Diplomacy. Being young and hot blooded it’s so easy to see passion as the cardinal virtue, to see the world in black and white, and be forever crusading. But in our world, in our time, far more gets done through diplomacy, collaboration, and compromise, than through revolution.
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 Miles David Romney.
Miles David Romney is Co-Founder, CTO and On-Staff Futurist of eVisit, the leading virtual care platform for large healthcare providers. He leads the team with a clear vision into the future — well beyond 2050 — and a detailed technology roadmap for the company and its customers and prospect organizations. He expertly leads the Product and Engineering teams to regularly deliver rich new functionality within the eVisit Enterprise SaaS platform in response to customer needs and roadmap vision infusing AI, AR and VR, among others. Romney did his undergraduate and graduate work at the University of Utah and has led several tech start-ups in the entertainment and healthcare spaces. He is also a classically trained singer and a Managing Director of the prolific, Tony Award-winning 42nd.club. Most recently, he played the role of “Sparky” in Forever Plaid (Jan. 2021).
He co-founded eVisit as a mission-driven company with a vision to simplify healthcare delivery to everyone, everywhere, enabling virtual care for hospitals and health systems so that they can deliver locally relevant patient care through telehealth. He is a published author, a frequent orator, and a healthtech visionary who has delivered his 2050 Vision (“Virtual Care IS Care”), which includes our home showers-of-the-future enabling proactive healthcare, at several high-profile events including the ATA2021 and the 2021 National Telehealth Summit. eVisit is the only Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Virtual Care Platforms for Digital Health, Q1 2021.
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 started my career in healthtech. When I was 14, as a software engineer, I kicked-off the first in-clinic EHR for wireless mobile devices. Shortly after, I wrote secure data transmission and storage methodologies to satisfy what were in those days the new HIPAA requirements, then architected packet streaming encryption systems for video and audio over the web.
I moved into the entertainment industry for 15 years, built and sold a media company, ran an animation studio then a film distributor as CEO, and built out the consumer streaming experiences for EA, Blizzard, ESPN, and others. I love entertainment. Stories are what set us apart from all the other animals; they form the basis for our imagination, our aspiration, our ingenuity. But I didn’t feel I was solving the world’s biggest challenges. In entertainment, I came face-to-face with those challenges, and was supporting filmmakers and other storytellers who talked a lot about those challenges, but none of us was working directly to fix them.
So, I cut back over to healthtech and co-founded eVisit, where for the last seven years we’ve been addressing what is by my lights the world’s second biggest problem: the high cost and uneven availability of healthcare.
Can you please share with us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I couldn’t possibly pinpoint a single experience as the very most interesting. But I’ve got a deep grab bag of candidates. I’ll admit that the most scintillating stories have happened while I’ve worked in entertainment: hurried calls with Michael Moore as I step out on stage; working with Jared Hess or Tim Blake Nelson; Kiefer Sutherland tripping over me at the Directors’ Guild awards and mistaking me for Sean Astin; moderating panels at Sundance; buying films at Cannes; walking off the Disney lot having sold a TV series… it’s all fodder for great stories.
And obstetrician and nephrology conferences are fun, too.
But you know what really matters? By year’s end, I’ll have been a big part of improving the health and wellness of over a million people. A million. That’s where the rubber really meets the road. It’s not as sexy, it’s not tuxedos and hors d’oeuvres — it’s much more. When a mom who doesn’t have insurance would be faced with a $3k weekend ER bill but instead connects remotely to a pediatrician for $49, that’s me and everyone at eVisit. When medical practices may have faced closure in the face of COVID-19, but instead continued seeing patients remotely, maintaining a revenue stream, that’s me and everyone at eVisit. When a cancer patient can connect immediately to an urgent care physician who specializes in oncology complications — that’s me and everyone at eVisit!
So, while it may not make for the most exciting stories, the best thing I’ve ever done has been in these past 18 months, delivering healthcare over and over again, in many cases to those who need it the most.
Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?
I’m fascinated by the human mind’s capacity for cognitive dissonance, how we can hold to contradictory philosophies and all the while feel righteous and whole. I’m no exception. I hold Jesus Christ in one hand, and Ayn Rand in the other. I hold Christopher Hitchens and Teilhard de Chardin in equal regard. If you can find the Venn overlap in all that, tell me, will you?
On the main: I believe people are usually trying to do the right thing; I believe the world is getting better and better, and that now is the greatest time in history to be alive; I believe that humanity will last another million years, and that we’ll spread out across the galaxy; I believe that with work, passion, and discipline, most anyone can accomplish most anything.
Let’s now move to the main focus of our interview. Can you tell us about your “Big Idea That Might Change The World”?
The 2050 Vision for Healthcare:
Imagine waking gently at 6 am, not to the buzz of an alarm, but smoothly by a process that feels as natural as can be, steadily deployed by an app in your micro-implant. You stand and stretch, pass through the kitchen where you grab the cup of coffee that’s already waiting for you. You stare out at the sun rising over the city stretching at your feet while you peruse a few headlines, not on a mobile device or a hanging display, but rather, through your implant, and its ocular, or maybe neurological, interface.
Then you walk to the bathroom, slip out of your pajamas, and step into the shower. Before the water starts, though, you hear the hum of a full-body MRI scan, and feel the soft nipping (or maybe you feel nothing at all) of a half-dozen instruments collecting samples, and cataloguing vitals.
Results are analyzed real-time by AI, and sent to your care team for validation. A transdermal infuser pushes a cocktail into your blood: vitamins, relaxants, pain killers, beta blockers, anxiolytics, TNF inhibitors, even stimulants (your coffee is decaf). All synthesized in response to your current blood chemistry, and carefully balanced against one another.
When the steam roils up from beneath you and the hot water sprays down from above, you already feel like a new person.
Your doctors are still involved. And when it comes time for a conversation, you’ll have it — remotely, over video or VR. It’s all at your fingertips, but you’re only as aware of it as you want to be. Until a crisis hits, and when it does, the local infrastructure will exist to treat it, because your virtual care has largely been flowing through it, informing it, funding it.
There’s no taking time off of work to drive down to a medical center, no hassling with parking, no fighting to schedule with 5 different doctors, losing your lab orders and having to drive into the clinic to get a replacement, no accidental drug-on-drug interactions, or a drop in drug efficacy because of your own evolving chemistry.
No. Many of your vitals are collected and monitored continually through your implant. Others come daily, when you step into your shower. All of them flow in real time through AI and your flesh-and-blood care team at a frequency and with a granularity that would be the envy of any Ferrari mechanic. Your body will be, as it were, a well-oiled machine.
How do you think this will change the world?
With highly efficient mechanisms and democratized distribution, healthcare can become a right and not a privilege. When health, wellness, and longevity can be taken for granted, so much more becomes possible.
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?
Oh yes. There will always be unintended consequences. There are always risks. Progress is, almost by definition, messy. There are many ways this tech could go wrong, will go wrong. I’ve written all about that in my novel A Bloody Calculus (published under the pseudonym Milo Behr).
But the overwhelming skew is toward the good. And the thing about progress is: it’s both the solution to, and the cause of, all our problems. The only way forward, is through. We will never reach a state of equilibrium. We’re always either expanding or contracting, flourishing or decaying.
It’s exhilarating.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this idea? Can you tell us that story?
I’m hardly the first futurist to explore the idea of a “doc in a box”. I may be the first to have built a product roadmap around it. I start with social problems, with outcomes, and then work backwards. My inner dialog went something like this:
Sociopolitically, where is the world trending, regardless of how I may feel about it? Toward socialism, collectivism, or at least communitarianism. Increased population density favors collectivist approaches, while making self-sufficiency more difficult.
Again, setting qualitative judgment aside, what is preventing this approach from succeeding? Above all else, healthcare. Nothing can be a right, an expectation, while it remains so expensive to deliver, while it obligates so many others in its fulfillment.
How can healthcare be democratized? Through the same commoditization that has put a mobile phone — a device superior by orders of magnitude to the $1M+ UNIVAC computer of the 1960s — in every hand.
What do you need to lead this idea to widespread adoption?
This is the beautiful part. All we need to make this a reality is what humanity has in spades: ambition. The pieces are already coming together. Technologies are emerging. Standards are gelling. Care strategies are evolving. Education and payment philosophies are morphing. Collaboration is happening — which is important because it will take a lot to make this a reality.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why.
To me this question reads as, “What are five skills you wish you’d mastered before you hit 20?” Because any number of people told me any number of valuable things that I simply didn’t take to heart, because I didn’t yet have the life skills that taught me their importance.
So here goes:
Accounting, investment. What do all (persistently) financially successful people have in common? They’re good with money.
Networking. Learn names. Learn names. Remember everyone you talk to, write them down, think about how you could accomplish more together than apart.
Delegation. I developed this one in spades in my twenties. Even so, though, I kept too many “sacred” tasks to myself. Unless it’s a skill you want to develop, if you have access to someone else who can do any particular task better, faster, or cheaper than you, tap them.
Diplomacy. Being young and hot blooded it’s so easy to see passion as the cardinal virtue, to see the world in black and white, and be forever crusading. But in our world, in our time, far more gets done through diplomacy, collaboration, and compromise, than through revolution.
Parkour. I’m convinced that all Middle and High School PE programs should be replaced with parkour. (I’m particularly exuberant about it because I have a condition similar to rheumatoid arthritis and went through a period where I could barely walk. Wall-running, flipping, and rolling feel almost superhuman to me, now.) Simply put, it’s the physical discipline of moving through the world without breaking yourself, and the psychological discipline of seeing every obstacle as an opportunity.
Can you share with our readers what you think are the most important “success habits” or “success mindsets”?
Treat yourself as a whole person. We all know — most entrepreneurs do — the pressures that push us into working hundred-hour weeks. That’s healthily sustainable in short bursts. For a good while, I made the mistake of building a lifestyle around it. Sure, that can result in hyper-productivity for a while (years, even). But it eventually catches up with you, hits your health, and starts to limit productivity and creativity. I don’t like the phrase “work/life balance” because it implies that work is not life. It is, it’s a major part of life. But it’s not the only part of life. I prefer, simply, “life balance.” Knowledge workers, software engineers particularly, are often prone to obsession, to “life imbalance.” It’s part of what makes us effective. But it means we have to proactively build a discipline of balance into our lives — it will not happen by itself.
Exercise and physical activity are part of that. That has been martial arts and dance for me in the past (and then neglected completely for a decade); today it’s Parkour. It could be yoga, bodybuilding, running — take your pick. But something physical is non-negotiable, not only for maintaining balance, but also for spurring the mind. Tony Robbins talks about taking affirmations to the next level, to what he calls “incantations,” by adding “physiology.” That is, putting physical passion behind your thoughts; making them real by speaking them out into the world, and putting your body behind them. This concept is not new. It’s taken up in some way by nearly every major religion: the need to do something physical to symbolize an intellectual, emotional, or spiritual choice. When I take the time to nurture my body, my mind feels the benefit.
I always want to be evolving. To change any behavior, it must be measured, and it must be accountable. Otherwise, it will follow the path of least resistance. I keep a spreadsheet with a row for every day, and a column for every daily discipline I maintain. It includes physical exercise, incantations, right thinking, service, family. Then I choose a couple people (close friends or family) to be accountable to. There’s ruthless honesty between us — I literally have no secrets.
I find that knowing who I am, and who I want to be, then writing all that down and tracking it, understanding the delta: it makes my path forward clear.
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 vision I’m painting is beyond the reach of any single VC — any dozen together. What’s more, it’s impossible at this point to game the outcome. We’re too early. All of us — operators and investors alike — need to nurture whatever promising building blocks we see. Something very much like what I’ve described will be the inevitable result of this successful execution.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
You can follow our progress at eVisit in simplifying healthcare delivery to everyone, everywhere.
Working through diverse perspectives, opinions, ideas, and ways of communicating takes extra effort. But decades of research across industries and cultures have proven that even the process of working through diverse ideas leads to better results, never mind the direct benefits that come from having multiple sources of ideas (as opposed to the same three over and over).
As a part of our series about “How Diversity Can Increase a Company’s Bottom Line”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Natalie Hausia-Haugen of Auth0.
Natalie Hausia-Haugen is the Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, responsible for accelerating Auth0’s DEI vision, policies and processes, and further developing Auth0’s culture of inclusion and belonging. Natalie brings more than 15 years of industry experience and most recently worked at Nike, where she held senior employee engagement, diversity and inclusion, and people-related roles. She was a leader on Nike’s diversity and inclusion employee council and the co-chair of Nike’s employee resources group for teammates of color with roots in Asia, the Middle East, and the Pacific Islands. Before Nike, Natalie worked for Target, Inc. leading both local and national diversity and inclusion strategies.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive into the main part of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you share a bit of your “backstory” with us?
Most of my career has focused on the employee experience as I have been passionate and inspired by people. Personally, diversity and inclusion has always been part of being in this world being the daughter of an immigrant and interracial marriage who was raised in the U.S. military and a woman of color who is “ambiguously ethnic.”
Over the past two decades my successes in my career have been rooted in helping others thrive, especially the underrepresented and the misunderstood. Because of these passions, both personally and professionally, I have always been drawn to DEI leadership roles, which is where I am today as Auth0’s Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
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?
One of the most meaningful projects I’ve ever worked on was with Target. I helped open the first stores in Hawai’i. It was especially meaningful because of my Polynesian heritage, and because I considered Honolulu my home. My role was intercultural training, helping Target teams learn about Hawaiian culture and what it meant to work there, and helping the local team members we hired in Hawai’i learn about Target culture and what it meant to work at Target.
This was important because, although Hawai’i is part of the United States, it is also, in many ways, its own nation. It was both a great honor and a great degree of responsibility for me to feel like a diplomat between the two cultures and people. As much as I appreciated my role with Target and respected them as an employer, I love the people and culture of Hawai’i immeasurably more. What made this more complex was that, at the end of the day, this was a business deal and Target was coming to Hawai’i to make money in a new market. I accepted the role knowing it meant I would be helping a big corporation come to a land and people who had already been annexed and colonized. I also accepted the job because I knew I would be able to help make sure Target did it right. All in all, the opening of Target stores was successful, in terms of sales, operations, and culturally. It was not perfect, and mistakes were made. But we were deliberate about working with local leaders, honoring traditional customs, respecting the pace and process of the islands even when it cost money and time. Unlike for other big corporations that had entered or tried to enter Hawai’i, protests were small and short-lived, and the locals embraced Target quickly.
One of the biggest lessons I took from this experience was that, even when I may not agree with a project 100%, I may be in a unique position to help align the results and ways of working more closely with what I do believe in. It may seem easy to say that if you don’t agree with something 100%, you should not agree to it at all. But it’s not that simple, especially when culture, social justice and business are involved. And though you may believe contributing to the work is the best thing, others may not understand, even when it is in service to them. You have to accept that. There will be many times you’ll have to play the role of diplomat, which can be exhausting. But it’s worth it.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you tell us a story about how that was relevant in your own life?
My favorite quote is from Dr. Maya Angelou, “You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like a cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn’t do anything to the object of its displeasure. So, use that anger. Write it, march it, vote it, do everything about it. Talk about it. Never stop talking about it.”
This quote is meaningful to me in many ways, but mostly because it validates emotions we are often told to hide or get over — either because it’s not professional, “ladylike,” or normal. It is common for people to be told or taught to stifle their true feelings when it makes others uncomfortable. This is often true for those in the minority or lesser position. So often, if our feelings risk making those in power feel something negative, or worse, culpable, we’re made to feel badly about these feelings. If you’ve ever been in the minority and felt wronged by or in conflict with those in charge, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Thanks in part to this quote from Dr. Angelou, I take note of when I feel myself or sense others discrediting a valid sentiment because we’re worried it may make someone in power feel uncomfortable. Yes, there are times when the setting or those present make it necessary to hold off from expressing that sentiment in that moment. But it does not mean the sentiment is not justified.
Acknowledging what you feel is necessary to get clear on the why, which is necessary to get clear on what can be done. And that’s the important part, that you don’t stay in that feeling but you use it to get somewhere better. What we cannot do is tell someone or ourselves that we shouldn’t feel the way we do. At best, it’s dishonest. At worst, it’s delaying a difficult truth that will have to be addressed one way or another and will only grow more difficult in the meantime. I can be angry with my parents, my leaders, or my government, and still be a good child, a good employee, and a good citizen.
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 husband, David Haugen. We met in college, over 20 years ago. I’ve been with him more than half of my life. There are many times when he has believed in me more than I have believed in myself. He knows where I’ve come from, the best parts of me that I’ve kept and sharpened, the parts of me I’ve had to change and heal, and the parts of me that still need work. He is also one person whose counsel I always trust because he is brilliant and wise, incapable of sugarcoating, and loves me unconditionally. So even if it’s hard to hear or not what I want to hear, I know it’s probably right. His faith and his counsel have often helped me keep moving forward until my faith and reason caught up.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Most companies have values, but at Auth0, our three values are beloved and common parts of our everyday work-life. They are used as shorthand to get us aligned quickly, to celebrate each other, and to guide decisions.
I believe that because our culture and mission are so strong, we attract people who know who they are; people who aren’t out to prove anything because they know who they are. This manifests in very active value alignment:
People don’t just do things because they’re told; they do what they believe is the right thing.
Our folks are joyful helpers. People don’t hold back from giving help, sharing information, tips, and things they’ve learned the hard way because they are confident in who they are, what they know and have done, so do not worry that making others better will decrease themselves.
Better ideas go unblocked by ego — people are more open to hearing each other out because, again, different, or new ideas do not challenge their own sense of achievement or value.
Are you working on any new or exciting projects now? How do you think that might help people?
I’m currently developing a workshop tentatively titled, Outshining the Skeptics. For context, let’s acknowledge that there are many programs aimed at helping companies hire more talent from underrepresented minorities. This is a good goal. However, one challenge is that if you are part of an underrepresented minority and get hired or promoted at a company that has publicly stated this is one of their goals, there’s a very real risk that others may believe you were only hired or promoted because you are a minority. This can be a very difficult label to carry or worry about, even when you know it’s not true.
The workshop I’m designing is meant to help those who are worried about being labeled as the “diversity hire/promotion.” In this workshop, you’ll dig deeper into the label, how you think it will manifest in your job, and the extent to which you want this concern to control how you work. You’ll get tools and tactics to help you not let this concern keep you from shining your brightest.
I’m passionate about this because it’s hard enough to get the job or the promotion when you’re in a system that wasn’t designed for you. We cannot have this newly hired or promoted talent wasting energy worrying about ignorant thinking or holding back their shine because they got a few signals from skeptics. Like I told members of our Women’s Leadership Group, “So what if some people think you got the role because you’re a woman. Forget that. Do your thing and soon enough, it will be so clear you’re where you should be, anyone who dares suggest otherwise will look jealous and desperate.” I realize it’s not as easy as that…but if we all linked arms, it could be.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I hope I have added goodness to the world by helping others see and be more of the goodness in themselves. For me, “success at work” has allowed me the opportunity to serve more people with greater impact. I only consider myself successful if my efforts have somehow helped others get closer to finding, being, and feeling the best versions of themselves. As I’ve been trusted with more elevated roles that have greater and greater impact, I’ve seen it as a way to help more and more people thrive at their jobs, believing that by doing so, it’s helping them thrive overall.
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 could talk about this all day, especially because when it comes to talking about DEI at work, most people think, “social justice.” But this is not about social justice. In this context, diversity is all about the bottom line.
If you’re going to quote me on this topic, you must include two extremely important things that must also be true, if your company’s bottom line is to benefit from diversity. And that is that one, you must have diversity throughout the process (i.e. as things are being created, tested, marketed, etc.). And two, you must have a culture in which diverse voices are respected.
Assuming those two things are true, below are five ways diversity impacts a company’s bottom line:
Diverse teams = greater market share for your bottom line. These days, just about anyone can design, create, and sell a product or service. This growing number of options and increasing access to sellers means consumers are less dependent on businesses to tell them what they should do or buy or think. It flips the relationship. Now businesses better be listening to and understanding their consumers. If they don’t, consumers have no problem swiping left until something resonates. The best way to know your consumers? Have them on your team. For example at Auth0, one reason we stand out in our industry, the identity and access management space, is that we were the first and are the best at selling directly to the developer community, while our competitors sell at the enterprise level. The reason we were able to establish and own this market is because our team is made of developers.
Diverse teams help you do no (less) harm, saving your bottom line from reputational damage, lawsuits, and recalling a product that’s already hit the market. As is often said in the legal system, ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law. In other words, just because you do not intend to cause harm, it does not absolve you of responsibility for the harm you caused. This is another reason diversity on your team is important. You don’t know what you don’t know. The more diversity you have at various stages of the process, the more likely you are to have someone identify a risk or issue you don’t want. Clothing retailers provide many examples of this. For example, a retailer releasing clothing designs or marketing ads that are blatantly offensive to certain demographics that probably would have been caught if someone from or adjacent to those demographics had been somewhere in the process and able to speak up. One tech example is facial recognition software which has been proven to be significantly less accurate for Black, Brown, immigrant and trans faces, leading to particularly dangerous consequences when used for policing. While I cannot speak to who was or wasn’t in the rooms for this software, I can say it was not diverse enough to include a very wide range of the population it negatively impacts.
Diversity in your strategy = your ability to create or sell in the first place. It’s not enough for a company to say they support an important cause. Their support must be demonstrated through their business practices and partners. Having a stance on DEI and strategies to support them will impact your ability to get the contract, as well as your ability to get the supplies or partnerships you need to produce what you sell. At Auth0, it is with increasing frequency that we complete surveys that include details on our DEI strategy before a potential customer finalizes the sale. In the same way, there are some companies we simply will not do business with because their actions and values do not align with ours. Consumer research shows us DEI matters are of increasing importance to an increasingly diverse market. We’re only a few years out from a day when companies who do not truly care about diversity will be looked at like a company who openly dumps waste in the ocean. Only, they won’t get time to clean it up the way companies did back in the 70s and 80s.
Diversity = tension = strength. The reason we even have to talk about diversity — why it requires focus — is because it’s difficult. It’s difficult because it requires you to change (i.e. if you keep doing things the way you do them, you’ll keep getting the same results) and it adds something new into the system. Change and new things take extra effort. And in the same way lifting weights or learning a new song on the piano takes extra effort at first, it makes us better all-around. Working through diverse perspectives, opinions, ideas, and ways of communicating takes extra effort. But decades of research across industries and cultures have proven that even the process of working through diverse ideas leads to better results, nevermind the direct benefits that come from having multiple sources of ideas (as opposed to the same three over and over).
Diversity overall = healthy habits that help when diversity is low. If you come from a team or system where diversity — and the results of diversity — is the norm, you know why it’s important and you notice when it’s missing. This is helpful for those unavoidable times when there is less diversity around the table than you’d like. It helps you pause and ask, “Who are we not thinking about?” or “What questions are we not asking?” Even if you cannot get access to more diversity, you can note the risks and adjust accordingly. For example, we had an engineering team working through a new solution that would be applied across our global company. Unfortunately, due to time zones and deadlines, certain regions of the world were not represented on the project team. Knowing that the missing perspectives of these regions would mean missing out on nuances only those in-country would know or could experience, the project team agreed to adjust their goals. Instead of developing a global solution, they would pilot a solution for EMEA and the Americas, factoring in as much as they could about the other regions, but not commit to full rollout until the other regions worked through the challenge, too. As a result, the solution was rolled out six weeks later but with an error rate that was 75% lower than expected, and a 99% adoption rate four weeks ahead of schedule, across all regions.
What advice would you give to other business leaders to help their employees to thrive?
The best advice I can give other business leaders is to lead with empathy and foster aspace where courage, real freedom, and our shared humanity meet. These ingredients will help create a culture of inclusion and belonging where all people can show up as their authentic self, speak their truth, learn, develop, and grow together.
As leaders, it is also important to hold people accountable. For DEI leaders, this means first defining what it means to be inclusive and consistently demonstrating that being anything less than inclusive is not an acceptable. Period. By building this inclusive culture employees will believe they are being seen and heard, which enables positive company culture.
What advice would you give to other business leaders about how to manage a large team?
Protect your middle: Larger teams start to have more layers. As your team gains more layers, it becomes increasingly important you take care of the middle managers who often bear the added stress of pressure from above and below, but lack the relief or benefits that come with meaningful power and access. These folks are already tired from balancing pressure on both sides, then you add the extra work they’re putting in to earn their way to the next level. At the same time, they’re incredibly important because they care for the masses AND they are the next set of leaders. It’s a strange irony of business that such an important group with so much impact on the majority of your team should also be the ones who are most worn out and feel the least empowered. As the boss’s boss, you will do well to have a strategy dedicated to caring for this middle group. They manage the masses and are your future.
Make sure you “have clothes on.” There’s an old folktale called, “The Emperor Has No Clothes,” about an emperor who is tricked into thinking he’s wearing invisible clothes but is actually naked. His employees and subjects are so worried about making him upset or looking dumb, they do not tell the emperor they see him as naked. He ends up walking naked in a parade until a child finally says the truth. Recognize and reward those who give you difficult news and challenge your thinking. Make sure people know you reward this behavior and expect it. While it may be nice to be surrounded by people who make you feel good, smart, and like everything is in control, it is also a sure way to find yourself in a bad situation that should have been prevented.
Trust Your People and Lift Up: Realize that there are some important things that only you can do for your team, given the access and position you have as a leader. This means, if you’re not doing it, no one else can, which means, you don’t have time to do the things your team CAN do. Trust them to do it so you can focus your time and energy doing the things they need in order to be successful, but can’t do it themselves.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this
Lena Waithe. She’s so many of my favorite things about this world, all in one person: she’s a brilliant teller of untold stories; she’s naturally gifted but has also worked incredibly hard to develop her craft; she’s not just brave — she’s also brave enough to go out front; she respects and grows from criticism instead of letting it bring her down; as her access and platform grows, she cannot help but use it to bring others up; she wants to entertain and make you think; plus, she has wicked fresh style.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Be customer focused which leads to loyalty. Find out what your customer pain points are. Ask questions to understand better what their needs are and then begin creating strategies around the information you discover. This shows that you have gone above and beyond to serve them in a way that most brands won’t. It also communicates that you are listening to your customers and taking action to solve those problems. This helps customers feel connected to your brand.
Regina Lynn helps Brands through creating compelling visual media so that they can establish strong first impressions with consumers and be the leading expert in their field.
She is the Founder of Regina Lynn Visuals, helping brands to have representation of themselves that stands out through photography and video. After working in the luxury event space for 10 years and with various brands, Regina Lynn uses her experience to help others show up in a way where they can get past the noise and be seen. She’s worked with companies including, Martha Stewart, House of Kirschner, Origins Healthcare, and various fitness franchises.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Since I was a young girl, I was always fascinated with creating content. I remember playing on my Windows Movie Maker trying to create entertaining videos. It wasn’t until I went off to college and discovered how much I really enjoyed and thrived at creating stories that I decided to pursue creating content for business’s.
After graduating, I went straight into editing full time for a Non-profit organization. Creating their marketing and advertising content. I watched them more than double their growth nationally and internationally, within those 4 years of working for them. It was an unforgettable experience to play a leading role using video marketing and advertising to drive sales and build brand awareness.
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?
My mistakes were more created around making a grammatical errors. I happen to be one of those writers that isn’t the best speller. Fortunately, I’ve always worked with very detailed teams and organizations that catch things like that which has helped me get better.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
My company is huge on making sure the details and the bigger picture are communicated effectively to the audience. We also like to make sure the client feels supported and clear through the process of working together.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
I am gearing up to launch my branding department in a bigger way. I have years of experience creating digital marketing and sales content for brands and private companies. Reopening these services allows me to better serve my clients in a greater capacity.
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 a way of identifying your business. In essence, it’s your identity. It’s about how you show up, how customers experience your look, language, and company culture. All these elements are how your customers experience your brand. Advertising is about the promotion of a specific product or service to gain sales and attract interest. Product marketing is about the process of bringing a product to the market and knowing what message to convey and to who. You are defining the target market and value proposition in the marketplace and driving the demand and usage of the 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?
How your brand shows up mattersand can ultimately impact your bottom line.By making the choice to invest your resources and energy into your brand, you are solidifying your position in the marketplace. This can lead to more sales, attracting better customers, and commanding a premium price. Strong branding boost the overall value of your company and creates a long term connection with customers.
Can you share 5 strategies that a company should be doing to build a trusted and believable brand? Please tell us a story or example for each.
Get clear on what your brand identity will be and start to align your organization around those values. Allow your customers to experience your brand at every touch point. This will reinforce who your brand is and their values every time a customer comes in contact with you.
Be customer focused which leads to loyalty. Find out what your customer pain points are. Ask questions to understand better what their needs are and then begin creating strategies around the information you discover. This shows that you have gone above and beyond to serve them in a way that most brands won’t. It also communicates that you are listening to your customers and taking action to solve those problems. This helps customers feel connected to your brand.
Share reviews and testimonials. 74% of consumers identify word of mouth as the key influence in their purchasing decision, but only 33% of business are actively seeking out and collecting reviews (see reference below). Share what people are saying about your brand and show people experiencing your brand. This creates social proof about your company and continues to solidify the experience customers have with your brand.
Show up on social media. This can sound daunting but it’s not once you understand where your customers are. This allows you to be very specific on which social media channels you show up on. You are then able to start interacting directly and building your connection to your customers via social media. This is a very powerful tool that brands can leverage in many different ways.
Create content. Provide information that educates them on a problem that your brand solves. Give away tips and other information that show customers how to make informed purchasing decisions. Create content about your company culture, inviting them in to who you are as a brand. Create content that provides value. In return, this elevates your authority and expertise in your field, making you the expert.
In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job building a believable and beloved brand. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?
I think of Disney. I love how I feel every time I make a purchase from them or interact with their team members. They always go the extra mile and it shows at their theme parks and on the big screen. I appreciate how they’ve stayed relevant as the marketplace has shifted. They are very present with their customers and have mastered the art of selling through story, providing amazing customer service and an incredible brand experience. Whether we are attending a theme park or watching a movie we leave with the Disney experience.
A brand can replicate this buy honing in the brand experience they want to create for customers and fine tuning the customer service. Using story to sell products or services is also a powerful tool that helps create a more engaging and entertaining sales process. It also builds trust and rapport and positions you in the seat of influence during the buying decision. These three components executed in your company, position you to be the leading voice in your industry.
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?
Branding is about your brand identity. Advertising is about promoting your brand, product or service. You will measure the success of an ad campaign by your sales before, during and after the campaign. In a branding campaign you are looking to measure how much engagement the brand received. On social media platforms that’s looking at the engagement rate, impressions, likes, shares. You also want to look at the click through rate and see how many people landed on your website. This information gives you how effective your branding campaign was.
What role does social media play in your branding efforts?
Every company should be on social media. Unlike traditional marketing, social media is a way to get your brand in front of people more quickly and easier. Some of the benefits of social media include building brand awareness and conversations around your brand. Promoting and marketing your services and products, and it allows you to gather data from audience research directly from the platform. Social media will only continue to grow and is a great tool for your brand to show up and engage with prospects and current customers. It’s a great place to incorporate advertising, marketing and branding strategies to grow your brand and create long term relationships with customers. I highly recommend jumping on board and utilizing this powerful tool.
What advice would you give to other marketers or business leaders to thrive and avoid burnout?
Make a plan. Marketing, at first can sound daunting, especially to someone that isn’t a marketer, but with anything that’s new you’ve got to decide what’s best to keep in house or hire out. When hiring, take your time as you get to know the company you are considering working with. I have seen business’s hire out their marketing and see a huge drop in the brand’s engagement, following, and even have been locked out of their accounts. Get to know the company you are hiring and make sure it’s a right fit for your brand.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Show up for your brand. There are so many great brands out there that do a lot of good work that don’t get seen because they haven’t understood how to effectively market themselves. You owe it to yourself to make sure your brand is seen and people know you exist.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Life doesn’t happen to you, it happens for you” by Tony Robbins
This is the perspective I use whenever I am working through low points in life. It reminds me how powerful I really am. Often times we can feel like because things didn’t go as planned or we didn’t have the same opportunities as others that we are powerless or we start to victimize ourselves. This quote reminds me to keep going, lean in and decide to make it to the other side of whatever I may be facing at the time.
We are blessed that very prominent leaders in business and entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world with whom you would like to have a lunch or breakfast with? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them.
Kris Jenner, Maye Musk and Sara Blakely– All very smart women. Have either raised or are raising kids and have built a legacy. I would love to go to lunch with them, let my hair down and pick their minds about their journey in life and laugh a lot.
Everyone’s end goal is lasting happiness. Not all realize this, but we wrongly assume the means (home, job, partner, promotion etc.) as the end. The means (disguised as ends in our mind) only provide short-lived happiness and we continue the rat race.
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 Rajesh Sengamedu.
Rajesh’s life mission is to help people live happy & healthy.
Rajesh Sengamedu is a yoga practitioner for over 30+ years combining body-work (hatha-yoga), breath-work (pranayama), mind-work (meditation) & diet. He coaches yoga, breathing & meditation techniques to family, colleagues, friends and helps in changing to sustainable and healthy food habits. Rajesh is also a student of Vedanta philosophy, seeing the ‘oneness‘ & ‘connectedness‘ everywhere. His goal is to integrate the Vedantic teachings along with the yoga, pranayama & meditation techniques and help people live healthy & happy.
Rajesh is a business development executive for a consulting IT services company and based in Bay Area.
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 am a sales & marketing professional. After three years of working in manufacturing plants, I felt I wanted to be closer to the customer. Manufacturing seemed routine — same plant & shopfloor, lifeless machines, production orders and shipment. I realized that I was interacting with machines that make monotonous noise, than with people. What I was doing was not what I wanted to do. This was the biggest a-ha moment and I decided to make a change.
I am a lifelong student of human behavior making my small little mental notes about each interaction and trying to decode what drives a person. (as a side note, hopefully this study will yield enough material to write my first fiction book!). It was only natural that I choose sales as my profession because it provides ample opportunities to interact with many people, understand their stated & unstated needs, wants and provide solutions to contribute to their success. Consulting services was a natural fit for me because I can go beyond the technology stack, shape the customer needs and deliver a solution to create their business success and personal wins.
Can you please share with us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
There are many interesting stories but one that comes to my mind is how I met Ratan Tata, the Chairman of Tata Sons, who run global businesses from steel, automobiles to software. I was in the airport lounge when I saw him get off his car and sprinting up the stairs. I took my chance and stopped him, asking him a question, “Sir, are you Ratan Tata?” and he smilingly said yes. He was almost benevolent that a rookie young kid recognized him! I think I asked him another yes or no question and we both went our ways. His humility attracted me. He had no bodyguards around him, no secretary to carry his briefcase and surely was not flying in private jet! I came to realize later that by design Tata Sons is a trust that distributes all profits to the society and Mr. Tata, though was a Chief Executive of several companies, was a trustee of the wealth generated, not taking more than what he needed for his living, despite running huge multi-billion dollar business empire.
Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?
In the first two decades of my career, I was primarily driven by the capitalism credo — make more money and make it fast. My decisions were driven primarily by money as I subconsciously gave a higher weightage to money. It became a goal. Strangely, I had separated life and work in my mind and had a different philosophy for life which was to be good, do good and to stay humble. At times, I was conflicted that these two goals did not align.
The last decade has been driven by the philosophy of the famous Hindu scripture, The Bhagavad Gita.I understood that money was just a means to an end. I knew with unfailing certainty what the ‘end goal’ of my life was. This clarity in understanding what the means & end are, gave meaning to all the work I was doing — at workplace, in the community and for my family. The clarity also meant that I was able to fit the puzzle of life, viewing work as ‘part’ of my life rather than seeing work & life as distinct compartments with the weekdays devoted to work and weekends to life!
