics like ethically sourced ingredients, paying living wages, or keeping employees safe during COVID perhaps yield better results? I offer that purely as a thought experiment, but the point is traditional product marketing and paid advertising often don’t connect for Millennials and Gen-Z the way it used to for previous generations. So, you really need to rethink what it means to use data to both better understand what your audiences want AND how to speak authentically to them.

Can you share 5 strategies that a company should be doing to build a trusted and believable brand? Please tell us a story or example for each.

1. Transparency: Don’t be opaque. Let consumers know who you are and WHY you are. It’s not always easy to execute, but when successful the result is consumers trust your brand. Not convinced? Think about the major U.S. airlines. Do you consider them to be transparent? Do they treat you with respect? And most importantly — do you trust them? Now consider Southwest Airlines. Did your opinion just shift a bit? Southwest nails providing transparency into their mission of, “friendly, reliable and low-cost air travel”, and they’re frequently ranked the most trusted airline in the U.S. for it.
2. Authenticity: Live your values, don’t just give them lip service. It doesn’t mean you’ll be a fit for every consumer, but your target market will probably love you for it. I think Honest Company crushes this. Everything they do across their marketing, products, formulation, and even social give-back programs is consistent and purposeful. When you buy from Honest you know what you’re getting and why.
3. Approachability: Be human. Every brand is a team of people, and people make mistakes. And when you make mistakes — which are inevitable — admit them, fix them, and LEARN from them. Remember a few years back when KFC ran out of chicken? They quickly ran an ad campaign featuring an empty bucket with the label “FCK”. Pure genius! Now who could stay mad at KFC after that?
4. Accessibility: Don’t just push messages to your customers and consumers, engage in a conversation with them. Not sure what that’s like? Just check out some of the tweets and replies on Nike’s Service Twitter. Despite Nike’s huge global presence, they still managed to make customer service accessible and approachable. Any time Nike’s twitter handle gets mentioned the service team is quick to check it out and respond directly to their customers. Maybe they can’t solve every customer’s problem, but just the act of engaging is a great way to build brand loyalty.
5. Give: As in give back, don’t just take. Yes, corporations exist to make money, but they can also make the world, or at least a community, a better place at the same time. And, ultimately, doing good is also good for business. Unfortunately, I’ve seen a lot of executives who view giving back as a marketing tactic, which totally misses the point. Want an easy way to figure out if you’re doing it right? Just ask your employees! Whenever we surveyed employees or asked in a town hall, we would get both great recommendations on worthy programs to support (for example, Black Girls Code), but also a desire from people to participate directly. So, we’ve created ways to donate employee time in addition to assisting with cash. In the final calculation you’ve done some good in the world and helped create happier and more motivated employees in the process. How great is that!

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?

A company that has done a fantastic job at building its brand is Honest Company. Its core value is so important, it’s the Company name! That’s a massive statement to make.

Jessica Alba is a great founder who is thinking outside the box and catering to today’s parents who are eco-conscious, aspirational, and more affluent. Alba founded Honest Co. in 2011, seeing whitespace in the market for baby products that were free of harsh chemicals. Today, the Company is valued at almost $2.5 billion — that’s significantly more than its $860 million implied valuation in a 2017 funding round!

Most CPGs like to believe they are data-driven and authentic, but product innovation for them is typically a manual process. “Market research” is frequently based on leadership opinions, modest focus groups or having interns put together summaries of social trends. Honest Co. looks at its modern audience and puts their values on a pedestal by listening to what they really want.

100.co’s AI platform further accelerates this process, analyzing thousands of data points to suggest market viability, product attributes and creative decisions even before a product investment is made. However, 100.co is not just using AI to identify products and speed time to market, we are using it to drive authenticity. By using AI to listen to the market, we can develop authentic and relevant products to specific areas of the market. We believe that better listening to customers, enabled via technology, will ultimately foster trust and loyalty.

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?

It’s different because you’re attempting to measure shifts in consumer sentiment. These will likely be leading indicators of which way sales will be headed, but the time delay can be significant so the branding KPIs must be robust enough to stand alone.

Social media activity is a good metric to measure, for example. Brand managers are likely already tracking your followers, their scale, and growth. But this should be combined with analyses of what they’re saying about the brand, and is the sentiment positive or negative? Tracking how customer sentiment is trending over time is a great leading indicator of sales.

Another form of measuring success is asking people! There’s a robust ecosystem for running brand lift surveys, you can do them quickly and cost-effectively. Don’t guess what consumers are thinking, ask them, and measure the change over time.

Lastly, look at Net Promoter Scores for your company and services. This is more than just branding but rather an indicator of whether you have reached and satisfied customers successfully, and how.

What role does social media play in your branding efforts?

Social media is central to 100.co’s brands but getting influencer endorsements is not just about creating great products — it’s about people aligning with our values, and identifying with any personalities behind the brand. This is what leads to authenticity and brand loyalty.

Our approach is very different from other companies, as we are focused on using AI to better listen to and understand what consumers are saying publicly about products and their attributes. They already make their preferences known on a daily basis via ratings and comments on brand’s social pages. So, the opportunity is not just to drive likes for a product endorsement, but rather to do a better job of listening to what consumers are already telling us!

Lasty, our model is to work with high-profile influencers who are actually co-founders of the brands, and we partner with them to create, develop, and launch products that are aligned with their core values and purpose. This ensures we remain consistent in our values and amplify the brand with an army of satisfied customers who in turn become micro-influencers.

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

Life is way too short to work on projects you don’t love or aren’t intrinsically motivated by. The great thing is that when you DO love your work it basically becomes impossible to feel burned out. If you truly love what you do, then doing more of it will typically give you more energy!

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. 🙂

Truth 2.0: The rise of deep fake technology and the virality of social media means that in the near future you will never be able to believe anything you see or hear. Almost any video or audio could be manipulated or forged in real time.

So, I would like to spark a movement to inspire critical thinking in every situation, especially when it’s something you see or hear online. Just stop and think! We all instantly react to everything we see and hear. But next time you read a post or see a video, pause for a moment, and ask yourself:

1. Does this make sense?
2. Is it possible this is not real?
3. If it’s real, do I understand not just what happened, but why it happened?
4. And should I be so quick to condemn or vilify someone based on what I’ve seen?
5. Perhaps it’s not even real, or if it is, are there two sides to the story?

This is a hard problem to solve, but it’s absolutely solvable — and not just by detecting what is fake content days later after millions of people have formed an opinion. Part of the solution I think is to teach children Critical Thinking skills much earlier in life, but also to pair it with new technologies that can detect forgeries in real time. Tough to solve no doubt…but an absolute imperative if we want society and government to work properly in the future.

Media platforms that distribute video and audio will need mechanisms to identify fakes, or at least detect the absence of verification in real time and overlay disclaimers accordingly.

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

Maya Angelou: “Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between.”

I think humans are hard-wired to overestimate risk, and this frequently limits what people will accomplish. Take Elon Musk — do you think he’s been held back by fear of everything that can go wrong? From what I can tell he lives by this quote every day. He shoots for the impossible and no matter what happens, it seems like Musk finds a way to navigate through every situation and usually achieves his goal.

This quote inspires me to take a chance on any new idea or project. I’ve had both success and failures, and the failures were always really good lessons in disguise. If you get knocked down, just get back up, brush yourself off, and try again. As long as you learn WHY you failed, you’ll be smarter and a lot more effective at it.

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

Elon Musk. His ability to redefine what people consider possible is truly inspiring.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/100cobrands/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/100cobrands/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/100co

This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!

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Philip Smolin: 5 Steps We Must Take To Truly Create An Inclusive, Representative, and Equi was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Use all the possibilities the digital world has to offer and keep attempting to intake information from great people. You have years of research and knowledge available right at your fingertips.

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 Sergey Young, founder of Longevity Vision Fund and author of the new book, The Science and Technology of Growing Young.

Sergey Young is a longevity investor and visionary on a mission to help one billion people extend their lifespans and live longer, healthier lives. To do that, Sergey founded Longevity Vision Fund to accelerate breakthroughs in life extension technology and to make longevity affordable and accessible to all.

Sergey is on the Board of Directors for the American Federation of Aging Research (AFAR) and is the Development Sponsor for AGE REVERSAL XPRIZE’s global competition designed to cure aging.

Sergey Young has been featured as a top longevity expert and contributor on CNN, BBC, Fox News, and Forbes. As the author of books such as ‘The Science and Technology of Growing Young’ and the mastermind behind the online life extension platform SergeyYoung.com, Sergey is passionate about sharing news from the exciting world of longevity.

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?

For a long 25 years, I was solely focused on building my career and making money to support my family. My health had never really given me any trouble and I had never had to give it any thought. But six years ago, during a regular checkup, my doctor wrote a prescription for the pills he claimed I would need to take for the rest of my life. I could not accept this medicated situation, and I set out on a quest to learn everything I could about longevity and health. I managed to find a way to gain back control of my health without the pills, surgeries, or treatments that control our view of health.

Another episode that made me focus on the concept of health was my father’s illness. At the age of 60, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. After long and exhausting therapy, he survived, but his quality of life never fully recovered.

These incidents prompted me to start thinking of my health and the health of my loved ones in a different way. I figured out how to improve my situation by implementing several changes in my lifestyle and this all brought me to a bigger question: what can I do to live a long and health life? Hopefully, I would be able to live way beyond the current known record of 122 years. I found this challenge extremely fascinating and that kick started my journey in longevity.

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

One story that I like to share happened in the Vatican. I describe it in my upcoming book “The Science and Technology of Growing Young.” Here is an excerpt from the book:

Three years ago, as I walked through the grand stone gateway of Vatican City, I felt as though I was stepping back in time. I’d traveled to Rome and crossed the border into the world’s smallest country to explore the futuristic breakthroughs that will soon allow human beings to extend our previously expected lifespans. By the time I left, I was certain that it would soon be possible to prolong the lives of pretty much everyone on our planet.

The official title of the conference I was attending was “How Science, Technology, and 21st Century Medicine will Impact Culture and Society.” However, the real subject matter of the gathering was more intriguing: how to reverse the physical aging process and dramatically extend human life. This event, blessed by Pope Francis, was inspired by the Vatican’s desire to be more progressive, to liven up its historic brand, and to boost its aging “customer base.”

As I took my seat in a vast hall, I looked around at the three hundred invited attendees. It was an unusual crowd, to say the least. Black-robed cardinals with bright red sashes and large, dangling crucifixes mingled with well-dressed doctors, tech billionaires, and the occasional celebrity. Over the next three days, we explored fascinating concepts like genetically engineered human beings, stem cell therapy with the potential to rejuvenate the body using its own “building blocks,” breakthroughs in drug development that may finally win the war on cancer, and the morality of immortality.

We kicked off the first day with a panel. My good friend and role model, XPRIZE founder Peter Diamandis, was telling the audience about some of the amazing ways in which the very definition of the human body will change over the next couple of decades, allowing us to extend our lives to at least age 150. Then he paused, his face lit up with excitement. “Who here wants to live to 150?”

I raised my hand immediately, as did many of our XPRIZE crowd, who were sitting around me. But despite my own unrestrained enthusiasm to such a mind-blowing proposal, Peter’s expression registered shock and surprise. As I turned to scan the rest of the room, I immediately saw why. Only a small percentage of the audience had raised their hands. Peter had clearly been expecting this crowd to enthusiastically embrace the idea of extended lifespans. After all, these were the people working to cure disease, improve health, and help people live longer.

So why on earth wouldn’t they want this for themselves? After the conference and with this question in my consciousness, I embarked to implement this thought provoking concept of longevity hesitation into my mission.

Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?

I’ve always been the type to take responsibility for what happens in my life. I’ve never delegated this responsibility to my external environment. Obviously, no one can control what happens in their lives 100%, but everyone is in control of how they respond and react.

I try to give more than I receive. I spend a lot of time mentoring, giving advice and introductions; I do pro-bono and non-profit work dedicating my time and financial resources to the causes I deeply care about, including health and longevity.

I try to keep an optimistic outlook on everything. I call it “positive reframing.” Focusing on the positive side of one’s situation changes one’s environment for the better.

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 mission is to extend the healthy lifespans of one billion people. In other words, I am attempting to make healthy longevity accessible and affordable for all. To complete this mission, I began with founding the Longevity Vision Fund that supports companies working on breakthrough technologies aimed at extending the human lifespan.

I launched a non-profit corporate life extension program, Longevity @ Work, which is designed to create work environments that contribute to the health, happiness and longevity of their employees.

Additionally, I wrote a book titled “The Science and Technology of Growing Young,” to spread my positive message and share information regarding the exciting future of longevity, which I am privileged to witness as an active investor in the space.

How do you think this will change the world?

All these amazing technologies combined with the Longevity Vision Fund and fellow investor support will help to make the world a better place where people can not only live dramatically longer, but they can also stay healthier in the meantime.

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?

Dramatically increased human lifespan does come with some potential risks. I dedicated a whole chapter of my book to some of these potentially negative side effects. You can download this chapter here (www.moralityofimmortality.com). But I believe that we as humans will find a way to use these potential drawbacks as a unifying idea rather than a means to increase inequality amongst us. We should start solving these potential problems now instead of waiting for 20 years.

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

I can provide the same answer as to q#1, so I suggest we skip this one

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

One big initial step would be a recognition of aging as a disease. Some countries are closer to this goal than others, but we all are on the path in this direction. This step is important for creating a sustainable regulatory and economic model, which would fundamentally increase investments in fighting disease and longevity.

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

1. Practice moonshot thinking when you and your team are hoping to achieve something believed to be impossible. It motivates you to think big by putting yourself in a wishful state and allowing everyone to remain positive.
2. Keep focused on your primary goal and learn how to say no (kindly) to what’s not fundamentally important for your goal.
3. Choose challenging objectives that are not easy and short term but demand time and effort. Having lofty goals allows one to fail while still ending up successful in some regard. This reward will be great.
4. Exhibit resourcefulness, and leverage whatever is at your disposal to help you achieve your goals. Be creative, be open-minded, and don’t give up. Listen to advice and always get multiple opinions. Don’t think “how can I do this,” think “who and what can help me achieve this goal?”
5. Use all the possibilities the digital world has to offer and keep attempting to intake information from great people. You have years of research and knowledge available right at your fingertips.

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 🙂

I am a VC myself. We tend to think that making money and changing the world for the better are mutually exclusive. At Longevity Vision Fund, our goal is to back companies and products that aid to improve quality of life and one’s environment as both can be successful and lucrative. So, my message to my fellow VCs is to not focus solely on financial results but prioritize any additional benefit for humanity.

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

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The Longevity Vision Fund: Sergey Young’s Big Idea That May Change The World In The Next Few Years was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Wisdom From The Women Leading The VR, AR & Mixed Reality Industries, With Huiting Wang of Resolution Games

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

VR, AR and MR technology rely on player body inputs to create great experiences. The current 6DoF controller tracks position and rotation to let the players feel they are using their hands in the VR space, and the hand tracking technology directly tracks players’ hand movements. Future headsets may incorporate new tech like eye tracking, facial recognition, EMG, etc. A lot of data needs to be tracked, and this may cause privacy, security and safety concerns. Our industry will have to be cognizant of risks around user privacy and has to ensure the safety of all users tracking data.

The Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality & Mixed Reality Industries are so exciting. What is coming around the corner? How will these improve our lives? What are the concerns we should keep an eye out for? Aside from entertainment, how can VR or AR help work or other parts of life? To address this, as a part of our interview series called “Women Leading The VR, AR & Mixed Reality Industries”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Huiting Wang.

Huiting Wang is the head of shared production at Stockholm-based VR games studio, Resolution Games. After earning a Master of Human-Computer Interaction degree from KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Huiting’s interest in immersive tech, games and how players interact with games led her to Resolution Games as a player researcher. In the beginning, she helped create great game experiences for early titles from Resolution Games. She then became a producer and has worked with multiple titles such as Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs and Blaston.

As head of shared production, Huiting uses her skills in people, games and process to help and support the ever-growing group of mixed specialists in the shared production field. She believes that great teamwork leads to great products and has actively worked on creating a team culture of passion, humility, and creation.

Huiting is also an advocate for diversity within the games community. She spoke about the importance of diversity at G-Star 2019 on the topic of “The Women behind Angry Birds VR”, has participated in International Girls in ICT Day Stockholm and is a member of the Women In Game STHLM group.

Huiting loves K-pop and K-pop dancing. She is a main member at Resolution Games’ K-pop group and has performed at the company’s Christmas gathering and the 5th-year anniversary party.

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

I’ve always been a big fan of sci-fi novels. I love to see various possible future worlds through our imaginations and wishes. Among all of the books I have read, The Three-Body Problem is my favorite. I won’t spoil it too much for those who have not read it, but I love the settings, how the storyline progressed, all the stories with scientific metaphors, and how people would react under certain conditions. I was really intrigued when the main character gradually discovered the three body problem through a virtual-reality video game. The first book was out around 2008, so there was no VR headset easily accessible in the market. I remember the excitement I got when the main character wore haptic clothes, put on the headset and started exploring. I was curious about how technology would evolve in the future back then, and I think that moment inspired me to study more subjects related to science and technology. I’m so happy to work with VR, AR and MR games now because I get to experience worlds that I dreamed of when I was younger.

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

When I studied Software Engineering for my bachelor’s degree, I started to discover the subject of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). Improving the interaction between computers and humans has always been a topic of interest for me. I wanted to learn more, so I came to Sweden to study HCI at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. In one of our labs, Visualization Studio VIC, we accessed state-of-the-art interactive technology from gesture- and speech-based control, haptic feedback, eye tracking, multitouch to various AR/VR devices and controllers. I spent a lot of time there and made various projects with other students. The most memorable project was an interactive physical/digital experience we created within an AR sandbox. One player controls a penguin on a digital screen to reach candies at different heights while another player modifies the terrain for the penguin by moving sand around. This project showed me the potential of not only how we can interact with the digital world but also how the boundary between digital and reality can come to be. I was curious about how magic can happen, so I decided to pursue my current career.

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

Back in 2016, we were about to make the game Wonderglade, a theme park VR game that is composed of carnival-themed mini games. It was a normal day in the office. Then after lunch, our boss (Tommy Palm, CEO) announced that we were going to Gröna Lund (an amusement park in Stockholm) that afternoon to do research for the game. It was such a surprise! We tested out different attractions and had a small competition among groups. It was a really fun and interesting experience. I learned the importance of observing, interacting and feeling the vibe on site to make games and experiences in VR that resonates with people.

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

The funniest mistake I remember is a design decision we made when I started producing Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs. In the VR version, we provide different teleportation points around a level to enable 360 view and let players be creative with their shots. At the beginning, we let players shoot a bird to different teleportation points to teleport. We were so sure it was going to be easy because of the exact same mechanics as the gameplay. However, the playtest results showed I was totally wrong. Most players thought it was not that intuitive because it’s not their direct reaction when it comes to teleporting and they were afraid of losing a bird. Then we changed the mechanics to point and click, and most of the players learned the action very quickly even without the tutorial. The lesson I learned is that we should always test the design on real players and iterate the gameplay together with them. We can’t design purely based on our own assumptions!

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

The person I really want to thank who helped me get to where I am is our CEO, Tommy Palm. He is a Swedish game industry veteran, and I feel his rich experience made him a legend himself — he was the spokesperson and Games Guru at King (creator of Candy Crush) and also helped lead the company to its IPO; he has founded several game companies and worked with more than 20 game titles. Resolution Games is my first company to work at. I really appreciate Tommy recognizing my ability and seeing my potential when I was just fresh out of school. He also offered me the chance to work as a producer and work with various great and fun titles like Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs and Blaston. He always values the diversity in the games industry and inspired me to be a role model and advocate for it. For example, I was very happy to speak about the importance of diversity at G-Star 2019 in Korea on the topic of “The Women behind Angry Birds VR.”

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

Yes, I’m working on a super fun project together with our senior game director, Tom Hall. I cannot reveal too much right now, but in general we’re working on enhancing the social aspect of VR in a way that will bring people together and allow them to socialize in different ways.

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

I agree that there are a lot of exciting things happening in our industry. I am really excited about how the industry has progressed within the past five years. Take the VR industry as an example. The headset started from cardboard combined with a phone all the way to a standalone headset. The controller evolves from one button click to 6DoF controllers and hand tracking. It’s amazing that it all happened so quickly. Also, more big companies are entering the X Reality field with new headsets. For example, the next-generation of PSVR is coming to PS5 from Sony; Apple is rumored to work on new MR headsets and it’s coming soon, etc. More powerful headsets from big companies in the market would really help promote VR, AR and MR from a niche and cutting edge field to a more mainstream media. Thirdly, new interactive technologies keep being researched and combined with X Reality tech, like Facebook recently publishing a blog showing how people can use neural wristbands with AR glasses. A brand new augmented reality interface will be created based on new ways users can interact with their computers; also, Valve, OpenBCI & Tobii are together going to launch a VR brain-computer interface named ‘Galea’. All of these are super exciting!

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

VR, AR and MR technology rely on player body inputs to create great experiences. The current 6DoF controller tracks position and rotation to let the players feel they are using their hands in the VR space, and the hand tracking technology directly tracks players’ hand movements. Future headsets may incorporate new tech like eye tracking, facial recognition, EMG, etc. A lot of data needs to be tracked, and this may cause privacy, security and safety concerns. Our industry will have to be cognizant of risks around user privacy and has to ensure the safety of all users tracking data.

Secondly, there are still difficulties to conquer when it comes to being in VR space such as motion sickness, or more precisely, cybersickness. We need to discover more locomotion methods that do not invoke cybersickness to unlock the full potential of VR experiences.

Last but not least, as the VR, AR and MR experiences are becoming more immersive and more social, the discomfort people can feel from other users’ misbehaviour increases when they interact. We have to carefully consider player safety and comfort when we create immersive experiences.

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

The way we work has drastically changed since the pandemic restricted workspaces. Many companies have adopted remote work solutions, but working without the social interaction of meeting with coworkers can feel very isolating. Apart from video conferences and meetings, work meetings and fun events in VR can really bring people closer who never meet in real life.

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

VR has immense potential for social life, self-immersion and learning. For example, VR provides a space for meeting people — you can hang out with friends and family who are literally on the other side of the planet. But VR also has spaces for being alone — you can have a space just for yourself like meditating on a mountain peak or exploring the depths of the ocean. Not to mention the fact that you could learn so much with VR, like experiencing a fishing simulator.

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

When I came to Sweden, I was amazed by how empowered women are here. But even in Sweden, there aren’t many women in STEM fields. I believe role models are very important, and that’s one reason why women are needed in the STEM industries currently. Young girls need female role models to look up to and to inspire them to get into STEM.

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

The first myth would be that everybody that works in the game industry also plays a lot of games. It’s true that a lot of game devs play games, including myself, but some devs just don’t play that often. The truth is, skill in a field of craftsmanship is what’s truly important for game devs. We have artists who love art, and programmers who love servers. Just like any great production, having a team with all the right pieces is the most important.

The second myth is that there are no talented women in the game industry. I’ve worked with many women who steer the direction of projects or enrich the quality of game experiences.

What are your “5 Leadership Lessons I Learned From My Experience as a Woman in Tech” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

Lesson 1: Build trust within the team. Trust is the foundation of working together. Organizing more events, casual talks with my team, or trip reports at the beginning of meetings all helped bring the team together.

Lesson 2 is linked with Lesson 1: After the team has trust, it’s much easier to have arguments and debates without offending others. Healthy conflicts are important to make a great product.

Lesson 3: The longer a team works together, the stronger the bond they have. We have teams that have worked together for a long time. They have stronger bonds and are generally more willing to prioritize the common goal of the team rather than individual success.

Lesson 4: It’s okay to say I don’t know. I used to feel bad when someone asked me a question that I didn’t know the answer to. I learned that it’s okay to say, “I don’t know the answer, but I’ll find out for you.” People won’t feel you’re weak but rather genuine and confident.

Lesson 5: Stick to commitments. I noticed that great managers around me all have this trait. They keep their promises and do what they say they are going to do.

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

I would like to encourage people to pay more attention to the ergonomics in their workplace. I know a lot of young people around me are starting to get back pain, Mouse Arm and other issues related to bad posture and stress with intensive computer work. Take care of yourself while working so we stay away from body pain.

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

Hayao Miyazaki. I have watched Ghibli movies since my childhood. Miyazaki has directed a lot of movies that I love. Most of the main characters in these movies are girls who are independent, strong, kind and positive. I want to know more about the stories behind all the characters and thank him for creating such great movies that have inspired and will continue to inspire a lot of kids to do great things when they grow up.

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

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Wisdom From The Women Leading The VR, AR & Mixed Reality Industries, With Huiting Wang of… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Better customer service means better customer loyalty. The more you foster a culture of diversity and inclusion, the better you’ll be able to understand and meet the needs of a diverse customer base. If you serve customers with what they actually need versus what you think they need, they’ll be happier and want to keep doing business with you.

As a part of our series about “How Diversity Can Increase a Company’s Bottom Line,” I had the pleasure of interviewing Sejal Thakkar, chief culture officer at Nobody Studios.

On a mission to educate and empower people to create a world where everyone is treated with dignity and respect, Sejal Thakkar is responsible for cultivating a people-first culture at Nobody Studios, a high-velocity venture studio headquartered in Orange County, CA. She’s a former employment law attorney, a TEDx speaker (shedding light on ‘The Pain, Power, and Paradox of Bias’), and the founder and chief civility officer at TrainXtra, where she helps leaders create positive, safe, and respectful workplaces through customized training and coaching.

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?

Sure! The first thing to know is that I’m the child of Indian immigrants, and I experienced a lot of harassment, discrimination, and prejudice from a very young age. I was born soon after my parents came to the States, and I grew up in a predominantly Italian neighborhood in Chicago called Elmwood Park. We were the only Indian family there, and a lot of people made it clear we were not welcome.

I also had to deal with the duality of being between two cultures. At home, I experienced traditional Indian culture — Indian clothes, Indian food, Indian religion. Outside the house, everything was American. Bridging those two worlds would have been a struggle in its own right, but it was made all the more complicated by the antagonism from the outside world.

So, growing up, I always had a drive toward social justice. I wanted to do something to advocate for and help marginalized people because I didn’t want others to have to go through what I did. So very early, I knew I was going to go to law school. And I did become a lawyer, but not the kind you might expect.

You’d probably assume that I’d represent people who were victims of discrimination. But I took the exact opposite path and ended up being a defense attorney. So I was representing people who were accused of harassing and bullying others. And that decision has had a huge impact on my career, because I got to see the other side of the discrimination coin and effect change at the source.

A big part of that journey — both for me personally and for my clients — was learning about how unconscious bias affects us all, and how we can work intentionally to recognize it in ourselves and grow beyond our conditioning.

These lessons paved the way for me to start my own company, TrainXtra, where since 2017 I’ve trained company leaders and teams on how to create positive, safe, and respectful workplaces.

And all of these experiences have led to my new role as chief culture officer for Nobody Studios, where I have the unique and exciting opportunity to design and develop a truly safe and inclusive company from the ground up!

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?

As a defense attorney, I got to see prejudice from a new perspective. I had thought I was going to encounter a lot of evil, malicious people trying to hurt others. But what I saw more of was people who were well-intentioned, but misguided.

They were good people trying to do their best — they just had a lot of biases because of how they were raised. And now, without even realizing it, they were saying and doing things that were offensive. Most of them had never been confronted about their behavior, and it had gone on for so long that it looked like intentional discrimination.

As I delved into this work, I quickly had to come to terms with the fact that I, too, was carrying biases that I often didn’t realize. We all do.

To be neutral as an attorney, I had to start working through my own biases. For example, if I was dealing with somebody that was harassing another woman, I recognized that, because I’m a woman and I’d been harassed, I instinctively had a negative reaction toward the accused. I had to acknowledge that and take steps to prevent it from clouding my judgment and affecting my behavior toward them.

And the really interesting thing is that some of the biases I uncovered within myself went in the opposite direction from what you might expect.

For example, early in my career, I worked on a case where an Indian woman was being bullied by her white male coworker. Now, knowing my background, you’d probably assume I’d lean toward the side of the Indian woman, right? She’s Indian, she’s female, she got bullied — just like all the things I experienced.

But I actually had a negative bias against her, because she had an accent. You see, I’d been bullied and harassed because of my parents’ accent, and I had internalized that negative perception of Indian accents. So the minute she started talking, all of a sudden, I felt a negative reaction towards her. That was quite a shock to realize!

Because of my commitment to fairness and serving the cause of justice, I had to develop strategies (like the HAT approach I describe in my TEDx talk) to recognize and work on my own biases consistently. And I still do to this day.

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?

“You can either feel sorry for yourself or treat what happened as a gift. Everything is either an opportunity to grow or an obstacle that keeps you from growing. You get to choose.” — Wayne Dyer

I love that quote, because life is full of challenges, and we can’t control it all. But we do get a choice in how we respond.

When I was a sophomore in high school, one day, on my way to lunch, I stopped by my locker and found a big, ugly note taped to the door. It read, “Go back to your country.” Instantly, I felt fear and rage simmering inside of me. It shook me to my core, and I barely remember eating my lunch.

What I do remember is what happened next. Putting my tray away, a girl in line started making fun of me, calling me a “dot head.” I lost it. I lunged at her with an animal fury. It took three people to hold me back.

And the result? I was the only one to get sent home from school, and I even got suspended. It was incredibly unfair. This wasn’t the first time I’d gotten in trouble for sticking up for myself, and it wouldn’t be the last.

That night and the next morning, I lay in bed thinking about conversations I’d had with my dad when I’d felt broken like this before.

I remembered his words of kindness, compassion, and civility. He’d taught me two very important lessons about the paradox of bias. He would say, “You know, Sejal, when people are hurting those around them, they themselves are hurting inside.” And then he would remind me that we’re all capable of being hurtful and treating others badly.

That morning, I was left with the same choice that you’ve probably been left with at some point in your life. I could choose to be a victim and cling to my resentment, or I could choose to find a sense of compassion for those kids.

And ever since, as I’ve grown through my personal and professional experiences, I’ve been very intentional about how I choose to respond to what life brings me — trusting myself to meet the world with understanding, make the best decisions I can, and be 100% accountable and responsible for my choices.

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

The first person that came to mind is actually my 9-year-old son, Shayn. He’s the reason for my success — why I show up every day and give my best. I want him to come of age in a better, safer, more civil and harmonious world than the one I came up in.

In terms of professional mentors, the senior partner at my first law firm (now called Manning & Kass, Ellrod, Ramirez, Trester LLP) was a man named Al de la Cruz. When I applied for that job, I had only six months of experience — civil experience — and the position they were advertising required three to five years in litigation. But I applied for it because I knew if they gave me a chance, I’d do a great job.

Al did give me that chance, and he became an amazing mentor. He had me in court litigating my first case within a year-and-a-half of being at that firm. Most attorneys have to wait five or six years to litigate. He had me second-chairing with him in no time, and then first-chairing within two years.

So he really gave me a tremendous opportunity. I worked hard at it, of course, but I owe him a huge amount of gratitude. I don’t think I would be in my career if it wasn’t for him giving me that chance.

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

I’m really proud to be chief culture officer at Nobody Studios. We’re a “venture studio,” which by itself is a new and uncommon business model. It means we build new companies in-house — rapidly and with a focus on efficiency in both time and capital.

People-first

One thing that really sets us apart is that we’re truly and deeply “people-first.” We’re committed to having a positive impact and making the world a better place. And we care about cultivating a great culture where our people can thrive and do meaningful work that helps everyone else out in the world.

To highlight that point — we’re a very young company, and there are not many startups that at this early stage have a chief culture officer. Everyone talks about culture, but few prioritize and put resources behind it.

I’m out there advocating intensively on these topics, so Nobody Studios bringing me onboard is a reflection of how serious we are about culture. We’re not messing around!

Crowd-infused

Another quality that sets us apart is that we’re crowd-infused in the way we build companies. That means we actively seek involvement from the crowd in many aspects of our work: generating ideas, giving feedback, raising capital, and more.

We’re not trying to be the smartest, coolest people in the room — we’re leaders and experts, of course, but we’re here to work with people and include them in the process, so we can deliver things that will uplift us all. Case in point: one of our companies in development started with a conversation between Mark S. McNally, our “Chief Nobody,” and an Uber driver, who is now a co-founder of one of our newcos.

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

So many things! One of my priorities is developing our “culture manifesto.” That means looking at our core values and clarifying what I call our “truths” — the behaviors that we’re going to align to. This will help us communicate to everybody what to expect if you come to work at Nobody Studios. I want to make sure we’re very clear with people so they know what they’re getting into, because it may not be the right culture for everyone.

Another area I’m focused on is leadership development, and to me that includes everyone in the company. The way I see it, every “Nobody” is a leader. With that in mind, we’re looking at how to develop our Nobodies so they have the skills to be successful, and so we have a common language through which to grow together.

I’m also very involved in developing our recruiting, hiring, and onboarding strategies and practices. So recruiting involves understanding what roles we need to fill, finding people that have the right skills and experience, and then making sure they understand the available opportunities as well as the culture. That way we can both know if it’s a good fit.

My focus in hiring is making sure we set up procedures to mitigate any bias in who we end up bringing into the team. And then onboarding — we’re a distributed company with people in different time zones and countries, with different cultures, religions, and lived experiences. So how do we make sure every one of them feels welcome and comfortable in our company? I’m putting together a “first 100 days” program to answer that question.

So I’m very excited to have my hands in the clay — shaping all these different facets of our culture and our team. I’m committed to making sure we really walk our talk and change the norms for how workplaces operate, pioneering a much more inclusive and psychologically safe paradigm. We hope to provide a strong model for other organizations to follow, and inspiration for them to do even better than us!

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

I’ve been an advocate for social justice and inclusive culture since I was a child. And I still spend most of my time promoting and advocating for diversity, inclusion, and civility! I do workshops, I give talks, I go on podcasts — whatever I can do to raise awareness on these issues. I’m also very active on LinkedIn, sharing resources, articles, and tools to help individuals grow and organizations evolve.

And when I talk about diversity and inclusion, I mean making space for every individual one of us. I think a lot of people think of diversity as race, religion, gender, etc. But we’re all different from each other. We all have our own experiences and unique characteristics.

Now, with Nobody Studios, I have a fantastic opportunity to scale my work and make a bigger impact than I ever thought possible. If we get this right — and I’m confident we will — these culture principles are going to infuse every company we create!

That will impact not only the thousands of people that will work in our companies, but the millions who will be their customers too. We’re aiming to create 100 companies in the next five years, so we’re talking about a LOT of people! It’s incredibly exciting.

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.)

I’ll start by emphasizing that fostering diversity and inclusion is the morally right thing to do and has many benefits for all of us beyond the bottom line. That said, the business case is also very strong and was made a long time ago by top organizations like McKinsey & Co. Here are five of the top ways diversity and inclusion can boost your bottom line.

1. Variety of viewpoints increases adaptability

When you have people with different perspectives and opinions, you have that much more insight to draw from in building products and services and developing your culture. You’ll have access to a larger pool of ideas and talent to create companies that are more innovative.

A more diverse workforce can help your company understand and meet the demands of fluctuating markets. You can serve a greater variety of audiences in a greater number of ways. And you can better keep abreast of — and even lead — changes in the markets you serve.

2. Better customer service means better customer loyalty

The more you foster a culture of diversity and inclusion, the better you’ll be able to understand and meet the needs of a diverse customer base. If you serve customers with what they actually need versus what you think they need, they’ll be happier and want to keep doing business with you.

It costs far more to earn new customers than keep the ones you have, so this can have a major impact on your bottom line. And the real kicker is that when customers really love you, not only will they stick with you themselves, they’ll tell others and become a volunteer marketing team of their own.

3. Reduced legal expenses

Employment lawsuits and complaints are some of the most expensive and burdensome issues a company can have. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), there are over 70,000 such complaints filed annually. An average discrimination lawsuit can cost well over $100,000 just in attorneys’ fees.

Harassment and discrimination complaints are far less common for companies that foster diversity and inclusion. Whenever I talk to startup founders about my training programs and they tell me they don’t have time to worry about culture, I hand them my card and tell them to call me when they get sued and need a lawyer, which will be much more expensive.

Creating a safe culture is not an expense, and it’s not a nice-to-have. It’s an investment, and it’s a necessary one. If you make this a priority, you’re going to save a lot of money (and stress).

4. Better employee retention

The Society of Human Resource Managers (SHRM) released a study showing that turnover due to toxic work environments cost businesses $223 billion over a five-year period.

Less diverse work environments tend to be more toxic, leading to lower morale, reduced productivity, and higher turnover. But remember, diversity alone won’t help create a positive work culture — you also need the inclusion piece to cultivate a psychologically safe workplace. Doing so will lead to happier and more loyal employees, and it will even strengthen your relationships with vendors.

5. More effective execution

Organizations that encourage diversity inspire employees to perform to their highest ability. So organization-wide diversity and inclusion strategies can result in higher productivity, effectiveness, and ingenuity.

Fostering a psychologically safe workplace rooted in diversity and inclusion just makes sense. It will give you a better, more positive culture where employees can thrive and serve your customers better. It will boost your reputation and make customers and vendors want to work with you. It will make you more competitive and adaptive in the market. And it will reduce expenses while supporting increased revenue.

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

Diversity and inclusion offer a lot of beautiful benefits like the ones I’ve described above. But the reality is, when you put different people together, it also creates challenges. There are going to be conflicts that arise.

So here are a few suggestions to maximize the benefits and face the challenges of fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace.

Empower your employees

Make them part of the solution. Give them practical skills and tools. That way, when they’re dealing with a misunderstanding or somebody that’s different from them, they’ll be equipped to navigate those challenges.

Then you need to get feedback from them about what’s working and what’s not, and do so on an ongoing basis. Listen to them, incorporate that feedback, and then rinse and repeat.

Provide training

Training is a huge component of this. Provide good diversity and inclusion training and good bystander intervention training, so people know what to do when situations arise.

And again, it’s not a one-time, check-the-box kind of thing. You have to have effective training on an ongoing basis, because the challenges are always going to be there.

Be Proactive

I also think it’s important to address workplace concerns proactively, not wait until issues arise. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure — if you rely on a reactive approach, you’ll find yourself dealing with damage already done. That’s a lot more difficult and costly than taking steps to avoid harmful situations in the first place.

Meaningful investigations

My last suggestion is to conduct prompt and thoughtful investigations when situations do arise. It’s great to be legally compliant, and you should be. The problem is a lot of companies only focus on what the law mandates. I suggest you take a broader approach that really supports a safe work environment for everybody.

Look at the root cause and ask meaningful questions:

• Is this a systemic issue?
• Are there bigger patterns at play?
• What do we need to do so it doesn’t happen again?

Use it as an opportunity to figure out what is going on systemically, because one case is usually an indicator of a deeper issue.

Look at your processes, your procedures, and your leadership. If the issue involves a leader, that might indicate the leader needs support or training. Make it safe for them to be humble enough to admit they have some growing to do and that it’s okay as long as they do the work.

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

I would say you really need to study leadership. And unfortunately that has not been emphasized in the patterns of promotion within organizations.

Often, leaders have gotten promoted because they’ve done a good job within their area of technical skill or knowledge. But they haven’t been given much training or mentoring on how to lead people in a healthy and effective way.

You have to take a flexible leadership approach. Relying on one style to manage all your employees is not going to work these days. You need to be situational — look at each individual employee as a unique person and adjust your leadership approach to them, not the other way around.

I’m a huge fan of servant leadership. That involves getting to know each individual person so you can support them to be successful in their work. And that requires, again, feedback. Get feedback from your employees on your leadership approach.

And don’t get defensive. Check your ego at the door. Empathetic listening is the skill of the day. All leaders need to learn how to be empathetic listeners, not take things personally, and always aim to help others succeed. That, in turn, will be how you succeed.

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 love to have lunch with President Obama. I look up to him so much — I love what he stands for, and I really strive to be like him. He’s got integrity, ethics, a good moral compass, and just seems to be a good human being all around.

I posted a quote on LinkedIn recently from a woman named Stephanie Sparkles. It says, “I love when people that have been through hell walk out of the flames carrying buckets of water for those still consumed by the fire.”

He seems like an amazing bucket carrier. I would be incredibly humbled and grateful if I had an opportunity to get together with that man. (And I’d probably cry most of the time!)

How can our readers further follow your work online?

You can follow me on LinkedIn, and also be sure to follow the Nobody Studios page. You can also check out the TrainXtra website, and watch my TEDx talk.

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

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Sejal Thakkar of Nobody Studios: How Diversity Can Increase a Company’s Bottom Line was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Future Is Now: Al Burgio of Zytara On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene

An Interview with Fotis Georgiadis

You can build amazing technology, but it isn’t a product unless someone uses it. Until you establish product-market fit, you don’t have a product. Writing great code isn’t enough. You need to listen to potential users and meet their needs.

As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Al Burgio, Founder and CEO of Zytara as well as the founder of DigitalBits, a layer-one blockchain protocol focused on speed and cost savings. Al also founded Console Connect in 2011, the pioneer of software-defined interconnection. He has been a serial entrepreneur for over 20 years with diverse experience across finance and technology. As CEO of Console, he raised in excess of $60 Million in capital from leading Silicon Valley venture capital firms, secured multiple Fortune 500 companies as customers, expanded the company’s platform into over 20 countries and was a recognized innovator with patents granted in the areas of Internet Architecture and Routing.

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 began in the internet space in the late 90s as a teenager. I had started college early and decided to drop out to engage myself full-time with this new and growing e-commerce world. Fast-forward to 2011: I pioneered what is known across the internet as software defined interconnection (SDI) and founded the company Console Connect. I brought Console to over 23 countries worldwide. It was acquired in 2016 by PCCW Global and is still one of the largest platforms in the world. Throughout my career, I filed a number of patents in internet architecture. I attribute much of my success to being able to build a world-class team, a skill I’ve been able to bring to all my endeavors. In 2017, blockchain technology was really taking off, and, as a technologist, I recognized the brilliance of the security, self-auditing, and mathematical design that blockchain brings to the Web. This interest led to the founding of DigitalBits, a layer-one blockchain protocol that prioritizes security, speed and cost-savings, and later Zytara.

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

I had the great fortune to have been able to share the stage with the late Larry King along with some other industry peers in August 2018. We had an incredible discussion about blockchain on-stage and backstage.

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

We are seeing major transformation occurring across society because of the innovations made possible by blockchain technology. The DigitalBits blockchain, of which I am a founder, is a cost and energy-effective layer-one protocol that resolves many of the issues plaguing the non-fungible token (NFT) space today. Most NFTs are presently minted on the Ethereum blockchain, which suffers from a lack of efficiency due to its resource-intensive proof-of-work consensus mechanism. The process of validating the current state of the chain is also incredibly taxing on the environment, and many artists and celebrities who have minted NFTs have experienced backlash for the resulting environmental impact. The DigitalBits blockchain presents an alternative that is designed to be fast, secure, and energy-efficient, dramatically reducing the carbon footprint for NFT mints. As the CEO of Zytara Labs, an NFT studio and production company, I experience first-hand the concerns of brands, artists, and other influencers, and sustainability often tops the list.

How do you think this might change the world?

NFTs are the way of the future. Prior to their invention, it was impossible to ascribe value to digital art and collectibles. The advent of blockchain technology changed that by making it feasible for the first time in internet history to prove the authenticity of digital works by minting these tokens on the immutable ledger that is the blockchain. NFTs have opened a world of possibilities for brands and creatives, including a completely novel source of income and avenue to engage with fans/customers in a deeper way online.

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

As the NFT marketplace grows, we definitely need to continue to innovate ways of lessening the environmental impact of minting these unique works on the blockchain. The DigitalBits blockchain offers an alternative to the high carbon emissions involved in proof-of-work blockchains like Ethereum.

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

The tipping point that led to the creation of DigitalBits was recognizing the revolutionary nature of blockchain technology, including its security and accounting attributes. Zytara began as a vision for a platform that would leverage blockchain technology for digital banking. We later discovered a particular need for digital banking solutions in e-sports and gaming (I have my son to thank for exposing me to the gaming universe). There are a lot of real, unsolved banking problems in that world that Zytara could provide solutions to. Interestingly, the coronavirus pandemic actually resulted in enormous growth in interest because of the increased demand for digital banking solutions.

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

One thing that is not focused on enough, in my view, in the crypto economy, is the need for fast, cost-efficient, and secure microtransactions. If a blockchain cannot support affordable microtransactions, it will never achieve mass adoption. Paying a $50 gas fee on Ethereum to mint a five-figure NFT is one thing, but what about NFTs for a $5 product promotion? Or a micro-reward given in exchange for following a social media account? Transaction fees need to be a fraction of a penny in order to make sense in the digital universe.

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

We have worked with some incredible partners on NFT collections, including Dole Foods & “The Hungry Artist” David Datuna, legendary boxer Floyd Mayweather, and popular Latin Music recording artist Ozuna & French sculptor Richard Orlinski. These unique collections showcase how NFTs can be leveraged to support brands and influencers in deepening engagement with fans. Most recently, AS Roma and Zytara Labs announced that the companies signed a €36M ($42.5M), three-year exclusive product partnership agreement, with support from the DigitalBits Foundation. This partnership further cements AS Roma’s commitment to technological advancement and will provide innovative and unique opportunities to AS Roma fans around the world.

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 grew up on a farm and can attribute so much of who I am to my parents and how they raised me to be disciplined and to appreciate hard work. These are key things for having success in building a company. Without discipline and a good work ethic, it’s impossible to keep a company going with only a few month’s worth of capital. I’ve met a number of incredible people along the way, but it began with the foundation provided by my parents.

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

The future of finance should be more inclusive and provide services that people need in this increasingly digital world. I’m doing my part to make that vision a reality through my work with Zytara, which provides digital banking services for the future today.

What are your “3 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)

1. You can build amazing technology, but it isn’t a product unless someone uses it. Until you establish product-market fit, you don’t have a product. Writing great code isn’t enough. You need to listen to potential users and meet their needs.
2. Work/life balance of being an entrepreneur is difficult to achieve. Being a founder and building a company can be a brutal journey. It has a big impact and it’s very challenging to find that balance. Think through ways to get ahead of that reality rather than being reactive. This ties back to the importance of a great team. If you trust your team, you can have a better work/life balance.
3. Tools to enhance productivity are invaluable. With Zytara, we’ve taken advantage of that. In my previous startup experiences, I wish I had had the observation of the quantifiable difference that leveraging all these SaaS tools can make in enhancing productivity in and outside of work.

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. 🙂

Bitcoin itself created a movement, but there is still a gap that exists when it comes to bringing this technology to the mainstream. We’ve seen eras of blockchain technology’s evolution — from the proliferation of tokens, to stablecoins, to NFTs today — but there is currently a big, open opportunity for a movement to bring the next phase of adoption to blockchain technology. A lot of what we are doing with Zytara is positioning ourselves to support people in entering this realm through NFTs, where NFTs represent a new mode of communication between a brand/personality and their audience.

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

Steve Jobs often references this quote attributed to Wayne Gretzky, the famed former Canadian professional hockey player: “A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.” It applies to entrepreneurship in that success is dependent on being future-thinking.

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 🙂

Zytara Labs develops innovative products and platforms that leverage blockchain protocols, such as DigitalBits and Ethereum. The company is also a full-service production company and studio that supports professional athletes, musical artists, actors, gamers, sports teams and other brands with the creation, sales, and marketing of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Zytara Labs is a wholly owned subsidiary of Zytara Inc., the fintech company building the digital financial institution of tomorrow.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

To stay up-to-date on our latest developments, visit our website: https://www.zytara.com/

And follow us on social media:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/zytarahq
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zytara
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/zytara/

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

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

The Future Is Now: Rokas Medonis of carVertical On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene

An Interview with Fotis Georgiadis

I truly believe that in this era, we have too much optimism. Unfortunately, too much optimism brings false expectations for reality, and this brings despair for the people. When a negative outcome comes from the stuff you expect to be good, the result won’t be good.

As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs I had the pleasure of interviewing Rokas Medonis.

Rokas Medonis is the CEO of carVertical, a blockchain car history registry that has launched in 25 markets and is growing. Working as a head of marketing and business development, a specialist in brand development and protection during his career, Medonis became a digital marketing specialist with a background in conversion optimization, PPC, A/B, and multivariate testing, bringing measurable ROI and data-driven decisions, which, additionally, gained him valuable project management and project leading skills. He’s also a board member in the privately held venture capital fund Startup Highway.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

After high school, I started my career path as a photojournalist. In 2009 my colleague and I had created and launched a photo news agency in the Baltics. We took our market share quite fast. This was a turning point when I decided to stop being a newsboy (I was a very decent photographer) and shift to IT projects. Job after job, and I became CMO at the big dating site. In 2015 I decided to go into max risks and try to start-up businesses by myself.

Many failures later, I’ve ended as CEO at carVertical, an IT data company that creates products from historical car data. We are scaling quite fast. At the moment, 70 people are working at the company. We are covering 25 markets and expecting 16mil EUR revenue in 2021.

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

I am telling as a joke that my superpower is going into turmoils and using fundamental human traits to start everything from scratch.

In high school, my dream was to become a photo news photographer. That was the only path I saw for my life. Personally, it’s a fantastic story of how I’ve shifted from the locked and clear career path and entered the IT business world.

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

Fundamentally people are cheaters. They were cheating in all epochs in all possible fields.