I hope to summarize Gita’s profound philosophy in a few statements as I have assimilated it. This is secular, highly practical and applicable to everyone, irrespective of what their beliefs are.
Everyone’s end goal is lasting happiness. Not all realize this, but we wrongly assume the means (home, job, partner, promotion etc.) as the end. The means (disguised as ends in our mind) only provide short-lived happiness and we continue the rat race.
Lasting happiness can come only to a mind that is equanimous, calm and accepting.
To develop such a mind, one should train it to serve others, and never our selfish interests. One should make decisions always using the principle of the ‘larger good’. To train the mind, we use our current life-situations and make the various roles (parent, neighbor, professional at work, friend etc.) we play as mind’s training ground.
Such training expands the mind and makes it inclusive, ultimately seeing the unity in diversity clearly. The training is also a conscious daily attempt to correct the wrong assumptions about ourselves. This develops a new vision of who we are.
When wrong assumptions are removed, the mind naturally becomes equanimous because its cravings & our desires are no more about the means. Then the life goal of lasting happiness is realized.
Ok thank you for that. Let’s now move to the main focus of our interview. Can you tell us about your “Big Idea That Might Change The World”?
My idea is to encourage people to fast regularly and eat mindfully, attuning themselves to natural cycles.
Fasting has been proven to improve health, and a positive side effect is we also save money! The money saved can be donated to charities who deliver food to the hungry.
Nature moves in cycles — monthly and annual cycles being two important ones. The waxing and waning of the moon form the monthly cycle. We see the effect on large water bodies like the oceans. Given our body is 70% liquid, it is only natural that even we are impacted by the moon. Therefore, it is recommended to fast once a fortnight to rest the body and bring it back in tune with nature. This is a time-tested ancient practice known as ekadasi (to fast on the 11th day of waxing /waning moon to neutralize ill-effects of the changes on our body) that millions follow since age immemorial with positive benefits.
Food acts like a natural medicine when we intake right quantity and quality of food. It is only when we overeat or eat the wrong type of food, we fall sick and need to consume medicine as food!
Fasting and eating mindfully saves money too! The money can be donated to charities who are working to solve hunger.
I want to create a platform that would help people track their eating and fasting habits, estimate money saved and connect them to charities of their choice to donate. They can choose to donate part, or all the money saved to help the needy.
This simple idea will improve health and lifespan of people. It will also be a great way of uplifting those who struggle with food scarcity.
How do you think this will change the world?
About 700 million people go hungry every day. On the other hand, over a billion people suffer chronic health issues primarily due to the wrong foods consumed, overeating & incorrect eating habits. According to World Health Organization, studies have shown that unhealthy diet is one of the key reasons in development of chronic diseases like heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and some types of cancer. Not giving sufficient rest to digestive system to recuperate is known as the root cause of many illnesses.
If a billion people can fast once a fortnight, and eat only what the body needs, that is a lot of money saved which can be donated to charities delivering food to needy.
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?
It is said that food is medicine. When we are careful about what we eat, how much we eat, we don’t fall sick that often and it also improves our immunity, flexibility and overall wellbeing.
When people adopt fasting & healthy eating habits, they automatically become conscious of what they eat, how much and the quality of food. This will reduce their consumption on essentials, that would likely disrupt the food chains because of reduced demand. Restaurants and grocery stores may see lower footfall as people attune themselves to the changing lunar cycles by fasting once a fortnight.
As people become healthy, and immune, they also make frequent trips to doctors and hospitals, reducing the undue demand placed on these institutions. In addition, research money to develop new drugs can be redirected towards sustainable farming and living practices.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this idea? Can you tell us that story?
Since many years, I fast once a fortnight. For the last five years, I also practiced mindful eating during the four months of big seasonal changes corresponding to the period — mid-July to mid-November (annual solar cycle and this period is known as chaturmasa — ‘four months’). I have experienced improved health and mental well-being and was able to rid myself of several chronic issues like frozen shoulder, asthma and improved body flexibility and immunity. I found myself increasingly happier and contented. Moreover, I was fortunate that I did not take any medication to stay healthy!
In 2020, a few friends joined me to practice regular fortnightly fasting for a whole year as well as adapting to mindful eating during July to November. Some of them had led a consumerist lifestyle where food was central to their life and enjoyment and each one had some health issue or the other. The health benefits and personality transformation they saw in themselves by fortnightly fasting and seasonal mindful eating was awe- inspiring. We also discovered that we were saving money too. Then one day, we connected the dots when we asked ourselves, “What if we encourage others to live healthy, save money and donate?”
Excited with our personal transformation stories, we decided to encourage friends and family to fast and join in mindful eating. We co-authored a book, “Wellbeing through Food & Discipline | The Chaturmasa Diaries” to share our experiences of aligning our food habits to the changing monthly lunar and annual solar cycles. In 2021, we have doubled the number of participants who have signed up for Chaturmasa mindful eating!
That’s how the idea of the platform to encourage fasting and mindful eating came about.
What do you need to lead this idea to widespread adoption?
Presently, we are influencing friends and family through word of mouth. We also wrote the book to demystify fasting, mindful eating and provide scientific explanations (where possible) to encourage people to make lifestyle changes. We feel that our ambition of encouraging people to live healthy while contributing to reduce food scarcity is not overly ambitious. It may take time for it to become mainstream, but once we create a platform, it can spread faster.
The platform itself is a simple mobile and web-based application that would encourage people to fast, save and donate. We explained in detail what the platform would do in our book.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
This is a great question. Let me summarize my 5 wishes:
I wish someone had told me that food is primarily for nourishment.
I wish someone had told me that when faced with a choice between nourishment and indulgence, one should choose nourishment.
I wish someone had scientifically explained the interconnection of the nature’s lunar and solar cycles on our body & mind and connected the power of fasting, or mindful eating attuned to changing seasons to our health.
I wish someone had explained that we all are so intricately interconnected, and our habits have a long cascading reaction on the food chain and nature’s ecosystem. Positive food habits will create positive reactions while consumerist habits creating ecological imbalance.
Finally, I wish someone had told me the mind-body connection and explained that holistic health means not just physical, but includes sensory, emotional, intellectual health as well and food plays a key role in our wellbeing.
Can you share with our readers what you think are the most important “success habits” or “success mindsets”?
Definition of success is person dependent. I would encourage the readers to first spend a few minutes to daily reflect on what success means for them with three timeline horizons in mind — the day, the month and the year. If one journals this for a few weeks, one will see interesting thought patterns, that are current habits. Then, one should critically ask if they need to change any of the habits. Usually, we would know what to do to become a better version of ourselves — no one need to tell us!
Second, we must make a resolution to change and become better version daily. Sticking to our resolution improves our self-esteem. When we respect our word to our own self, it shows in our interactions with others and that would make others respect our word too. This creates harmony and plants seeds of mutual success.
If one notices predominance of a streak of selfish interest in their thinking pattern, then one must deliberately focus on replacing it with the principle of ‘larger good’ and drive their decisions, big and small based on that.
Like the Jim Carrey movie — Yes Man, one of the key success habits is to say ‘yes’ to helping others anytime and spread the goodness without expecting anything in return. We can choose to help materially, or by devoting our time or sharing our knowledge. Be assured that nature has a strange way of returning what is due to you, not necessarily from the same person you helped!
Finally, focusing our energies one hundred percent into the efforts we can control and accepting the outcomes cheerfully — whether they meet our expectations or not is important aspect of developing a peaceful mind.
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 Covid-19 pandemic has clearly shown that the world is a living, breathing interconnected organism. Ripple effects of what one does in one part of the world will be felt in the opposite corner of the world, sooner or later. Our consumerist actions can cause icebergs to melt in the poles, make snakes & tigers extinct, cause exploitation of children, women and weaklings in sweat shops, make rainforests vanish. On a smaller scale, we can see increased thefts, violence and assaults in the neighborhood when extreme inequality on food will force people to go to all means.
VCs should focus on investing in socially conscious startups who will commit to make a difference at ground level to improve lives. VCs must see that startups are a way of not just creating wealth for shareholders but also can be used as vehicles for societal change. Investing in sustainable, ethical practices will create that positive spiral to uplift society from the deep challenges we all face — homelessness, climate change, poverty and hunger.
Commitment and tenacity pay off. As a person of color, I have learned that to get ahead, you need to be able to bring tenacity and perseverance in the face of obstacles to the table and demonstrate unwavering commitment to your work. These traits are what have helped propel my career and driven me to always do better.
In many large cities in the US, there is a crisis caused by a shortage of affordable housing options. This has led to a host of social challenges. In this series called “How We Are Helping To Make Housing More Affordable” we are talking to successful business leaders, real estate leaders, and builders, who share the initiatives they are undertaking to create more affordable housing options in the US.
As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Neveo Mosser.
As Chief Executive Officer of Mosser Companies for over two decades, Neveo Mosser has built a game-changing real estate investment and property management firm that has thrived in America’s most competitive markets. Neveo is also the Co-Founder and Chairman of the company’s private equity unit, Mosser Capital, which manages real estate assets in some of California’s largest and most sought-after cities: San Francisco, Oakland, and Los Angeles.
Neveo’s work has instilled in him a great sense of community commitment, which has manifested into numerous leadership roles within the public sector. For over 22 years, he served as Commissioner on the San Francisco Residential Rent Board, a mayoral-appointed position. He was also a member of the iREOC Board of Governors and the University of California Berkeley Fisher Center Policy Advisory Board and serves on the Executive Board of Directors of the San Francisco Apartment Association and the Coalition for Better Housing. Previously Neveo served as president for the San Francisco Apartment Association, the Coalition for Better Housing and as an executive board member for the California Apartment Association. He also has served on the board for African American Cultural Center of San Francisco, the Tenderloin Community Business Improvement District, and the Tenderloin YMCA.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
My pleasure. My name is Neveo Mosser. I am the Chief Executive Officer of Mosser Companies and Chairman of Mosser Capital Management. My family has been in the real estate business in San Francisco for my entire life. My father started Mosser 65 years ago.
I started as a janitor in the family business and worked my way through every area of the business. I spent 30 years living in the different buildings we owned to get a feel for our inventory and ensure we were offering a quality living experience. This has led me to my current position, where I’ve spent the past two decades building a game-changing real estate investment and property management firm that has thrived in one of America’s most competitive markets.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
Living alongside and experiencing my father’s approach to life and his accomplishments, including his perspective, philanthropy and humility throughout his lifetime are, by far, the most interesting part not just of my life, but of my career. This was a man who grew up dirt poor and built an everlasting legacy. He was my greatest mentor and I have tried to emulate his positivity throughout my life and career.
One particularly interesting story that comes to mind is when my father chose to migrate to the Philippines to promote organic farming and the reforestation of denuded forests. He also worked to create education opportunities for the impoverished there. At that point, in the sunset of his life, he became a chief, or datu, of an indigenous group of people in the mountains on the island of Mindanao — he was not even of Philippine descent. There was nothing uninteresting about my father and the hundreds of lessons he imparted to me.
I am proud to be carrying on and growing the family business he began.
Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Are there takeaways or lessons that others can learn from that?
I started to see the most success, both personally and professionally, when I truly leaned in on community development in my day-to-day work. In the mid-1990s Mosser purchased central towers in Downtown San Francisco and grew our footprint in the city’s Pacific Heights and Russian Hill neighborhoods. In the midst of this incredible community development, I was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Tenderloin Community Benefit District, which prioritized the goal of leading the evolution of the Tenderloin into a vibrant community for all.
I also joined the Board of Directors of the Tenderloin Museum, the San Francisco Apartment Association, the Coalition for Better Housing, and the California Apartment Association. Shortly thereafter, I was appointed CEO of Mosser Companies.
This tremendous community involvement that resulted from my daily efforts to better the many neighborhoods Mosser was in allowed me to successfully achieve what was and still is my main goal: creating better places for people to live by delivering caring management and community development.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person to whom you are grateful who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
My father was a tremendous influence on the way I do business. He taught us that we had a great responsibility to lead by example and give back to the community in support of our residents — who are as diverse as they come.
In the 1970s our father invested in a full block in the Western Addition with over 117 apartments. The neighborhood was predominantly African-American, and the properties were run-down, but he saw the great opportunity to improve the community both physically and operationally. Through upgrades and service, we were able to benefit both the residents and the neighborhood, and that is exactly what he did. He called it the Mosser Magic.
Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?
The Alchemist, by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho, resonated with me from the first read. In following the journey of shepherd boy Santiago, I learned the importance of thinking outside the box, thinking big, and working hard to achieve my goals. These lessons have turned into the pillars of success in my career and I am fortunate to have picked up this book early on in my life.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
My father used to say, “the eye of the owner fattens the horse,” as he taught us benevolent capitalism. Because when businesses operate consciously, they can be an architect or a catalyst for making the environment a better place and contribute to the greater good. I have experienced this myself now as Mosser found we could do this by strategically investing in and improving neighborhoods that need some positive attention, with the goal for the community to win too. Our goal is to be good community stewards, lead by example, and partner with the community to make them better than we found them.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about the shortage of affordable housing. Lack of affordable housing 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. I know this is a huge topic, but for the benefit of our readers can you briefly explain to our readers what brought us to this place? Where did this crisis come from?
For years, there has been push and pull between landlords, policymakers, and cities, particularly with regard to land use regulations and restrictions on development. Because of that, there is a shortage of developable property that causes land costs to go up and creates scarcity of various development projects.
Currently, no state has an adequate supply of affordable and available homes for extremely low-income renters, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s 2021 GAP report. In order to address this problem, policymakers, landlords and cities must be able to join forces. In many ways, the COVID-19 crisis is forcing these groups to collaborate, and hopefully we start seeing some substantial change sooner than later.
Can you describe to our readers how your work is making an impact to address this crisis? Can you share some of the initiatives you are leading to help correct this issue?
Mosser seeks to create opportunities for policymakers and business leaders to come together and discuss and enact remedies to the housing crisis. We strive to offer our expertise in rent regulated housing to create more opportunities to convert rent regulated properties and market rate buildings into long term, affordable and covenant restricted housing. Moreover, our experience with rent regulated affordable workforce housing allows us to help lead California with strategy and on preserving true quality, well managed affordable housing.
We are also presently working with regulators on land use and density matters to achieve more potential program development that will improve and preserve naturally occurring affordable housing.
Can you share something about your work that makes you most proud? Is there a particular story or incident that you found most uplifting?
I am most proud of the differences we make to communities while keeping their cultural integrity intact. We work to empower tenants and residents in the transitional areas we work in and assist in bringing in our resources into these neighborhoods that are less desirable, making them more vibrant. We are a unicorn of the industry in the way we stand for diversity, inclusion and equity, and the way we are able to maintain individual neighborhoods’ character as we restore their vibrancy makes me proud.
In your opinion, what should other home builders do to further address these problems?
I believe it is less about home builders and more about regulators in terms of addressing these problems. In order to tackle the housing crisis, regulators must reduce the regulations on deed restricted buildings and enable more supply. This will help with both affordability and availability.
With current hurdles and restrictions in place, it is not possible to open up these properties for more uses, such as affordable housing, which stunts the movement to address the crisis. Cities change over time, and in order to best address this crisis we need to build housing across income levels.
We must address NIMBYism and its effect on reducing the ability to create smart density and move for smart and innovative building developments in and along transit nodes and retail areas. We, collectively, must thoroughly look at the 40-plus years of failed housing policy in many of our cities, which has resulted in displacement and a lack of affordable housing, and not repeat what hasn’t worked.
If you had the power to influence legislation, are there laws which you would like to see introduced that might help you in your work?
I would love to see laws that support smart growth in suburban communities with exceptional public transportation services or along transit corridors. These communities are home to untapped potential in terms of increasing housing development opportunities.
State Assemblyman Scott Weiner had introduced legislation pre-pandemic that made good sense in this regard. However, NIMBYism and local control arguments prevailed to stop the passage of what constituted a commonsense approach to increasing affordable housing opportunities across the state.
In the absence of legislation that supports development in these critical neighborhoods, it is challenging to create more affordable housing and help these communities grow and realize their full potential, which is what we are all about.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started leading my company” and why? Please share a story or example for each.
Communication is key. In the absence of strong communication many messages and efforts are lost. I have learned this the hard way, as inaccurate assumptions have been made in the past about Mosser. Because of this, I have had to learn to work hard at stepping up my communications efforts to be more visible and transparent. In the past I would simply do the right thing but not talk about my actions, and now I am making an effort to make sure people know more about me and Mosser’s efforts.
Commitment and tenacity pay off. As a person of color, I have learned that to get ahead, you need to be able to bring tenacity and perseverance in the face of obstacles to the table and demonstrate unwavering commitment to your work. These traits are what have helped propel my career and driven me to always do better.
Do not place too much emphasis on pedigree. I have never subscribed to the notion of pedigree as a necessity, but the pressures to do so in business are imminent. Throughout my career, I have done my best to turn no blind eyes to the talent in front of me. For this reason, many minorities have found thriving careers at Mosser. Pedigree, nor image for that matter, is not a perquisite to working hard and making a difference in this world.
Details matter. While in the midst of long work days and career stressors, it is easy to focus on the macro themes related to your business. But, diving deeper into those themes and soaking up as many smaller details as possible will serve you well. Focusing on the details has allowed me to learn how to manage top to bottom and inside out.
No start is too small. As I mentioned earlier, I started my career as a janitor at Mosser. Obviously, this was no glamorous entry level job. But the lessons I learned and the values that were instilled in me during this time are what have made me who I am today. No first job is perfect, and no first job determines who you are and where you are headed.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
I believe the most good can be done for the most people if more people could learn not to judge a book by its cover and give everyone a fair and equal chance. Throughout my career, I have sought to enact this approach whenever and wherever possible, and I hope that has inspired others to act the same and grow this movement for equality.
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.
Barack Obama is an inspiration to me. He is a person of color who has been incredibly successful, relatable and all around a great person and I have often admired him throughout my career.
I have a long list of role models that are now deceased who I would have loved to have a meeting with and will forever admire.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
…Be authentic. Take the risk of being who I am and who we are. For The Collective, that means being unapologetically Black. I resist the “minority,” and “people of color” labels. Black people (African-Americans) have a unique and peculiar history in this country unlike anyone else. When we first started developing our marketing materials, the PR firm kept referring to us as “people of color.” We kept reinforcing the message that we are a Black-owned and led company and that we are focused on closing the racial wealth gap as it impacts the Black community. It’s our obligation. We have attracted a huge amount of support from outside the Black community, and I think it’s because people are drawn to authenticity.
In many large cities in the US, there is a crisis caused by a shortage of affordable housing options. This has led to a host of social challenges. In this series called “How We Are Helping To Make Housing More Affordable” we are talking to successful business leaders, real estate leaders, and builders, who share the initiatives they are undertaking to create more affordable housing options in the US.
As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Sandra Dungee Glenn.
Sandra Dungee Glenn is Founder and Convenor of The Collective, a group of Black real estate developers, investment professionals, and policy experts advancing social impact development in Philadelphia. Sandra is a seasoned leader with forty years of experience in public policy, electoral politics, education, and community organizing. She has served in executive level positions and is skilled in creating public engagement strategies and managing political and institutional relationships. Sandra is an experienced convener who brings diverse stakeholders together to attack multi-faceted, interdisciplinary urban issues.
Thank you so much for doing this with us Sandra! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
I was born and raised in Philadelphia. My mother was a teacher and my father a pharmacist who owned his own drugstore, Dungee Pharmacy, from the 1950’s to the mid-1960’s. I was blessed to grow up in a pretty ideal environment; my neighborhood was almost 100% Black homeowners and solidly working class with a mix of professionals like my parents. Some things that made a deep impression on me were how the neighbors knew and cared for each other. On report card day, I remember being asked about my grades before I even got home. I remember my grandmother hosting the Block Club meetings and the care and pride that went into making sure the refreshments were “just right” for our neighbors. Finally, I remember my two next door neighbors, Mr. Ewell and Mr. Morgan, who were my grandmother’s age and took such pride in my father; they called him “Doc.” My dad represented what Black progress looked like to them. My childhood wasn’t perfect by a long shot — there was gang war violence and hardcore racism in housing and education — but my block was a refuge, providing protection, safety, and support. After college, I returned to Philadelphia and over the next forty years watched the disintegration of neighborhoods like mine. As a school board member, nonprofit CEO, charter school leader, and political operative, I’ve been on a mission of self-determination — more specifically for my people, but for fairness overall. Philadelphia is on a positive trajectory on many fronts, but it’s also moving toward a “tale of two cities.” To date, the prosperity isn’t benefiting Black businesses, neighborhoods, or residents. I launched The Collective, along with my partners, to disrupt this tale of two Philadelphias.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
This is a funny story. I think of my professional life in segments. One early segment was the twenty years I worked in electoral politics, working on candidate and voter mobilization campaigns. In the mid-1990’s, I was hired to lead the voter registration/mobilization effort on a mayoral re-election campaign. The candidate wanted me, but my direct boss didn’t. He wanted someone else, so he did everything he could to undermine me. First, he put me in a closet. Literally, my office was a closet. Next, he refused to approve a budget for my operation. I was expected to run a citywide voter registration campaign with no money. The funny thing is everything he tried backfired. When he assigned me to the closet, one of my colleagues said he wanted to be in there too. So, we shared our closet, and it became the most active part of our office suite because we were the staff members with the most volunteers. Second, when my candidate, the mayor, heard I had no budget, he intervened and personally approved my budget every week. Our voter registration drive was a success, the closet crew turned the vote out for our candidate, and by the end of the primary, my boss invited me into his big empty office to congratulate me for a job well done. God don’t like ugly.
Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Are there takeaways or lessons that others can learn from that?
I don’t know if it’s a tipping point toward success, but it was a turning point for me taking ownership of my career and taking more risk. It started when I left a very secure position as senior adviser to a state senator to become CEO of a charter school in distress. The school had lost its founder due to a sudden death and the next leader got in despite having no administrative experience in education. It was tough, but after three and a half years, the school was in a much better position — functionally organized and financially sound. However, I made a decision because I could see that a different type of leader was needed to take them to the next level. It was the first time I felt in full control of my professional career. I had confidence in my judgement and faith in my decision. I had objectively evaluated the school’s needs against my strengths and weaknesses. I gave myself full credit for what I’d accomplished but was okay with admitting that they needed something different to move forward. The lesson was that I didn’t lose sight of the mission. I went into the job to “reset” the school and that’s what I did. Sometimes you have to know when to let go, even when it hurts.
The next example was when I once again left a secure job, this time to run for city council in Philadelphia. I didn’t win, but it ignited a passion and belief that I needed to be a “change agent” for reshaping the city. After the campaign I decided not to go back to the safe job. I took a risk and started working on the concept that grew into The Collective. Running for city council and launching The Collective were both about directing my energy toward “lighting a candle” instead of cursing the darkness.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person to whom you are grateful who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I have to say my mentor, former boss and friend, and former member of the United States Congress, Chaka Fattah. The story that best exemplifies his guidance and unselfish support is a rather long one.
In the early 2000’s, I was appointed to the School Reform Commission (SRC), the governing body for the School District of Philadelphia. It was a very volatile time politically between the Republican-controlled state government and a Democratic city. The Republicans were pushing an agenda to privatize the school district. They’d lined up Edison Schools, a for-profit company, to manage a portfolio of 100 of the district’s 240 schools. The community and local officials were strongly opposed to this, but the state Republicans controlled three of the five seats on the SRC. I was one of two mayoral appointees. My colleague and I were in the minority; plus, I was the only woman on the SRC. It was coming down to one key meeting where the vote would be taken. I was new, overwhelmed, and feeling a lot of pressure. As a minority board member, I didn’t have any staff at my disposal. But what I did have was a mentor and friend in Congress. He and his staff researched everything aboutEdison, a company with a very questionable history. The icing on the cake was that Chaka reviewed, packaged, and personally delivered the research to me the night before the big vote. I stayed up half the night and went to my office at daybreak to prepare my remarks. At the meeting I spent the better part of an hour putting the Edison story on the record. In the end, my partner (the other mayoral appointee) and I were able to beat back the takeover and offer a series of resolutions that added programs to many of our schools. Edison did end up with a small number of schools to manage, but there were enough controls in the contract that they were gone from the district within three years. I could not have handled the pressure without Chaka. His advice to me was, “Figure out where you stand, plant your feet, and stay there.” So, that’s what I did.
Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?
I have to say the Book of Nehemiah in the Bible. Nehemiah was a Jew in exile in Babylon. A Cupbearer to the King, he was in a comfortable position but was driven to return to Jerusalem to lead the rebuilding of the wall and his people who had been laid waste by the Persians and Babylonians. That’s the way I feel about the Black community in Philadelphia and in many Black communities around the country. We have been attacked and assaulted by systemic racism and white supremacy, which have laid waste to our communities and decimated our wealth. My personal circumstances have allowed me to live a privileged life in the midst of the struggle. However, I can’t separate myself from my people. Through community organizing and now The Collective, I’ve been an activist for change and self-determination.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Not to have participated in the actions and passions of one’s time is to be judged not to have lived.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes.
I’ve never been one to just talk about the problem; I’ve always worked on what I see as solutions. I’ve registered thousands of voters, run campaigns, been a labor and community organizer, dedicated twenty years to education reform and equity, run for office, and started The Collective. The common thread through all of these experiences was a passion to make change, progress, and a difference.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about the shortage of affordable housing. Lack of affordable housing 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. I know this is a huge topic, but for the benefit of our readers can you briefly explain to our readers what brought us to this place? Where did this crisis come from?
I will share some of the history that, as reported by the National Trust, has left Black neighborhoods with higher rates of demolition, undervalued housing, underfunded services, and reduced access to financing. The history includes our federal government taking a leading role in the development and promulgation of racist and discriminatory housing policies, such as redlining maps, restrictive covenants, and the outright denial of federally-insured mortgages to Black applicants. As recently as 2016, Black applicants in Philadelphia were 2.7 times more likely to be denied conventional mortgages than white applicants.
The history includes zoning ordinances that excluded Black residents from white neighborhoods while siting toxic dumps and incinerators near Black neighborhoods. As an example, this left neighborhoods in Southwest Philadelphia with two Superfund sites. The history includes an urban renewal policy that was more successful at dismantling Black neighborhoods than renewing them. It’s estimated that up to 10,000 people were removed from a stable West Philadelphia neighborhood, the Black Bottom, to make way for University City. It includes federal highway construction that cuts through communities and displaced a million people across the country. Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch recently wrote about Nicetown, where 300 homes were demolished to make way for the Roosevelt Expressway, connecting a predominantly white Philadelphia neighborhood and adjacent suburb with Center City. Nicetown never fully recovered. Redlining, zoning, urban renewal, and highway construction were intentional policies that devalued Black neighborhoods, undermined Black property ownership, and diminished Black wealth. These were all major contributors to the racial wealth gap.
Today, that gap shows up as:
A 75% homeownership rate for Philadelphia’s white households, compared to 49% for Black households.
75% of adults with bachelor’s degrees in Philadelphia’s higher-income neighborhoods, compared to 25% of adults in predominantly Black neighborhoods in West, Southwest, and North Philadelphia.
And last spring, the pandemic closed 41% of Black businesses compared to 17% of White businesses.
Can you describe to our readers how your work is making an impact to address this crisis? Can you share some of the initiatives you are leading to help correct this issue?
In many ways, Philadelphia is thriving. The real estate industry is thriving. But to date, the prosperity isn’t benefiting Black businesses, neighborhoods, or residents. The Collective is disrupting this tale of two Philadelphias. We are a group of experienced real estate developers, investment professionals, and public policy experts who came together in November 2019. We are Black-owned, operated, and led. We are committed to creating and growing real estate assets that produce attractive returns while increasing ownership and generating wealth within the Black community and for neighborhoods victimized by systemic racism. We have brought together stakeholders with the expertise, relationships, and power to attract investors, while protecting residents and cultivating vibrant, thriving neighborhoods. We have launched two separate entities with complementary missions. The Collective Network (TCN) is the social enterprise arm of The Collective. TCN will facilitate knowledge exchange, promote effective impact investment approaches, develop the evidence base for impact-driven investments for the real estate industry, and produce valuable tools and resources. TCN will work in tandem with The Collective Investment Group (TCIG), which provides communities and Black real estate developers in Philadelphia with access to capital that is traditionally not available to them.
Success looks like greateraccess to capital for Black real estate developers and entrepreneurs to grow and scale; an increased number of communities and individuals of color who are positively impacted by affordable housing projects and holistic neighborhood development; strengthened internal technical and operational capacity for Black real estate developers and entrepreneurs; a robust network of real estate developers, investment professionals, and public policy professionals; increased public awareness and policy coherence around racial equity issues and increased transparency and accountability across the stakeholder ecosystem through Impact Measurement and Management best practices.
Can you share something about your work that makes you most proud? Is there a particular story or incident that you found most uplifting?
The power of an idea. Since my partners and I shared the straightforward strategy behind The Collective, we have been amazed by the way it has been embraced. We launched the enterprise in January 2020. Since then, we have secured a wonderful partner/adviser, 17 Asset Management, garnered $90K in pro bono legal services, received hundreds of volunteer hours of public relations services, impacted local development policy, and are poised to close on our first $25 million of investment capital for our real estate developer members.
In your opinion, what should other home builders do to further address these problems?
Recognize, contract with, and invest in Black real estate professionals including developers, construction managers, contractors, architects, appraisers, engineers, etc.
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?
Value Black lives in the full context of humanity. In 2018, researchers from Gallup and the Brookings Institution published a report on the widespread devaluation of Black-owned property in the United States, which they discussed in a 2019 hearing before the House Financial Services Subcommittee. The report found that a home in a majority-Black neighborhood is likely to be valued for 23% less than a near-identical home in a majority-white neighborhood. It also determined this devaluation costs Black homeowners $156 billion in cumulative losses. Black Homeowners Face Discrimination in Appraisals — The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Reparations. The case for reparations began in 1619 with the delivery of the first 20-plus enslaved Africans to the English territory in North America. It continues through 246 years of chattel slavery, Reconstruction, Jim Crow terror and subjugation, de facto and de jure segregation, to redlining, discrimination in employment, housing, and education, and the current efforts to disenfranchise Black voters, suppress citizen dissent, undervalue Black property, and deny equal access to services and resources. CitiBank’s 2020 report, Closing the Racial Inequality Gaps, asserts that $16 trillion would be added to US GDP if racial inequality had been erased 20 years ago.
Embrace new models of community development that embrace the idea that builders and developers should be public health advocates, positively affecting the social determinants of health (SDOH) in the communities where they are building. I was impressed by the THRIVES Framework (healthyurbanism.net) and the words of Dr. Leon Caldwell, Founder of Ujima Developers and a member of The Collective who said, “… I believe public health should be the focus of community-centered real estate development. Neighborhoods can rebound and thrive when we’re invested in both the financial return on investment and the return on community. … The former is a common driver in the $6.2 billion residential real estate development industry. The latter is a long-term perspective. …” (West Philly-bred developer seeks ‘return on community’ when eyeing new projects — WHYY. WHYY.org)
If you had the power to influence legislation, are there laws which you would like to see introduced that might help you in your work?
Using the framework of the federal Opportunity Zone (OZ) legislation which allows investors to defer for up to seven years any capital gains taxes on the money they invest in business or real estate development projects in any one of over 8,700 opportunity zones around the country. Most of the zones correlate with census tracts that are undercapitalized. After 10 years, the investor can cash out and not owe any taxes on the profits. I would require that every OZ project demonstrate a measurable improvement in at least five social determinants of health for the population in residence at the beginning of the OZ period AND require the dollars to be invested into businesses and projects that reflect the majority population in the zones. The Economic Innovation Group estimates it as a $6 trillion market. (Opportunity Zones: Tapping into a $6 Trillion Market — Economic Innovation Group (eig.org))
The median family income in OZs is 49,900 compared to $77,300 nationally. The average homeownership rate in an OZ is 45% compared to 64% nationwide. Black Americans are overrepresented in OZs, making up 23% of the population compared to 12% of the national population. (Opportunity Zones Facts and Figures — Economic Innovation Group). Harnessing $6 trillion in targeted capital not dependent on government spending into under-resourced communities, with a very significant amount flowing to Black and brown entrepreneurs, would do more to close the racial wealth gap than any current government program.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started leading my company” and why? Please share a story or example for each.
As the founder, I am the keeper of the mission and purpose. Our mission is to use real estate development to create and grow assets that increase ownership and generate wealth within the Black community. We are committed to cultivating a pipeline of Black developers whose projects deliver financial returns and positive social impact. However, it is very easy to default to projects that deliver the highest and fastest return to investors. Just this week, I was approached by a well-connected developer who wants to use the ethos of The Collective to attract investors. We’re not interested because there is no serious commitment to community-centered development.
The Collective lives with me 24/7. To be most impactful and successful, I’m constantly thinking about what we are doing and what we could or should be doing, talking about the company to clarify and better define the work, and learning about reports, best practices, trends, and more. I just enrolled in a six-week course, “Introduction to The Quadruple Bottom Line of Real Estate Development.”
Be authentic. Take the risk of being who I am and who we are. For The Collective, that means being unapologetically Black. I resist the “minority,” and “people of color” labels. Black people (African-Americans) have a unique and peculiar history in this country unlike anyone else. When we first started developing our marketing materials, the PR firm kept referring to us as “people of color.” We kept reinforcing the message that we are a Black-owned and led company and that we are focused on closing the racial wealth gap as it impacts the Black community. It’s our obligation. We have attracted a huge amount of support from outside the Black community, and I think it’s because people are drawn to authenticity.
The intangibles matter most. Building a team around the intangibles of trust, integrity, commitment, and honesty is at least twice as important as technical skills. Our strategic partner, 17 Asset Management (17AM), an impact finance firm, has contributed thousands of unpaid hours to launching The Collective. Several months ago, one of their team members tried to convince 17AM firm partners that they should demand a bigger stake in The Collective. Our partners’ response was swift and decisive: they severed relations with the team member, informed us of the situation, and made internal changes to avoid a repeated occurrence. Going through those events strengthened our relationship and reinforced our shared commitment to the mission.
Don’t be afraid of what you don’t know. I have a working knowledge of public finance and capital projects in the public sector, but I knew very little about real estate development in the private sector. I am so thankful that I was led to find and connect with people who know what I don’t. One of my partners, Tayyib Smith, is a developer who owns several businesses, and my other partner, Steven Sanders, has been in institutional investing for over 30 years. His company has $1.8 billion under management. They bring a wealth of experience and knowledge in finance, investing, and development. What I have is the vision and a persuasive personality. After several months of talking to them and dragging them with me to talk to other people, the vision caught fire.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
An international Reparations movement. There is some awareness in the U.S. of the debt owed the Indigenous people and the descendants of enslaved Africans, but when I think about the people of Haiti, South Africa, Ireland, the Congo, and so many other places who have had their land stripped, their resources taken, and their labor de-valued, it calls for reckoning and restoration on a global scale.
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.
This may sound like a strange choice, however the person I’d like to meet is Doctor Joel Fuhrman, who wrote a book called “Super Immunity.” It really changed my life because it changed the way I eat in a fundamental way, and it changed my understanding of how my body uses food. I’ve always tried to be a healthy eater, staying away from red meat. I gave that up thirty years ago. I don’t eat much poultry; I’m basically a pescatarian. I keep a vegan base to my diet. But “Super Immunity” gave me a whole new understanding of how food works on a biochemical and microbiological level. It made so much sense to me. I think if we approach healthy eating from a positive direction, stop telling people what they can’t do and promote how to have a life-sustaining, life-prolonging and disease-free life, it would be much more effective. As African-Americans, we are disproportionately dying from hypertension, heart attacks, high blood pressure, and cancer. I believe, and many people believe, that the roots are not only our environment, but in our diet. Dr. Fuhrman takes a deep dive into how critical micronutrients are and why. How as Americans, we can overeat yet starve ourselves. I think it’s critical that we get a better understanding of this. It would be fascinating to have a conversation with Dr. Fuhrman. We could brainstorm how we create a national network of “Eat to Live” food ambassadors who are evangelizing his message across the country. It’s educated consumers who will change the food industry and the health industry. So, Dr. Fuhrman would be my choice for a person I would love to meet. I think it would be life-changing to get his message out into more of the mainstream.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Rising Through Resilience: Jennifer Blanton of FAME Performing Arts On The Five Things You Can Do To Become More Resilient
Hit the pause button — You don’t want to be rushed in to making a bad decision. When we are emotional, we may make a wrong decision. Emotions greatly affect our decision-making skills. It’s not always in a negative way, you want to make sure that your decision is the right one for you. I strongly dislike complaints. I know they’re important, I still take them personally. We don’t get them very often, but when they come, I must hit the pause button or else I react emotionally. That takes a toll on my overall stress level. Pausing allows me to process what is happening so I can listen to myself and plan.
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 Jennifer Blanton.
Jennifer is the owner of FAME Performing Arts, a performing arts after school program based in Charleston, SC. After suffering a career ending injury early in her career, Jennifer taught herself how to sing again and developed a deep love for teaching. Jennifer was then diagnosed with breast cancer in the middle of a pandemic while trying to save a business that was losing clients almost daily and homeschooled 4 children under the age of 6.
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 had a normal childhood in a middle class family, filled with memories of family time, dance and music recitals, beach trips, and sporting events. I took piano lessons, sang in choir, and participated in community theater. I was encouraged from a young age to perform, I had plenty of opportunities to develop my abilities. I went on to study at Baltimore School for the Arts, Shenandoah Conservatory, and New England Conservatory, all for classical voice.
I was born with a birth defect- pectus excavatum. My first surgery was at the age of 6. I went on to have 5 more surgeries into my early twenties. It started to become an issue early in college. After one surgery, I was left with a broken sternum, a chest full of scar tissue, and 50% lung capacity. Singing was not an option. But what I learned over the next several years shaped who I am today as a business owner.
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 am living it right now. Once the pandemic started, I knew we could get through it if we just kept going. We had to maintain consistency for our students, and I had to keep the business open, even if by the skin of my teeth. Once I felt like we made it past the hard stuff, I was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. While everyone was getting ready for 2020 to end, I was sitting in a very cold room being infused with lifesaving drugs, hopeful I would see 2021. My diagnosis and treatment forced me to step away. This allowed others to rise and fill in the gaps. I thought I had the right team during the pandemic, but truthfully, the ones that have been with me during my treatment have become the most supportive staff I could have ever wanted.
This has allowed me to explore leading the business and focusing on the big picture. It’s been so difficult to let go, but we wouldn’t be experiencing the growth we are had I not stepped away.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
We stand out because we have a safe space where students can just ‘be’. We help them find their ‘voice’ through teaching them how to discover their confidence. The one-on-one attention our students receive creates a mentorship that can last forever. We often have students get back in touch with us to let us know how much we meant to them. Most recently I had a student send me a note explaining how her voice lessons taught her the confidence she needed to be an instructor in her field. She said, “I would have never been able to get up in front of a classroom of adults to speak, let alone teach.” We have several stories exactly like this one.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
There really are so many people, I am grateful for dozens of people that have helped me. The biggest shift that put me on the path I am on today was put in place by my first business coach Michelle Markwart Deveaux of The Speakeasy Cooperative. She challenged me in the most loving and kind way. I never felt like I had to have the right answers or even any answers. She created a safe space for me to learn who I was as a business owner.
So many things were discussed in our sessions, one that sticks in my mind was early on. I was giving her a more detailed version of my background, she told me I had to share it. Up to that point I avoided talking about it, it’s easy for me to hide it. In my field, it isn’t about the teacher- it is about what we can do for our students. I never thought my story was needed. As I lived on, I realized that if I were to stay silent, I may miss an opportunity to encourage someone to keep fighting, to believe in themselves when it feels like no one else is, to keep going. If you’re suffering silently, you don’t have to do it alone.
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?
Resilience is never giving up on your vision, no matter what comes your way. It means staying flexible, receiving information when it is time, and being flexible with your approach while staying true to yourself.
Being self-aware is an important characteristic of people that are resilient. I have very strong intuition that I follow and know exactly what to do 100% of the time. I may not want to, but I know.
Having self-control and staying calm under stress is important as a resilient leader. If the pandemic has shown us anything, it is that community is important. I was thrown into the position of leading everyone through a traumatic experience. I had to stay calm and focused under an intense amount of stress. Even though I was also living through the same trauma, I had to lead everyone through.
Staying optimistic through trials is important. You will always be faced with challenges. Having the ability to stay optimistic will open a new level of confidence that is needed as a leader.
When you think of resilience, which person comes to mind? Can you explain why you chose that person?
My dad contracted West Nile Virus from a mosquito bite in his front yard in Maryland in 2011. He was very sick very fast. He suffered meningitis, encephalitis, heart attacks, lungs collapsing, neurological damage, depression, Covid, and now cancer. He keeps fighting and is an incredible example of resilience. He was left unable to walk but now 10 years after his diagnosis, he’s still working on his rehab and believes he will walk one day. His resilience, amongst chaos, is inspiring to me.
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 am rarely told something isn’t possible because of how many times I prove people wrong. I was told at a young age that I wouldn’t be able to physically carry babies because of how my body was after many surgeries, specifically my rib cage. I was told I wouldn’t be able to breath with the added weight of a baby. It wasn’t a big deal because I didn’t want babies, at least not until I met my husband. I knew I wanted to have his babies. With the help of an amazing OB and pulmonologist, I not only carried a baby, I carried four babies in four years. I hated being pregnant, but I love those babies!
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?
My breast cancer diagnosis has been the greatest setback I have experienced. I am bouncing back stronger, in different ways. Because it forced me to step back, I was able to see the holes in the business. This allowed me to not only see them but start fixing them. Prior to the diagnosis, I felt like I was always putting fires out. I wasn’t creating the environment I would want as a teacher, but I had no brain space to adjust this. Now that I have had time to think, I am coming back full force, but shifting my focus to working on the business vs in the business.
Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resiliency? Can you share a story?
My birth defect was never an issue till my late teens into my early twenties. My entire life I was groomed to be a performer, specifically classical voice. I started seriously training in college, where my deep love for classical music blossomed. My most traumatic surgery was in between my sophomore and junior year where my sternum was broken. I was left unable to sing for over a year. As I gained strength, I suffered from my inability to sing freely like I had known for my entire life. My lovely teachers did their best, but no one knew what to do with me. I have 50% lung capacity and could barely stand up long enough for a voice lesson. I tried and tried but could not get back to where I was. After years of trying, I stopped. I left music. That was one of my darkest years. I decided to start singing again, this time I had to figure out how to make it work within my limitations. I kept going, never giving up. I learned so much about the voice and how trauma greatly affects it. I started paying attention to my body, not just the sound of voice. Through my own adaptation of vocal pedagogy, I learned how my body could produce a sound. To this day, I am told by Drs that they don’t understand how I can even sing with my physical limitations. I believe it is my resilience and believing that there is so much we still don’t know about the body. I went from being one of the top singers in my program, to barely being able to sing a few seconds, to now teaching young students how to sing by being acutely aware of their bodies. And I am still performing today too!
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.
Hit the pause button
You don’t want to be rushed in to making a bad decision. When we are emotional, we may make a wrong decision. Emotions greatly affect our decision-making skills. It’s not always in a negative way, you want to make sure that your decision is the right one for you. I strongly dislike complaints. I know they’re important, I still take them personally. We don’t get them very often, but when they come, I must hit the pause button or else I react emotionally. That takes a toll on my overall stress level. Pausing allows me to process what is happening so I can listen to myself and plan.
Listen to yourself
When you know, you know. Your instinct is there for a reason, do not ignore it. The biggest mistakes I have made are always because I ignored my gut. I once hired a teacher that on paper was amazing. For some reason, I never trusted them. They never truly bought in to the concept of the studio. When they left, many of their students followed. This is not typical for teachers that buy into the studio concept because the students become a part of the community we’ve built. We also take care of the hassle of finding another teacher and place them with another great teacher. I knew from the beginning they weren’t the right fit, and I lost big. But with a plan in place, we made it up with a new teacher and new students within 6 months.
Make a plan
When you’re faced with what may feel impossible to overcome, having a plan gives you direction. It may take time for that to show itself, but it will. For me, the most important part of planning is being patient with myself. I am the type of person that must think, a lot. For things to go smoothly, I plan at least 3 months in advance. I think through every angle and possible path. My plan becomes my partner.
Rest
Trauma shows up in all forms, it doesn’t have to be something as serious as cancer. It could be suddenly having to homeschool your kids during a pandemic, a friend ghosting you, or a client giving you feedback that you take too personally. Giving yourself time to rest and process your emotions is so important for your emotional stability.
Be open to change
Any time you experience something that flexes your “resilience” muscles, you are given an opportunity to change. If you’re open to receiving new information and thoughts, you may surprise yourself. My biggest challenge is management. It is a challenge because I have extremely high standards and expect everyone else to share those same standards, which is so selfish of me! Through my own continuing education, I have learned how important it is to understand your employee’s needs. This may seem like a no brainer, but to implement this into my business has been a huge challenge for me. It’s been slow, which is why we suffered at first. Once I became open to change within myself, I was then able to see change within the 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.
Your voice can change the world. Everyone has a story, everyone has challenges, the more we share them, the more we help others. Going through breast cancer opened my eyes to the fact that everyone suffers in some way, kindness and love to all is always the answer.
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
Marcus Lemonis, hands down, one of the most supportive entrepreneurs I follow. I love how he interacts with business owners; he cares about the person first, business second. He is so inspiring to me.
The Future Is Now: Kirk Goins of Luminator Technology Group On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
It’s a marathon not a sprint. Enjoy the people, opportunities and experiences as you go thru your working career. Most of us are going to work for 40+ years…should be great fun along the way.
As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewingKirk Goins.
Kirk Goins is CEO of Luminator Technology Group (Luminator), a global manufacturer of technology, communication and safety solutions for mass transit applications. Founded in 1928, Luminator supports transit bus and rail car manufacturers and public transit operators around the world with customers in more than 85 countries.
Under Goins’s leadership, the organization has successfully merged dozens of reputable worldwide brands. By leveraging Luminator’s extensive engineering resources, Goins has led the organization in developing integrated best-in-class solutions for on and off-board passenger information, video security, lighting and other safety solutions designed to increase the safety, efficiency, and intelligence of transit operations.
Goins has over 30 years of experience in industrial automation and technology, previously serving as CEO for the Paslin Company, a turnkey systems integrator focused on robotic automation in the automotive market. Goins also served as North American CEO for manufacturing assembly company Comau Inc. and held multiple senior executive roles at robotics manufacturer ABB Inc. Goins graduated from Michigan State University with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and participated in a business leadership program at through IMD Business School.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
In 1986, I graduated from Michigan State University with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. After school I worked in factory automation where I really enjoyed the process of applying technology to solve manufacturing solutions. In 2010 I attended an IMD business leadership program that provided a different lens in which to view a business beyond technology. Now, with over 30 years of experience in industrial automation and technology roles, I’ve had the opportunity to hold multiple leadership positions within ABB Robotics and Low Voltage Divisions, serving as North American CEO of Comau and Head of Body and White businesses.
Prior to joining Luminator Technology Group (Luminator), a global manufacturer of technology, communication, and safety solutions for mass transit applications, I served as CEO for the Paslin Company, a turnkey systems integrator focused on robotic automation in the automotive market. I’ve been with Luminator for about five years.
Founded in 1928, Luminator supports transit bus and rail car manufacturers and public transit operators in more than 85 countries. With extensive engineering capacity, we have developed and integrated best-in-class solutions for on and off-board passenger information, video security, lighting, air treatment and other solutions — all designed to increase the safety, efficiency, and intelligence of transit operations.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I’ve had the pleasure to work with many great people, companies and customers throughout my career. There have been a number of successes, some bruising failures and the opportunity to learn from all of them. I’m not sure this is the most interesting story, but one story that seems to stick out in my mind is being on a very large project that was running late and not functioning to the client’s satisfaction. There were many reasons the project was behind but what has stuck with me about the project, was one particular moment — we’d been on site since about 6:30 AM and it was now 11:00 PM…we were planning the next day’s work sitting in a jobsite trailer drinking maybe the worst coffee you can imagine — eating snack chips out of unused coffee filters…and not a single one of those team members was complaining. We were making progress, unified in our goals and focused on completing the task at hand. It’s very special when you get a whole team bought into the mission — a team can really accomplish anything.
Can you tell us about the cutting edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people? How do you think this might change the world?
Luminator has an extensive product roadmap, with a common theme of making technology easier for transit authorities to deploy, operate and manage. We accomplish this by reducing cost of ownership and integrating solutions. Our objective is to reduce friction with technologies, so that transit operators can focus on their primary goal of transporting passengers. AI technology is the cutting-edge technology that is enabling us to automate the collection of data, propagate information to passengers in real-time, and provide this data back to transit operators, to better improve services.
Through the pandemic it became apparent that more needs to be done to protect essential workers and those that rely upon public transportation to keep our cities in motion and by supplying solutions that support efficiencies through transit operations, we can help support this vital infrastructure. Earlier this year we launched a new air treatment solution which is designed specifically to reduce the transmission of airborne virus — such as COVID-19 — in the air, where it is most dangerous. In enclosed transit environments, where social distancing is not feasible other technologies like surface disinfectants, UV-lights and air filters do little for person-to-person transmission. Using an antimicrobial air treatment our system has proven to kill over 98% of COVID-19 in 30 seconds. We believe this will be a game-changer for essential transportation services as we navigate through the current pandemic and those variants and future viruses that may emerge.
Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
We are implementing all our technologies with security and privacy in mind, to avoid these drawbacks. For example, using AI with our video recording system — while original video footage captured by our video security system is maintained according to local regulations, the AI algorithm uses data converted to remove identification features, and using shapes instead of actual images of people to perform the analytics. So, while our capabilities may be futuristic, their implementations and use cases are far from the dystopian narratives of “Black Mirror,” and we comply with best practices and the latest developments regarding privacy and IT security standards. Likewise, with the air treatment system, we have partnered with an expert in the field — Grignard Pure. Due to the extensive testing, long-term use cases, and because EPA approval is required for the purchase and sale, we are confident that we are supplying a solution to transit that is effective and safe.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?
Many years ago, through a series of acquisitions globally, we realized the benefit that our technology development centers — located around the world could provide to the transportation market by implementing best practices and processes under one umbrella. This enables the transit agencies in the U.S. and around the world to integrate their transit solutions, gain insights from those integrated sources of data and passenger information and use those insights to better serve and promote mobility in their local communities. Facilitating these common technology development efforts and defining a global roadmap has been my main leadership focus at Luminator.
This methodology was applied to our initiative for finding the best COVID-19 solution for transit. Our technology development centers across the globe were tasked with exploring different solutions. The tipping point for the breakthrough of our Renew Air Treatment came through our partnership with Grignard Pure. Their science team of public health experts were adamant from the start of the pandemic that airborne transmission was the biggest threat. With the majority of solutions only effective on surfaces, this was a tipping point in our development of the technology for distributing an aerosol antimicrobial treatment. In reviewing other technologies, like UV lights and applying them to real-world applications, like using it on a transit bus or train, we felt it was a far less effective solution than the airborne solution we settled on developing. This breakthrough was validated in later months when public health officials confirmed the need for airborne solutions.
What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?
AI technology is coming, and we expect transit technology to adopt it quickly. Particularly during the pandemic, we have seen many examples of how information, like capacity — allowing transit riders the ability to determine if they can socially distance on a given bus or train, has shown to have immediate tangible benefits to transit authorities — promoting the ability to safely return ridership. In the case of air treatment, EPA approval is required and currently this is happening at the state level. Currently this is limited and applies to transit applications, some government buildings and a handful of other industries. We are working with Grignard Pure to apply for nationwide approval which will enable transit agencies, and other facilities and businesses to utilize Grignard Pure — which will be an enormously helpful tool to fight the spread of COVID-19.
What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?
Our solutions are regularly featured in transit trade publications, demonstrations are slowly returning as conferences and exhibitions come back online. While travel was restricted during the pandemic, our marketing strategies shifted — much like everyone else. Explainer videos and instructional webinars have been critical to communicate the value proposition of all our new solutions, particularly those associated with helping transit return to safe operations. As an international company, we have the advantage of being able to share these messages across 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?
You are right- no one is successful alone. There are too many people to mention but I’ve always had tremendous support from my family and especially my father who passed away last year. When I first started working as a professional, my father would call my desk phone around 6 AM…if I didn’t answer, he’d ask me that day or later that night what I was doing that caused me to be late? I’m generally an early riser to this day partially due to those interactions.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
Mass transit is in itself a public service designed to make the world better and to help our communities and grow and thrive. As CEO of Luminator, I guide the company in its efforts to bring advanced transit technology solutions into the world and put them to the hands of transit agencies and operators. We see the benefits of these transit technologies every day, from passengers that use ADA-compliant technologies to better access transit and passenger information systems to get them where they are going safely and on time to an overall improvement of the experience of passengers — which will hopefully lead to increased ridership and less reliance on single occupancy vehicles.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
1. It’s a marathon not a sprint. Enjoy the people, opportunities and experiences as you go thru your working career. Most of us are going to work for 40+ years…should be great fun along the way.
2. The team must come first. We all know we need teamwork, and to be part of the team, but sometimes we don’t appreciate what we could do/change/say or not say that would improve how well our team can exist and create together.
3. Leave on time. Get in early, get your stuff done, dedicate a little out of office time for reading or catching up, but leave on time and do something important for you and the people you care about.
4. Take care of yourself mentally and physically. No one can do this for you and only you can decide to do it! The impact on family, friends, and work associates is huge. The impact on your satisfaction is even greater.
5. Don’t be afraid to try something…maybe it doesn’t work out right, but you can always learn and grow from a new 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.
Transforming mass transit is the perfect arena in which to inspire a global movement because it touches all of our lives. Mass transit riders come from every region, race, class, gender, and ethnicity, and they all deserve a safe and efficient transit experience. At Luminator, we have a vision of a safer, more accessible future for transit — one that acknowledges the vital role transit plays within all our communities, cities and countries. Mass Transit should be the first transportation method of choice for all of us.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Life is about winning~ but the score is not just measured in terms of profitability or economic rewards…it’s measured in effort, support, impact and enjoyment given to those you interact with and have the opportunity to share experiences with.
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 to invest in transit technology has never been more important or promising as it is now. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that we must be able to rely upon transportation services to support essential workers. Technology that helps keep us safe and connected as we complete our most essential tasks, like going to work and buying groceries is critical to our well-being and investing in it provides a benefit to society to support mobility throughout our communities.
The Future Is Now: Beat Huesler and Tom McKeogh of Oppenheim Architecture On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up Architecture
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
McKeogh: Our studio has always been fascinated with ways in which we can make architecture more accessible to a wider audience. In every project, whether it’s a private home or urban development, we aim to find ways in which we can closely connect with our client and the eventual end users of the project.
As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Beat Huesler, along with Tom McKeogh.
A licensed architect with over 28 years of professional experience, Beat Huesler is the European partner of Chad Oppenheim — in 2009, the two founded Oppenheim Architecture + Design Europe, based in Basel, Switzerland.
Huesler heads the European studio, managing a senior architectural team to deliver projects in urban and remote locations around the world. His extensive construction and technical knowledge make the studio highly responsive to the available resources and industry practices in any specific location. An ability to work collaboratively with local architects, builders, and craftspeople leads to buildings that are made for their environments and loved by their communities.
Tom McKeogh is Studio Leader at Oppenheim Architecture + Design Europe, working closely with Beat Huesler on work in Europe and the Middle East.
As Studio Leader, McKeogh is responsible for creative direction, where he initiates and develops designs and documentation for all phases of a project. He is also responsible for creating and refining visual practices such as drawing, visualization and VR as part of the design process.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Beat Huesler: I believe I have an obsession with detail. I have always loved art — even as a child, I’d find myself sketching whenever it was possible to do so. Over the years, I have challenged myself to add more detail, be more creative and turn ordinary ideas into works of art.
In time, I completed a four-year technical drawing apprenticeship in Basel. My original focus on detailing embedded a deep passion for function — the placement, form, and features of a design must reflect its intended use, and the people who use it. I’d reflect on a number of concepts — from design and planning, to materials and construction, to sustainability and energy use. With these ideas circulating in my mind, I looked to study architecture and design at Cornell University.
Tom McKeogh: Architecture initially fascinated me with its potential to overcome crucial issues of our time across different scales of the built, natural and virtual environments. Advances in information, manufacturing, material technologies and visualization have created a whole new way of viewing and creating spaces that are technologically advanced, while also being meaningful, poetic, and deeply rooted in their place.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
McKeogh: Following my graduation from Columbia, I was asked to relocate to Jakarta to collaborate with a local firm — they were developing hospitality projects at a number of beautiful sites in Bali. I recall meeting with Beat on a rocky cliff overlooking the Indian Ocean, which happened to be the site of a potential project. It was my role to ensure that he was educated — but mostly entertained — in the ways of working in Bali. I particularly recall Beat’s laser focus on detail while walking the site — within a few hours under the blazing sun, he had intricately identified the various flora, fauna, rock types and microclimates.
However, one thing was missing. Beat asserted that we had to visit the site at dawn to better feel and understand the spirit of place. The next morning around 4:30 AM, we traversed to the clifftop with the client, and I recall thinking that this dedication to the spirit of a place just may be something worth being a part of — despite the sleep deprivation. I’ve carried this with me throughout my career — 10 years later, I’m still seeking out that particular, unique spirit of every space and site that we find ourselves in.
Can you tell us about the cutting edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?
McKeogh: Our studio has always been fascinated with ways in which we can make architecture more accessible to a wider audience. In every project, whether it’s a private home or urban development, we aim to find ways in which we can closely connect with our client and the eventual end users of the project.
We noticed a certain phenomena that was heightened by the global pandemic — many artists and curators made the transition to online platforms with the hope of displaying their artwork to the public when there were very few opportunities to do so in physical space.
Over the last few months, we designed the digital gallery space for the debut exhibition of Minoru Onoda: Through another Lens. Our firm was challenged to develop an immersive, simulated space that could meet the demands of an expanding online art market.
Huesler: While most online viewing rooms have only depicted two-dimensional art, the Anne Mosseri-Marlio Virtual Gallery incorporates a sense of heightened realism, brought to life through virtual reality effects from The Boundary and Oppenheim Architecture’s innovative design capabilities. Engaging architects to develop a virtual space is typically unheard of in the gallery world.
We viewed this project as an opportunity to authentically share amazing art and architecture, while bridging the gap between simulated reality and our physical existence. The purpose behind the virtual gallery goes beyond restrictions brought on by the pandemic — it centers on accessibility for all. When we spoke with the gallery’s director to initiate the design process, we reflected on ways to make the space more meaningful — how can we make this feel as interactive, immersive and inclusive as possible?
How do you think this might change the world?
Huesler: The concept of appointing architects to design virtual, three-dimensional spaces works to achieve two objectives, both of which relate in a number of ways.
In creating a digital space for the Anne Mosseri-Marlio Virtual Gallery, we helped to amplify the dedication to the artist, and the appreciation of the discipline and those that engage with it. Rising above the standard features of an online gallery, we developed the space with meticulous attention to detail and realism — from the floor to the ceiling, the windows to the walls, and the size to scale. Beyond that, the space is able to host different mediums of art, from canvases to sculptures.
The gallery bears an essence of freedom unlike any other, in resemblance to a physical space. Providing comfort and conversation among art and architecture, the online viewing experience encourages visitors to see the three-dimensionality and details of each work — helping to lead the way for expansion to different, multidimensional artistic mediums in the future.
McKeogh: In the same breath, it’s important to note that virtual events enable expanded inclusivity when it comes to participation. The ability to view art and understand its meaning should be a welcoming, accessible experience for enthusiasts and observers. Through the virtual gallery, all visitors have the ability to enter through the door and enjoy the works being presented.
Combining the two objectives, artists and enthusiasts are provided with the opportunity to experience reality through another lens. One cannot doubt that architecture has the power to impact art, as well as other industries, in a meaningful way.
Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
McKeogh: “Black Mirror” is an eerie, dystopic and captivating take on the potential of our current condition. Technologies such as VR, AR, wearables and the internet of things do seem to be pointing to a world where technology will envelop every aspect of our lives, and we are presented with visions of the future where the physical and virtual realities have merged.
It’s super important that we question the role architecture (and landscape) should play in this world of new priorities. As we all spend more time online, can we elevate virtual spaces to be truly impactful, engaging and thoughtful? How can we somehow reconnect to the beauty of the world around us through virtual spaces?
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?
Huesler: The ongoing pandemic has influenced organizations to transition many events and occurrences that were originally in-person to virtual settings. Virtual events remove geographic and financial barriers to attending an event, but many don’t promote a feeling of contentment or humanity. Around the world, individuals have found fault in the countless online affairs that seldom varied in production, representation and content.
Digital accessibility is important to ensure that all attendees are able to participate and engage effectively, ushering in an unprecedented experience that appears realistic and enhances your perspective.
What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?
McKeogh: We believe that designers have to push the boundaries of what’s expected in architecture. One way to achieve this is through collaboration with people outside, or on the fringes of, architecture. Such fruitful partnerships, such as those with The Boundary and Anne Mosseri-Marlio Virtual Gallery, help us refine and rethink our work. While we may not be experts in art curation or UI design, we are able to channel and translate our interactions with these realms into better design.
Huesler: It’s highly important we look at what has been done in the past, within our own firms and the industry as a whole, so that we may continue to develop spaces that have yet to be seen.
While it is dependent on the complexity, every major project has multiple layers of professionals involved. Teams that work together and creatively problem-solve, despite the differences in discipline, create an environment of inclusiveness and healthy collaboration that makes the project a success for all.
What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?
Huesler: Two disciplines meet at the center of this project — art and architectural design. Our primary efforts have been based around connecting with art and architecture lovers, to bring them the joy of these mediums that they may have missed over the past year.
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?
McKeogh: Though it may sound saccharine, we are immensely grateful for our team members. Oppenheim Architecture is a collaborative studio — we revel in quality ideas, thoughtful engagement and active contribution. More than that, we hire exceptional people from around the world. Without our team, we wouldn’t be where we are today.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
Huesler: Looking at my previous successes, I compile what I know — through education and experience — to produce meaningful moments that are both impactful and contemplative. People all around the globe are calling for balance among society and the natural world. It is through our work that we strive for a peaceful coexistence between built and natural surroundings.
We craft designs by carefully balancing the needs of the individual and the attributes of the location. However, our work is not complete without collaboration — an ability to work collaboratively with local architects, builders, and craftspeople leads to buildings that are made for their environments and loved by their communities.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
McKeogh: While these statements are not things I wish I was told before I became an architect, they have proven to be good personal mottos and ideals:
Employ young people: They keep ideas fresh.
Have non-architect friends: They keep things real.
Read everything: It’s a good habit to grasp — from design thinking to preparing contracts.
Whether it is a project or new business relationship, remember that it’s going to be great.
However, it’s just as important to remember that it’s not going to be great unless we work hard and make it the best it can possibly be.
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.
McKeogh: Empathy. It sounds crazy, I know.
As architects, it’s imperative that we understand and translate the priorities of stakeholders, clients and collaborators on a day to day basis. However, we are more than that — we are all humans at the end of the day. We are the most connected species that roam the planet, with the ability to instantaneously experience the world beyond our physical limits through handheld devices. Somehow, we are also the most disconnected — alienated from each other and our environment as we become more dependent on our devices.
Designing with empathy is one thing — however, living with empathy is a necessity for our humanity.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
McKeogh: Marcel Duchamp once said, “What art is, in reality, is this missing link, not the links which exist. It’s not what you see that is art; art is the gap.” In many ways, architecture operates in a similar fashion — we seek to find meaning in these spaces in between. It’s a quote we live by, every single day.
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
Huesler: The belief that virtual spaces are transforming the future has become intensified in the face of the pandemic. Yet, we have the power to alter their significance and need, past the limitations of COVID-19.
Working alongside architects, companies and organizations have the ability to create incredible life-like experiences. However, designers are in need of support for innovative, thought-provoking investigations in our field. Many architects are seeking to continue their studies, while research encourages us to transcend what is ordinary. Considering accessibility and function, naturalistic digital spaces are a gift of the present — what may we expect from the future?
The Future Is Now: Jon Morris of NOWHERE On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Art and Tech Scenes
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Casting is everything. Choose collaborators wisely. Team dynamics can make or break a project. Learn to predict what social dynamics will work. If everyone is having fun the project has a much higher potential for success.
As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewingJon Morris.
Jon Morris is an Athlete turned Actor turned Artist turned Creative Director turned CEO. From Le Louvre to Lady Gaga, from Cirque Du Soleil to the Metropolitan Opera, his work has been praised by NY Times, Rolling Stone, VICE, Wired…. Highlight works include; NOWHERE, reimagining online gathering; Reflecting the Stars, recreating the night sky in the Hudson River;Choreographing Nine Inch Nails Festival Tour; The Wedge, legendary slide/aerial-performance-center at Burning Man.
He has been a Thomas J. Watson Fellow, Kinnernet-Europe Experience Director, LaMaMa ETC Artist in residence, Watermill Center Fellow, Tennessee Williams Fellow, NCAA Postgraduate Scholar, 6-time All-American Springboard Diver, and holds a B.A. from the University of the South, Sewanee. Jon has taught master classes at Harvard, Columbia, NYU, and more.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I grew up watching my dad, a Baptist Minister, officiate weddings and funerals and I found myself studying the rooms of these big-moment, existential spaces from a very young age. As a teenager, I played all the sports and also performed theatre. I was always in love with the electricity of a live audience and the awe of sacred gathering.
In college I was fortunate enough to study acting at the Michael Howard Studios in NYC for a summer between my Junior and Senior year. While there I saw a new show at the Daryl Roth Theatre called Villa Villa by De La Guarda, a company from Argentina, that changed my life. I watched the walls come to life with actors who were athletes of emotion, literally flying through the air. They weren’t reciting Shakespeare or Williams; they were smashing into walls, ripping through the ceiling, kissing strangers, stomping in infectious rhythms, and creating powerful images of human connection. I was finally witnessing the theater written about by Antonin Artaud, which had seemed impossible up to this point. By the end of the performance my heart was racing from dancing, my body tingling with inspiration, and I was sopping wet, as it rained in the theatre at the end of the performance. THIS was theatre. This was something new. This was uncategorizable. And this was the confluence of everything I loved: athletics, acting and sacred experience.
This awakened a desire to create experiences that were of this magnitude. Little did I know at that time that this spark would become a career that would take me around the world and back again. All the way back to the very same Daryl Roth Theatre performing in the original NYC cast of Fuerzabruta, the sequel to Villa Villa which I performed over 1200 times around the world. Experiencing this kind of show, both as an audience member and performer, still inspires me to bring people together, to create visceral transformative experiences. And with the creation of Nowhere, I’m at the intersection of everything I’ve learned, and everything that drives me. Only now, at scale; where anyone in the world can have access to transformative experience. It’s very exciting!
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
Honestly there are too many to count!! But I’ll tell you about one of my very early installations that I still find myself thinking about.
I was riding my bike through the city on the West Side and I noticed the old pylons and piers in the Hudson. They made me think of my own childhood on the piers I grew up with in Kentucky. We’d hang out all night stargazing. And then it really hit me; the lack of stars in the NYC sky.
I feel like when we can’t see the stars, we really lose access to something important. Like we forget that we’re one of billions. We start believing we’re the Gods and that we’re in control. And I wondered if cities were losing civility and humans losing their humility because we’re losing touch with the reality of Nature, quite literally living in a kind of darkness. I fear that without this kind of connection, it becomes easier for decisions to be made based on profit and greed — when you don’t have this outside perspective — that there’s something greater than yourself out there. It’s easier to overlook a higher purpose maybe.
So I thought, I wanna put stars on these pylons. And that was the beginning of our piece Reflecting The Stars. So I started the process of figuring out how to do it. The technology I wanted didn’t exist so we had to make it. It took 2.5 years to engineer our waterproof, wirelessly controlled, solar powered LEDs that became our stars. And I got a crew and we swam in the Hudson and affixed our tech to the pylons. From the pier, you could hit buttons and light up constellations, and we made an interactive website where people could buy and dedicate stars to loved ones. So it was a far reaching project with a very big lift, that was about pollution, revitalizing the spirit, our humanity, our connection to nature and to each other.
Can you tell us about the cutting edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?
Well, speaking of Reflecting The Stars, 10 years later, we’re in the same boat. The technology we wanted didn’t exist so we set out to make it. At the beginning of the pandemic, we looked around and saw that there was no great way to share collective experiences online which feel rewarding and leave us feeling more connected to our fellow humans. We’re utilizing the same techniques that we would to deepen and excite gathering in the real world and applying them to online gathering. We believe in the power of people being present and believe there is so much untapped potential to create this on the internet.
NOWHERE is a human-centric metaverse, combining video, gaming, and social interaction. So, imagine 3D zoom, with full social agency and spatial audio, in a stunning virtual landscape. That means no more breakout rooms, just move away from the group in order to have your aside. No more zoom fatigue. Interacting in NOWHERE mimics the way humans interact in real life. Our players report that much to their surprise, time flies when in NOWHERE. This means dramatically better social experiences to have with anyone in the world with a computer.
How do you think this might change the world?
We expect NOWHERE to enhance human communication and elevate respect and empathy by bringing all kinds of people together to share unique and sublime experiences. Among other things, we hope political divides will yield to human connectedness as we discover new ways to share space online.
Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
There will be all kinds of people that will utilize NOWHERE. We must be vigilant to design for inclusion and to design versatile features for moderation so hosts can create exciting and safe, healthy experiences for their guests.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?
Before the pandemic, The Windmill Factory was in collaboration with Eli Pariser (The Filter Bubble) to help create the first annual festival for the “New_Public” movement, an invite-only conference confronting the health of our digital public spaces. How do we create safer online spaces? How do we create online spaces that are beneficial to our growth rather than to our detriment? This is what we had been researching for several months, until we suddenly found ourselves in lockdown and all our work came to a halt.
My birthday was the first event we canceled in preparation for the lockdown we feared was right around the corner. Like many people, I attempted to move my gathering online. I held my party in Virbella, an avatar based virtual university I’d stumbled upon in my research. Me and 20 or so of my friends jumped online and putted around the cartoon university campus, shared prank power-point presentations in the auditorium and tried our hand at some team building activities which were built into the program. Virbella used spatial audio which meant we could have more intimate conversations if we wanted to, while still remaining in earshot and sight of the group. But most people wouldn’t stay on for long. The avatars hid so much of our meaning, so much intention, that conversation was actually exhausting. You don’t realize how much of our communication and the way we understand each other is actually nonverbal, until you take away our bodies, faces and presence.
This moment stayed with me as my work and projects all went on ice. I thought, why hasn’t a rad virtual space WITH HUMANS, not avatars, been made yet?!
What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?
More great partnerships with organizations, businesses, artists and performers of all shapes and sizes. We’ve set the stage, the rest is up to the people. People make the place.
What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?
We hosted the first ever festival entirely inside a web based spatial video platform. NOWHERE Fest was packed with incredible talks, panels, and performances celebrating phenomenal pandemic innovations over the past year featuring NIVA (National Independent Venue Association), Recharge Rooms, a discussion with Scott Simon & Robert Siegel (NPR), a concert by Andrew McMahon, roaming magicians, open mics, and socializing everywhere in between. Attendees could fluidly pop in and out of talks and directly engage the speakers and performers. In addition to our own festival, we’ve hosted several other larger events like Coin Desk’s Consensus, Institute For The Future’s 10 Year Forecast Summit, and APAP, to name a few.