When a car loses the warranty that the manufacturer provided, it starts losing data on itself. As a result, dark spots of its history begin to appear. And car resellers use those dark sports to leverage the price to their side by doing some dirty work — clocking odometers, hiding accidents, or doing other dirty jobs. In other words, used car sellers and resellers are often cheating.

CarVertical technology gathers all possible data on used cars and tries to cover all those dark spots. Also, we are implementing machine learning on our data to analyze it. Our goal is to beat the cheating seller out, protect used vehicle buyers from fraud, and provide them with a bargaining chip.

How do you think this might change the world?

We genuinely believe that our products will lower the rate of cheating in the second-hand car market in the long term. It would be perfect to become a tool for cheating prevention. When the car seller knows that the buyer will check the car via carVertical — he will think twice before cheating.

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

Maybe history will prove differently, but I do not see any Black Mirrorish stuff in our technology.

We are not creating data. We are gathering it and analyzing it.

Last decade all the business verticals were using hot keyword big data. But no one can understand big data without an interpreter. We are the interpreter of data for an end-user.

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

We did not invent such a type of product. There were few older products in the European market. But the problem is that those companies looked at their products as cash cows: no innovation, no proper technology used, no brand, no marketing.

I encountered such a type of product for the first time in 2012. And I was outraged why those guys did not make a good IT data company on that topic. Just a low-quality pdf printout with generic data on cars.

After five years, I have gathered founders and started re-inventing this product and building a proper data company.

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

In general, we have reached all the limits in digital marketing for our product. We understood that none of our competitors did market formation. They did not work on the need for such a type of product. As a result, users do not know a product that can help take bargaining leverage to their hands.

In all our main markets, we have taken a step from digital marketing and entered the costly mixed media such as TV and radio. And it works for us. We see how the market size is getting bigger and bigger. So the only thing we need is time.

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

We are building a non-conformist brand for a data product. Data is boring in general. It’s tough to build a brand on boring stuff.

I think our most vital part is that we do not have a single marketing approach. No pants that fit all sizes. We take different methods for different target groups and even genders. This era is offering an excellent opportunity to reach your clients with unique messages on various channels.

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 am grateful for three other carVertical co founders. Without first, we would not have the technology. Without a second, we wouldn’t know how to get data. Without constant pushing, we would be growing slower.

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

By proving that, market rules that were considered as default — can be changed.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)

When starting a business, always put some of your money into it. Your mindset will change how you spend it.

When the company starts scaling, let yourself lose full control of product and business and let people you hire take responsibility. It’s tough, I know.

As a person — you never will be an “end product”. I always thought that after thirty, I would never change as a person.

I always thought that a stronger specialist is that one who has put plenty of time into one and single topic. Nope. Stronger is that one who knows how to react and adapt by using fundamental human traits of his.

If you cannot think of a new and unique product, you are not for the business. Nope. The era of unique social networks and marketplaces ended in the last decade. Now is the age to take the product idea from the dinosaur business and reinvent it.

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

I truly believe that in this era, we have too much optimism. Unfortunately, too much optimism brings false expectations for reality, and this brings despair for the people. When a negative outcome comes from the stuff you expect to be good, the result won’t be good.

I am a nihilist to the core. I think that nihilism provides you a rational and objective grip on reality.

I want to spread nihilism among business people :))

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

“Regret nothing”. This is my motto from school days, and it always helps me not to stick to the failures and move fast to new endeavors.

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.

When a VC approaches me, my one-liner is, “We do not need external investment since we move forward from our profits”.

It always grabs their attention. I know this because I was working at VC 😛

How can our readers follow you on social media?

You can follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rokasmedonis/

A few years ago, I changed my FB profile from public to personal. It is because I do not have enough narcissism anymore to put effort and time into public posts.

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

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

The Future Is Now: Thomas Franklin of Triangle IP On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene

An Interview with Fotis Georgiadis

If you’re focusing on solving tough problems, problems that seem crazy (like predicting the future and what patents will be issued), people may call you crazy. But, if you reach for the stars, metaphorically, eventually you will catch one. Many think lofty goals are unachievable and continue along an uninspired path. That complacency is a road to mediocrity. Sometimes when you reach for the stars, you can’t quite get a hand on them. But in trying you become your better self. So you should never get discouraged.

As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs I had the pleasure of interviewing Thomas Franklin.

Thomas Franklin, a senior partner at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton and founder of Triangle IP (“TIP”). Over the years he has worked with numerous Fortune 500 tech companies in crafting their patent strategy. He has built a deep first-hand understanding in the areas of Deep Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, and Internet Technologies. He is an IAM 300 strategist and has been recognized by Super Lawyers annually since 2014. He also won ‘The Best Lawyers in America’, 2016 Client Choice Award USA. He was also recognized as the best IP Non-Litigator in the Annual Barrister’s Best list 2020. He is a regular speaker and contributor to websites like IPWatchdog, Cloudtweaks, Hackernoon, and many more showcasing his IP expertise.

“I have more success than I ever aspired for. Now, I want to share what I know to help other people succeed. That’s what drives me everyday. That’s the change I want for everyone. And the best piece of advice I have for you — Open your mind to the seemingly ridiculous.”

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

‘This career path’, I will define as building software to democratize the patent process — the TIP tool by Triangle IP. In our legal practice, we do several things that help companies track and manage their innovation capture. One of them is to create a list of various innovations underlying the products that their innovators have invented. Some clients started tracking those lists on their own and developing their internal process using generic collaboration tools with my guidance. After recreating this effort for many clients, we were surprised at how helpful it was in achieving enterprise goals. This prompted us to build a best-in-class idea manager — a key component of the TIP tool that provides collaborative innovation capture, a pipeline to track the process, and tracking after filing with world-class analytics and AI insights.

As a patent attorney, I help my clients with strategic protection of their key innovations. It has anchored a very successful legal services practice. But not every startup or SME can afford to have a partner at a large firm facilitate their innovation capture & management process. The genesis of Triangle IP was to integrate those insights and best practices into a simple tool to virtually facilitate innovation capture for patenting. What we wanted was to democratize that process with a free tool that required no special training or expertise.

Even today, many enterprises that desperately need IP protection are unaware of the steps required when securing a patent. However, the fact is, if you are not patenting your ideas, you are giving them away. Competitors love naive competitors because they can freely steal their unprotected ideas. Unfortunately many companies, especially SMEs lack the sophistication and determination to protect their ideas. We wanted to change that and help everyone go about protecting their inventions without paying for legal supervision of the process.

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

I don’t recall a story in particular, however, a lesson from one of my mentors on empathy brought a remarkable change in my career. By understanding the power of empathy it accelerated my track as a rainmaker.

Being empathetic is what has worked for my business. I think as we go through life, we focus on things that can close out the world around us. So my mentor took the time to explain how had a successful business that he sold. The people that bought it ran it into the ground. Subsequently, he bought it back for pennies on the dollar. And the second time around as he was rebuilding his failed company he got involved in rebuilding sales often from disenchanted customers. And this time, he drove sales by being empathetic.

This is what he told me — You can’t sell something unless you internalize your customer’s problems. And if you have a preconceived notion of what that might be, you’re likely wrong. Sometimes what’s motivating the interest isn’t the service or product you’re providing. Sometimes it’s fear, sometimes it’s opportunity, sometimes it’s a hedge against something happening. And sometimes they haven’t even organized their thoughts on the subject. And if you don’t have your ears open you will never know how to see it from their perspective. Try to walk in their shoes as you’re working with your client because otherwise, you’re going to miss the real issues.

Sales is all about understanding the problem and underlying motivations from the perspective of your customer. Frame that concern as an opportunity for your business. And if you cannot figure out what the problem is, you certainly can’t propose the right solution.

When I first heard that advice it really did make a lot of sense to me at the time but then, for the next several years it sank in. Empathy became my starting point when solving client problems. Now, I don’t have a call with a customer or a prospect without trying to think what’s going on in their world. And you know sometimes what’s going on is not exactly tethered to reality but that’s okay. Your customer is entitled to approach it emotionally without a clear understanding of the legal issues. Sometimes there isn’t really even a product or service to be sold in those circumstances. It’s just a little bit of a listening ear with hand holding and reassurance. Nonetheless, those are the moments where you build up your relationship. So when there is the opportunity to provide the product or service that you offer, it’s going to be much more likely to be well received. Having an empathetic approach is what helps you keep customers and make new ones.

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

When you’re innovating in a particular space, you’re excited about certain technologies. The pertinent question to ask is are you alone in thinking about that exciting technology or are there others? The answer to that question will affect your patent strategy.

When there is buzz around the same technology, everyone is going to want to file patents. So it becomes a race to the patent office. Hurry!

One of the innovations we are working on is using AI to gather signals from many different sources to figure out what’s hot in the patent space at the moment. This currently is a blind spot because patents don’t publish for 18 months. After that blackout, it’s easy to track trends or data. But the advantage lies in knowing earlier. This technology correlates to other sources that talk about what is going on in the technology world — blogs, technical articles, twitter, web search traffic. This is a great way to gain insight into what innovators are thinking about. And if it comes up as a trend, you have to act quickly. For example, blockchain technology has evolved in waves. The first was in 2016. And then again in 2018 when Bitcoin value popped. Late in 202, when crypto boomed again, there was another blockchain patent wave. Those are the sort of signals the AI we are developing picks up to tell you when delay is especially dangerous. Days or hours matter when there is technology buzz.

A hot area is a really tough place to remain out front because others will invest money to accelerate capture of white space. But the people who get in front of that wave are the people that will reap the biggest patent rewards.

How do you think this might change the world?

Imagine a world where innovation is even faster than it is today. Imagine businesses always being ahead of the curve with research funding matching the hype. With the technology we are developing, what you’re imagining will be reality.

This will become a world where everyone is a visionary or trendsetter, where no one is ever late to a party. The patent party.

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

Triangle IP took time to develop and is still evolving. But we are hoping that it redefines the TIPping point for the process of innovation. As a patent attorney, you’re usually waiting for the next email or phone call delivering new business. The idea for TIP came from our interactions with our clients. When you keep people thinking of IP, they get into the rhythm of protecting their patents. Usually, people get so busy in their routines, IP can be pushed to the backburner. Until a problem or threat arises and folks ask what’s happening before scrambling to file patents. This is often a competitor copying features, investor diligence, board direction, or a patent suit.

The tipping point or epiphany underlying TIP was that if enterprises can make protecting innovation part of their normal process that innovators follow, more patent ideas are captured. This provides an abundance of things a business could protect instead of being forced to make reactionary choices that can be too late. Patents just don’t happen in a frantic business world without a clear workflow in software to push along the process.

There are many companies that have great technology that is instantly ripped off. It happens with Kickstarter all the time, when campaigns are run for funding. By the time the product is produced with the help of the campaign, there are already knock offs capturing the market. This takes the wind out of a fledgling company’s sails. It would help if a company could have some seed funding to file patents before embarking on a Kickstarter campaign. So by the time it’s done with developing the idea and is manufacturing products, it might even have issued patents because they’ve been fast tracked. That way it staves off the fast followers to capture early first mover profits that are required to build out a start-up with their breakthrough innovation.

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

Big data. Lots of data. To gather very weak signals and co-relate them to discover the unknown. In the time between now and 18 months hence (when patents will be published and data will be easily available), unorthodox data is what we need for deep learning.

We have an AI backed algorithm in place. And to run it long enough for it to predict successfully, we need many different data sources. The results it produces will be checked against reality a few months later to improve the algorithm more and more over time.

Right now, we don’t know what data is the right data to have. But a learning algorithm that is giving wrong answers is worthless. We are building an algorithm that will be a soothsayer, almost, predicting the future. It’s a very difficult thing to do, but we believe it’s eminently determinable. The algorithms that we developed are already patented. It’s just a matter of building the AI and getting enough data to feed it. We can then provide a really simple identification of an innovation cycle that tells you where you need to fast track your patent filing. For a innovative enterprise, that is invaluable.

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 seek out wisdom wherever I can find it. Sometimes, it’s in the most unassuming ways. But your mind must be open to this. We get busy. Some encounters are missed because we might think they might not bestow us wisdom. Just last week, I had several from whom I learnt something even though one might easily ignore such encounters. There’s insight everywhere around us. There are so many people I am thankful for, but your ears have to be open. Every single day there is someone around who has an epiphany if you listen hard enough.

What so many people do is build echo chambers. They let ego or status get in the way by creating a protective bubble around them. And they are starving themselves from that thing that we need the most, which is a bunch of input from different people. I’ve had conversations with people that no one would even talk to and it’s been some of the most mind blowing conversations. I don’t have a particular answer but it’s all around you. If you don’t embrace it, if you don’t draw in those opinions, you will not be able to succeed in a way that somebody with an open mind that embraces different opinions and different ways of thinking can do. That’s why diversity is such a powerful thing as yourself up to cognitive- and neuro-diversity.

I was recently interacting with someone who was really difficult and I said, yeah, this person was really difficult but here’s what I found out from them. The people who are easy to interact with have a way of sheilding you from insight. Yes, it’s pleasant, no one is offended. But this particular individual was blunt in an almost offensive way. Sometimes you need someone to say the emperor has no clothes. Only by having those moments and welcomining different opinions can you encounter those insights. I learn from people all the time. Sometimes it’s a child, sometimes it’s someone who we have a brief encounter with during our day. I had a long conversation with a bus driver that was emptied out by COVID. And that conversation with her had me thinking all day from a different perspective. And if I were to have a list of people who have been influential, I would have a list of five people each week who most would normally walk right past.

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

Denver was where me and my wife decided we wanted to raise our family. We had met in Southern California but we chose Denver for building my career. Unfortunately, it was a fly-over state when it came to IP. When the patent office would do training or engagement in the community very rarely would they stop here. They’d go down to Silicon Valley or Chicago or the big cities. So a friend of mine was thinking about this issue and asked about why we can’t have our own patent office in Denver. Initially, I thought it was a crazy idea (as did all my colleagues). But we started working on it.

It was almost a decade of persistent effort, with a little luck that led to circumstances and politics aligning. Today, there’s 5 patent offices in the US and Denver has one of them. Probably one of the better ones. And it’s really changed the IP landscape. Every firm wants to have an office in Denver so there’s a lot more opportunity for people. We are no longer a flyover state, we certainly have more engagement from the patent and trademark office and other stakeholders.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)

One — Chase the crazy ideas. Complacency is the road to mediocrity.

If you’re focusing on solving tough problems, problems that seem crazy (like predicting the future and what patents will be issued), people may call you crazy. But, if you reach for the stars, metaphorically, eventually you will catch one. Many think lofty goals are unachievable and continue along an uninspired path. That complacency is a road to mediocrity. Sometimes when you reach for the stars, you can’t quite get a hand on them. But in trying you become your better self. So you should never get discouraged. More than a few times in my career, people have told me “That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard!” I was openly mocked when I started this effort to expand the patent office outside DC. I was scoffed at, laughed at by my partners. What do you know? Denver has a patent office now. It took me 10 years of trying through 2 administrations, a lot of trips to DC, with countless meetings with politicians, But what do you know? We have a patent office in Denver. People thought it was absolutely crazy because the US always had a single patent office. But the stars aligned and only by reaching for them could it happen.

Two — Seek out things that are unpredictable.

Embrace change. As humans, we fall into patterns and routines. But that path has little to inspire more. Once it’s gotten routine, you’re on the way to being replaced by something, someone or even a machine. So seek out those things that are unpredictable and chaotic to figure out. By seeking out those challenges, you will find that you are doing much more valuable work. I went from legal services to developing software. People thought it was crazy. But I have always been proactive with my clients in looking for more ways to engage them in the patent process. With deep learning and AI, there are many answers in the data that even the best patent attorney cannot provide. My current passion is democratizing that knowledge through inexpensive software.

Three — Show up. Swing that pick to strike gold.

This was a piece of advice that I got early in my career. Half the job was just showing up for work. So many people just don’t show up engaged, ready to go, thinking about their clients’ problems and how to make a difference. They get complacent. Showing up for work day in and day out, working hard, relentlessly, pursuing your profession is how you get things done. It can be frustrating because it doesn’t happen fast. When you’re young, you want things to happen quickly, you want an amazing career and you want it now. It doesn’t often happen on your timeline. What you need to do is show up for work and swing that pick and one day you will hit gold. But if you do not swing that pick, you will never strike it rich. Many people feel it’s hard to find a pick and swing it. So they just sit around thinking about gold landing in their laps. But, it never does. You have to get out there, you have to swing that pick. Only by showing up to work, sincerely engaging in what you do best are you going to get that golden windfall of wealth. You don’t have to be the smartest person on earth. You don’t have to be incredibly lucky. If you’re working in a profession where success is possible, if you’re working hard, you are much more likely to enjoy that success. If you’re in a profession that has less opportunity, it may be tougher, but working diligently at something you love doing is a path that finds rewards. Success and affluence have this tendency to make one complacent very quickly. In the US, we have an epidemic of affluenza so we forget to focus on the things that matter. If you get caught up in those distractions your thoughts and passion will be elsewhere such that you’re not showing up to work and you’re not swinging that pick.

Four — Build up relationships

Relationships are the things that transcend the many jobs and other passions you pursue on your path to career success. It’s tough when you’re really busy. Today, I worked on getting a couple of baseball tickets for a contact. This guy, he’d done me a favor by referring me to his best client. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a call from that prospective client this time. But I still found those baseball tickets because he’s working at a company from where he can influence work to come my way. He did me a favor and I reciprocated with a favor of my own. It took me 20 minutes to figure out which tickets he wanted and how to get the tickets to him. I had a busy day, and it took a bit for me to find the time to figure this out. But I did.

Those little favours, the little thoughtful interactions you have with folks nurtures your network. What happens more often than not is you focus on other things, you’re working really hard in your profession to become a partner, let’s say. When you do, you reach out to contacts you haven’t spoken to in years and their reaction is always — where have you been? So keep that network of people you know alive. When someone does you a favor, always reciprocate. You never know what can happen. It’s a small world . . . a very very small world in your chosen profession. The people that help you out, you help them out. And sometimes nothing comes out of it, but other times, you do the smallest act of kindness, it leads to your biggest business opportunity. So invest in your network, sincerely engage in it.

The thing is, you never really have time to do someone a favor. But when you do, you will benefit. That’s certainty, that’s the truth.

Five — Sincerity

Be sincere and do things for the right reasons. Do something for your client because it’s good for them, not because it’s good for you. You’re posed with certain difficult situations sometimes. Right now, we have a client, who we gave some bad advice to — an error of judgment. They would probably never know or uncover it. But we probably spent $100,000 dollars in effort that didn’t really need to be done. I spoke to a couple of my colleagues about what to do. One said, just don’t tell them. The other one said you tell them right away and tell them you are going to reverse those invoices. And as difficult as that might be, you’re going to end up with a stronger relationship. We are going to own the error and refund them appropriately.

So be sincere and adopt your customers’ problems as your own. This particular client has had some tough budgeting issues. So imagine how much relief it will be for them, when I tell them that we have decided to reverse those charges. They’re going to be super happy because it helps them with the budget. They may be mad about us making a mistake but at the end of the day, it nurtures a very long term relationship and they will remember that you helped them out.

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 movement would be to get business schools to focus more on intellectual property. Much of the curriculum today is about tangible assets, but in the information age, the knowledge economy has its underpinnings in intellectual property. Yet, most business schools are preparing executives for the industrial revolution. I would like to change that attitude to focus curricula toward gathering and protecting intellectual capital through use of IP. Education and the way to push business to evolve with the times. And that, I think, will bring a great amount of wealth creation to enterprise.

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

“I reject your reality and insert my own.”

I heard it on Mythbusters — a show about Hollywood techies who use their stun making talent to dispel urban legends and other misperceptions. Most of us live in a cage of our own making. We might have a self imposed health issue, stuck in a job we don’t like, be in a bad relationship or have a bad lifestyle. I was prediabetic. So, I shed 50 pounds by changing my lifestyle to avoid an ever escalating number of prescriptions to maintain my health. I rejected the cage I found myself in and inserted my own reality. Think of what you want to be and just make it happen. Most things are within our power. When the pandemic first hit us, most of us thought it to be the end of the world. I chose to reject that reality. I found a way to get into one of the vaccine trials. And once I was fully vaccinated, I chose to travel the world. It proved to be the best strategy. Airfares couldn’t be cheaper, hotels were offering discounts and I could work from anywhere. There are some situations that are impossible. But more often than not there is a way out of that box. The secret is that you have to want to find a way out of your cage.

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 🙂

Everybody knows IP is important, but find it bewildering. So very few people fully leverage it despite knowing it is necessary for success. So what if you had a way that everyone could understand the patent process in your organization? You would have more engagement to achieve your patent goals.

A few decades ago, the stock market was so difficult to engage in. You were forced to a broker and say, I want to invest in stock or I need some advice. It was also a very confusing process that only licensed specialists could engage with despite great demand to invest in the stock market. Today, you can download an app and can trade stocks yourself in ten minutes. What’s happened is that there’s been a huge democratization. It’s something we all knew that we had to save for the future using the stock market. We knew we needed to invest in the stock market. The way I think about it is there’s kind of this epiphany like with AOL getting everyone online. The Internet was incomprehensible when I was coming out of college outside of a few super geeks like me. I remember a few of us started a side project to get one of the first internet connections outside of a university or lab in the early nineties. For the first time, my colleague bragged about sending an email when our email server connected periodically and was downloading long enough to see a response a couple minutes later. This was in a world that was still impressed with the fax machine. A few years after this, AOL made the Internet so simple and ubiquitous that Grandma could send email too. Before AOL, at most 5% of people could figure out how to get ont Internet. But by putting CDs everywhere, and having a very friendly interface, AOL brought it to the masses.

We see this explosion of adoption revolutionizing many industries — the internet, the stock market, smartphones, etc. So I think democratising this thing that everybody wants and everybody knows they need in business — patents is just around the corner, It’s the sort of thing where we could see patent engagement grow ten or twenty fold to let any innovator protect their patents without the difficulty there is today. Imagine a teenager downloading an app and with no training having their innovation patented.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomfranklin/

Twitter — https://twitter.com/TD_Franklin

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

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The Future Is Now: Thomas Franklin of Triangle IP On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Rising Through Resilience: Jennifer S Heslop of JSH Coaching On The Five Things You Can Do To Become More Resilient

An Interview with Fotis Georgiadis

Be flexible– bend, don’t break. It begins with a deep belief that there is a way through, that there is a “light” at the end of the tunnel, that the outcome may not be as you imagined but could possibly be even better.

In this interview series, we are exploring the subject of resilience among successful leaders. Resilience is one characteristic that many successful leaders share in common, and in many cases, it is the most important trait necessary to survive and thrive in today’s complex market.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Leadership Life Coach Jennifer S. Heslop.

Leadership Coach Jennifer Heslop helps leaders strengthen themselves and their businesses by creating a safe and encouraging environment where they overcome emotional uncertainties to master their business and personal challenges.

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?

I am the daughter of 2 artistic parents from the Caribbean. My mother, a Trinidadian, was a dancer and my father, a Jamaican, was a singer when they met in Europe. I was born in Germany and lived in a few countries, always surrounded by creative, artistic people. We had moved to my mother’s birthplace, and when it became time to think about colleges my mom asked where I wanted to go. I said America, because my favorite cousin lived here. So I moved to New York City and did my last year of high school, graduated and went on to college.

My career experience has been a mix of freelancing and entrepreneurial pursuits, including working in radio, TV, at record labels and music clubs, becoming an amateur wedding photographer and starting my own PR company. One of my jobs was as a career advisor at a trade school and that put me on the course to really claiming my role as a Leadership Coach. It was here that I really began connecting with people on a deeper level, guiding and supporting them, not only through school and their career, but who they were and who they wanted to become.

While at the school, I founded motivateArt, a creative consulting agency focused on providing support for Artists. Looking back, I was always trying to combine the various business skills I had with the mentoring and coaching skills that are innate to me.

Fast forward, I moved to Miami 4 years ago and initially focused on finding my way in the arts industry here but because I’ve always stayed open to letting the opportunities guide me, I am now a Leadership Coach under my own company working with some of South Florida’s Non Profit Leaders.

Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

Most of my career was full of serendipitous moments that I just flowed with, landing positions that I wasn’t seeking.`TV Production manager, live music club PR, radio production are some of the positions I held. I wasn’t wandering through my career but I never had a strategy or plan in place. I was never looking for a specific outcome so I enjoyed the roles I held but didn’t take advantage of them or intentionally leverage them. As you get older you start respecting time a little more:) so I have become a much more conscientious participant in my career trajectory. I plan more, I set goals with timelines more, and I’m more self aware, facing my weaknesses and addressing them.

I was offered opportunities that I had no experience for and because I had no plan or goal, I even turned down opportunities because they required me to assume roles I never imagined for myself. At one of the radio stations I worked at, the program director came to me and asked whether I was interested in being on-air. At that time I was an intern. No program director of any radio station goes to an intern and asks if they’re interested in one of the most coveted roles on radio. I said no. It was just not anything I ever thought of doing. Now I look back, I recognize that sometimes people see in you what you never imagined and that maybe sometimes you’re supposed to say yes and just be guided somewhere new.

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

My leadership coaching style is holistic and I’m also an empath which essentially means I hold space for all aspects of my clients’ lives, including their personal lives, health and environment. Some of my clients are super goal focused and want an accountability partner and a kick in the ass, so they tend to try to separate or compartmentalize aspects of themselves when coming to a coaching session but most of the time, I can feel their lack of energy or shifts in energy. If allowed, I’m going to ask about that. My intention is only to hold a mirror up to my client by acknowledging them wholly.

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 a little poetic about that. I believe every person that is in my life has impacted my life, whether negatively or positively. I am here because of the experiences and relationships I’ve grown in. But my mother has been and remains the person that takes all of the credit. Everything she has done for me throughout my life has impacted how I see myself and my inner awareness and confidence but it’s her always telling me “hold your head up”, “when you shake someone’s hand, be firm and look them in their eyes”, “no one is better than you” and the one saying that I move with in every second of the day- “and Jennie don’t forget who you are”. I say the same words to my daughter as I watch her growing into who she’s going to be. I’m forever grateful for my mother.

Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. We would like to explore and flesh out the trait of resilience. How would you define resilience? What do you believe are the characteristics or traits of resilient people?

I define resilience as the ability to withstand. The ability to bend but not break. “The wind does not break the tree that bends” — Tanzanian proverb. This quote speaks to the flexibility necessary to be that type of person.

Resilient people accept the ebb and flow, the ups and downs of life. That life includes success and failure, birth and death (literally and figuratively) and even though in accepting that inevitability you will be tested in all ways, it’s just part of this living thing. I define that also as having grace.

A resilient person does not have a “victim mentality’’. Sometimes we think life is happening to us, instead of just happening and that type of mentality nurtures a defeatist attitude. You must accept that the journey is absolutely unpredictable. All the time. Once you can get to that place of acceptance, then you learn very quickly how to find solutions while mastering yourself and your responses to challenges.

Even though resilience requires a level of flexibility and acceptance it also requires preparedness as well. You must be willing to learn from your experiences. It’s one thing to be able to withstand challenges but you also must be able to really assess the challenge and what it took to overcome it and build upon that. That level of discernment is necessary to be able to withstand the next challenge.

When you think of resilience, which person comes to mind? Can you explain why you chose that person?

There are many people I admire who exhibit resilience but Boxer Mike Tyson comes to mind. Tyson has experienced a lot of the highs and lows of life publicly- great wealth, infamy, deaths, divorce, financial loss, celebrity, prison. He seems to have met all of his nine lives, evolving in unexpected ways but most of all, he appears self reflective and brutally honest and accepting about his past and his present.

Has there ever been a time that someone told you something was impossible, but you did it anyway? Can you share the story with us?

Oh, that has happened many times in my life. I remember I started as an intern at NYC radio stations WBLS/WLIB and then began working in the research department. One day I walked past the studio where shows were being done live and there was a female board operator there who I told I was interested in learning how to run the board. She became my mentor. Anyways, soon after I was offered the opportunity to run one of the weekend night shows on WBLS. WBLS is a FM station that was very popular in NYC. To run that show with as little experience as I had? Big big deal. My mentor told me I wasn’t ready. I ignored her, did the show and subsequently worked and traveled abroad as a board operator, for both WBLS and WLIB for 5 years.

A more profound experience was being told I would never have a child. I was an older mother, with PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) which means that infertility rates in women like me are high. I was told by a doctor, without having run any tests on me, but only hearing my age and my pcos diagnosis that “the train has left the station” and I would probably need IVF. I became pregnant 3 times after that prognosis. As I was having my second miscarriage at the hospital, a doctor told me that I should give up because of my age and the pcos, literally as I was miscarrying. Shortly after, I became pregnant again, naturally, with my daughter, who is now 7.

Did you have a time in your life where you had one of your greatest setbacks, but you bounced back from it stronger than ever? Can you share that story with us?

Like many, I’ve had financial setbacks, been unemployed for long periods but I’ve been blessed that I’ve always found a way through, around and out of those situations, always with the support of wonderful family and friends.

Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resiliency? Can you share a story?

My parents and I lived in a few different countries including in Europe, the Caribbean and the US, which influenced who I am in so many ways. Even though I was a child, I was acutely aware of the newness of places and having to learn new people and them learn me. When you’re a child, it’s very rare that you get to have an opinion about what the adults, your parents, are doing. Not only did we live in several countries but we also moved many times in some of the countries. I guess I was forced to become flexible. As I got older, I was allowed to be privy to the plans to move but by then my ability to absorb and attune myself to new environments, people, cultures etc. was much stronger.

Resilience is like a muscle that can be strengthened. In your opinion, what are 5 steps that someone can take to become more resilient? Please share a story or an example for each.

Being resilient takes a certain mindset. The mindset includes being willing to

1. Be flexible– bend, don’t break. It begins with a deep belief that there is a way through, that there is a “light” at the end of the tunnel, that the outcome may not be as you imagined but could possibly be even better.
2. Be accountable– you must be able to look at challenges clearly without blaming anyone or any other circumstance. How you resolve a challenge is on you. No one else.
3. Be accepting- Facing the reality of a situation, no matter how scary, allows you to find solutions quicker.
4. Develop your self awareness– have a clear sense of your own potential, your strengths, weaknesses as well as your ability to withstand and to achieve.
5. Cultivate a support system– no matter how resilient you become, there will be moments of doubt or exhaustion. Your support system should be there to remind you of your attributes, provide guidance when needed and offer an ear when you need to vent or talk things through. Your support system should also encourage the best for you and of you.

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. 🙂

Currently, we live under and depend on a monetary system that also needs additional systems to be created for us to adhere to the system for it to work. We believe that the paper in our hands has value and we work to get more paper, die if we don’t have enough paper, can’t get healthcare without it, become homeless without it. The value of the paper shifts daily and with no effort or input by the civilians living under this system.

I would love to begin a community where we barter everything. Money as we know it could still exist but if money isn’t available to exchange we could place value on another thing, service, skill that someone is willing to exchange. It’s almost too simplistic to imagine it could work:)

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

Russell Brand! I think he’s eccentric and wildly thoughtful, I absolutely love that about him. Like Mike Tyson, he is expressive about his childhood experiences, his addictions and now he is sharing his self awareness about his spiritual evolving. When you watch his video podcasts, he speaks fast, like his words spill out of his mouth at the speed that his mind thinks it, deducing and extrapolating, from social issues to human behaviors. He invites learned guests and I enjoy watching his openness to taking in new information and questioning. He is a “power to the people” type of man and the rebel in me respects his way of living out loud and on his own terms.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Website- www.JenniferHeslop.com

Linkedin-https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferheslopmia/

IG-@jennifer_s_heslop

Amazon link to Damn It! I Don’t Want To Planner- https://www.amazon.com/Damn-Dont-Want-Bullsh-t-Organizational/dp/B08R15HGLR/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Damn+It+%21I+don%27t+want+to%21&qid=1626874029&s=books&sr=1-1

Shortened link to Damn It! I Don’t Want To Planner- https://bit.ly/DamnItTheWorkbook

Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/JenniferSHeslop

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

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Rising Through Resilience: Jennifer S Heslop of JSH Coaching On The Five Things You Can Do To… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview with Fotis Georgiadis

Passion for customer service. Hosts who have a deep and profound concern for a guest’s experience do far greater than those who don’t. It’s the little things that count, and hosts with customer service know-how find those little touches. Perhaps it’s finding a local restaurant a guest may have overlooked, making sure there is a chilled bottle of wine waiting, or thinking ahead for cozy outdoor blankets, there are a million ways to find moments of delight for your guests. Hosts who are just in it for the money have a much rougher time (and much lower reviews) than those who are there to help out a fellow Airbnb community member.

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 Kate Shaw Co-Founder of RETREAT.

Kate Shaw built an incredible digital marketing career, rising to the rank of Director of Marketing in 2018, when she decided she hated it. Inspired by the passing of her best friend, Kate quit the corporate life she hated and began operating Airbnbs, now running seven properties via her Airbnb management company, Riley Properties. Alongside fellow entrepreneur and best friend, Betsy Moyer, Kate launched Retreat Design and Consulting, offering a one-stop-shop service to current and prospective short-term rental property hosts in the Joshua Tree area. Retreat provides all services ranging from real estate consultation to contracting for renovations and shopping for furniture. Kate holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology/ Communications from the University of California Davis.

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”?

Without knowing it, my entire life history was leading me to this. My father is a construction worker, I had 11 years of experience in branding and marketing, and my best friend sparked a passion for interior design in me. In 2018 one of my closest friends passed away at a very young age from Stage IV breast cancer. Realizing I had my priorities in life all wrong, I realized I needed to change my life in a way that allowed me to spend more time with loved ones as well as positively impact the world around me.

What led you to first start becoming an Airbnb host?

Pure fate! In 2016 I moved to a new city that had cheaper rent than I was used to. So, I decided to get a 2 bedroom apartment two blocks off the beach. A colleague at my new job suggested I put my spare bedroom on Airbnb and host occasional travelers. Little did I know, my ratty Ikea pull-out couch bed would spark such interest in the Airbnb community! I was booked fully within hours of launching. About two years later, I decided to go full time with this crazy concept and haven’t looked back.

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

This whole experience has been a wonder of perfect timing. About a year after I decided to quit my 9–5 job, my best friend (and now co-founder) was diagnosed with late-stage cancer. No longer having a daily obligation to go to an office, I was able to step in and take care of her one-year-old daughter each morning while she attended treatment. Had I not followed this path, I would never have been able to be a part of that time with my best friend and her family.

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

When people first start an Airbnb, I think they underestimate the time and money needed to truly make their business thrive. There are countless hosting tips out there that make it sound like you just spend a week buying stuff on Amazon and VOILA! you have an instantly successful Airbnb. Perhaps there are some markets where “anything will work” but the industry has evolved so much where this more often than not just doesn’t cut it. I heard a quote recently that being a simple host is “simple, but not easy”. It seems really simple, but if building a successful Airbnb business was easy, everyone would be doing it.

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

Overestimate both the time and money needed to build your business! Evaluate the top-performing properties in your area and prepare to put in the work to be on their level. Put in the extra touch, whether it be well-thought-out design, unique amenities, or above and beyond guest service.

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

1) Passion for customer service.

Hosts who have a deep and profound concern for a guest’s experience do far greater than those who don’t. It’s the little things that count, and hosts with customer service know-how find those little touches. Perhaps it’s finding a local restaurant a guest may have overlooked, making sure there is a chilled bottle of wine waiting, or thinking ahead for cozy outdoor blankets, there are a million ways to find moments of delight for your guests. Hosts who are just in it for the money have a much rougher time (and much lower reviews) than those who are there to help out a fellow Airbnb community member.

2) Basic handyman skills.

A house is a living creature. These living beings need constant little touches taken care of. Everything from tightening up a loose piece of furniture, to hanging new curtains, to fixing a slightly leaking faucet is on the table as an Airbnb host. Sure, having a handyman on speed dial is clutch, but being able to tackle the basics yourself will save a ton of time, money, and worry. If you are able to tighten up some screws, there is no need to stress about getting your handyman over. With turnovers most often being just a few hours, every minute not wasted can be valuable.

3) A talent for interior design.

When Airbnb first started, travelers were literally just looking for an affordable place to crash instead of a hotel. The industry has changed and grown up so much since then! Guests are no longer looking for the basics, they are looking for THE experience. Guests want to be whisked away to an aspirational home that makes them swoon. As markets become more and more saturated, the homes that haven’t been given a proper effort for interior design will be the first houses to flounder. Guests notice all the little details of design and reward hosts with better reviews. As the industry continues to grow at a rapid speed, homes with glowing reviews will see the biggest and most sustainable return.

4) Knowledge of digital marketing/ branding.

An Airbnb is a product and your potential guests are the target audience. A successful Airbnb host will have a knack for doing research on the available options on the market and creating a value proposition in their listing. Airbnb as a platform is a search engine (much like Google). To reach the top of the search results and get in front of as many potential customers as possible, you need to know how to create an optimized listing that plays to Airbnb’s algorithm. Don’t skimp on spending time creating and constantly tweaking your listing in order to have it be as optimized as possible. A successful host needs to be versed in where to put their energy both as they are creating a product as well as keeping it constantly optimized.

5) Thick skin.

I hate to break it to you, but you cannot please everyone. You will have a guest who is mad that your mattresses are too soft the day after another guest complains they are too firm. You will have a guest who dislikes your free welcome gifts, or who admits they knew when booking your home that it didn’t have an amenity but then are irritated it doesn’t have that amenity anyway. Do your best to make your home as welcoming and comfortable as possible, but then emotionally remove attachment when guests have unreasonable complaints. Use reasonable complaints as feedback to improve your property, but learn to recognize when people are complaining without cause. If I had a nickel for every time I had to swallow my pride and make an unreasonable guest happy without getting mad about it, I’d be quite wealthy. Reach for a phenomenal experience, but don’t take every single thing a guest mentions as a sign of failure.

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

I truly believe this new industry can be a positive influence in the community. I personally fight for all people working in any way for my business to have living wages. This also extends to being proactive in getting them work even during off-seasons. I am proactive about guests being respectful to our local communities as well as bringing a positive impact into them. I encourage guests to buy from small local businesses and help them get connected to independent tour operators, etc. I seek out other entrepreneurs or local businesses to learn how they most could use support from my guests. I find opportunities to get these small locally owned entrepreneurs seen by guests who would be highly interested in these businesses.

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. 🙂

Ah shucks, I’m blushing. If I could start any movement in my industry, it would be the integration of “us and them”. So often, locals, hosts, investors, and guests all see themselves as “us” and everyone else as “them”. This does little to improve our local communities, our businesses, or our guests’ experiences. If I could wave a magic wand, I would have each of these groups take a portion of their efforts and try to improve the situation of the others. As a guest, how can we contribute to the improvement of the local community? As a local community, how can we be more welcoming to guests, allowing them an easier path to being a great temporary community member?

How can our readers further follow you on social media?

Please follow on Instagram @retreatairbnb and @joshuatreeairbnb

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

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Kate Shaw of Retreat: 5 Things You Need to Become a Highly Successful Airbnb Host was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview with Fotis Georgiadis

Having a strong vision, endless work ethic, and deep knowledge of the industry is not enough. Technology is all about rapid growth and venture capital is the rocket fuel that funds that hyper-growth. That said, it’s important to note that rocket fuel can only be put into rockets — not bicycles, not cars, not even airplanes. Rocket fuel can only be used by rockets.

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 Barha.

Steve has spent the past two decades utilizing the key principles of “operating with integrity” and “acting with urgency” to develop successful technology companies. The Founder of Instant Financial, and now serving as the organization’s Chief Operating Officer, Steve brings an extensive background delivering financial technology to large enterprise Customers. Prior to Instant, Steve served as both the CIO and EVP of Mobile for TIO Networks (acquired by Paypal) leading the mobile business unit while driving the company’s engineering, IT, and product teams. Steve was also previously the Founder & CEO of Santra Technology, the pioneer of Web Services QoS and performance monitoring, along with holding senior management positions at Saba Software (NASDAQ: SABA), TELUS Enterprise Solutions (TSE:T) and Emerge Online.

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?

At my previous organization, we provided bill payment services for most of the major utility and wireless companies across North America. One of the solutions in our portfolio was a cash-accepting bill payment kiosk that was placed into retail locations, and posted bill payments in real time to vendors. I discovered an amazing phenomenon called “putting 10 on it”- for a $40/month mobile phone bill, many of our Customers would put $10 per week on their bill using our self service kiosk. This was a budgeting tool for them! Though clever, it was both time consuming — in terms of having to make a trip to the kiosk each week — and expensive, as we charged a convenience fee to accept this bill payment. Many of our Customers were paying $52 a month ($40 mobile bill + $12 in fees (4 x $3)) for a $40 service. When I’d speak to these folks and ask why they were overpaying they simply answered this is just the way it is. This is how they budgeted their payments to make sure their phone didn’t get cut off, as they could not trust themselves to save to make the full payment at the end of the month. The charges were just a part of life — it’s expensive to not have money. As you can imagine, this — and numerous similar experiences — have led to very clear guiding principles for me in terms of the right way to create and structure financial services.

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

As any professional that has put in a couple of decades working on their craft will tell you, there are many interesting stories to reflect on. One that stands out for me is during the very early days of building Instant Financial. We had just launched our product that allowed employees to stream their earnings at one restaurant location — a wonderful breakfast restaurant called DeDutch Pannekoek House, in Vancouver, Canada. This early version of the Instant Pay program was a success, as employees and the employer were all enjoying the benefits it offered. But what really cemented the idea that we had something very special on our hands was when two young former employees that had decided to leave and seek other jobs actually came to the Instant Financial office to ask us where else paid on Instant, as that was a key consideration in their work search. Without a doubt I knew we had something transformative that was going to change workers’ relationship with their pay moving forward.

Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?

I seek to always focus on being creative — we are all blessed with this ability, and I believe nothing puts us closer to God, the Great Creator, than when we attempt to create. Having an appetite for failure and approaching problems with a sense of creativity forces me to also have both a sense of humor and of 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”?

As far back as the recorded days of the bible, it states that man should “pay them their wages each day before sunset.” Deuteronomy 24:15

But, in recent years, and only in service of convenience to business (i.e. making payroll easier), workers started to be paid biweekly or even monthly. This is due to industrialization and the creation of mega-corporations, leading to batched payroll to pay 1000’s and 100,000’s of workers.

So, why the two week pay period? Only because it’s easier for business — not right for workers. To add to this, workers who had challenges making ends meet between pay days have been forced to resort to predatory so-called “alternative financial services,” including payday lenders — again, why?

These alternative financial services create a $200B annual “poor tax”; paid each year by 63M working Americans. This poor tax takes $3,174 annually out of the pockets of each of these hard working Americans. Yet we want to talk about financial wellness!?!? First we need to recognize and acknowledge the “Poor Tax” — by doing so we can begin to lift people out of being financially vulnerable to at least being financially coping. From there we can graduate to financial wellness — but talking about wellness on its own is insincere.

Imagine finishing your work day, and hours later you receive a notification on your phone telling you the wages you just earned for the hours you just worked are available to you. Imagine how that levels the playing field for employees by providing a solution to the poor tax, and leads them down a path to financially coping and financial wellness.

The technology at Instant Financial solves for this problem, and also takes any friction away from the employer’s payroll process, allowing employees to get access to their pay on a daily basis, at absolutely no cost to them or their employer.

How do you think this will change the world?

First, it will democratize the payday playing field and put employees more in control of their own money that they have earned. Next, it would put an end to the need for alternative financial services and the predatory nature of payday lenders, who are taking advantage of workers when they are at their most vulnerable.

We foresee a future in which millions of vulnerable American employees are put back in control of their financial future, and don’t have to rely on alternative and predatory lending to get by. Imagine the sea change if millions of people had easier access to their own money on a daily basis, instead of having to wait for 2 weeks. There would be increased spending within the economy and millions of people would stop living paycheck to paycheck.

From an employer value, we deliver measurable business value also. Organizations using Instant not only help their employees, but they also see increased performance in key HR metrics, such as increased employee retention, reduced turnover and more. We have a customer that recently saw a 27% reduction in employee turnover — these kinds of results have real financial impacts on organizations.

Finally, there are also macroeconomic impacts — the analogy of a farmer flooding the plain vs sprinkler system and constant water flow. A steady stream of money in pockets means a steadier stream of spending and financial well-being among the american economy.

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?

When we first launched our platform, we thought of the possibility of compulsive program use — spending money as soon as it’s received. This led us to the fractional and perishable offer model that we employ today — users can only access 50% of their wages each day, and offers cannot be ‘stacked’ (that is, wages are only available that day and do not accrue). We are resolved that this is the correct approach and we’re validated insofar as the rest of the industry is moving in this direction as well.

The card-based model was not a pricing discussion for us, but rather a test of our fortitude to put the right business model in place rather than implement a lazy solution that was ultimately a tax on workers (further contributing to the Poor Tax). Instant is the pioneer of no-fee EWA and others are now being forced to follow our lead.

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

At the age of 34, while on a flight during a business trip, I had a retina detachment. At the time I was told I would lose the eye because it was a severe detachment. As anyone that knows me would understand, this was not a reasonable outcome and so I fought. I had 9 surgeries over the course of 2½ years and spent a lot of time recovering from these major procedures. During the course of these significantly reduced earnings years, and while lying in bed in the dark post-operation, I gained a real sense of how hopeless being financially vulnerable makes one feel. This — coupled with my prior fintech experiences — led me and my co-founders to the mission that is Instant Financial today. We are on a mission to uplift the financial wellness of workers all around the world by removing the constraints of a bi-weekly pay cycle.

Another example that sticks with me happened during COVID. We heard about employees who were on Instant Pay and — during the early days when toilet paper and medicine were in short supply — were able to take an Instant Pay offer, to buy that last roll of toilet paper, or get much needed medicine and groceries. Imagine trying to do that working for an employer that didn’t offer Instant Pay, or charged you to get that money for a critical life need? Unthinkable. Most of these employees have told us they will never work at an employer that doesn’t offer Instant Pay.

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

On the employee side, we need people to realize that the notion of a two-week or monthly pay cycle is a construct defined by business, and is not in the best interest of workers. We also need regulators and the general populace to realize that forcing people to pay fees to access their wages is near-criminal.

On the employer side of the discussion, we need organizations to realize two things:

• Technology has removed the barriers that led to batch payroll processing in the first place; technology now enables frictionless ability to pay staff instantly.
• There are real-world business benefits that result from offering employees instant access to their wages, including reductions in turnover, increased retention and more — all of which have real monetary value to the bottom line.

The technology is here. We’ve removed the friction — there’s no excuse.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)

1. There are no shortcuts: it’s a grind and it takes relentless energy to build something special. It’s not a sprint but it’s also not a marathon. It’s a long sprint … it’s a marathon that you have to sprint through! This is the Founders burden — to have the focus and desire to see something through to the point of mission complete. This is also what makes a founder a founder — not an idea, not starting, but rather the focus and energy to wear through the journey.
2. Founder-focused and patient investors are so important. Everyone claims to be founder-friendly but in practice so few investors have ever really operated or built businesses.
3. Not everyone is mission-based: lots of bad actors that are not mission-driven who are very clever and very difficult to smoke out.
4. There’s an unfortunate relationship with the early employee efforts that set a company on its path and the overall value sharing with these early employees, that if not managed correctly can be very lopsided. Need to get this right from the get-go, otherwise, it’s very difficult to correct along the way.
5. Having a strong vision, endless work ethic, and deep knowledge of the industry is not enough. Technology is all about rapid growth and venture capital is the rocket fuel that funds that hyper-growth. That said, it’s important to note that rocket fuel can only be put into rockets — not bicycles, not cars, not even airplanes. Rocket fuel can only be used by rockets.

Can you share with our readers what you think are the most important “success habits” or “success mindsets”?

In my career I would say I have really focused on utilizing the key principles of “operating with integrity” and “acting with urgency” to develop successful technology companies. Personally, I work hard to ensure that I am always learning. What this really means is I have an appetite for failure, as these are the true learning moments!

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 🙂

Instant is the pioneer of providing workers no-fee, real-time access to their earnings. While serving hundreds of enterprise employers with our suite of Instant Pay services we have discovered that:

1. Instant Pay is the new direct deposit, and
2. Real-time access to earnings drives macro socio-economic changes that Instant is uniquely positioned to be at the forefront of.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

www.twitter.com/stevebarha

https://www.linkedin.com/in/barha/

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

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Instant Financial: Steve Barha’s Big Idea That May Change The World In The Next Few Years was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview with Fotis Georgiadis

Research has shown that simply increasing diversity alone is not enough to benefit an organization. Once you have increased diversity through onboarding and attraction processes, you then need to create an inclusive organization so that the diversity can actually develop into a return on investment.

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

Sile specializes in leadership and inclusion. She is experienced coaching senior leaders and middle managers across sectors including healthcare, pharmaceuticals, education, technology and commerce within Ireland and internationally.

Sile has over ten years of experience working with individuals, teams and organizations supporting change management, leadership development, inclusion and diversity, and organizational development programs.

Sile is committed to being inclusive in her work and supporting people from a wide range of backgrounds to reach their potential; this includes people who experience systemic barriers in society. She is a PhD researcher focusing on the role of coaching psychology in inclusive leadership within private organizations.

Sile has an international client base and speaks on leadership, inclusion, and coaching psychology. Sile guest lectured with University College Cork on both the masters in Organizational Psychology and Personal and Management Coaching.