We’re also releasing private accounts of the product strategically to select creators and clients in a Premiere Partners Program, which one can apply to on our website.
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 have been so many over the years. My father, who worked tirelessly as a sharecropper’s son to become a PhD in Religious Studies and professor at Berea College. My mother, for supporting everything I did (almost), no matter how weird. My brother, for tolerating my persistent nagging to play with me. David Landon, Max Obermiller, and Sewanee for teaching me how to think. My wife, whose taste is impeccable and who keeps me honest in my creations. Esther Perel, for telling me to grow up and marry my wife. The Windmill Factory community, our Brooklyn family, who are always there for me no matter how bizarre the idea, from giant yoga ball pits to projecting on Con Edison steam in Times Square. My co-founder at The Windmill Factory, Ana Constantino, who always believes there’s a way. Adam Berenzweig, who collaborates generously from Reflecting The Stars to crafting the first demo of NOWHERE. Maxx Berkowitz for dreaming big and trusting adventure. Jay Benach for writing our first check. Evan Frohlich our head of engineering and our phenomenal NOWHERE team, whose dedication to building this dream inspires me daily. And so many more.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
As I have become more successful, the projects have become more ambitious and the reach is growing. I believe so deeply in the power of art to transform, the power of sublime connection to heal. That has always been my mission. And I think NOWHERE is actually the culmination of all my best work. I can see how the last 15 years have led me to want to bring the experiences I make to the entire world in the digital space.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
Sometimes the way out is not through. I learn a version of this everyday. It’s ok to flip the table and start from scratch.
Failing is a gift. Failing is a necessary path to success. If you’re not failing, then you’re not risking enough.
Engineers are extraordinary artists. A truly great engineer is among the great artists of our time.
Plan more. Build less. Measure twice, cut once.
Casting is everything. Choose collaborators wisely. Team dynamics can make or break a project. Learn to predict what social dynamics will work. If everyone is having fun the project has a much higher potential for success.
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.
Imagine if there were a great commons on the internet, like Central Park, where everyone could intermingle and be exposed to every walk of life. So much about growth is just being exposed to differences. Imagine if we could beat the algorithms that are keeping us in silos and discover more.
Now = separation state. Future = virtual humanity. That’s NOWHERE.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
In a thick French accent, “You are sooo boring. Do you live far from here? Go home immediately.”
I had just graduated with honors and awards from The University of The South, Sewanee. I was a cocky American kid embarking on a prestigious Watson Fellowship, to study my proposed dream, Athletics to Acting in Movement Theatre. My first stop was a clown school in the North of London called L’Ecole Philippe Gualier, led by an extraordinary clown of the same name and I was in for a surprise. I had always been a star on the stages where I’d performed, and I admit, I believed this would always be true. Until I jumped on Gualier’s stage and quickly learned I was wrong. Gaulier is brutally honest. If you are not delighting the audience within seconds of taking the stage, you are removed.
This level of direct honesty and accountability is a rarity in theatre training, where most performers are coddled and praised for mediocrity and false charm. He doesn’t let you get away with anything less than spectacular. Many call him mean, inconsiderate, harsh; those who have trained with him even cringe when you say his name. He taught me some necessary humility. He taught me to listen more than act. He taught me to always look for the game, that it was on me to discover how to play it, and he taught me how to fail without complaining or quitting. I learned the resilience necessary to be the kind of risk-taking creator I ultimately became. He broke me and I’m still grateful today.
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
Conquering the Chaos of Creativity: Doug Patton’s Big Idea That Might Change The World
Whatever idealism you think you have must always be multiplied by 100. Idealism is fueled by vibrant intellectual energy that powers the soul and spirit of your invention process. This idealism is maintained not only through daily vigilance, but also through years of walking the path of the creative warrior.
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 Doug Patton.
Doug Patton is an esteemed industrial designer who was an inventor featured on Simon Cowell’s American Inventor. He has created over 300 products in 20 international market categories and has received over 150 patents and international design awards. Doug frequently works with companies like Apple, Microsoft, Disney, IBM, and Mercedes-Benz. It is his mission to inspire others to live more authentic lives by sharing his unique creative problem-solving process.
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?
As far back in my life as I can remember, I have viewed art and science as one in the same — a part of the inseparable whole of creativity involving a highly imaginative process.
As early as the 1st grade, I would win national art contests and science fairs, intuitively designing concepts. In college, I changed majors many times, easily switching between modalities. I didn’t feel at home in any one department; instead, my mind took me from avenue to avenue in search of creative grandeur.
One day, a visiting professor in my art class said something to me that would change my life. I had been creating a kinematic sculpture, molding clear plexiglass with the goal of animating it. The professor asked me what I was doing, and when I explained my project, he told me, “You should be an industrial designer,” saying that designers used engineering, art, and design simultaneously in the process of inventing. In complete awe, I pivoted my entire path towards industrial design that day, and I never looked back.
Can you please share with us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
When I was consulting for Microsoft in the early 90s, I was working on a project that involved the translation of software ideas; I innovated applications for hardware, creating new concepts in doing so.
When asked to give a presentation one day, I used the PRM1 remote control I had created for Mitsubishi, which used a particularly sleek design, all controls situated within a pen form. After the presentation was over, Karl Schulmeister approached me and asked about the remote. At that point, the remote had received more publicity than any of Mitsubishi’s other products, as it embodied ease of use and minimalistic simplicity.
Karl startled me by saying, “I’ve seen Bill walking around with your remote in hand and asking his team, ‘Why can’t you guys make something this simple?’ I want to introduce you to Bill because I know he would want you to help him with improving the electronics experience in his new home.” Karl continued, informing me that he was working with Bill on a company Bill had created called Interactive Home Systems; it was focused on using the greatest electronic innovation possible for the home environment. With this, I began helping Bill with his home electronics.
This was the beginning of my relationship with Bill Gates, whom I consider a creative genius in his own right. In my book Conquering the Chaos of Creativity, I describe one of my first presentations to Bill that involved complex ideas hinting at an outcome. When I asked him what he thought the final concepts might be, he responded with an extraction of relevant details and accurate conclusions. At that point, I considered whether he was a mind-reader in addition to being a genius.
Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?
To me, idealism is the essential guiding philosophy. It is what fuels my unwavering passion for implementing a revolutionary new vision with regard to any concept that crosses my mind and desk.
I have sacrificed everything in my life for my idealism — finances, time, and relationships, to name a few areas. However, this pursuit of what I consider truth has paid dividends beyond reckoning. I aim to help improve humanity, whether through medical equipment innovations or faux candles that convey peace, and in that quest, I am always rewarded.
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”?
Over the course of four decades — including designing 300+ products, innovating for 20+ market categories, and securing 150+ patents — I always felt that my attempts to improve my imagination and problem-solving would someday prove to be the most important invention I ever created — and I believe I was right.
In my career, many have tried to lead me down avenues that promised great wealth and fortune, but following any given path would have led to a focus on one product area and discontinuation of the idealized diversity of learning in the 20+ market categories I have invented in. These paths would have ultimately led me away from myself.
Today, I have hundreds of amazing inventions that have helped humanity in the market categories of medical, automotive, and consumer products, among others. However, I feel my truest success has been what I have learned by virtue of pursuing intellectual idealism, creating the tools of creativity and techniques in my problem-solving treatise Conquering the Chaos of Creativity.
As a result of promoting the book, I have been fortunate enough to speak with people the world over about imagination and creativity. The further into talks I am drawn, the more my awareness increases regarding one simple but devastating fact: our culture has not only ignored creativity, but has also promoted its converse.
What I feel might change the world is a movement that I am honored to be at the helm of, generating essential creative energy. Many dissatisfied people long to see their imagination and creativity expand. To these intrepid souls I hope to gift the creative problem-solving techniques of analysis, inspiration, spirituality/philosophy, invention, and imagination. These categories are not only concepts; they are also vast vistas of potential. They have been necessary for me as a matter of creative survival, containing all the intensity of intellectual liberation and the grit of creative battle.
How do you think this will change the world?
As these ideas expand, I hope to create a moment in which creativity and imagination provide focus within an expanding culture of awareness. What I think will truly change the world is communicating my process of creativity and imagination as well as inspiring people with the intellectual and imaginative bliss I have experienced in my own creative process.
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?
Historically, political structures have manipulated culture in a process of negativity with the aim of maintaining control. This has been accomplished through military force, social rules, and even subversion of religion to further individuals’ Machiavellian desires. Today, this process is much the same, but it has become even more focused on social media, news, and social structures.
The unfortunate goal of most political systems is to maintain tight control over people’s minds and society through education, which creates ideological confinement conferring comfort, not enlightenment. People exist in ideological boxes, for the most part, completely negating creativity within the unconscious control exerted over their daily experience. The more I advance with regard to innovation, the more I become convinced not that society has forgotten creativity and imagination, but that it has consciously forsaken them.
Unfortunately, we are quickly entering into a Black Mirror-esque scenario in keeping with this.
My attention is focused not on the petty pessimism that could be discussed in this regard, but instead on what the present gives us an opportunity to gain. There have been brief sparks of the status quo being ripped asunder throughout history, such as in the French Revolution and hippie era, but imagine what it would be like if the creative power and enlightenment from these periods were perpetual. Imagine what could ensue if creativity and imagination were taught in school from the very beginning and it was made clear that they are our most important assets.
If we can embrace creativity as a new revolutionary moment in the history of humanity, we can upset the balance of society. Doing so can cause the mind to blossom. It can empower the soul to fly free. We would be able to successfully thwart the media’s control over our lives, questioning everything in our quest for creative idealism and thereby entering a new era of humanity.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this idea? Can you tell us that story?
There has been no tipping point per se, as the process has been a powerful, slowly-breaking wave that has surged over decades of recording my ideas and using them to construct the ultimate authoritative guide that is Conquering the Chaos of Creativity.
Ever since the book came out, a great deal of discussion has been created with interviews, articles, and emails. In these is the aforementioned theme that people don’t know how to achieve creativity in their lives, constantly frustrated the world hasn’t given them the tools they need to succeed.
If anything, the tipping point, then, is the publication of the book, and that is just the tip of the iceberg — the beginning of an unyielding story.
What do you need to lead this idea to widespread adoption?
My responses to the amazing questions in this article and the exposure generated from other publications are essential for connecting people to the various aspects of creativity the book discusses. Beyond this, I encourage people to pursue the intrinsic call to be creative, expanding their abilities. Answering this beckoning from deep within is needed for creativity to take its rightful place in society.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
I interpret this question from the perspective of when I began venturing down the path of passionate idealism.
I wish someone had told me how courageous you must be in pursuit of innovative excellence; the status quo of society, by its very nature, both resists and halts creativity. — Early in my career, I invented a means of injecting a foldable intraocular lens into the capsular bag of your eye for cataract surgery, creating a company called Patton Medical. My aim was to revolutionize cataract surgery, as until that point, a glass lens was inserted when a cataract was removed with a large incision. Upon patenting and presenting my concept to the ophthalmic companies of the world, almost all surgeons and companies disregarded it, stating that though it would help patients, there was not enough reason to implement it. It took over 10 years for these ideas to be adopted through my idealistic pursuit. Today, every cataract surgery around the world utilizes my concept.
Whatever idealism you think you have must always be multiplied by 100. — Idealism is fueled by vibrant intellectual energy that powers the soul and spirit of your invention process. This idealism is maintained not only through daily vigilance, but also through years of walking the path of the creative warrior. — In all you do, you must move ahead bearing the scars of failure, confident in the knowledge that this will make you stronger and more successful. The level of energy required for this has crushed many, but after fighting hundreds of creative battles, I find that the creative inertia of my idealism has expanded.
The path of idealism is the most challenging path that anyone can walk in life. I believe the hardest possible path that can be taken in life is pursuing an idealistic vision, taking it from concept to reality successfully. Doing this once or twice in one’s life is difficult, but I have done this hundreds of times, unrelenting in over 20 market categories and with regard to hundreds of patents. My life’s story is the best example I can think of for this truth.
The fight to create revolutionary designs and inventions is incessant. We are all innately creative and highly imaginative. Traditionally, society has not taught this to most, but after decades of daily dedication to creative invention, I am fortunate to say it has been my greatest pleasure to bask in the creative joy of daily innovation. — Circumstances most see as unnerving challenges now allow me to dance with the energy I have generated using daily idealism. The fight has become a flowing dance of creativity that is not only incessant, but also as effortless as breathing.
The physical and mental energy required to give equal attention to your idealism and family is extraordinary, so you must be vigilant, never allowing your energy to fade. — Early in my career, I was greatly successful, helping create supercomputers for McDonnell Douglas as well as revolutionary inventions for Apple. This required me to work very long hours. During this time, my daughter Heather was born, and I found what I thought was an incredible amount of energy that I had put into my business had a new focus. Every morning, I would wake up at 5 a.m. to care for my daughter so my wife could sleep, work 10 hours a day, and come home to take care of my daughter. I found the tremendous joy and energy from this flowed into my goal to be a good husband and, later, into the arrival of my son Sean. In the decades that followed, I felt that I never once compromised in my love for my family, for my idealism, and for creating revolutionary new concepts.
Can you share with our readers what you think are the most important “success habits” or “success mindsets”?
In the pursuit of revolutionary idealism, one is constantly barraged with challenges on a daily basis. You will have many failures and many successes. The key is to not be depressed by your failures and to not bask in your success, but more importantly, to realize that success and failure have a yin and yang relationship that is essential in the process of pursuing creativity and idealism. Neither aspect is as important as an understanding that they are subcategories of a greater whole: the experience of pursuing new ideas. Understanding and enjoying this experience is what emboldens you, enabling you to always move forward.
Some very well known VCs read this column. If you had 60 seconds to make a pitch to a VC, what would you say? He or she might just see this if we tag them
I invite you to visit the Patton Design website, where you will see over 5 companies in development that will revolutionize the fields of medicine and home environment products. In the past, my success rate has created many companies that generate millions of dollars every year; I invite venture capitalists to contact me to discuss not only the potential of my companies, but also my ability to help them in pursuing new innovations they are interested in investing in.
The greatest investment a VC can make where Patton Design is concerned is developing a thorough understanding of the theories of creativity in Conquering the Chaos of Creativity. I ask VCs to, if interested, help me spread the word through an upcoming television and podcast series I am contemplating to educate and generate greater excitement about creativity and imagination.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
@PattonDesign
Conqueringthechaosofcreativity.com
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
Avoiding sorting through emotions and feelings can be very detrimental. It’s imperative for women to understand and be aware of their feelings and emotions post divorce. Getting off of the roller coaster and emotional chaos is important. The only way to do that is to build awareness, resiliency and connect with oneself. Over medicating with technology, television, alcohol or other relationships can contribute to mental health challenges and perpetuate unhealthy relationships.
Sandra Wood is a highly successful divorced coach. Having been through her own painful relationship breakups along with countless other challenges, Sandra now helps divorced women regain their identity and confidence, bring clarity on what they want moving forward and heal the patterns of their past, so they aren’t repeated.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Seventeen years ago, I was shopping with my daughters when my doctor called me and said, “Sandra, I am really sorry to tell you this over the phone, but you have cancer.” I was stunned. Something was tapping me on the shoulder and giving me notice-your life needs to change. Thankfully, my cancer was treatable. However, it did give me the opportunity to pause. Two years later and after several marriage counseling sessions, my marriage of 20 years ended. My life felt like a giant storm-alternating between calm seas and tsunami waters.
Communication was rough in the beginning with my ex. There was a lot of anger-on both sides. That spurred me on to learn about boundary management and I will admit, I learned through trial and error. I assumed full time parenting of my two teen daughters and grieved the loss of the life I had left. I worried about my daughters and struggled to take good care of myself. I read a ton of books, sought counseling and began to rebuild my life. I regained my confidence over time and became less a victim of my circumstance. I dug into the lessons that my marriage and divorce had given me and started creating a new identity that had more to do with my values, strengths, and purpose rather than the roles I had always assumed. My children watched me grow and create new boundaries while I demonstrated that even when life is hard, you can still blossom.
In 2006, I became certified as a Life Coach and started working with women helping them negotiate careers, life balance and self care. Having worked through my own divorce, single parenting, communication challenges and all that goes into rebuilding an identity, this led me to honing my experience into assisting women to use the challenges of divorce to manifest empowerment and positive life changes. Through my programs and coaching clients, I teach women how to navigate through relationship break ups and divorce so that they too can own their power to create a life of their own making.
Can you explain to our readers why you consider yourself an expert in “divorce?”
Leveraging and learning from my personal experience and fusing that with running a women’s divorce support group, I have learned the intricate challenges and issues that arise for women of all ages coming out of a divorce. I have spent seventeen years teaching the art of relationships and how to walk women through boundary management, non violent communication, recovering from trauma, rebuilding identity and confidence, and understanding and working through intense emotions. I am yoga certified and have been teaching women how to be embodied through yoga, mindfulness and meditation, important techniques to use when recovering from relationship loss. Currently I have been studying Dhogchen Buddhism with my second husband, which has expanded my wisdom and understanding about life and supporting women. I am always learning and expanding my expertise in the divorce arena and within our relationship with ourselves and others.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?
The biggest surprises that have come my way during this career have been how many women have endured trauma and abuse in their childhoods and marriages. Women often come to coaching disconnected from their inner selves and with the desire to recover but having no idea how to get there. It is always interesting to me to see that regardless of the trauma, women heal, and lead remarkably stable and happy lives. The resiliency of their spirit always impresses me. One client in particular, was raised by a mother who suffered from schizophrenia and had abused her quite terribly. This client had only attracted abusive, mentally ill men in her life and was in a lot of pain as she came to coaching to learn how to disconnect from this dynamic. She dug into the work of healing and now has a healthy, loving, partner and has adopted a foster child after thinking she would never have children or create a happy healthy household of her own. She is remarkable and just one example of how women can truly overcome their past.
What are the most common mistakes people make after they go through a divorce? What can be done to avoid that?
Not understanding why the marriage didn’t work or what went wrong. When women just want to move on and not unpack trauma or the dysfunction of what happened in their marriage, they end up recreating it in future relationships which just leads to the same issues again and again. It is a much better use of their time to understand these dynamics before moving on again. Going to therapy, joining a support group or working with a coach can be extremely helpful to understand what happened and be more intentional about future choices.
Staying stuck in victim mode. It’s normal to feel disappointed, angry, frustrated, hurt and grieving after a divorce. If women stay perpetually in negative emotional states they can get stuck in a constant state of victimhood and perpetuate the story, not realizing that they can create a new narrative. Learn to own your story, gather what lessons you can and understand that life is filled with contrasting experiencinces. We can grow and change and help others through our story and our overcoming of difficult challenges. Find people who believe in you and don’t keep your victim story alive. Sometimes divorce gives us an opportunity to dump toxic relationships and in doing so, we can drop our victim mentality.
Focusing too much on the ex and the problems of the marriage. It is very important to understand how to communicate more effectively, or not at all, with an ex-partner depending on whether you have children or not. Staying stuck in the cycle of communication or frustration with the ex can be a trap and keep positive momentum from happening. Learning to have boundaries and make requests that don’t lead to fighting is important for moving on healthfully and for future relationships. Counselors and coaches can help you learn non violent communication techniques and support you in learning how to change the dynamics with the ex and family members.
Dating too soon. Most women have not been in the dating world for quite some time and things have changed since they last were single. Just loading a bunch of aps and putting yourself “out there” too soon after divorce can be disastrous. It’s far more grounding and effective to spend some time with yourself, get familiar with who you are now and not attach to another person too soon. Women might have patterns of co-dependency so it’s best to unpack that before choosing a new partner. Wait and learn more about what you DO want to attract next time round. It’s great to get out and meet new people, but don’t just make it be about finding another person to get attached to. Making yourself the most important thing is vital. Get to know yourself first! Once you do that you will attract the right partner.
Avoiding sorting through emotions and feelings can be very detrimental. It’s imperative for women to understand and be aware of their feelings and emotions post divorce. Getting off of the roller coaster and emotional chaos is important. The only way to do that is to build awareness, resiliency and connect with oneself. Over medicating with technology, television, alcohol or other relationships can contribute to mental health challenges and perpetuate unhealthy relationships.
Do you have any favorite books, podcasts, or resources related to this topic that you would recommend to our readers?
Favorite books: Untamed by Glennon Doyle, A Happy Pocket Full of Money by David Cameron Gikandi, Emotional Agility by Susan David, PhD, Super Attractor by Garbielle Bernstein and Playing Big by Tara Mohr are my favorite books these last few years.
Favorite podcasts– Conversations with Abraham Hicks, Unlocking Us by Brene Brown and Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris are podcasts I enjoy and learn from.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote” that helped you in this work? Can you share how that was relevant in your real life?
“If you don’t go within, you go without.” Victor Frankl
Nobody can understand you until you understand yourself. Deciding to go within can be quite terrifying but the most enlightened path one can take. I understood this concept as I was coming out of my divorce. I wasn’t sure who I was, what I wanted and had allowed others to inform my identity. Giving myself time to contemplate, I discovered that I was a co-dependent, a wonderful empath but had allowed others to dominate me in order to avoid conflict. When I started to realize that my inner environment was informing my external experiences, I started to shift many things about how I was ‘doing life’! I began to understand where I ended, and other people began. I stopped owning other people’s problems and started taking more responsibility for my life. When we take time to know ourselves inwardly, and explore our dreams, desires, patterns, beliefs, habits and emotions we expand and feel more deeply connected to life itself. When I am in doubt or unsure, I go within and find my truth, or at least the closest thing I can find that brings me back into alignment with my dreams and desires.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
My biggest project right now is growing my business and then bringing my family into the vision of changing the world, one person at a time. My husband is a Buddhist, Life Coach, and Mentor, as well as a meditation and mindfulness teacher. My oldest daughter is a health and business coach and loves to support young mothers and women entrepreneurs. My youngest daughter is passionate about changing the racial disparities in our culture and is a storyteller using her talents in photography and videography. My vision is for us all to intersect our passions and to create more impact in the world.
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.
Give all young girls and women an education. Last time I checked there were at least 31 million primarily aged girls having no access to education. Secondary education for girls can transform communities, countries and our world. It is an investment in economic growth, a healthier workforce and lasting peace. My dream is to fund and support the movement to give young women in 3rd world countries access to an education and in doing this we empower young women to change the world.
I am with connecting and starting to contribute to a community in Agra, Uttra Pradesh India right now that is educating both young men and women and teaching girls self defense. They are part of the untouchable community, Dalit, those that are segregated and persecuted in India. Funds go towards educating and feeding these children and their families who have been greatly impacted by COVID-19.
Some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them
I have a lot of people that impress me! Right now I follow Ashley Gordon @quantumcoach and Dr. Ashurina Ream @psychedmommy on instagram.I would also love to connect with Dr. Donny Epstein a network chiropractor that has an interesting movement across the energetic world, as well as Tony Robbins who has built an empire within the self help movement. I am always loving Brene Brown’s work, Gabby Bernstein and Susan David-thought leaders changing how women show up in the world and embracing vulnerability and authenticity. I would gladly have a meal with any of these amazing humans.
Thank you for these great insights and for the time you spent with this interview. We wish you only continued success!
Brand Makeovers: Jenn Szekely of Coley Porter Bell On The 5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Define and activate your brand purpose- Numerous studies have shown that Purpose-led organizations outperform those that are not. As a result, many organizations have been defining why their company exists beyond profits -their brand purpose. But for many, little is done with it besides defining it and using it in marketing and communications, or having the words displayed on a Boardroom wall. Far fewer have cracked the nut of embedding it into their organization. It’s the brands that are activating it, having it play a pivotal role in the employee experience and using it to guide business decisions that are the ones gaining the most traction.
As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to intervie wJenn Szekely.
Jenn Szekely leads Coley Porter Bell’s US business, based in New York and is a member of the Coley Porter Bell Board. She brings over 20 years of experience in B2C and B2B across a variety of industries, including retail, technology, hospitality, FMCG, nonprofit, manufacturing and healthcare. Prior to her career in branding, Jenn ran her own company, which included retail stores in Boston, Massachusetts — specialized in fashion, art, antiques and design — that were recognized in national and international newspapers, magazines, books and television.
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 is not a linear one. I started my career with a brief stint in the music industry, in promotion. It was an industry I was brought up around and while I love music, my passion was design, art, and antiques. I decided to follow my passion and started my own business and for almost a decade, before selling, I owned and ran two retail stores in Boston (one of which is still there today) and wholesaled globally.
Family and personal reasons brought me back to New York. After six months of spending half my day doing yoga in an Ashram in upstate New York, I distinctly remember my mother wisely saying I cannot be retired at 30, so find yourself something to do. I ended up taking a role as an art consultant, doing art for hospitality, corporate and residential interiors, which was related to what I was doing in my own business, having worked with many interior designers. I worked on lots of hotels and restaurants, including Atlantis in Paradise Island, Westin, Sheraton, and with Todd English on various projects for his restaurants.
And while I liked doing the art, I wanted to influence more around the hospitality experience and work on the overall branding and experience of hotels. I ended up going to an independent agency that did work I admired, from there I took a different type of role at a larger private equity owned agency and from there moved to different positions at global holding company branding agencies, which eventually led me to WPP and Coley Porter Bell (an Ogilvy Company).
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 of the first projects I worked on in branding was for Absolut. The project was to develop a limited-edition Absolut New York bottle. We ended up convincing the client to do Absolut Brooklyn instead, given that Brooklyn was blowing up at the time. My role on the project was to help find the right celebrity partner. Why I was given that job on the project, I have no idea, as I had no experience doing that sort of thing. Anyway, I ended up loving it, as I got to have lots of conversations with very interesting people (well-known writers, artists, musicians, etc.). But when you think about Brooklyn, the one person bubbled to the top of our list, Spike Lee. One day I picked up the phone and called his office and to my surprise, he took my call. We had a great conversation, which ended by him accepting an invitation to visit our NoHo office to discuss the project further and meet the team.
Two funny things happened the day he came. The first was about 10 seconds into the visit where he said to me, “Jenn, this is not going to work out.” The reason: We had a showcase in our reception area of the office and sometimes we would display our work but other times, we let the teams build displays around things they were passionate about. That week it turned out that the numerous Bostonians in the office decided to make a shrine to the Red Sox and Celtics, which did not go over well with the die-hard Knicks fan. While I could have been more prepared, it ended up being funny and a good ice breaker.
The next thing that happened was really funny; a real happy accident. The design team were putting all sorts of images on inspiration boards in the studio. One of the areas of exploration were the great brownstones and stoops of Brooklyn. Buried in the mix, Spike pointed to one image and went on to tell us that the image was of the house he grew up in. I was told by our designer it was a random coincidence but even if it was not, it was a magical moment and one I like to think sealed the deal. In the end, it was his stoop that ended up becoming the image used on the final bottle design.
When I reflect on that experience and experiences I’ve had since then, the lesson I’ve learned is that authenticity and a little scrappiness can sometimes be the winning strategy. It is not always necessary to overplan, overengineer and orchestrate every interaction.
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 feel very fortunate to have had several successes in my different careers, but when I think of my current chapter (branding), the real tipping point for me was when I was started getting recognized by my peers and former colleagues. The major jumps I had in my career came from people/companies who were referred to me by former colleagues. My latest role is actual the very first time I’ve worked with a recruiter for a position.
The one big thing I would take away from this is that relationships matter, especially internal ones with colleagues. A lot of times people are so focused on external perceptions of themselves and their work but the internal colleagues you work with won’t always be colleagues and they can be your best advocates in your career — sometimes even more so than your clients.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
We are working on a bunch of exciting projects right now, but one is tugging at my heart due to the impact the company has on people. Unfortunately, due to confidentiality agreements I can’t say much about it, but I can say it is in the healthcare space for a company whose innovative approach has made such an impact on an audience that too few people have invested in.
What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?
Before the pandemic my answer would have been travel and go somewhere new, meet different kinds of people and experience different things, as I have found that some of my best thinking comes during these types of trips.
During the pandemic, one thing that has helped me is unplugging. When I’ve had time off, I’ve taken time away from all my devices. Being present in both nature and with the people around me has given me the same inspiration and has rejuvenated me in a similar way travel does.
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?
When I explain what I do to people and the difference between branding and advertising, I talk about how branding is about defining and developing the foundational elements of a brand, the strategies, identities, and experiences that don’t change the way a lot of advertising campaigns do (although some do stand the test of time). Branding work should last for the next 10–15 years and sometime longer. The work we do complements advertising, acting both as the springboard for the development of creative and experiences but also a filter for evaluating them.
Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?
There are so many reasons, from differentiating against the competition: building trust with audiences and helping create loyalty, to ensuring consistency, helping recruit and retain talent, and more. There’s also lots of data, including data from BrandZ that shows that brand-led organizations outperform leading stock market indexes like S&P500.
Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?
Companies typically consider rebranding when they are going through a moment of change. That change could be due to M&A, a leadership change, a change in business strategy, etc. Or in many cases, the brand just hasn’t kept up with the business. I’ve worked with so many companies where their business had changed over many years, but the branding still reflected who they were and not who they currently are.
Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?
There are watch-outs when it comes to rebranding, especially if you are a legacy organization with lots of heritage. In that instance, you want to make sure you are not throwing away the baby with the bathwater. When rebranding, not everything needs to change. One misconception of our industry is that a rebrand means ‘all new’. Some elements of a brand have such equity it would not make business sense to make a wholesale change and sometimes just optimizing a few things can have a huge impact.
An example of this is one of our clients, Boots, part of the Walgreens Boots Alliance. This 170+ year old brand knew it needed a refresh but there was hesitation given the iconic nature of things like its logo. Building off the new brand strategy, we helped them update their visual identity and add to it, as opposed to starting from scratch. The logo was optimized for the digital age and liberated from the dated lozenge but the essence of it was retained. The evolution of their logo was supported by refreshing all the other elements of the visual identity, making it fit for purpose for the digital age, modernizing it and giving the organization the tools to clearly communicate its three key offerings — pharmacy, beauty, and well-being.
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.
Define and activate your brand purpose- Numerous studies have shown that Purpose-led organizations outperform those that are not. As a result, many organizations have been defining why their company exists beyond profits -their brand purpose. But for many, little is done with it besides defining it and using it in marketing and communications, or having the words displayed on a Boardroom wall. Far fewer have cracked the nut of embedding it into their organization. It’s the brands that are activating it, having it play a pivotal role in the employee experience and using it to guide business decisions that are the ones gaining the most traction. Patagonia is an example of a company who lives and breathes its brand purpose, “We’re in Business to Save Our Home Planet”. Not only do they give away 1% of sales each year to environmental organizations but they encourage employees to take part in their mission, beyond their day-to-day jobs. After a year of employment, employees can take two-months off (paid) to volunteer for an environmental cause or organization. They have initiatives like Action Works and support employees that are activists for causes they believe in. They take their purpose so seriously that they will even pay their employees’ bail, legal fees, and related time away from work if they are arrested in peaceful environmental protests.
Elevate the role of your corporate brand- This strategy is particularly aimed at house of brands companies or hybrid companies with strong product brands. These types of companies, both B2C and B2B typically spend most of their resources marketing their product brands, giving very little attention to their corporate brand. In many cases, there is not even a clear strategy for the role of the corporate brand, as it relates to their product brands. Hospitality and travel companies have used their loyalty programs to connect the different brands within their portfolios, but one can argue they can do even more to support their corporate brand. P&G is an-example of a company who has done a really nice job over the last decade elevating their corporate brand relative to their products. Through vehicles like ‘Thank you, Mom’, and how they incorporate their corporate brand into their product brand experience, consumers are much more aware of the company behind the products they buy.
Align your brand with your business- There are so many companies out there that have amazingly innovative products, services, and business models but when you look at the brand it is hard to believe they come from that company. Their branding has just not kept up with their business, in other words, they just look old and dusty. I recently reached out to help solve this very problem with one company who I won’t name but is in the medical technology space,
Create an immersive brand identity- When it comes to brand identity, the needs today are different than even a decade ago. While digital has been a growing for a long time, the pandemic has made it something companies can no longer ignore. But many brands just don’t have the tools from an identity standpoint to thrive. There are lots of amazing identities out there that visually manifest their strategy and tell the story of their brands, but very few are delivering a truly immersive and holistic experience, which people expect from brands today, regardless of whether they are B2B or B2C. Some brands are doing things well — brands like Uber have made digital a core part of the identity, their component library is completely connected to its identity, and Netflix who leverages the power of a sonic identity, to brands like Zappos and Starbucks who put a strong focus on the service experience — but very few have been able to put all these together to define a truly immersive brand identity that can be delivered across its communications and experiences.
Embark on an employee engagement program -. Employees are your biggest brand ambassadors. More and more of our clients are seeking help with employee engagement, not only because it’s a critical component to ensuring success when rebranding, but also an increasingly important factor in recruiting and retention, as expectations of the employee experience are higher than ever. One of our clients, LEGO® has done a brilliant job at engaging employees around their strategy of “learning through play”. There is a great quote from Seymour Papert, a former LEGO® Professor of Learning Research at MIT Media Lab: “Rather than pushing children to think like adults, we might do better to remember that they are great learners and to try harder to be more like them.” In support of this, Lego® does things like having Play Days, where LEGO® employees from over the world take the day off work to play. The whole idea of learning through play is not only used internally, but it also informs lots of external decisions, from the partnerships it has to the actual products they develop.
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 the ones that stands out that I had the privilege of working on is Tupperware. The whole story of the rebrand, how it started, and the amazing clients is a story on its own for another time but regarding the work, it’s just powerful.
Tupperware suffered from perception challenges as a brand that was seen as dated. But when you experience the brand today, it clearly communicates the mission-driven, global and innovative brand that it is. The old associations of the Tupperware party have been replaced with a brand that inspires and installs confidence in women around the world, that has always and still does develop some of the most useful and innovative products in the marketplace. I encourage you to do a blind taste test of chicken made in their microwave pressure cooker, a gift I was given to me by their global creative director, it blew my 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.
I wish more people embraced the power of mentorship. It is quite magical to see the impact a person can have on another person. I am so lucky to have benefited from the mentorship of founders of some of the world’s iconic branding agencies, they were experiences that shaped my career and ones that I can’t help but want to pay forward. If more people took the initiative to take on a mentee, I believe the world would be a better place. And for those who say I just don’t have the time; I want you to know that you are missing out, as the experience is so reciprocal. While mentoring is helping and grooming others, I continue to be surprised and delighted at how much I learn and get out of the experience as well.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I can’t believe I am going to quote a Baz Luhrmann song publicly but I am. I love much of what is in Everybody’s Free (to wear sunscreen) but the one piece of advice that I love the most is…
“Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your
life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they
wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year
olds I know still don’t.”
I find this quote so liberating. It is related to the reason I love airports so much; it opens the door to possibilities. It also quells the voice of around expectations, and while I love my current chapter, it makes me feel optimistic about my next one.
Vizsla Silver Corp: Michael Konnert’s Big Idea That Might Change the World
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Find a good group of people you look up to and add value. — The most important factor is ‘people’ that helps you get ahead in this industry. So, my best advice to the prospering industry professionals is to find individuals you can relate to, look up to, add value to them and see what happens. In my experience, it will open many successful avenues for you to grow.
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 Michael Konnert.
As CEO of Vizsla Silver Corp., Michael Konnert is the face of the evolving mining and mineral exploration industry. For this 33-year-old young entrepreneur, his hands-on approach to mastering the business of mineral exploration, combined with his prophetic ability to discover business potential, has taken him to unforeseen success for a businessman his age. In this sense, he has been referred to as an Alchemist within his close circle. He is usually the first to spot opportunities in untapped spaces and transforms them into golden investment opportunities.
His ability to resurrect the Panuco mine, which had been dormant for several years, is one such success story. Michael raised over $100 Million for Vizsla Silver, while providing a much-needed lifeline to the local community just outside the town of Concordia in the state of Sinaloa, Mexico.
His vision for the company is to establish themselves as a world leader in finding, financing and developing minerals and in setting the stage for the 4th industrial revolution. He strives towards building a resilient organization that is value-driven and has a persistent culture that allows adapting to ever-changing industry conditions.
This young man envisions himself as a forward-thinking “Mining Millennial” who speaks the language of and represents the aspirations of the new generation of leaders in the mining and exploration industry with a clear commitment to ethics, workplace safety, diversity and inclusion, ESG and constructive relationships.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you please tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I have had an active interest in investing from an early age. My ambition, persistence and dedicated energy have led me to where I am today. When I was 13 years old, I bought my first stock after having saved money doing odd jobs. I always had a vision for myself and kept on pursuing my goals. Today, I am the Founder and CEO of Vizsla Silver and Managing Director of Inventa Capital. I have raised over $110M for the company and have acquired the district-scale Panuco Project, which delivers high-grade silver and gold, and with drilling in place since last year.
What makes it meaningful for me is the way that these projects can materially improve the lives of our shareholders, as well as the communities in which we operate. As a ‘Mining Millennial’, I place great emphasis on ethical and sustainable businesses. I hope to challenge preconceived notions and show an evolved and progressive side to mining, while also building bridges among all our stakeholder groups.
Can you please share with us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
When I was younger, I thought that I was going to be the next big thing in real estate. At age 18, I bought my first house, refurbished it, and managed to sell it right before the global financial crisis of 2008. Luckily, I was able to foresee the upcoming crash and managed to get out on time without any losses. That lead me to reconsider my choices. I finished my degree in entrepreneurship and ended up in the minerals and mining space afterward.
Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?
My philosophy in life has been to make money while being cognizant of the public good. I have also been fortunate to have received great mentorship from people whom I look up to along the way, so I try to be very generous with my time and provide advice and guidance to people in my extended circle of friends. Similarly in my career, I invest my time into adding value to our shareholders and promoting an ethical, sustainable, and community-driven approach to doing business. My goal is to build a resilient organization, one that is guided by values, being trendsetters, doing it in our own way and adapt to changing conditions.
Ok thank you for that. Let’s now move to the main focus of our interview. Can you tell us about your “Big Idea That Might Change the World”?
My big idea revolves around making ‘good money’. I believe that if every company in minerals and mining placed importance on the ‘business of good’ and building strong communities then the world would be a much better place. I acquired the Panuco Project through Vizsla Silver in Sinaloa, Mexico, after it had been underdeveloped and undercapitalized for many years. The community had previously relied on mining for generations, so it has been very meaningful to me to be an integral part of the community’s revitalization and long-term economic wellbeing. We are not there to make money quickly and leave. We want to want to make sure that we create a positive impact and leave a legacy for generations to come.
How do you think this will change the world?
Every progressive organization must think of the long-term impact of its operations and the legacy it leaves behind. I strongly believe that if we take this approach to measure success then the world would be a better place. ESG adherence, management quality and long-term community impacts should be on every investor’s radar before they choose which companies to support. Likewise, companies must choose their investors as well. Shared vision is important — as to how and where that money is to be invested. We have turned down money from groups that did not share our values and approach at the time. I would also highly encourage companies to be more intuitive, to check in and listen to all stakeholders involved and to adapt their strategy so that its truly a win-win situation for all.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this idea? Can you tell us that story?
I cannot pinpoint one specific example. However, we tend to form our values and ideals over time and (hopefully) apply them into our businesses. I strongly believe that we live at a time when we can highlight the positive effect that the field of mineral exploration and mining has. I have formed those observations from working closely with industry professionals and seeing how many industry players place great emphasis on ESG components. From a community development standpoint, we ensure that we give back to communities we operate and hire local talent. Mining is needed now more than ever as we transition towards clean energy and a green economy.
What do you need to lead this idea to widespread adoption?
For widespread adoption to happen, we need to spread the message through the right avenues. Positive media messages definitely help, as well as a mindset that is open to making money while doing good. We need to take a close look at business strategy in the long-term. It is important to maximize value for investors, while also ensuring that business decisions are mutually beneficial to all parties involved.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
1-Find a good group of people you look up to and add value
The most important factor is ‘people’ that helps you get ahead in this industry. So, my best advice to the prospering industry professionals is to find individuals you can relate to, look up to, add value to them and see what happens. In my experience, it will open many successful avenues for you to grow.
2-Be ready for long hours and rough climates
Although this is a fun challenge and what drew me to the industry, it is certainly not a 9 to 5 job. Your investors are likely to live worldwide, so you have to adapt to their time zone. Mine sites are often found in deserts or extremely cold climates far away from the comfort of city life; you must be ready for all kinds of weather conditions. In the end, the rewards outweigh all cons.
3-Knowledge of science is essential, but your network is all the more important
You must have a strong understanding of all the technical and scientific parameters of the exploration and mining process, but you will likely have a dedicated team of geologists to streamline the process. As CEO, you will spend much time in the field and in front of investors. You must feel comfortable being in the spotlight and build relationships with investors and stakeholders. If you are not a people person, then this job is not for you.
4-You must be able to preview success and have ‘prophetic’ ability
You must have a sixth sense for potential and an insatiable hunger for success. Do your research well, but also go with your gut feeling and intuition when considering prospective projects or investors. Most of all, be ready to learn and grow.
5-You need to have a purpose. Money alone is not it.
Make sure that your goal and vision are clearly laid out, and never compromise those no matter what the temptations are. You will surely make money, but that in itself should never be a goal. Think of what you are doing differently and how your career is impacting the lives of others. It all comes down to how you want to be remembered at the end of your journey.
Can you share with our readers what you think are the most important “success habits” or “success mindsets”?
I strongly believe that persistence is key to success. Every missed opportunity poses a learning experience and eventually leads to something bigger and better. The key is to observe, revisit and learn from past mishaps to inform your future decisions. It is also highly important to have your goals, vision, and boundaries clearly defined. Base your actions on how they impact those in your close circle and the larger community overall. To me, the need to succeed also stems from the need of making ‘good money and making a positive difference in this world, one project at a time.
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 invite them to see Vizsla from a new perspective. We are rapidly becoming one of the world’s most important silver discoveries with incredible upside. Because of this, we may have the world’s most aggressive silver exploration and development program, and I think we can be in production faster than anyone expects. We are a team of forward thinkers who are highly invested in increasing shareholder value, minimizing risk while also placing great emphasis on ethical business and community development. Our Panuco Project is a district-scale asset with significant high-grade silver and gold discovery potential, containing more than 20 veins. Panuco already has substantial infrastructure, ideal location and our drill results continuously generate excellent results. Last but not the least, our engagement with the local community is solid and we share a strong collaborative relationship.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
We are very active on LinkedIn (@Vizsla Silver). We share company updates, industry news and insights, and published interviews frequently as we grow our investor base. You can also feel free to reach out to me on my personal LinkedIn for any advice, suggestions, or business inquiries. I make sure to respond to all inquiries on time and welcome all feedback.
Thank you for these great insights and for the time you spent with this interview. We wish you only continued success!
Don’t worry about things you can’t control. It sounds simple but can be surprisingly difficult — especially when the world around you is going crazy. But having the discipline to block out the noise and concentrate on what is within your control is essential.
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 Dr. Joseph J. Sarret.
Dr. Joseph J. Sarret joined CohBar (NASDAQ: CWBR), a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on the research and development of mitochondria based therapeutics, an emerging class of drugs for the treatment of chronic and age-related diseases, as Chief Executive Officer and Director in May 2021.
From 2019 until 2021, Dr. Sarret worked as a consultant in the life science industry, focusing on business development and corporate development activities. From 2015 until 2019, he served as Chief Business Officer at Corium International, Inc. (formerly NASDAQ: CORI), a biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing transdermal healthcare products.
Prior to Corium, Dr. Sarret served in senior leadership roles at Solazyme, Inc. (formerly NASDAQ: SZYM) and Sevident, Inc. From 2005 to 2012, he held several executive management roles, most recently serving as Chief Business Officer at Codexis, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDXS), a publicly traded life sciences company developing novel enzymes for a variety of applications. Earlier in his career, Dr. Sarret worked as a practicing clinician focused on patients with human immunodeficiency virus and an attorney specializing in IP transactional work in the life sciences industry.
He received a B.A. in human biology from Stanford University, an M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine and a J.D. from Stanford Law 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?
This wasn’t actually my first — or even second — planned career path. In fact, if you had spoken with me as I was graduating college and predicted I’d be running a biotech company, I would have said you were nuts! I started my career in medicine and when I completed medical school in the early ’90s, the HIV/AID epidemic was in full swing. After finishing my residency, I worked at a clinic devoted to treating HIV patients. At that time, HIV was the leading cause of death for all Americans aged 25 to 44, as there were no viable treatment options. By 1996, the FDA approved the first non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) drug, nevirapine, and by 1997, the antiretroviral therapy (HAART) became the new standard of HIV care. Over the course of a few short years, I witnessed firsthand the extraordinary impact that these new medications had on transforming the lives of HIV patients, enabling them to lead long and productive lives.
As rewarding as that experience was, I personally found practicing medicine to be isolating. I missed the collegial interaction and sense of teamwork I had enjoyed during my training. This led to a lot of soul-searching and as I’d always been interested in intellectual property, I decided to go to law school. After graduating law school, I specialized in complex IP transactions at a leading law firm with an active life sciences practice. While the experience was very collegial and challenging, I realized I didn’t love being an outside consultant. The work was very engaging, but you are not in a decision-making role. That led me to pursue business roles within life sciences companies, which eventually led to my post at CohBar where my background as a physician and attorney provides me with unique insight on understanding biotech and the critical importance of intellectual property, as well as the science behind the innovations and the factors that lead to adoption of novel therapeutics by clinicians.
Can you please share with us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
After leaving the law firm, I joined Codexis, an enzyme engineering company that applies its technology platform to develop proteins for a variety of applications. While initially focused on the pharmaceutical industry, I led an effort to expand the use of our technology in the energy sector, culminating in a relationship with Shell. Big Oil had never worked with biotech and vice-versa so success required bridging two very disparate cultures, learning new terminologies and a lot of active listening. We put together a feasibility project that ultimately led to a huge collaboration and Shell’s major financial investment in Codexis, which literally transformed the company. I am new to my post at CohBar but am confident there will be many interesting stories to come as we continue to grow the company.
Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?
Don’t be afraid to make a change. Clearly, I have had a lot of different career changes and there was a lot of soul searching behind each one. Be true to yourself. If things are not working out, do something about it.
Don’t lose your humanity. Always be kind. You can be successful and still be a nice and caring person.
Ok thank you for that. Let’s now move to the main focus of our interview. Can you tell us about your company’s “Big Idea That Might Change the World”?
CohBar essentially created the category of mitochondria based therapeutics when CohBar’s founders, Dr. Pinchas Cohen and Dr. Nir Barzilai, discovered a class of peptides encoded within the mitochondria that affect metabolic regulation and protection. Drs. Cohen and Barzilai founded CohBar to build on their initial discovery.
The subsequent work by CohBar’s scientists to sequence and evaluate the mitochondrial genome has resulted in the discovery of over 100 peptides and over 1,000 peptide analogs. We then work to characterize the activity of these peptides, with the goal of developing them into therapeutic pharmaceutical products.
It turns out that many of these peptides are not acting directly on the mitochondria. Rather, they are secreted into the circulation, where they have important activities on diverse biological pathways, many of which are outside our initial focus on metabolic disease. This somewhat unexpected result is the real key to why this is such a powerful approach — CohBar is harnessing the power of the mitochondria and its billions of years of evolution to develop an emerging new class of potential drugs for the treatment of a wide range of chronic and age-related diseases.
By focusing on analogs of naturally occurring peptides, we expect our product candidates to have superior safety profiles, both substantially decreasing the development risk for our programs and providing patients and physicians with treatment options with fewer side effects.
Even though we’ve been at this for several years, we’re just scratching the surface of the full opportunity — the scope of potential applications is breathtaking.
How do you think this will change the world?
Through my experience working in an HIV clinic in the mid ’90s, I have seen firsthand how novel therapeutics with high efficacy and good safety profiles can impact the lives of patients in truly profound ways. I believe CohBar’s platform of mitochondria based therapeutics has the potential to do the same thing for patients suffering from a wide variety of chronic diseases.
For example, our lead compound, CB4211, is in the Phase 1b stage of a Phase 1a/1b clinical trial for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a leading cause of liver failure caused by a buildup of fat in the liver, and obesity. There are no currently approved drugs for NASH so there is a huge unmet need there. And more than one third of the US adult population is obese, so a positive outcome from our CB4211 program could provide significant help in reducing the obesity crisis.
Our second clinical candidate, CB5138–3, is initially targeting idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). This is a devastating interstitial lung disease that typically has an onset around retirement at age 65. These patients can rapidly lose lung function and the five-year survival rate is worse than many cancers. While there are two approved drugs that slow the progression of disease, both are poorly tolerated with significant gastrointestinal and/or skin issues. This is a good example where the expected favorable safety profile of our products could make a meaningful impact clinically. We plan to be in the clinic next year with this program.
We are also exploring whether our CB5138 Analogs could be used in other chronic fibrotic diseases such as systemic sclerosis. In addition to these programs, we have other preclinical programs targeting important conditions including acute respiratory distress syndrome and the more than 75% of cancers that overexpress the CXCR4 receptor.
As if that wasn’t enough, since mitochondrial dysfunction is one of the hallmarks of aging, we believe our mitochondria based therapeutics have the potential to impact an even wider range of chronic and age-related diseases, enabling people to live healthier longer.
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?
It’s hard to identify a drawback from treating chronic disease and increasing healthy lifespan. The number of individuals over the age of 65 worldwide is projected to double to 1.5 billion by 2050. If our novel mitochondria based therapeutics can increase healthy lifespans for even some of those seniors, we believe that will result in profound positive effects on society.
Was there a “tipping point” that led CohBar to this idea? Can you tell us that story?
Dr. Nir Barzilai details the founding of CohBar in his book “Age Later.” In 2001, Dr. Hassy Cohen was studying the link of growth hormones in prostate cancer when he came across a protein, which he realized was consistent with a sequence in the mitochondria. Previously, it was not known that the mitochondria were producing peptides. This discovery led to an entirely new field of biology, with many academics around the world studying these peptides and their functions.
CohBar was founded to take advantage of this new field of biology to provide novel treatments for patients in need with the goal of treating chronic disease and increasing healthy life span. Interestingly, the company’s name CohBar is derived from combining the first three letters from the last names of Dr. Cohen and Dr. Barzilai.
What do you need to lead this idea to widespread adoption?
Given the enormous potential of our product candidates, we believe that widespread adoption will occur as we continue to develop our pipeline. Having said that, as a relatively small pre-revenue biotech company, additional resources would enable us to accelerate development and expand the scope of our pipeline.
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 be afraid to ask what you think may be a ‘dumb’ question. It’s OK not to understand something — but if you don’t ask, you won’t learn.
Focus is crucial. Focus is particularly important when you are working at a small company with limited resources. Don’t try to be everything for everyone, but prioritize and focus on the most important thing you have to accomplish that day, that week, that month, that year.
Surround yourself with exceptional people. You will be challenged (in a good way) and learn more. At the end of the day, your team is one of the largest determinants of your ultimate success.
Don’t worry about things you can’t control. It sounds simple but can be surprisingly difficult — especially when the world around you is going crazy. But having the discipline to block out the noise and concentrate on what is within your control is essential.
Make sure to have fun! Life is precious. If you aren’t enjoying what you do, you’re probably doing the wrong thing.
Can you share with our readers what you think are the most important “success habits” or “success mindsets”?
It’s important not to be afraid of change. Many people get caught in a rut and they are reluctant to take a risk. Listen to that inner voice advising you to try something new — with change comes opportunity and the chance to learn, engage, and reinvent yourself.
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
Leveraging billions of years of evolution, CohBar is a clinical-stage biotech company with a unique technology platform targeting multiple disease areas with high unmet need. While all of our product candidates originate from the mitochondrial genome, each peptide family is structurally unique with distinct mechanisms of action, providing us with multiple truly independent opportunities for success. By treating a wide range of chronic and age-related diseases, we have the potential to enable people to live longer, healthier and more productive lives.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
We invite your readers to visit us on LinkedIn or Twitter and to sign up for alerts on our website.
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
…First, an inclusive culture where everyone feels a sense of belonging will see significantly higher levels of employee engagement. We see this at Prudential through the data we capture on our own employee sentiment. And stronger employee sentiment leads to greater employee retention. Turnover, as anyone will tell you, can be a huge drain on resources if you’re constantly looking to recruit, train and retain new staff.
As a part of our series about “How Diversity Can Increase a Company’s Bottom Line”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Lata Reddy.
Lata N. Reddy is senior vice president of Inclusive Solutions at Prudential Financial and chair of The Prudential Foundation. In these roles, Reddy harnesses the power of capital markets to drive financial and social mobility. By combining diversity strategies, impact investments, philanthropy, corporate contributions and employee engagement with Prudential’s full business capabilities, she helps position the company to promote inclusive economic opportunity and sustainable growth.
Thank you so much for doing this with us Lata! 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 went to law school because of my interest in social justice. I had the chance to intern with justice advocate Bryan Stevenson, whose memoir became the 2019 movie “Just Mercy.” I was working with individuals who were incarcerated and on death row. That experience shaped my life in many ways. When I graduated, I started as a civil rights attorney, focusing on bringing high-quality education to all students, and I loved it. It checked all the boxes for what I wanted in a career — for a few years. Then I realized that I ultimately couldn’t achieve my mission by working on one case at a time. I wondered: How could I get to the underlying, systemic issues of civil rights challenges?
A friend suggested philanthropy and when I heard about an opening with The Prudential Foundation focused on transforming education in Newark, I had to apply. I didn’t know anything about working in philanthropy, or corporate America, or Newark. But the hiring manager took a chance on me based on my legal background, and I’ve been doing this type of incredible work ever since.
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?
Early in my time at Prudential, one of my responsibilities was to run our matched giving program, where employees could submit charitable donations and Prudential would match them. Back then, we had a much broader set of criteria for what could get matched, so employees got creative. One day I heard from an employee who had donated their horse to a nonprofit and wanted us to match the value of the horse. I spent hours of my life I’ll never get back finding someone who could essentially appraise a horse. I guess I’ve blocked out the amount we matched, but I do remember that we changed our giving criteria soon after that. The lesson: Expect the unexpected, because every day at work brings a new adventure!
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?
A friend told me when I first started at Prudential: “Remember who your friends are.” I took it to mean, be humble. When you’re in a role where you’re responsible for allocating money and resources to different causes, you can feel like the funniest, smartest, best-looking person in the room. And his point was: Don’t be confused. It’s never about you! It’s about your important work. So that was very grounding advice for me.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are?
My dad, Nallapu Reddy. He grew up in extreme poverty in rural India, in a society where being poor meant being marginalized. My father could easily have gone down a different path, but many people extended help at critical moments. This enabled him to pursue his dream of an education which he knew would open doors of opportunity. He went on to become a professor of economics and chair the Economics Department at the University of Michigan-Flint. It was there he spent his career educating first-generation college-goers like himself.
My father taught me what it’s like to face systemic barriers and what it takes to overcome them. It takes hard work, sure, but it also requires people who believe in you and recognize your humanity. His experience is part of what fueled my purpose to eliminate systemic barriers and help level the playing field.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
While others might also tell you this, our commitment to our stakeholders is truly unique, and that begins with the people of Newark, New Jersey. We have been committed to Newark — one of the most diverse cities in the nation — since our founding in 1875. While many fled following social unrest in the 1960s, we chose to stay and committed to do even more to close the racial wealth gap. We pledged to use all of our capabilities — through the full strength of our people, purchasing power, relationships, grants and investments — to help the city not only weather tough times, but build lasting resiliency. We’ve got a team of 45 full-time associates dedicated to our work in Newark. We engage with the community to help create the solutions they want to see. We’re in it for the long term, and we take pride in that.
Of course, there are also times of crisis that require immediate action. This has been especially true during the pandemic, when small businesses and residents have struggled so deeply. Prudential has waived rents for many of our small-business tenants in Newark. We also provided funds for laptops and Wi-Fi hotspots, and IT support for Newark families and students navigating the challenges of a remote learning environment.
But ultimately, our goal is to help to create a vibrant, thriving, livable, 24/7 city through a deep, longstanding commitment.
Are you working on any new or exciting projects now? How do you think that might help people?
How to measure the business impact of addressing societal challenges is very difficult. So I’m really excited about new work we’re doing to create a measurement and learning system to help us understand, with precision, what it takes to drive innovation for social and business impact. We’re building a completely bespoke framework that we can use to evaluate our efforts and determine whether it’s leading to change.
The racial wealth gap is a good example. That directly connects to Prudential’s purpose, which is to make lives better by solving the financial challenges of our changing world. We start by asking ourselves: What are the components of the racial wealth gap? Things like lack of quality affordable housing. Lack of high-quality education. Lack of pathways to quality jobs. Then we determine if we can play a meaningful role in those areas or help to plug a gap that others can’t. In some cases, it will be through a financial input, in other cases it will be through our own people, or a product or solution, or creating access to a specific industry. All of this will result in a variety of outcomes that we want to be able to measure with confidence. Sometimes we will have a demonstrable financial impact. Other times we will have an intangible impact — for instance, on employee engagement, which leads to productivity, risk mitigation, reputation and brand building. And then others will be almost entirely for societal benefit, but which are also vital to how we sustainably operate.
We are at a critical moment in history for this type of work. There is more buy-in and momentum than I’ve seen throughout my career. But we need to be precise about where we are directing our resources so that we can truly create lasting change. This work isn’t easy, but it is so important.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
Everybody has a role to play, but I have found that the best way for me to contribute is to bring my personal purpose to the work. I try to use my privilege and my success to create pathways to opportunity. I’ve benefited from my parents, who had an extraordinary story of sacrifice and success. I feel a connection to the idea that “To whom much is given, much is required.” I’ve been fortunate that I have this large platform with which to try and bring goodness into the world, practically every day.
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.)
Increased diversity on its own won’t impact anything. Inclusion is a necessary precondition, and equity is an essential component. All together, they must be ingrained into every aspect of a business’s activities to get true bottom line results. This plays out in multiple ways:
First, an inclusive culture where everyone feels a sense of belonging will see significantly higher levels of employee engagement. We see this at Prudential through the data we capture on our own employee sentiment. And stronger employee sentiment leads to greater employee retention. Turnover, as anyone will tell you, can be a huge drain on resources if you’re constantly looking to recruit, train and retain new staff.
Second, diverse teams help companies improve the quality of policies, programs, and products. Individual’s lived experiences bring unique perspectives that round out how ideas are generated. We have connected our business resource groups (volunteer employees who are members and allies of various diverse communities) to various projects to help inform things like the employee on-boarding process and the ideation of new products and solutions. Through this connection, we can focus on the “moments that matter” for a broad group of employees and customers, something that’s only possible when you solicit a range of diverse perspectives.
Third, embedding an inclusive mindset can generate innovative approaches. As part of our company’s ongoing transformation, we asked all our employees to submit ideas to fuel our initiatives. We are embedding inclusion and racial equity from the moment those ideas are submitted into our idea portal. This will help us to develop products and solutions that can meet the needs of diverse customers, which leads to higher customer satisfaction and retention, and greater product adoption. And by designing products with relevance across customer groups we can enable greater financial inclusion and address systemic societal issues.
Fourth, authentic and deep-seated inclusion creates brand and reputational value. Increasingly, companies are being judged on how they engage on social issues — particularly over the course of the past year — and how they are embedding DEI into their business. In some cases, we are even being ranked against our peers on this. Anecdotally, we know that many people join Prudential because of how we show up in this space. Similarly, it’s important to customers who want to do business with companies that align to their values. To generate that brand and reputation value you must walk the talk. For example, this past year we have been embedding racial equity commitments into our talent practices and have been transparent with our employees and the public on how we’re working to level the playing field with our hiring and promotion processes. This helps us retain top talent, who then generate innovative ideas and do great work for the company. It’s a virtuous circle.
Lastly, taking inclusion outside our four walls and into the communities where we operate creates huge upside in terms of growth and prosperity. Our global headquarters is in Newark, NJ where we have been heavily investing to help close the financial divide and create opportunities for diverse business owners and residents. We have a symbiotic relationship with the community — if they are thriving and prospering, we too can thrive and prosper. As a big company we can’t operate in a vacuum, but rather we have an obligation to advocate for diversity and inclusion across the entire business ecosystem.
What advice would you give to other business leaders to help their employees to thrive?
First and foremost, listen to your people. That means creating opportunities for them to share their thoughts, and then really listen to what they have to say. It also means valuing their lived experience. We need to give more credence to this. Our diverse associates are often the canaries in the coal mine — they know about issues before the media reports on them, because they’re living them.
I’d also say that it’s vital to care for the financial wellness of your associates. Financial strain can come from many sources, whether it’s dealing with an unexpected medical emergency, or caring for extended family or paying off student debt. We can’t assume everyone is financially resilient. At Prudential, we’re doing a lot of work to understand the financial wellness of our employees so we can meet them where they are.
What advice would you give to other business leaders about how to manage a large team?
Truly get to know and understand your team. It’s important to recognize the diversity they bring through their experiences and background, but equally critical to unlock the power of that diversity. One aspect is to acknowledge the intersectionality of your team. We can’t put people in one neat little category. Nor can we make sweeping generalizations about “communities” as if everyone in it is the same. We need to understand that we lead multifaceted existences. Role model being your authentic, intersectional self at work. And actively practice inclusive leadership. That’s how you can get the most out of your team.
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
It’d be fun to share a meal with Padma Lakshmi — especially if she were the one to prepare it. We’ve chitchatted in the past, but I’d love the chance to tell her that I admire the way she’s opened the door to diverse cultures through food and I appreciate the way she uses her platform to advocate for social justice.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Prudential.com
Twitter: @latareddy
Thank you for these excellent insights. We wish you continued success in your great work.
The Future Is Now: Martin Taylor of Prox & Reverie On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Listen more than you talk. It’s taken a long time to really be present in other’s company but is surprising just how much people communicate when you stay still. It has helped me feel calmer under pressure and more enjoyable to deal in business.
As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Martin Taylor.
Martin has been in the XR industry since 2013 with Prox & Reverie being the second immersive business he has built. With skills ranging from filmmaking and industrial design to perception psychology and lucid dream research, XR innovation has become his natural home.
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 young, I was always trying to find a balance between my creativity and technical skills. I initially studied a degree in engineering and product design — thinking about how products work to suit human need by marrying form and function. However, after a period of time, I realised I wanted to become a filmmaker and pivoted careers in my mid-20s to start film school. An option at film school was psychoanalysis and semiotics, which is centred around the way people process information. There are physical and psychological perceptions systems — the psychological systems focus on how an individual finds meaning in the world around them and within.
This module related deeply to an integral source of inspiration: lucid dreaming. I frequently have lucid dreams and use them as a creative tool. Over two or three days you can play out a solution that might normally take three months, it’s quite incredible, and I’ve attempted to recreate the experience and process in various formats ever since. However, the problem I found while continuing my career in filmmaking, was that traditional 2D formats couldn’t begin to provide a level of control and immersion found in a lucid state.
But then VR came along and everything seemed to click into place — it provides a direct, immersive experience well beyond the bounds of purely screen-based media. It was also the first technology to achieve that combination of technology and creativity I was searching for, to begin with. Now, I am using a multitude of mixed reality technologies in tangent with one another.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
My first experience of using VR was in a meet-up — an artist had created a scene in the game engine Unity. Once you put the headset on, you found yourself sitting inside a flat in a sort of Neo-Tokyo setting with a television set right in front of you. What struck me afterwards was that I now had a memory of being in a place I never truly entered, a fictional, digital world — it was truly powerful.
I wanted to use VR and mixed reality technologies as a tool for the mind, a way of giving people simulated memories and experiences. Whether it’s a memory of a story, a memory for training purposes, the core idea of generating something real without taking someone physically somewhere became my focus as it felt possible to invite someone directly into my imagination.
Can you tell us about the cutting edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?
There’s a strong basis of industrial innovation in our work at Prox & Reverie — we’re developing a unique production studio concept called a ‘convergence volume’ (that we nickname ‘The Forge’) that opens a permanent bridge between physical and virtual realities by combining cutting edge XR technology and the knowledge of the mind’s powerful ability to ‘fill in the blanks’ and complete an experience.
The goal with The Forge is to have a single studio space designed to allow layered perceptions of outer (physical world) and inner (imagined) realities overlap and intersect to feel like extensions of each other, as a continuous spectrum. This is the creative and technical direction I believe is needed to establish the native format for XR.
Even though it’s early days for The Forge as a studio build, I’ve been working through the ‘convergence volume’ principals for a number of years now and we’re already seeing promising signs of success. As The Forge develops as a new paradigm in immersive creation and experience, we believe it could open up the potential for new combinations of artist function and new intuitive forms of spatial media to express deeper and more complex ideas than currently possible.
How do you think this might change the world?
In one of the first lucid dreams I ever had, I was reading a passage from a book. I fell asleep and went directly into a dream, there was a pinprick of light moving around creating a sort of jumbled pattern. But I had this feeling that I was both witnessing something being made and something I was making myself at the same time. The closest example I’ve ever seen that captures this experience is in the film Inception, where they draw a diagram explaining how you’re both in the dream and the dream’s architect at the same time. It’s a sort of loop effect and it’s what I am trying to recreate using The Forge.
Once we get to that instant loop, you’ll be able to create anything — it will initiate an entirely new form of media.
Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
When I attend panels, there is often a fear of a dystopian future where people are isolated from everyday life and plugged into a fictional world. But I think that issue is really a debate about the concept of escapism in general, rather than the technology itself. Black Mirror is named to make reference to what it’s reflecting back at you and is centered more around the human condition.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?
The lucid dream I mentioned earlier was really the tipping point in my thinking and set me on a thirty-year path, learning about lucid dream mechanics, dream logic and Universal symbols. Over the years I’ve been developing a framework of spatial narrative grammar through trial and error and lots of academic background study. Once VR came around it really felt like my medium and in all my immersive projects but particularly in my recent project AWAKE, I got a chance to test my theories in practice.
Producing AWAKE allowed me to explore some of the mechanics behind lucid dreaming as a phenomenon. For instance, how the viewer moved from scene to scene, how characters appeared and disappeared, how your perspective changes from first to the third person — it feels seamless and natural even though dream logic is difficult to comprehend when conscious. It’s designed to tell you that things are normal and that it’s possible to move from one idea to the next but in ways very different to traditional media.
Since that very first lucid dream, I’ve been led down a path of making films that captured that concept. Film for screen wasn’t doing it, interactive apps on-screen weren’t doing it, but VR made sense — that experience was definitely my tipping point.
What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?
We’ll never be competing with big tech giants that are working hard on headsets, networks and components that will bring about further widespread adoption. So our focus is on aggregating bleeding edge tech and fusing them with familiar ways that the world works.
To this end, we’re focusing on ideas such as bridging and integration. Essentially how to smooth out the journey into an immersive world experience and back and then have it stick as a truly integrated memory.
An area to work on here is how we currently reach out and touch the virtual world and how it meets us in return. Because the foundation of VR technology is gaming, interactions are often based on game controllers and the user interfaces of mobile phones. But I don’t think it’s very intuitive and doesn’t simulate how the physical world works.
What’s needed for the wider public is new types of tactile interactions and micro-infrastructure that replace VR controllers and air pinching with affordances that mirror reality. The aim is to anchor the experience in familiar learned reality while giving the imagination superpowers to express itself and share those ideas directly with others at scale.
This is why we’re developing and enhancing familiar everyday objects such as doors, practical mechanisms and life props that are both familiar and metaphoric which have a bonus psychological impact. A door, for example, is as much a psychological experience in your life as it is a physical one. If a door’s closed because someone is busy, it means ‘don’t enter’; if you’re trying to avert danger, it’s your means of escape. It’s these core elements that appear on repeat in your dream life and real life, it’s a universal language that can be anchored using The Forge. Once we’ve achieved this, we’re able to truly bridge the virtual and real worlds, leading to true widespread adoption. An out-there approach to some perhaps but we’re already witnessing in The Forge how users instantly know how to act around these XR-enhanced systems and how we can control the experience with more nuance and surprise. It’s exciting to explore.
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 actually have a very weird story that changed everything. Before VR was an industry, I needed to make a leap of faith and invest in the right computing technology to run VR to test my dream theories. At the time, I was a freelance filmmaker. I was between jobs while living in Sydney and I had AUD$2,200 in a savings account. I had to decide on whether I saved it or invest it into a computer powerful enough to run the original Oculus Rift. I was agonising over this decision, but crunched the numbers and decided that if I could make money from it quick enough it would be worth it.
The very next morning after I ordered this laptop, I woke up to find an email from an anonymous stranger I’d never met, saying that he’d found and watched a personal documentary film I’d made some years ago about going to a consciousness expansion retreat. My film had inspired him to go to the place and during his visit, he’d had an idea that earned him a large amount of money and said he wanted to pass it forward.
The truly strange part was that it was the exact same amount I’d spent on the equipment the day before, which felt like some crazy ‘Universal refund’ letting me know I was on the right track to switch careers. I made the decision right then to fully commit and a week later, another larger cheque arrived and I was able to make the leap and set up my first dedicated VR company!
Since then, I’ve worked as hard to ensure that his gift was worth it and to try and turn it into something meaningful — I’m pleased to say we’ve stayed in contact and I’m still on the path I set out on that day.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
This is more than entertainment to me, this is trying to bring a ‘magic machine’ into reality. To have someone walk in and instantly create what’s inside their imagination — it’s something I’ve been striving for. Do you help a million people with small things or do you try and help individuals spread their creations? I want to help people better understand their perceptions, provide an experience that allows them to question the veil of reality. Personally, I subscribe to the idea that reality might be the best-designed simulation ever, and in my own experience, this is proving to be true.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
1 — Business leaders are people first, so relax and don’t think others are ‘above you’ just be yourself and talk to them as a person.
2 — Success goes both ways — both up and down but rarely stays the same. Don’t become complacent or arrogant with success thinking it will last forever but also hang in there if it’s not going your way either. Gratitude with the present is the best footing you can give yourself to handle the swings.
3 — Don’t burn out. Rest is as important as work for processing ideas and solutions.
4 — Start earlier. Don’t wait until the ‘right time’ — I feel as though I am hitting my stride quite late and would have loved to have been where I am now earlier. I’d tell my younger self to buckle down and work out how to leverage where I wanted to get to.
5 — Listen more than you talk. It’s taken a long time to really be present in other’s company but is surprising just how much people communicate when you stay still. It has helped me feel calmer under pressure and more enjoyable to deal in business.
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 designed to wake people up a little that feel trapped in physical life or heavy personal narrative. That there is much more to life than the physical, to give them a peek behind everyday reality. The overview perspective people get when they’re in space is a great example, it’s a singular moment that brings up a million questions about everything previously assumed. The movement I want is based on providing people with a new perspective without the need to almost die or have to travel into the Earth’s atmosphere.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
‘The greatest illusion is that mankind has limitations’ — Robert Monroe.
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 technologies converge, we are completing the loop, with ‘The Forge’ a new paradigm of content creation system that transforms the perception of reality for entirely new forms of media, experience and creative expression. We’re commercialising this master plan along the way, but I would love to meet a VC bold enough and with enough vision to help us enhance human potential with The Forge. Once something like this is built, an accessible machine where people can capture and recreate entire inner realities and share them with another person, the applications are quite literally endless.