Sile was voted in the top 10 coaches in Dublin by Influence and Digest and writes for a number of local and international publications and contributes to discussions in the media (radio, papers, TV) in relation to inclusion, leadership, wellbeing and relationships.

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 from the south of Ireland, and I began working at a very young age in one of Ireland’s top restaurants. It exposed me to two people from very different backgrounds and with different lifestyles and different working backgrounds.

I have been working with leaders for over 10 years now, both in Ireland and internationally, supporting individual leaders and organizations in performance well-being and inclusion.

As a dyslexic, I had a very different school experience from most people, which led me to understand that Talent and skills and the way people view and see the world differ from person to person and that one size doesn’t fit all.

I have brought this lesson into my work, my personal life, and my relationships. Understanding that it’s our differences and the appreciation of those differences that enhance the value that we add to our workplaces, our relationships, and life are fundamental in my approach.

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?

In the middle of presenting on reflective practice to 45 teachers in County Kerry Ireland, I literally tripped over a table and fell on my face.

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

I think I have different lessons at different times for life, but the one that speaks to me the most right now is one by Maya Angelou, “my mission in life is not merely to survive but to thrive and do so with some passions and compassion, humor and some Style.”

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

I’ve been really lucky that along my professional and personal journey I’ve had many people that support me at different points and in different ways.

Instead of a person, I’m going to talk about a type of support that has been invaluable to me and that I like to offer to others and encourage everyone reading this to attempt. The type of support that was absolutely golden to me and my work was “opportunity.” It was people giving me the opportunity to have experiences that I did not have yet in order to develop my capacity to do a role or fulfill a duty that I hadn’t previously fulfilled. This kind of support can be the difference between being interviewed or not for a promotion at a different date or a person’s ability to see their potential within their everyday lives. There are many people from the age of 11 who offered me opportunities to test my ability and develop myself. These have been irreplaceable moments in my career journey.

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

I think my company, Ellis advantage is a small all service-based organization that serves bigger organizations to achieve their goals from a people perspective.

What’s different about us is the tailored approach that we take to all of the interventions. We consider the organization’s culture, the motivations of the people in the organization industry that play the innovation that’s available, the priorities and values before we create an Intervention.

We specialize in organizational leadership and inclusion.

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

This September, The Psychology of Leadership Development Program, a small group of people, over an 8-week process, will work through the psychology of leadership and each participant’s individual leadership style to support them in more effective leadership interventions. The psychology of leadership will also incorporate fundamentals and inclusive leadership practices.

This past month we also launched a free online leadership development assessment that all leaders can do to assess their next leadership development steps and what will add the most value to their career

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

This is a huge question; there are layers to this, the fundamental layer that effective leadership and more inclusive organizations result in better employee well-being, productivity and experiences, ensuring that the ripple effect of good leadership trickles out into the homes and lives of those of the organization.

There are also other benefits where we donate or support causes that add to social equality. Our small team is proactive in learning about inclusion.

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.)

Research has shown that simply increasing diversity alone is not enough to benefit an organization. Once you have increased diversity through onboarding and attraction processes, you then need to create an inclusive organization so that the diversity can actually develop into a return on investment.

The most recent research suggests that inclusive leadership and inclusive organizations support better innovation, psychological safety, increased revenue, and employee attraction and retention.

Further research has indicated that simply diversifying boards can increase the revenue of an organization.

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

Inclusive leadership is a type of leadership that fosters the relationship with employees and humanity. By engaging in inclusive leadership, you can develop your ability to support innovation, psychological safety and diverse workforces working together effectively. The number one thing leaders can do to support their employees, driving and supporting a diverse workforce, is to develop inclusive leadership practices that are implemented within the organization on an individual basis and across leadership teams.

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

If you’re managing a large team, you need to consider that team’s needs and whether one person over a large team is efficient. One of the ways that I see large teams manage this is to have one overall head and several supervisors or leads who support the individual teams more closely.

One of the things that I think is frequently overlooked when managing a large team is that if you’re managing a large team, tasks cannot be part of your work; your work needs to be people and you need to be trained in the psychology of leadership.

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 🙂

Claude Silver Chief Heart Officer of Vaynermedia

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Free leadership development assessment: https://www.silewalsh.com/leadership-assessment

The Psychology of Leadership development program: https://www.silewalsh.com/psychology-of-leadership

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

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

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Sile Walsh of ELIS Advantage: How Diversity Can Increase a Company’s Bottom Line was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Celebrating failure: flipping your mindset to one of “OK, what did I learn from this?” Instead of “I’m a failure and won’t be good at anything” is tantamount to personal growth and developing grit. I learned early on that failure was a big part of my daily life (falling down a lot) and how you embrace it, or maybe not embrace it, will determine how you interface with others and yourself.

As a part of my series about “Grit: The Most Overlooked Ingredient of Success” I had the pleasure of interviewing Janet Watson.

Janet started out as a competitive athlete, turned coach, turned national spokeswoman, turned consultant, turned professor, turned advisor, and with this diverse experience has landed where her passion is in serving others with “custom-tailored coaching for business executive needs”. Janet believes the human potential is unlimited and that oftentimes we need a guide by the side to help us define, refine and accelerate our focus.

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?

It’s an interesting journey and since I’ve been coached or been a coach almost my whole life, I’ve landed with a distinct purpose, which is to support others in growing their own wings to fly solo.

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?

Most of the hard times were in the middle of my journey as I was definitely given a second chance on life due to a surgery gone awry. Having left this world for about 4 minutes and after a lengthy and painful recovery, I came back with a renewed energy and focus to figure out my purpose. Why was I given a second chance?

Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard? Things were hard at first yet my vision became crystal clear knowing that a second chance was afforded me and not many others. It was time to give of my knowledge and experience, drawing elements from my varied competitions, teaching and work experience. Coaching is a natural extension of who I am as a person in that I enjoy the growth process.

So how did Grit lead to your eventual success? How did Grit turn things around?

Grit, for me, can’t be talked about without the two follow on words of grace and gratitude. Grit is what you are made of, Grace is how you convey what you are made of and, you know, Gratitude leads the way everyday by acknowledging the gifts you’ve been given. Come to think of it, I think Grit could be my middle name….

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)

*Developing grit

~Perseverance: the art of picking yourself back up when you want to stay down. This happened many times as a competitive figure skater and surrounding yourself by honest and trustworthy accountability partners is a win-win. They lend a hand when you need it most.

~Love: you may question this one, yet when you push yourself to lead with an open heart and learn with an open mind it strengthens your character and lifts you out of your comfort zone. All good ways to develop your own brand of grit.

~Celebrating failure: flipping your mindset to one of “OK, what did I learn from this?” Instead of “I’m a failure and won’t be good at anything” is tantamount to personal growth and developing grit. I learned early on that failure was a big part of my daily life (falling down a lot) and how you embrace it, or maybe not embrace it, will determine how you interface with others and yourself.

~Focus: As a competitive figure skater I would spend hours tracing a delicate series of circles on the ice, with each tracing to be right on top of the previous one. Intense focus and stability are needed on that one tiny blade and without it, you are literally all over the place. Focus can provide clarity on what you need or want to achieve and that is a big component of grit.

~Purpose: asking good questions of yourself “What if I…?” or “How might I…?” to delve into what it is you are passionate about, what propels your growth, what brings you joy, and how to blend those into a recipe that you can work with and expand and grow over time. The purpose is the secret ingredient in mixing your own batch of grit.

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?

My Mom is the most positive person I know. There was never a time she doubted me or my potential and nothing was ever deemed impossible. Her Danish common sense was there to encourage all my ideas growing up and even as an adult, I continue to look to her for good feedback, a pragmatic view and a great sense of humor, which I provide her with lots of material.

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

Yes, I believe giving back is part of being a good community citizen. Currently I am a scholar mentor for SHECAN, which is an organization than enables and supports young women from post war torn countries, in all aspects of their college education in the US with the knowledge they will go back to their home countries to make a difference. I also serve on the Advisory Council of Bridge the Gap College Prep and on the Board of Clonlara, a global learning community. Previously I served on the board of SAG/AFTRA, and was a 25 year volunteer with the SFSPCA in their Animal Assisted Therapy program.

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

In coaching others, my hope is that the client knowledge and self awareness will trickle down having a huge positive effect on not only the people they work with, but within the organization as a whole. My most exciting new project is developing a mentorship program for a health care client so there is a common language, a support system and mutual trust within and across teams. And, this program will morph over time as different people will rotate in and out of the lead positions, highlighted by what they deem important and current.

What advice would you give to other executives or founders to help their employees to thrive?

Leading with clarity, relevance and trust in every conversation and every transaction can do wonders for people. Asking thoughtful questions, providing autonomy when possible and modeling the behavior you’d like to see across the organization is extremely valuable. And of course to admit mistakes, share the learning and move on with a plan of action.

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. 🙂

Let’s Educate Each Other: embracing the art of conversation about differences. We are at such an impasse with our differences of opinions. Maybe the in person conversation about commonalities can be a start…

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

“You can’t give it if you don’t have it” This is a relatively new quote that came from a leadership consortium in which we were talking about leading with empathy. It rings true for almost everything within leadership: dedication, collaboration, fairness, inclusivity, resilience… if you don’t already have it, how can you demonstrate or give it? How can you be fair with others if you aren’t fair yourself? How can you lead with empathy if you don’t have any? A good thing to ponder, right?

How can our readers follow you on social media?

On my website https://www.watsonandassoc.com

Or on Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/watsonjanet/

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

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Janet Watson: Five Ways To Develop More ‘Grit’ was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Future Is Now: Steven Wagner of Raedah Group On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

The best marketing for a product is often the quality of the product itself. I created the GoDCR project, which has been in development for a few years, and is nearly ready to be released as the next generation Decred desktop wallet application. The goal is to improve usability of and accessibility to this technology for people all over the planet.

As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs I had the pleasure of interviewing Steven Wagner, CEO of Raedah Group and Senior Contributor at Decred (www.decred.org).

Steven Wagner is the CEO of Raedah Group, a leading Decred contractor group, and is a Senior Contributor involved since 2016. He has contributed to the Decred consensus rules, the chain analytics tools, StakeShuffle privacy, and led the creation of the Decred mobile applications. His team is currently working to build the next generation Decred desktop application, GoDCR. He is a recovered Bitcoin maximalist, a technology researcher at heart, and an advocate for decentralizing legacy institutions in order to harness collective intelligence for a more efficient and equitable 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?

I have been working on computers since I was a kid. With the advent of the internet, I was following all developments of peer to peer protocols and had studied cryptography applications. After a good amount of time with a career in the standard tech rat race, I took a sabbatical then shifted my energy into investing and economics. I’d studied economics as a personal interest and had dabbled in investing over the years with some success. As I began getting more wins in investing I decided to focus more of my energy there. When I learned about cryptocurrency, I quickly realized that it was the fusion of many of the tools that were becoming my life’s work. At the time cryptocurrency was a budding industry. The coming crypto wave had only begun to build. I wanted to be involved because I could see that this new technology had the potential to transform society and increase economic prosperity for the largest number of people on the planet. I could see the benefit on a broader scale. It meant access and empowerment for anyone who was willing to understand the value of this new tech that was a completely new paradigm compared to what the world’s financial systems had been running on. Because of my extensive experience both in tech and investing, my vision of what this meant for the future felt astutely clear. I knew that crypto was where I would have the greatest impact in making a contribution towards the betterment of the world. I still believe this today.

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

My first investment was buying Nvidia stock at the IPO in 1999 while I was in college. I called my grandmother who had experience in investing and told her there was a company that I saw as having a lot of potential. I had seen the advent of GPU’s in high school, and observed that Nvidia was moving way faster than their competition even though they were the new guys in the graphics card scene. Nana talked to her broker and got us access to the IPO. I put $500 of my own money in. The market capitalization of that company has increased 1000x since that 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 the Decred project we have worked to bring StakeShuffle Privacy to our users of all levels of expertise. Privacy technology in cryptocurrency is important for the same reason that privacy has always been important, namely, protecting our civil liberties. Today there are lots of threats of ransomware and hacking, so it is not a good idea to have details about your financial transactions exposed on a public blockchain. Of course, there is also the threat of big brother and needing to proactively prevent 1984 from occurring. Healthy industry regulation is a good thing, but it should not come at the cost of exposing ourselves to the greater danger of regulatory capture that stifles competition and progress. Countries that over regulate will slow the inevitable march of progress and will end up falling behind countries with progressive and crypto friendly regulation. Not all information should be private. With immutable accounting, blockchains can support transparency in government spending to help root out government corruption by making the information that should be exposed to the public available to the public. Having large amounts of private citizen and private business data available for stealing and data mining has been the cause of ongoing controversies. Offering privacy capability to the masses is one of my main focuses.

How do you think this might change the world?

The world’s economic activity is accelerating at internet speeds. Transactions will be done with less friction. There will be equal opportunity and better access to financial services. Governments will develop more financial discipline out of necessity to be solvent and sustainable for society. The people will have the tools to protect their wealth from confiscation through inflation. Society will become more educated about what money is, and will choose the systems that support their own best interests. Power will shift to city states and their connected economic activity zones. Nation state borders will fall away due to the irreversible erosion of fiat monopoly power in a world of currency choice. Economic power will become more distributed globally as the legacy institutions, that are central points of failure in our society, are made irrelevant. Decentralized currency systems will be available for use to all as the core of the world’s economic activity, operating without bias and ruled by math that doesn’t discriminate or give unfair advantage to any privileged ruling class.

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

It is certainly possible to paint a dark picture around cryptocurrency technology, just as it is for any new technology that is highly transformative for society. This is a more pivotal change for the world than the internet itself. The internet we had experienced previously was just text, images, video and sound, but now we are quickly moving into a world where the internet is also economic information, such as digital commodities, stocks and property titles, where assets of all kinds can be exchanged without centralized gatekeepers. We do not know how it is going to change our world in 10 or 20 years any more than we could have seen how the internet would change our lives, but the change is going to be dramatic and disruptive. Change itself is a scary thing to many, but it’s also where the most positive possibilities reside. I foresee the greatest shift in wealth that we will experience in our lifetime. The nouveau riche will be able to direct those financial resources toward improving our world for all. This will force everyone to examine their belief around what money, banks, and government are. The most disturbing part of the episode would likely be psychological, where people realize that many of their notions about how the world operates are no longer true. Everyone would be required out of necessity to develop a new understanding of the systems we are using for basic economic sustenance and survival. It’s possible that those who are the last to realize this will have a difficult experience. I have great faith in community and heart to lift us all through this.

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

The breakthrough was Satoshi Nakamoto’s paper on peer to peer cash. He solved the long standing and thought unsolvable Byzantine Generals Problem. A p2p cash system seemed like an April fool’s joke when people were first reading about it years ago, but because of this technological and mathematical breakthrough, it is now commonly accepted as a part of our world while ceaselessly growing in use. Digital scarcity was thought impossible and was counter intuitive to how we understood the internet. When you have a photo or a song, you can copy and recreate it as many times as you want. Money is a token used by society to represent scarce goods. We now have the ability to send it over the web in a censorship resistant way that is free from discrimination by corporations or other powerful groups that can benefit by coopting it for themselves. Bitcoin was the first decentralized ledger, creating the equivalent of the first global decentralized bank. Decred has extended on this to create a fully decentralized voting system that allows those holding equity in the system to vote with their money on decisions about how the system should evolve. It’s a decentralized consensus decision making system that gives blockchain tech a clear path forward to evolve.

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

I could quote JFK and say “I am asking your help in the tremendous task of informing and alerting the people. For I have complete confidence in the response and dedication of our citizens whenever they are fully informed.” It takes people of action and professional capability to build the systems, software, businesses, and policies that will become the new foundation for society. It is a time of great opportunity, but especially for those who are willing to show up and take direct action to invest themselves into this new world. The cat is already out of the bag for cryptocurrency. The idea can’t be uninvented. The spread and adoption of it is inevitable as more people grasp the consequences of the new technology. History will not be kind to the doubters. Events such as Brazil using the Decred blockchain for election accountability is an example of one local event that helped to spread awareness within that region.

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

I have for a long time witnessed it spreading rapidly using grass roots approaches. I teach people about it whenever they are open to it. Those with ambitious financial interests seem to be the most motivated to be involved. There is a natural pace to the already breakneck speeds of the growth of the cryptocurrency industry, and in the end it will be the most resilient, antifragile, and agile technologies that succeed. The best marketing for a product is often the quality of the product itself. I created the GoDCR project, which has been in development for a few years, and is nearly ready to be released as the next generation Decred desktop wallet application. The goal is to improve usability of and accessibility to this technology for people all over the planet.

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?

All of my mentors who demonstrated professionalism and ambition. The philosophers, teachers, and gurus who showed me that much of what we perceive to be external reality is a mental construct that is pliable. Steve Jobs has a great quote about this on a video called Steve Jobs Secrets of Life. He says “Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you, and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.” Alan Watts gave talks on ‘the source of spiritual authority’, which is ultimately ourselves. We don’t have to take the world as it is given to us. We can use our creative potential to see the world in new ways and we can share that with others. Knowing this, it’s easy to see that even the most far-fetched possibilities could in fact end up true. The far-fetched dreams may actually be the most worthy adventures of all.

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

I do my best to share my knowledge and empower people wherever possible. I am passionate about the future of the industry. My company, Raedah Group, has grown software development teams in Africa and Vietnam in order to help spread the crypto economy to other parts of the world by creating work opportunities where software developers can get paid in DCR to work on Decred. Decred is the first DAO (Digital Autonomous Organization) which has a self-funded treasury which pays all of its workforce. The stakeholders who hold the equity in the project are fully able to protect the treasury from corruption through voting approval of all spending. The great thing about cryptocurrency is, as it succeeds, it’s a self-supporting system that enables the people who grow it to thrive, be supported by it, and continue creating more good technology for the world. Lots of people in the cryptocurrency space have quit their usual jobs and are now working on building cryptocurrency businesses. It is somewhat of a problem that people working on cryptocurrency who save and invest often end up making substantial returns and do not need monthly income anymore. For this reason, it is good to be around people who are passionate about tech and who would be working on it to change the world regardless of needing a paycheck. I have seen many people’s lives determined by their decision to invest or not invest in cryptocurrency. It has a big impact. These are the initial results of massive shift in wealth occurring, which over the long run will create the greatest amount of prosperity and economic freedom that the world has ever seen. My focus is on accelerating that change, and enabling and supporting others around the world to do the same.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)

1. Being an entrepreneur is the hardest job there is. Actually, I did hear this before, but it doesn’t really sink in until you experience it. Lots of 50–60h work weeks of endless obsession, so it’s important to know how to pace yourself and surround yourself with the right people.
2. The best ideas are the craziest ones and no one else will believe you. A paradigm shifting technology is not something people will easily understand or believe, but they will get it when they experience it. It will test your faith and confidence in yourself to truly believe and stand on your own.
3. Markets go up and down. Even the best ideas will take time to spread. The markets will go through redistribution phases.
4. Time will go by fast, so don’t put off creating the future you want. Enjoy it today, and enjoy every moment of the journey.
5. Maintain and utilize all the allies you encounter along the way. Strength in numbers

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.

Bitcoin is the grand-daddy of cryptocurrency, but there are newer technologies that should be considered. Bitcoin is not the be all and end all of blockchain technology. The difficult thing with Bitcoin is that, since it is decentralized and leaderless, there is also no one who can call the shots and make any upgrades to it. This is why it’s commonly accepted today that Bitcoin is “set in stone”. Technology needs to evolve, and this is a crucial feature that was left out of Bitcoin. The ability to upgrade itself. We have solved this at the Decred project by including in the protocol a way for the coin holders to express their will in a measurable and decentralized way, allowing a clear path for upgrading and evolution over time. Bitcoin was first, but over time Decred will be able to evolve faster. Competition creates the best results for consumers in other industries, and we shouldn’t expect it to be any different in the blockchain industry either.

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

Jiddu Krishnamurti said in some of his books, “You can’t drink the word water,” and “If the water is clean, drink it.” These were simple pointers about reality that the word or idea is not the same as the thing, and that we will need to be able to use our own judgement to determine if a thing is good instead of looking for some external authority to tell us what is true, good, or right. He gave discussions about us being our own source of authority in our lives instead of giving our power away to others or to social institutions. He was the best type of guru because he didn’t want to be anyone’s guru. He just wanted to send them away, and to hand their power back to them. The best business professionals I know also do this. Their goal is not to make the company depend on them in order to create job security, but rather to solve the problems and automate their job away so that their role is no longer needed. At that point they can move onto solving the next challenge.

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.

A lot of VC’s today are too greedy and are only interested in participating in projects they can dominate through their traditional means. This is akin to NIH (not invented here) syndrome. Even the internet was overlooked in the beginning by many companies because it was an open web, and they wanted to see how they could try and control it. They tried to create their own closed networks or intranets instead of being part of the open internet. Getting a lion’s share of investment in an inferior technology that you can promote through your massive network is not a winning strategy. Be part of open community projects that are thriving. Decred is an example of a fairly distributed open blockchain. I also hear from some investment firms that they want to invest in the shovels and pickaxes but not in the actual gold. Cryptocurrencies are the financial vehicle to take part in the financial revolution that is occurring. It is like being able to buy stock directly in the internet when it was still young. I coach businesses on how to break past the perceived uncertainty and reap the speculative advantage.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

You can follow Decred on Twitter @decredproject

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

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The Future Is Now: Steven Wagner of Raedah Group On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

We need collaborative spaces where we can simply just do it. We need to create spaces where individuals and organizations who care about the same goals — such as mitigating climate change or ending hunger or finding effective ways to roll back the biodiversity crisis — can come together to develop a set of principles that will guide these actions. Again, principles are the compass and the destination helping us both to define where it is we need to go and to guide us on the journey there.

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 Ruth Richardson.

Ruth Richardson, Executive Director, Global Alliance for the Future of Food, brings over 25 years of experience in the philanthropic sector to this role, and of particular relevance to this undertaking, has extensive experience starting new and complex things. These include being the first Director of the Unilever Canada Foundation, Founding Chair of the Canadian Environmental Grantmakers’ Network, and the first Environment Director at the Metcalf Foundation. Her tenure at the Metcalf Foundation also included acting on the Advisory Committee of the City of Toronto, Board of Health, Toronto Food Strategy to develop an action plan to improve the food system of the Toronto city region.

Ruth also served as the lead consultant to establish The Circle on Philanthropy and Aboriginal Peoples in Canada and has worked with private-public partnerships on sustainability issues and cross-border collaborations, such as coastal fisheries management. In her capacity with the Global Alliance, Ruth is on the International Advisory Group on Up-scaling Ecosystem-based Adaptation funded by the German Federal Environmental Ministry under its International Climate Initiative. She also served on the Steering Committee of TEEBAgriFood led by UN Environment, as well as on the International Advisory Committee of the Global Urban Food Policy Pact. In 2020, Richardson was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to serve on the Advisory Committee for the 2021 Food Systems Summit, and to serve as Chair, Champions Network.

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 worked in philanthropy my whole life including work with corporate, community, public, and private foundations. I’ve been blessed to have worked with both new and more established foundations, social profit organizations, and individuals who are deeply committed to developing powerful strategies to tackle some of the most pressing global, national, and local problems of our time. Having established the Unilever Canada Foundation, the Canadian Environmental Grantmakers’ Network, and Small Change Fund, I came to join the Global Alliance for the Future of Food.

In hindsight the threads that ran through all my various roles were ecological integrity, human well-being, and collaboration with food systems often touching these in important ways. This gave me the skills, experience, and opportunity to join the Global Alliance in 2013. Most of my work had been situated in Canada — from marine conservation to climate change in the context of the Arctic region to our settled southern landscapes — so I was thrilled to be able to take everything I learned here in Canada and apply that to an ambitious global agenda on food systems.

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

It’s almost impossible to pick the most interesting story, or just one example. Since starting at the Global Alliance, the one thing I would elevate is the incredible array of interesting individuals I have had the fortune to meet and to learn from — everyone from peasant farmers in the high Andes to royal princes and princesses in Europe to inspiring business owners in India to researchers and journalists in Africa. For me, the people I come into contact with are what keep me inspired and motivated.

Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?

I am a major fan of the systems-thinker and leading environmentalist Donella Meadows. Her work — especially Dancing With Systems — has held deep relevance for me and my work over the years. She was both a deep systems thinker and an incredibly effective communicator. For instance she once wrote: “We do not need a computer model to tell us that: we must not destroy the system upon which our sustenance depends; poverty is wrong and preventable; the exploitation of one person or nation by another degrades both the exploited and the exploiter; it is better for individuals and nations to cooperate than to fight; the love we have for all humankind and for future generations should be the same as our love for those close to us. If we do not embrace these principles and live by them, our system cannot survive. Our future is in our hands and will be no better or worse than we make it.” As relevant in 2021 as it was in 1982. The wisdom and insights imparted through her writing never fail to move and challenge me.

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”?

Well, it’s not too far from the answer above! I think that principles are the greatest untapped guiding social technologies of our time. All too often, especially when faced with calamities such as climate change and global health pandemics, our instinct is to reach for solid answers, firm metrics, dependable pathways. We look to financial investments, innovation, commitments from governments, behavioural change, technology, policy reform.

These are reasonable, useful, and important responses. But time and again they are upheld as a solution without a cause. Financial investment to what end? Behavioural change to what end? Technology to what end? This is where principles come into play. Some say that principles are nice words but have little use, but I beg to differ. We need principles — such as equity, diversity, and resilience — to guide our direction so we arrive at a better place.

How do you think this will change the world?

The old ways of doing things aren’t working anymore. Problem = solution is just a narrow way to approach the world and it almost always, invariably, leads to more problems or compounds the issue it was trying to address in the first place! Too often action is ill-understood, or not acknowledged, or contrary to where we need to go to address the health, economic, and climate crises we face. In contrast, when used well, principles tell us where we need to go and how to get there. They are both the destination and the compass.

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 would hope that beautiful principles of decency, respect, etc. couldn’t lead to a Black Mirror episode but never say never… In all seriousness though, arriving on agreed principles takes time, hard work, and a commitment to deep listening and engagement. There’s an assumption that principles are “motherhood and apple-pie” statements that are and can be universally applied but they must be tailored to context, experience, and the purpose at hand.

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

It was through the Global Alliance that I really saw the value of principles and how they can be put into action. The Global Alliance is a strategic alliance of philanthropic foundations and, in 2014, we needed a way to bring all of our members together on shared issues and areas of focus. In what proved to be an awkward day of workshops and arrival at an ultimate impasse, our evaluation advisor, Michael Quinn Patton, stepped in and steered us in the right direction suggesting that before we could collectively determine our pathway, we needed a set of principles to define where it was we were going. It was like a switch went on in peoples’ heads and we saw the path forward. This was a tipping point for the organization and our direction of travel to this day. We are now guided by an indivisible set of principles: renewability, resilience, equity, diversity, healthfulness, inclusion, and interconnectedness. These principles shape our vision of the future of food, express our values, and encompass the change we want to make. Many member foundations have also taken the principles forward in their day-to-day work, utilizing them to help them decide funding strategies, how to assess grant applications, even how to make investments with their endowments. As we often say, the principles are the beating heart of the Global Alliance.

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

We need for people to understand their power and potential and see the utility of developing principles for various contexts and situations. This could be organizational or individual, or to guide teams or projects or awards. There is no end to how principles can be generated or applied.

We need for us, as a global community, to spend less time devoted to specific, singular solutions to any given problem, e.g., how to increase yields when it comes to growing crops which often leads to a narrow set of responses. Instead, we need to focus on systems change, understanding interconnections and dynamics and how to thus approach problems from that vantage point, which often leads to much more creative, multi-pronged solutions.

And, finally, we need collaborative spaces where we can simply just do it. We need to create spaces where individuals and organizations who care about the same goals — such as mitigating climate change or ending hunger or finding effective ways to roll back the biodiversity crisis — can come together to develop a set of principles that will guide these actions. Again, principles are the compass and the destination helping us both to define where it is we need to go and to guide us on the journey there.

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 had told me about principles! Had I known, and been more adept at determining and applying them, the Global Alliance may have been able to move more quickly toward our collective agenda.
2. That said, I wish someone had told me to run too fast. The crises we face are urgent and so we tend to approach them as you would an emergency, which is appropriate. However, sometimes I’ve been working at such a pace I’ve missed the opportunity for deeper learning or important relationship-building.
3. I wish someone had told me that we will not win because we are right but because we are organized. Tom Brookes, Executive Director, Strategic Communications at the European Climate Foundation, just wrote a brilliant article where he says “It makes sense that most of us think that if we can just communicate our point in a way that someone else understands, then they will accept the fact that we’re right. In reality, however, that does not work (and, indeed, never has). Changing perceptions is more important than winning an argument. A united perception can skip over who is right and who is wrong in pursuit of a mutual objective.”
4. I wish someone had told me the secret to beating jet-lag and moving between time zones effortlessly.
5. I wish someone had told me how gratifying this work would be, or maybe the gratification is in the discovery. I couldn’t have anticipated how blessed I feel to be able to do the work I do with the people I do it with on issues of such importance at this time in history.

Can you share with our readers what you think are the most important “success habits” or “success mindsets”?

1. Challenge the stories you tell yourself about what’s possible.
2. Always consider what the opposite is of the situation you’re in and ask yourself what it tells you about the good, bad, and the ugly.
3. Believe in goodness.
4. Put a high value on integrity, collaboration, and building strong relationships.
5. Dance with complexity.

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 🙂

I would say: As efforts get underway to jumpstart the world’s economy after the COVID-19 pandemic and to repair health and social care systems, food systems investments become even more crucial, and investments from VCs, philanthropic, and other multilateral organizations could be much more strategic in leveraging public funds and addressing the needs of a fragmented market.

I would also somewhat simply challenge them to question whether their investments are reinforcing the systems that brought us to this place of collapse with COVID-19 or challenging the status quo? Investors of all stripes have a powerful opportunity to shift the system — and the opportunities to do so are plentiful. How can you make every dollar count to bring us a world with more diversity, equity, and resilience?

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Please follow me on @RuthOpenBlue and @futureoffoodorg

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

Thank you!

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Principles: Ruth Richardson’s Big Idea That May Change The World In The Next Few Years was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Be in contact with the employee during other times. This is especially important for remote employees. When employees and managers are in the office together, there is a natural opportunity for social run-ins — lunch, getting coffee, even passing in the hallway. For remote employees, social run-ins must be preplanned. I firmly believe that managers should be meeting with their teams, individually or as a group, at least weekly. If managers provide feedback regularly, it will be kinder and less frightening for them when constructive feedback comes.

As a part of our series about “How To Give Honest Feedback without Being Hurtful”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Lauren Lefkowitz.

Lauren is a Career and Mindset Coach for professionals who want more from life than work, sleep, repeat. With 20 years of human resources management experience, Lauren turned a side-gig in coaching into a full-time business. Lauren’s work focuses on partnering with individuals, small groups and small businesses to support professionals who want to find joy, excitement, challenge and balance in their careers…and still have a personal life to love.

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

I started working in human resources (HR) as my fourth career (yes, you read that right!) during the first three years of my adult work life. After giving meeting planning, accounting, and sales a try, I was tapped on the shoulder inside my company to join the HR team.

I immediately fell in love with knowing my job was to support the people who support the people. In other words, I got to provide the back-end support to employees at all levels so that they could provide support to our products, services and customers. HR is a backbone job, for sure.

I loved my time in HR and especially thrived on the opportunity to support managers and employees in building productive relationships, providing honest feedback, and setting clear expectations.

After a 20-year career in HR and years of side-gigging in various aspects of career coaching, job search training, small business HR consulting, etc., I have recently transitioned to full time coaching, as a Career and Mindset Coach for people who want more from life than work, sleep, repeat.

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

My company, Lauren Lefkowitz Coaching, offers people in the middle of their careers an opportunity to take a breath from their list of things to do, stop, spend time in the mirror, and make conscious decisions about how they want to participate in their own lives. So many people allow their lives to just happen to them. I argue that the opportunity is to happen to their own lives.

I work with clients on speaking up for themselves, setting boundaries, and finding balance and joy. Sometimes this means finding a new job or a new career, but more often, it means acknowledging that they want more than just reacting to work that comes their way — it means taking control and ownership over their lives, and making choices, including in how they approach their jobs.

I might be my own best success story — I hired a coach myself and shifted myself from working 80–100-hour weeks to working 40-hour weeks, creating new hobbies, and building the confidence to follow my dreams. And then I actually got to follow those dreams and take my part-time coaching gig to a full-time business. I’m a better coach for it.

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

In my last HR job, I was joining an organization that had never had an HR function before. They had grown enough know they needed HR, but they weren’t certain exactly why. On my first day, the CEO said to me, “I’m not sure what you’re supposed to do here, but I know we need you.” I responded, “Luckily, I know what to do, so if you set me loose, I’ll take care of everything.” It was such a rewarding opportunity to build a department and function from scratch, show the organization how having an HR department could positively impact employees, and be able to offer both strategic and tactical opportunities for HR impact.

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

One that wasn’t funny when it happened, but has been funny my whole career since was when I was late to my interview for the job that led to my ultimate career path. I was about four minutes late, and I was hoping they wouldn’t notice (they did). I thought about the whole interview (and no one said anything, so I thought I was in the clear). The interview was great, I was hired, and a few months in, my supervisor mentioned that she had noticed I was late to the interview, but it was such a good interview that she was willing to overlook it. That was the job which led to my HR career, so I am forever grateful for her grace in letting my four-minute delay go. We laughed about it then — and more than 20 years later, it still comes up as a joke between us!

When I moved into HR (and this supervisor became one of my internal clients!), the lesson I took with me was to offer grace to those who were just a bit late, especially if they owned up to it (unlike I did!).

What advice would you give to other CEOs and business leaders to help their employees to thrive and avoid burnout?

Be a human. Your team(s) will respect you for it, appreciate your leadership in showing your humanity, and you’ll be more likeable. Take sick days; go to your kid’s t-ball game or school play; cut out early once in a while and be unavailable for the afternoon. When you’re on vacation, actually be on vacation. This sets the example for your employees that it’s also okay for them to be human, that it’s encouraged for them to have a life outside of work, to take time off, to be out of touch.

How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?

Leadership combines the ability to know and share knowledge in a constructive way, to not know and share that with honesty and vulnerability, to partner instead of manage, to lead instead of instruct, to ask instead of demand, to give acknowledgement instead of collect credit.

A leader is someone you recognize as a person you want to emulate in some way.

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?

Others are surprised to learn that I meditate — and I didn’t always. I began practicing meditation about a year ago, ‘practice’ being the key word there! When I first started, I would open one eye every few minutes to see how long I had been doing it. Clearly, that’s not the goal! My first instinct was to quit on it because I didn’t think I could be patient enough to finish a single session, let alone actually be in it.

With time, practice, and learning what kind of meditation serves me best, I now thrive in meditation. I get some of my best ideas while I’m meditating, and I’ve learned for myself that having a notebook nearby and being willing to open both eyes when an idea sparks has helped me come up with some of my best work!

I also learned that meditation helps me sleep more deeply and feel more focused. And sometimes, I still open one eye to see how long I’ve been doing it. I’m a work in progress.

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?

The core of my work has been in HR management, but I have also been the manager (or interim manager) for several departments, including finance, marketing, information technology, meeting planning and others. Because of this, I have had the opportunity to manage a diversity of skillsets and personalities. As HR, I also act as an advisor for managers and employees on topics including ‘how to’ conversations about giving positive feedback, constructive feedback, or feedback that immediate improvement is needed. I have also worked with employees on managing up (giving feedback to their own managers), managing a manager who has to give feedback to an employee and more.

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?

Offering employees honest and direct feedback eliminates assumptions and wonder. It offers employees a sure understanding of where they stand, what is going well, what needs to improve, and ideally, also offers them support and resources for growth and improvement.

Employees who wonder about where they stand may be more self-critical about their work or may be ignoring areas that need improvement.

A great leader offers the balance of both positive and constructive feedback so that employees always understand how things are going, don’t feel surprised at annual review time, and receive feedback in a timely manner so that they can make changes in real time.

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.

Technology allows us to communicate with remote employees in much the same way we have communicated in person. With the opportunity to use video, relationships can be built in a richer way than in the past, when phones and email were our only options.

Here are five suggestions about how to give constructive or corrective feedback to a remote (or really any!) employee (https://youtu.be/pzbcdY90dKw)

1. Be quick. Do not save up a whole bunch of constructive or corrective feedback and bombard the employee with a list of everything that is going wrong with their work. Let’s imagine a non-work scenario to demonstrate. Saving up your feedback would be like having your partner burn your dinner and you responding with all of the ways they aren’t a good partner. For example, “Joe, dinner is burned, and you forgot to put the clothes in the dryer two weeks ago, and you got us lost in the woods on that vacation six months ago, and you never take out the trash, and your feet smell.” That’s a lot of blowback for one burned dinner!
2. Be honest. This seems obvious, but so often, the feedback giver is worried about hurting the employee’s feelings and instead, they only tell half the story about what requires improvement. Or, the manager fixes the problem for the employee so the employee never even knows there was a problem, and then the issue gets repeated. Let’s say an employee sends in Excel spreadsheets weekly, and the work is correct, but the formatting is all wrong. The manager does the formatting himself, becomes resentful that he has extra work on his plate, and the employee never knows a problem exists. This could all be pre-solved by telling the employee the first time it happens that it needs to be corrected.
3. Be in contact with the employee during other times. This is especially important for remote employees. When employees and managers are in the office together, there is a natural opportunity for social run-ins — lunch, getting coffee, even passing in the hallway. For remote employees, social run-ins must be preplanned. I firmly believe that managers should be meeting with their teams, individually or as a group, at least weekly. If managers provide feedback regularly, it will be kinder and less frightening for them when constructive feedback comes.
4. Be very clear. Make sure the employee knows what requires improvement exactly and also what improvement looks like. This means, “The Excel report you send in every week is not formatted properly. Going forward, the header has to be green with bold print, the columns need to be autofitted, and the links to other sheets must be double checked.” If the feedback is vague, the employee will only know that it’s wrong, but not what to do to make it right.
5. Be kind, but don’t sugar coat. Be a kind human being. So simple, but not always easy if you, as the manager, have gotten heat for the employee’s performance or if this is not the first time you’re addressing an issue. You can be strong about the need to improve without demonstrating anger, without humiliating the employee, and with compassion and understanding.

Do not, under any circumstances, use the ‘sandwich method’ to tell someone they need to improve. For those who have not heard of this, when the sandwich method is used, the manager ‘sandwiches’ the negative feedback in between two positive points. For example, “Jim, you’re so nice to work with and everyone here really likes you, but X, Y and Z accounting errors that you are making are costing us money in audit and those need to be fixed immediately, but you’re so great at PowerPoint!” Being kind doesn’t mean softening the feedback or hiding inside a sandwich of niceties. It just means demonstrating compassion and care as you deliver it.

How do you prevent the email from sounding too critical or harsh?

If the feedback is very concrete, as in editing a document or providing feedback on graphics, be very clear in an email about what your changes are/what needs to be improved without adding judgement. For example, “I edited this Word document quite a lot. Please see my tracked changes attached. I’d like to talk about the style of writing for this kind of document in the future so there won’t be so many edits next time.” And not, “I’m pretty sure you wrote this when you were tired, because this is terrible! Let’s talk.” Both ways get the message across, but the first will be more effective in creating positive change and offering yourself as manager as an approachable ally.

More qualitative feedback, such as addressing a behavioral concern or giving a more formal performance warning simply should not be done over email. If this kind of feedback needs to be given, a simple email that reads, “Let’s set up a time to chat about _____.” Or, “I’d like to talk further about the Excel project. Let’s schedule a time.”

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?

Ideally, managers are having at least weekly meetings with their direct reports (or, for larger teams, at least monthly). If that is the case, feedback, both positive and negative, so it won’t come as a surprise when a regular meeting includes both. This means that on an annual review, employees should not be surprised by any of the feedback they receive because they have been receiving feedback all year. Urgent feedback that requires immediate action should be handled more quickly with an impromptu phone call or video call.

The key indicator here for managers is this: if you are losing sleep over something and dreading giving the feedback, it means you should be giving it now and not waiting until a next scheduled meeting.

How would you define what it is to “be a great boss”? Can you share a story?

A great boss is a person who brings his/her/their whole self to work. This doesn’t mean your employees need to know every detail of your life. This means when you’re having a bad day, you’re willing to share that you’re having a bad day. This means you are empathetic when an employee is having a hard time. It means you take time to interact when things are going well, when something needs improvement, when you feel like just saying hello. Being a great boss means showing your humanity.

A couple of years ago, I had a freak accident during which I broke both of my shoulders. I was out of work for three months and it took an additional two months for me to be back full time. My boss told me, and meant it, to take care of myself first. He took responsibility for redistributing my work, checked in on me often, and offered an unbelievable amount of flexibility for me when I returned. He was so kind and caring about it, and I knew that my recovery absolutely came first in his mind.

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

We are given the opportunity to make choices in every moment of every day. How much work we put into work is a choice. How we allow our bosses to treat us is a choice. If we decide to do nothing and simply react to the world around us, we are still making a choice. You are allowed to make the choice to react to your life as it comes or to be proactive and make new choices from a place of power.

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

My current favorite is, “There is only this moment. And this moment. And this one.” People like me (including me) fill our heads with, “What’s on our calendar? What’s coming up next? What’s after that?” that it’s challenging to stay in the moment. The moments are amazing — the moments are where we share joy, laughter, grief, love. And if we’re always jumping ahead (or reflecting back) we miss the most beautiful moments. This quote, which I can’t attribute to anyone in particular, but which lives in many guided meditations, becomes my mantra when my day or week starts to invade my moments.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

I am super active on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/llefkowitz. I’m also on Instagram @relaunchyourcareer and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/laurenlefkowitzcoaching. My website is https://www.laurenlefkowitzcoach.com

Thank you for these great insights! We really appreciate the time you spent with this.

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Lauren Lefkowitz: Giving Feedback; How To Be Honest Without Being Hurtful was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Future Is Now: Pascale Nini of Immervision On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Don’t put limits on yourself. Creating artificial ceilings can be one of the greatest stumbling blocks to innovation. To be an effective leader, you must often think outside of the realm of possibility, to find new ways to innovate, and come up with solutions to problems that have not yet been solved. This has enabled us to evolve from our R&D roots to become the largest, independent advanced vision company in the world. We have over 26 patents, and have partnered with some of the biggest technology brands — including Qualcomm, Motorola, Intel and many others.

As a part of our series about cutting-edge technological breakthroughs I had the pleasure of interviewing Pascale Nini.

Pascale Nini is the CEO of Immervision, the pioneer and leader in advanced vision systems. Immervision unlocks the ability for machines to perceive the world around them, by strategically partnering with companies to develop, integrate and license Immervision’s wide-angle optical design, image processing and sensor fusion technologies. Twenty years ago, Pascale seized the emerging trend in wide-angle vision, and today Immervision’s technology is used in smartphones, automotives, robotics, and other commercial and consumer products worldwide.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Absolutely. I began my career in mathematics and clinical psychology while in France. While I thoroughly enjoyed working in this field, I had a strong desire to become an entrepreneur. My father was an entrepreneur, and it led to me starting a company, which I eventually sold.

After this experience, my next goal was to find an opportunity in the tech industry, which was a sector that I was drawn towards. I met the initial founders of Immervision in 2000, and I found the pioneering idea of the company — which was to design wide-angle camera lenses that could be used in virtually any application and in any industry — so new and compelling that I became their first investor, using the money I’d made selling my own company. Over time, I continued to advise and support them, and eventually became the CEO of Immervision in 2003, based in Quebec, Canada.

Today, I’m proud to say that Immervision has continued to lead the industry through its unparalleled expertise in advanced vision systems, which we’ve cultivated over the past 20 years. We can develop, integrate and license our technologies, helping our partners and customers to accelerate innovations in machine vision. We are the largest, independent advanced vision system company in the world.

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

When I initially invested in Immervision, I recognized that the company was on the cutting-edge of what was possible in advanced vision systems, but looking back, I didn’t realize the full extent of how advanced Immervision was compared to anything else in the market. Rather, over the years, the tech industry has caught up to now being able to truly take advantage of machine vision and perception.

One example of where we were ahead of the curve was when we conducted virtual, 360-degree demos of our technology, using military-grade headsets. At the time these headsets were incredibly clunky, which affected the user experience. Fast forward to many years later, and Facebook announced that it had acquired virtual reality (VR) headset company Oculus, in a $2 billion deal. Today, nearly 10,000 people are working on augmented or virtual reality devices at Facebook — nearly one-fifth of its total global workforce! It’s shown how far we’ve come from VR being viewed as a fad to one that is continuing to see more excitement and traction for both consumers and businesses. VR is just one of many technologies that uses advanced vision systems to give devices true machine perception.

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

We’ve established the Immervision InnovationLab that includes multidisciplinary and highly-experienced scientists, optical designers and engineers who are steadfastly focused on integrating all aspects of a vision system together, so that we can design solutions for any application and environment.

Our work is focused on continuing to push the boundaries of what’s possible, by increasing the functionalities of our advanced vision systems while reducing the size of the optical designs themselves. This means that we’re constantly breaking through with new vision systems that can fit into increasingly smaller devices (like smartphones and other consumer electronics). We’re also working with customers in the automotive/mobility sector, to create systems that can help a vehicle navigate and make lightning-speed decisions based on what they’re seeing on the road.

At Immervision, we believe that we’re at a major turning point for machine autonomy. Wide-angle optical designs and imaging processing technologies play a central role in giving machines the situational awareness to have human-like perception to make decisions. It’s an exciting time to be working in this field, knowing we’re barely scratching the surface of our technology’s potential.

How do you think this might change the world?

Over the last 20 years, I’ve seen that incorporating vision into machines has evolved from being on the periphery to one that is central to the next generation of devices. The ability for machines to master vision is seen as the next big technological breakthrough, touted as a once-in-a-generation disruption, and its applications in commercial and consumer applications are virtually limitless. Enabling machines to do automated tasks with a high level of security and human comfort will ultimately provide the opportunity for us to focus on new goals and aspirations.

For example, recently we unveiled JOYCE , a humanoid robot that is equipped with ultra wide-angle cameras, which can be used by developers, universities and technology companies to solve computer vision challenges. By incorporating our advanced vision systems into a human-like device, JOYCE can be used in a variety of ways — from helping patients who need emergency care in hospitals, to other situations that require contextual awareness.

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

Many technologies can be viewed as having potential drawbacks, particularly when they are at the cutting edge. At Immervision, our view is that we provide solutions that can advance machines — and humanity — forward in a positive direction. By providing machines with “deep-seeing” capabilities — whether it’s for drones to capture images in hard-to-reach places overhead, space rovers to travel the surface of new planets, or driverless vehicles to navigate users to safety — we’re just scratching the surface with our technology.

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

The breakthrough moment was when Immervision shifted its focus away from pure R&D to licensing and commercializing our technology. For a long time, we were primarily focused on offering wide-angle optics and image processing. Because of this expertise, we were able to create complete advanced vision systems for a variety of applications and industries.

Today, the market has caught up, and machine vision is recognized as a huge, untapped opportunity — vision data is expected to be a major driver of Industry 4.0, which is expected to deliver between $1.2 trillion to $3.7 trillion in potential value by 2025 worldwide. I’m excited to see what the next 20 years holds for machine vision and perception.

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

I think we’re on the right track to reach widespread adoption, seeing all the signals in the market. One of our top priorities is to continue to cultivate and expand our team of talented, multidisciplinary scientists, optical designers and engineers who strategically partner with our clients (we’ve partnered with over 133 companies to date, including Qualcomm, CEVA, Motorola and many others) to work from high-level applications requirements to set the specs for advanced vision systems in devices. Additionally, through our commitment to integrating the traditionally siloed areas of computer vision, AI and sensor data among companies, we see our role in bringing our end-to-end expertise to help accelerate machine vision innovation to power a range of devices.

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

Our launch of JOYCE has been a major milestone to highlight how the computer vision community can work together to help machines gain human-like perception. In the future, we plan to do live streaming videos with JOYCE on social media networks, to give viewers the opportunity to see the “behind-the-scenes” of this technology in real-time.

Additionally, we’ve also promoted our innovative work with brands — from Intel, CEVA, the U.S. Department of Defense and more. For example, with the U.S. Department of Defense, we partnered with them to develop computer vision wide-angle systems for commercial and defense drones, which can operate in low-light settings.

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 several mentors throughout my life. My father has been a huge inspiration for me — he taught me to not create an artificial ceiling to my ambition, and to also impart that philosophy to those I worked with. He taught me to strive to reach my goals — no matter how lofty these may seem — and to never give up. In business, the path is never straight or easy, so perseverance is key.

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

I’ve been honored to be a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs throughout my career. I’ve been very involved with a number of organizations devoted to women entrepreneurship, and giving them the tools and insights to become successful leaders. I’ve also worked with entrepreneurs in Quebec to help them hone their investment strategies in the early stages of their business. I enjoy working with founders at this stage and seeing how their companies flourish from a kernel of an idea to one that has a comprehensive plan, go-to-market strategy and the elements to grow and succeed.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)

1. Don’t put limits on yourself. Creating artificial ceilings can be one of the greatest stumbling blocks to innovation. To be an effective leader, you must often think outside of the realm of possibility, to find new ways to innovate, and come up with solutions to problems that have not yet been solved. This has enabled us to evolve from our R&D roots to become the largest, independent advanced vision company in the world. We have over 26 patents, and have partnered with some of the biggest technology brands — including Qualcomm, Motorola, Intel and many others.
2. The road to entrepreneurship is neither linear nor peaceful. The journey for an entrepreneur feels less like walking down a straight road, and more like hiking an obstacle-laden mountain. To succeed as an entrepreneur, you must adapt constantly to survive and grow. The constant changes in the market, industry trends and macroeconomic trends means that there will also be bumps in the road — particularly as technology is so fast-paced — but this also poses new opportunities along the way.
3. Specialize in solutions. Being an entrepreneur and a CEO is not easy. Often, you’ll find that you are not only presented with new challenges, and may have to walk down uncharted paths to arrive at the best solution. At Immervision, our partners and customers frequently ask us to design, develop and integrate vision systems that have never been done before — and that means that we’re always pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.
4. Sometimes you need to trust your instincts. Being a CEO can sometimes be an isolating experience, especially when you need to make difficult executive decisions. Over the years, I’ve learned to amass the right team, resources and insights that have helped propel and expand the business, enabling us to be in millions of vision-based consumer and commercial devices around the world.
5. Surround yourself with the right team. It may sound cliche, but having the right team to complement and challenge you is critical for your growth, and the growth of the company. At Immervision, I’m honored to have a senior leadership team who have been working alongside me for well over a decade, and a successful board of advisors. Whether it’s looking at expanding into a new industry, innovating our technology or any other strategic priority, our team is focused on tackling every opportunity.

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 truly believe that JOYCE is the start of a movement to bring the computer vision community together to give machines vision and perception. We’re still scratching the surface of what the possibilities could be for humanoid robots to be in industries as varied as security, medical, automotives, and much more.

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

“Never give up” is a phrase that I have instilled in my company. It is an attitude that I aim to embody, to set an example for my entire team. Regardless of your role, if you are able to think outside of the box and turn a challenge into an opportunity, then it can help put you on the path to success.

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 🙂

At Immervision, we specialize in bringing eyes — vision and perception — to machines. We are the only company in the world that understands advanced vision systems through the entire camera pipeline. This means that we offer comprehensive expertise in optical design, image processing, and sensor fusion technologies to accelerate machine vision.

Today, computer vision is still viewed as a huge, untapped opportunity, with the total addressable market expected to reach US$48.32 billion by 2023, at a compound annual growth rate of 31.65%. It’s abundantly clear that the industry is rapidly moving towards giving machines real-time vision and perception, and as the first to pioneer this movement, we are poised to equip the next generation of devices with this innovation.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Immervision’s Social Media:

LinkedIn

Twitter

Facebook

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

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

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Survival is what helped cement my resilience. Before I went to live with my grandparents, I grew up at a time where survival for the fittest was the only way. I have many fond memories of my childhood neighborhood but there were also many difficulties. The surrounding areas weren’t always good. I was harassed near certain gang areas from members and cops, I was shot at and threatened with guns, but I refused to be a statistic. I have a lot of things to say; I couldn’t allow anyone to silence my voice.

In this interview series, we are exploring the subject of resilience among successful business leaders. Resilience is one characteristic that many successful leaders share in common, and in many cases it is the most important trait necessary to survive and thrive in today’s complex market.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Nick Hamilton.

Nick Hamilton is the go-to sports and entertainment journalist and founder of Nitecast Media. Nitecast Media is a black-owned digital media platform that offers sports and pop culture enthusiasts access to exclusive content and interviews. Nick strives to broadcast real stories about rising athletes, entertainers, and global leaders that mainstream media refuses to air.

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?

My grandmother raised me in a house she bought in the 60s in a neighborhood where she was the first black person. My parents are hardworking people and have always valued integrity, character, and the ability to make your own opinions. They are the reason for my resilience and my thirst for mass accessible information. But not everyone was supportive. I was told I would never be good enough.

With the support of my family and their lessons, I betted on myself and went back to school to try again, and I got my degree. I now have over ten years of experience. I’ve worked on significant outlets like NBC and iHeartMedia, covered all major sport and pop culture events, became a member of Pro Football Writers of America and National Association of Black Journalists, and am a founder of multiple successful podcasts.

Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

I believe the most interesting and lasting moment of my career has to be the first time I was on the red carpet. To meet my idols and be given the opportunity to ask them questions was phenomenal. I also learned you have to be as diverse as you can to make the most of this opportunity. When you are diverse, you have a wide range of questions you can ask so every celebrity you see, you can connect with. Being able to switch keeps you in the loop and will give you numerous interesting stories to tell.

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

I believe the content we cover and the impact we have on our society and communities sets Nitecast Media apart from other media hubs. We have the dedication and drive to bring consistent real stories about rising athletes, entertainers, and global leaders. We are also a black-owned media rather than black-targeted, meaning that we share and tell our stories of success and resistance instead of only tragedy and violence. I know we impact society; I see it in my son’s eyes every day. He always asks when I am going on TV. I know we are creating changes. Like my son, I hope to inspire black kids, help them in their journey of life, and show them that you don’t have to wait on anyone to realize your dreams.

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

In my journey to success, I am grateful to my mentor, Eric Wade, may God rest his soul. When I first started, he took a chance with me and brought me along. He showed me new skills that I still use today. He was patient and incredibly gifted. From our mentorship we became friends. He would always remind me that the greatest gift I can give to myself is “Always stay connected.”

Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. We would like to explore and flesh out the trait of resilience. How would you define resilience? What do you believe are the characteristics or traits of resilient people?

Growing up, I faced many challenges that attempted to stop my growth and success. With every setback, my resolution strengthened ten folds. I was determined to get to my address, and I refused to take no for an answer. But most of all, I refused to be ignored. For years black and brown voices have been silenced, talked over, and incorrectly recorded. I was rejected by potential business partners more times than should be allowed, but I refused to quit. My willingness to persevere towards making my vision a reality brought me the success I have now. I was not always the most popular choice, but I took my destiny into my own hands, never waited for anyone, and networked my ass off to continuously build my allies and partners. I sacrificed my time, money, and sleep to get to that next level. I hurt my relationship with my friends and family, but I was determined to keep people in my circle, and I was willing to listen to advice. That is resilience. You always have to gain something when you bounce back. If the experience doesn’t change you for the better, you’ll just be stuck replaying that same loss.

When you think of resilience, which person comes to mind? Can you explain why you chose that person?

When I think of resilience, I think of my mom. She was always the kind of person to see the good in people despite what she may see or was told. You never know if there was a misunderstanding or misinformation. She was always passionate about making her own opinions and finding the most accurate information before spreading information. I learned a lot from her, most just from observing. She lit the fire that builds the foundation of my business and she never stops her journey until it’s done.

Has there ever been a time that someone told you something was impossible, but you did it anyway? Can you share the story with us?

When I first began, someone told me that I would never be able to cover major sports teams, that I was never going to be good enough, nor have what it takes to be a success. I won’t lie, my spite fueled me. In the end, I covered every major sports team and event out there. Some teams I still work with to this day.

Did you have a time in your life where you had one of your greatest setbacks, but you bounced back from it stronger than ever? Can you share that story with us?

One of the greatest betrayal and setbacks I ever encountered in my career was when someone stole my ideas for multiple shows. By the time I found out, there was nothing I could legally do. They went through every channel to get the rights to my ideas. I was angry for a while, a long while, but when I released that anger, fresh ideas flooded into my head. I created better shows that are still on today and broadcasted through various platforms.

Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resilience? Can you share a story?

Survival. Survival is what helped cement my resilience. Before I went to live with my grandparents, I grew up at a time where survival for the fittest was the only way. I have many fond memories of my childhood neighborhood but there were also many difficulties. The surrounding areas weren’t always good. I was harassed near certain gang areas from members and cops, I was shot at and threatened with guns, but I refused to be a statistic. I have a lot of things to say; I couldn’t allow anyone to silence my voice.

Resilience is like a muscle that can be strengthened. In your opinion, what are 5 steps that someone can take to become more resilient? Please share a story or an example for each.

The five steps to become more resilient are very common thoughts that aren’t taken as seriously as they should be. For one, you have to live your truth and be the person you want to be. That will always be the first step. When you allow others to dictate who you are as a person, you lose the control to heal and fight back. The second is giving yourself the ability to think for yourself. Never allow others to think for you. Anything you hear, try to verify for yourself. When you do this, you find out you know yourself far more than you’ve previously thought before. No one knows you better than you, and no one should be able to. Thirdly, don’t be afraid to fail. Build from your failures. That is the best thing you can do to bounce back from a loss. When you learn from your mistakes, you learn how to use what you know in multiple ways. Every disadvantage can be your advantage. Fourth, you have to learn how to be selfless. When you are able to give others advice and tools, you help elevate them. Every knowledge or failure can help another. This will give you an ally in the most unlikely scenarios. Lastly, learn when to take breaks. Exercise, meditation, do what you love to ground yourself in the moment and not be swiped away. When you lose yourself, you will only hurt your business and staff.

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

If I could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good it would be a media school for the youth in my community. A media school is a great way to show kids how to utilize what they are good at for career experience and skills. It will teach them how to be multifaceted. This kind of information isn’t really thought of nor how great the youth can benefit from it. If our communities had programs like these, we would be seeing a lot more black professionals and entrepreneurs.

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

There are so many people I look up to and would like to meet for a private breakfast or lunch. I can hardly count how many. But one I am most eager to meet is Gary Vee. He is very practical in his logic and reasoning, and incredibly effective in finding the work and life solutions. I would LOVE to pick his brain and find out how he got this knowledge, what started his passion in his field, and how he overcame the challenges he faced.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

They can reach out to me in both my personal and professional Instagram. For personal, look for @nickhamiltonla and for business, @nitecastmedia. I’m always happy to connect.

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

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Rising Through Resilience: Nick Hamilton On The Five Things You Can Do To Become More Resilient was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Future Is Now: Sheri Sullivan of Ernst & Young On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Focus on supporting and building a great team. This is one of the most important things you can do. I’ve learned that you can be much more powerful when you help others succeed by encouraging initiatives and removing boundaries.

As part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sheri Sullivan, Global Payroll Operate Leader, Ernst & Young, LLP.

Sheri Sullivan is a global payroll pioneer and has over 20 years of experience. She leads EY Global Payroll Operate, which provides companies with global workforce supply chain solutions facilitating accuracy, timeliness, agility, visibility, proactive data insights and regulatory compliance in a secure way that leverages the latest technologies.

Sheri’s background includes competency building, leading global advisory, and delivery, e.g., business process outsourcing (BPO) like people and payroll services and managing employees in every geographic territory. This is the third global managed service team she has run.

Sheri holds an Executive MBA from the State University of New York at Buffalo — School of Management. She has worked and lived in over 67 countries around the globe.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Payroll is key to any business and interfaces with employees more than any other function — and while I never thought I would explore the intricacies of payroll as a defined career path, I am so happy that I did. I entered the field in December 2000 as part of Paychex’s effort to build out international and secondary markets (US). I joined their corporate team and during the first year went through the PAYX payroll learning academy to learn more about payroll (and even how to hand calculate it). Joining a mature, process and client-focused company specializing in payroll was a great way to learn about leading practices and the industry. I spent over seven years at Paychex setting up and running their international businesses and helping the company expand into secondary markets. Prior to 2000, global payroll had predominately been managed by in-house local teams or by local accounting groups as a managed service solution. Yet, these solutions and the technology infrastructure behind each, have remained mostly static with only small improvements since then. The field has been ripe for disruption for quite some time and the growing importance of visibility, harmonization of processes and control for business leaders has allowed for true innovation. Looking back, as someone who loves to solve difficult problems and add value, payroll truly was the perfect niche for me.

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

I have had many interesting experiences in my career with most centered around client service and managing complex projects with diverse teams. When I served as the CEO of Intercomp’s Global Services, I had the opportunity to lead a team through a difficult situation where individuals, including myself, were personally threatened.

Intercomp provided multi-national clients payroll, bookkeeping, legal and HR services in over 76 countries. On Thanksgiving morning several government workers showed up at one of Intercomp’s offices and tried to bribe our team. Intercomp’s fully managed payroll service provided treasury services for clients to help with timely payments due to regulatory agencies, third parties and employees. During a nine-month period, our team was threatened with bodily harm and injury, the company was threatened with regulatory labor inspection shutdowns and subject to governmental audits.

Eventually all claims were dismissed by a high court because there was no wrongdoing and we did not lose any clients. During this stressful time, I really learned how to step up in a leadership role and develop a high performing team that was ultimately able to triumph in an extreme adversarial condition.

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

When I joined EY in 2017 as a direct admit Partner, I was helping clients develop and execute Time to Pay end- to-end future service delivery models. Shortly after, I was tasked with leading EY’s Global Payroll Operate solution. Having spent the last two decades of my career in this field, I’ve witnessed first-hand how vendors have not kept pace with providing the solutions and technology needed to help clients transform their business. So, I knew that to be successful, we would need to build and partner with other companies to create the solutions and tools that were lacking in the market.

As a managed service offering, EY Global Payroll Operate has been working on the following technology breakthroughs:

1. EY Payroll Operate’s new technology, EY Interact, is a global mobile app that provides pay slips, tax documents, personalized reports, and an AI chatbot to help answer questions in over 49 languages. EY Interact, allows organizations to access real-time reporting, analytics, and payroll controls to check each production, run, review discrepancies and anomalies, and even use the data to add organizational value such as attrition prediction, gender reporting and equality. The app also includes the specific regulatory required features for specific countries, helping to take employee communication and unique user experiences to the next level.
2. EY Payroll Command Center is a one-stop payroll “administrator cockpit” that manages end-to-end workflow processes and tasks. It connects clients with the EY country subject matter regulatory experts and payroll processing teams, automates service level agreements and performance metrics, provides regulatory law updates, and leverages the EY one global data model and data tools (DigiPay) to provide company insights and more.
3. EY has developed a gross to net payroll engine called PEYtal, currently servicing 15 countries and leveraging the latest cloud infrastructures and technologies. This system is configured to set up payroll specifics quickly and easily by employees and therefore able to handle complex working schemes and “the future of work.”

New innovations that we are releasing are detailed below:

1. EY’s source to gross “Shoebox tool”:

• Allows “shoebox” unstructured input transformation, ingestion, and automated missing data imputation.
• Organize data and provide traceable, auditable data lineage.
• Identifies potential mistakes and missing data at the source.

2. Reverse engineering:

• Transforms current onboarding approach and implementation activities from client’s prior vendor or in-house system.
• Uses historical payroll reports to recreate payroll engine configurations.
• Provides assurance on payroll engine setup and identify non compliant taxation treatments.
• Identifies prior compliance issues that need to be rectified.

3. Automated control totals:

• Expands EY’s current control totals to add fraud and anomaly detection. Proactively highlights potential error patterns for investigation and remediation.
• Leverages AI and Machine Learning to continuously improve error detection.
• Monitors data flow from inputs to payroll preview and verifies everything at payroll finalization.

How do you think this might change the world?

These innovations will disrupt the market by the following:

1. Reduce cost and time to implement/change the current payroll state helping clients move more quickly to their future service delivery model.
2. Increases the accuracy and timeliness of source to gross collection and therefore, the overall payroll.
3. Moves payroll toward a one touch (approval only) format where control totals are not only automated but were the machine provides the suggested solution or fixes to any errors as well.
4. All the solutions will end manual efforts. The transition to a fully automated payroll will allow companies to have greater controls and compliance while reducing risk. Finally, we anticipate there will be an increase in positive overall employee user experience and trust around payroll.

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

New technology means that the responsibilities of payroll teams will change. Payroll teams will transition to being problem solvers and data technicians — working end-to-end process improvement and stakeholder management. Ultimately, these “new and improved” teams will play a key role in utilizing the rich data contained within payroll to help with analysis, trends, and overall business decisions.

Another area of discussion centers around the future of employee personal data. We think the employee will eventually hold all their data within their own smart phones. Yet, there are ethical conversations to be had around what systems or companies should hold this information and how to prevent data from being harnessed for the wrong reasons. In all, the goal is to bring balance to any potential situations.

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

There was really no tipping point for these developments — it was a accumulation of a lot of listening and understanding the needs and frustrations of clients from the last 20 years. When we took a step back, it was obvious what products and services were needed to help address these client needs and provide them with the benefits they desired. Fortunately, EY has the regulatory expertise and the breadth of connected services to be in the perfect position to connect the dots and prescribe this roadmap.

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

The EY Payroll Operate business has grown over 57% CAGR and is now a major player in the market, but still relatively unknown as a global payroll managed services player. We are currently working to increase market awareness of the technology and our offering.

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

If you talk with any of our clients, they will tell you that we’ve been in “stealth” mode over the last three years. In that time, our focus has been on developing and refining our technology solutions to best suit business needs.

In May, we officially launched to market with a global analyst briefing/event. Our marketing strategy includes developing thought leadership and contributing to articles, such as this one, around the globe.

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 been blessed with incredible mentors throughout my career and personal life. Certainly, my family and spouse have played a large part too. As my support system, it’s nice to know my family is on the sidelines cheering me on.

It’s also so important to recognize my amazing team members who have not only worked with me for years, but they’ve grown with me too.

There are really so many people that have been part of my journey and supported me along the way. However, If I must pick one (or a couple), I must thank Tom Golisano, founder of Paychex, who not only brought me into the payroll world, but taught me how to run a true client-centric payroll managed services organization that can scale and grow. Finally, the EY senior tax leadership and specifically Kate Barton, EY Global Vice Chair, Tax and Jim Hunter, EY Global Compliance and Reporting Leader for all their support, guidance, direction, and challenges.

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

As a woman leader, I have become more aware of the inequalities around diversity and inclusion within organizations. For most of my career, I have held a global leadership role and I have placed an emphasis on what I can do to build a better working world.

I’ve sponsored women to help with their career progression. I became a founding member of SheCAN!, a not-for-profit dedicated to empowering women through personal and professional development, health and wellness and positive mindset. I’ve spoken as a keynote speaker to provide other business leaders with the tools and understanding to help move toward equality. I served on many not-for-profit boards including the WEDI Buffalo board, which supports entrepreneurship, capital funding and business mentorship for displaced immigrants as they work toward re-establishing their business concepts in America. I’ve also worked as an adjunct professor for several universities including Webster University in Austria, teaching business entrepreneurship.

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

Do we have all day? (Kidding!) A few things I wish someone told me before I started:

1. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Be your authentic self and find your purpose early on. I was a leader at a young age and guarded around my personal life instead of embracing and showing my vulnerabilities (which I know now, is a good quality to have as a leader). I’ve always moved at a very fast pace both personally and professionally. At the beginning of my career, I felt like I was judged because of this. Many years ago, I read the book, Orbiting the Giant Hairball, by Gordon MacKenzie which helped me to identify how to bring my authentic self to work and still add value to the organization. This inspired me to be less guarded, more open, and an overall better leader.
2. Question everything. Every question you ask could be the drop that starts a ripple of action, innovation, and fresh thinking. Those drops can change the world! EY’s purpose of Building a Better Working World and constantly asking better questions truly resonates with me because I am very intellectually curious.
3. Focus on supporting and building a great team. This is one of the most important things you can do. I’ve learned that you can be much more powerful when you help others succeed by encouraging initiatives and removing boundaries.
4. Focus on listening to clients and bring them along on your journey. I’ve found that you need to listen when you are working with your clients, since you are ultimately building a partnership with them.
5. Have fun on your journey! I love what I do — and I am grateful that I’ve never been in a professional situation where I didn’t love what I was doing. In about 99% of my working career, I’ve had fun and I think this is very important. Clients want to work with someone who is fun and passionate. Your teams want to work with someone who’s enthusiastic. Focus on having fun 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. 🙂

I find that a movement usually starts with one brave soul and a small act. I love the pay it forward concept — sometimes it’s the smallest kindness and gesture that makes a difference in someone’s life. I’d want to start a larger movement around paying it forward — then, build a global community focused on doing kind, graceful acts. With an act of kindness, you do it without expecting anything in return. Just knowing your gracious act is helping someone in need is the reward.

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

I have two quotes. The first quote is from Mahatma Gandhi: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” You have the power to make change and it’s all about how your actions benefit others.

The second quote is from Friederike Fabritius, a neuroscientist who says, “In order to be in top performance, you need the right amount of fear, focus and fun, and everyone has a different quotient.”

For me, I know this works since I need the balance of all three to be at my peak performance. For one, I thrive in a crisis and can think on my feet. I also love what I do (hence the fun part), and I focus rather intently on solving problems. When I have all three, I am at the top of my game.

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 next evolution of employment and types of workforce supply chain is going to be driven by employees and not employers. Therefore, to embrace and harness this future, there are many innovations that are needed (i.e. employees will eventually hold all their data within their own smart phones and plug into employers). Let’s work on some innovations to facilitate this future together.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Please connect with me on LinkedIn here.

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

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you and the wonderful questions.

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The Future Is Now: Sheri Sullivan of Ernst & Young On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

You must choose being happy over being right. Getting divorced will throw up endless opportunities for conflict. Whether it’s finances, children or general communication, you could lose yourself in the need to be right and prove them wrong. When I decided that being happy was more important for my peace of mind, I learned to pick only the important battles with my ex-husband.

As part of our series about the “5 Things You Need To Know To Survive And Thrive After A Divorce Or Breakup” I had the pleasure of interviewing Marissa Walter.

Marissa Walter is a therapist specializing in empathic breakup and divorce coaching which shifts your mindset as well as your emotions. Since 2011 she has been advocating self-love and personal growth as tools to heal from heartbreak. She is the founder of Break Up and Shine, a published author and the creator of the 30-day online program Stop Focusing On Your Ex. You can follow her in her free Facebook group and on Instagram.

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

I grew up in London and was quite a sensitive and introverted child, unsure of where I fitted into life. I always felt my future would involve sharing empathy and support but didn’t have a clue what that would look like. I found myself interested in psychology at school and then, in university, I was particularly drawn to studying therapy. Back then, I didn’t have the confidence or self-belief to pursue it as a career. It was 20 years later, as my life took a dramatic change, that it became my calling.

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

In 2010 my marriage ended in shock and devastation, when my husband left me to be with someone else. I was alone with three tiny children, and it was the lowest point of my life. I had to dig deep into my soul to turn things around. I began to share my healing journey through blogging and loved that my experience was inspiring others. This led me to eventually publish my book, Break Up and Shine, in 2017.

It dawned on me that what had been missing all those years ago at university, was the lived experience to deeply empathize as a therapist. I decided to train as a counselor to specifically focus on supporting challenging relationships and healing from breakup, and now I work with clients 1:1 as well as run a support group and an online course.

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

I originally thought that my path lay in couples’ therapy. I believed that the divorce lessons which I learned could help me to support couples, so that they did not get to the point of breakup. After qualifying as a counselor, I took additional training in couple therapy and I worked mainly in this area.

But it came with challenges and limitations, and I began to realize that my greatest strength lay in helping individuals rebuild their lives post-breakup. I had to accept that my path wasn’t in preventing the breakups but helping people rebuild themselves after a relationship ends. So, I listened to my inner voice and stopped the couples work to focus on breakup healing.

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?

Training in therapy is an uncomfortable growth process and brings up all your unhealed parts. Although it wasn’t funny at the time, I look back now and laugh at when I thought I was ready to train as a counselor but spent a whole weekend workshop sobbing through my own unprocessed grief over the divorce!

I decided it was way too soon to begin my career and left it another year. Once I’d let myself fully feel the emotions of the breakup, I could immerse myself in exploring and growing from it, while I learned to support others.

The biggest lesson I learned is that you can’t move forward while squashing down unexpressed emotion. The timescale will be different for everyone, it might be weeks, months or more. But if you don’t allow yourself to process the grief, you just delay your ability to grow and move on fully.

Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life or your work?

One of my favourite inspirational quotes is: “Happiness is not having what you want but wanting what you have” by Rabbi Hyman Schachtel

I adopted a gratitude practice early on in my divorce healing journey and it changed my life. We don’t always get the circumstances we want in life, but I learned that it is possible to be grateful even for the setbacks, disruptions, and heartbreaks.

This quote was a tough lesson because it was saying that letting go meant not wishing for my situation to be different. But my life felt like a car crash and of course I wanted it to be different! However, little by little, daily acceptance crept in with a realization that somehow, for reasons I could not yet see, this divorce was happening for some higher good. I could choose to embrace it and want it. To this day, gratitude journaling is something I teach in my work because it is so powerful at shifting perspective.

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

My current online program Stop Focusing On Your Ex is all about the mindset and strategies needed to make yourself a priority after your relationship ends. However, I’m now working on a new course which teaches you to take the next steps in creating your future. It’s called Dreaming Big After Breakup and will focus on conceiving a vision for your life and the goal-setting steps to get there!

Many people find it hard to visualize a better life after divorce. Even if they have hopes and wishes, it’s normal to lack confidence that they will ever become a reality. In this new project I will be helping people to uncover futures which are so intuitively driven that they feel compelled to happen! There will also be practical strategies to ensure that you take action and that it doesn’t just stay a dream.

Ok. Thank you for that. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. Can you tell us a bit about your experience going through a divorce, or helping someone who was going through a divorce? What did you learn about yourself during and after the experience? Do you feel comfortable sharing a story?

My divorce was the catalyst to move into my most fulfilled life, and this is what I teach to others going through breakup. In my experience you have to allow yourself to feel the loss; if you bury emotion or try to move too quickly into positive mindset work, you are heading for a setback. However, there comes a point where you are tired of your own cycle of pain. At this point you make a choice: continue to stay stuck and see it as the end of your happiness or find the opportunity in the loss.

My divorce allowed me to reassess who I had been my whole life. Doing the internal work meant I not only healed the wounds of the marriage, but other previous pain and patterns too. I was determined that this devastation should not have been for nothing. As well as creating a happier, healthier me, it also ensured that I was entering any future relationships as my best and most authentic self.

In your opinion, what are the most common mistakes people make after they go through a divorce? What can be done to avoid that?

I find that people are kept stuck by focusing too much on the things they cannot control and looking externally to get closure. This can include things like believing you need an apology or explanation from your ex to move on; becoming fixated on blame and being “right”; getting into rebound relationships to find happiness or filling your life with distractions to avoid the deeper healing work.

To prevent this and really move on in a healthy way, you need to stay focused on the things that are within your power. Even though you can’t control what has already happened, or may still be happening, you are in charge of your response to it. Focusing on self-awareness and personal growth is the key. Shifting how you respond to external circumstances becomes easier once you start to trust your deeper intuitive voice, instead of the anxious mind-chatter.

People generally label “divorce” as being “negative”. And yes, while there are downsides, there can also be a lot of positive that comes out of it as well. What would you say that they are? Can you share an example or share a story?

I believe the biggest positive to divorce is rediscovering who you are and what you are capable of. In most relationships we lose ourselves to a certain degree, more so in unhealthy or toxic ones. Divorce can be a chance to choose yourself, as well as relearn how healthy relationships look, and recognise that they start with genuine self-love.

There was point soon after the split when I realised that all my energy and time was focused on my ex-husband. I was spiraling about what he had done; the ways he was still behaving; how I could get him to understand my pain; the way his new relationship made me feel. On a particularly tough day, when I was drained and despairing from ruminating so much, I turned inwards and asked what was needed to get through this. I heard a voice which said very clearly “Save yourself!”.

I recognized that this voice was a deeper truth within me. The part that knew that my life was not over just because this marriage was. It was my job to save myself by rediscovering what my life was about, and making it count for something. Since then, I have experienced so many achievements, joys, lessons and relationships that I would never have discovered if I was still in that marriage.

Some people are scared to ‘get back out there’ and date again after being with their former spouse for many years and hearing dating horror stories. What would you say to motivate someone to get back out there and start a new beginning?

My first advice is to be sure that meeting new people is what you want, not what you think you should be doing! It’s actually preferable to hold back from dating while you heal and learn to fully love yourself again. If you feel scared, then check in with yourself whether there is still healing to go through.

However, if you’re at a point where you know you are procrastinating because of scare stories, I would say go with an open mind and curiosity, rather than attachment and expectation.

If you enter the dating world from a place of great self-worth, you’ll most likely be self-aware enough to spot the potential horrors and avoid them before they happen. When you have done the healing and growth work, and a date goes badly, you will be in a good enough emotional place not to make it mean anything negative about you. It may even become a funny story one day!

What is the one thing people going through a divorce should be open to changing?

People should always be open changing to how they choose to perceive what is happening. For me, the reframe from seeing a broken relationship as a devastating loss, to viewing it as an opportunity for a new life, was the ultimate turnaround.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. If you had a close friend come to you for advice after a divorce, what are 5 things you would advise in order to survive and thrive after the divorce? Can you please give a story or example for each?

Of course! I describe these as the “5 Inconvenient Truths” about moving on from divorce because they are often uncomfortable to get onboard with but will ultimately take you forward quickly and effectively.

1. You must choose being happy over being right. Getting divorced will throw up endless opportunities for conflict. Whether it’s finances, children or general communication, you could lose yourself in the need to be right and prove them wrong. When I decided that being happy was more important for my peace of mind, I learned to pick only the important battles with my ex-husband.
2. It’s your responsibility to heal even if the pain wasn’t your fault. You cannot expect the person who hurt you to make things OK. If I had waited for my ex-husband to apologize or make amends before I moved on, I would have remained stuck and in pain. Moving on is an inside job, and this feels so daunting or unfair in the beginning — especially if we didn’t cause the devastation. But when you do the work, you realize how strong you really are. This is empowering and unlike any emotional compensation you can receive from someone else.
3. Your happiness was never dependent on someone else, and it won’t be in the future. We are led to believe that happiness comes from having a good relationship. I have learned that it’s the other way round. Good relationships come from people who are already taking responsibility for their own happiness. One of the greatest joys I get from client work is when people realize that they are completely enough on their own, and always have been. The marriage may have been an enormous part of your life, and it’s loss will leave a huge empty space, but it did not define your being and you are whole without a partner.
4. You must learn to embrace change instead of fear it. Loss itself is not inherently bad or scary, it’s the way we view it that affects how we respond and cope. Reframing loss as opportunity is a powerful tool which, I admit, is not always easy. But when you step back from the narrow perspective of what is happening, you can see a bigger picture. It allows you to see hope that you cannot see from a fearful perspective.
5. Time will only heal if you do something different within that time. I am an impatient person and when I used to hear the phrase “time heals a broken heart” it frustrated me so much because I just wanted to know “how long?”. The thought of waiting months or years to start moving on felt depressing.

Then I learned that true healing is not passively waiting for the pain to go. It means actively processing, learning and growing. If you really want to move on you must put the time to good use to create the future happiness. This means stopping certain behaviours, focusing on what is within your control and creating new healthy habits.

The stress of a divorce can take a toll on both one’s mental and emotional health. In your opinion or experience, what are a few things people going through a divorce can do to alleviate this pain and anguish?

Get the right support. If you are fortunate enough to have family and friends who want to help, use them. If you don’t, there are endless resources online and professional support in the real world.

I would also add that it’s important to find support that uplifts you and helps you see possibility, rather than emotional support that reinforces how hard this is and keeps you stuck as a victim. It’s absolutely vital that we get our feelings honoured, but the best support will show you that you are capable of coming back stronger from this.

Do you have any favorite books, podcasts, or resources related to this topic that you would recommend to our readers?

“When Everything Changes, Change Everything” by Neale Donald Walsch. I mentioned before how about shifting the way you perceive change will be a huge turning point, and this was the book that showed me how! It is filled with deep truths about how we see life-changing events. I put the book down noticing something had permanently shifted in the way I felt and it’s one I recommend to people all the time.

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

If I could inspire one movement it would be teaching self-love. It really is the foundation for moving on from a painful relationship breakup. Divorce can tap into all our worst fears or core beliefs that we are flawed or unlovable. All emotional healing starts with truly believing you are worthy of happiness.

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

I love women who teach you how to use the end of your marriage to find your authentic truth. Elizabeth Gilbert and Glennon Doyle are two amazing examples of this, and I have loved reading their work. What I find interesting is that in both cases, these women were the ones who decided to leave the marriage, whereas I was the “abandoned party”. I would love to have a conversation about the differences and similarities that these endings bring up when it comes to moving on.

Thank you for these great insights and for the time you spent with this interview. We wish you only continued success!

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Marissa Walter of Break Up And Shine: 5 Things You Need To Know To Survive And Thrive After Divorce was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

You Don’t Have to be Good at Everything — This is one lesson I learned from a great career coach. She asked me to sketch out all the things I did every day and mark what I was good at and what I enjoyed. My work ethic has always been to roll up my sleeves and dive into whatever is needed. As I sketched up what I did, I soon realized I spent over 50% of my time doing stuff I was not good at and didn’t enjoy. Courageously, I had a discussion with my boss and pointed this out, and I think it opened his eyes up also to what he did daily. Now with my team, I make sure to ask them to do this exercise. It’s a great practice, and chances are you can optimize your team to do more of what they are good at and fill gaps with people who enjoy specific work areas.

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 John Lunn.

John Lunn is an experienced technology and FinTech entrepreneur with 21 years of experience working and investing in financial services, commerce enablement, e-payments, data, security and infrastructure. He was the 36th employee globally and worked as the Director of Technology for six years at CyberSource, the world’s first payment service provider, which sold to Visa for $2Bn in 2010. John then helped found Passmark Security which was sold to RSA Security in 2006.

In 2006, John joined PayPal as the fourth employee in the UK (now 2,000+), where as Global Director of Developer and Startup Relations, he built and grew PayPal’s first Developer Relations team. In 2015, he orchestrated the purchase of Braintree by PayPal and joined the team. In 2016, John launched PayPal Ventures, the venture capital arm of PayPal, a $350m fund with backing from the Board. The fund quickly became one of the most active FinTech investors in Silicon Valley. John recently founded and is CEO of Gr4vy, the cloud payment orchestration platform, based in California.

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?

My path certainly was not direct. I started as a Marine Biologist and graduated during the last recession, which meant there were not a lot of career opportunities available. I decided to be proactive, so I taught myself to code and fortuitously joined the first internet payment company called CyberSource back in 1997 as the 36th employee. I have been in the world of fintech ever since.

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

I have been in the fintech and payments space for a while now, so I have many stories having spoken at rock festival size conferences in Russia, Brazil and Asia with people like Bono, and Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden — weirdly in a suit. There was even one time that one of my network engineers tripped over a cable and took down most of the UK’s ecommerce.

Ultimately, however, one of the highlights of my career has been when I ran the World Cup of Hackathons in 13 countries, called BattleHack, culminating in a Silicon Valley Grand Final with dancing dragons and all kinds of pyrotechnics. Building a global community of fintech developers was incredible, and there are not many people who have danced in a 100 person developer conga on the edge of the Bosphorus in Istanbul having coded without sleep for 24 hours.

Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?

I am a 6 ft 3 bearded, long-haired gentleman, which can be intimidating to some people, so the first thing I do is to smile. It really helps. It’s essential not to take yourself too seriously and to learn to laugh at yourself. I am very curious about everything and will have a go at pretty much anything, which means I fail at a lot of things. The ability to laugh, even when things go wrong, makes it so much more enjoyable.

The last thing that has guided me, and although it is widely used, I really believe in being kind. I recommend trying to see things from other people’s perspectives and trusting in people’s good intentions. We spend so much time getting angry with other people or fighting over opinions or ownership, but most people are good, and taking the time to work out how they operate is always worth 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”?

At Gr4vy, we have built a Cloud Platform that allows a retailer to add and manage all the ways a consumer would like to pay without needing a team of engineers. A “payments team” is currently embedded in most retailers once they get to a certain size due to the complexities of managing multiple payment providers, especially when they sell internationally. Gr4vy allows a retailer to do one integration through our platform, and then a non-technical team member can manage all their payment methods in a no code fashion.

Gr4vy delivers other advantages by being a cloud platform, which also modernizes payments infrastructure. Gr4vy offers Instances, which act as a retailer’s individualized infrastructure and payment platform in the Cloud. Retailers can spin up one of these Instances as an Edge Instance of Gr4vy, in different jurisdictions worldwide, so they can serve their customers quicker and keep the data locally so they can meet increasing global data regulations. Finally, Gr4vy allows a retailer to avoid building PCI1 level security, as we manage that for them through our vault. This new way of managing payment infrastructure in the Cloud will accelerate payment innovation globally.

How do you think this will change the world?

Although there has been a lot of fintech innovation globally, there has been slow adoption of new ways to pay mainly due to the engineering debt caused by adding these options. Furthermore, not accepting the different types of payments available locally significantly reduces share of checkout for international retailers. Gr4vy’s vision is to help retailers test and adopt payment methods with no engineering debt, which will help boost their bottom line.

However, more interestingly, a huge amount of the global population is unbanked or underbanked and find themselves excluded from online shopping. Enabling other ways to pay will empower this group and provide a more inclusive ecommerce ecosystem.

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 is a certain irony about developers writing code that means that you don’t need code and, therefore, coding ourselves out of work. Ultimately if there are no more coders and something goes wrong, who can fix the code? However, this is unlikely to happen for a very long time, and there is nothing wrong with building great tools that make technology more accessible to more people.

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

There was less of an individual tipping point, and more of a multi-year constant irritation of how trying to add varying payment options slowed the payment industry down. While I was at PayPal, I would meet merchants who would want to add PayPal but had 8 to 9 month lead times. I saw some great payment options fail because they couldn’t get merchant adoption, even though consumers loved them. I guess the tipping point was the emergence of Cloud technology and the realization that we could finally do something about the irritation in a way that would scale globally for retailers.

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

Gr4vy and truly cloud-native payment orchestration platforms have just started as a technology, and a lot of what we do is educating retailers that there is a better way. The old way of large payment teams and onboarding each new payment option individually has been around for so long that we often see “Eureka” moments as we talk to potential clients. Phrases like “why has nobody done this before” are very common. Payment Orchestration is definitely the next wave of payment fintech, and it’s not a matter of “if” but more of how quickly retailers will adopt it.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)

1. You Don’t Have to be Good at Everything

This is one lesson I learned from a great career coach. She asked me to sketch out all the things I did every day and mark what I was good at and what I enjoyed. My work ethic has always been to roll up my sleeves and dive into whatever is needed. As I sketched up what I did, I soon realized I spent over 50% of my time doing stuff I was not good at and didn’t enjoy. Courageously, I had a discussion with my boss and pointed this out, and I think it opened his eyes up also to what he did daily. Now with my team, I make sure to ask them to do this exercise. It’s a great practice, and chances are you can optimize your team to do more of what they are good at and fill gaps with people who enjoy specific work areas.

2. Delegation is Uncomfortable but Important

I learned this one too late in my career, and I see it way too often with managers. Sometimes you feel like it’s just easier to do the work than train someone else to do it, or you feel like nobody else can do it as well as you. The truth is you will never be a good manager if you do this, and you are unlikely to ever end up in a senior position at a company. You will lose the respect of the people you manage as they won’t feel valued, and you are more likely than not to be considered too valuable to be given management responsibilities. I got stuck in a rut in one of my roles because of precisely this issue. I applied for a more senior role, and I did not get it because I was too valuable in my current lower paid role. Recognizing the problem, I trained up some people in my team to do what I did — even though they were not as good at it to start with — and pretty much made myself redundant over time. I was then able to progress to a more prominent role with more responsibilities. Now, as a CEO, I delegate constantly.

3. Make Space for Others in Meetings

As a manager, I learned this the hard way when one of my brave employees pointed out that I was scary and intimidating — mainly due to my size — and that some staff members would not talk in meetings because they were intimidated. I was embarrassed and ashamed, and I learned to wait and count to 15 before giving my opinions in all multi-person meetings to create space for others to give theirs. I also actively ask people for their views regardless of their seniority, and I have been known to ask people not to talk during meetings so that others can. It’s a lesson I consciously practice, and I encourage others to do the same. Listen and let the group talk first. You are missing so much value if you only let the opinionated people talk in meetings, as they can often drown out others who might have a much more valid opinion if asked. It’s important to remember that quieter voices don’t mean the opinions are less strong. Even in 1:1’s learn that silences don’t need to be uncomfortable and give people the time they need.

4. Learn to Say No

I also learned this one far too late in my career. Every time someone asked me to do something, I would always be helpful, but it led to me massively overstretching myself and giving myself a stress-related illness where I lost all feeling in my skin for a few weeks. I am English and therefore adverse to seeming rude, but I learned that I needed to say no, politely, or I would break. The idea goes hand-in-hand with the issue of delegation, but learning to prioritize and say no to the less important things is the only way you can get better.

5. You Spend More Time at Work than You Do with Your Family so Do Something Worthwhile

This came up in one of my first job interviews where the CEO asked me why I came to work. I started down the whole career passion idea, and he stopped me and said, “no, you come to work because you enjoy it.” He then explained mathematically that I would spend more time with work colleagues than my wife and family at home, so I should make sure I am doing something worthwhile. Now, I look back on this as a pretty privileged thing to say, as not everyone has this choice, but every so often, I stop to think, “is this worth not being at home?” And, if the answer is no, then I look for something else to do.

Can you share with our readers what you think are the most important “success habits” or “success mindsets?”

There is always an answer. I get pretty irritated with can’t, don’t, won’t and other absolute language — it’s probably triggered by my punk rock youth. The way I see it is there is always an answer, and there is no reason to keep doing the same thing badly. I approach everything with an attitude that there is an answer, even if it just has not been found yet. The word shouldn’t is one of the exceptions here, and although there is a lot of talk of disruption in fintech, sometimes there is a reason for the status quo, which often involves regulation, so don’t disrupt things that might send you to jail.

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 🙂

You know you have portfolio companies that you know could move faster, expand quicker, and become more valuable if they only could manage their payments better. Gr4vy can remove that friction whether they are a retailer, commerce platform or payments company. Now, if that’s just the companies in your portfolio, imagine what the opportunity is like globally.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

I am mainly on Linked in linkedin.com/in/johnclunn

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

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Gr4vy: John Lunn’s Big Idea That May Change The World In The Next Few Years was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Rising Through Resilience: Akhila Satish of Meseekna On The Five Things You Can Do To Become More Resilient

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Push your limits: Constantly consider taking a chance on things that you would normally say “no” to. That could be something small, like speaking up during an all hands meeting or taking a bigger risk and changing jobs, but either way you’ll teach yourself to lean into discomfort and thrive in the uncertain.

In this interview series, we are exploring the subject of resilience among successful business leaders. Resilience is one characteristic that many successful leaders share in common, and in many cases it is the most important trait necessary to survive and thrive in today’s complex market.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Akhila Satish.

Akhila Satish is the CEO of Meseekna where she leads a team of diverse backgrounds and skill sets on a mission to assess, train, and educate individuals on the power of their metacognition (their “how” of thinking). Akhila is an inaugural member of the Forbes Next 1000 entrepreneurial list, as well as the visionary behind the Fast Company “World Changing Idea” honor in 2021 for Meseekna’s ChoiceIQ app. Akhila’s expertise as a scientist and career expert has been featured in Forbes, Fortune, CNBC, NPR, and Business Insider, among others.

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?

At the age of eight I knew I wanted to be a scientist, which eventually led me to receive my Bachelor of Science in neuroscience with honors from the University of Michigan and my graduate degree in biotechnology from the University of Pennsylvania. At the same time, I loved the entrepreneurial experience and journey. At nineteen, I founded my first company, CyberDoctor, a healthcare communications company which was the first company to run a successful clinical trial on a digital therapeutic for diabetes. I went on to study business formally at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, and am now the CEO of Meseekna which helps teams at top organizations, like the Department of Defense and Credit Suisse, learn how to make better decisions with the help of 60+ years of research and 500+ peer-reviewed studies on metacognition (the “how” of thinking).

Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

One of my first jobs out of college was working in a lab with zebrafish where I was tasked with crossing the male and female fish, and coming back for embryos the next day. Telling the fish apart by their sex isn’t as easy as one might expect, so I played the odds and set up eight tanks with the hopes that I’d be able to get some embryos. Proud of the creativity and resilience of that setup, I returned in the early morning eager to continue the project. However, once I arrived I realized I had been so distracted by the actual experiment that I had forgotten the code to get back into the lab. I stood outside trying every single code possible until finally one worked, and I was able to get inside the lab and see that my experiment was successful. When I reflect on it now, I realize that that experience was also a greater building block in understanding my own resilience, especially within the scientific field. It wouldn’t be the last time I had to be patient and creative within the scientific process, but it’s certainly one that sticks out in my memory!

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

Meseekna has a clear mission of “creating a better world through better decisions.” It inspires our team every day in our personal and professional lives. Diving so deeply into decision making on a daily basis creates an incredibly mindful and self-aware culture that I am incredibly proud of. That’s what leads us to create products like our Decision Making Performance Index — a thirty minute online simulation assessing decision making that we believe can transform hiring and recruiting processes to be more quantifiable and bias-free. It’s a bold and big idea that came directly from our mission and leads with our science first philosophy.

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 couldn’t begin to count the people I am grateful for…from my family and friends, to my teachers and mentors. I am where I am and am who I am because of the people I have been lucky enough to have in my life. As an entrepreneur, you are often told to seek a river guide, someone who will help you navigate the highs and lows of the startup journey. For me, I was incredibly fortunate to be born with a river guide by my side — my uncle. He was an entrepreneur in the cyber security space and had seen it all. He was my biggest cheerleader and most candid confidant. I was devastated when he passed away earlier this year during the pandemic. Like many others who have lost loved ones this past year, I am grieving while deeply grateful for the love that I have been blessed with. I know my journey in entrepreneurship has, in many ways, reflected my uncle’s influence and guidance in my life — and will continue to do so.

Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. We would like to explore and flesh out the trait of resilience. How would you define resilience? What do you believe are the characteristics or traits of resilient people?

I think there’s a common misconception that resilience is a skill you only utilize when times are particularly tough, or when you’re dealing with a certain level of trauma. Resilience to me can be more permanent — it can be staying on top of your productivity when your days always follow the same schedule, or sticking with a long term project. Resilience is more about recognizing your greater journey and committing to pursuing your dreams through the tough and tedious moments. While resilience is useful in those moments of hardship, resilience is truly fostered and cultivated in your day-to-day.

When you think of resilience, which person comes to mind? Can you explain why you chose that person?

I love reading, and I frequently read biographies. I often find incredible stories of resilience within the biographies — and tips to achieve resilience! For example, Scott Kelly’s Endurance is about his year in space. He describes how a year can seem like an incredibly long time, and explains his hack for counting days up, rather than days down. By counting up days, he was able to maintain a sense of achievement and purpose. I think this is a perfect way to describe resilience — resilience means giving ourselves more knowledge every day and always working towards learning the next thing. I also recently completed The Happiest Man On Earth, by Eddie Jaku, about surviving Auschwitz. I highly recommend it — it is a beautiful, inspiring read on what really matters and of course, a story of unbelievable resilience and hope. He focuses a great deal on the cultivation and strength of friendship, which can be a powerful component of resilience.

Has there ever been a time that someone told you something was impossible, but you did it anyway? Can you share the story with us?

The truth is that I have always listened when someone told me something might be impossible for me. Because as painful and difficult as it may be to hear that, it is also incredibly valuable to understand why they may think it is impossible. After you know why they think it’s impossible, you can decide if you want to pursue it anyway, and how to proceed in a way that will reduce the probability of failure. You can’t mitigate the risk of failure unless you know where that failure may come from. The naysayers are often your biggest helpers! In terms of specific stories, I’ll say that my basketball coach told me that I might not want to consider an athletic career, and my science teacher told me I might not want to pursue a scientific career. I chose to listen to both, but in one case, I invested the hard work and extra effort to make my dreams a reality — in the other, thankfully, I took their advice!

Did you have a time in your life where you had one of your greatest setbacks, but you bounced back from it stronger than ever? Can you share that story with us?

In my view of resilience — we are perpetually in motion, pushing forward, stumbling back, and moving forward again. In the arc of our journeys, we can aim to push forward and stumble back in new ways, developing grit and acquiring knowledge along the way. Currently, I feel good about how Meseekna has grown through the pandemic, how my team has demonstrated resilience and growth, and where we are headed in 2021. So, it’s a good moment to acknowledge resilience — the activities and support systems we built that brought us this far.

Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resiliency? Can you share a story?

While a specific experience doesn’t come to mind, I do credit my parents with modeling resilience to me all throughout my childhood. One of the best ways to learn resilience is through seeing others display those qualities, and I appreciate my parents’ ability to reframe difficult moments as part of a greater journey in my own personal growth. For them, they did an incredible job at acknowledging setbacks not as failures or moments to give up, but rather as an opportunity to learn in the future. They taught me to not think so linearly, and that’s been an integral part in fostering my own personal resilience as an adult.

Resilience is like a muscle that can be strengthened. In your opinion, what are 5 steps that someone can take to become more resilient?