Try to minimize the internal stakeholders. The idea or concept you start with could be a diamond, but if ten different stakeholders comment on everything that is “edgy,” you will end up with a ping pong ball and not an exquisitely cut diamond.
As part of our series about how to create a trusted, believable, and beloved brand, I had the pleasure to interview Henric Larsson, founder and CEO of Chimney Group with more than 20 years of experience in story telling, content production and creation. Today Chimney has 450 employees and a global presence with offices in Stockholm, Los Angeles, Mannheim, Singapore, Frankfurt, Oslo, Copenhagen, Berlin, Malmo, Warsaw, Gothenburg and Sydney.
Larsson has been involved in productions for Madonna, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Dior, BMW, Coca Cola as well as over 50 feature films like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Searching for Sugarman, Control and Her. By producing content for cinema and TV that people want to watch, Larrson has learned how to help brands reach their consumers in the right way, at the right place and on the right time.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Like many things in life, it was mostly by chance that I came to this specific career path. At the age of 13, I started an early career at a stock broking firm. However, by the time I was 19, I quit because it was upsetting to see money flying around that didn’t create any value for society. I then took a job at a housing complex for disabled people and worked for a few years until a friend called me and asked for help on MTV’s show Real World. Working on that show, I met some incredible creative minds who managed the post-production. A year or two later, they joined me when I founded Chimney in 1996.
In the ‘90’s, post-production was a much more hands-on and time-consuming task than today. A 3D render could take up to 5 days, and if you screwed something up, you missed the air time. Moving files from one computer to another could take 8 hours. I started programming at the age of 8, so my familiarity with technology and my creative passion was a perfect mix in those days.
Can you share a story about the funniest marketing mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I don’t have many funny stories to share since we don’t specialize in marketing our own company. We help some of the biggest brands in the world but never do anything for ourselves. We strive to deliver fantastic work to our clients, so they come back to buy more and tell all their friends about us.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Being a privately owned company makes us very agile, and we constantly drive innovation in services and offerings. We opened up the first two offices abroad in 1998 and have continually opened more since then with 14 offices in 9 countries currently. I read a report from IBM 10 years ago that analyzed 1500 companies that outperformed the competition over 2–3 recessions, and they had something in common with our company. They all expected that 50% of their revenues in 5 years would come from products and services they don’t offer today. And if you still take care of existing clients, you will add this on top of what you already have. We have a robust culture here, with many employees having worked for us since our inception, but something we could improve on is recognition. Since we never pause and praise amazing work, we always feel that we could be 10% better. Clients usually rate us at ten, but we rate ourselves at seven. Maybe part of the reason clients love working with us is because we have higher expectations than they do.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
We are constantly busy working on great shows for Netflix, which help to inspire creative minds everywhere. As an international company with one global P&L, we also share work between offices daily, which helps to stay connected and nurture talent. Many of our partners are creatively minded and have a voice when it comes to the company strategy. There needs to be a balance, but we do many things out of passion and not just business logic.
Ok let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?
We were taught in University that the perfect mix between brand marketing and product marketing is 60% and 40%, respectively. One needs to invest in the brand to get the consumers to know you exist, learn who you are, and build brand preference. This marketing will help you get better margins on your sales and lower sales and acquisition costs. Yet, this tactic seems to be something everybody has forgotten. I hear brands complaining about consumers being disloyal, but is that surprising when brands have spent 90% of their budget on re-targeting display ads? They have harassed the consumer online and screamed SALE in their face for +10 years, so I am not surprised their brand equity is diminishing. Many companies had good conversion at the beginning since they had built that equity for 30 years. However, now they pay using that equity, and if they don’t invest in restoring it, they will see the competition from challenging brands start to impose as well as a considerable part of their margins going into digital marketing to generate sales and revenues. It is a race to the bottom.
Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?
You can have the perfect products, best advertising campaigns, and the catchiest slogan, but if each of these aspects doesn’t directly align with your brand’s vision, you are doing yourself a disservice. Once you start to build up brand recognition, consumers will have expectations about your services and offerings. They come to anticipate a certain level of quality and expertise that your company delivers each time. This is how you build, strengthen, and maintain customer relations. Your brand is your calling card, or what you are immediately recognized for, so make sure it reflects your mission and overall vision.
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.
Take bigger creative risks. Allow your company to acquire different marketing assets so you can keep variety and don’t have to bet it all on one.
Don’t focus only on sales and conversion KPI’s. We all talk about the Consumer Journey and funnel, but too often we go from Attention straight to Conversion and invest nothing in the Engagement and Consideration phases. It is in these areas that you build long-term relationships.
Try to minimize the internal stakeholders. The idea or concept you start with could be a diamond, but if ten different stakeholders comment on everything that is “edgy,” you will end up with a ping pong ball and not an exquisitely cut diamond.
Take control of your data. Too much data is left to be managed by partners like media and social agencies. This information is your holy grail, so implement your own data management system and invite partners to work in YOUR ecosystem.
Start today to set up your strategy for a world without third-party data and cookies. When Google joined Apple on this path in Q1 2021, many marketing strategies will not work anymore. Going broader, more contextual, and less targeted doesn’t have to be a problem, and done right can create tremendous opportunities. You will maybe stop spending money on existing clients and instead go wider with your offerings and suddenly find new consumers.
In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job building a believable and beloved brand. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?
One brand that specifically impresses me with its mission and brand marketing is Telsa. Between their vehicles’ state-of-the-art safety features and zero emissions, saving the environment has never looked so cool. They also offer other clean energy solutions, and their brand is unified in the point that they are trying to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. The takeaway point here is that Tesla identified a need, in this case utilizing more sustainable sources of energy, and delivered it in new and unexpected ways, such as their Tesla Model 3.
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?
Everybody says that a marketing campaign needs to focus on both brand building and sales. That can be true but to the same marketing assets or the same channel. What if your marketing plan is fantastic, but the products or price suck, what will data tell you then? For decades we have measured branding performance using Net Promoter Score, which I think still works. Maybe I am too traditional, but marketing is about connecting with humans and triggering emotions, and our DNA hasn’t changed in the last 30 years, ha ha!
What role does social media play in your branding efforts?
Consumers use social media to interact, connect, network, and discuss, so it is easy for brands to become just another interruption. Social media is probably THE most important channel in anybody’s communication strategy today, but not enough brands use it properly to focus on creating a two-way dialogue. It is getting worse every day due to cancel culture, to the point that it can scare brands from taking a stand or having a voice if it is not just white-washed opinions.
I think social media is powerful if one can accept that NOT being loved by some is just as powerful as being loved by others.
What advice would you give to other marketers or business leaders to thrive and avoid burnout?
I sometimes feel sorry for my brand’s marketing teams. They get to manage more and more every day but don’t get to increase headcounts. Since sales have moved into digital channels, they are not just responsible for marketing but also sales, product, and service innovation. The owners need to understand that the increased budget cannot just go into external media buying. That being said, most clients work the same way as they did 20 years ago; they just do more things. There are huge opportunities to work smarter, not harder, and use technology to automate many of these tasks. Brands should have their own ecosystem in which their partners work. A campaign right now involves ten different agencies, and the marketer is left to work in the agency’s infrastructure, and they all have different ways of working. With one, they use Trello and a Google Calendar, with another Slack and Dropbox etc. This is why sometimes up to 50% of their time is spent just on updating all partners on what is happening between them. Create your own ecosystem, get everybody to work as YOU want them to, and get all agencies around the same table for the first time.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
I would love to focus more on role models for certain groups in our society, both locally and globally. The role models in some areas are the local drug dealers since many don’t see any other path. Conversely, we should not just showcase the founders of huge startups since that is too hard to reach for some people to relate to as well. It is the local heroes starting a small coffee shop, the small-town social workers, and the volunteer firefighters, to name a few, that we should be highlighting. With our footprint in the entertainment sector, we can produce amazing content and achieve global distribution to tell the stories needed to make a difference.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Maybe not my favorite life lesson, but when the IT crash happened in 2000, Sweden got hit very hard, and our revenues when down by 80% in one week. Being young and inexperienced, navigating through such turbulent times was tough, but I learned that worrying about what will happen tomorrow is not helpful. One can only work hard and do the best one can and then see what the future holds. We came through even stronger on the other side, and it also helped me learn to separate work from my personal life, even if it was going through a crisis. So, when the 2008 recession hit, or COVID in 2020, we were able to keep the team spirit positive and pushed through so that ultimately none of my coworkers were personally affected.
We are blessed that very prominent leaders in business and entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world with whom you would like to have a lunch or breakfast with? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them.
My wife! I work too much and don’t spend enough time with the love of my life. We have been a couple for 32 years now, and CVG would not exist without her love and support. Between working full time, raising three kids, and taking care of everything at home, she has allowed me to continue doing what I love and travel the world.
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
Identify opportunities for positive change • You should always be looking for ways to develop and stay ahead. Your ideas might not always be feasible — maybe you don’t have the right technology, the cost is too high, or there’s some other hurdle — but that shouldn’t stop you from ideating.
An accomplished senior executive and market leader, Stew Lawrence brings nearly 20 years of successful experience in sales, marketing, business development, and enterprise management in the consumer packaged goods and energy related fields. Stew is currently CEO of CleanWell, LLC a Denver based manufacturer of homecare cleaning products.
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 working with consumer packaged goods back in college, actually. I was living in Boulder, Colorado and interning with several startup CPG companies that had products being sold in small grocery markets, local places. After college, I had the opportunity to work with larger CPG brands, but still in the food industry — like Hot Pockets and Nestle — and I did that for quite some time.
When I was approached about joining the CleanWell team it was a particularly intriguing opportunity because, frankly, this was a product I already had in my home — and that’s always exciting to be able to work on something you’re already interested in and passionate about.
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?
This is a tough question — because honestly, despite making my fair share of mistakes throughout my career, I can’t think of many that I would consider particularly notable or funny.
I do have one anecdote I can share, though. My team was developing messaging for a cookie, and our angle was to compare the nutritional value of this cookie to the nutrition value in a serving of fruits or vegetables. The goal was to try to bridge the gap in consumers’ minds so they equated this cookie to these other, in theory, healthier options.
But, in reality, sometimes consumers just want a cookie — so this messaging didn’t resonate at all with our audience. It was a miss in terms of consumer thinking because really, it’s okay to have a cookie in moderation — and that’s the messaging consumers actually wanted.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
As a company, we’re extremely nimble and supportive of each other — and this past year has really proven that; because we needed to continue delivering great products, while also taking care of each other during a pandemic — and really, it’s CleanWell’s culture that made both those things possible.
Let me elaborate a little further.
Since we only have one owner — and there aren’t that many layers between him and the rest of the team — it allows us to be quick to make decisions and adjust to trends. And, since we’re one of the more established companies when it comes to using botanicals in cleaning products — we’ve really grown together as a team, making us close — kind of like a second family — and that’s really what shines through to make us stand out.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
Well I can’t tell you all our secrets! Kidding, of course.
The biggest thing we’re working on right now is enhancing our current products. We’re continuously renovating our products. A big focus for us, at the moment, is pushing the envelope in terms of sustainability and recyclability. We’d love our product to eventually be completely biodegradable — and while these may seem like older trends, when you’re dealing with a disinfectant — it takes a lot of work because of the product ingredients and navigating the regulatory agencies.
Also, we’re working to develop a few products to be used in commercial environments — whether it’s food service or an office space — because they deserve a clean, botanical cleaning product as well.
In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?
I would delineate those by saying that brand marketing is defining who you are and why you exist, really the tenets of your business — mission, vision, clear objectives, how you partner within the industry, etc.
Product marketing, on the other hand, is a focus on the benefits you provide — the what you are. This is where you are more functional with your messaging and advertising so you can explain the benefits to any audience you’re targeting.
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?
Loyalty. Without building your brand, it’s harder to build brand loyalty — which is what allows you to get repeat purchases and really become a part of someone’s life. If you only focus your advertising efforts on your product’s attributes — frankly, there are a lot of other products with similar attributes — and you’re not building a relationship with consumers, which is really important.
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.
Focus on Quality • Delivering a high quality product and experience is what allows you to build a long lasting relationship with your consumers. It’s what keeps them coming back time and time again.
Speak with your consumers • Your brand lives and dies with your consumers — so get to know them. In my opinion, Consumer Affairs should always be an internal department — because while outsourcing it could save some money, having your consumers interact with someone who’s invested in the company not only is a better consumer experience, it allows for a direct line of feedback to business decisions being made.
Identify opportunities for positive change • You should always be looking for ways to develop and stay ahead. Your ideas might not always be feasible — maybe you don’t have the right technology, the cost is too high, or there’s some other hurdle — but that shouldn’t stop you from ideating.
Define your purpose • It’s important to find something to stand for and live by it. This can be something related to your product or culture — but whatever it is, make sure you walk the walk and talk the talk.
Look and feel matters • Make sure the look and feel of your products is positioned in a way that reflects your brand personality, product attributes, and purpose. If you are looking to reflect lively, progressive, and clean — don’t present your products in a dull and overly cluttered manner, for instance.
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?
Patagonia.
There are so many things they do well. They consistently deliver on their promise of providing high quality, well thought out products. They make products from recycled materials — oftentimes from their own recycled materials — and give back to the causes they support, just to name a few.
But, really, that all that boils down to the biggest, and the most repeatable takeaway from their brand, which is that they truly live their mission and culture in all aspects of their business — which is what really impresses me about them.
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?
Directly measuring advertising by sales is sort of the age-old challenge for marketers because there are so many other variables — pricing, channel, competitive sets, etc. — so even from a high-level, it can be difficult. But when thinking about successfully building a brand, however, it’s really getting that repeat purchase. It shows you have loyal consumers. Also, when you have a successful brand, there’s no gap between how you intend to be perceived and how you’re actually being perceived.
And you can get a sense for all of this from your consumers when they reach out — whether that’s on social media, through anecdotal consumer affairs, or direct conversations your team has.
What role does social media play in your branding efforts?
Interestingly, we do less direct product advertising on social media than some of our other mediums — because, honestly, it’s a little boring and repetitive to sell your products to consumers directly when they are really there to build a relationship with you. So for us, when it comes to social media — we start with who we are in a consumer’s life and trust that our attributes will come into the conversation after as a way to validate that we’re the right brand for them to work with. Bottom line, though — it plays a major role.
What advice would you give to other marketers or business leaders to thrive and avoid burnout?
Take lots of deep breaths — and then take calculated risks. We don’t live in an academic world where things have to be 100% validated before making a decision — that’s part of why working in marketing and advertising is 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.
This one’s already happening — and that’s general transparency.
Obviously, my mind goes first to the world of consumer packaged goods first — and what we’re seeing right now is that in general, products are becoming more transparent with what’s in them. If we look at cleaning products, specifically, in the past you didn’t have to disclose what was used to make a disinfectant, for instance — and now you do. And that’s really important because people should know what they’re putting on their surfaces and in their homes, just like they do when considering products they’re putting on or in their bodies. In my opinion, this also extends to corporate transparency. Other than keeping certain intellectual property information to yourself for obvious competitive reasons — I like the idea of providing as much transparency as possible for your end users and employees.
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 that I’ve always liked.
The first is from George H. Allen. He said, “One of the most difficult things everyone has to learn is that for your entire life you must keep fighting and adjusting if you hope to survive. No matter who you are or what your position, you must keep fighting for whatever it is you desire to achieve.”
And I had this taped to my locker in high school, and now hangs in my office, as a reminder to keep the foot on the pedal, but adjust when you need to.
The other one is from Henry Ford who said, “You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.”
We are blessed that very prominent leaders in business and entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world with whom you would like to have a lunch or breakfast with? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them.
This is sort of a cliched answer, but it’s the honest one, and it would be both my grandfathers. They were both in business, but not in my industry, so I’d love to sit down to talk with them about their careers, the highs and lows, etc. They did some pretty interesting things during a very different time and I think there’s a lot I could glean from them that could be adapted and applied to my career, and my industry, today.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
Personally, I don’t have a big social media presence. I’m more of an observer, rather than a content creator. I am on LinkedIn, so that would be the best place for readers to find me.
Know your target audience. We understand our consumers want history within their jewelry while keeping the environment safe with sustainable engagement rings. Once you have a customer, retain them. Keep your customers on file for future mailings and keep in touch with them so they know you care. We send out mailers and try to check in with them on how their engagements are going. We love getting to know their stories and the personal impact keeps them coming back for more jewelry for future events.
As part of our series about how to create a trusted, believable, and beloved brand, I had the pleasure to interview Suzanne Sachs.
Suzanne worked at Sony Music in NYC as a Director of Licensing for eleven years but always had an entrepreneurial spirit and a plan to lead to her own company. Her husband is a wholesale diamond and antique jewelry dealer. When they became engaged in 2004, Stuart mentioned starting an online antique engagement ring website, a move he saw as critical to staying relevant in the field. His NYC office kept him busy though, and so it happened. Suzanne recognized this was the ideal time to launch her own business. She could take the knowledge she acquired from the corporate world and integrate it into a new business on the world wide web.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Funny enough, while I was working at Sony Music I met my (now) husband on a blind date who happened to be a wholesale diamond and antique jewelry dealer. When we became engaged, knowing we wanted to start a family, we began to talk about starting an antique engagement ring business online. My husband recognized the future of business was in e-commerce. I took a chance and left Sony in order to begin ArtDecoDiamonds.com (now VintageDiamondRing.com).
Can you share a story about the funniest marketing mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I don’t know if it’s “funny,” per se, but I really thought that starting an online jewelry business would be easy! Little did I know how many moving parts there would be, how much time the business would consume and how much innovation it would require. The internet is ever-changing. Can you imagine the daily transformations that have gone on from 15 years ago until today!?
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
VintageDiamondRing.com has a strong commitment to protect and preserve the environment. We practice sustainability by selling vintage engagement rings and in doing so we are protecting the earth by promoting recycling and social justice.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
I wouldn’t necessarily say we are working on any new projects, but our continuing goal is to sell sustainable engagement rings. There is nothing more important to us than taking care of the environment, that is why we sell vintage engagement rings. Choosing vintage jewelry is the ultimate in “recycling.” Because vintage jewelry pieces do not need to be remade, no additional resources are required for them to be enjoyed again. Even if the stones are remounted into new pieces, it is still recycling and reusing at its core.
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?
Great question, and it’s pretty simple. A company’s brand is a logo or other signage symbolizing what service or product they are offering. When companies market their brand they use positive influences to build their brand to influence consumers. On the other hand, product marketing is when a company promotes information geared toward their specific product or service..Even though these are two different concepts, it is in a company’s best interest to try and use them together.
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?
There is more to building a brand than just advertising. At Vintagediamonring.com we feel that we have to build a lifestyle brand. Any business can have a logo and a product, but when a consumer can turn to a company and know their purchases say something about who they are and what matters to them, it falls into a different category.
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.
First, and most important, social media is a key component to building a trusted brand. We have the opportunity to educate consumers in real time about what is important in our business practices.
Your enthusiasm and devotion for your business should be evident.
Whether on your website or on social media, consumers can tell when you truly believe in what you are selling and what you stand behind. If you believe in it, they will too. We post daily on our Instagram page new rings we have acquired because we are so excited to share them with our followers.
I am a firm believer in being transparent with what your business is offering. Consumers want to trust you and what they are buying. Have your product, or service, clearly defined or outlined so there is no question about what someone is purchasing. All of our rings offered on our website are clearly explained. If there is any question, people know they can contact us any time of day and we are available to answer any questions.
Know your target audience. We understand our consumers want history within their jewelry while keeping the environment safe with sustainable engagement rings. *Once you have a customer, retain them. Keep your customers on file for future mailings and keep in touch with them so they know you care. We send out mailers and try to check in with them on how their engagements are going. We love getting to know their stories and the personal impact keeps them coming back for more jewelry for future events.
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?
Funny, shouldn’t I say VintageDiamondRing.com!? I believe we have done an incredible job in offering ethical and conflict-free jewelry that any person can feel good about wearing. The only way to replicate a good lifestyle brand, again, is by having a product you believe in, that truly leaves a positive imprint.
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?
Be true to yourself and your brand, and really believe in what you are trying to accomplish. People will know if you are feigning authenticity. Consumers tend to stand behind someone who they believe stands behind their product.
What role does social media play in your branding efforts?
Social media actually plays a tremendous role in our company, as it should in every company today. We connect with consumers on a daily basis showing them the vintage jewelry we acquire. These pieces are environmentally friendly, and sustainable therefore allowing consumers to feel good about their purchase.
What advice would you give to other marketers or business leaders to thrive and avoid burnout?
Do what you love and you will never burn 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. Aren’t we in the middle of a movement regarding sustainability and global warming? I think this is a huge challenge for businesses, and society today and going forward within the next decade and beyond.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
This is easy. My husband’s uncle was Ben Mellen and his partner Leon Rafalowicz., quite prominent diamond dealers in NYC. Unfortunately, they passed away years back but the lessons he taught my husband, who in turn taught me , are unforgettable. “If you can’t go through the front door, go through the side door. If you can’t go through the side door, go through the back door. If you can’t go through the back door, climb through the window.” Never quit
We are blessed that very prominent leaders in business and entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world with whom you would like to have a lunch or breakfast with? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. One of my idols is Madeleine Albright. I love to hear her speak, she is so brilliant and I really love the pins she wears!
Ask for feedback early and often. Focus not just on the people who are going to buy your product, but the people who have done it before. You want to start your communications with experienced folks as early as possible.
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 Ron Chiarello, Ph.D.
Ron Chiarello, Ph.D. has had a 25-year career designing, developing and manufacturing cutting-edge micro-fluidic, micro-electronics and semiconductor technologies. He founded Alveo Technologies in 2015 to develop innovative healthcare solutions that empower individuals around knowing their own health. Alveo recently won the $6M XPRIZE Rapid COVID Testing Competition for its be.well™ COVID-19 Test, an at-home infectious disease test initially focused on upper respiratory infections that can be adapted to detect a wide range of infectious diseases, saving countless lives and medical resources globally. Dr. Chiarello earned his Bachelor of Science in Physics at UC Santa Barbara and his Ph.D. in Physics from Northeastern University.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you please tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
As a young boy watching the original Star Trek television series, I was fascinated by Dr. McCoy, who is on some exotic, far away world, and he’s got this medical tricorder that’s telling him everything he needs to know about humanoids. And I remember thinking, well, that’s really cool but we need that tricorder on Earth and everybody should have one. And that really stuck with me…this notion of empowerment of individuals around knowing their own health and having technology that can do that. And that’s why I launched my company, Alveo Technologies, in 2015.
Can you please share with us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I’m a car buff and I attend car shows every so often. One day it hit me: my car has 200 sensors. I know everything about my car: tire pressure, fluid levels, brake wear. Just yesterday it told me, “I need an oil change. Take me to the dealership.” And it won’t stop bugging me until I do it! Every time I turn my engine on, it says, “Your attention and energy need to be here. Take me to the dealership to get new oil and a microfilter change.” Imagine if we had a similar system for our body where we could know at the molecular level whether we have a disease and, if so, what is the disease? What actions should I be taking? We treat our cars better than we treat our own bodies!
Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?
I believe in growth, both for individuals and for organizations, be it a company, a university or a family. A system becomes the best version of itself through the collective manifestation of those individuals. Philosophically, we should be doing everything to help each other be the very best versions of ourselves. A specific example: Blame and criticism typically do not help someone become a better version of him or herself. Rather, we need constructive coaching, mentoring, making people feel aspirational, and giving them the space to be creative but balanced with routines and habits.
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”?
I am passionate about using diagnostic technology for people to know their own health in real time and on their terms. And I want this for everybody, not just the elite or people who can afford it. Everyone should be able to know their health earlier and take steps to intervene so that a particular health event doesn’t worsen. You get, let’s say, a virus that’s connected to the common cold, and then that develops to the flu, which becomes pneumonia. No good, right? You’re getting worse and less and less healthy because you didn’t have early knowledge and an early intervention. And this applies to any disease, whether it’s cardiovascular, diabetes, dementia, infectious disease. Right now, my team and I are focused on developing a low-cost, high-performing and easy-to-use infectious disease testing platform, which we hope will empower people to test at home and obtain treatment at the earliest possible time — saving countless lives and medical resources globally.
How do you think this will change the world?
Being able to self-test early and often to know if you are sick will hopefully lessen the stress which leads to anxiety and depression around the fear of not knowing your health nor the health of people around you — elderly people, your family, your loved ones — who may infect you or be infected by you. We just witnessed a dual pandemic in terms of a mental health crisis along with an infectious disease crisis (COVID-19). We already had increasing suicide rates before the pandemic. The social isolation did not help. We are social creatures. We must interact with others. So again, being able to test, knowing your disease or health state so you can safely interact as a human is very critical in preventing mental health issues.
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 potential drawback as we put people’s health data on record. For example, the segregation of people based on their health state (e.g. vaccinated vs. unvaccinated) could be an example of an unintended detrimental effect. We need to be aware of that and get out in front of it. Privacy and choice are key to how individuals share their data and how it can help the great good. We don’t want healthcare data to be used solely for profit. It has to circle back to the benefit of the individual.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this idea? Can you tell us that story?
The tipping point was when I discovered that Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is the number one killer of kids under the age of five worldwide. RSV is the most common cause of bronchiolitis (inflammation of the small airways in the lung) and pneumonia in children younger than one year of age in the United States. I have children and it touched me profoundly because this is something we can address and we can be part of the solution to prevent death.
What do you need to lead this idea to widespread adoption?
You cannot market an at-home, multiplex infectious disease testing platform without regulatory approval globally. So that means FDA in the U.S., CE mark registration in the European Union, and so on. Countries like India have their own process for regulatory approvals as well. So our vision is to make our infectious disease test kits simple enough, low-cost enough, and easy enough to manufacture that different regions can have their own supply. In addition to regulatory approvals, we need more capital to build manufacturing and distribution facilities so people who most need our test can access it.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
I wish someone had told me:
Big ideas are capital intensive. They need development, they need top talent, they need resources to be fully realized.
Regulatory approvals take time. The approval process differs by region and can be unpredictable.
Get out in front of clinical trials and regulatory approvals. Before you even have the product ready, hire experts in clinical trials and regulatory approvals and get their input on your product and your process very early on. Don’t wait.
Be proactive with your partnerships. In our case, it’s with pharmaceutical companies and distribution partners. Be aggressive. Tell them what you’re doing early because you’re going to need their channels for your products.
Ask for feedback early and often. Focus not just on the people who are going to buy your product, but the people who have done it before. You want to start your communications with experienced folks as early as possible.
Can you share with our readers what you think are the most important “success habits” or “success mindsets”?
There are three main things: vision, discipline and service.
Vision: You’ve got to stick with it. When I started Alveo in 2015, before the pandemic, at-home testing was a hard sell. Now, everyone’s like, “How soon can I get it?”
Discipline: This covers everything from get up early, make your bed, clean your workspace, to the corporate rituals around how you execute on product development, manufacturing, regulatory approvals. Have the discipline to do the things that move the big idea forward every day.
Service: Be of service to your employees, your customers, your strategic partners. That will then be returned to you because investors and strategic partners, your law firms, media firms, they all work for the company and the company works for them. At Alveo Technologies, what we’re trying to do is help relieve suffering, help people to be healthier, help people to live their best lives. That’s service.
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 market for rapid COVID-19 tests has thus far been defined by high costs, low accessibility, long times to treatment and inconsistent performance. We have the best technology that enables us to develop a high-performing, low-cost, easy-to-use infectious disease testing platform. High performance means it gives a result that allows either a treatment or an action. And that’s very, very important. For example, if you take an antigen test and you’re positive, nothing happens. You’re in quarantine until you get a molecular test like ours, and then you get the right treatment. Or if your results are negative for COVID or any other infectious disease, then you can get on a plane or go to a sports arena. Accurate, reliable performance is very important and is key to early intervention.
Rising Through Resilience: Andrea Evans of HealingSpace On The Five Things You Can Do To Become More Resilient
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Stop and breathe. This one sounds really simple but it works. On top of the incredibly diminished amount of sleep you experience as a mother, there’s the unrealistic expectations society has placed on Black Women as a whole. I felt a pressure that if I expressed my true weakness, that I was letting everyone down. The only thing that really helped in these moments is when I focused on my breath. Eventually, I was calmer and so was my baby.
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 Andrea Evans.
Andrea Evans is a graduate from Cornell University with a background in management consulting and project management. Andrea’s passion lies in creating a safe space for Black women to find all encompassing resources for their mental, physical and spiritual health. As a mother and Black Woman that has suffered from Depression, Anxiety and OCD, she has dedicated her life to improving the emotional wellbeing of 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?
Thank you for the opportunity! After spending the past few years dabling in different industries, it wasn’t until I became a mother that I started to realize how all of my life’s experiences have shaped me into the person I am now. After experiencing postpartum depression and anxiety, I realized just how mandatory it is for Black Women to have an abundance of access to resources that can help them develop emotionally. Mental health simply isn’t talked about enough in a context that is truly beneficial for Black Women, and addressing the need for mental health resources for us is the beginning of the healing that is needed in our community.
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?
Since I’ve begun my work in creating HealingSpace for Black Women, I’ve also been adjusting to motherhood. One of the most interesting things that has happened is going to the doctor for a keloid and being lectured by a male provider on how breastfeeding past 6 months is not recommended because children in Africa are breastfed and malnourished. I handled the situation with grace, but his ‘advice’ was completely uncalled for and just showcases how from the point a child is conceived, mothers hear so many unsolicited opinions. Providing a resource for Black Women to share stories like this will not only serve as a safe place for us to vent, but also shed light on how far we have to go as a society.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
It had been 30 hours of labor since I was induced. The nurse came in to check how far along I was and my body wasn’t progressing. I needed a C-Section. As the doctor explained to me the procedure my palms were sweating, my underarms started to tingle from sweat and my face simultaneously lost color and flushed so hot to the touch. I had an overwhelming sense of panic as I realized I was having major abdominal surgery.
After reading and hearing so many statistics about black women dying in childbirth in America, the LAST thing I wanted was a white male doctor cutting into me when I already was experiencing preeclampsia. The unplanned C-Section sparked a slew of emotional turmoil for me. After battling with Postpartum depression and anxiety for 6 months, I realized I never wanted my daughter to have to go through this. Black women deserve a safe space to talk about their experiences and heal from their traumas. As a woman that has experienced some of the worst bouts of depression, I feel it’s my responsibility to ensure other Black Women can have better access to comprehensive mental health materials so that they feel seen and acknowledged even in those dark places.
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 want to thank my 7 month old daughter. If she never came to be, neither would HealingSpace. She is my muse, my entire world, and my inspiration to lead the conversation on mental health for Black Women.
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?
Resilience: The ability to get back up even after you fall. No matter how hard or soft.
Resilient people are lifelong learners. They’re adapters. They aren’t afraid of change, in fact, they embrace it. Black Women are extremely resilient. Facing adversity from all angles, and still are the most educated demographic in america. Black women are the prime example of resilience.
When you think of resilience, which person comes to mind? Can you explain why you chose that person?
My mother. She is not afraid to share her emotions with her family. She cries, she laughs. She makes time to relax and works hard. She obtained her bachelor’s degree with 3 children at home. She is resilient.
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?
In high school, I was among some of the smartest kids in the county, but since I wasn’t at the top of my class, it was pretty much assumed that acceptance to Ivy League was a ‘stretch’. Let’s face it, Black Women aren’t told to strive for their wildest dreams by the media, we’re still the ‘token black girl’ in many regards.
Applying to an ivy was the “reach” school on my list sinceI don’t fit the profile of an ivy league student. I wasn’t white or rich or famous. When I was accepted everyone was shocked to find out and started to see me differently. This was the first time I really felt like I had a path in life that was not ordinary at all.
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?
When I was 21 I was in an extremely toxic and abusive relationship. It was very hard to break out of and took me a long time to recognize when was the ‘right’ time to leave. I failed a class and the relationship I had with friends and family suffered, I lost 20lbs and my mental health took a turn for the worst. Being a Black Woman, I held this idea that if I ‘suffered’ long enough that I would eventually see better outcomes. This is far from the truth and I think many Black women can relate to feeling.
Once I finally left that situation, I graduated college with two degrees, moved back home to be around family, got my first car and started working for a billion dollar hospitality company where I was one of few Black female interns accepted.
Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resiliency? Can you share a story?
Being the only one in the 5th grade with acne forced me to question my self worth and self image. As I learned over time, self worth and self image can be improved with consistent practice. I couldnt the mean comments on my acne or the color of my skin distract me from my goal and love to learn.
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.
Stop and breathe. This one sounds really simple but it works. On top of the incredibly diminished amount of sleep you experience as a mother, there’s the unrealistic expectations society has placed on Black Women as a whole. I felt a pressure that if I expressed my true weakness, that I was letting everyone down. The only thing that really helped in these moments is when I focused on my breath. Eventually, I was calmer and so was my baby.
Reflect. Taking a few minutes out of everyday to reflect and gauge your internal emotional well-being will do you wonders. For example, make a habit while wrapping your hair at night to ask yourself “how was I feeling today?” and see how acknowledging your emotions makes you feel.
Evaluate. Periodically taking inventory of your life and the people you surround yourself with will help you gage how you’re doing mentally. Are you surrounding yourself with toxic people? Are you saying you’re fine just so that other people don’t worry? If so, what are some reasons why you shouldn’t prioritize other people’s feelings before your own?
Schedule protected time. I cannot stress enough how important it is to take time away from work and other obligations to do things that make you happy. As Black Women we are always striving for excellence. We want our kids to be smart, healthy and well behaved, we want our relationships to be perfect, we want our finances to be in order.. It’s a constant go, go, go mentality and we rarely get the time to just do nothing. It’s time to prioritize doing nothing.
Pray and/or Meditate. It’s extremely important to take the time to be in silence. Allow your brain to rest other than when you’re asleep! Give your mind a moment to stop trying to solve problems and hand yourself over to prayer or simply being in the present moment.
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.
Celebrating The Vulnerable Black Woman. She is not afraid to show her emotions and put her mental well-being FIRST. Because she deserves that option as much as anyone else.
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
Women Leading The Blockchain Revolution: “If you’re looking to enter the space, you don’t have to be technical” With Ayelen Osorio of Netcoins
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
I’d say if you’re looking to enter the space, you don’t have to be technical. In fact, you will learn a lot of the technicalities on the job. Know that you still offer a lot of value to the space even if you don’t have a technical background. Remember that.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Ayelen Osorio, Content and Community Manager at Netcoins, a cryptocurrency exchange company based in Canada. She believes bitcoin is a great way for women to build wealth for themselves. Her mission is to help women understand the world of crypto; what it is, how the blockchain works, how to invest in cryptocurrencies and stay safe.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you share with us the story of how you decided to pursue this career path? What lessons can others learn from your story?
It’s an honour to be here. Thank you for having me!
I personally have strong feelings about making the world a more fair and just place so topics like economic empowerment, technology, and human rights have always been on my mind; specially considering my own background. I grew up in Venezuela where these topics hit close to home.
My career path into the crypto space started late 2019. I had just gotten back up on my feet from dealing with some financial setbacks due to health reasons and an ex-coworker came knocking about an opportunity to help grow and educate a community from the ground up.
I was intrigued by the idea of learning a very complex topic that merged together technology, economics, psychology and human rights. It was also reinventing the financial world. I thought it was an awesome opportunity I could not pass so I accepted the offer at Netcoins. Now, my goal is to help women understand and benefit from crypto investments.
One of the most memorable moments was when the hiring manager (my Director of Marketing now) said “You don’t need to be an expert from the get-go. I want people to grow and learn alongside you. It’s extra endearing and rewarding when you’re able to put yourself in the average person’s shoes and start from square 1 too.”