1. Push your limits: Constantly consider taking a chance on things that you would normally say “no” to. That could be something small, like speaking up during an all hands meeting or taking a bigger risk and changing jobs, but either way you’ll teach yourself to lean into discomfort and thrive in the uncertain.
2. Surround yourself with inspiration: Surround yourself with things that give you hope, strength, and positivity so they can serve as a supportive reminder when times get a little tough. Whether that’s a physical person who serves as a cheerleader for your accomplishments, a monthly conversation with a mentor, or even a framed photo on your desk of a loved one, surround yourself with daily reminders of what motivates you.
3. Use humor to your advantage: It’s important to learn how to reframe difficult situations with the help of humor. Humor helps you avoid dwelling on something negative and teaches you to learn that there’s always a silver lining to every challenge you face. It may be as simple as learning to laugh at yourself after making a silly mistake at work, but it will help you hone in on building blocks to resilience in the long run nonetheless.
4. Embrace all your successes: Reward yourself for successes, big or small. If you checked off a handful of tasks from your to-do list try rewarding yourself with a coffee break or a moment to close your laptop and refresh. Embracing all your wins means that you don’t fixate on one big goal, but rather on the small steps to get you there. Remember, resilience can and should be an every day practice.
5. Accept change: It sounds simple, but practice leaning into and embracing change. If you can’t get past changes, then you’re going to ruminate on what was, which will hinder your resilience long term. Being resilient means understanding that changes don’t define your success, and that the way you navigate changes is the biggest indicator of your future success. Getting a new assignment or moving on from a position might be tough at first, but it’s all part of your greater growth.

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

I would love to make metacognitive practices more common in our conversations about resilience and managing uncertainty in our lives, especially within the context of the pandemic and this past year and a half. I would guess that every single person in the world experienced pandemic related stress at one point or another, and being able to process those emotions more constructively through metacognition is an incredible way to build your own personal resilience even amidst difficult times. Plus, understanding the root cause of your stress through metacognition can help you establish mechanisms to better manage those feelings. Metacognition is an effective, yet undervalued, tool to handle the way your brain makes decisions, and I’d love to make it more common in people’s day-to-day resilience efforts.

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

We all have that list of people we would love to connect with. I personally love starting conversations with other people who have thought deeply about metacognition and decision making. In particular, right now, I am excited about speaking to luminaries and thought leaders in the human resources and people management areas. I also enjoy speaking with young girls beginning careers in the sciences, or entrepreneurs building science first companies as I am a passionate advocate for scientific literacy. You can reach out through social media- I frequently check my Twitter and LinkedIn messages.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

@AkhilaSatish on Twitter and Medium

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

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Rising Through Resilience: Akhila Satish of Meseekna On The Five Things You Can Do To Become More… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Future Is Now: Mike Lipps of Intelerad Medical Systems On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

The value — and broader impact — of enterprise imaging technology can be broken down into three different constituents: hospital admins, clinicians, and patients — with the end goal of achieving the triple aim of healthcare: elevating the patient experience, decreasing the cost of healthcare, and improving the overall health of a population.

As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs I had the pleasure of interviewing Mike Lipps, CEO, Intelerad Medical Systems, a global leader in medical image management solutions.

Mike Lipps is Chief Executive Officer of Intelerad Medical Systems. With over 20 years of software industry and leadership experience at companies such as Intuit, LexisNexis and insightsoftware, he has a proven track record of driving transformative growth for customers by applying technology to solve complex challenges. Mike’s expertise in technology combined with his deep understanding of the healthcare industry and passion to help others has led Intelerad to significantly expand its presence globally and deliver innovative solutions that enable healthcare providers to improve efficiency and patient outcomes.

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 always had a passion for technology and using it to solve large, complex problems in our world. My career started in functional roles like marketing and product management and then pivoted into more operationally focused roles, which ultimately led to my CEO tenure today. After holding various leadership positions at several large software and technology companies, I found myself with the opportunity to lead Intelerad, a global leader in medical image management software. My passion for healthcare stems from my family. I, along with my two siblings, were raised by a single mom who did everything for her children but often put her needs on the back burner. When she was diagnosed with cancer in her early 50’s, it was already too late — she had reached stage 4 and didn’t live beyond her 60th birthday. It was too late for me to become a doctor at that stage of my career, but it’s the type of painful life experience many of us have had that illustrates the critical importance of quality healthcare. It certainly motivated me to want to lead Intelerad and see how I could use my expertise to contribute to this important field.

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

Throughout my career I’ve been fortunate to have met many valuable mentors along the way — and I’m very grateful for that. However, one day in particular changed everything in terms of my career direction. I was in a marketing role at Intuit, and I received a phone call to meet with the CEO. I admittedly was a bit nervous. He told me that he saw a leadership path for me at the company, however, in order to be a future leader, he believed I needed to have a stronger operational background. So, he pulled me out of my marketing leadership role and threw me into a Six Sigma process excellence role, working on projects across the company. I walked into that meeting as a manager of a big team, and walked out as an individual contributor in a role that I knew nothing about. It turned out to be the most impactful 18 months of my career. My mentors during this time helped me to not just be successful in my role, but to also understand how great businesses operate. From learning customer needs, driving operational rigor and cultivating an engaging employee experience, I developed a passion for how to decompose a business into actionable pieces and improve them systematically over time. This role is what fed my desire to be a CEO.

Can you tell us about the cutting edge technological breakthroughs that you/your company are working on?

In the context of healthcare, technology is nowhere near being evenly distributed amongst populations, and this gap is where my passion for solving disparities of imaging modalities began. Access to care, especially in rural or underserved areas, is imbalanced, and this is one problem Intelerad solves. We enable records, images, etc., to be read by any specialist, no matter their location, and we’re focused on delivering a best-in-class, cloud-based enterprise imaging solution that elevates the patient experience, decreases the cost of healthcare, and improves the overall health of populations. Our goal is to provide an enterprise imaging hub that supports our clients’ overall growth, and that helps hospitals and health systems truly achieve efficiency and interoperability.

How do you think the tech/product will help people/an industry at large?

Hospitals and health systems have faced immense, unexpected challenges during COVID-19. From spiking patient demand, increasing costs and lost revenue, to overworked staff and the need to quickly add virtual care services, providers are facing record levels of exhaustion and burnout. At the same time, they have been navigating the move to value-based care, which is a cataclysmic shift in the way hospitals historically operate. At Intelerad, we (and our customers) know that an enterprise imaging platform can ease the pain points associated with the value-based care movement as well as COVID-era challenges.

The value — and broader impact — of enterprise imaging technology can be broken down into three different constituents: hospital admins, clinicians, and patients — with the end goal of achieving the triple aim of healthcare: elevating the patient experience, decreasing the cost of healthcare, and improving the overall health of a population.

1. Hospital Admins — Hospitals need solutions that automate mundane, time-consuming tasks and provide greater insights about patient information. A cloud-based enterprise imaging platform can help them maintain a high quality of patient care and avoid the challenges and expense of recurring investments in technology and IT staffing, while also providing up-to-date technology and security controls to maintain productivity and business continuity.
2. Clinicians — By reducing technological burdens, providers can focus on treating patients and improving care, a key tenet to value-based care. Hospitals are looking to broader platforms that consolidate multiple systems into one interoperable environment, further optimizing workflows and ultimately improving patient care.
3. Patients — Via a central, cloud-based solution, patients can have their images examined and interpreted by leading experts anywhere in the world as fast as it may have taken a local doctor just a few years ago. These capabilities play a key role in value-based care going forward, giving patients in rural or underserved areas better access to high-quality healthcare diagnostics and treatments.

Thank you for your time, and your excellent insights! We wish you continued success.

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The Future Is Now: Mike Lipps of Intelerad Medical Systems On How Their Technological Innovation… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Dynamic Company Culture — Having different perspectives helps shape a more interesting and multi-faceted corporate culture that you wouldn’t have with a homogenized workforce. This helps to attract top talent with diverse viewpoints and backgrounds.

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

Maxime Kot is president and part owner of national consulting firm The Cannabis Business Advisors. A cannabis licensing and compliance expert with six years of direct industry experience, Kot has built a proven track record securing multiple cannabis licenses across 17 state markets. Kot’s strategic approach and in-depth knowledge on government policy and rulemaking has led her to excel in the highly regulated market. As president, Kot oversees client relations at The Cannabis Business Advisors and serves as company lead on projects involving application and licensing preparation, operational analysis, policy and procedures, and business development planning.

With a keen understanding of cannabis market trends, Kot evaluates new opportunities and builds complex business cases encompassing opportunity sizing, competitive strategy, functional requirements, and execution timelines for license applications. In addition to her professional expertise, Kot is a valued industry spokesperson who has presented at high-profile business and investor focused conferences, including MJBizConINT’L, MJBizCon Las Vegas, Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference, and the Marijuana Industry Trade Association’s 16-week Social Equity Mentorship Program. Kot holds a Bachelor of Science focused in Marketing from Minnesota State University, Mankato.

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

I started out as a Marketing Coordinator for a cannabis consulting firm. It was a natural progression after graduating with a marketing degree, but I very quickly found out I didn’t like it. Luckily, my supervisor realized I was very good at retaining information and had a thirst for knowledge. Starting from the ground up, she helped me grow into a consulting role for the cannabis space. My primary responsibility was learning state laws and compliance and then taking that knowledge and transcribing it in an easy digestible way for those new to the cannabis industry.

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?

During Pennsylvania’s dispensary applications in 2017, my business partner and I drove across the state for client meetings. One day, there was a snowstorm that caused major delays so we couldn’t stop by the hotel to get ready for our next meeting and had to improvise. I brushed her hair, sprayed on her perfume, got her lipstick and a change of clothes ready, all while she continued driving to get to our next meeting on time! Biggest takeaway: everyone thinks being in the cannabis industry and traveling for client meetings is glamorous, but more often than not, it isn’t. This industry has grueling hours and you still have to put a smile on even when you’re exhausted and running on no sleep or food. With that said, having a “ride or die,” colleagues who support you and always do what it takes to get the job done is so essential to thriving and enjoying what you do.

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

“The best portion of a good person’s life, their little nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love.” — Buddha

I don’t need to be in the limelight or receive praise for something I’ve done. I just want to know I’ve helped someone. A lot of what I do for a living is helping groups secure cannabis licenses and live out their dreams in this industry. Oftentimes, we are behind the scenes which I don’t mind. It gives me satisfaction to help my clients, especially when they are able to help others get access to medical cannabis, that’s what fulfills me.

Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are?

My mom taught me perseverance, which is necessary in this industry, she taught me, “When there is a will there is a way.” Sara Gullickson, founder of The Cannabis Business Advisors, who I have worked alongside for years, has taught me a lot about being a businesswoman, beyond the cannabis space. I witnessed her successes and downfalls and have learned a great deal from her. I wouldn’t have gotten where I am today, if it wasn’t for both of these leading ladies in my life.

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

There are a few things, one of the more important aspects is we started in the industry during its infancy stage. At the time, only a handful of states entertained the cannabis industry and much of our knowledge today is based on those formative years which included lots of trial and error, as well as successes of our own. Our women-led firm is rooted in hands-on experience in the cannabis space, knowledge you can’t learn from reading books and attending seminars. It makes us unique in comparison to many competitors, because we grew up with the industry. I believe there really is no better way to learn than living it yourself. Sara and I have also been successful colleagues for so many years, I feel like we balance each other out, to provide the yin and yang to this craft.

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

We are in the process of creating a product for new cannabis entrepreneurs. This product will be especially helpful for social equity and other diverse groups that can’t necessarily risk 250k in capital. Additionally, for our core business, which is custom solutions for cannabis business consulting, we are targeting markets with diversity programs to help them gain access to the industry. As a boutique firm, there are only so many markets we work with at a given time, so we strategically select areas with cannabis diversity programs like New York and New Jersey to assist qualifying groups in securing licenses.

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

We are selective with who we work with, when helping groups secure cannabis licenses. We want them to have the right intentions for the industry and have a plan to operate successfully. For us, we want to ensure that patients in medical programs or consumers in a recreational market are gaining access to cannabis the right way. Overall, our mission at The Cannabis Business Advisors is to help make cannabis a diverse, thriving, and legitimate industry with integrity. Our work has allowed groups with good intentions to open up cannabis businesses throughout the U.S. and help consumers in those markets have access to quality marijuana.

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.)

1. Dynamic Company Culture — Having different perspectives helps shape a more interesting and multi-faceted corporate culture that you wouldn’t have with a homogenized workforce. This helps to attract top talent with diverse viewpoints and backgrounds.
2. Innovation and Creativity: Studies have shown that a diverse workforce leads to better decision making, problem solving and encourages creativity, whether it is an expansion of a new service or product.
3. Consumer Understanding: For both B2B and B2C businesses, diversity helps companies better understand their customers, potential partners, and enter new markets.
4. Lower Employee Turnover: Better employee retention is another benefit of having a diverse team. Companies that are more inclusive and cultivate environments where employees feel like they belong and are valued, experience improved hiring and lower turnover.
5. Respected Reputation: Companies who are committed to building a diverse workforce are often viewed as being more socially responsible with a vested interest in something greater than profits alone. This helps foster a better reputation for the company and brand.

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

With the pandemic, we realized the importance of finding balance in our work and personal lives. I think now more than ever business leaders need to lean into flexibility with their employees. Whether it’s more time off, or less time in the office. In my leadership role, I try to always lead by example and provide my team with essential training to gain their trust and allow them to thrive.

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

As the executive/leader you need to be accessible to a certain extent with larger teams. Being understanding as well as being open to hearing feedback is how I’ve helped lead groups effectively. Not everybody thinks or reacts the same way, so having an open line of communication and establishing that up front will help streamline communication. This is especially important with diverse workforces. You need to be cognizant that team members might translate things differently because of their culture or upbringing. I am especially aware of this because I grew up in three different countries and speak four languages and have experienced misunderstandings firsthand — which ultimately helped my communication skills with a wider audience.

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 🙂

Oprah Winfrey and Wang Laichun, who owns an electronic manufacturing company that supplies parts to Apple. I’m always interested to learn how women entrepreneurs persevered in their success, the challenges they faced and how they overcame them; and how they keep abreast within their respective industries.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

https://www.linkedin.com/in/maximekot/

https://twitter.com/thecbadvisors

https://www.facebook.com/TheCBAdvisors/

https://www.instagram.com/thecbadvisors/

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

Thank you for your time, and your excellent insights! We wish you continued success.

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Maxime Kot of The Cannabis Business Advisors: How Diversity Can Increase a Company’s Bottom Line was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Future Is Now: Matthew Pierce of Versus Systems On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Whenever possible, work with a diverse group of curious, empathetic, and community-oriented people — and go out of your way to avoid working with people who aren’t.

As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Matthew Pierce.

Matthew Pierce is the founder and CEO of Versus Systems (Nasdaq: VS), creating solutions to make TV, streams, games, and live events more engaging with in-game achievements, rewards, and second screen content. Versus partners include dozens of major live events as well as over 150 professional teams across the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, MLS, FIFA, NCAA, and others.

Prior to Versus, Pierce spent his career in media and technology. He helped to found multiple companies including Rosum Corporation (acquired by TruePosition), O-Labs, and RobotDinosaurGames. He’s authored multiple patents in the fields of interactive media, gaming, and location-based services. Pierce is an investor and advisor to early-stage technology companies and is a graduate of Stanford University where he was an All-American and NCAA Champion swimmer. He earned his MBA at UCLA Anderson where he is now a Lecturer.

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 very fortunate in my career. I get to work in a field that I enjoy with people that I like and respect. I get to think about all the different ways that technology can impact media and entertainment. I get to work on projects where contextual elements like time, location, content type, and an individual’s preferences can inform, change, and improve the content itself. I love working with curious, diverse groups of people on problems like “how can we make live events more fun? Or how can we make TV more interactive, personal, and rewarding?” I get to work with some of the world’s best software developers, video game producers, Emmy award winners, and human behavior experts. Also, the producers of the Olympics, people that run in-stadium fan experiences for Super Bowl champions and Stanley Cup winners, key people at Twitter, Amazon, and Cirque du Soleil, and on and on and on. I am ludicrously lucky.

The reality is that I can only work at Versus doing these things that I love because I have incredible support. (I think this is likely true for many people that get to do cool things.) My wife Maggie is the reason that I can take chances and start wild projects. She’s excellent at her job, a great mom, and she believes in me and what we’re doing at Versus. She’s also the best operations expert that I know — which really helps when you have “what do you think about this issue” conversations at home after work. Having a great support system — having people in your corner — is the best possible advantage when you’re working on anything, really, but it’s especially true when you’re trying to bring something new into the world.

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

Versus uses cutting-edge technology to make things more fun. We work with content creators, game developers, sports teams, and broadcasters to make their content more interactive, personal, and rewarding. The Versus platform integrates multiplayer games, AR, polling, trivia, and real-world prizing directly into TV, streams, games, apps, and live events. As a result, fans and audiences can win real-world rewards inside their favorite video games or while watching their favorite team, show, or streamer.

Our technology and patent portfolio are built around choice, interactivity, and earned-rewards. Audiences can opt-in to interactive content that works alongside Versus-enabled games, apps, shows, and live events. Players choose what they want to play for and what games they want to play; whether it’s a predictive game about who is going to have more rebounds or rushing yards, or a set of trivia questions about your favorite superheroes, or a live poll about who should win the reality show this week. Versus gives audiences new ways to connect with their favorite content and earn real rewards while they’re doing it.

We have some of the best fan-engagement experts in the world at Versus — people who have been such a huge part of the home-field advantage for their teams that they’ve earned championship rings when their teams win. They’ve produced everything from NFL games, NBA games, the Olympics, soccer games, cricket matches, concerts, rodeos, and hundreds of other events. Our technology takes that fan engagement expertise and makes it available for teams, broadcasters, and Twitch streamers.

People love being a part of the action. They love interacting with creators. They love games and especially love winning. Thinking about the user experience in this way — asking the question “how can we make this more fun” isn’t just good for the user, the audience, or the player — it’s also better for our brand and content partners. People play longer. They watch longer and more intently. They remember the rewards they earned. They have better affinity for those brands. Everyone benefits.

The reason Versus works is because the things that we’re building are true at a very fundamental level. Choice is better than force. Engagement and interactivity are better than one-way broadcasts. Context matters, and earning rewards is better than watching commercials. People love winning, and we make winning possible. We make your favorite things even more fun.

How do you think this might change the world?

Versus is a part of a larger movement in entertainment and media for more personal, interactive, responsive, customer-focused, and contextually relevant content. We can choose what we want to watch and play, what devices we want to watch it on, and how we want to interact. Versus takes it farther by bringing interactivity, contests, social elements, and rewards to entertainment that didn’t previously have it — and it does it in a way that is accessible to every kind of audience and every kind of content creator. We started by building tools and experiences for video games, as well as for NFL teams and giant stadiums full of raucous fans — and now we can bring that interactivity and fan engagement to TV shows, streams, apps, and video games.

Over 90% of people are also on a second screen when they’re watching TV. That’s already changed the entertainment world. Furthermore, only 3% of people regularly watch ads all the way through, which has changed the $600+ billion advertising industry. Technology exists to make all the content that we consume more engaging, contextually relevant, and fun than ever before. And if done well, it can be accomplished in a way that respects people’s privacy and their choices — and that could change the world for the better.

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

Unfortunately, I think all of us have already seen some of the “black mirror” impacts of personalization and targeting when we look at how some existing companies have addressed content curation and advertising. Who would have thought that algorithms designed to give you more of the news you respond to would help lead to unprecedented levels of misinformation and polarization? While millions of us gave companies access to private data about our history, purchases, and preferences to get better product recommendations, we also became the product for those companies who sold our personal information to all kinds of bidders.

Versus was created, in part, as a response to that audience-as-product “black mirror” issue. We don’t sell user data, and we don’t sell player data. Our business model isn’t based on people sharing things that make them angry or creating self-sustaining echo chambers. Instead, Versus enhances the content that you love. We lean heavily on player choice and opt-in-only models for our advertising and rewards elements. For example, when we need a player’s location information or age, both of which are frequently required for regulatory compliance in prizing, rewards, and sweepstakes, we ask the players directly. These consent steps can take longer, adding time to registration or prize confirmation, which can lower the overall participation rate, but we think the tradeoff is an important one. People who earn rewards in Versus-enabled content are more engaged. They’re more likely to remember a reward that they’ve won than they would a banner ad. They’re also much more likely to redeem a reward in-store or online than they would be if they were just given a coupon. Choice works. Earned-rewards work. Sometimes it takes more steps to do things the right way, but we are happy to take those steps.

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

Versus’ acquisition of Xcite Interactive in June of this year is set to bring interactivity, choice, and earned-rewards to millions of fans over the next 12 to 18 months. We’ve already signed dozens of college and professional teams who will be using our “XEO” platform for interactive fan experiences in their events and their team and league apps starting in mid-August. In addition, Versus is actively integrating our proprietary rewards platform into XEO, and we will be able to bring engagement and rewards to our partners with casual games, trivia, predictive gaming, augmented reality, and social elements. Over 95% of audiences say playing for real-world rewards makes games more fun. And as we add new functionality this fall to allow streamers and broadcasters to easily include XEO inside TV, OTT, and streams, we expect audiences to fall in love with how easy it is to play and earn rewards.

Beyond getting into live events, games, and first-screen broadcasts over the next 6 to 12 months, we’re also building out our prizing system and making it easier for brands, e-commerce shops, and agencies to create reward campaigns inside Versus-enabled content. For example, we’ve recently launched a beta Versus app on the Shopify app store. We’re encouraging Shopify shops to join the beta to help us make it easier to reach the engaged viewers of live events and streams. The idea is that any entrepreneur should be able to reach their ideal customers with rewards inside apps, games, and shows. We want to arm all kinds of entrepreneurs and e-commerce companies with the best ads on earth.

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

John Green asked this question at a University valediction once, and I remind myself of it often. I think it’s a good exercise for anyone. Close your eyes and think about all the people that have brought you to this moment — any moment that matters — and be grateful for them. Think of the people who believed in you or drove you to swim practice or read to you or helped you in office hours or mentored you when you started your career, anyone who ever baked you some brownies or bought you a beer after a bad day — close your eyes and take a full minute to think about them. For most of us, there aren’t many celebrities, politicians, or billionaires that appear in that minute. I think that minute can help prioritize things. That minute reminds us where we should be spending our time — not just because we want to spend more minutes with the ones who appear when we close our eyes, provided those people are still around, but because we want to be the kind of person that other people see when they close their eyes.

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

I think any good top five list has more than five. There are a couple of key pieces that are critical and then a cloud of others that might sneak into that upper echelon depending on the day. So here are some of mine today:

Be kind.

Be informed about current events and vote in every election for which you are eligible.

Read new stories — especially stories where the hero doesn’t look like you. Ideally, recognize that there are real-life heroes that do not look like you, but start with the stories. Read NK Jemisin, Nnedi Okorafor, G. Willow Wilson, Jessica Townsend, Sophie Anderson, Kelly Thompson, Salvador Plascencia, Analee Newitz, Jose Saramago, and Cory Doctorow.

Strive to know any one thing as well as Aaron Franklin knows about the smoke generated by central Texas post oak.

Celebrate the dead who have loved you and whom you have loved regularly.

If you’re an entrepreneur, get as excited about making good things as Tobi Lutke (@tobi) does.

Whenever possible, work with a diverse group of curious, empathetic, and community-oriented people — and go out of your way to avoid working with people who aren’t.

Periodically think about whether you would walk away from Omelas.

And always be kind.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

I’m not a huge social media participant, but I’m @matthewdpierce on Twitter if you’re looking.

A better move would be to follow @VersusSystems for all the latest updates.

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The Future Is Now: Matthew Pierce of Versus Systems On How Their Technological Innovation Will… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Brand Makeovers: Gracie Thomas On The 5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Build a PR Plan — We work with clients in 3 phases: Strategy, Image, and Experience. Part of the Image phase not only includes designing the actual visual identity, but building a marketing and PR plan that carries the brand strategy into the market. Public Relations is an often overlooked tactic for building brand equity, that can be very simple! Start with signing up for HARO alerts, reaching out to your favorite publications and podcasts, and collaborating with other brands with similar audiences.

As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview Gracie Thomas. Gracie is the principal of Gracie Thomas Consulting, an Integrated Brand Experience Agency located in Houston, TX. She started her first company at age 17, sold the business at 19, and has been building brands for small businesses ever since. Gracie consults with female-owned businesses to help build cohesive brand experiences that not only make their brand the #1 choice, but keep their customers coming back. GT Consulting’s brands have been featured in Forbes, Vanity Fair, GQ, House Beautiful, Create & Cultivate, Paper City, and more. Outside of her Brand Consulting Agency, she also founded the Building Better Collective, an online business school for female wellness professionals.

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?

Sure! My career path is a unique one. I started my first company at age 14, a jewelry line, and my second company at age 17, a clothing line. I ended up selling my second company during my freshman year studying business and marketing at The University of Texas at age 19. For both businesses, I designed the brand, website, packaging, and products with the Adobe Suite skills given to me by my uncle who was a graphic designer at the time. So clearly, from an early age I loved building brands. After selling my clothing line, I began receiving inquiries from other local businesses in my hometown of Fort Worth, TX about brand and web design and marketing support. Before I knew it, I had another business on my hands: a brand agency. I ran the agency all throughout college and into my corporate career as the director of marketing for a wealth management group in Denver, CO. It wasn’t until 2020 that I took the agency full time and truly started to market myself as an Integrated Brand Experience Agency. From there, I never looked back! I love everything about my job and am newly inspired daily by all of the amazing companies I have the pleasure of working with.

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?

This is an embarrassing one… The clothing line that I started was called The Fort Clothing, named after my hometown of Fort Worth. Because the shirts were Texas-oriented, I wanted the state of Texas in the logo. I had the “brilliant” idea of changing the “O” in “Fort” to the state of Texas, which my brain never realized made our name look like “The Fart”. Thankfully I had not started the trademarking process and had only printed about 50 shirts with “The Fart” on the pocket. I’m still thankful for the man who commented on our Instagram saying “This looks like The Fart”. I immediately added a circle around the state to correctly read “The Fort”. Lesson #1: Always ask for outsider opinions on logos prior to moving forward with the branding.

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?

It depends on how you define success. For me, I’d say the biggest tipping point I’ve had in my business is when I stopped hyper-analyzing what everyone else was doing, and focused on how our agency could be the best version of itself. That meant cutting down the time I was scrolling through Instagram and adding in more time and space to be innovative and alone with my own thoughts. My team is fully remote, so that also meant scheduling more team meetings where we could collaborate and dream about where the business could go. I’m a strong believer that a strong company culture allows a business to take on the world. That’s something we now work with our clients on as an Integrative Brand Experience Agency — we work with our clients on the employee level, too.

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

I’m excited to say that our agency is growing faster than ever. We now offer every aspect of the brand experience- from naming and go-to-market strategy, to brand and web design, internal operations and employee training and experience. To us, building a brand can’t be done by just tackling one piece of the pie. To really make it in this digital world, you have to address every aspect of the business and customer experience.

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

Give yourself grace and allow yourself space to be creative. I think we live in a culture that glamorizes hustling, early wake up calls, and long nights. Through running a business with an autoimmune disease and Lyme disease, I’ve learned quickly that running a business doesn’t have to, and shouldn’t be that way. Part of my personal mission is proving that you can run a successful business in a balanced way. We are all going to go through seasons of burnout. As much as we try to avoid it, it happens in one shape or another. The key to thriving as a marketer is learning to avoid falling deeper into it and bouncing back. For me, that’s giving myself grace to spend some time away from my business to realign with my creativity and recharge. I also am a strong believer in listening to your body when it comes to your work schedule. I know my most creative and productive time is the morning, so I choose to work earlier in the morning and shut things down around 3:00 pm because my brain doesn’t get much done in the afternoon. That’s my time to recharge and do what I need to do to get up and do it all over again the next day.

Ok, let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?

The lines between these two are often blurred, but I believe that brand marketing is claiming space for a company in the consumer’s mind. Branding involves establishing who the company is, what they do, why they do it, and how people should feel about it. The goal of brand marketing is to establish connection and loyalty between a brand and the consumer. Product marketing, or advertising, is more related to driving sales and continuing to push the message of the brand into the market through promoting the products and services that it offers.

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?

In my opinion, investing in marketing and advertising without heavily investing in the brand is like throwing darts at a target blindfolded. When working with clients, I describe the brand in two ways: it’s your compass and it’s your filter. The brand directs all marketing, advertising, product development and hiring efforts, and it should be used as a filter to eliminate marketing and advertising strategies that do not align with the brand. Because of this, if you do not properly invest enough resources and energy into your brand, your compass and filter could be unaligned and not direct your business in the way you want it to go. On the other hand, heavily investing in your brand on the front end, will save you energy, resources, and mistakes in marketing and advertising down the line.

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

I feel like the word “rebranding” is scary to some businesses, and when they hear they need to do it, it’s like it’s the end of the world. Rebranding can be one of the best, proactive moves a business can make. Businesses change and shift over time, whether it’s the products and services that it offers or their target audience, or both. If your business starts to move in one direction, and your brand is positioned in another, all of your marketing and advertising efforts will fail. Here are the most common situations when I would advise a rebrand:

1. The business offerings shift and the brand is no longer attracting the right audience.
2. Management and internal culture changes cause the brand to feel unaligned.
3. Consumer trends and new technology cause the brand to feel outdated
4. The brand loses its “ownership” of a certain color or style and feels that it needs to refresh their identity in order to be competitive in the market

I tell my clients to revisit their brand and message at least semi-annually to ensure that their business and brand are still aligned. If they’re not, they call me and we either make a tweak or a full pivot. I actually just rebranded myself because I got married and my name changed. My business offerings and target audience was going through a big transition and pivot at the time and it made sense to change the name as part of the “new reveal”. Plus, as a branding expert- I think it’s fun!

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

When my team advises a rebrand, it is typically based on heavy research and strategy. However, with every business move, there can be downsides. I would not advise doing a “Brand Makeover” without the data and strategy to back it up and without a professional. Rebranding is a much harder task than creating a brand from scratch, and if not done correctly, there is a lot of brand equity that can be lost. It’s important to note that rebranding doesn’t always mean renaming. Renaming a business is a much bigger project to tackle and brings in many challenges with SEO, brand awareness, and name recognition.

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

1. Look Inward — Your brand starts with your employees. Try interviewing your employees on what the brand means to them. Is everyone on the same page? Is everyone passionate about the brand and brand message? If not, try holding a workshop internally to find alignment with the brand.
2. Connect Emotionally — Does your brand have a unique voice? Do you understand your target market’s deepest desires? People these days are not interested in being sold to. The most successful brands connect emotionally with their audience and position themselves as the “helper” or the “solution” to those problems.
3. Brand Every Corner — Every corner of your client experience should be aligned with your brand message, values, positioning, and visual identity. This starts with working with your team internally, and then moving outwards. A brand is much more than a logo, it’s an experience.
4. Give Video a Shot — If you’re in the marketing world, you’ve heard this a million times: The future is video. This goes back to tip #2 — emotional connection is everything and one of the best ways to do this is through video! Whether it’s a full professional video on your website, or little iPhone clips on your social media pages, a little face-to-face action goes a long way.
5. Build a PR Plan — We work with clients in 3 phases: Strategy, Image, and Experience. Part of the Image phase not only includes designing the actual visual identity, but building a marketing and PR plan that carries the brand strategy into the market. Public Relations is an often overlooked tactic for building brand equity, that can be very simple! Start with signing up for HARO alerts, reaching out to your favorite publications and podcasts, and collaborating with other brands with similar audiences.

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

One of my favorite rebrands was Airbnb back in 2014. The new message, UX, and logo is elevated, inviting, and much more modern than the previous brand. DesignStudio did a fabulous job with designing the “Bélo”, which flawlessly pulls together their pillars of people, place, love, and the “a” of Airbnb. I think the biggest thing that made Airbnb’s rebrand a success was that they clearly realigned with the core of their brand: who they are and why they exist. If the proper research is done, which DesignStudio carried out similar research that my agency does with our clients through 1:1 interviews and other primary and secondary research, the design of the actual visual identity can come quite naturally.

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 personal brand motto is: Build a Business Around the Life that You Want to Live. I’m a strong believer that prioritizing self-care and avoiding burnout can lead to more business success, and that if we are all running our businesses in a way that aligns with our lifestyle, then we will be able to operate at our highest levels of innovation and creativity. Plus, we will be happier people along the way!

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

“Define success on your own terms, achieve it by your own rules, and build a life you’re proud to live.” Success looks different for all of us. As a wife and owner of two businesses living with a chronic disease, success for me involves maintaining my health, prioritizing my ability to give to my husband and future family, and helping as many people accomplish their business dreams as possible. As much as I would love to build a highly successful agency, that is not my definition of success. I’m also a big proponent of marching to the beat of your own drum. Just because someone tells you to live your life or run your business one way, doesn’t mean it’s the only way. It’s your life and your business, so own it!

How can our readers follow you online?

Instagram

Website

LinkedIn

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

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Brand Makeovers: Gracie Thomas On The 5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Future Is Now: Moshe Safran of RSIP Vision On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

As thought leaders, we provide information about the future of technology and the processes necessary to develop it. We get the word out by publishing articles about those technologies and future trend forecasts, by hosting webinars and by releasing newsletters. Contributing to our overall industry in an actionable way helps us become part of that community, which naturally helps us make an impact. Our end goal is to reach specific decision makers of the medical device companies that we partner with to put our tech into the hands of physicians and out onto the market.

As part of our series about cutting-edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Moshe Safran, U.S. CEO of RSIP Vision.

Moshe has been with RSIP Vision for more than 12 years and is now the CEO of their U.S. branch. From 2016–2019, he was the VP of Research and Development, developing new ways for the company to solve complex technological challenges through AI. He also oversees customer communication and project management, while providing expert guidance in algorithm development, planning and execution of new projects. As U.S. CEO, Moshe leads RSIP’s business development for the United States, which represents the company’s largest market.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

When I was in graduate school, I was researching neuroscience and came across the Computer Aided Surgery and Medical Image Processing Lab at Hebrew University. They were doing incredibly fascinating work there, using the type of mathematical tools I enjoyed developing and applying them to real-world medical imaging tasks to improve patient care. I fell in love with the fusion of technical/hard-science challenges and the opportunity to make a practical impact, and I never looked back. Later, I found a great group of people to work with in the medical industry through RSIP Vision, which combined interesting work with people who are super sharp and (just as importantly) fun to work with on a daily basis.

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

After working with a cross-functional team on a long-term research and development project, I took part in some clinical trials. I remember the satisfying moment when I saw the astounded look on the face of an interventionist who was seeing the system in action for the first time. This kind of feedback from the real-life trenches of medicine takes a lot of time and effort to earn. There were a lot of difficulties along the way, which made it all the more gratifying.

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

At RSIP Vision, our 2D-to-3D reconstruction technology trains AI to generate 3D models of patient anatomy from two-dimensional images. We’re at quite an advanced point in the first couple of applications, and we’re seeing how useful this technology will be across the board for a wide variety of anatomical areas, images and procedures. Our aim for this technology is to create precise, personalized interventions that can only be accomplished with 3D information, while making the information accessible to many patients. Oftentimes, only 2d imaging is available whether for reasons of cost, reimbursement or due to the desire to limit exposure to radiation — so RSIP Vision is working to help provide the most accurate treatment plans in these situations.

How do you think this might change the world?

We hope this will be proof of “AI for good” — in turn, getting better results with limited resources.

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

Yes. While this particular breakthrough was not my personal invention, it felt like a personal lesson because I was able to see the success of someone on my team firsthand. That tipping point came from our CTO, Ilya Kovler, and his AI A-team. At some point in their development of the technology, they realized that the ways everyone else was tackling this problem was overly complex, and that they could create a simpler, more elegant algorithm by building off pre-existing experience they had in related tasks. Sure enough, as is true in many cases, we are seeing that technological simplicity and elegance actually lead to more effective, practical results.

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

We’re looking for additional strategic partners across the medical device and intervention industry to bring this technology to multiple devices and procedures. By doing so, those partners will be able to take it to the clinic and leverage their existing market access for specific applications.

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

As thought leaders, we provide information about the future of technology and the processes necessary to develop it. We get the word out by publishing articles about those technologies and future trend forecasts, by hosting webinars and by releasing newsletters. Contributing to our overall industry in an actionable way helps us become part of that community, which naturally helps us make an impact. Our end goal is to reach specific decision makers of the medical device companies that we partner with to put our tech into the hands of physicians and out onto the market. We are the software/technology creators, and our partners are the MedTech companies that sell and market the devices that utilize our visual intelligence solutions. Our executive team also leverages LinkedIn to develop our professional networks and start conversations with others in the industry — which are fun, insightful and ultimately lead to mutually beneficial collaborations.

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

My wife. I don’t even know where to start since I’m so tremendously grateful for her — not only for being such a supportive partner, but also just for who she is as a person and for being there for me whenever I need someone.

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

All of us at RSIP Vision try to apply our talents and energies to a good cause in our everyday efforts. For us, that looks like advancing medical care through technological innovation. That said, innovation is a very complex process, especially in MedTech, so we try not to lose sight of our collective goal — which is to bring some goodness (or, at least, to alleviate some degree of suffering) to the best of our abilities.

What are your “3 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?

1. Relax! And delegate. Your team not only wants to help you be productive, but they also share the responsibility for getting things done. Recruit the right people, and you’ll be in good hands!
2. You can actually get some pretty decent food at many airports these days (pre- and post-pandemic).
3. Comfortable shoes > good looking shoes. We should continue to apply this learning even in the post-pandemic era when we are out and about.

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

I’d like to help make medical treatment accessible to all, regardless of socioeconomic circumstance, while still keeping the technology ecosystem sustainable for innovation. We see so much innovation coming through the medical industry in America due to the sheer amount of resources we have here, but other countries have very different healthcare systems, where citizens are much less dependent on their financial situations and are provided free healthcare based on need. There are pros and cons to the various systems, of course, but I’d love to see us have the best of both worlds here. I believe that technology can play a part in a way that really improves accessibility and quality of care for everyone.

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

“Maintain a collaborative mindset.” Business is about making deals, yes, and there is competition — but the way to truly get things done is to collaborate. In my opinion, this is the only effective way in the healthcare and MedTech spaces to get great things done.

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 🙂

RSIP Vision is transforming into a leading incubator for developing novel medical AI technologies. We not only bring our combined expertise and experience to the table, we also bring specific technologies and innovations that we’ve developed in-house. Therefore, I’d recommend getting in early and helping fund these initiatives, which are already set up for success through our proven track record of clinical-grade artificial intelligence technology that helps physicians and patients in medical situations.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

LinkedIn for Moshe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moshe-safran/

LinkedIn for RSIP Vision: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rsip-vision/mycompany/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCORfZXStnfcOaLupBwVziiw

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

You’re welcome.

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

The Future Is Now: David Su of Atmosic Technologies On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

First, it’s critical not to underestimate the effort of getting things done: building a team, developing products, engaging customers and ramping revenue. Everything always takes longer than you wish. Getting things just right takes patience, but it’s essential to the success of any business.

As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing David Su.

David brings to Atmosic over 30 years of engineering expertise with an extensive wireless background, as his past teams’ radio designs have brought billions of successful devices to market. He was on the early engineering team at Atheros, VP Analog/RF Engineering, and VP Engineering with Qualcomm following the 2011 acquisition of Atheros. David earned a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and has been a Consulting Professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford. David is an IEEE Fellow.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Before Atmosic, I worked in a variety of engineering roles at Qualcomm and Atheros Communications. At those companies I was fortunate to work with many talented and capable people, several of whom would later become part of the Atmosic team. As IoT devices were becoming more and more popular, we saw an important opportunity to rethink how connected devices are powered, and imagine a battery-free IoT. Atmosic was founded with that idea, to develop solutions that can extend the battery life of IoT devices and, in some cases, replace batteries entirely. With billions of batteries being consumed every year, solutions that extend battery life can make a meaningful impact.

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

Atmosic has developed three foundational technologies that significantly lower energy consumption for connected devices: Lowest Power Radio, On-demand Wake-up, and Managed Energy Harvesting. With our Lowest Power Radio and On-demand Wake-Up technologies, Atmosic’s system-on-chips (SoCs) enable a 10X to 100X reduction in power consumption compared to competitor solutions. By reducing power utilization to such a low level, connected devices can take advantage of energy harvested from ambient sources — such as photovoltaic (light), RF power, kinetic and thermal energy — to power them. The combination of these three technologies, used in conjunction with Bluetooth 5 wireless connectivity, can enable batteries to last forever, or even replace the need for batteries in some cases.

How do you think this might change the world?

The growth of the IoT has created a skyrocketing demand for batteries. With the ubiquitous adoption of wireless connectivity, it’s difficult to require connected devices to be tethered to a power cord. As a result, billions of connected devices today are powered by disposable batteries. Every year, over three billion batteries are thrown away in the U.S. alone.

Atmosic’s technology can make a difference in reducing the industry’s reliance on batteries by lowering the energy consumption of wireless devices. Our technology is ideal for many applications, including consumer electronics, smart home devices, healthcare devices and even industrial, enterprise, smart city and automotive applications where battery life is important. By avoiding frequent battery replacement or charging, we can cut down the amount of times that connected devices are offline for maintenance.

Technology adoption is typically a journey. The widespread adoption of wireless connectivity has, in part, lead to the growth of battery-operated devices. Imagine the next stage of the technology adoption with ultra-low power wireless technology combined with energy harvesting that can avoid frequent battery changes. We can reduce the environmental impact of disposed batteries, the cost of ownership and the maintenance burden of connected devices.

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

While connected devices make our lives better in so many ways, privacy is one area that consumers should continue to think carefully about. Like most technology innovations, as consumers we should educate ourselves about what types of data their devices are collecting, and learn how to adjust their privacy settings based on their specific preferences. Of course, the Bluetooth-SIG has been continuously enhancing Bluetooth technology to maintain privacy through robust security protocols.

Was there a “tipping point” that guided you to energy harvesting? Can you tell us that story?

The key tipping point for energy harvesting is the technical feasibility of energy harvesting. As devices become more power efficient — going from watts to microwatts in terms of power consumption — a small amount of harvested energy can significantly extend the battery life of devices and even allow for battery-free operation in certain cases. One application that has embraced energy harvesting because of its low power consumption is handheld calculators. Over the past 10 years or so, solar-powered calculators have dominated the market without requiring batteries at all. It’s really exciting! The feasibility of battery-free solar calculators is primarily due to the low power consumption that can be easily offset by a small photovoltaic cell. With Atmosic’s low power technology, it is now possible to power all sorts of connected devices — from beacons to sensors, smart watches and beyond — with energy harvesting since the power consumption of these devices is extremely low.

What do you need to lead energy harvesting to widespread adoption?

The key to widespread adoption of energy harvesting, or any technology innovation, is market acceptance — the openness of the market to embrace energy harvesting technology to reduce cost of ownership and reduce the negative environmental impact of disposed batteries. It is gratifying to see consumers’ increased awareness of the longer-term ownership costs associated with purchases. We are willing to pay more for LED light bulbs that consume less energy. Additionally, we are willing to choose devices with longer battery life to avoid the burden and hidden cost of battery replacement. It’s now time for all of us — consumers everywhere — to consider how a device is powered before purchasing it. Manufacturers are also increasingly interested in solutions that could help solve these problems.

Atmosic is working with many companies that are designing innovative connected devices that use energy harvesting to extend battery life. As awareness of these energy harvesting products grows, I believe consumer demand will grow in tandem.

What have you been doing to share this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing or teaching strategies?

Our team is focused on engaging with partners, customers and industry professionals that understand our value proposition. We also spend time with the media — which can help tell our story — and analysts who have a keen sense of the market and how energy harvesting can complement the growth of IoT. We are also active on social media, distributing content about Atmosic, the market and relevant use cases where energy harvesting has proven to be successful. Our key message is about generating overall awareness of energy harvesting, and its lifelong impact on the environment and the future of the IoT.

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?

Absolutely. My experience at Atheros and Atmosic has really reinforced the belief about how important it is to have an incredible team by your side. At Atheros, I joined a five-person company that eventually grew to over 1500 people. As an early employee, I had a front-row seat witnessing how the company grew and prospered. This experience taught me the importance of the team to achieve success.

At Atmosic, we are focused on looking for team members with an insatiable curiosity to learn and solve problems, in addition to individuals that really had a team mindset. I am so grateful for the amazing Atmosic team who has worked so hard to turn a vision into reality. Of course, we are very thankful for the advisors and investors who have dedicated their efforts in helping Atmosic to reach its full potential, along with our customers and partners who share our vision for a battery-free IoT.

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

At the core of our business, we are laser-focused on solving today’s battery challenge. Just think about your home and how many connected devices you have currently — it’s likely more than you can remember offhand. Perhaps it’s your battery-powered TV remote, or your connected doorbell or smart lock. I promise you, it’s a lot of devices. We are excited about how we can help the environment by reducing the dependence on batteries from the smart home to smart cities and beyond. We also want to help our industrial customers to be able to scale their IoT deployments without the challenge of maintaining fleets of battery-operated devices.

What are your “5 Several things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)

First, it’s critical not to underestimate the effort of getting things done: building a team, developing products, engaging customers and ramping revenue. Everything always takes longer than you wish. Getting things just right takes patience, but it’s essential to the success of any business.

Second, while it is important to have expertise in focus areas, it’s important to expand your knowledge base to appreciate the different parts of a business. For engineers who want to become entrepreneurs, some understanding of sales and finance is critical.

Third, remember that no one person can be the expert in everything, so it’s important to always look for opportunities to collaborate and learn from your peers, advisors and team members. It is important to leverage the expertise of the team.

Fourth, ground what you are doing in reality but be willing to adapt. Striking the right balance between being adaptive and perseverant is not always easy. We are fortunate to have the help of great advisors and an experienced team.

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?

I’d like to inspire individuals and companies to focus more on sustainability. In particular, one aspect of sustainability that isn’t talked about enough is the total cost of ownership. It’s important to not only consider the upfront cost of a decision or purchase, but also evaluate the future impact. One example I’ve seen is how companies that embraced IoT deployments early on didn’t think much about the future costs of replacing batteries in devices, along with the impact on future generations as landfills have filled up with batteries. LED lights are another great example; while the upfront price is higher, LEDs last longer and have very low power consumption resulting in better energy savings than traditional bulbs. If we can all think about sustainability in both the short-term and long-term, we can better protect the world for generations to come.

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

It’s not so much a quote as an ethic we apply to our way of thinking. Don’t get stuck with “the way you’ve always done it.” Ask yourself: “what’s possible,” and then do what’s necessary to make the possibility a reality. To boil that down into a motto, I live by the idea that “Whatever is possible can be brought into reality.”

Some very well-known venture capitalists (VCs) read this column. If you had 60 seconds to make a pitch to a VC, what would you say?

Atmosic Technologies is a company with a bold vision. Our award-winning lowest-power Bluetooth and controlled energy harvesting technologies are revolutionizing the IoT industry and making it more sustainable — driving the battery-free IoT revolution. As a company, we are focus on addressing wireless connectivity for IoT applications with extended battery or be battery free. Atmosic’s low-power technology is being implemented in a wide variety of devices in consumer, commercial and industrial settings across the globe.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

I’m always looking to connect with customers, partners, brands and individuals eager to join us on our quest for battery-free IoT. You can find me on LinkedIn, and I encourage everyone to follow Atmosic on Twitter @Atmosic or on Linkedin.

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

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The Future Is Now: David Su of Atmosic Technologies On How Their Technological Innovation Will… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Always be curious and extremely eager in asking numerous questions about topics that pick your brain as this will foster new possibilities. Be creative in welcoming concepts as you explore your personality and introspect your thoughts and feelings. Delve deeper by researching various topics, people, and events that intrigue you and strive to leverage your wisdom by learning something new every day. Speculate through self-awareness what/who inspires you, what your ideal life looks like 10 years from now, what piques your interest, what life means to you, etc.

As a part of my series about “Grit: The Most Overlooked Ingredient of Success” I had the pleasure of interviewing Veena Ramaswamy.

Veena is a Success & Mindset Coach and is the founder of Beyoutifully Empower, her coaching business where aims to inspire women to become the best possible version of themselves through personal and professional development. She’s passionate about data science and digital marketing and worked as a senior data analyst at a multinational company. Aside from work, she’s been focusing on leadership development and her mission is to pave the right path for the next generation of girls to break the glass ceiling and to create change in tech sector.

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

I’ve always been a very goal-oriented and ambitious woman ever since I was young. I’m an avid learner and always had the insatiable curiosity to unravel the many things that life has to offer. However, I always experienced self-doubt and imposter syndrome in various aspects of my life. I would always work so hard to realize that my effort never paid off no matter what I did which really reduced my confidence and self-esteem. I was also living a dual identity where it was an ongoing battle — being confined to Western norms, while simultaneously adopting ethnic traditions. I struggled to live up to the crazy expectations of being “Americanized” and to conform to societal standards of the ideal strong Desi woman. Amid all of this, I was constantly looked down upon for not being up to par with the competition. I was raised in an environment that embraced gender stereotypes and was taught that women should be submissive and gentle. Because of this, I always hesitated to voice my opinions and people would underestimate my potential. I realized that I was hiding parts of who I really was and started to self-reflect on what my true purpose was which led me to start my self-discovery journey.

I didn’t want everyone’s judgments and criticisms to get in the way of my dreams. I realized that I’m not going to settle for mediocrity and I have an abundance of potential, which will help me achieve greatness someday. I always had a can-do attitude and my motto was “I can. I will. I did.” I acknowledged my unique superpowers to secretly stunt on everyone who doubted me. As I was raging with fire inside of me to manifest my dreams, my motivation soared immensely. I was on a mission to slay those goals and become the woman I was destined to be. I found my true calling and I dedicated 6 years of hardcore focus and alignment to reflect on my purpose and aspirations in life. The self-discovery journey fueled my desire for personal growth, which allowed me to upgrade every part of my life. Despite several years of setbacks, I was determined to rise! I wanted to be more than just a pretty face. I wanted to show that ladies are capable of everything and I became a strong advocate of women empowerment. My mission in life is to first become the best version of myself and empower/inspire others to reach their full potential. I want to use my superpowers of determination, perseverance, and optimism to instill confidence and inspire women all over the world that they are beautiful they way they are and are capable of great things in life. My desire is to become a trailblazer for the next generation of girls.