The moral of my story (so far) — it’s ok to find things daunting and new. Know that you don’t have the answers to everything so take it easy on yourself! Fight to work on what you’re passionate about. Opportunities will follow you when you do that.
Can you tell me about the most interesting projects you are working on now?
For me, it’s the work I’m doing around crypto education — podcasts, interviews, blog posts, emails, workshops or our very own Crypto Academy for Beginners.
I’m a big believer in talking about these super complicated topics and explaining them in everyday language through as many channels as possible. That’s because I want women to feel like they are included in the conversation, and more than that — that they understand these important topics.
So any time that I see women understanding the concepts of money, wealth generation and crypto investments unlocking in their minds, I feel like we’ve won. It’s always a great day for me. I guess you can think of me as being women’s biggest financial cheerleader! That’s what gets me excited to wake up every morning and do my 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? Can you share a story about that?
I agree with you — we neve achieve success on our own!
The person I’m grateful to have is our Director of Marketing, Hannah. I actually worked with her at a previous company and now I work with her at Netcoins. By now, she knows how I think, how I work, communicate and deliver. She knows when to step in to support me and when to let me fly. I can also count on her to tell me the truth, even if I don’t want to hear it haha
On top of that, we have an amazing friendship outside of work. She is kind, funny, brilliant and all-around awesome! All these things together make for a great working-relationship so I feel very fortunate to have it — specially because I know most people don’t enjoy their work or who they work with. I’m very lucky!
What are the 5 things that most excite you about blockchain and crypto? Why?
Wow, there’s too many to count! What gets me really excited is:
1. Seeing the progression of bitcoin adoption from “computer nerds” to retail investors, companies, institutions, to now small countries like El Salvador…. all in the span of 12 years. That’s fast!
2. The industry is growing like crazy. It will be exciting to see the new projects evolve and more brilliant minds join the space. Soon enough, working in the blockchain and crypto space will be normal.
3. Watching the financial world become decentralized (ie: seeing lending, borrowing etc. be done 24/7 without third party involvement and high fees). That’s a big deal for democratizing wealth opportunities!
4. Making friends in the crypto industry. Crypto enthusiasts are some of the kindest and smartest people you will ever meet. I’m looking forward to meeting more of these innovative people.
5. Last but definitely not least — continuing to work on helping women understand and invest in crypto.
What are the 5 things that worry you about blockchain and crypto? Why?
To be honest, I don’t often worry about blockchain or crypto. Especially not bitcoin.
I don’t listen too much to mainstream concerns around the demise of crypto as I find a lot of their claims to be unfounded. Most critics don’t really understand crypto in-depth.
If anything, my concern is that the fall of bitcoin (particularly) is a result of a self-made injury, where a bug is introduced into the blockchain. This is why it’s important to learn as much as we can about the work being done to the blockchain and participate in the conversations around the future of bitcoin and its network.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world? Can you share a story?
In my personal life, I noticed a lot of my girlfriends didn’t know how to invest. Let alone how to invest (safely) in crypto. It was a huge hurdle for them to get started because they didn’t understand money and wealth in the first place.
So, I created a Slack group with my girlfriends where we discuss financial planning, investments and cryptocurrencies. It’s been a safe space for them to ask those “embarrassing” questions without judgement. And to meet other women with similar goals.
I’ve loved watching them ask questions, learn and dip their toes into crypto. Nothing has been as rewarding as that! I only hope this group continues to grow and help other women.
As you know there are not that many women in your industry. Can you share 3 things that you would advise to other women in the blockchain space to thrive?
I’d say if you’re looking to enter the space, you don’t have to be technical. In fact, you will learn a lot of the technicalities on the job. Know that you still offer a lot of value to the space even if you don’t have a technical background. Remember that.
And if you’re already in the space, I’d say develop your own framework of thinking and practice critical thinking because a lot will be said about crypto, blockchains, and whether the space will survive or not. Most of it is noise and clickbait. If you allow it to affect you, it will burn you out and hurt your work.
Finally, have fun! If you’re enjoying what you’re doing, if you’re passionate about it, it will ooze out of you. You’ll attract people and opportunities to you! Your world will expand and you’ll be able to make a great impact in your own unique way. But, nothing happens unless you don’t love it first. So make sure you’re doing what you love!
Can you advise what is needed to engage more women into the blockchain industry?
Personally, I think crypto enthusiasts need to change the language around crypto a little bit; and not talk about it in such technical, alienating and complex terms. Otherwise, the confusing terminology acts as a massive barrier to entry and that’s not what crypto is about!
I really believe that if we explain crypto in simple terms, and answer people’s questions with patience and empathy, then women will feel less intimidated to join. They’ll want to learn more, ask questions, test it out, and eventually participate in the space
Right now, it’s very much a man’s world (and a techy-man’s world at that). We need more marketers, story-tellers, data scientists, women, and people from all walks of life to enter the space.
What is your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story of how that had relevance to your own life?
There is a beautiful quote by Rumi that I love: “live life as if everything is rigged in your favour.”
I say this when I have a challenge or a hard task in front of me. For example, when I’m nervous before a podcast interview. I tell myself that this moment is the best moment for me to participate in the interview because life, the universe — or whatever you want to call it — knows I can handle it. This moment is when I am most prepared to handle it.
The quote reminds me that the challenging moment I’m dealing with has arrived at the perfect timing for me. It’s rigged in my favour, and therefore, I can handle it.
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.
Data shows that women, children, low-income communities, people with different abilities and so on are often ostracized from the traditional financial world.
If I could start anything, it would be an organization and (bitcoin) fund that supports and invests in these vulnerable communities around the world. The goal would be to help them build long-term wealth with bitcoin. Of course, I’d have to think about the details but that’s where I’d start.
I want to see them uplifted and thriving! To me, bitcoin is the best way to do that.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
I’ve recently re-joined twitter. I’d love to connect there, @Ayelen_Osorio! Please don’t be shy to say hello! I’ve love to connect. You can also reach me on LinkedIn.
I recommend you also follow Netcoins on Twitter. It’s a great place to learn about crypto, the technology powering crypto, and industry news. We work really hard to produce great content for everyone! We hope you enjoy it.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Thank you so much for having me! I had a lot of fun chatting with you today!
I feel like five things every branch should be doing is one, leveraging social by telling the stories of your product, company, and employees. Two, creating a lot of video content, showing the product through imagery that is consistent with what the customer will receive, and showing the customer how to use the product at its highest level. Three, the company should be working within its own ranks to tell its brand story and make sure everybody believes and wants to hold up the values of the company. Four, you need to integrate the brand story into existing product marketing, like slogans and imagery. Lastly five, it’s important to tell your brand story in a short, concise, but powerful way. This story is the rock your brand is built on.
Born in Los Angeles but raised in Washington, DC, David Choi has been in the wine business for the last decade. He found his passion for wine as the owner of one of the nation’s largest and oldest wine stores, Pearson’s Wine & Spirits. He dove deeper into the wine industry as an importer and wholesaler.
As the most popular wine expert on TikTok sharing his vast wine knowledge, creative pairings, affordable recommendations, and much more to his over 200,000 followers, wine expert David Choi owns two Napa Valley wine companies and is shaping how millennials themselves consume and talk about wine. David’s #1 wine TikTok page is @winewithdavid.
As the proprietor of the two Napa Valley wine companies Angel Falls Wines and Magna Carta Cellars, David first found his passion for wine as the owner of the nation’s largest and oldest wine stores, Pearson’s Wine & Spirits in Washington, DC, which has been in business since 1933. Next, he dove deeper into the wine industry as an importer and wholesaler, learning all aspects of the industry. Today, David is one of only 60 living recipients of the Order of Agricultural Merit (l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole) in the United States and was inducted into Jurade of Saint Emilion, the oldest wine society in Bordeaux, in 2012.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
It was a chance opportunity to be a part of a wine store in Washington DC. I was figuring my fit in this world and wine found me. The store was Pearson’s Wine & Spirits that opened in 1933 and had a history of being one of the top wine stores in DC and one of the first to import Bordeaux and Burgundy wines in the US so being there it was like getting a master’s degree in wine.
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?
Too many to tell all of them but one in particular was but it is all about really taking it as an experience and keep moving going and knowing it is part of the process.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story? Being an outsider and not part of the Napa Valley wine culture we started as most I knew were born into this or exited from a company looking for a new hobby or investment, but I found early on that this was a passion of mine and something that found me and that I was meant to be a part of.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
We just about to bottle the 2019 vintage of Magna Carta and we are releasing Angel Falls Sauvignon Blanc in August which we are very excited about as we will extend this to more people being at a $15–20 price point, without sacrificing any of the quality and artistry our fans are accustomed to.
Ok let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?
Brand marketing is all about building trust, showing that you are a source that cares about customers, and at the highest level that you can always count on the brand. We used social as our main form of brand marketing, showing my face and what I stand for, and we believe we’ve gotten stronger reach for our brand marketing because of this. Product marketing is just getting your product out there, and why it’s better than the competitor. And at the end the day the product has to stand for itself once it reaches their door, and that’s the most important touchpoint.
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?
While a product can sell well, without a brand standing behind that product that has a rich history and a clear mission statement, it’s unlikely a consumer will ever buy more than one of your products if they are significantly different, which they usually are. Building a brand is all about creating trust with the customer, building customer longevity, and ultimately just being a brand that the customer wants to recommend.
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.
I feel like five things every branch should be doing is one, leveraging social by telling the stories of your product, company, and employees. Two, creating a lot of video content, showing the product through imagery that is consistent with what the customer will receive, and showing the customer how to use the product at its highest level. Three, the company should be working within its own ranks to tell its brand story and make sure everybody believes and wants to hold up the values of the company. Four, you need to integrate the brand story into existing product marketing, like slogans and imagery. Lastly five, it’s important to tell your brand story in a short, concise, but powerful way. This story is the rock your brand is built on.
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?
In general CPG brands are forced to tell strong brands stories because consumer trust is so important in this industry. Brands like Poland Springs are doing a great job at this because they have to, water is a simple product, and the selling point is the brand story. Another new brand that’s doing a good job it’s called SIMULATE, the company behind in NUGGS. They’re generating hype through creating a lot of brand story on social. They have a strong brand story and ethos.
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?
I think it has to be different, one great way is just anecdotally talking to customers and employees. In truth, it’s hard to measure but that doesn’t mean it’s not important. It’s for long-term brand health, which will play into sales, but it’s not something that can be measured easily.
What role does social media play in your branding efforts?
It’s our main point of contact for brand building because we have been able to generate hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of value through organic reach, so it’s our most valuable asset.
What advice would you give to other marketers or business leaders to thrive and avoid burnout?
It’s all about staying healthy, mentally and physically, and making sure that your brand is healthy too. Creating space for yourself to breath and grow.
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 want to inspire a global appreciation for wine, the original alcohol, and the rich history behind it. I believe the biggest miss recently is that older wine brand haven’t communicated well to the next generation of wine drinks, and we’re trying to change that.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
There are a few quotes that I look at every morning for inspiration and this one touched me today. It’s how to persevere no matter how difficult or bleak things are today to look at it as part of the process and that you are one step closer to your ultimate goal.
“Many of life’s failures are experienced by people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” — Thomas Edison
We are blessed that very prominent leaders in business and entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world with whom you would like to have a lunch or breakfast with? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them.
Currently there are two Mark Cuban and Warren Buffet
How can our readers follow you on social media? They can catch us on IG @magnacartacellars and personally IG @winewithdavid and TikTok @winewithdavid
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
I believe there is no end to learning and one’s own self-guided education. I believe the nature of life is a focus on learning which begins at birth to the moment you die. Always be curious. Follow the ‘golden rule’ by always treating others like you would like to be treated.
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 Paul Brennan, President and Chief Executive Officer, NervGen Pharma, a publicly traded (TSX-V: NGEN, OTCQX: NGENF) clinical stage biotech company dedicated to discovering and developing treatments for patients suffering from medical conditions related to nervous system damage, has over 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries working in leadership roles in general management, corporate strategy, commercial planning, business development and regulatory affairs in Canada, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Most recently Brennan’s experiences include senior business development and management positions in various biotech companies, including Aquinox Pharmaceuticals, Arbutus Biopharma, Aspreva Pharmaceuticals, and AnorMED Inc.
Brennan has a comprehensive list of business development and licensing transactions, totaling over $3 billion in value: he played key roles in the merger of Tekmira Pharmaceuticals and OnCore BioPharma to create Arbutus Biopharma, in the sale of Aspreva Pharmaceuticals to Vifor Pharma for $915 million and in the sale of AnorMED to Genzyme for $580 million. Prior to working in biotech, he held senior roles in Business Development and Regulatory Affairs at AstraZeneca. Brennan holds a MSc in Physiology, and a BSc (Hons) in Life Sciences from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.
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?
As Confucius said, “choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” I’ve always had a keen interest in biology, medicine and life science and I sought to find employment in this sector. After graduating, l had three months to find a job or I would have move back home with my parents in Ottawa. There’s nothing like that motivation to do everything in your means to find a way to meaningful paying employment. I worked with a recruiter, I answered ads in the newspaper (remember when people did that?) and even did some cold-calling.
Focusing in on the pharma sector, I actively interviewed for employment and received three job offers in one week. I accepted an offer with AstraZeneca, a global, science-led biopharmaceutical business, and eventually became a Director of Regulatory Affairs.
I’ve always been interested in areas beyond my individual responsibility. At AstraZeneca, I learned about sales, clinical research, marketing and manufacturing. I think that being interested in understanding the 360 degrees of a company is really important to building an impactful career.
Can you please share with us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
NervGen Pharma Corp’s IP was developed by leading medical researchers of degenerative brain disease and nerve damage, led by Dr. Jerry Silver in Cleveland, Ohio, where he is Professor of Neurosciences at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine and adjunct Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. He is also credited in over 180 publications and is the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Ameritec Prize for significant accomplishments toward a cure for paralysis.
Just after accepting the CEO position at NervGen, I met with Dr. Silver to review his animal model data which you can see highlights on this video. It was truly a ‘come to Jesus’ moment listening to Dr. Silver explain the data in an exciting and enthusiastic way. The recovery of locomotion with a significant subset of animals recovering fully, even in very severe spinal cord injury (SCI) models was remarkable. The animals also recovered voluntary bladder function; a critical unmet medical problem associated with SCI. The results were reproduced in multiple studies, labs and models — truly robust, reproducible data.
Dr. Silver first came to global prominence with a front page story in The New York Times entitled, “Rat Nerves Repaired and Rejoined with Spine” in the 1980’s which chronicles the first time crushed nerves were repaired. Dr. Silver is an extraordinarily accomplished and renowned spinal cord injury and regenerative medicine researcher and it was clear that NervGen Pharma Corp. exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with Case Western Reserve University to research, develop and commercialize this patented technology with potential to bring new therapies for spinal cord injury and other conditions associated with nerve damage was truly revolutionary.
Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?
I believe there is no end to learning and one’s own self-guided education. I believe the nature of life is a focus on learning which begins at birth to the moment you die. Always be curious. Follow the ‘golden rule’ by always treating others like you would like to be treated.
In the workplace, I fret over substance rather than style. For example, think about a company’s creation of a slide deck where there are ten people in the room focused on its development. So many times, people argue over style issues — the font, the color, the imagery, etc., — when there is no right way to do things. Content is the substance that is king. There is a right or wrong way to generate substance. Gaining consensus on the substance, including all the underlying messages, is what is most important and what I try to guide my team to understand.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now move to the main focus of our interview. Can you tell us about your company’s “Big Idea That Might Change the World”?
Injury or disease to the central nervous system (CNS) results in multifaceted cellular and molecular responses. One such response, the glial scar, is a structural formation of reactive glia (cells) around an area of severe tissue damage. The purpose of the scar is to encapsulate the site of the injury to prevent further damage and begin the healing process, but it ultimately inhibits the body’s reparative mechanisms. Dr. Silver discovered that a constituent of these scars, a glycoprotein called chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (“CSPG”), is a major inhibitor of the body’s natural ability to regrow and regenerate the CNS.
Dr. Silver, together with scientists at Harvard University, identified protein tyrosine phosphatase sigma (“PTPσ”) as a key neural receptor that binds with the CSPGs in the glial scar. Dr. Silver’s research showed that PTPσ impedes nerve repair through its activation upon binding to CSPGs in the glial scar.
Multiple studies with animal models for several diseases and medical conditions have shown that treatment targeting PTPσ receptors with a compound developed by Dr. Silver and his research team, NVG-291-R (also called intracellular sigma peptide, or ISP in publications), promoted repair of damaged nerves and improvement in function.
NervGen is now developing NVG-291-R as the basis for its core technology. Our lead product, NVG-291, is a close analog to NVG-291-R.
Since the original discovery of NVG-291-R, the compound has been studied further by Dr. Silver and his collaborators, by NervGen and by a number of independent laboratories. There is now a large body of evidence to indicate that NVG-291-R’s mechanism for nerve repair is mediated by a number of endogenous repair mechanisms, including axon regeneration, plasticity, remyelination, autophagy and immune modulation. Furthermore, these repair mechanisms seem to be helpful in treating nerve damage associated with both acute nervous system damage injury (spinal cord injury, peripheral nerve injury, traumatic brain injury, and stroke) and with neurodegenerative diseases (multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and Parkinson’s disease).
Conventional wisdom is that the central nervous system axons cannot regenerate after injury and that the nervous system cannot repair itself. The successful completion of NervGen’s technology on human subjects could rewrite the prognosis and provide life-changing therapies for people with spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease as well as other neurogenerative disease.
With the FDA’s approval of Biogen for Alzheimer’s patients — developed to decelerate the spread of the disease in its early stages — the spotlight is now on for finding therapies with a more meaningful response. NervGen’s technology platform has introduced a truly novel approach to treating Alzheimer’s disease.
We are preparing for a Phase 1b Clinical Trial in Alzheimer’s Disease and entered into a research agreement with Sylics Contract Research, to study the effects of NVG-291 in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease.
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?
Quite frankly, no. If our technology enables a paralyzed person to regain mobility, restores recognition memory and rescues cognitive deficiencies for Alzheimer’s disease sufferers and reverses disease progression for those with multiple sclerosis, it is very hard to find a drawback.
Was there a “tipping point” that led the company to this idea? Can you tell us that story?
What led NervGen to our revolutionary ISP was a tragedy. Codi, the daughter-in-law of Dr. Harold Punnett fell into a hole and the integrity of her spinal cord did not survive the trauma. Codi remains a complete T-11 paraplegic. Dr. Punnett embarked on a neuroscience literature search and networking effort to find any way to improve Codi’s condition as reported in New Mobility magazine.
Dr. Punnett refused to accept the spinal-cord no-win-situation and the pessimistic mobility prognosis of Codi’s physicians. As a dental surgeon in British Columbia, Punnett is well-versed in medicine and physiology and he vigorously researched potential cures. Punnett met with Dr. Jerry Silver and was intrigued and brightened by his lab’s recurring data, which is that with injections of a peptide Silver’s lab invented, ISP (intracellular sigma peptide), Silver can cause severely spinal-cord-injured mice to walk again, to walk ostensibly normally.
NervGen was created to commercialize this ISP which we believe will change the world. The big idea that might change the world is that we have identified the chemical in the brain that is stopping the brain from repairing itself. Dr. Silver’s research focused on the glial scar which forms at sites of a physical injury such as spinal cord injury, as well as sites of inflammatory damage from neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease.
Our next tipping point will be when we demonstrate that the results from preclinical studies translate to humans, which we hope to see after our phase 1b and 2 trials. When that occurs, we expect to see considerable attention to the company, from patients, physicians, investors and from pharma. Our development programs focus on multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury and Alzheimer’s disease with a Phase 1 trial in healthy volunteers to begin in Q2 2021. Our Phase 1b trial in Alzheimer’s disease is scheduled to begin in 2022/ Phase 2 trials in multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury will begin in 2022.
What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?
Widespread adoption of our ISP will happen when we are able to commercialize NVG-291 so that these revolutionary treatments are widely available; that’s the final tipping point.
What are your “Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
I wish someone at university told me to pay more attention to biochemistry and chemistry. My understanding is predominately physiology, but greater biochemistry/chemistry knowledge allows you to dig one layer deeper into the technology with greater ease. As someone who is committed to continually learning, I find my way to the knowledge I need, but it would offer me a leg-up to have taken more biochemistry coursework while in college.
Back when I was in high school, only girls were encouraged to take typing classes. As a course elective, girls were drawn to learn the skill of typing more than the boys since a good portion of employment was divided by gender-specific roles — some jobs designated for women, some for men. In our modern age “keyboarding” is vital for nearly all interactions with computers and other electronic devices. I wish I had known that a digital revolution would demand that each of us to learn to type in one form or another.
Like everyone else who grew up in the ‘70’s, I deeply regret not buying Apple stock when it first went public!
As a Canadian, hockey is our #1 sporting past-time. Like any memorabilia, vintage hockey cards, produced before 1980, are the rarest and most valuable. As a kid, in the 70s I collected every hockey card that was available. Unfortunately, I had not foresight to protect them and instead enjoyed experimenting with my cards on my bike so that the free end slaps the spokes going by as the wheel turns. At least it made a cool sound!
Can you share with our readers what you think are the most important “success habits” or “success mindsets”?
I believe the most important “success habits and mindsets” go back to what I said about always being curious. Be curious, think strategically, focus on the big picture and be open-minded. You are open to new ideas and ways of thinking when you are open-minded.
Being strategically focused is very important to my mindset. I do a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis when analyzing an opportunity. By comprehensively understanding the opportunity, I am able to maximize the opportunity while minimizing potential threats.
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
NervGen’s technology is a big idea based on a unique discovery that will change the paradigm of how nervous system damage is treated. It is atypical for CNS products to have broad applicability like our technology. Our tech is based on multiple experiments and has been confirmed by many independent experts cross the world. We are on the verge of being broadly discovered.
Wisdom From The Women Leading The VR, AR & Mixed Reality Industries, With Amy Watton of Masters of Pie
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Subject matter experts are key — don’t pretend to know it all when you don’t, everyone in your team is the expert in their area, and always involve the right people at the right time to help solve problems in areas where you have less knowledge.
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 Amy Watton, Senior Project Manager at Masters of Pie.
Amy is Scrum Leader at Masters of Pie, a software company that creates extended reality (XR) collaboration solutions for enterprises. She is responsible for managing the development team as well as building bridges with enterprise customers. Prior to this role, Amy worked in various project management roles in emerging technologies, the education sector and new product innovation in luxury retail.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory and how you grew up?
I grew up in a small town in Northern Ireland. It was not particularly cultured or diverse and I knew I wanted to experience more but I wasn’t very confident or well travelled. I moved to England to study for my degree in business management and never went home. I was the first person in my immediate family to go to university so I guess I was quietly ambitious, but I have definitely worked my way up — starting out in entry level roles and gaining as much experience as I could from each step, always pushing myself to learn more.
It took a while to find the best fit for me in terms of my career — I have a strong background in customer service and management, but I never really enjoyed the industries I worked in and always felt there was something missing until I started working in tech. I have particularly enjoyed working with emerging technologies — every day is different, and you need to think on your feet, multitask, and problem solve to keep delivering results with limited time or resources or sometimes both!
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?
Work Like A Woman: A Manifesto for Change by Mary Portas — this book focuses on Mary’s successful career in retail, rising through the ranks in a male-dominated world. She starts by explaining the challenges she faced with gender disparity but learns to ‘play the game’ by her rules — fighting for her place and for the culture she knows is the future. It resonates with me as the tech sector is still male dominated, but I don’t feel I need to change who I am or try to replicate the approach of those around me. I can use my gender as a strength, working with empathy and consideration, promoting buy-in and inclusiveness within my team. I still find it inspiring and a regular reminder that the best teams are not homogeneous — people with a mix of different skillsets and experiences collaborate to achieve great things.
Is there a particular story that inspired you to pursue a career in the X Reality industry? We’d love to hear it.
I don’t necessarily have a story around the XR industry, but I have always been interested in companies that work with emerging technology. The diversity of people, projects, and the innovation pace is exciting and that is where I feel comfortable. On top of that, the possibility of developing products that will materially change the way we work in the future, and the potential of XR to be the next computing paradigm, is something very motivating.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this fascinating career?
What I have found most interesting since I started working with tech start-ups is how quickly we can adapt compared with larger, well-established companies. I’ve previously worked in companies with significant ‘red tape’ and numerous levels of sign-off for every decision. I still see that environment now when I work with enterprises and see how difficult it is for them to react quickly. Our business is dynamic and fluid — we have a multi-skilled team who work collaboratively and efficiently so we can capitalize on opportunities and changes in the market quickly.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Early in a new job working on software implementation projects, I was excited to respond to my first email from a client. I wrote a response and was happy to get it out quickly and efficiently; however, a senior colleague was quick to point out that my Irish tone of voice was very much apparent and the recipient, being from a global organization and based in Japan, could take this as extremely blunt. Obviously, I was embarrassed, this was my first experience of working in a global team, but it did give me a great lesson in the importance of a global language, considering tone and avoiding colloquialisms which could lead to miscommunication. This has been hugely beneficial over the years as the tech sector (and by its very nature, VR, AR and XR) is truly global.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I would say the program manager from a previous role. When we first began working together, I was concerned about how different we were — there were clear cultural differences between our communication styles and approaches to various situations which I found difficult at first, especially as she was my line manager. It was also the first role where I’d felt a sense of imposter syndrome and I struggled with my confidence at the time. While discussing a new project I was going to lead, she bluntly said to me: “How can I be confident that you’ll do a good job if you aren’t confident in yourself?” I was taken aback by that question, but it really made me think about how I present myself and my capabilities to the world, and the impact that could have on opportunities in front of me. The experience prompted me to undertake personal development, honing my skills in areas such as conflict resolution and evolving my leadership footprint. This process made me aware of my strengths as well as the areas I could improve on. For example, I realized that I often felt that people who were quite self-confident could come across as arrogant to me but that was actually a performance-driven strength of theirs and it only felt that way to me as it’s something I found difficult as my natural strengths are in people and processes, rather than performance. I learnt strategies for coping with internal and team conflict, and how to communicate successfully as well as persuasively. What I thought could be a difficult relationship turned out to be very rewarding and she was a great mentor.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
The pandemic has forced the workforce en masse to move to remote working. This new way of working is here to stay, and all organizations will have to embrace a dispersed workforce. This shift in working habits has resulted in an explosion of videoconferencing solutions to connect people. This only partially solves the problem as only one person has access to the data in this interaction. The project I am currently driving forward is the development of a real-time immersive (XR) collaboration platform. The difference between conferencing (people) and collaboration is that the latter brings both people and their complex 2D and 3D data together to provide an essential solution for complex enterprises. Immersive real-time collaboration for enterprises has the potential to transform the way we work.
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?
What really excites me about working in this XR industry is the fact that the industry is evolving from prototyping the art of the possible to scaling out robust production solutions. There is significant investment in this market sector that is driving innovation at an incredible speed. The enabling technologies of 5G, edge computing and server-side rendering will materially lower the cost of adoption while significantly increasing the addressable market. There currently exists a spirit of exploration between technology innovators and large enterprises who are looking at this technology as the next big step change in how we work. The next five years will be the age of spatial computing and I feel I am in the right place at the right time to ride that wave of innovation.
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?
The current total cost of ownership to deploy XR solutions at scale is prohibitive. The combination of computing and headset costs is hurting the economic justification and inhibiting the technology adoption at scale. The enabling technologies currently being deployed will address many of the issues associated with delivering a quantifiable return on investment. Further, for XR solutions to be adopted at scale, the proposition needs to be integrated into the existing workflow processes of the enterprise and not strapped onto the business as a ‘shiny demo’. Finally, stop trying to force XR solutions to solve problems that may be addressed with a cheap browser-based flatscreen terminal. There are clear quantifiable benefits to leveraging XR and the industry needs to focus on standardizing ways for the technology to be seamlessly integrated and leveraged.
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 technology providers of the real-time game engines that have been deploying compelling games experiences for years are the basis for XR innovation. The games industry real-time engine is the basis for the digital twin used by enterprises today. The major players in the XR consumer market are all laying down the foundations to own this next growth market. Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Snapchat, etc have all invested heavily in the sector, and the XR market as a whole will benefit as a consequence. Finally, the engineers of tomorrow are the gamers of today.
Are there other ways that VR, AR and MR can improve our lives? Can you explain?
Let me give you a practical example — in the manufacturing industry, there are subject matter experts in maintenance of heavy and complex machinery. Until now, these highly skilled workers had to travel around the world to do their job. Using XR technology combined with real-time collaboration capabilities, these workers don’t need to be in situ, saving them from sometimes risky and unnecessary travelling, reducing carbon footprint, etc. With this technology, someone locally can display a digital twin of the machinery in situ, and the highly skilled worker can access the machinery and guide local technicians on how to fix the problem. Embrace XR technologies and save the planet.
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?
In short — no! I would love to work with more women — the ratio of men to women in the tech industry, in my experience, is definitely skewed. This can be very intimidating at first, but I would advise women who are interested in working in these industries to not be put off — I have found my work environments to be open and supportive, and found challenging and rewarding career opportunities in tech. Leave any preconceived notions at the door and know that you can have significant influence and contribution without limit.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about working in your industry? Can you explain what you mean?
You don’t need to have a technical background to work in tech. Of course, it helps — but you can still add a lot of value without that knowledge. I often find my strength in technical meetings is being able to cut through the technical jargon and ask what value are we actually providing with this solution and does this meet the customer’s expectation and requirements?
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.)
Subject matter experts are key — don’t pretend to know it all when you don’t, everyone in your team is the expert in their area, and always involve the right people at the right time to help solve problems in areas where you have less knowledge. For example, our product team understands the customer requirement and what the end product should do, and our development team decides how we get there.
Leadership is not about having one strong skill — if that’s all you rely on, you’re likely to overuse it and cause conflict. I believe great leaders have a wealth of skills and flex different ones to tailor them to each situation. Crisis management, for example, requires strong decision making, but periods of change require flexibility and the ability to adapt to the current situation.
Opposites attract — at times it can be difficult to work effectively with people who have strong or different personalities from your own. But through the experience of managing conflicts within various teams, I’ve learnt that such differences bring with them a wealth of experiences, skillsets and perspectives to the team and this can be beneficial in many ways.
Communication — it’s key to always be aware of your target audience when you communicate, tailoring your message to get the key information across for that audience. For example, whether it’s for the development team to support or explore ideas or for the leadership team to ensure they have what they need to make an informed decision. It’s also important to consider the individuals within your team and how they like to work day to day, and fit with that to get the best results.
Don’t go against your core value system — it takes too much energy from you to try to be someone else. I feel that I’m quite principled in my approach and try to approach my role with empathy and consideration, always trying to balance what’s right for customers, the team, and the business. I couldn’t do it any other way, and I don’t believe that I need to.
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.
When you’re young you wonder how your actions may change the world one day, and I’m in a stage of my career where I feel that I can be doing something for the greater good. Creating a technology that will enable someone to have medical treatment from a surgeon who is on the other side of the world, it’s something quite Orwellian, but the reality is that improving this type of technology to a point where it is really accessible will bring people together in ways that we never thought possible before. Having the chance of democratizing remote medical treatment and improving the healthcare of disadvantaged communities, whilst also reducing unnecessary travel and thereby helping to fight climate change, is something that would make me proud.
We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them
I’d have to say Jacinda Ardern — she is bringing empathetic leadership to the global stage, challenging gender stereotypes, promoting equality, and breaking down barriers with her policy changes. Her approach has been consistent, has resonated well with her country, and has been very successful, highlighted recently by her handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. Jacinda would be a fantastic mentor and a powerful person to have in my network!
Thank you so much for these excellent stories and insights. We wish you continued success on your great work!
Work on your own bias. We call it unconscious bias for a reason. It is hard to raise awareness, in general, it is even harder to do the work on oneself. It is never late to start, and the positive results are worthy. Small actions like, for example, not asking women to take notes at a meeting by default will make a big difference towards core change.
As a part of our series about “How Diversity Can Increase a Company’s Bottom Line”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Beatrice Ruiz.
Beatrice Ruiz, CEO of Trampoline Global Consulting and founder of #InspirationCafe, was born in Spain in a multicultural and multifaith family. Growing up in such a varied background, Beatrice saw first-hand the importance of exposure for an open mind and the many benefits that diversity brings to the table.
Beatrice has lived, worked, and studied multiple degrees, including an MBA in the USA and different certifications in DEI, in +6 countries. This sparked the idea to direct the exposure, experience, and knowledge collected over the years to her business Trampoline Global Consulting, which works with small, medium, and Fortune 500 companies (including Salesforce and State Street) to move their Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion efforts forward.
Beatrice is a speaker at DIFEST Global and a regular guest contributor and speaker to DEI podcasts, online magazines, and global events, and she is known as the Fairy Godmother of Diversity.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive into the main part of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you share a bit of your “backstory” with us?
Thank you for having me! My backstory is the big reason for where I am today.
I grew up in Spain and, from a very early age, we were encouraged to lead inclusive initiatives. As a family, we had a strong focus on disability and children from underserved, underrepresented communities. I ran my first Toy Drive when I was eight or nine years old.
I was fortunate enough to study Art in the UK, International Relations in Germany, Finance in Spain, and an MBA in the USA. I worked in very different countries such as the UAE or Poland. Being a foreigner for most of my life allowed me to experience the benefits and challenges that come with being “different.”
It was in the early 2010s when I had my “aha!” moment. I wanted to dedicate the rest of my professional career to supporting companies to move their Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion efforts forward. To make a difference, one company, one person at a time.
It happened when I moved to the USA, and I was classified as “Hispanic Female.” Little I knew what that meant. In the years that followed I learned that a Hispanic Female earns less for no reason, works twice as much to land half of the opportunities, or needs not to have a voice to avoid losing her visa.
This “aha!” moment was both shocking and a blessing. Thanks to it, though, I found what I love to do.
I founded #InspirationCafe as a safe space for industry leaders and HR practitioners to challenge the status quo of DEI. To date, I have had leaders from eight countries and three regions, from small companies to NGOs and Fortune 500s.
Then, I created Trampoline Global Consulting. A safe trampoline from where companies and individuals can jump as high as they want to. I help them understand their baseline through DEI Auditing so they know where they are today.
I support them in translating DEI facts and trends into a strategy. A strategy into actionable items, those implemented items into metrics through DEI Consulting.
I help them make change sink in and last through DEI Adult-Learning Training.
To date, I have worked with Fortune 500 companies, including Salesforce and State Street, or NGOs like Random Acts.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? Can you tell us the lesson or take away you took out of that story?
The first time I applied to Disney, I was 12.
I grew up with classic Disney movies. I loved drawing, I was good at it, and that’s everything I wanted to do when I grew up.
I wanted to write and draw stories.
At that time, while I loved Disney movies, I could barely relate to any of the princesses. Most dark-haired characters were the wicked ones, while the blond ones were the heroes. As a Spanish child, I had almost black hair.
One Christmas, Reyes Magos, the Three Wise Men, brought me everything I needed to learn how to draw Disney characters. What a wonderful gift.
A few months later, my mother asked what I was doing about my dream of joining Disney. I did not know. “Tell them,” she said.
I did. I sent Disney a letter along with my drawings. And then, we waited.
It turned out I was good…but I had to wait to be legally allowed to work; once that happened, I could contact them again. I did. I networked and networked, and after my MBA, I was introduced to the responsible for MBA internships. This time, the issue was different. I was not a US citizen. That long-wanted door closed, but I learned a few valuable things in the way.
I learned about the power of support, passion, determination, and consistency. If it weren’t for my mother, who taught me to pursue my passion and knock on the door of my dreams until it opens or until I build the door I need, I would have never made it where I am today.