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?

As I was trying to raise my A-game in every aspect of my life: career, personal, relationships, financial, etc., I did face a lot of setbacks along the way and I kept coming back to imposter syndrome that was hindering me from achieving success. My career was full of ups and downs as I went through 3 career transitions. As I was fully focused on myself and my journey, my friendships started to fade and I was often misunderstood because I wasn’t following societal norms and I was a woman who would always challenge the status quo. I knew that I had to boost my confidence and self-esteem and started focusing a lot on self-love and self-care. I had to really come out of my comfort zone in a lot ways which was challenging but was able to accomplish several things due to my can-do attitude and optimistic approach to life. This was a very long journey that required sheer dedication, patience, and perseverance but it was all worth it as I had my breakthrough and things were falling into place.

Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?

My undeniable faith in God really kept me going even if things were so hard and I was able to overcome any obstacles I faced along this journey till now. When things were going downhill, I felt like giving up. But the one thing that kept me going is God. I would always choose the wrong choices but over time, HE would always redirect me in the right direction. I would always pray to just give me courage and physical & mental strength and it worked wonders every time. HE provided me with the positive energy to endure my struggles and always helped me in the most unexpected ways. HE also opened doors and new opportunities started to line up when I least expected it. Also, the love and support from my family and friends gave me the drive and motivation to keep pursuing my dreams during the hardships. I would also get so much inspiration from influencers and motivational speakers such as Joel Osteen, Jay Shetty, Kobe Bryant, etc. by listening to their powerful stories and how they reached success.

So how did Grit lead to your eventual success? How did Grit turn things around?

Even though it took 7–8 years, I never gave up due to my mental strength, grit, and resilience. I experienced a tremendous transformation as I was nearing my breakthrough. I became more aware of myself and knew what I wanted in my life. It completely changed my life as it opened up endless opportunities and invited good fortunes. I follow this principle throughout my life and the quote “Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself”. I’m an avid learner and a creative thinker and I’m always on the run to get out of my comfort zone and learn new things in life as much as I can. I always stayed true to myself and my beliefs and I’m glad that I evolved into a better woman all around. Over the years, I portrayed my skills and knowledge out there, and as a result, received recognition from several companies and platforms. I became successful in accomplishing my professional and personal goals. I’m honored to say that I’m now an award-winning tech leader, published poet, writer, and now an author, award-winning blogger and photographer, keynote speaker, content creator, life and career coach, and much more! I got the opportunity to be featured and interviewed for several magazines such as Thrive Global and award-winning podcasts. I also got accepted into the invite-only private group of the ForbesWomen Forum and am truly humbled to connect with the most influential female leaders, innovators, and trailblazers globally! I was also honored to connect with celebrities and motivational speakers who have been a true inspiration!

The quest for self-discovery and acceptance taught me how to love myself and appreciate my self-worth. It was a self-taught journey in which I figured everything out on my own. I didn’t have a mentor to guide me through each phase of the growth process. I gained an abundance of wisdom from the challenges I faced, which sparked curiosity to understand the true meaning of life. It required sheer dedication, competence, grit, and resilience, but it was worth it because my hard work paid off. By cultivating self-love, I also became proud of my upbringing as I embraced a culture that embodied an amalgamation of Desi traditions and Western modern perspectives. It shaped me into a driven, passionate, and dynamic woman. I’m grateful to become a woman who is assertive yet compassionate, strong yet vulnerable, and unapologetically ambitious.

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)

1. Growth Mindset

Gradually alter your thoughts and adopt the growth mindset rather than a fixed mentality. Broaden your intellect in areas that stimulate your mind and contribute to your personal growth. Acknowledge your competence and versatility and strive to build resilience as you work towards achieving your aspirations. There are bound to be failures but motivate yourself to bounce back despite any setbacks you encounter. It’s better to exert effort, fail, and get back up than to never try at all. You can achieve anything that you put your mind to with hard work, persistence, and the right outlook!

I always use an optimistic approach to life and believe that you can learn and grow from any experiences that you faced in life. I committed to self-improvement for 6 years by daily learning new things and gaining knowledge. I put myself out there because I realized that growth and change happens outside of your comfort zone. I dedicated so much time and effort in developing skills and talents in every facet including career, mental, physical health, financial, and spiritual. I analyzed my mistakes and learned from them over time, as lessons are stepping stones to success. I was open-minded, expanded my knowledge as much as possible, and transformed any challenges into opportunities. I always had the mindset that setbacks are just lessons to make me stronger and rejection is redirection to something better that is in store for me.

2. Be hungry to succeed

Become extremely driven and hungry to succeed in every area of your life. Once you’ve understood your worth and expanded your wisdom, take advantage of your abilities and potential to turn your whole life around. Take control of your destiny by creating a life that you love and have always wanted. Have a burning desire to attract what you deserve and recreate the life that you’ve envisioned. I always woke up every morning and worked on activities that brought me excitement and exuberance. I was passionate about data science as well as giving back to the community by volunteering at non-profits. I was passionate about women leadership to show that women are capable even in tech which is a male-dominated industry. I wanted to trailblazer a path and represent the South Asian community by being successful in tech, arts, and in business. I wanted these things so badly and was determined to rise that no one could stop me from manifesting my dreams. I made it happen no matter what obstacles came my way and gained recognition for it.

Went through 3 career transitions from pre-med to economics to IT / had a very rough career path for 10 years -> Masters in IT at a reputable school, became an award-winning tech leader at a Silicon Valley startup, featured in several tech magazines

Was nervous and afraid of public speaking -> went out of my comfort zone and spoke about leadership at the General Assembly, keynote speaker for the largest global tech conference, and did a podcast episode

Didn’t know much about networking and had low confidence — Part of 7+ networking groups and made 100+ connections within 6 months, networked with top industry experts and senior executives from companies like Google, Microsoft, etc., gotten high praise from all of them

I was writing poems and essays in school -> Published my poems and articles in several platforms, won an award for my blog and gained 2.7K followers, became content creator, and now a published author

I used to take photographs for fun and as a hobby -> I won Top 10% Popular Photographer on a photography platform in 2016, 17, and 18 among millions of professional photographers

I was drawing sketches for fun -> Became a henna artist and got my artwork featured on social media and websites; opened by own Etsy shop

Once I had the determination, hunger, and grit to succeed, I became unstoppable and I turned my dreams into reality!

3. Live your life with purpose

Take the time to self-reflect on what your true purpose in life is. Ask yourself how you define success and how does that align with your core values. What is something that you want to be remembered for? Find something that your passionate about and something that makes you happy and fulfilled in life. Success can be interpreted in different ways but I would like you to wear your rose-tinted glasses and contemplate what it means to YOU. During my journey, I realized that success for me was when I woke up every day feeling content and fulfilled, and I was living a life with purpose and meaning. My mission or ulterior goal in life is to add value to people’s lives, lead by example, and inspire people through my work. I felt a ping of joy knowing that I made a positive impact in the world, shared valuable advice for people to be inspired by, and empowered people to dream big. My desire is for people to love and respect me for the person I am and the difference I made in people’s lives and not for the titles or wealth I received. Strive to make a positive impact as you work towards discovering your purpose and taking the steps to transform your dreams into reality. You know when you’re on the right path to greatness when you’re constantly learning, growing, and evolving.

4. Resilience is key

Sometimes, you are tested to see whether you will survive your times of downfalls. Those tests are for you to realize that no matter what obstacles come your way, you should be strong enough to face those challenges and achieve anything that you put your mind to. Sometimes, you would experience bouts of emotional anguish, pondering about whether you could handle this much despair. You should never give up despite any battles that you encounter because failures make you learn from your mistakes. It helps you rebuild yourself after recovering from emotional pain and setbacks to get back on your feet. Resilience is so powerful that it can immensely improve strength, competence, persistence, and focus. I was always under severe testing period and was filled with distress but I knew that they were just lessons to make me stronger and that good things were coming. I was really knocked down but I rebuilt myself during my personal growth journey and came back with a bang!

5. Embrace Curiosity

Curiosity is a driving force to achieving success as it allows you to develop alignment and growth, invites positive transformations, enhances intellectual knowledge, and helps you maintain a competitive edge over others.

Always be curious and extremely eager in asking numerous questions about topics that pick your brain as this will foster new possibilities. Be creative in welcoming concepts as you explore your personality and introspect your thoughts and feelings. Delve deeper by researching various topics, people, and events that intrigue you and strive to leverage your wisdom by learning something new every day. Speculate through self-awareness what/who inspires you, what your ideal life looks like 10 years from now, what piques your interest, what life means to you, etc.

I had an intellectual curiosity in attaining knowledge in concepts that I wasn’t comfortable with. I would be determined to search for answers to all of my questions and would keep digging in if I couldn’t find what I wanted. I took over 15 advanced courses in various subjects and aced all of them with a certificate of distinction. I signed up for every tech conference and webinar that I could find and gained insight from industry leaders and influencers. I attained so much knowledge in such a short period which allowed me to sort out the pros and cons of each topic while taking into consideration other factors such as employment, job prospects, future success, salary. etc. Due to my sheer conscientiousness, I could achieve a few of my career goals and pursue something that made me truly happy.

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’m grateful for my parents who have been truly supportive of my dreams! I wouldn’t have come this far and become the person I am today without them. I’m extremely thankful for them for teaching me how to navigate through hardships and giving me everything I needed to live a happy and healthy life. They’ve tolerated and helped me during my downfalls, yet they also cheered me up during my moments of victory. They have also showered me with immeasurable amounts of love, support, and affection. Words cannot express how much my parents mean to me and how grateful I am to be their daughter.

I’m also grateful to have an amazing support system of inspiring and strong women at WomenTech Network and want to thank Anna Radulovski for always believing in me. She has helped me expand my network, portray my leadership skills and my passion for women empowerment. I made several friends at WTN and are such amazing souls who have always cheered me on and supported me in every endeavor. They are family to me and I couldn’t have become a tech leader without them and gotten this much recognition. I’m also thankful for all the friends I’ve made via networking and the mentors that have guided me to the right path to career success.

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

I will be publishing my debut book called Beyoutifully Empower in July 2021 where I shared my own self-discovery journey and success story on how I reached my full potential. My dream is to encourage women and men to love themselves, help them to explore their individuality, and inspire and empower them to become the best version of themselves. I always loved helping people since childhood and genuinely would like to motivate people to live their best life and to become successful! Hence, the title Beyoutifully Empower. As I use writing to express my thoughts, I crafted my message and tips into a book that people can be inspired by. I’ve talked about my own self-care, self-love, and self-improvement tips for people to follow for taking their life to the next level.

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

Yes! Aside from career, I’m a go-getter and just launched my side hustle/business — Founder of Beyoutifully Empower. I’m always striving to better myself each day and I focus a lot on self-improvement and using the growth mindset to live a purposeful life. My goal is to empower women to do the same through life coaching and guide them on how to overcome imposter syndrome, leverage confidence, and unlock their full potential. I love to see people grow and succeed. Services coming up:

-Life Coaching (Success and Mindset)

-Career Coaching (Career growth development)

-Leadership Development

-Mentorship Program

-Workshops in different categories such as tech, arts, business, graphic design, etc.

What advice would you give to other executives or founders to help their employees to thrive?

Strive to keep learning something new every day. Acknowledge your competence and versatility and build resilience as you work towards achieving your business aspirations. Assess what your core strengths are and take the time to develop several entrepreneurial skills to become successful. Try to let go of the fear and embrace the unknown as this will foster innovation.

I would also recommend that founders portray leadership skills and empower/encourage your employees to share their story and voice their opinions. Let their voice be heard and employees should add value by contributing their stories, insights, and experiences to help empower others who would like to make a difference. They should showcase their talents and knowledge by putting yourself themselves there and it’s important to give them reassurance if they need help with anything so that they can reach their full potential. Motivate them to stand out from the others because they all have worked really hard and they deserve to have their efforts be recognized and rewarded!

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 mentioned a little about this in my project but I would like to inspire a personal development movement where all ambitious go-getters can all work together and help the next generation girls/boys turn their dreams into reality. I would like to give them the resources via workshops and webinars as well as emotional support that they don’t have to get their dreams accomplished as much as possible. I would like to start a huge community where these kids can feel extremely safe to be themselves and voice their story and make them into the next leaders and trailblazers. I would like to see a domino effect where each person inspires and motivates each other and many more kids become role models. I want to see a tremendous change and impact in this world where there are many more dreamers, doers, go-getters, and visionaries!

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

Ever since childhood, I always lived by this quote by Norman Vincent Peale — “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you will land among the stars”. This is relevant to my life because this quote always motivated me as a go-getter to always challenge myself. I let go of the fear & always dreamed and aimed big. I chased after my dreams and turned them into reality. Sometimes I would miss my goals and be in the stars but I would never give up, used failures as opportunities to grow, still kept going after it, and was able to reach that big dream of mine!

How can our readers follow you on social media?

My IG personal account is @veena4ever19

My IG business account is @beyoutifullyempower

Feel free to also follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/veenarama/

Would love to connect!

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

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Veena Ramaswamy of Beyoutifully Empower: Five Ways To Develop More ‘Grit’ was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Creating a mantra that helps you with that. While deciding the treatment options I was feeling quite upset, keeping the news to myself, and not liking the Western medicine options that I found to be abrasive. There was an overwhelming amount of information to understand, to digest, and to decide all at the same time in order to progress toward a decided course of action. All of this was too much. I developed a mantra saying, “I have no problem right now. I feel well. Therefore, I can manage this.”

In this interview series, we are exploring the subject of resilience among successful business leaders. Resilience is one characteristic that many successful leaders share in common, and in many cases it is the most important trait necessary to survive and thrive in today’s complex market.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Tijen Genco.

Tijen Genco, MS, MCC, NBC-HWC, E-RYT200 is the founder of Genco Coaching, providing Executive, Life and Well-being Coaching, Coach Education and Mentoring. Tijen overcame a variety of obstacles and grew through numerous tragedies in her life. She successfully turned them into inspirational techniques that support her clients and students in their growth. As an ICF Master Certified Coach and board-certified Health and Wellness Coach, Tijen has developed and combined many innovative evidence-based and esoteric coaching techniques to form the nucleus of the Genco Method, to enable her clients to transform challenging experiences into their superpowers!
Genco Coaching: https://gencocoaching.com/

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?

I grew up in Turkey and started my career as an R&D engineer in Ankara, designing robots for the first five years of my career. I was always fascinated about the concept of performance and the lack thereof. I wanted to understand how people and things functioned when they were at their best. After my job as an R&D Engineer, I went into IT and systems integration, employed by the Turkish subsidiary of an American company. That company brought me into the US because of my advanced integration skills with complex systems. I furthered my career by achieving mastery of excellence in processes and services before I completed my master’s degree in organizational behavior and coaching.

I was a very protected child; yet, as a highly sensitive being, I often needed to find different ways to function than most other people around me. So, I started developing my skills on how to be a resilient human being at an early age, while developing an understanding of human potential and performance. Pursuing my BS in Electronics Engineering, I was one of three female students out of eighty-five students in my university class. Therefore, I had to learn how to function well in a male-dominant professional field and education. After my graduation, I moved to Ankara, the capital of Turkey, where I worked as an engineer at an R&D company. I was the only female R&D engineer among many males. I enhanced my skills on how to be resilient in the male-dominant workspace and social culture.

After developing skills on how to be a successful single professional female in the technical field in Ankara, I moved to the US by myself where I faced many challenges to overcome: simple things, such as having no credit history in this country, to even being able to obtain a credit card or rent a house; to losing my immigration status when the sponsoring company declared bankruptcy. I gave up a lot to get another sponsoring company quickly, washing away 10 years of my career. I started my career again as if I were a recent college graduate. Often life offered me challenges all at once: breaking off an engagement, losing my job and immigration status all at the same time, tragically losing a loved one, having another family member being diagnosed with a mental illness, and losing another job again back-to-back. I was also diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2019. All these challenges taught me that each time I am presented with a challenge I had two main options. I would either feel victimized by the experience or feel empowered by it. At times, I could not choose the second option right away, but I always found my way towards it. Now, as a coach, I teach my students how to coach others to find their inner strength, and I coach my clients about how they can turn events they feel victimized by into their superpower.

Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

Years ago, right after I received my PCC coaching credentials, I volunteered to offer my services to ICF during International Coaching Week. I was assigned a client to offer a session to. I had no idea that the assigned client was diagnosed with a terminal illness and wanted to discuss their anger and grief during our session. I was not prepared for such a deeply transformative session at all — up until that time, I had performed internal coaching duties inside a large corporation. In that moment, I faced choosing yet again to be resilient so that I could support the client to do the same. The session was life-altering for the client. I ended up offering additional pro-bono sessions to this client as they prepared themselves for their departure from this world, but not before seeing themselves as a powerful human being, able to complete everything they wished to complete before their life came to an end.

When we started coaching, the client was quite bitter about all that was happening for them. They had lost their job, and then were diagnosed with the illness. They were feeling quite angry that they could not counsel people anymore, they did not have a place to see their clients, had certain challenges with their family members, feeling powerless about what Western medicine offered to them, etc. By the time we concluded our sessions, the client had found themselves an office space that was free of charge at a neighboring church (although they did not belong to that religion), started seeing clients, resolved their challenges with family members, and walked towards the end of their journey with peace.

What I learned from this experience is that first, life does not offer us anything that we are not equipped to handle. Despite my fears, I was ready to handle such a complex case, and the client had it in them to respond to the complexities they were facing. I also learned from observing the client’s journey that once they had chosen to take their power back from the circumstances, they were able to create many options to enjoy their life and continue to blossom regardless of the illness. So, no matter what we are experiencing, we always have options to choose our responses in life. And that to me is the key to resilience.

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

My company offers a variety of unique approaches to coaching under the umbrella of Genco Method. As a person who is trained at the mastery level for service and process excellence, I always strive for the best practices and do significant amounts of learning and research. I am trained in both the Eastern esoteric teachings as well as Western evidenced-based methodologies. Therefore, my company has a holistic approach to achieving human potential in an integrative way with excellence in offerings.

The coaching method of self-directed change always puts the client in the center. However, it does not always look at the client through the holistic lenses needed to honor the client’s complexity, make the invisible patterns visible, and facilitate change through every cell of their human system. Often, traditional therapy and coaching approaches and queries only engage the mind. Genco Method includes energetic systems, physical systems, subtle bodies, cultural and ancestral imprints, beliefs, and value structures in the inquiry, as these are relevant to create sustainable changes for the client.

One of my student-clients was pregnant. The client (and baby in the belly) participated in various training courses of mine and had private sessions with me during the pregnancy. Often, we worked on the inherited family patterns that were impacting the client (and the baby) during the pregnancy, as well as how the client envisioned themselves postpartum. Two days prior to the birth, the client reached out to schedule an emergency session with me. Client was feeling quite fearful about her ability to raise a young child at the same time as having a newborn, without falling into, and repeating the undesired behaviors of her mother. I facilitated the session collectively, including the baby’s responses to my inquiries inside the belly, as well as my client’s. Client’s fears were resolved, and she had a brand-new perspective about her abilities and resilience. The client obtained a compassionate view of what was happening to client’s mother when she was young. As a result, baby relaxed inside client’s body. Two days later, the baby slid through the birth canal with ease in fewer than thirty minutes to meet her mom with joy. Mom and baby are enjoying their postpartum time together now, along with the other young sibling.

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, I thank my parents first. My father was a pioneer who brought in many revolutionary ideas to the culture he lived in. My mother is always understanding, listening and supportive of me, no matter what I want to do. These two mentoring parents cultivated my ability to try new things, and when they do not work, to learn how to pick up the pieces and integrate as a growth. This supportive environment helped me to master resilience.

Also, I have a close friend who has been by my side for over twenty years. Years ago, she said to me you can always use me as a test person whatever you are learning and developing. So, no matter what kind of certification I wanted to get, I had a trusted and honest client to practice on. I would like to thank her.

Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. We would like to explore and flesh out the trait of resilience. How would you define resilience? What do you believe are the characteristics or traits of resilient people?

Often, resilience is defined as one’s ability to bounce back from a challenging experience and keep moving forward. My definition differs from that. I see resilience as a gatekeeper, a bottleneck point in our spiritual advancement as a human being. In our journey of life, we are offered many opportunities or bottlenecks to decide whether we meet the challenge and respond to the gatekeeper properly. This will determine our ability to get to the next level in our being and self-expression. Some people decide to go backwards in their spiraling journey, some decide to stay where they are and act as if the spiral was a circle, and some keep going deeper in their spiral of spiritual existence and explore new depths of themselves. I say that each challenge is an invitation to change and deepening. How we respond to that invitation is our choice.

I repeatedly share with my coaching students that experiencing firsthand whatever they wish to support their client would be quite impactful for them becoming a masterful guide in the client’s journey. To me, there are various degrees of demonstrating resilience, requiring various skill sets.

At the basic level, let us call it level 1, one responds to the challenging event, somewhat recovers from it, while carrying forward some level of resentment about it for the rest of their life. I describe this level as moving backwards in the spiral of their spiritual development. Since the person was not able to face the challenge rather fell back.

At level 2, one responds to the challenging event, recovers from it, and moves forward with their life at the same level of the spiral as it was before (circling). This results in maintaining the status quo of the spiritual enhancement journey. At this level, person demonstrated physical and possibly emotional resilience without spiritual advancement as the learnings were not integrated properly rather taken as a physical and/or emotional challenge.

At level 3, one responds to the challenging event, recovers from it and advances from that bottleneck into their next level of growth by deepening their understanding of themselves and the events. At this level, spiritual integration and growth takes place.

At the level of mastery, one faces the challenge, and not only advances to the next level by recovering from it but understands the meaning of that challenge at a deeper level and becomes a beacon of life for the others who are going through similar challenges. They support the others’ ability to pass through bottlenecks into their next level of growth.

When you think of resilience, which person comes to mind? Can you explain why you chose that person?

When I think of resilience, I think about my great-grandmother. She was thrown out of her house with four children by her husband when he decided to replace her with the maid of the house, back in the early 1900s. She became a single mother, with no support from her husband. She lost one son during the war, and another son from food poisoning. She raised two beautiful daughters alone and managed to support my grandmother becoming one of the first female teachers of the Turkish republic. I never met my great-grandmother. I grew up listening to the stories of my grandmother’s challenging childhood. How hard it was for them to not be able to have food to eat, etc. As I look back, I now realize how strong and amazing my beautiful great-grandmother was. She managed to take care of her family with utmost integrity and strength as a single mother at that time of chaos. She sewed things for others with one sewing machine that she had. She faced many obstacles and grievances, but she was able to plant the seeds of a lineage of brilliant, strong, and resilient women.

Has there ever been a time that someone told you something was impossible, but you did it anyway? Can you share the story with us?

Yes, of course. Let me share that one that tells the story of me coming to the US. I am a child of two teacher parents from Turkey. As I grew up, I felt that I did not belong to that culture. I felt the need to move out of the country. People told me it is impossible to do that, you cannot get a visa, etc. I remember at some point getting ninety-nine business addresses from the embassies of Turkey and sending my resume to the European businesses as a young Electronics Engineer. I received ninety-nine decline letters…I did not give up on my urge, as this was beyond a dream for me. After a while, I ended up being employed by the Turkish subsidiary of an American company. With that company I moved to the US via a job transfer. A short while later, that company declared bankruptcy. As a result, I lost my sponsor for my work visa and faced an abrupt requirement to return to Turkey. I had to either find another sponsoring company for another job or leave the country within the three weeks. I faced challenging decisions and ended up starting my career from scratch within the US to be able to find the sponsor that I needed in that short timeframe.

Although that experience was a significant amount of trauma, I decided to take my spiral to the next layer in its depth and continue to explore further into its new layers. I am now standing here strong, sharing my ideas of resilience with many and being an inspiration for them.

Did you have a time in your life where you had one of your greatest setbacks, but you bounced back from it stronger than ever? Can you share that story with us?

In 2019, after many trials of challenges, tragedies, and setbacks in my life, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Once again, I decided to respond to this challenge as an invitation to change also like I explained earlier. This diagnosis helped me to reflect, recognize, and become more aware of additional things in my life. It supported me to be much kinder towards myself and deepened my level of compassion for the people moving through the cancer diagnosis to an unimaginable level before my own diagnosis.

I am now extending my discoveries and learnings to the Genco Method Somatic Coach Training, so that my knowledge can support many other coaches and their clients moving through challenging events and difficulties in their lives.

Did you have a time in your life where you had one of your greatest setbacks, but you bounced back from it stronger than ever? Can you share that story with us?

I grew up with an elder sister who, like many other elder siblings, introduced me to many facets of fear, both those perceived to be external, or perceived to be my shortcomings. That, to me, was good preparation for facing the fears of life, no matter what direction they are coming from.

During the first year of primary school, I got the mumps. My grandmother made a mistake and gave me one of her sleeping pills instead of the prescribed medicine. I woke up sick and could not even keep my head straight. However, I still pressured my mother, who was a primary school teacher, to teach me how to read, as I did not want to fall behind my class. I thought that I needed to be ahead of everyone, having to go to the school where my mother was teaching, and being a member of large and well-known family in the city that we were living.

Despite the illness and the sleeping pills, I managed to learn how to read and returned to the school as the first one to read in my class. Later, I took a role of assisting my teacher, teaching other students, who had high levels of anxiety and learning challenges, how to read.

Resilience is like a muscle that can be strengthened. In your opinion, what are 5 steps that someone can take to become more resilient? Please share a story or an example for each.

5 Steps to Becoming Masterful in Resilience with Tijen Genco

The first step is detachment. See yourself, your core being separate from what is happening. As mentioned earlier, I was diagnosed with breast cancer in late November of 2019, right around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays in the US. I felt that I needed to keep the news to myself to avoid impacting the people around me. So, I kept saying to myself that this is just another experience, a diagnosis, it does not define me or consume me. I am separate from the experience. For this time there is just a relationship between the two of us and that can change any time.

The second step is focusing on the now. Creating a mantra that helps you with that. While deciding the treatment options I was feeling quite upset, keeping the news to myself, and not liking the Western medicine options that I found to be abrasive. There was an overwhelming amount of information to understand, to digest, and to decide all at the same time in order to progress toward a decided course of action. All of this was too much. I developed a mantra saying, “I have no problem right now. I feel well. Therefore, I can manage this.”

The third step is finding something that you can manage and fit into your value structure that is related to the challenging experience you are having. I was incredibly lucky to be surrounded by the oncologists who understood me and my values as a person. I had a dialogue with them about my values and collaborated with them, instead of surrendering blindly to their recommended course of treatment. I decided to be a well-informed, educated, and well-communicating patient that wants to collaborate with the doctors. Therefore, they were able to coach me toward decisions that were more acceptable to me and my value structure.

The fourth step is integrating life’s offerings. After the course of treatment, my body was different, and it had new challenges. I did not like going through anesthesia and some other aspects of the treatments. Therefore, I created nurturing, healthy drinks such as red beet, aloe vera and coconut water, to consume after the surgery to flush out the anesthesia, etc. I subscribed to Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), and got fresh organic vegetables delivered to me so I could take new life inside of me to create healthier cells as I went through radiation therapy. I created new exercise regimes to regain my mobility. Therefore, I was taking in and metabolizing this change.

The fifth and last step gets you into mastery. In this step, you decide to become an inspiration to others, telling your story in such a way that others understand the challenges but also find inspiration in it. I developed Genco Method Somatic Coach Training and NLP and Polyvagal Applications to Coaching Training to help others. I also participated in fundraising efforts of non-profit organizations that help cancer patients such as Unite for Her. I donated my audio meditation CD Chakra Symphony of the Heart and Peacefulness with Tijen Genco recordings to integrative hospitals as a supportive tool to share with their patients while they are moving through the diagnosis, and treatment.

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. 🙂

One of my main teachings is to help people detach themselves from the inherited thought patterns that are limiting their potential. I am already planting the seeds with my students and clients toward a social cognitive revolution one mind at a time. I would like to expand this effort so that we can expunge harmful thought patterns consciously, by being aware of them and choosing something else that is all inclusive, supportive, and loving. Our language plays a great role in this. English language is often quite self-defeating and pressuring, such as “killing it, go big or go home, crush it, nail it, war against ___, pressure is on”. As we choose peaceful, all inclusive, all-loving language, we move towards a more loving, caring, compassionate, and peaceful planet for all of us. So, my invitation is to be resilient toward beliefs that are unkind, uncaring, or separative, and to choose what is life affirming — saying, “Pause, Poise, and Choose with Care” (PPCC). Let’s call that the PPCC movement by Tijen Genco!

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

Yes, I have three. One is Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, because she has funds as well as organizations to facilitate global structural change for PPCC.

The second one is Oprah Winfrey, Philanthropist and TV Host, because through her audience she can create curiosity about and awareness of the need for social change.

The third one is Tami Simon, Founder and Publisher of Sounds True, because she has the audience to help create further awareness and training materials at large.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

The best way is via my website: https://gencocoaching.com. They can like my Genco Coaching page on Facebook, find me on Instagram as @tijengenco, twitter as @gencocoaching, and on LinkedIn as Tijen Genco.

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

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Rising Through Resilience: Tijen Genco On The Five Things You Can Do To Become More Resilient was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Simplify as much as possible — I’ve always appreciated how a three line haiku can be dissected into multiple pages of analytical commentary. But while deep exploration is both fun and necessary to unlock new insight, I’ve realized how important it is, in order to drive things forward, to simplify any finding, strategy, or decision into its simplest form possible, no matter how seemingly complex it may seem.

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 Aayush Gupta — Create

Aayush Gupta is a venture builder. His mission is to create startups, from ideation to business launch. His passion for entrepreneurship, innovation, and design has taken him across various international experiences: currently, he works at Create, a venture studio backed by 20 of New York City’s most successful founders, and previously he delivered corporate innovation for Fortune 500 clients at Frog Design — part of Capgemini Invent — helping clients like McDonalds, Vanguard, and Stanley Black & Decker.

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 precisely remember where and when I had my first professional meeting discussing “business innovation”. I was fresh out of high school and on my gap year working for IBM’s consumer packaged goods consulting team out of London. Together with my leadership team and a few senior executives from Unilever, we had gathered, of all places, at an 18th century mansion in the South of England — which IBM happened to own — to discuss innovation practices that would drive growth for the CPG giant into the next decade. On the agenda was everything from exploratory use-cases for biometric sensor technology to scaling the company’s rural area focused retail distribution initiative called Project Shakti. My career has moved a good deal past the corporate innovation world, but looking back to that meeting, the excitement I felt from the expansiveness and creativity of the ideas we discussed is still palpable. That exercise of thinking through the future and designing new experiments had me hooked back then and still does today as I continue my journey in innovation.

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

One of my early projects in design consulting had me sitting behind a wall of one-way mirrors staring into a room with a table full of senior citizens discussing their ideal retirement home. This was my first and likely last time ever in a focus group research facility. The whole dynamic was both so intriguing and odd at the same time. I learned a great deal that day…about senior preferences and fears as it relates to aging in place, about research moderation and UX observation techniques…but, after hours behind a tinted glass, I feel like I also came back with a good sense of what it would feel like to be an FBI agent observing an active interrogation — I have to say, it’s less exciting and a lot more waiting around than you think it would be.

Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?

Be interested in others. It’s easy to get consumed by our own lives — that is by our likes, our needs, and our wants — or of these immediately around us. But we’re fortunate to share this planet with billions of others whose lived experience is so unimaginably unique from ours that we ought to make time to listen to and learn about (and from) others. (This is a lot easier said and done if you live in a place like New York, like I do.) This interest in other’s way and state of living has also been incredibly valuable as a product builder because the more I stop and listen, the more opportunities I see to make a difference.

Let’s now move to the main focus of our interview. Can you tell us about your “Big Idea That Might Change The World”?

Within the next few years we’re going to see the traditional venture world intensify its embrace of the venture studio space. This will take shape in one of two ways: (1) venture funds increasing their asset allocation and commitments to big name studios, or, more interestingly, (2) funds starting to take a more proactive role in early-stage venture building by either partnering strategically with studios or launching studios of their own.

How do you think this will change the world?

There are many implications from a shift like this, but perhaps most interesting is the potential impact on “founder-investor” relations. Historically speaking, there’s been a big power dynamic in favor of venture investors whose access to capital was the necessary fuel to bring the vision of any founder to life. Recently, however, given an extremely competitive venture investing market, with increased competition from behemoth’s of the likes of Softbank and Tiger Global, VC’s have had to compete with one another at great lengths in order to get access to deals. In response to this competition, we’re likely to see more investor experimentation with the build-from-scratch model that venture studios present. In some cases, where the funds recruit an external operator to launch their companies, we’ll see a new depth to the founder-investor partnership form as the inception of these bonds moves to the earliest, most existential stage of the company building journey possible. In other cases, we’ll start to see increasing use of the “revolving door” between operating and investing as VC’s set off to launch these companies themselves — even if not fully as founders, we’ll see them operate as invisible co-founders (ICFs) or very active board members (VABMs).

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 big risk here is reputational. It’s all well and good if VC’s move into proactive venture building, but the question is how and when they do this. In the worst case possible, we’ll hear of scenarios where big name funds that couldn’t get access to particular deals turned around and decided to incubate a competitor instead. There’s nothing wrong with some healthy competition, of course. The call-out here is mostly for founders to be somewhat more careful with ideas, data rooms, and non-disclosures when approaching fundraising.

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

The studio space has been a long time coming, but it feels that the last year in particular has been game-changing for the asset class. First, we saw two major studio exits in the form of Snowflake (incubated out of Mike Speiser’s Sutter Hill Ventures), which IPO’d at a $12B valuation in September 2020, and Hims & Hers (incubated out of Atomic), which was valued at $1.6B when it went public via SPAC in January earlier this year. Next, we saw an impressive two weeks of studio fundraising announcements in March of this year, where $770M was raised across four major studio players in the US. If there is any time for the studio model to explode — in terms of new experiments, models, scale, etc — it is now!

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

The one big piece of “infrastructure” that will be crucial for funds to invest in as they enter the venture building world is a sustainable mechanism for surfacing founder talent to launch their companies. One potential solution to this would be exploring a “founder scout” model similar to how funds currently use scouts to access early-stage venture deals.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)

Simplify as much as possible — I’ve always appreciated how a three line haiku can be dissected into multiple pages of analytical commentary. But while deep exploration is both fun and necessary to unlock new insight, I’ve realized how important it is, in order to drive things forward, to simplify any finding, strategy, or decision into its simplest form possible, no matter how seemingly complex it may seem.

Evaluate often and share early — along the lines of simplification, I’ve also appreciated the power of assessing new inputs (e.g. information from research) early and often as a means to drive faster decision-making on the fly.

Explore pains in your personal experience, no matter how big or small — this one is more new idea generation related, but it’s often easy to either discount one’s own experience or lose sight of it altogether. Personal connection to a pain point can make all the difference when pursuing early-stage ideas, so I’ve learned to tune in to various levels of frictions and low points in my life as potential areas to solve for.

Maximize responding, minimize reacting — there is a very high frequency of existential questions that need to to be dealt with in early-stage venture building. I’ve found that for the questions that can wait, it helps to step away and revisit with a calmer mind that’s better able to process information rationally.

Value your people skills — I’ve realized that culture building, particularly for early-stage startups, is crucial in driving high-performing teams, but it does not always come naturally to all leaders. Over time, I’ve come to value my own ability to forge meaningful bonds and create special moments amongst peers. I’m excited to continue to invest in this strength as a way to build community in any initiative I’m part of.

Can you share with our readers what you think are the most important “success habits” or “success mindsets”?

Besides some of the few points I mentioned above, one habit that I find continues to stand out for successful people around me is their speed of execution. They come to believe in something and waste no time in moving ahead on it — often making 4–5 times the shots on target in the time that others have made just one.

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 🙂

As you well know, there has been no more exciting time to build than today. Now imagine reaching into the idea maze and going deep on one or two ideas in the next year — what spaces would you choose to post a flag in? Who would you bring on to build with?

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Reach out and let’s connect! I’m @ https://www.linkedin.com/in/aayushgupta1

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

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Venture Studios: Aayush Gupta’s Big Idea That Might Change The World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Brand Makeovers: David Farmer of AD GIANTS On The 5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Give and give freely. We all have skills we are blessed with, and there are others who need the benefit if your talents. Doesn’t matter what it is. Be kind, be empathetic and motivate through your acts of kindness.

As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview David Farmer.

David Farmer, CEO and founder of AD GIANTS, uses his key passion and expertise as a global brand builder and award-winning strategic marketer to help small businesses and entrepreneurs achieve their dreams of leading successful enterprises. He used this passion to create AD GIANTS, a subscription-based full agency experience at prices small businesses can afford. Prior to starting AD GIANTS, he served as the creative strategist for clients in a variety of business cycles and helped maneuver their businesses through good and bad times while keeping their brands relevant to their audiences.

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?

My path to becoming an advertising executive on the creative side of the business came by accident. Growing up, I always enjoyed art, but I didn’t know how to make a career out of it. My father was a business executive in the oil and gas industry, so I had no idea about the advertising world. In my junior year at college, I decided I didn’t like studying law and switched my major to art. My dad thought I had lost my mind. Then I read a book about how to build a great art portfolio. I built my portfolio and went to Madison Avenue in New York to meet with advertising agencies. I landed a job in the art department on my sixth interview.

This was before the days of creating graphic art on the computer. We used to hand draw mechanical art. I had never done this before, but I did have an aptitude for learning. A seasoned artist took pity on my and took me under his wing the first week. He really showed me the ropes and mentored me.

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?

During my first couple of years in the creative department, I was a typical “temperamental creative artist” and focused on developing-award winning campaigns. One thing I learned early on by was to see things through the eyes of your potential customer first, and then your client. After that, the value of how to sell an idea. How did I learn this? I was at McCann Erickson and worked under Jesse Ceasar, the guy who came up with the iconic advertising campaign and slogan “Put a Tiger in Your Tank” for ExxonMobil. I watched his process; how he led the creative teams and the clients. He was an absolute master of developing and selling ideas that worked. He really understood what the customer was looking for, then he sold it well.

From then on, my goal was to prove you could do both, be creative and create ads that work. When I got to the position of leading creative departments, I tried to teach them to look at art to get interest rather than being an art form and teach them not to make the same mistakes I had when coming up in the business. Too many young advertising creatives do work that makes them laugh, but it ends there. I always focused on effectiveness. Most creative folks hated that because it’s too hard. A fart joke is easy, making people want to smell it is the hard part.

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?

My tipping point occurred when I reached the creative director level. Not only did I lead teams in developing effective campaigns, I was also responsible for developing my team. I was also being asked by the account team to join new business presentations because they saw how passionate I was about our work and could think like a client. From that exposure, I learned an advertising agency’s value was dependent on great work. You can’t attract new business without performance. Winning creative awards alone doesn’t cut it. Clients demand performance. I began to craft all my presentation language around that single goal, and quickly learned that selling was fun and rewarding.

My skills weren’t just about creative art but building trust and winning new business. Once you can figure out how to make rain, your value becomes exponential. I learned to be the total player, understand the client’s business, and sell our work. I discovered success was not just about being a solid creative person, you also have to know how to win at all levels.

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

After years of seeing ad agencies just trying to make a buck without focusing on client success is what led me in large part to leave that world and create Ad Giants. We’re a subscription-based, full-service agency experience at prices small businesses can afford. We simplify the marketing process by connecting small business owners and/or entrepreneurs with a proven advertising executive who then uses their decades of experience to create a customized marketing strategy with vetted resource partners and tools. All the work is managed on a simple technology platform so owners can keep apprised of the work being done on behalf of their businesses.

I didn’t build Ad Giants just for the money. It’s about helping the millions of small businesses that are targeted daily by a slew of “make a buck” marketing people out there. Any business, no matter how big or small needs a solid marketing strategy.

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

Really get involved with your clients. Understand their pain points. Be a true partner to them versus just some person that produces cute work. Think strategically and use your business knowledge. Think about clients business models and how you can help them realize actual growth. Creativity happens in every aspect of business.

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?

They go hand in hand. You need advertising to create a brand, and you cannot have a brand without advertising.

At the brand level, it’s about the big picture for the company, the end goal should drive all activity. Nike didn’t start by saying we’re going to be just a great shoe company; they had the goal of being the most influential and dominant brand in all of sports. The marketing built the personality of the brand — the attitude. All great brands have that in common. A true brand personality that aligns with their products.

I always tell my customers that if their business was a person, describe who you want them to be, to look like, to speak like, etc. Humanizing brands is how we connect with people. How we attract brand loyalists. Apple used to mean something profound with Steve Jobs leading it. In my opinion, the true innovation has stopped for them. Point being, they’re a perfect case study for how to change the persona of a brand, and not for the better.

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?

Again, they are symbiotic. But before you invest those resources and energy, having a sound business strategy is key. If you don’t have one, you’re wasting money. Ad Giants works with small business owners, and we ask owners why they started their companies. Why this? There’s a reason if you peel back the layers. Maybe it’s a skill, or a passion they have, or a family business they want to continue. We then ask where do you want your business to go? Do you want to be a craft brand or build the company and sell out to a larger competitor? Ultimately it all revolves around listening to our clients and building solid strategies.

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

Brands have lifecycles — as they grow you must redefine as it grows. Here are the reasons to rebrand:

• a company rebrands when they’ve lost consumer love, confidence, and loyalty;
• when the company never addressed branding properly when they started and now have to play catch up;
• they did something wrong, and the old brand is now synonymous with “badness”;
• they’ve grown tired and need to be refreshed;
• they’ve launched a new product or service which gives them the opportunity to rebrand and relaunch.

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

Cost is a major downside. To do it right, it’s going to cost a lot. Depending on the size and age of the brand, it could easily run into millions. New CMO’s are famous for coming to a brand and totally changing it based on their network and desire to make a mark. Doesn’t make it right. That’s why the average lifespan of a CMO is two years. Even small business owners run into that trap. All that does is confuse the consumer. Change it too many times and you lose all brand identity. I’ve seen that happen a lot.

The “makeover” can be as simple as just refreshing the messaging or a new mantra. However, it really comes back to what’s happening at customer level. If your brand has gone stale, it’s probably product related. If you’re not delivering the products your customers want or need, a brand makeover won’t help. You need to look at product innovation.

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

1. Start with a candid assessment of where your business is. Not just the brand, your products or services, your customers, your growth. Where are you?
2. Now, where do you want to be? Is that important to others? I cannot stress enough that having a thought through strategy with key points you can attain means everything.
3. Are you better or different than others in your category? Why? What leverage can we create to set you apart? It doesn’t’ need to me much, it just needs to be focused and valuable to people. Many brands were built on a single advantage or benefit. The more you have to talk, the less people hear. Say one thing, say it well, and say it with passion and often. Too often, companies jump immediately to tactics, like a new logo, website, advertising and give little consideration of the final destination. That happens all the time.
4. From there, the tactics naturally fall out. Excellence in thinking is just as important as excellence in execution. What if an army general said “guys, we’re going to go over there tomorrow and beat the hell out of the enemy! Let’s go!” Versus, “Guys, we each have critical roles in defeating the enemy. Here’s my plan and how we’ll execute the mission to take them off guard and win.” I’ll go with general number two.
5. Spend your money wisely. Comes down the tactics — excellence and execution. This is where many fall short. Pick one thing and do it right.

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?

Hands down over the past 20 years, I think the best brand makeover is Holiday Inn Express, which was reincarnated from Holiday Inn, that tired, old motel brand built along major interstates across the country. When Holiday Inn first started in the 1960s, it appealed to families who road tripped on vacations. But over the years, the brand became middle of the road and stale.

When a private equity company purchased it, they changed their “product” to appeal to the road warrior business traveler. They re-branded with the tagline “Stay Smarter” which was genius. And the executions of that new brand identity were incredible. They show actual people in situations that required being smarter. They started to appeal to a new age market who didn’t remember the hold Holiday Inn brand. Stay at Holiday Inn Express makes you smarter. Can’t get any clearer than that.

Often branding is changing people’s minds which is harder and more expensive to do. In this case, they captured the new middle market by changing the product and rebranded.

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

In whatever you do in business and in life, give without expecting anything in return. Just like that art director who took me under his wing to teach me about mechanical art at my first agency job.

Give and give freely. We all have skills we are blessed with, and there are others who need the benefit if your talents. Doesn’t matter what it is. Be kind, be empathetic and motivate through your acts of kindness.

I genuinely believe this stuff comes back to you. I have advanced more in life by giving more to people. I give myself through Ad Giants because I genuinely care about helping people who had the courage to start a business and for many reasons are lost, or in need of clarity. So many of these small business owners have been taken advantage of, and I feel I’m here to help them. I really do care about their success.

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

“Time lost is never found again.”

Most people hear all the time to live each day as if it’s your last. Living that way is impossible for most not because they can’t, because they won’t. It’s human nature. Once you give your life over to that philosophy, it all changes. Everything even smells and tastes better.

As a reminder to myself, I have this inscribed on the back of a nice watch I purchased years ago. I’ll pass this watch down to my son, and I hope he takes it as a reminder too.

Be the person you would brag about, the person you would hold up and the person your dog sees you as!

How can our readers follow you online?

I have a series of blog posts on the Ad Giants Web site which is www.adgiants.com

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

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Brand Makeovers: David Farmer of AD GIANTS On The 5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Rising Through Resilience: Author Michelle Atlas On The Five Things You Can Do To Become More Resilient

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Learn to Thrive. When we go through a tough time or a learning curve, there is usually a breaking down of what was familiar; a loss of our previous normal. If you are resilient you will probably cycle through a variety of emotions, and ultimately return to your baseline. That is surviving. Surviving is returning to where you were, or something like your previous normal.

In this interview series, we are exploring the subject of resilience among successful business leaders. Resilience is one characteristic that many successful leaders share in common, and in many cases it is the most important trait necessary to survive and thrive in today’s complex market.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Michelle Atlas PCC, Founder of Michelle Atlas Coaching.

Michelle empowers deep, intuitive women (and a few men) to create change they didn’t think possible in their relationship to money, their businesses, and themselves. She has taught “Resilient Leadership” to US federal government leaders, authored the dailyOM course “Overcoming Money Shame”, co-authored “The Superwoman Entrepreneur, How to Turn Your Breakdowns into Breakthroughs”, and created the popular “Activate Your Money Flow” twelve-week coaching program. Michelle is currently writing her first book “The Sovereign Woman Entrepreneur”, to help women reclaim their self-trust, so they can build their businesses guided by their intuition, creativity, and wisdom. Based in the US, Michelle coaches and speaks internationally on the psychology of money and living resiliently. https://michelleatlas.com

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?

I’ve always known I was meant to work intimately with others, to help them release barriers, grow, and express their greater potential. From a very young age I was a detective, seeking lessons in my toughest times. Right after college I went to live in a yoga and meditation community and unexpectedly stayed for twelve years, during which time I spent fourteen months in India. Those years anchored me in a meditation practice that I continue to this day. I went on to work in human services with people with traumatic brain injury and mental illness. After eighteen years, I knew it was time to convert my training, my expertise and the wisdom I had mined from my life, into a business that could bring other intuitive, creative women to greater fulfillment and success. That’s when I took the leap into what I call the “entrepreneurial adventure.” I received the blessings of the best-selling resilience expert Al Seibert, PhD, to become masterful in his work, before he passed away in 2009. Then I was invited to teach Resilient Leadership to top US federal government leaders for five years during the Obama Administration. In the years that followed, I obtained additional coaching certifications in multiple modalities. I have developed a huge transformational toolbox that includes courses, retreats, and private coaching packages to help women all over the world empower their relationship to money and grow their businesses, in alignment with their souls’ calling. I feel extremely fortunate to do work I love; helping other women soar in their businesses and lives.

Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

I’ve experienced a lot of serendipity as an entrepreneur. Twelve years ago, while making a cup of tea, I felt an overwhelming intuition that I should call Al Seibert, to explore becoming certified in his resilience work. He picked up the phone and in no time we were immersed in conversation. He had certified less than a dozen people worldwide in his resilience model and recognized that I had a lived experience of resilience, and not only an academic fascination. We made plans to move forward. Unfortunately he passed away a short time later, which led to my receiving an unexpected invitation to take a piece of his high-level, federal government contract, teaching Resilient Leadership. I had always trusted my intuition when making significant decisions in my personal life. This experience revealed to me that bringing my intuitive gifts into my business decisions, could also be a source of success.

A few years later, I made another intuitive decision that changed the trajectory of my business. When I became a coach, I was skillful at facilitating transformation, yet I didn’t know exactly how to build a prosperous business. I learned of an event on the west coast that I believed would provide the perfect remedy. However, I didn’t think I could afford the trip.

A large part of my work with women is helping them expand beyond their status quo. In the spirit of walking my talk, I invested beyond my comfort level to attend that event. While there, again I felt guided from within to commit to a year-long mentorship that cost almost seven times what the event had cost! The next day, while flying back east, the complete stranger in the seat next to me, hired me on the spot for a fee equal to half of my investment! Two weeks later she referred someone to me whose company paid me two times more than the remaining tab for the year-long mentorship.

This exemplifies one of the most important lessons of my entrepreneurial journey, and one I teach to all my clients. When you take a risk to expand, life will meet you. Whether the return comes immediately, like mine did, or later, it will often exceed what you can imagine.

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

When a creative, conscientious woman shows up on my virtual doorstep, frustrated after trying a multitude of unsuccessful strategies to grow her business, that’s my cue that she has beliefs she is not yet aware of, sabotaging her results. While strategy is obviously important, we each carry emotions that profoundly influence the decisions we make and thus the results we achieve.

I offer a unique blend of deep transformational guidance, with practical resilience and money empowerment coaching. As a result, clients experience self-healing while accelerating their business growth.

Sonja is a beautiful example of the way that this dual approach can provide both lucrative and personally fulfilling results. She is the creator of a high-quality line of personal care products, with contracts all over the world. Sonja came to work with me because she sensed that she was under-valuing her product and herself. When speaking with her customers, she found herself habitually discounting her products. Referencing the characteristics of the Queen Archetype, we created a powerful posture for her to use during her business negotiations. This helped her transform feelings of unworthiness into clarity and confidence. She also identified the right price point for her products. The very next time Sonja spoke with her largest international customer, she stood (literally) in her value. For the first time, she discounted nothing and received instant buy-in.

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 aunt was extremely significant in my own resilience trajectory. She was a psychotherapist and we were very close. When I was about thirteen, she and I began having special conversations. Light bulb after lightbulb went on as her wisdom helped me make sense of my toughest family experiences. The emotional connection and respect that I consistently received from my aunt, combined with the personal empowerment I gained through what I learned from her, had a profound impact upon my life and work. I believe that my relationship to my aunt, more than any other, influenced my career choice and my passion for personal development and transformational work.

Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. We would like to explore and flesh out the trait of resilience. How would you define resilience? What do you believe are the characteristics or traits of resilient people?

Research tells us that we are wired to grow and evolve through challenge and change, but it must be self-directed. What that means is resilient people take 100% responsibility for their experience of their life. They choose to not live as victims of that which they cannot control. And they intentionally seek to fortify their resilience. Examples of self-directing your resilience might be ensuring that you have quality relationships and support, cultivating a spiritual practice, getting enough rest, eating well, meditating, journaling, or a creative pursuit. The particular recipe for each person will be unique. We discover our resilience from the inside out. Resilient people have the confidence that although they may not have the perfect solution to a problem immediately, they will find their way. They have an orientation of growth and learning toward their challenges and losses. Not in an unrealistic everything-is-always-rosy way, but with an openness to new possibilities and discoveries. They focus their attention and efforts on what they can influence. They embrace and adapt to whatever life sends their way and they use every life experience as an asset.

A common misunderstanding is that resilient people are “thick skinned.” That would require a person to disassociate from the full range of human emotion. When hit with a challenge or a tough time, a resilient person may cycle through a wide range of feelings, including perhaps anger, resentment, or grief. What distinguishes the resilient from the non-resilient person, is that the resilient person experiences his or her feelings, yet does not remain hostage to them. They know that difficulties are temporary and do not take them personally. During times of change they can flex in ways that are beneficial to both themselves and to all concerned.

When you think of resilience, which person comes to mind? Can you explain why you chose that person?

It’s hard to choose one person. I have always loved Viktor Frankl because he used his experience of surviving unthinkable atrocities to catalyze his search for meaning in life. I love the way he speaks of meaning as something fluid and changeable. I also resonate greatly with his perspective on changing one’s self rather than another person or external circumstances when something is not working for you.

Has there ever been a time that someone told you something was impossible, but you did it anyway? Can you share the story with us?

I can’t think of a time I’ve been told that something was impossible :).

Did you have a time in your life where you had one of your greatest setbacks, but you bounced back from it stronger than ever? Can you share that story with us?

About ten years ago, I experienced the loss of a romantic relationship that sent shockwaves through my system, and re-activated some childhood traumas I didn’t know existed. Although I had done an enormous amount of work on myself, there were still stones unturned. In resiliency psychology, there is an understanding that when the impact of an event or circumstance exceeds the resources of that which it is impacting, there will be a descent. For the first time in my life, I found myself devastated.

Prior to this loss I had experienced a particular type of self-consciousness that I could not seem to shake, no matter how I tried. It showed up most excruciatingly, when interacting socially or with a new potential friend. There was a free-floating fear that morphed into a disassociation from my body. This fear lived right behind my eyes, in the muscles of my lips and in the tension that froze my face. It expressed, by preventing me from maintaining eye contact for longer than a few seconds. Being in close proximity to another person (other than a handful of very close friends) surfaced an unrelenting pressure. It felt like I was hiding something from them, but did not know what.

I observed others in intimate interactions with their friends and loved ones, looking into each other’s eyes (and souls) as they spoke and shared. How I longed for this!

The moment that relationship ended, although I was overcome with immobilizing pain, I sensed that the impact would bring me face-to-face with something that I had been avoiding my entire life.

Over the weeks and months that followed I began to experience feelings of self-loathing that I had never felt before. Instead of avoiding them with distractions, I sat with them. I allowed them to burn through me (and admitted them to trusted others), with brutal honesty.

Then one day standing near my dining room table, a rumbling started deep in my core. I sensed something enormous impending, like the subtle tremors that occur right before an earthquake. Within moments, the vibration rose from deep in my solar plexus, up into my heart-space and then into my throat.

In a flash, I was wailing like a wounded animal. It was violent, and ecstatic. I had exploded into a gut wrenching, tsunami of GRIEF.

It went on for what may have been minutes, but felt much longer, ultimately resolving naturally.

The peace and quiet throughout me immediately after, cannot be described in words. The landscape within, became silent. I had been emptied. Completely.

I realized that from the time I was very young, I had been carrying buckets of shame and grief. And the energy it took to keep a lifetime of difficult feelings under wraps, was also keeping me from authentic connection with others. My unfelt grief had been holding me hostage, my entire life.

In the coming months, my grief was my most treasured friend. It was the antidote to my shame and self-loathing. Once I immersed myself in the sacred, cleansing river of grief, I always emerged with brighter eyes and a more open heart. Every tear I shed seemed to strip away another conditioned idea, or a contrived false identity or pretense, leaving only the tender, undefended, essential me. Whole. Alive. Sovereign. Here.

As I came to be at home in my own skin, looking deeply into the eyes of another for as long as I wished became as natural as saying “hello”. The depth and presence I came to embody through that wild and beautiful ride has remained with me, unwavering.

My grief brought me into integrity with myself, which has allowed my business and life to evolve in unprecedented ways, ever since. It changed everything.

Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resiliency? Can you share a story?

My parents were threatened by others’ achievements, happiness and wealth. My conditioning taught me that emotional safety was guaranteed only when I was serving the needs of those around me, to the exclusion of my own desires and interests. I was an only child. As the target of my mother’s emotionally abusive outbursts, I learned to survive masterfully, by disowning what lit me up.

Yet even as a little girl, right smack in the middle of that battlefield, I knew that somehow I would find my way back to the me I had been robbed of, with my original gifts intact. There were many magical moments that were like bread crumbs, pointing me toward healing and the life I wanted.

• When I laid my little four-year-old body down on the warm, sundrenched city pavement outside of our apartment and gushed with well-being.
• The time when I was only eight years old that I was enveloped in a deep affinity for the Tibetan monks on the cover of my father’s National Geographic magazines. Their peace and joy seemed to mirror both my distant past, and the future I knew I would discover.
• When, as a teenager, I saw the tag on a piece of clothing branded “Ahimsa”. I didn’t know that it was Gandhi’s term for non-violence. Yet, it filled me with inspiration. I clung to the word, repeating it like a mantra, not knowing why.

By the time I hit adolescence, I had begun the journey to transform my toughest times into assets. I became a voracious reader of books on personal development, psychology, and spirituality and cultivated deep friendships where I could process my most difficult experiences. Those friendships have also been resilient, and are still thriving today, forty years later. I have dedicated my life to cultivating my own resilience so I could, as my mother, in an uncharacteristic moment of kindness, once told me, “do something beautiful” with it.

Resilience is like a muscle that can be strengthened. In your opinion, what are 5 steps that someone can take to become more resilient? Please share a story or an example for each.

1. Fill Your Own Tank First. If you were driving cross country, would you leave with an empty tank, drive all the way to your destination, and fill your tank upon arrival? If so, you probably wouldn’t make it. When we feed our own soul before undertaking tasks and responsibilities, we expand our capacity to give and create from a place of fulfillment. We also have more energy, and we can get more done in less time. Another resilience essential is to build periods of recovery into your day. No matter how busy you are, taking short breaks where you step away from your desk, move, or spend a moment in nature are important. And a social interaction that provides connection or activates a different emotion can greatly increase your resilience. You are the most important resource in your business. Discover what fortifies you and make it non-negotiable.
2. Access Multiple Types of Intelligence to Make Decisions and Solve Problems. Many entrepreneurs believe that only their logical mind can help them grow their business. While logic is useful, we are multidimensional. The last time I offered my coaching program (which helps women entrepreneurs empower their relationship to money) I decided to try a new marketing approach. Rather than the conventional e-mail and webinar sequence commonly used, which I find mechanical and depleting, I taught the module that moves me the most, free of charge, in depth. I decided not to worry about “giving away” too much and to instead, to focus solely on touching people, just as the work touches me. The results were phenomenal. I delivered the material on a wave of inspiration and the enrollment that followed, tripled my earnings! Next time you find yourself troubleshooting an important issue, consider possible solutions through a variety of lenses. What does your gut say? What does your practical mind say? What if you try something that seems a little wild, but really lights you up? When you close your eyes and breathe deeply, what kind of guidance is revealed, beyond logic? What do you WANT to do? Release over-thinking and instead go towards what feels expansive. We are capable of more than we know. Accessing different ways of knowing will help you create unprecedented solutions and new possibilities in your business and your life.
3. Become a True Life-Long Learner. One of the most voracious enemies to resilience for an entrepreneur is thinking that you should know everything already, or that you should not take action until you can do something perfectly. Emma had dreamt of launching a group program on a topic she felt passionate about, in her coaching business. The first time she offered it, she did not receive much interest. Instead of labeling it a failure or giving up on her vision, she quickly adapted. She realized she felt more comfortable initiating this new body of work in a one-on- one format. When she did so, she enrolled several people immediately.
   -Being a learner allows you to take risks, make mistakes, learn meaningful lessons and course correct, all crucial capacities for success. When you let yourself off the hook from thinking that you should already be masterful, you enter the realm of discovery. Living in discovery is what inspires us to reinvent and stretch outside of our status quo over and over. Resilient, successful people do a lot of both.
4. Empower Your Relationship to Money. Our relationship to money is about a lot more than money. For most of us, it has a tremendous amount to do with our sense of personal worthiness. We each have unique money gifts and blind spots. Learning how to play to your specific money strengths and illuminate your money blind spots, rather than following someone else’s list of money “do’s and don’t’s”, can be game changing. It’s equally important to understand how the conditioning that you received earlier in life, may be driving your money decisions now, because you can’t create what you want, by making decisions through someone else’s glasses. Once you have a handle on these keys to money empowerment, you will know which business tasks are not your strong suit, so you can outsource them. Most importantly, you will be able to focus your time, energy and attention on tasks that energize and move you. This will also generate more income.
5. Learn to Thrive. When we go through a tough time or a learning curve, there is usually a breaking down of what was familiar; a loss of our previous normal. If you are resilient you will probably cycle through a variety of emotions, and ultimately return to your baseline. That is surviving. Surviving is returning to where you were, or something like your previous normal.

Thriving is different. When the impact of an event or circumstance exceeds your resources, there is usually a descent of sorts. Those who thrive, allow the intensity of loss, grief, and pain to not only break them down, but to break them open. To strip them of the pretense and contrived self-concepts that keep them in predictable lives, careers and businesses, where they may not be expressing their full potential. They seek richness and meaningful lessons even in their roughest times. Thriving occurs when we become a more alive, whole, fully expressed version of ourselves than we ever might have become had we not experienced the difficulty. When the relationship I mentioned earlier in this article ended, I became much more vulnerable and authentic in my business and relationships, than I was prior to my loss.

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. :-).

For decades women, particularly women in positions of leadership, have been conditioned and acculturated away from their innate gifts. I would love to expand the work I currently do, helping women reclaim their self-trust so they can lead with their intuition, creativity, and the gold mine of wisdom they hold. This involves shedding what has been in the way of what I call your “sovereign soul”, the version of you that existed prior to all of the messages you received and the identities you contrived to get love and acceptance earlier in life.

There is nothing more powerful than a woman in full integrity with herself. I would inspire and challenge more women to bring their whole selves to their leadership style, rather than the half-expressed versions they have been told are acceptable. It begins by claiming our right to live as the authority in our own life. Then converting that innate authority into self-leadership to grow your business is easy.

I believe that much of the violence and pain in our world reflects self-alienation. We won’t solve the problems of our aching, transforming, birthing world with old ways of seeing and operating. Our intuition, creativity, and sensitivity, are desperately needed to transform the rampant reactivity we are now experiencing, into open-hearted compassion.

From a resilience perspective, where there has been hardship, there is often beauty. We need to value the depth and wisdom that comes from life’s losses and hardships. Empowering women entrepreneurs to heal themselves, so they can touch others with their brilliance and their medicine is my passion. I am committed to helping women embrace their whole selves and lead from a place of true power, so we can create a kinder and more effective world.

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

Dr. Jean Huston

Because she is a teacher’s teacher, and a living embodiment of human possibility. She is a living inspiration to the potential that exists in each of us. Jean’s brilliance and uplifting presence make her a diamond in this world. She has created a thriving business and achieved extraordinary success helping people tap their depths and heights, in complete authenticity. I would feel very blessed to speak with her.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Facebook: The Sovereign Woman Entrepreneur’s Community

https://www.facebook.com/groups/502656447333728

Facebook: Michelle Atlas Coaching
https://www.facebook.com/michelleatlascoaching

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/moneycode123/

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

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Rising Through Resilience: Author Michelle Atlas On The Five Things You Can Do To Become More… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Corey Smith of LVMH, Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, On How Diversity Can Increase a Company’s Bottom Line

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

By having diverse backgrounds, experiences, cultures, languages, and skill sets present in the decision-making process, you introduce cognitive diversity as well. With this diversity of thought, you inherently breed innovation because it eliminates homogeneous thinking, which can be a barrier to future relevancy.

As a part of our series about “How Diversity Can Increase a Company’s Bottom Line”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Corey Smith, Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion LVMH North America.

Corey Smith is Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion at LVMH North America. Prior to joining LVMH in September of 2020, Corey was Head of Diversity & Inclusion at Major League Baseball. With over 20 years in Diversity & Inclusion (D&I), Smith has worked in several industries including manufacturing, technology, education, consumer products, entertainment, media and sports.

He has served on several boards including Diversity Information Resources (DIR) and served as Board Chair for the NY/NJ Minority Supplier Development Council. Mr. Smith holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering and a MBA, both from Columbia University.

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?

My career in D&I (Diversity & Inclusion) really started before I even realized it was a path I was pursuing.

My career began at IBM working for one of their largest hardware repair facilities in the US, one created during the Civil Rights Era to provide jobs to minorities in an area that struggled economically. As my first job out of college, I worked in an environment that was predominantly Black, from the general manager to the executives. It was incredibly empowering to see people that looked like me in the decision-making positions, particularly within one of IBM’s most successful plants in the US. I was too young to recognize it as D&I, but the intentionality of a corporation to be so proactive around an inclusionary business action (such as job creation in a minority neighborhood) speaks to how impactful corporate America can be when it chooses inclusion.

Launching from that experience, I worked at Columbia University in procurement, where I was part of the team that launched the Supplier Diversity program, harnessing the University’s significant local spend with minority-owned businesses in the neighboring Harlem area. I also spent some time in the consumer goods industry at Altria Corporate Services, which at the time was the parent company of Kraft Foods and Philip Morris. Altria had a $1B annual Supplier Diversity program and was a world class leader in Supplier Diversity. After Altria I went into the entertainment/media industry, at NBC Universal (NBCU). There I increased the Supplier Diversity program from an annual spend of $80M to $500Min 5 years, as well as pursued my interest in more traditional, HR-focused D&I by becoming involved in the ERGs. From NBCU I joined Major League Baseball where I grew the Supplier Diversity program from $70Mto $400M annually. We created 9 ERGs (employee resource groups) and fostered programs to create business development for diverse businesses, from economic support to licensing and sponsorship partnerships. It was a fully integrated D&I program, strategically shifting corporate culture and enhancing the business bottom line simultaneously.

I joined LVMH in 2020 and am excited about the work ahead. We have already had incredible successes: raising donations for both BLM organizations and Stop AAAPI Hate organizations, creating a new 30% goal of POC representation at senior leadership levels, launching a formal Supplier Diversity program with 10 of our brands in 2021, hosting events for our employees around Black History Month, Women’s History Month, Mental Health Awareness, Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, and Pride Month, which shows our support for all dimensions of diversity in our workforce. In addition to the two existing ERGs EllesVMH (women) and ALL LVMH (LGBTQ+), we have launched a Black ERG in 2021, furthering inclusion in our community. There is a lot of work ahead, but our commitment to DE&I is unwavering.

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?

I tell this story as the best case for “lead by example.” While working at IBM and managing the Shipping/Receiving team, I had calculated more efficient ways for us to load and unload trucks to save us time, energy and money. In trying to implement my new approach, none of the team on the dock would listen to me. The dock foreman told me my idea wouldn’t work but I was adamant, because I knew my math and calculations were right. To that he said “but you don’t know how to drive a fork truck and all these guys know it” they wouldn’t listen to me because I had never done the job. I had been sitting in the office with spreadsheets and formulas, but it was time to actually learn to drive a fork truck. And, in fact, my calculations were wrong because there was so much I wasn’t accounting for because I had never done the work. Once I did the work, not only did I have the support from my department, but then they helped to solve for inefficiencies. The takeaway is do the work and lead by example.

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 life lessons are plenty and come mostly from my parents who both emigrated to the US from Panama. My mother received a PhD, was a college professor, author, consultant, and entrepreneur. My father never finished college, and English wasn’t his first language, therefore the only jobs he could get were manual labor. Through hard work, he went on to become an entrepreneur and ran a successful business for 40 years. My parents, considering their humble beginnings, instilled in me that education is important, even from their “opposite-end-of-the-spectrum” perspectives. Life is about the options and opportunities you are afforded and most important, if you are not afforded them — make them yourself.

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

I have been fortunate that at every step of my journey, there has been diversity, either a woman or a person of color (or the intersection of both), that has made the decision to hire me. I also know that is a rarity. Diversity at the top breeds more inclusive work environments. A stand-out is Jonathan Mariner, who was CFO at MLB the first few years I was there. He was great at counseling me to temper my “diversity lens” against “business decisions” to drive long-lasting impact.

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

There are quite a few short-term and long-term D&I projects underway currently. One of our most exciting deliverables we announced earlier this year was to increase POC representation in senior leadership positions to 30% within 5 years. We are replicating a successful model of increasing our gender representation that was a long-standing commitment made by the organization over 15 years ago. The success achieved in having more women in senior leadership across the organization prompted us to duplicate it across other dimensions of diversity. Representation at the top supports retention of talent and increases innovation, which then improves corporate culture and impacts profitability.

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

I think there is a business case for DE&I but then there also are the moral obligations and responsibilities to serve as a good citizen of this world. I believe my biggest contributions have been to diverse entrepreneurs. Through Supplier Diversity I have been afforded the ability to help so many diverse business owners start and grow their companies. They in turn get to employ others and help them live a better life. It is a personal passion of mine because I truly believe that entrepreneurship and ownership are what can help mitigate some of the historical disparities that have been caused by years of marginalization and disenfranchisement, especially of people of color.

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.)

It’s important to note that diversity on its own doesn’t impact the bottom line. It is the inclusion of diverse voices and ideas that help a company improve and increase profit.

1. By having diverse backgrounds, experiences, cultures, languages, and skill sets present in the decision-making process, you introduce cognitive diversity as well. With this diversity of thought, you inherently breed innovation because it eliminates homogeneous thinking, which can be a barrier to future relevancy.
2. When people feel valued as a welcomed contributor to an organization, they stay at that company which can lead to high retention rates contributing to efficiency and increased productivity.
3. When people are allowed to bring their full and best selves to work, they perform better, again increasing productivity and innovative thinking.
4. Diverse suppliers as a part of your supply chain actually help mitigate internal costs which also increases profit, either through supply chain competition which drives down cost or through innovation and efficiency in their processes.
5. An organization’s ability to increase market share or create market differentiation from competitors is directly tied to the ability to speak authentically and resonate to that market. Having diversity internally helps achieve that.

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

As a leader you have to be empathetic and culturally agile and must value diversity. You have to know that “difference” is a value-add, not “less than.” When employees feel as if their unique characteristics and skill sets are valued by the organization, they will perform better. That enhanced performance is what drives the business forward.

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

As a leader you must demonstrate inclusive behavior. You must create an environment of equity, meaning that you understand that people have different needs and that it is part of your job to provide them with the resources and tools they individually need to be better. You can manage your team “equally”, but you do not manage the individuals of the team the “same”.

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

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Corey Smith of LVMH, Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, On How Diversity Can Increase a Company’s Bottom… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

I wish I knew how much the world needed the best and the brightest to take on the hardest challenges. If society keeps measuring success solely by personal wealth, we will never attract the people we need to save the world. And unfortunately, the world needs saving.

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 Adlai Wertman.

Adlai Wertman is the David C. Bohnett Professor of Social Entrepreneurship at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and the Academic Director of the school’s Master of Science in Social Entrepreneurship. He is also the founding Director of the Brittingham Social Enterprise Lab at USC as well as and Director of the Warren Bennis Scholars programs. Before joining USC, Adlai spent seven years as CEO of Chrysalis — a Los Angeles social enterprise devoted to helping the homeless through employment. Prior to Chrysalis, Adlai spent 18 years as an investment banker. He earned his BA in economics from SUNY Stony Brook and his MBA in finance from The Wharton School.

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?

During my time at Chrysalis, I was blessed to be mentored by Dr. Warren Bennis — one of the premier leadership scholars in the world. (If you haven’t read his seminal book, On Becoming a Leader, buy it today!) Over the course of two and a half years, he asked me three questions. The first was: “What is the problem you want to work on?” I spent a full year thinking about it and stated that I was very concerned that not enough people who wanted to address social issues were studying business. He then asked me, “Why does that problem exist?” I spent another year doing research and told him, “Business schools are simply not equipped to train and support students who want to use their degrees for social impact.” And then he asked — I should have seen this coming — “So, Adlai, what are you going to do about it?” I wrote a ten-page proposal to start a social entrepreneurship center at a business school to support students and faculty who want to change the world. And here I am at the USC Marshall School of Business with a large social entrepreneurship center and a specialized master’s degree in social entrepreneurship.

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

Having spent nearly two decades as an investment banker and another decade running a homeless agency, I stepped foot on the campus of a major research university as a professor looking to start a first-of-its-kind social and student-focused center within USC’s Marshall School of Business. I quickly realized that my only experience at a university was as a student and that perspective was only one small viewpoint and not fully reflective of all that a university does. After raising the funds to open the Brittingham Social Enterprise Lab, it still took me more than three years to figure out all that goes on at USC’s campus.

Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?

While I have many, the one I have focused on most in the last 40 years is making decisions that move towards positive, not away from negative. I don’t let bad experiences be my guide. I try my best to make decisions based on what gets me be closer to my goals and mission, and not on running away from bad experiences or people that bring you down.

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”?

An idea that could change the world would be bringing business skills and sustainable business models to the table that can provide a new approach to solving social challenges. The knee-jerk reaction to every issue is — let’s start a new non-profit and start raising donations. Yet, organizations constantly competing for the same pot of annual charitable gifts is just not sustainable. However, starting a business — which may be for-profit, or embedded in a non-profit — where you offer a valuable product or service to consumers is financially sustainable. We need to change the traditional non-profit mindset of reliance on donors. And we need to slightly shift the traditional for-profit entrepreneurship model from simply looking for market opportunities to starting with a social problem and finding a product or service that will address it. So, whether it is a non-profit starting a street cleaning business to provide transitional work opportunities for those who are long-term unemployed or designing electric cars to address the climate crisis — these types of business models can be very impactful. This goes way beyond running a traditional business that donates a nickel or pair of shoes when customers buy their products. This is an entirely new way of thinking about a business and a mission.

How do you think this will change the world?

To create and run these “social enterprises,” we need to first train and support a new breed of entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs. Since social enterprises are still businesses that develop and sell products and services, we have to teach people the exact same skills as any other business school program. That is why we created our Master of Science in Social Entrepreneurship degree. We need a classroom space where we can teach students traditional accounting, finance, marketing, strategy, and entrepreneurship — but allow them to learn how to apply these skills in different areas, such as hunger, poverty, failing education systems and climate change. We also need to create a cohort of like-minded individuals to learn from and inspire each other.

Our Master of Science in Social Entrepreneurship brings together people from around the globe who will study business together and then go back home and address the problems that are impacting their communities. These are the folks who will truly change the world.

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?

We want leaders with integrity who are not looking to simply “greenwash” a traditional business, or use donations as a marketing tool, but who are truly focused on solving problems in a sustainable way. I am confident that our students, who have devoted their time and money to getting a graduate degree from a prestigious university, are the true world-changers.

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

I was the CEO of an LA-based organization dedicated to creating a pathway to self-sufficiency for homeless and low-income individuals by providing the resources and support needed to find and retain employment. One day, I was at yet another large meeting with local leaders who were talking about how to end homelessness in LA. I looked around the table and wondered why I was the only one there who had studied business. I have always believed that heterogeneous groups make better decisions than homogeneous ones. While we had a socio-economically diverse group at the table, the diversity of analytical frameworks was basically reduced to two academic disciplines — social work and policy. I knew we needed way more than those two disciplines to solve these wicked problems — and the one discipline I knew was business. So, I decided to change careers to become a professor at USC to train and support students who wanted to use their business education to solve global social, environmental and health-access challenges.

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

People need to know that learning business within the framework of social impact is a powerful option. We have found that our students always say the same thing when they apply to our master’s degree: “When I saw this program, I realized that this is just what I was waiting for.”

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

As far as what I wish I knew before I started the Brittingham Social Enterprise Lab and the MSSE program programs at USC:

1. I wish I knew how complex a large university is. I remember thinking, “Hey, I worked for major investment banks — I understand large organizations.” But academia is a world unto itself.
2. I wish I knew what everyone else’s jobs were. I remember asking my dean to explain his job. He told me that it was like being a football coach, except your own team (faculty) can tackle you!
3. I wish I knew the USC Fight song before I showed up on campus. I studied in schools with no real “school spirit.” At USC — you will quickly learn how to say, “fight on!”
4. I wish I knew that the Trojan Family is a real thing. I was in a student orientation at our Marshall School of Business where the students were told, “If you reach out to ten USC Trojan graduates through LinkedIn, nine will answer right away — and the tenth, send us their name.”
5. I wish I knew how much the world needed the best and the brightest to take on the hardest challenges. If society keeps measuring success solely by personal wealth, we will never attract the people we need to save the world. And unfortunately, the world needs saving.

Can you share with our readers what you think are the most important “success habits” or “success mindsets”?

1. There is absolutely no replacement for hard work — none!
2. Have personal goals — not just for your own personal career growth — but for what impact you want to make.
3. Let those goals be your north star.
4. When you are facing a big decision, go back to your goals and ask yourself, “Is this bringing me closer to meeting my goals? Does it align with my north star?” If it doesn’t, move on.

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 🙂

VC’s need to realize that when an entrepreneur wants to make a social impact, they are not your traditional businessperson. They need to realize that these are dedicated individuals deeply vested in the success of their business because of both their social and their financial missions. Profit is a great motivator. But profit plus social impact is an even greater one.

I do need to add that many of these new businesses are being built by people who have traditionally been extremely under-represented in VC investments. This needs to change. And now!

How can our readers follow you on social media?

LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/adlai-wertman-a46b5118/

Twitter — @AdlaiWertman

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

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Social Entrepreneurship Degrees: Adlai Wertman’s Big Idea That Might Change The World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Brand Makeovers: Liz Mosley On The 5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Go back to basics — Go back to your brand strategy. Are your brand values still the same or have they changed over time? What is your brand promise? Does it still inspire you and is it aligned with what you’re trying to do? Check-in with what you know about your target audience. Is it still an accurate picture of who is buying from you or working with you? When you are clear on those elements it can really help to remind you who your company is trying to help and what problem you are solving. Getting clarity on this can often be the boost you need to get even clearer on communicating what you are all about and also refresh the enthusiasm and passion for what you’re trying to do.

As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview Liz Mosley.

Liz Mosley is a self-employed graphic designer who specializes in branding and animated GIFS for small businesses. She has taught over 400 people how to make their own GIF stickers for use on Instagram and her own GIFS have had over two billion views. She loves to bring fun and playful hand drawn elements into her designs, and is a cheerleader and supporter of all the small businesses she works with. To find out more about her work visit lizmosley.net

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 was always creative as a kid and spent my days drawing and making. I would carry a little sketchbook with me everywhere — I always knew that I wanted to do a creative job and with supportive parents I never really doubted that’s what I would do. At school I really got into photography and spent hours in a dark room (basically a cupboard) developing photos. I was convinced I would be a photographer, but then I did a foundation art course — which is a year of trying lots of different creative disciplines before choosing to specialize at university. It was there that I was first properly introduced to Graphic Design and I fell in love with it . I think the thing I loved the most was it included lots of the creative disciplines I enjoyed — so even if I wasn’t doing them myself in design, I would still get to enjoy photography and printing, making and illustration. I’ve been doing Graphic Design ever since and I still love it as much as I did when I first discovered it 18 years ago.

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?

One thing that has happened and is still a constant fear of mine is when something gets sent to print with a spelling mistake that makes a perfectly innocent word rude and isn’t what was intended. I used to work for a university and we were always quadruple checking all uses of the word annual in our annual reports to make sure one letter in particular wasn’t accidentally missing.

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

I think there have been two tipping points. For a while I was coasting in my career working for other people, but when I went freelance and started building my own business and brand it fueled an ambition that I hadn’t had before. Starting my own business actually coincided with me having children which was amazing because I could build a business that was flexible around my kids.

The second tipping point for me was after finishing my second maternity leave. I actually had two parts to my business, selling physical stationery products that I’d designed and design services. I realized that if I really wanted to make my business work, I needed to pick one and go for it 100%. I decided to pursue the design services side of my business and it was totally the right decision for me. I’m really enjoying the challenge of growing my business and helping other people with their branding.

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

I’m currently running the first round of a 12 week course called Design Your Own Branding. The goal is to help small business owners who aren’t currently able to invest in paying a professional to do their branding or who have lots of ideas and want to do it themselves. I’ve broken my creative process down into 12 manageable chunks to help the whole process of branding your own business feel less overwhelming. I’m enjoying teaching in this way so much and have had really great feedback from the students so far. I’m also currently working on Season 2 of my podcast Building your Brand. I’ve recorded some great interviews with small business owners and marketing experts that I think will really encourage and support other business owners in their branding and marketing journeys.

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

My advice would be to be realistic about what you can achieve. There are so many different tools and platforms that we could be using to promote our businesses — but unless you have a huge team it can be hard to do them all anyway. Think about which areas will have the most impact, and that you enjoy the most, and focus your energy there instead of trying to do it all.

Also, build rest into your schedule. Literally schedule it in. It’s as important as any other task you do for your business but often it gets neglected because it feels like you’re not being productive. Having come close to burn out a few times recently — getting to that point means you aren’t going to be able to work on your business effectively anyway.

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?

Branding is how you make your business stand out from the crowd. It’s often considered as the visual elements of your business like your logo, colours, fonts and website — and while those are really important it’s deeper than that. It’s also your brand values, your brand promise, your tone of voice, even who your target audience is. Branding defines who you are as a business and is the aspect that will keep your customers loyal and coming back for more. Product marketing or advertising is where you’re telling people what you sell and how it can help them and make their lives better.

So simply put — marketing is how you get your customers or clients attention — and then branding is the tool to keep their attention and build brand trust and 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?

Branding is so important because we live in such a visual culture. We were all told as kids not to judge a book by its cover but that’s what we’re doing all day long. With most of us spending so much time online we’re constantly encountering businesses selling us things. We have to make really quick decisions about whether each business we come across is of interest to us or right for us — or whether to move on and look for something else. These sorts of decisions are being made in milliseconds. So Branding is your tool to stand out from the crowd — and how your business looks and feels is your chance to draw people in — it helps communicate information about your business on a subconscious level.

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

There are lots of reasons to consider a rebrand but probably the main two are if your branding is not communicating accurately or effectively what your company is about anymore or if your branding isn’t appealing to your target audience anymore. This could happen for a whole host of reasons, companies are always growing and changing over time — they’re not static. Maybe the direction of the business has changed over time or maybe the values and what’s important to the business has changed. When that happens I think a rebrand can be a great opportunity to get back on track and to start attracting the right clients and customers to your business. Rebranding can also be a brilliant opportunity for building hype and buzz around the business. It can be treated like a launch. You can tease your audience with behind the scenes snippets and mentally prepare them for the change that’s coming so they’re not confused or surprised. It’s also a chance to get across your brand story and explain again why it is you do what you do.

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

Every time you rebrand you lose some of the brand familiarity and trust that you’ve built up. Your customers and clients need to get to know you again. They’re not necessarily having to start from scratch but they will be a little bit wary as they get to know the new look of your business. Sometimes a brand refresh — where you’re updating some of the elements rather than changing everything can be a good option. I think companies need to think carefully before they decide to rebrand to make sure that the reasons they are doing it are good ones. If it’s just that you’ve decided your bored of how it looks I would advise against it. If it is that it’s no longer accurately representing what your business is about or what’s important to you, or maybe you’re attracting the wrong clients then go for it. One thing I would say though is that you don’t want to be rebranding regularly. Every time you do it you will inevitably lose some of the trust and loyalty that you’ve built up with your customers or clients. If you’re changing the branding of your business every 6 months your company is going to come across as flaky, inconsistent or at worst untrustworthy — none of those are words you want to be associated with your brand.

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

1. Go back to basics — Go back to your brand strategy. Are your brand values still the same or have they changed over time? What is your brand promise? Does it still inspire you and is it aligned with what you’re trying to do? Check-in with what you know about your target audience. Is it still an accurate picture of who is buying from you or working with you? When you are clear on those elements it can really help to remind you who your company is trying to help and what problem you are solving. Getting clarity on this can often be the boost you need to get even clearer on communicating what you are all about and also refresh the enthusiasm and passion for what you’re trying to do.
2. Involve your customers/clients — Customers love to feel involved and part of a community when it comes to business. How can you involve them and make them feel part of the team? Someone who does this brilliantly is Gemma from the business Mutha Hood. She does such a great job of sharing the behind the scenes of her business, the highs and lows. She uses Instagram stories to get her customers feedback and input as she designs new products and as a result her customers’ brand loyalty is really high. People buy from her business repeatedly. You can also see the impact that has by the number of customers who share her products on their own stories and create a lot of social proof for the business.
3. Inject some fun and humour — How can you get across your brand’s personality? This is another opportunity to stand out from the crowd and help customers to choose you over another business. One of my favourite ways to do this is using animated GIF stickers on social media. Branded GIFS are brilliant for reinforcing your visual branding so that it’s familiar and recognizable but also to show the fun side of your business. What is brilliant about GIFS is that not only can you use them on Instagram and TikTok but your customers and clients can too. Are there any topics that you talk about regularly on social media? Or phrases that you use regularly that people associate with you and your business. Get a GIF made and use it as an opportunity to elevate your brand and make it more memorable.
4. Try something new — Ever heard the phrase ‘a change is as good as a holiday’? Sometimes we get stuck doing the things we’ve always done and become boring and samey. Maybe it’s time to shake things up and try marketing your business in a new way? Maybe you start a podcast? Or make videos for TikTok — maybe sharing helpful tutorials or styling advice on YouTube could be the way to go. There’s something invigorating and inspiring about learning a new skill. All of these marketing tools are great ways to reinforce your brand and share your brand’s personality and potentially reach a whole new audience. They all have a design element to them, so you have a new means of getting your visual branding out there and making it even more recognizable. If audio or video isn’t your cup of tea maybe you could do an inspiring 5-day challenge for your email list, or a 30-day challenge with prompts on Instagram. There’s no one size fits all when it comes to branding and marketing, so choose to invest your time in areas that you enjoy and that will have a big impact.
5. Make a small tweak — Sometimes you don’t need a whole rebrand to make your branding feel refreshed. It could be a case of just tweaking something. There are a few ways that you could do this. It could be introducing a new accent colour to your colour palette, or maybe a new font. It could be getting some new brand photography done — or maybe commissioning an illustrator to create some beautiful illustrations that sit well with your branding and can be used on your website or social media. Another absolute favourite of mine is Alice from lovedaysocial.com who makes incredible stop frame animations for Independent Brands. These are so fun and creative and can be brilliant for promoting particular products that you sell.

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

One of my favourite type designers of all time is Jessica Hische and she is often commissioned by big brands to give their logo a refresh and update. I love how she shares the process and to see the before and after. One that I really loved was the update she made to the Mailchimp logo. The style of the logo wasn’t changed at all and it still had the same feel, but you can see in the before and after stages how she made lots of improvements to how the letters were drawn out. I love how it revitalized the logo without changing it completely. I think this is a good example of how you don’t need to throw everything out and start from scratch with a total re-brand. You can actually take what you have and all the great elements of your branding and make it better. The great thing about an update is things won’t have changed so radically that it will confuse or throw off your existing customers.

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 probably wouldn’t be feasible and it is definitely not accessible to everyone, but I honestly think if people were encouraged to have therapy at some point in their life it would make a big impact. I know not all therapists are perfect but we all have things we struggle with in life and actually having someone help us to untangle past hurts and unhealthy beliefs so that we can heal and move forward is huge. I personally have benefited from therapy and running my own business. I have also realized how much it can help when you understand yourself better and how your brain works. I have recently really gotten into learning about enneagram too and finding out my number and all of the joys and challenges that go with that has helped me in so many areas of my life.

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

It’s very well circulated and all over pinterest now but I really find the following quote helpful “Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle” by Tim Hiller. I think with social media it’s easy to compare your business journey to everyone else’s out there — but I’m constantly having to remind myself that it’s not the full picture. I don’t know what they’ve gone through to get to where they are — but also they are on a different journey to me. There’s no point comparing where I am with where they are. It really is a hard one to remember but I try to keep that quote in mind when I’m scrolling Instagram or interacting with other businesses online.

How can our readers follow you online?

They can find me at my website lizmosley.net and sign up to my newsletter full of branding and small business tips — and find me on Instagram and Twitter @lizmmosley

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

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Brand Makeovers: Liz Mosley On The 5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

One of the first ways to develop grit that comes to mind is keeping the promises you say to yourself. For example, when you set your alarm and it goes off, do you get up? Or do you hit snooze? Continually breaking the promises to yourself will cause you to lose confidence. Without confidence the concept of having grit is very hard to embrace and emulate.

As a part of my series about “Grit: The Most Overlooked Ingredient of Success” I had the pleasure of interviewing Angela Bradford.

Angela is a Senior Marketing Director with World Financial Group. Within five years of transitioning from the blue collar world of trucking and training horses, to the white collar world of finances and training people, she has opened multiple offices and started expansion into two countries. She has an amazing team working with her and has the goal of having a presence in every state and province in North America within the next 5–7 years.

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

I drove truck for many years until that industry began slowing down. This caused me to look for other opportunities and positions. I was introduced to World Financial Group then and I saw that I could get into a brand-new career with relatively little risk, so I thought, “Why not?” I decided to go for it, give it my best, and see…. I am incredibly grateful I made that decision and I have never looked back.

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?

Oh for sure, I would love to! At first, most of my friends and family were not supportive of the change, so I needed to build a business in a “cold” market. That is the hardest for most people, and it sure was for me!

I was not a people person, so to go out and talk to strangers was a very scary thought. However, I as I had not given myself a Plan B where I could opt out, I had to go out and talk to people every day. This was challenging because, I had a lot of people say no to me and many others who tried to discourage me. Some days I would go home and cry because it seemed so tough.

Since I’d given myself only one option, I could only advance toward my goal. I kept going back out, day in and day out, and I got better and better at approaching people. Then one day out of nowhere, so it seemed, I had a business. To some people it seemed fast, but to me it seemed very slow. What kept me going was knowing if I did the same thing every day consistently, I would build something that I could be proud of.

If you are willing to do what others won’t do, you will have what others won’t have.

Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?

This is a very good question. It is one that I’m not 100% sure I know the answer to. When I look back, I see a few things I feel have contributed to the desire to win and fight through the odds: one, growing up I saw my mom fight through incredible odds to raise my brother and I; two, this meant that I also had to work very hard as a child — hard compared to some anyway — to help us to be able to afford food and shelter.

Another thing I think that has helped to develop the drive to continue even in the hard times, is an inner fight to become my best. This desire is not something that just appeared out of nowhere; I have encouraged it to grow inside me. One way I do this is by reading and listening to good audio materials. Listening to others’ winning habits encourages me to develop my own.

The last source of my tenacity is my decision to surround myself with people who are fighters. I surround myself with people who want to win. I surround myself with people who are winning. When you surround yourself with people who are winning, they encourage you to reach higher. They also, by example, show you how to reach higher.

So how did Grit lead to your eventual success? How did Grit turn things around?

Let me start with how I define ‘grit’. Grit is courage. It is also having strength of character, and the will to win no matter what challenges spring up. Grit has led to whatever success I have had so far because without it I would simply have quit. Grit is what gets me up in the morning when I want to just stay in bed. Grit is what makes me do the work I need to do when I don’t feel like it. Grit is essential to consistency and success.

Consistency helps people win in all areas of life. When you let your feelings determine your activity, more often than not, things will not get done. You cannot have consistency if you don’t have grit.

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)

One of the first ways to develop grit that comes to mind is keeping the promises you say to yourself. For example, when you set your alarm and it goes off, do you get up? Or do you hit snooze? Continually breaking the promises to yourself will cause you to lose confidence. Without confidence the concept of having grit is very hard to embrace and emulate.

Another piece of advice on how to develop grit is to have a reason for developing it. I know this seems simple and easy, but I see a lot of people not actually knowing what they’re fighting for. If we don’t know what we’re fighting for, then why are we fighting? Once we figure out the why, the how follows. An example of this is getting up in the morning. When we have a big enough purpose, we don’t hit snooze very often. We are so excited about where we were going, it is hard to sleep.

The third thing that comes to mind to develop grit, is embracing the tough times. I was reminded about putting my dog down after 13 ½ years together. It was the hardest day of my life to be honest, but even as I was at the vet clinic, by myself and bawling, I KNEW that this was my way to into my new career path. I drove truck only two times after this. Things happen for a reason, even the tough things.

My fourth tip is to think about your associations. Who you hang out with will help shape your present and future life. What I mean by that is, if the people you hang out with the most aren’t encouraging you to be better and reach higher, then they are normally trying to slow you down. Be conscious of the voices around you and what they are saying. Adjust your group of friends if needed.

In order to build grit, the last tip I would like to share is to just make the DECISION to go all in. Develop a “whatever it takes” mentality. No matter what happens, be committed to your goals and dreams. Nothing can stop people who have decided that nothing will stop them. Things may slow them down for a time, but these no challenge can stop people who have committed 100% to achieving their dreams.

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?

This is so true. I would never be where I was at without the help and training and coaching of others. It is hard to think of just one person, as there have been many. But today I would love to thank Karen Stanley for some beautiful chats about not only being tough but being loving to myself in the toughness.

She has pointed out my strengths, while at the same time not letting me take it easy. In other words, in a very loving way, she calls me out when I need to be called out, and I am very grateful for our friendship!

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

Using social media and public speaking, I have tried to help people focus on their mindset. If we change our minds, we change our lives. Giving back to charities and church is also important to me and my team. We want to be part of a movement of growth and personal development.

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

At this moment I’m mainly working on creating leadership within my agency. By helping others become leaders more people will be reached. I can only personally help a limited number of people, but by helping create leaders, I believe we can reach thousands of people. It’s the ripple effect.

What advice would you give to other executives or founders to help their employees to thrive?

I would advise them to focus on the big picture and the vision rather than on the little things behind the scenes. It is easy to get weighed down in the details of life. I advise them to constantly talk about their vision and work with their core values to create a culture and movement of change and growth.

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 create a movement to empower women to reach their full potential, so that they can become the very best versions of themselves in every aspect of their lives.

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

My favorite life lesson quote is “life happens for us, not to us”. When I was diagnosed with MS, it was made very real to me that things come into our life not to stop us but to empower us. Challenges are not made to destroy us, but to make us stronger.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

They can find me on Instagram, and I would love to connect!

https://www.instagram.com/realangelabradford/

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

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Angela Bradford of World Financial Group: Five Ways To Develop More ‘Grit’ was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Future Is Now: Vihan Patel of POM, Power of Music, On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Don’t always listen to those who love you: When I first told people I wanted to build this dating app and reject a job offer I had lined up, I was told not to do it by the people around me. Although I’m sure it came from a place of love, it is sometimes best to respectfully ignore their advice and follow your gut.

As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Vihan Patel.

One of the UK’s most exciting, up and coming young entrepreneurs, Vihan Patel is the 22 year old CEO and Co-Founder of POM (Power Of Music), the dating app for music lovers.

Born from a love for music and the fatigue of today’s superficial, gamified and impersonal dating apps, POM is a dating app that seeks to match users based on shared emotional responses to music, aiming to forge more meaningful connections. POM already has over 17,000 users signed up to it’s waiting list, and over 2,000 new people joining each week. POM goes beyond a traditional dating app offering real life experiences and actively encouraging their users to go on dates curated by POM. The first of which, the launch night for POM Presents: POM PARTIES, takes place on 5th of August at Night Tales, Hackney and features a DJ set from Shanti Celeste. Visit www.discoverpom.com for more information.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

POM was born after my time at university where I was your typical “club promoter” trying to sell tickets to all my friends. I soon realised that the so-called benefits of becoming a promoter were really not worth the toll it was taking on my relationships with my peers. After some consideration, I decided that it wouldn’t be too out of reach to start my own events company, so I rented a venue, hired a DJ and got the ball rolling! I used my experience as a promoter and some well placed ads to sell as many tickets as possible, low and behold the event sold out and prompted me to keep the momentum going.

Fast forward a few years and I was still using a similar model to hold events across the country, but this time with a difference. As the music changed I noticed that the attendees were different and their interactions with one another was different. The pandemic hit and I decided to move the model online — and POM was born.

I approached my now co-founder, Vlad, and we spent 10 weeks building and working on this project and, after a lot of outreach, secured 9 amazing investors.

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

As you heard, the journey to POM was a long one and is still in its early stages, Building the platform through the COVID-19 pandemic has restricted the process a lot, however, one of the most interesting stories that has really stuck with me is the moment our lead investor agreed to fill the remainder of the round after only 3 hours of meeting us. We had to contain our excitement (and there was a lot of it to contain!) until we were clear of the meeting. I will never forget the calm walk back to the car, and the subsequent exclamation of pure joy that came from myself and Vlad! It really was the best feeling in the world to know that all the time spent in meetings and fine-tuning the project was worth it after all.

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

POM uses people’s emotional response to music in order to match users. You login through your favourite music streaming platform (Spotify or Apple for example), and our algorithm does the rest. We paint an emotional profile of the users based on the music they listen to.

Data collected and analysed by the app includes the type of music a person listens to, when they listen to it, their emotional reaction to music and what this says about their character! Unlike a lot of the dating apps out there at the moment — all very focused on short term validation and connections — we’re using our tech to try and encourage users to forge more meaningful connections, hopefully that will last a lifetime!

How do you think this might change the world?

At POM, we believe that dating should involve more than just an initial reaction to a profile that has been tailored to please. Our aim is to change the world of dating and we truly believe that music is the way to do that. There is no hiding; your full music playlist is shared and your emotional responses are taken into account to curate the best dating experience, with the best outcomes. Through the ages music has been the common thing that has brought people together, it is all around us whether we notice it or not. After all, even your heart has a beat. For the most part it has the power to show how you feel when words can’t and if that doesn’t scream (or sing!) love, then I don’t know what does.

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

I think people need to think more deeply about dating technology in general and the effect it is having on their relationships. Emotions are so private and personal that giving people access to them so freely without really knowing them is something to be cautious of. At POM we treat people’s emotional profiles like we would treat their bank details, they are strictly private and never shared with third parties. Who our users choose to share them with is completely their choice, we can only hope that it leads to a positive outcome.

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

Although POM has been in the works for a while in some form or another, I think my experience as an event host really opened my eyes to the effect that music can have on our ability to forge emotional connections. For the last event I hosted before the end of my degree I decided to run with a slightly different genre of music than I would usually; as soon as the first person walked through the door I could tell this would not be like any other event I’ve run before.

The attendees dressed differently, danced differently, interacted with each other differently and even drank different drinks. This is where I noticed that the music you listen to goes beyond just which artists you like, but more-so who you are as a person. As I watched attendees interacting with one another, I knew this was more than just a coincidence, it was something special.

Although many months followed this, planning and creating, more planning and more planning, this experience is something that i’ll never forget.

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

We still have a lot in the works for the future but up to now we have run multiple out of home advert campaigns that have been really successful. Our most prominent one to date was the “send playlists, not nudes” campaign that went out across London. That got some really great results and I think really focused on a problem that many users of other dating apps face, whilst really honing in on what POM is. We have also worked with some incredible upcoming music talent (such as Hope Tala, Holly Humberstone, Dyologue, Alfie and Lowertown). Our social media is creative, up to date, modern and designed to be inviting, educational and inclusive.

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 think the most important person on this journey has been my Dad, he’s been the sounding board throughout this entire process. He’s inspired me to want to strive for running my own business and is the definition of ‘nothing comes without work’.

Internally, our lead investor, Alison, has been and continues to be amazing. From selling a business to one of the largest private equity firms in the world, to having one of her own businesses go public she really has done it all. She has opened hundreds of doors for us, stopped us from making quite a few mistakes but also has taught us many valuable lessons. There have been instances where she would spot a mistake or bad decision on the horizon but let us make it and subsequently learn from it. She knows that some things can only be learned after you’ve made the mistake. A truly incredible woman!

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

Despite the success of POM so far, I think I’ve got a long way to go before I reach a point where I am successful enough to make a real difference in the world. However, my first paycheck went to my local Temple. It is so important to me to boost the local economy and look after those close to me.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each).

1. Don’t always listen to those who love you: When I first told people I wanted to build this dating app and reject a job offer I had lined up, I was told not to do it by the people around me. Although I’m sure it came from a place of love, it is sometimes best to respectfully ignore their advice and follow your gut.
2. Don’t hire your friends if you know they’re not good enough: I hired a friend who had an evident lack of skill and experience but wanted to believe that they would be up to the job. This ended very badly to say the least.
3. You can’t do everything on your own: I always thought I could start, build, market and lead POM on my own. Boy was I wrong! Only once I brought on people 100x more experienced/qualified did I learn my lesson.
4. Ask for forgiveness rather than permission: If you believe something, do it. Asking for forgiveness is a lot easier (pride aside) than the regret of not doing something because someone said no.
5. Be selfish: Not everyone will understand why you can’t come out or meet up, or why you don’t have time to chat in the middle of the day. You’ve got to learn to be selfish and work hard towards your goals, even if it means you lose a few friends along the way. Those who stay are those worth having.

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 that more opportunities to discover unconventional career paths at school would make such a refreshing change. The education system in the UK has been the same for a long time and I think that giving students the chance to explore new industries at a time when they can do it securely and with guidance would produce so many bright minds.

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

“If you want the rainbow, you’ve got to put up with the rain” — When things get tough, that quote always comes back to me and reminds me that in order to get where you want to be (i.e the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow) the only way is to work hard and put up with the less pleasant parts of the process (endure the rain). You can’t cheat a rainbow, as there is no shortcut to success.

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 🙂

POM harnesses the power of music, channelling it into an exciting inclusive app which delivers genuine, meaningful connections based on a shared love of the same music. In a dating scene dominated by swipe lefts and swipe rights, we like to do things differently. POM matches users based on their emotions. Using the emotional indicators embedded within users’ music taste, we have developed a first of it’s kind emotional detection algorithm.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

@discoverpom on all social media.

@vihan.mvk

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

Thank you very much for having me.

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The Future Is Now: Vihan Patel of POM, Power of Music, On How Their Technological Innovation Will… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Blockchain technology excites me for many reasons. It is transformational and has the ability to really change things — for the better

As a part of my series about “Women Leading The Blockchain Revolution”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Irish journalist and activist Jillian Godsil Jillian Godsil.

On international Women’s Day 2021, Jillian was nominated one of 100 global women in leadership awards in COVID reflecting the 30 plus years her career spans across a global stage including Sydney, Singapore, Kiev, Austin, Muscat, Columbo, Dubai, Capetown, Liberland, Malta, Amsterdam, Vienna, Dublin and London

In June 2020 she was awarded Blockchain Journalist of the year by Uptrennds (largest blockchain social platform). In 2019 she was nominated for the national Irish IMRO radio awards, made the top 100 Global Blockchain Leaders list by Lattice80 and was named AI and Blockchain Journalist of the Year at the CC Forum in London. In 2018 she was awarded the Order of Merit by the President of Liberland. She is a passionate advocate for blockchain, a seasoned professional in fintech and internationally recognised champion for equality — whether in homelessness, gender or the law.

She changed the law in Ireland in 2014 and is a former European Parliamentary candidate (as an independent).

She is a co-founder and editor in chief of Blockleaders.io. She is the author of more than 18 books.

Blockchain Advocate, Founder, Conference Chair, Women in Blockchain Advocate, Keynote Speaker, Award winning Crypto Journalist, Author, Award Nominated Broadcaster, CEO, Writer, Homelessness Advocate, Former European Parliament Candidate, Law Changer, Artist, Mother, Choir Member, Hill Walker, Dreamer

Thank you so much for doing this with us Jillian! Can you share with us the story of how you decided to pursue this career path?

I have always been a writer; I knew it was my calling from a very early age. Accordingly, I read History and English at Trinity College, Dublin — a degree course that I loved. I used to say of my time in Trinity that those four years were the best years of my life. Then as I was approaching my finals, I really was unsure of what I wanted to do next. Back in those days JP Morgan was a big recruiter in the college, and it was by chance that I decided to apply to work for them. I went through the options on the application form — sales and trading, way too scary, corporate finance, I’d no idea what that entailed and finally systems. I really had no idea what systems meant but I also felt I wasn’t expected to know either (this was back in 1987 when personal computers were only starting to come into popular use) and so I ticked that box.

I was offered the job and joined JP Morgan as a graduate systems analyst in London when my I completed my finals. I loved London, working for JP Morgan and the work environment. However, I wasn’t a very good programmer or indeed systems analyst. It took me three years to figure this out and so when I got offered an opportunity to move to Syndey Australia and start again, I grabbed my chance with two hands.

At this stage, I knew I loved writing, loved working with people and knew enough about technology to be dangerous. The obvious move was into fintech pr — or advanced technology as it was called then. I interviewed with a specialist fintech PR company and loved my new job — writing about technology rather than coding it. Three years later I moved to Singapore and stayed in this industry, becoming a director for a major American PR company, where I stayed for two years.

After ten years away I returned to Ireland with my husband and two children. I set up my own PR agency and was living a lovely life. We bought a big ruin in the country with plans to run it as a guest house.

But, in 2008 I hit divorce and recession. I could not cope with both.

There had a large mortgage on our country house (half the value of the house). With the divorce, my ex husband went back to the UK and went bankrupt, thereby giving the entire mortgage debt to my two girls and me.

In 2008 there was a hard crash happening in property prices. I tried to sell the house and made a video that went viral. I got a cash offer of €500,000 but the bank refused consent to sell as the mortgage was more. The bank preferred to repossess the home and sell it for €165,000 the following year. (It is now back on the market three years later at €550,000)

In the interim I became politicized. I lost my business and it collapsed, bailiffs called to the door and I lost everything. But I also became aware of the false narrative that began to take shape — “that people were gaming the system and messing with moral hazard”. There were also a rising number of financially inspired suicides. I got angry. I got very angry.

So I started ranting and raving at every opportunity — and I had a lot. This was around 2012 and most people were still being ‘shamed’ at failing financially. I went loud and proud and said that while it hurt a lot to lose everything that I had done nothing wrong and was not ashamed.

In the end, I was the first female bankrupt under the new insolvency laws in 2014. I was not allowed to run for public office under archaic Victorian law. I then took the Irish government to the High Court and all the way to the Supreme Court claiming that my constitutional rights were being infringed. I won.

Then I had to run — after all I had won the right.

So, I ran in the European Parliamentary elections in 2014 and while I did not win a seat I earned 11,500 votes.

This is where blockchain came in. I been through the ringer and was hung out to dry. I thought that life could offer me no more. I was at a standstill — or worse a personal recession.

https://www.independent.ie/opinion/comment/want-to-feel-invisible-try-hunting-for-a-job-at-50-31195113.html

Then I met blockchain in September 2017 and I said to myself — “Mama I’ve come home. Now is my time to shine.”

What lessons can others learn from your story?

Never give up. As Churchill famously said — when you’re going through hell, just keep going.

Can you tell me about the most interesting projects you are working on now?

I am working on a project to provide privacy in DeFi — this is crucial as privacy is core to democratic society. This project is called Panther Protocol. I am also working on a faith based blockchain — Marhaba DeFi — as I believe it is important that everyone can have access to this transformational technology and finance. Another important project I am working on is Sonic Capital which is looking at how to invest in ESG projects through blockchain.

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

My children, who are now adult women, were and continue to be, the most influential people in my life. When times are tough and I feel like giving up, I look at them and know why I keep on going. Now they are adults I really enjoy their company and encouragement.

What are the 5 things that most excite you about blockchain and crypto? Why?

1. It democratizes access to finance
2. It democratizes access to education
3. It democratizes access to payments
4. It democratizes access to opportunity
5. It democratizes access to income equality

Blockchain technology excites me for many reasons. It is transformational and has the ability to really change things — for the better

What are the 5 things worry you about blockchain and crypto? Why?

I am not worried about blockchain and crypto itself. I don’t like the ponzi schemes that spring up in its wake — things like One Coin. And it’s not good to the rugpulls in the current anonymous DeFi market. These issues will be ironed out in time

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world? Can you share a story?

I use my voice — as a journalist, broadcaster, and author — to talk about injustice. I also use my platform to advocate for women in blockchain.

As you know there are not that many women in your industry. Can you share 3 things that you would you advise to other women in the blockchain space to thrive?

Get in

Show up

Stay in

Can you advise what is needed to engage more women into the blockchain industry?

What you can see, you can be. So if you work in blockchain, make sure you actively attract women to work and collaborate with you.

What is your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story of how that had relevance to your own life?

My mother would quote — ‘Ever onwards and upwards, maybe sideways but never backwards.’ And it is important to keep on going. Most things in life are not easy so you know that showing up is half the battle. The only point is that sometimes it can be hard to see how far you have come — take a moment to look back and then your journey will be apparent. Well done you!

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. 🙂

As I said at the outset, I am writer — writing brings me much joy. I’d love people to join me on my platform Blockleaders.io and help tell more stories about this amazing space

How can our readers follow you on social media?

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jilliangodsil/

https://twitter.com/jilliangodsil

https://persons-of-interest.io/

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

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Wisdom From The Women Leading The Blockchain Revolution, With Jillian Godsil of Blockleaders.io was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Rising Through Resilience: Elizabeth Power of The Trauma Informed Academy On The Five Things You Can Do To Become More Resilient

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Recognize that you can learn to bend, flex, and recover. It is possible to learn the dance others seem to know. If you don’t know the steps, you can’t even practice. When you do, practice. Practice a lot. I win gold medals for persistence, even if only in my own race.

In this interview series, we are exploring the subject of resilience among successful business leaders. Resilience is one characteristic that many successful leaders share in common, and in many cases it is the most important trait necessary to survive and thrive in today’s complex market.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Elizabeth Power.

Elizabeth Power, MEd (and not the British Romance Novelist with the same name!) is an international authority on trauma-informed care, resilience, and self-care. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, she is the founder of The Trauma Informed Academy and the author of Healer: Reducing Crises. She’s an avid gardener, educator, and consultant whose work is helping people reduce the time, trauma, and costs of healing.

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?

I grew up in the “edge of Appalachia” — the last county on the area’s east side. My growing up was made difficult by ordinary things. These were ordinary in the world of men returning from the way — events like relocation, death, rare diseases, congenital disabilities, and more. However, I also learned to think critically, read broadly, and respond to change quickly. These were gifts.

In my teens, I left. I’d had enough. I ended up at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts for my last two years of high school. From there, I went on to take seven years to earn a four-year degree. I was still having knee surgeries (this was in the dark ages) almost every year. After burning every bridge I had in North Carolina, I came west to Tennessee. I began my career in custom shoe repair at a shop that did a lot of work in the music industry and Nashville’s glitterati. The rest was just pinballing from spot to spot until I found my “calling” in adult learning and instructional design. My specialty is helping people become trauma-responsive. I’m an adjunct instructor in psychiatry at Georgetown and the founder of one of the country’s fastest-growing online academies helping people become trauma-informed and trauma-responsive.

Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

Wow. There are so many! In my years as a shoe repairer, I worked on the shoes of the stars — Oprah Winfrey when she was in Nashville, Minnie Pearl, Alabama, and more. I was repairing the handle on Minnie Pearl’s pearlized blue makeup case — the rivet had popped. She watched and said to me that while I was a “fine shoe repairer,” she hoped I’d go on to do more, but to “always remember where you came from.”

I learned that I wasn’t as invisible as I wanted to be. Minnie Pearl saw me despite my efforts to hide. I saw that people in high places could still see the rest of us and be kind. She exuded humility and compassion. Her compliment was a spark of hope that I tucked inside and carried even today.

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

The combination of “Lived Experience” with a robust commitment to competency-based adult learning.

As a person with an extensive history of trauma, I know the work of healing from the inside out. As a degreed adult learning specialist whose designs using evidence from research in learning, I know we need learning grounded in what we know about people learn. And, I know that a lot of the troubles each of us have are over things we did or didn’t learn.

Combining these allows me to focus on learning people might miss and deliver it in a helpful way that works.

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?

Alma Clayton-Petersen. She jumps right out. Alma was a Dean at Vanderbilt’s Peabody School of Education. I’d worked with her on a tool called “Diversity Opportunity Training,” which was a laser-disc-based training that took students through different scenarios where diversity and inclusion mattered. I slunk into her office to talk about graduate school and told her I didn’t think my publishing list was long enough to count. I was convinced I was too stupid to get into graduate school!

She pushed her big, bright red glasses down on her nose. She looked out over them at me and said (as I remember), “Girlfriend, don’t nobody come to graduate school with a publications list.” I was stunned. I thought you couldn’t get in if you didn’t have one! I realized the lie I’d been telling myself about how dumb I was? They couldn’t hold up. It was the first time it occurred to me that I might be able to go to graduate school. I felt so dumb! I was very addicted to being a failure back then.

I’ve worked on eroding that self-contempt ever since. It truly is an “inside job.”

Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. We would like to explore and flesh out the trait of resilience. How would you define resilience? What do you believe are the characteristics or traits of resilient people?

I believe resilience is a trait that we develop. It helps us focus on or promote our positive assets while reducing the risks our negative assets bring. This activity increases our ability to take in and respond to everyday discomforts and distress with less risk of trauma.

Traits of resilient people align with the traits of Emotional Intelligence, like self-awareness and self-regulation. They include traits like

• adopting and learning to sustain optimism;
• reframing, or making multiple meanings of events;
• getting and staying curious;
• being able to dial-up or down the intensity of emotions;
• turning outward to include “we” as well as “me,” and
• sufficient belief in self-as-worthy to protect and care for the self. You know, loving yourself the way you tell other people to love themselves.

When you think of resilience, which person comes to mind? Can you explain why you chose that person?

Jean Baker-Miller, MD, is always one of my top-of-mind examples. She was a Jewish doctor, a psychiatrist, and a polio survivor. Her work reframed psychological thinking from problems with how we separate to challenges in how we change connection. She walked her talk as an early feminist, and despite all the constraints against her being who she was, she prevailed. She prevailed by refocusing and building a bigger table. She was always making meaning, connecting, and focusing on contributions to the betterment of the world. I considered myself very lucky to have known her.

I chose her because she lived around the impediment of polio and its impact on her life. She still did what she wanted to do, constantly and forever adapting to how her body worked. She focused on bringing us together instead of driving us apart. She made a huge contribution to our world. The work she started continues.

Has there ever been a time that someone told you something was impossible, but you did it anyway? Can you share the story with us?

I’ve heard that more than once. When the orthopedic surgeon who removed my last kneecap (two different docs) told me to forget ever driving a straight drive, kneeling, picking up packages? And when he went on to say to me to expect that my knees would pitch me forward to fall flat on my face? I smiled.

I was so mad I hiked on crutches that year. I learned to drive a VW Bug in a straight leg plaster cast from thigh to ankle. After I got out of the cast, I did fall when my knees buckled. I developed ways to avoid that. I kneel, climb stairs, pick up boxes — and work to keep my body in shape to support that. To people who don’t know that journey, I look as if I have never had knee problems. Impossible only takes longer.

Did you have a time in your life where you had one of your greatest setbacks, but you bounced back from it stronger than ever? Can you share that story with us?

I think the story I’ve told is rooted in a lot of trauma, especially in early childhood. I knew I’d developed PTSD (I think I was diagnosed as soon as it hit the books) by 1980.

What I didn’t know was that I’d also developed what is now called Dissociative Identity Disorder. I felt like my world had crumbled within about five minutes of hearing that I had “multiple personalities.” One minute you’re a successful instructional designer, and the next, what are you? Who are you? What happens to people like me? What do I do now? Does it mean I’m crazy? Or what?

I chose a nontraditional path to healing. I refused to believe what people said about me. I knew my proliferation started with the ordinary early losses that made me vulnerable to other kinds of trauma. I knew they represented points at which I couldn’t learn because I was overwhelmed.

It was the hardest work I’d ever done. I had so much to learn! I was like a big piece of Swiss cheese, with all kinds of holes. I created some new ideas about dissociation that people still talk about now. Unraveling and reweaving still seems the best example.

And, I was determined that my story would be my narrative and not someone else’s. I refused to “accept the defining gaze of the Other.” I was self-determining. I grew more than I can imagine. I became more successful as a result of the creativity, compassion, and adaptability I fostered. (It was challenging, and it seemed better than the alternative.)

Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resiliency? Can you share a story?

I think growing up with physical disabilities helped me develop resilience. My mother told me I could do anything I wanted to, even if I had to do it differently. So I was steeped in adapting, reframing, and finding alternative ways to get things done. Dissociation helped me avoid experiencing overwhelming things, or at least the bodily sensations and emotions that came with them. Learning how other people experienced the world was powerful. In those years, I realized that the real power I had was in the choices I could make.

Resilience is like a muscle that can be strengthened. In your opinion, what are 5 steps that someone can take to become more resilient? Please share a story or an example for each.

Step #1. Recognize that you can learn to bend, flex, and recover. It is possible to learn the dance others seem to know. If you don’t know the steps, you can’t even practice. When you do, practice. Practice a lot. I win gold medals for persistence, even if only in my own race.

Step #2. Recognize that self-care is things you do to care for yourself, like massage and mani-pedicures. Do you want to amplify them to bolster your resilience? You’ll need Step #3. I cannot tell you how many times I had lunch with friends and it was just lunch with friends. But when I learned what’s next? They became a lot more.

Step #3. Use a pattern to help you add meaning to your actions, especially those that are for self-care. I think of it as building a trampoline I can bounce off of — my favorite four posts that hold up the trampoline are connection, contribution, competency, character.

Ask — of each action you take — What connection am I strengthening? To whom or what? What contribution does this action make to the world? Do I have the skills or competence to do this? Does it align with my character? It doesn’t take long when you practice it, and your actions become a lot clearer. That mani-pedi I need? Maybe I have a favorite salon with a person. There’s connection and contribution. And I’ll take a friend with me, which strengthens connections. I know the salon’s address and the person I want — that’s competence. It’s like me, within my character, to do this.

Step #4. List times in your life when you have been bent over by life and stood back up. Describe what you learned in each one. What gifts did it bring you? Growing up with a physical disability helped me learn how to adapt and be creative. It helped me develop ways of thinking that are helpful in terms of accommodations, new ideas, and blending different ideas. Being diagnosed with DID helped me explore the realms of human consciousness and what it meant to be “me.”

Step #5. Install the good regularly. Personal neuroplasticity is critical in growth and healing, and you can use it to your advantage. Before you go to sleep, think about something good that has happened. Feel the feeling it brings, and turn that feeling up for twenty seconds. Rinse, lather, and repeat — three different moments of good from each day, 20 seconds each. That’s only a minute. Keep it up. I worked on a version of this, recognizing a moment where I looked in the mirror and thought I was beautiful. I worked that one for six months, and when I went home, my family didn’t recognize me.

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

I’d love to implement a program that combines learning, practice, and loyalty rewards for demonstrated skills that helps people become trauma-responsive. It would serve at least one million people. Every little bit we absorb about creating hopeful and healing environments is an investment in reducing the pain in the future. It’s a legacy to leave the future that reduces overwhelming experiences and the cost of recovering from them.

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

I’d love to visit with Michelle Obama.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Our website is https://elizabethpower.com , and all our social media links are at https://linktr.ee/EPower.

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

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Rising Through Resilience: Elizabeth Power of The Trauma Informed Academy On The Five Things You… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Future Is Now: William Morriss of IP Toolworks On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Know your niche. Our product is built around a very specific user and application, so you could say that we began with a niche already in mind. Even then, we found that a lot of work was needed to get to understand the concerns of all of the players involved through the buying cycle and afterwards as users. Investing in these relationships isn’t always easy, but it was one of the best things we did.

As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing William Morriss.

William Morriss has spent the last fifteen years helping clients, from startups to Fortune 500 companies navigate complex issues surrounding law and technology and obtain protection for their inventions. He is a passionate advocate for the value of patents in business, having seen the impact in the success of his clients and his own work as an entrepreneur. William is Senior Technology Advisor at IP Toolworks, a company which he founded with the goal of helping attorneys respond to rejections from the USPTO more effectively by leveraging a wealth of publicly available but previously inaccessible information.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Growing up, I always knew that I wanted to be some kind of lawyer. It just seemed to fit me. I also loved programming and got my undergraduate degree in computer science. I graduated in 2002, right after the tech bubble burst, so going into patent law, rather than pursuing work as a developer, seemed like a clear way to go. As far as founding a legal tech company, IP Toolworks, that is something that came out of my experience being a patent attorney, and observing the kinds of pain points I and my colleagues were facing. I was inspired to use the problem solving skills I had developed as a programmer to address the inefficiencies I saw in how people interacted with the patent office in a different way.

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

At the moment, we are working on an NLP (Natural Language Processing) based system to better understand both the kinds of arguments the government relies on when rejecting patent applications and the specific types of arguments and doctrines attorneys cite when they negotiate to get patents allowed.

As it stands, the process of getting a patent is highly technical and complex, which can prove particularly prohibitive for smaller inventors who stand to benefit most from protection. This is because patent attorneys must go through college to get a technical degree, before they go to law school. Then, in order to be any good, they have to go through years of experiential learning. The cost of doing all this is of course tremendous. It means that a law firm has to hire someone who is simultaneously a lawyer, a technologist, and an experienced negotiator. By streamlining this process using natural language processing and artificial intelligence, I believe we can significantly reduce the cost of protecting innovation. This, in turn, can make it much easier for people to bring their technologies to market, get investments and realize these new technologies.

How do you think this might change the world?

Increasing access to technical know-how through AI that would ordinarily take human intelligence years to develop, is revolutionary, especially for people hungry to innovate and make a difference. It can help eliminate some barriers to access for inventors and reduce constraints on attorneys, so that someone with less experience, or who happens to be working at a small firm can be confident that what they are preparing is of the same caliber as that of top tier performers.

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

There were two experiences in my professional career that inspired me to build this software. One was discovering just how hard it was to convey information on patent prosecution to new attorneys I was training. The other was something I could describe as a happy accident that led me to truly appreciate the value of all this knowledge contained in historical patent prosecution documents, that is typically locked away:

This second discovery goes back to a time when I was working on a litigation case. As part of the litigation process, attorneys are responsible for reading through all the negotiations on the patent that’s being litigated. One of the arguments that the patent attorney in this case had made happened to be one I had never heard before. I thought it was a really good argument, so I made a note of it, and subsequently used it in my own practice. A little later one of my colleagues asked if I had an argument to accomplish a particular objective, and I did; it just so happened that it was the same argument that I had read in that litigation.

It made me realize just how much knowledge is out there that would normally be beyond the scope of my own experience and that of my immediate network. The Arguminer software changes that; instead of discovering new arguments by luck, you are able to use our tool to search for them in a comprehensive, systematic way.

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

To begin with, I think people need to be aware of it. Beyond that, we have to address the fact that there is a basic human reluctance towards change, and that this is often more entrenched in institutions like law firms that are the primary purchasers of our software. We tend to think of technology law as on the cutting edge, but much of law is, after all, about finding ways of accounting for new developments within codified systems that are already established. To get into the system, in our case, tends to require working through bureaucratic layers and a certain amount of patience while our potential users build new habits and develop trust that innovations like ours can enhance their practice, rather than posing a threat to what they are already doing that is working.

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

We recently began working with a marketing agency. Our campaigns with them have focused on providing actionable content that can help patent lawyers level-up their prosecution practice. So far, we are seeing some good results. It is exciting to finally transition to more of an in-bound model where we have people coming to us, asking for product demos, rather than us reaching out to them.

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

I have been fortunate to have had access to some incredible training and mentorship opportunities while we were getting IP Toolworks off the ground. We began by working through business plan competitions and launch programs at Xavier University and the University of Dayton, where we received a solid education in the ingredients needed to start a business. People within my network, and within the startup community here in Cincinnati, many of whom I help with patents for their companies or portfolios, have been incredibly generous in sharing their time and experience with me when it was my turn to launch.

Beyond this, I am grateful to my partner and cofounder, Yvonne [Morriss]. The company wouldn’t exist without her. Not only was she the one responsible for creating the commercial framework and doing a great deal of the legwork to take us from a product to a business, but her commitment and vision is the reason we exist today. We went through some dark times just before we got our first signed contracts with some major law firms, when I was about ready to pull the plug. Her confidence in the technology, and in the value of what we are trying to achieve, is what pulled us through.

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

I do pro bono work both as an injury attorney, and in assisting companies with intellectual property and technology policies. I’ve helped a company that does research for a particular orphan disease with their research agreements. I’ve helped nonprofits implement technology policies that allow them to structure how they provide access to basic human needs like cell phones.

As an attorney, I think of my role as a kind of enabler. By sharing the knowledge and expertise that I have amassed through my training and years of practice, I am in a position to enable others to improve the world through their own efforts. These are people who already are doing tremendous things, but who, without this kind of support, might otherwise have their impact limited by obstacles they encounter. This is not so different from what our software does. It provides access to knowledge that can enable other people to more effectively protect, and commercialize valuable innovations.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.

1. The difference between someone telling you they would buy your product, and them actually paying money for it is night and day. Actually many people told me this before I started, but it is the kind of thing you can’t fully appreciate until you have spent all of this time developing the tech and building validation pre-launch, only to find that when it’s time to actually commercialize, you’ve hit a wall.
2. Some things take time. We happen to be in an industry with a very long buying cycle. The time from initial engagement to closing our first sale was well over a year. There is so much emphasis on failing fast. I completely get the wisdom behind not wanting to pour more and more resources into a sinking ship, particularly when big investment is involved. For us, we took an alternative approach, which gave us the chance to make it to the finish line. Long and lean can be a viable model too.
3. Be very sure you have your video conferencing platform in good order. We botched a couple promising calls early on due to technical issues with our conferencing platform, which I remember being hugely disappointing at the time. We bounced around to a few different platforms after that, and ended up on the free tier of Zoom, since their performance was so solid, and we were trying to run lean. The only downside was that they cut you off after forty minutes. Our typical demo runs thirty minutes, so this seemed fine. Then one day, we were on a call that wasn’t wrapping up when we expected. My co-founder was on the other end entering our credit card details with minutes to spare. I can’t believe it actually worked! We were so fortunate that it did, as they turned out to become one of our best customers.
4. Marketing can be transformative. As a technologist, I can have a groundbreaking idea and go ahead and build it, but the tech won’t be able to achieve what it is meant to, if it is not marketed and promoted. This is something I wish I had appreciated earlier in our own ramping up process, as I think it would have generated more positive momentum. The last six months working with our marketing agency, Concurate, has shifted our model in a very positive direction. Now we have people saying, “Hey, we want this. We want to demo.” They’re reaching out to me, which means they are already engaged. That sets the stage for better success.
5. Know your niche. Our product is built around a very specific user and application, so you could say that we began with a niche already in mind. Even then, we found that a lot of work was needed to get to understand the concerns of all of the players involved through the buying cycle and afterwards as users. Investing in these relationships isn’t always easy, but it was one of the best things we did.

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. 🙂

It would be a movement to deemphasize and distribute power and resources away from the so-called leaders of things. I’m one of two cofounders of IP Toolworks, but as the inventor of our core technology I am the one who tends to be presented as the face of our company. My industry experience and technical background were certainly essential, but so too were the contributions of my cofounder, which I mentioned earlier, as were efforts of our exceptionally talented developers at GreyB. The cult of genius is an idea that came about in the nineteenth century. There is something very romantic about this way of thinking, but it is problematic, in that it disproportionately rewards and valorizes certain kinds of contributions over others, which I don’t believe is particularly healthy for society. More than that, it is unrealistic, in that it doesn’t reflect the kinds of work that go on behind the scenes to support great or innovative things actually getting done.

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

“Never play to win a pawn while your development is yet unfinished.”

• Aron Nimzowitsch

Simply put, you must first prepare, then execute. In chess, impulsive or inexperienced players are tempted to go after their opponent’s pawns before they have finished readying their own pieces on the board. Certainly these little pieces on the frontlines are nice to have, but they can cost you.

When we first launched we spent some resources going after what we thought looked like easy sales with small firms. The appointments were easy to book, but the sales consistently failed to materialize. We stopped and went back to the drawing board, where we discovered that focusing on larger prospects actually resulted in a more solid product-market fit. In life, as in chess, development means taking the time to move out your pieces in the right order so that you can maneuver properly. When the time is right, you will be in a much stronger position to attack and win.

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 🙂

Whether it takes the form of a major disruptor or an incremental improvement, innovation is the gold standard that successful ventures are built upon. Yet without patents to protect that innovation, companies are in danger of losing that edge. So much work goes into due diligence and mentoring to foster the best possible teams to develop and commercialize using data and insight drawn from past experience. Yet, when it comes to negotiating with the government to obtain the patent, matters are handed off to an attorney and it’s put in a black box. We open that black box, giving patent seekers the best possible chances of success based on what has worked before .

How can our readers follow you on social media?

LinkedIn — William Morriss

Twitter- @theSid2011

YouTube — IP Toolworks

Thank you so much for your insights. This was very insightful and meaningful.

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The Future Is Now: William Morriss of IP Toolworks On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Future Is Now: Neill Ricketts of Versarien On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Build a plan for yourself around what makes you happy. So many of us are not happy and put up with it instead of taking control and changing our lives. Being happy is not an accident, it is something you must consciously take steps to achieve. Life goes by quickly and it is far too easy to spend most of it unhappy.

As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Neill Ricketts.

Neill is the CEO and founding director of Versarien. Neill was responsible for driving Versarien’s growth from two men in a garage in 2011, to a team of 100 employees within four years.

As a graduate engineer, with 20 years of senior-level experience in manufacturing and engineering companies, Neill brings to his position a wealth of knowledge and insight. He has demonstrated success in introducing and commercializing new technology, including new materials and coatings for diverse sectors from aerospace to Formula One, including significant work in the oil and gas sector

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 on the engineer side of the business as an apprentice and spent a number of years working with and leading teams of engineers. Most of my career I was working and making money for other people and always thought I could do it better myself, so I decided to start my own business.

I ultimately failed the first time, and went back to work in the industry, but what I learnt from my failure about how to start and run a company was invaluable. When we started Versarien PLC, I knew a lot more about raising money and how to maintain momentum and vision through the inevitable obstacles that are put in front of you. Even though I no longer work as an engineer, the logical skills I developed in that role put me in good stead when setting up Versarien. Those skills have been an integral part of enabling me to recognize the possibilities and opportunities graphene presents when others perhaps can’t.

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

I’ve been fortunate to have had a colourful career based around introducing technology to new sectors. I was proud of being able to meet David Cameron and Theresa May on various occasions. I even accompanied Theresa May on a trade mission to China in 2018 and was honoured to represent Versarien and British business on such an elevated level.

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

Graphene has been written about for a few years now and its impact on industries like electronics are well publicized. What excites me most, though, is the significant environmental boost graphene can bring to everyday products. I’m a passionate diver and see first-hand the destruction we are subjugating the natural world too.

Concrete is the second most popular man-made substance on earth, but cement production is responsible for up to 8 percent of C02 emissions globally. By enhancing concrete with graphene, around 30% less cement is needed in production. This makes the concrete production process a lot less energy intensive, but the end product is just as strong. We recently partnered with Nationwide Engineering and the University of Manchester, to lay the world’s first graphene enhanced concrete a few miles away from Stonehenge. The results we have seen are remarkable, and we believe that graphene enhanced concrete can contribute significantly to meeting emissions targets.

How do you think this might change the world?

There is not an area of society that will not be affected by the capabilities of graphene. As well as environmental there are healthcare implications for technology. The light and flexible nature of graphene, coupled with its incredible conduction properties means you can seamlessly add graphene technology into any piece of clothing. In ten years, we could see, instead of heart monitors and blood pressure tests, graphene enhanced hospital gowns providing real-time updates to nurses of a patient’s vital statistics in real time. There is a fourth industrial revolution going on, driven by the Internet of Things and automatic machine-to-machine communication, and graphene has an especially vital role to play in this.

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

With the pandemic changing the ways we interact it is important that anyone working in innovative tech learns from the good and bad experiences of the last 18 months.

Human interaction is vital to all aspects of business, and I have seen the issues that come when that contact is taken away. In normal circumstances I’m a natural networker. I love connecting with people, finding out their goals and seeing how we can work together and making friends. Working from home and connecting via zoom, is not my preferred approach to work. While it’s incredible we have managed to keep going as a society despite lockdowns, it’s taught me the possibilities and limits of our technology. As we continuously move forward with technology, people in tech must ensure we do not eradicate the human aspect in favour of progress and continue to find ways to keep both.

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

Yes, there was. As a CEO, you have that four-to-five-year vision most other people do not have. Looking ahead, you can see what the world looks like for your business and a big part of your job is to take people with you to realise that vision. We first hedged our bets on graphene in 2014 and it was not until a few years later when we launched our first product, a watch, that the technology stopped being a collection of test results and became a fully realised object. That to me was the tipping point that made me realise what Versarien could really do with graphene.

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

We need a push from all directions, public and private, to ensure that we do not continue down a path of destruction. The pandemic has been a tragedy, but many have pointed out the opportunity it presents for us to do things in a different and more sustainable way. In the past, it took devastating world wars for technology to take a leap.

Consumers want faster, better, and more sustainable products, from textiles to electronics. Graphene can give us that and so much more. Graphene is a futuristic technology, but it is here now, helping to solve some of the planet’s biggest problems. If big global entities realise the possibilities of graphene, the sky is the limit for its adoption.

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

I’ve always found that you can’t be disruptive in one area. A truly innovative and disruptive business is creative in all areas. With this in mind, we have done some slightly left field things in the past, including engaging with Snoop Dogg to promote some of our products. We’re always looking at the slightly unusual and unexpected as inspiration when telling people about Versarien and graphene.

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?

You cannot achieve success without people helping along the way. I’ve been unbelievably lucky during my career to have worked with and for some amazing people who taught me a lot. Years ago, I interviewed with John Deer at Renishaw and his views shaped a lot of my thoughts at the start of my career about what I wanted and how to get there. Starting Versarien has allowed me to hire and work with some of the finest people of my whole career. Still, not a day goes by where I don’t learn something new and I’m incredibly lucky to have that.

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

The work we do at Versarien is about using the best technology to help solve some of the biggest issues the world faces. I’ve always found that there is no joy in success if you don’t give something back, and I’ve always been a better giver than receiver. I opened Versarien in the West Country of the UK, where I’m from, because I want to give back and provide jobs to my local community.

I helped fund a steam lab at my old school and we work with a lot of charities around local and national issues. I think successful people can sometimes lose sight of the people and places that created them. It’s important to me that I don’t lose that, so I keep that connection alive with Versarien and the work we do.

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 put off what you want to do. If I was to have my time over again, I’d say to myself get on with it and do it.

We create our own constraints. I went to a regular comprehensive and the career advisors said I had one of three jobs I was ever going to do. I ignored them, backed myself and have achieved more than I could have imagined back then. People need to challenge institutionalized views; you know yourself better than anyone else.

Build a plan for yourself around what makes you happy. So many of us are not happy and put up with it instead of taking control and changing our lives. Being happy is not an accident, it is something you must consciously take steps to achieve. Life goes by quickly and it is far too easy to spend most of it unhappy.

Believe in yourself, back yourself and keep going. It took me twenty years to do what I really wanted, and I kick myself for all the years of self-doubt that stopped me from doing it sooner. You’re far more capable and resilient than you think you are, and failure is far better than regret.

Stay healthy and keep the people you care about around you. Making money and having a successful career is fantastic but pointless if your health fails you or you are alone. It does not matter who it is, but people are what get us through life.

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

If I were to inspire a movement it would be to encourage people to achieve their passions and goals. Versarien work with a lot of schools and universities talking to pupils and students about their goals and what drives them. My dad is 72 and wanted to be a marine biologist his whole life and never did it. He still regrets that, and I don’t want anyone to feel that way because they didn’t believe in themselves or were too scared to fail. Taking away the stigma of failure is one of the biggest lessons I hold myself and my kids to.

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

Muhammed Ali — ‘He who is not courageous enough to take risks in life will achieve nothing in life.’

Taking risks is what life is all about, because when you fail you learn and there is nothing in the world like succeeding at your biggest and toughest goals. Ali was someone who had enormous challenges in his life and rose to all of them, from racism and being banned from boxing over Vietnam, to his battle with Parkinson’s. I’ve taken a lot of inspiration from him this quote to remind me to take risks and keep going if I fail.

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 opportunity Versarien and graphene present to change society is enormous. Faster, lighter, and more flexible tech in a sustainable and tough material. Concrete, textiles, aerospace, and consumer electronics are all being transformed by graphene. There is no price tag on what we are going to achieve over the next few years and getting on board means joining with the future.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

I am on Twitter @neillricketts or @CEOVRS1

Thank you so much for your insights. This was very insightful and meaningful.

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

Dr. Isha Metzger of EMPOWER Lab: 5 Steps That Each Of Us Can Take To Proactively Help Heal Our Country

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Pace your passion and stay in your lane! Healing the country of racism sounds like such a daunting task, so I think it’s important to know that we can all do a small part. Once you’ve made yourself accessible, gotten ingrained in the community, educated yourself, and gotten comfortable having difficult conversations, it is likely that you’re going to be fired up and ready to do EVERYTHING that you can to make the world a better place. I think it’s important to remember that we all have roles to play and to pace ourselves so that we can stay focused on doing our job well. Resting and unplugging when necessary is critically important to restoring your energy so that you are able to continue the work that is so important.

As part of our series about 5 Steps That Each Of Us Can Take To Proactively Help Heal Our Country, I had the pleasure of interviewing Isha W. Metzger, PhD.

Dr. Isha Metzger is a first generation American from Atlanta, Georgia by way of Sierra Leone, West Africa. She is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Director of The EMPOWER Lab, and Owner of Cultural Concepts Consulting, LLC.

The overarching goal of Dr. Metzger’s career is to take a strengths based, anti-deficit approach to prevention for youth of color. Dr. Metzger stands against anti-Black racism and oppression through “”Engaging Minorities in Prevention, Outreach, Wellness, Education, & Research” through community-based participatory methods and advocacy. Both personally and professionally, Dr. Metzger is heavily invested in mentoring and training the next generation of community based prevention scientists.

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

I grew up in College Park, Georgia, the youngest of a huge family in a household that was constantly filled with music, rich foods, culture, laughter, and love. My early upbringing as a first generation American from Sierra Leone, West Africa provided me opportunities to appreciate speaking both English and Krio, eating both pizza and pounded yams, singing to Beyonce and dancing to Soukous, and experiencing the richness of both urban and traditional cultures

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

I remember being so impacted by “A Child Called It” that I read it several times throughout the years. It’s a novel about a boy who was ruthlessly physically and emotionally abused by his mom. I think this book stood out to me because up until reading this book, I had only heard of the Civil War back home as a stressor that children were experiencing. Once I realized it was the survivor telling his own story, it made real the long term harmful effects of child abuse and the potential benefit of advocates, mental health professionals, and supportive adults in the community. I guess I thought of the United States as a problem free zone and it wasn’t until reading this book that I realized there were kids here who needed help as well.

Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life or your work?

The quote, or scripture, that is most relevant to my life and my work is “Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:13–16 is a Biblical scripture, but it’s a quote that is a constant reminder for me to be intentional about what my work seeks to achieve and how it serves my larger purpose in life.

How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?

For me, leadership is really ‘leading by example,’ so it’s important for me to do the work and then to bring people in who are also willing and able to do the work with me, not for me. It’s an important distinction that allows us all to take ownership and responsibility over our own work as we move towards our collective goal. To be the leader just means I was doing it first, or that I am the glue that connects us all, but in the community-based research, prevention, and outreach efforts that I lead, we are all doing the same work.

In life we come across many people, some who inspire us, some who change us and some who make us better people. Is there a person or people who have helped you get to where you are today? Can you share a story?

I typically answer this question by talking about my father, mother, grandparents, an influential client, or one of my mentors. Today, I’m compelled to answer that my faith in God and my relationship with God is one that has been most shifting, beneficial, grounding, and inspirational, for me throughout the years. The story that I’ll share is advice that I received from my pastor over 15 years ago that I still follow to today. And that is to spend 15 minutes with God each day: 5 minutes to praise God, 5 minutes in prayer to God, and 5 minutes in the word of God. Whichever God you serve, I think it’s beneficial to take 15 minutes a day to check in with that relationship. Spend 5 minutes being present and giving thanks, spend 5 minutes being intentional about manifesting your wants and desires, and 5 minutes getting information from a trusted source that will help ground you in your values. Practicing this small 15 minute habit has been one that has led to gratefulness for my past, contentment in the present, and hopefulness for my future both personally and professionally.

Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s move to the main focus of our interview. The United States is currently facing a series of unprecedented crises. So many of us see the news and ask how we can help. We’d love to talk about the steps that each of us can take to help heal our county, in our own way. Which particular crisis would you like to discuss with us today? Why does that resonate with you so much?

The work that my career has focused on has been at eliminating mental and behavioral health disparities that result from both interpersonal and racial stressors for ethnic minority youth. Given our current social, political, and historical context, I’d say that the toll of anti-Black racism and discrimination on developing teens is the crisis that resonates with me the most. As a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, I see it as a crisis that we have our Black youth being exposed to racial stressors that are potentially traumatic who are not engaging in the evidence-based services and treatments that we know work to help youth heal from traumatic experiences. This crisis is most salient for me in this moment because I think we now have the attention of policymakers, lawmakers, funders, etc. who can use their positions to help fund, develop, research, evaluate, disseminate, and amplify work that is being done to help Black youth heal from the effects of racial trauma.

This is likely a huge topic. But briefly, can you share your view on how this crisis evolved to the boiling point that it’s at now?

Racism is a historic and systemic problem that has plagued our nation since slavery, Jim Crow and desegregation, disproportionate suspensions and expulsions and tracking and special education in our school systems, and the pipeline to prison that is characterized by not only the mass incarceration of Black peoples for nonviolent crimes. Now, not only are Black youth experiencing discrimination and racial stressors in their schools and sometimes in their communities, they are experiencing them vicariously from watching videotaped police sanctioned violence and brutality on the news and in the media. When it comes to mental healthcare, Black youth and families are not able to readily access and utilize cognitive behavioral treatments, and when they are able to access them, they are not engaging with these services or benefiting from them over time.

Can you tell our readers a bit about your experience either working on this cause or your experience being impacted by it? Can you share a story with us?

I’ve worked with Black families who say, ‘of course I want to go in and receive mental and behavioral health services — but they’re only offered from 9–5, or they’re only offered during the week, or your center is not on the bus line, or I don’t have childcare for my other children.’ Or, these families say that they were able to access these services but that they had a clinician who was invalidating, biased, making them feel like a bad parent, or that the services were otherwise not attending to their racial stressors at all while focusing on their interpersonal stressors.

Ok. Here is the main question of our discussion. Can you please share your “5 Steps That Each Of Us Can Take To Proactively Help Heal Our Country”. Kindly share a story or example for each.

To this, the 5 steps that I would suggest are for each of us are:

Make yourself accessible! If you are offering help or offering services, offer them during the evenings or on the weekends sometimes. For organizations, this means things like offering telehealth services, accepting and offering travel vouchers, having a sliding scale for fees or offering free services, and advertising services in communities that are in need.

The second suggestion that I have towards helping to heal our country is to meet the people where they’re at! Individuals, organizations, leaders, should all be ingrained as a part of the communities that you want to help. Listen to us, learn from us, give back to us, with us! Building trusting relationships often comes from familiarity and being in close proximity to each other, so it’s important to be in the community that you want to heal.

Educate yourself. This means doing the work yourself to learn about systems of oppression and how they marginalize and negatively impact mental, physical, behavioral, and emotional outcomes. That means reading and sharing what you’ve learned, doing training and continuing education if you are in a helping profession, checking your own implicit biases, and engaging in experiences that will allow you to actively engage in advocacy and allyship in whatever capacity you are able.

Have conversations. Talking about race and racism is difficult for many. To help heal from a wound, though, you have to attend to it and clean it out. The same goes for dealing with racial trauma as an individual, family, community, or society at large. To heal the crisis of racial trauma, we really need to all get comfortable with having the conversation in our personal and professional lives. Parents should talk to their kids about racism at home, teachers should talk to students about it in school, friends should talk about it amongst themselves socially, communities should band together to have the conversation as well. What role can we each play? Having conversations to openly solve long standing issues is important for sharing information, strategies that are effective, and successes so that we are motivated to continue the grueling work of undoing centuries of oppression.

Pace your passion and stay in your lane! Healing the country of racism sounds like such a daunting task, so I think it’s important to know that we can all do a small part. Once you’ve made yourself accessible, gotten ingrained in the community, educated yourself, and gotten comfortable having difficult conversations, it is likely that you’re going to be fired up and ready to do EVERYTHING that you can to make the world a better place. I think it’s important to remember that we all have roles to play and to pace ourselves so that we can stay focused on doing our job well. Resting and unplugging when necessary is critically important to restoring your energy so that you are able to continue the work that is so important.

It’s very nice to suggest ideas, but what can we do to make these ideas a reality? What specific steps can you suggest to make these ideas actually happen? Are there things that the community can do to help you promote these ideas?

The great thing about the 5 steps that I’ve outlined is that we as a community are already doing these things and having these conversations! We literally just need to keep the work going and stay diligent in our efforts to reach broader communities and ultimately heal our nation. A large part of my work is in integrating ‘racial socialization’ into evidence-based services, but it really is just sharing information about the conversations that Black families are already having about race and racism and how to respond to racial stressors.

We are going through a rough period now. Are you optimistic that this issue can eventually be resolved? Can you explain?

I am extremely optimistic about the state of our nation and its ability to heal from and ultimately irradiate anti-Black racism.

If you could tell other young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?

I look at our youth and their peaceful protests and lobbying, their creative expressions and academic writings, and their investment and interest in holistic health and healing, and I am so hopeful about our future! I really don’t think that our young people need any convincing, but it’s because I’ve been working with them for so long. For example, I hold “Passion, Purpose, Power sessions” (https://www.instagram.com/p/CNvhI-ELfhw/) on Monday’s from 1–2:30pm. During these ‘Virtual Office Hours,’ I have had the pleasure of meeting with students, organization leaders, healers, creators, and youth in the community who are all eager to explore how to best utilize their personal strengths, resources, and talents toward the advancement of social justice. For those young people who are still unsure about how to make a positive impact on society, I would tell then to sign up for an upcoming session with me at www.tinyurl.com/passionpurposepowersessions, or to reach out to me via email at [email protected]

Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂

Beyonce, Beyonce, Beyonce.

How can our readers follow you online?

· www.drishametzger.com

· www.instagram.com/theEMPOWERlab

· https://www.facebook.com/TheEMPOWERlab1

· https://twitter.com/TheEMPOWERLab

· Also, towards eradicating anti-Black racism and healing from racial trauma, I also have an online Racial Trauma Guide (http://www.drishametzger.com/racial-trauma-guideand https://psychology.uga.edu/racial-trauma-guide) and an online “C.A.R.E Package for Racial Healing” that focuses on ‘Coping and Resilience through Empowerment” and includes interactive and real-world activities for Black teens (http://www.drishametzger.com/care-package-for-racial-healing). My Public Health Messaging Campaign (http://www.drishametzger.com/public-health-messaging is also on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/p/CMc9GhygIc2/) uses yard signs and posters to spread information about the signs of racial trauma, how to cope with racial stressors, and strategies for effective allyship. This campaign has been widely disseminated on campus (in the two largest colleges, campus recreational center, housing halls, main class room buildings, and health clinic), around Athens (at churches, community organizations, children’s advocacy centers, and government buildings), at community rallies against racial discrimination and hate crimes (https://www.instagram.com/p/CNOBHKphxVm/), and across our social media. Also, I discuss and disseminate strategies for coping and healing from racial trauma on my Black and EMPOWERED podcast (https://blackandempowered.podbean.com/ and http://www.drishametzger.com/black-and-empowered-podcast) with two of my graduate students and we now have both national and international listeners.

This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!

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Dr. Isha Metzger of EMPOWER Lab: 5 Steps That Each Of Us Can Take To Proactively Help Heal Our… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.