I learned about the importance of closing doors so others can open. Sometimes we have to let things go unfinished. Sometimes we don’t have to. We can pursue them until we get a definite answer so we can move on. Closing doors is powerful and liberating. My father, who is the most determined person I know, taught me this, among many other things.
I learned the invaluable impact of networking to grow as a professional and as a person. On my path to what I thought would be my dream job, I met the most wonderful people. One of them stands out above everyone else. Mike Berry. He is a former Executive Director at Harvard University, former President of Barnes & Noble, former CEO of The Cheesecake Factory, and former SVP of Operations at Disney. Mike not only took me under his wing as a mentee, but he is also a very dear friend. I succeed in my early time in the USA thanks to his support.
For those wondering, no, there’s no Disney hero Spanish children can relate to yet.
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?
There are a couple of “Life Lesson Quotes” that I remind myself of frequently.
The first one is “Tune your intuition and listen to it.” One of the best things that I did during the pandemic was to re-tune my intuition. I found Women who run with the Wolves, by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes through Courtney Adamo. This book is intense and, at times, difficult to read. I am lucky to be bilingual as I saw that some parts of the book are easier to understand in Spanish, some in the translated version, in English. I went through it in just a few days, and it made a huge impact. I invested time and energy in reconnecting with myself, and I felt like I was reborn like a butterfly. Literally.
The second one is “What might feel obvious to you, it’s likely to be amazing to everybody else.” Research shows that women suffer from impostor syndrome more often than men. For example, women rarely apply to jobs unless they meet 95% of the requirements, whereas men do regardless. Eight out of 10 women feel they do not have enough support, role models, nor visibility, and research shows that lack of confidence could be one of the root causes. A while ago, I was having one of those days where the impostor syndrome hit me. What if? What if? What if? My other half hugged me, reminded me of all the good that my work is doing in other people’s lives, and told me that what may seem ok to me was probably wonderful to everyone else. He was right. It’s ok to have doubts sometimes, but we can’t lose sight of our dream, our passion, and all the good that we are doing. Even if one day it looks nonsense to you, keep going. The rest of us find your gift amazing.
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?
How long do you have?
Having a good support network is crucial to move forward in life.
I have been blessed with many people in my life who have helped me in different ways to progress.
I want to highlight the boost we get from people who say no to us as well. When they say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, they have a point. Hearing “no” from time to time not only helps us gain resiliency but also pushes us out of our comfort zone. It makes us think, flex, be resourceful, and adjust our strategy and journey as needed. I can’t tell you the number of “no” I have received over the past few years. And, don’t get me wrong, it hit my self-esteem, and it was hard, at times, to recover. Now, I am so thankful they said “no” so I can be where I am today.
Moving on to the “yes.” Aside from my parents, my partner, and Mike Berry, who I mentioned earlier, I can’t pick just one person, so I’ll share with you a few of them that have been crucial in my life for the past few years.
Orla Nolan, VP of L&D at State Street Ireland. Orla has not only been the mentor anyone needs to progress in a big corporation, but she is also a true friend. Without her support, I don’t think I would have navigated the pandemic the way I did, and I would not have made it this far, this fast, and this relevant with Trampoline Global Consulting.
Paul Francisco, Chief Diversity Officer at State Street. He is a role model in the D&I space. A man of principle, with solid values, who moves forward rain or sun. I was fortunate to meet him through friends when I lived in Boston, and his example impacted how I’d approach my D&I career.
Nicole Thomas, Alex Trusty, Rudinov Vincent, and Loreto Calaf believed in me when I didn’t see it myself.
Thank you.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Authenticity. At Trampoline Global Consulting, I focus on core change. DEI is not a trend. It is not about checking boxes or about being politically correct. It is about believing in the uniqueness of each individual and the value they bring to the table. It is about recognizing and embracing that increased diversity is good in every aspect of life, and yes, it does improve your financial performance
My clients appreciate that I am straightforward, candid, and committed to their success and that of the communities they operate in. After all, that’s the goal. To build companies that are a reflection of the communities they serve. To create safe spaces where you can bring yourself to work without leaving part of you at home. All of you is welcome.
This is what makes Trampoline Global Consulting stand out. I am authentic, candid, and committed to your long-lasting success.
When I look back, there is a particular story that stands out. For many years now, I have been referring to Black people as Black people, not People of Color (POC), not colored people, not any other variant. You can imagine the criticism, the judgmental looks, and the consistent “advise” on how I was being racist.
I stuck to my guns, and here is why.
Joshua Adams, a black staff writer at Colorlines and Communications professor at DePaul and Salem State, wrote a candid and helpful article about this topic:
“(…)
Saying ‘POC’ when we mean ‘Black people’ concedes that there’s a need to describe a marginalized group as ‘less’ Black for people to have empathy for an issue.
(…)
For me, ‘people of color’ feels like a hiding place; like I have to hide a crucial part of me to not tap into the reflexive fear or apathy toward Blackness. Describing myself as ‘POC’ feels like walking into a space with an apology in hand, a preemptive ‘sorry’ for any offense my Blackness may have caused.
James Baldwin once said, ‘The plea is simple — look at it.’ Words can be a mirror that reflects the world as it is, or they can be prisms that have the potential to amplify but also to distort. Our struggle as a society is to find mirrors.
But maybe my simpler plea is for people to know one thing: It’s okay to call me Black. And if you feel it isn’t, I still insist that you do.”
I couldn’t have explained it better.
Are you working on any new or exciting projects now? How do you think that might help people?
I am working on a couple of new projects right now. These are exciting times.
The first one is a collection of Stories of Overcoming. I have been interviewing people with powerful stories for weeks. These are stories of overcoming in the D&I space from all around the world. I record candid interviews in the safe space that is #InspirationCafe. My guests bring their whole selves and share their stories of healing, overcoming, success with the ultimate goal of inspiring others. Different views, different cultures, different faiths, different upbringings, different lives. An extraordinary journey.
Oftentimes, we think that our lives are too mundane to be of any interest to others, but we couldn’t be more wrong. Your story is as unique as you are. The way you face challenges and overcome them is your approach. You can inspire more people than you think.
This is the project I am working on. I am collecting hope and inspiration and sharing it with the world.
The second one is a series of “How To” guides to move D&I efforts forward. From how to start designing your D&I strategy, to how to translate it into actionable items globally and regionally, to how to measure the results. We are endless sources of ideas, but we need to turn them into reality. I am helping companies do just that.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I believe that my clients’ success is “bringing goodness to the world;” The more successful my clients and the people around me are, in terms of D&I, the more successful the communities they interact with are, and so it cascades.
Trampoline Global Consulting’s achievements come from our ability to support companies, their employees, and their executives in creating excellent, diverse, equal, and culturally dynamic organizations. Safe, multicultural aware, and collaborative organizations where you can bring your whole self to work.
A recipe to bring goodness to the world: The happier your employees, the more successful the company, the better the communities, the safer the world.
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.)
Diversity correlates with better financial performance — Research shows that diversity correlates with better financial performance, from 15% to 35% ABOVE the national industry median in North American, Latino-American, and British companies. When we think of diversity, we have to think beyond race, gender, or the primary protective classes. Diversity also includes the diversity of thought, which means NEW ideas, NEW products, AND innovation.
Diversity Helps You Not to Leave Money at the Table — Your company must be a reflection of the communities it interacts with. When clients don’t have anyone in your organization they can relate too, they may go and find someone else. Diversity is not about checking boxes or being politically correct. Diversity is about believing in the uniqueness of each individual.
Diversity Attracts the Best Talent — By being aware of unconscious bias, you will position yourself to attract the best talent in the marketplace. When we look around us, we realize that we choose our friends and our network based on how similar they are to us. And this is comfortable. We are all biased. Unconscious bias is real. And there’s no vaccine Our brains filter information based on our cultural background, upbringing, values, and so on. This bias impacts our ability to attract diverse talent.
Diversity Reduces Employee Turnover — Employees who feel supported are free to be themselves. They feel appreciated and are less likely to leave you. Diversity, along with inclusion, equality, and other factors like happy clients, keeps people from leaving their jobs.
Diversity Increases Productivity — Diverse and flexible teams are culturally aware. They learn from each other and fuel each other, and that increases productivity and overall happiness in the workplace. This translates into innovation, engagement, new clients, and better financial performance.
What advice would you give to other business leaders to help their employees to thrive?
Appreciate your employees and tell them often. As obvious as this might sound, honest appreciation makes a big difference. As business leaders, we have a responsibility for the wellbeing, engagement, and success of our employees. This doesn’t mean that employees are not accountable for driving their careers. It means that as a leader, we walk a step ahead, and what we say, do, and decide matters. Sometimes, we might forget that intention is different from impact. For example, we may want to show appreciation to an employee by saying thank you in private for a job well done, but if we give the credit publicly to someone else, the impact is that the employee feels undervalued and, eventually, disengaged.
Work on your own bias. We call it unconscious bias for a reason. It is hard to raise awareness, in general, it is even harder to do the work on oneself. It is never late to start, and the positive results are worthy. Small actions like, for example, not asking women to take notes at a meeting by default will make a big difference towards core change.
Listen. As leaders, we may feel the pressure of having to know everything all the time. It is a false expectation. There is nothing like knowing where to find the answers and who has them to keep moving. Be open to the fact that we don’t know it all. Every employee is unique, and they can teach us something new daily. Be ready to be genuinely curious.
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’ll be happy to meet any of the biggest names for sure, but if I had to choose just a couple, I would go with Richard Branson and Indra Nooyi.
Having a private breakfast with Richard Branson would be something. I have admired the iconic, eccentric entrepreneur for a while now. Disrupting industry after industry, doing good, and impacting as many lives as he can. He is a role model of entrepreneurship and social justice. As he mentioned once: “A billionaire is a person who touches the life of one billion people.”
Then, meeting Indra Nooyi would be interesting. She is a strong role model of female leadership, and while the number of women at the top keeps increasing, she seems to be always ahead of the pack. With a wealth of experience in business, family, and the balance between them, Indra is someone I would definitely have breakfast with.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
You can find more about Trampoline Global Consulting, #InspirationCafe, and the work that I do to support companies become excellent, diverse, equal, and culturally dynamic organizations by visiting our website www.trampolineconsulting.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn. I am always happy to get to know new people, their inspiring stories, and be of help where I can.
Thank you for these excellent insights. We wish you continued success in your great work.
The Future Is Now: Brian Hamilton of Hippo Technologies On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene
Expect to be lonely when making hard decisions and expect to dive into an abyss where you cannot see where you are headed but have confidence that you will navigate to success.
As a part of our series about cutting-edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Brian Hamilton, president and co-founder of Hippo Technologies, Inc.
Brian Hamilton is a recognized pioneer and leader in market acceptance and in the deployment of Internet of Things, augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR), and wearable computing technologies in healthcare, education, automotive, consumer packaged goods, oil and gas, power and utilities, transportation and logistics, IT and telecom, industrial manufacturing and entertainment verticals.
Brian most recently was co-founder and Chief Business / Revenue Officer for RealWear Inc., which developed the HMT-1®, a ruggedized head-mounted wearable Android tablet for industry. While in this leadership role, Brian established a global sales force, ISV partner and channel reseller network and successfully drove product adoption in over 57 countries growing RealWear from concept stage to the world leader in market share in industrial wearables. While in this role at RealWear the organization grew from four to over 130 employees, established two domestic and five international offices and raised more than $100 million in capital.
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 always been a believer in the future of wearables and the impact they can play in the real world as we look to democratize knowledge transfer and support the human race on a global basis. In 2013, I began my work in wearables and Augmented Reality with Smart Helmet sensor devices and in 2016, I founded the company RealWear with other industrialists and technologists who shared that passion for the future of voice driven by wearables with a focus on acceptance of these devices based on certifications in highly regulated and compliant environments.
In 2019, I met Dr. Pat Quinlan, the former CEO of Ochsner Health and we discussed a vision of how the work we were doing in the industrial sector could be applied to healthcare and how these devices can support clinicians all over the world to globalize healthcare through enhanced mobility. Our company began in Nigeria at the Royal Dutch Shell Hospital in Port Harcourt, where the devices were used to support virtual consultation, proctoring, rounding and teaching with my co-founder of Hippo Technologies, Dr. Wale Sulaiman. (https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/03/africa/dr-sulaiman-free-surgeries-intl/index.html)
I cherished my time in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa as the work we were doing greatly mattered and helped people get access to care they needed when they needed it. Experiencing this impact first hand made this a calling and this was right before the pandemic which made our mission even more timely and relevant.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I have been lucky to have been able to deploy these technologies in over 50 countries and there are countless stories and memorable moments supported by so many amazing people. One interesting story that was a highlight for me was getting to test head-mounted devices with Team USA of SailGP on the fastest sailboats in the world in San Francisco Bay. Team USA for SailGP (https://sailgp.com/teams/united-states/) took it easy on me, but seeing how the headsets operated at these speeds and in that G-Force environment was memorable and special. SailGP and the teams involved are amazing people and some of the most technologically savvy innovators I have met to date.
Can you tell us about the cutting edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?
I’m super excited for the continued advancement of MedTech. At Hippo Technologies, we are working on the future of just-in-time healthcare delivery via mobility and heads-up displays with a focus on enabling people to get access to healthcare regardless of where they are located geographically or their economic means. There are a few buckets of technological breakthroughs we are working on: these include an open API interoperable platform designed to leverage voice and hands-free computing at the edge which opens the world of AI on-demand and more as well as a focus on the technologies which can transform the delivery of healthcare in the home. We also are focused on the future of wearable computing and the mainstream adoption of the next generation of mobility devices.
How do you think this might change the world?
We believe that the work we are doing bridges the gap between physical care and virtual care, enabling healthcare providers and educators to overcome the barriers of time, distance, and training to deliver all the benefits of an in-person experience through the safety and convenience of remote care. There is an opportunity to globalize healthcare and provide new levels of access to make the world a better place.
Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
Self-awareness when in disruption mode is important and always with change comes unintended consequences; some good and some not so positive. Possible drawbacks can be similar to traditional mobility where people have the potential to always be connected like with our phones and digital burnout can occur. Providing participation tools for on-demand care where the demand will always outweigh supply will be a difficult balancing act and it is always important to retain the clinical decision-making process by the human and not the machine. AI decision trees can be helpful, but we should work hard to retain the human decision-making process through this advancement and be mindful of the sacrifice it takes to be a healthcare professional and continue to advance training for the future of tomorrow in this area on a global basis. Technology is a tool, but should not be designed to replace the human element of care and the empathy that is required when treating and helping human beings.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?
There was one story in particular in Port Harcourt, Nigeria at RNZ (Royal Dutch Shell) Hospital which made me realize the power of the opportunity and what could be possible. A woman was going into surgery and was literally being wheeled into the operating room and one of the doctors started a pre-op consult with her with a head-mounted device-enabled consultation. The patient was so curious that she wanted to try the device before her surgery, and she was able to interact with not just the physician treating her but others in the hospital instantaneously before her procedure. At that moment, I saw the future of Hippo Virtual Care –the power and availability and also the clinician-patient connection that technology made possible. It was a life-changing experience.
What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?
There are a variety of adoption drivers for changing mobility in healthcare. Connectivity (LTE, WIFI and Satellite) is key to the universal adoption of wearables. We also need to pay particular attention to the evolving compliance and data security implications of virtual care, which forms the backbone of our solution.
What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?
I have been an evangelist for the scale and adoption for head-mounted displays for many years, but the key is to have partners, customers and ecosystems tell the story of the value. We have been fortunate to have some of our partners sharing their successes, but by design we have been relatively quiet on marketing hype so that we can allow the global healthcare community to adopt and share their vantage points on the specific value. There are so many potential use cases in healthcare to make the delivery and experience of care more convenient, more efficient, and more affordable, while improving quality. More will be coming to light in the near future directly from the clinical communities we support.
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?
Too many to count as so many people have found a special place in my life and with this journey.
Also, on the technology side, I must always point to my co-founders at RealWear for their influence and for working so hard to deliver the future in this area. There are many in the RealWear family who have contributed to wearable computing advancement including Chris Parkinson, Sanjay Jhawar, Andy Lowery, Stephen Pombo, the Kolev brothers, Ken Lustig, Melissa Ownby, Andrew Chrostowski and others where execution and resilience delivered change in the world of wearable computing many thought was impossible. (https://realwear.com/company/timeline)
On the healthcare side it is my partners at Hippo Technologies including Dr. Patrick Quinlan, Wale Sulaiman, and the entire team who rallied around these technologies and helped to drive this reality as we found ourselves in a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic situation.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
At Hippo Technologies we are committed to helping the people and organizations who can benefit the most from new levels of healthcare access. We have launched the Hippo Global Health Initiative to help charities and underserved communities with these technologies and to provide global access to healthcare knowledge networks. Providing education and global support networks can really make a difference.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
Don’t let worry consume you through the process and enjoy the ride by valuing the successes and learning from the failures.
Rip the bandage off quickly when things are not working. Always be compassionate, but be prepared for daily, monthly and annual changes and remain agile to auto-correct.
Meet regularly with your mentors for advice, consultation and learn from every interaction.
Be different in the investment pitches. Don’t focus on hockey stick growth projections which everyone shows and ground yourself with a focus on stair step growth and reality.
Expect to be lonely when making hard decisions and expect to dive into an abyss where you cannot see where you are headed but have confidence that you will navigate to success.
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
Globalized approach with a concept called Polymorphic Medicine.
Polymorphism is the ability of medicine to take on multiple forms — not just delivered by physicians in a clinical setting addressing sick patients but representing a holistic, integrative approach to health, care and wellness that meets the individual where they are now, both physically and emotionally, where they live, work, learn, play, and pray. It transcends the clinical setting and is firmly rooted in the social, environmental, and behavioral determinants of health and it is our belief that good health is co-created by individuals, the system that supports them, and the environment in which they live.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Carpe Diem: Seize the day. Seize every day. I have tried to maximize every day and every experience in my journey of life. I believe that you have to take calculated risks in your thinking and if you cannot dream about an idea then you cannot try to achieve it.
Some very well-known VCs read this column. If you had 60 seconds to make a pitch to a VC, what would you say? He or she might just see this if we tag them
I appreciate the investment community and the investors who enable success and progression. My ask of the VC Community is to continue to make their criteria of investment clear as it takes an amazing amount of time for entrepreneurs to approach that world. Ironically, I do have an investor close from an elevator experience in 2018 so even this cliché is possible.
In an elevator, I would share an idea of their participation in redesigning healthcare via Virtual Care. If there was an interest alignment in that mission, vision, value and purpose, I would invite them to learn more about how that can be reality in the next 36 months and how that can drive valuation, returns while actually bring new levels of healthcare access to those who need it most.
The Future Is Now: Dr. Jim Burns of Locanabio On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up Healthcare
“Working smarter is better than working harder.” Sometimes I think that it would have been smarter for me to work as hard as I have on how to do things better, rather than just do more of what I was doing.
As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Jim Burns.
Jim Burns, PhD, joined Locanabio in December 2019 as CEO and Board member. Prior to joining Locanabio, Dr. Burns served as the CEO of Casebia Therapeutics and led the team in discovering and developing new CRISPR/Cas9-based breakthrough therapeutics to treat blood disorders, blindness and heart disease. Prior to Casebia, Dr. Burns spent the bulk of his career at Sanofi-Genzyme, where he held several leadership roles with increasing responsibility, including North America Site Head for R&D where he coordinated R&D operations across key therapeutic areas, and head of Sanofi-Genzyme R&D. Dr. Burns is a former board member of MassBio, a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a member of the External Advisory Committee for the BioMedical Engineering Department at Boston University. He also served as the industry representative for the Food and Drug Administration General Plastic Surgery Panel. Dr. Burns earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Purdue University and Master of Science and Doctorate degrees in bioengineering from the University of Illinois-Chicago, where his thesis work focused on drug delivery. Following his graduate studies, he was a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Florida.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
In 1984, I was interviewing for a postdoctoral position at the University of Florida which unfortunately, was less than impressive upon further examination and ultimately would not have given me the experience that I wanted to further my career. I could not stop thinking about another postdoctoral position I had previously applied for with Eugene P. Goldberg, PhD, Director of the Biomaterials Center in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Florida. At the time, Dr. Goldberg said he simply did not have space for me on his team. But I was determined to meet with him and convince him to hire me. I remember walking up to his office, knowing that he was not expecting me and that he may not even be there. There were two things that were remarkable about that day: 1) that same day Dr. Goldberg’s father, unfortunately, had passed away, and 2) Dr. Goldberg was standing at his desk holding a piece on paper with my name and number, looked up and said, “I was just going to call you because a position just opened up.”
The reason I wanted to work with Dr. Goldberg was because I wanted to work with someone who could help me understand how I could take basic science and engineering principles and apply them in a translational way to products that could actually get into people and help them. Some of those skills and mentoring opportunities I got during my two years with Dr. Goldberg at the University of Florida, learning about product development and translating early ideas into products that can help people, were in some ways how I ended up working at Genzyme (now Sanofi Genzyme) for as long as I did. Through Dr. Goldberg’s mentoring and his professional relationships, I was able to start my journey at Genzyme and in the field of pharmaceutical and biotechnology product development.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I am not sure how interesting this is to others, but early in my Genzyme career there was a situation that shaped how I think about leadership. During my first year at Genzyme, my lab sponsored work with an external collaborator on an important project that we hoped would lead to a significant corporate partnership. However, the potential partner could not reproduce the collaborator’s results, which we were relying on to close the deal, and they walked away from further discussions. There was a lot at stake so you can imagine this caused much consternation within the R&D leadership, the board of directors, and with our CEO Henri Termeer. Henri called a meeting and asked each of us — starting with me — if we believed the technology really worked. At this point, I had nothing to lose so of course I said, “Yes.” Henri then went around the room asking each in turn the same question and all said, “No,” except for the last person he asked who happened to be my boss — the head of research for Genzyme — and who did not like the project. To my surprise, he said, “Yes, and give Jim three months to prove it.”
Three months later, my lab produced results showing the technology worked, and most importantly a completely independent testing facility using the same study protocol under good laboratory practice (GLP) conditions showed exactly the same results. With these studies in hand, we were able to raise $35 million to fund projects that ultimately generated two commercial products. This episode showed me an important leadership feature by two different people in the same meeting. Sometimes support of the person is more important than doubt about a project. My boss did not believe the technology would work (most things do not in our business, after all, so this was not a crazy position), but he realized that I did believe, and it was important to him to support me. And Henri knew it was important to support his head of research and the new kid, even if there were questions about the technology. After that moment, I had the greatest respect for Henri and my boss as leaders, and always tried to incorporate an element of people impact in my decisions.
Can you tell us about the cutting edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?
At Locanabio, we are focused on correcting disease-causing mutations at the RNA level. While gene therapy continues to be a focus among many pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including those focused on rare diseases, in recent years RNA has been in the spotlight, thanks in part to the emergence of nucleotide-based RNA targeting platforms. We are advancing a new class of gene therapies that target dysfunctional RNA. The combination of RNA modification and gene therapy delivery via one-time administration makes Locanabio’s platform, called the CORRECTX™ platform, unique. It is positioned as a promising therapeutic approach that could transform the treatment of many genetic and even non-genetic diseases, many of which currently have limited or no approved treatment options.
How do you think this might change the world?
We believe that like antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs), small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), gene editing, gene therapy and now mRNA vaccines, engineered RNA-binding protein systems have the potential to be a significant new advance in medicine because of the inherent modularity of the technology and because of the breadth of diseases for which a one-time RNA targeted therapy can be the best approach. Through creative manipulation of the basic systems, we can effect a number of different types of RNA manipulations, each of which has a number of genetic and non-genetic disease applications. We live in an amazing time in which many genetic medicines have either been approved or are making significant clinical advances. All have a place in the armamentarium of tools to apply to human disease, and we believe our approach with CORRECTX™ will as well.
Using the CORRECTX™ platform, we are pursuing applications in devastating neurodegenerative, neuromuscular and retinal diseases including myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1), Huntington’s disease, spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1) and familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
We recently published promising preclinical study data on our platform in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering. Based on our platform, we developed what is called an RNA-targeting CRISPR Cas9 system (RCas9), which is comprised of an RNA-binding protein and RNA-modifying enzyme, that is delivered via a gene therapy adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector to destroy disease-causing RNA. We assessed whether the CRISPR RCas9 system could provide molecular and functional rescue of dysfunctional RNA processing in mice with DM1. Results from the preclinical study showed, for the first time ever, that the molecular and physiological features of DM1 could be reversed, showing the significant potential of our platform technology to treat this devastating neuromuscular disorder.
Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
As more gene therapy and gene editing technologies emerge, it is important to think carefully about how we leverage these tools to best treat genetic diseases and to recognize that there is no single approach or treatment that will be right for every patient. It is incredibly exciting to see the gene therapy and editing landscape rapidly progress and hopefully one day we will reach a point where physicians can ask themselves, “What is the right genetic approach or genetic tool I should use to treat my patient in the safest possible way?”
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?
Our unique CORRECTX™ platform technology was born out of research conducted by Locanabio founder and world leader in RNA biology, Gene Yeo, PhD, at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). The “tipping point” was the moment he realized that gene therapy could be used to deliver proteins that bind to RNA, rather than DNA (as with CRISPR Cas9). This new approach, called RNA directed Cas9 (RCas9), is the basis of our platform and allows us to combine two validated technologies in medicine — RNA modification and gene therapy.
What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?
We recently completed a $100 million Series B financing to support preclinical and clinical development of our platform technology for treating diseases such as Huntington’s disease, DM1, genetic ALS and retinal disease. With new funding we hope to accelerate our efforts to advance multiple promising development programs, initiate what we call investigational new drug (IND)-enabling studies, and further develop our platform, which has the potential to be a major new advance in medicine.
What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?
We have been and continue to speak with a range of industry stakeholders who are important to us, including investors, analysts, potential partners, key opinion leaders, physicians and patient advocates, about the significant potential of our platform technology and its unique approach to addressing disease areas of unmet need. We have also been promoting important company and development milestones throughout the year in press releases and speaking with a number of business and medical trade media to build broader awareness of our technology. In just one example, Locanabio was recently featured in a leading medical trade publication called Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News about technological advances and breakthroughs in medicine, which was subsequently featured in an article in The New York Times Magazine.
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 already mentioned an example of Henri Termeer influencing my thinking on leadership. But he also had an impact in a very simple way on how I think about innovation. About six months after the situation I described earlier, I was walking with Henri and my boss, the head of R&D at Genzyme, across the Boston Common on our way back from a visit at Massachusetts General Hospital. I was talking about all the ideas I had for products that we should work on in my lab. And it must have been irritating to listen to, but Henri did not say anything until we got across the Common when he stopped, looked at me and said, “Ideas are a dime a dozen,” and then he kept walking. Those six words had a profound impact on me because I, of course, immediately realized that I had to deliver, not just come up with ideas. I became highly focused on learning the process of product research and development. It became a science to me; how to define goals, deliverables, develop plans, run meetings, hire great people, and assemble effective teams. I realized that great ideas were necessary but not sufficient for innovation. One had to execute effectively to ultimately deliver products to patients, which is when you can only say innovation has really happened.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I feel that the hardest thing humans do is develop drugs to try to fool biology to do something that a specific type of cell is not programmed to do. We are developing a completely new class of gene therapies that are able to target the root cause of certain genetic diseases by correcting mutated or dysfunctional RNA in patients. The diseases we are targeting are serious, devastating and underserved, largely because they are rare diseases, but we are leading the way in creating a new advance in medicine that could bring patients much-needed treatments that can truly make a significant impact on their health and quality of life.
But 10 years or so from now, I hope that we can leverage our platform to go beyond genetic medicines and treat other types of diseases, even non-genetic diseases. Our team is very passionate about transforming our platform technology into something that can help as many patients as possible.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
“Working smarter is better than working harder.” Sometimes I think that it would have been smarter for me to work as hard as I have on how to do things better, rather than just do more of what I was doing.
“It is ok to say no.” The art of people and project leadership is to balance genuinely listening to people with making decisions firmly even if they are not welcome. Every time you make a decision you are saying “no” to another option, so embrace saying “no,” or you will never get anywhere as a leader.
“It is ok to be wrong or make mistakes as long as you learn from them.” We go through life and school getting bombarded with negative feedback if we do something wrong, get a poor test score, etc., so we avoid admitting mistakes. This is a disaster from a personal growth and continuous improvement standpoint. Making mistakes and learning from them is key to becoming better.
“Listening is more important than talking.” I read somewhere that a person who talks a lot is more often thought a fool than someone who listens and is thoughtful about what they say. I have learned to like this way of thinking because by listening you gather information and when talking the information is only going out. As a leader you have to balance this with the need for people to know where you stand, even if you agree with what is being said.
“People will remember about 10% of what you say in a presentation, 10% of how you said it, and 80% how you made them feel.” When I heard this from a former TV news reporter it changed how I prepared and delivered my presentations. It made me much more connected to the audience, and I believe helped me give better presentations.
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 wonder how much energy we would save and how much positive impact on the environment we would have if once a month the world turned its lights off for one hour, something similar to the citywide energy conservation and awareness campaign Lights Out San Francisco that started in 2007, only taking it to the next level.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
It is a quote from Henry David Thoreau’s Walden: “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” My mother shared this with me when I was about 15 years old as a lesson that you never know what someone else is going through, so keep that in mind when you deal with people and judge their actions.
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 ?
Locanabio is developing the next advance in genetic medicine by combining both gene therapy and RNA modification for treating diseases. Our proprietary CORRECTX™ platform consists of RNA-targeting systems that are delivered using a gene therapy vector to modify dysfunctional RNA in a one-time administration. The platform is versatile in that we can perform different RNA manipulations — destruction, replacement, splicing, editing, and translational enhancement — which offers the potential to treat many other types of diseases, even non-genetic diseases, that other RNA-targeting therapies cannot. Our unique and highly targeted approach can also reduce the risk of DNA modifications and off-target effects associated with traditional gene therapies. We are developing therapeutic options targeting neurodegenerative, neuromuscular and retinal diseases including DM1, Huntington’s disease and retinitis pigmentosa. We recently completed a $100 million Series B financing in Q4 2020.
The Future Is Now: Sally French Tyler On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up Real Estate
Take the leap, even if I don’t feel qualified. Some people are more likely to apply for a position or a promotion that they may not feel quite qualified for and, as a result, more often reap the rewards. I’ve learned along the way the benefits of putting your name in the hat for new opportunities and having the confidence to take the risk. Even if you don’t end up being selected, there is a benefit to going through the process.
As a part of our series about cutting-edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sally French Tyler.
Sally French Tyler is a seasoned veteran of the real estate and title insurance industry. She currently serves as executive vice president of First American Title Insurance Company and as president of the company’s National Commercial Services Division. In her role, Tyler is responsible for planning, strategy and innovation, and in recent years has focused her efforts on revolutionizing commercial real estate transactions by driving digital transformation of the commercial title business. She also oversees recruitment and development, and her people-first approach has been instrumental in inspiring and developing emerging leaders from around the organization.
Tyler has served on the boards of many commercial real estate industry organizations and has been frequently recognized by trade publications as one of the top female leaders in the industry.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Right out of college, I started working in commercial real estate for a developer. Soon after, we hit a downturn — common in a cyclical industry like real estate — and I was approached by someone in the industry about a sales position for a national title insurer, a company that helps facilitate real estate transactions. I was a little less familiar with the space but saw it as an opportunity to challenge myself and take on a new role. The role turned out to be a perfect fit for my skill set and professional goals, and I never looked back. I particularly liked that in commercial title insurance, I had access to all facets of commercial real estate rather than a single aspect, like development or leasing. Commercial title insurance is the glue of every real estate transaction, and in this business, we have exposure to the beginning, middle and end of every deal. Because these deals are often very complicated, there are immense opportunities to gain significant knowledge about how these deals work.
I’m still learning something new about our business every day, and that intellectual stimulation has kept me in the industry.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
At the start of my career at First American, I was a brash young salesperson and very client focused — almost to a fault. One of my clients complained to me that something had gone wrong operationally and without asking follow-up questions, I criticized a colleague for the mistake. When I learned all the facts, I came to realize that the client had been mistaken and I had missed an opportunity with an internal co-worker to back them up and to give them the support they deserved when they most needed it.
This experience taught me that in business there are always two sides to every story and navigating and protecting both internal and external relationships is equally important.
Can you tell us about the cutting-edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?
The commercial real estate industry has been slow to embrace digital transformation. Property transactions are often time-consuming and complicated, with much communication still done over email or on paper.
A number of years ago, my team and I set out to find a way to modernize the customer experience and bring it to the 21st century. We realized that, if we were spending hours digging through emails, our clients are likely doing the same thing. We were losing both time and money.
Built on both employee and customer feedback, we developed ClarityFirst™, a first-of-its-kind digital platform that connects all participants in real time and streamlines the commercial real estate transaction process, making it more transparent, efficient and secure. With the help of innovative technology, our customers know exactly where they are in the process at any given point in the deal and are able to complete transactions faster and more accurately.
How do you think this might change the world?
We are helping to change our slice of the world. Commercial real estate is a large contributor to the economy, and we feel excited about advancing technological innovation that helps make people’s lives easier. Real estate buyers, sellers, lawyers, lenders, and all stakeholders can certainly appreciate the time and money we help them save. It’s crucial to staying competitive in the commercial real estate market.
Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
There is always hesitation around adopting innovations, even those that are destined to become fixtures in everyday life. It’s human nature.
Technology should be built to be intuitive, user friendly, and of course, secure. Our team has been laser focused on protection of user information through multi-factor authentication, encryption technologies, and state-of-the-art wire verifications, among other things.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?
There wasn’t one moment that led to the creation of ClarityFirst, but rather, a domino effect. It was a combination of listening to both our employees’ and customers’ frustrations and observing the inefficiencies in the commercial title closing process.
Our approach to development was unique in a way that we involved our top customers in the process, which gave us an understanding of the critical need for this technology and their pain points. It allowed us to recognize the value proposition we wanted to bring to our customer experience, and ClarityFirst was built by and with clients in a joint effort with First American employees.
As we continue to enhance the platform, we are regularly sourcing feedback from our customers and employees to make enhancements and bring new features to the market.
What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?
Many seasoned commercial title professionals have customized their approach to business and much of the process has been manual for decades. Convincing them to step outside their comfort and familiarity with the traditional process in order to try new technology is our greatest challenge to adoption.
However, our customers that have jumped aboard are excited by the platform and by the positive implications it has had on their business. We believe that once people adopt the technology and engage with it frequently, they’ll quickly come to appreciate its benefits. The platform also becomes increasingly helpful as our customers embed themselves in each feature of the platform, be it the document sharing, wire transfers, or exchange of information between participants.
It boils down to the fact that email communication is a way of the past — the ClarityFirst platform allows customers to track each document at each moment over the life of a transaction, allowing them to close more deals in less time.
What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?
We believe that ClarityFirst has the power to revolutionize the commercial title insurance industry, but we didn’t want to rush to market. Instead, we started the roll out in a very intentional, regional way, allowing our own employees became comfortable with its capabilities.
When we reached a critical mass of users, we began to implement our larger go-to-market strategy. Our latest announcement of the multisite portfolio element — a feature that allows users to manage multiple properties across different regions — is a major breakthrough and was the impetus for a robust communications and marketing campaign.
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 most people have someone in their career path that believed in their abilities before they did themselves. When I was hired in a national sales role, I was asked by a colleague and mentor to take on a leadership position — the role that I still hold today — that I felt I was not yet prepared for. I’m not unique in taking a leap before I felt I was ready, but his faith in my abilities has contributed to my own professional competence and success.
I also feel incredibly lucky to be married to a partner who has a great belief in me. It’s very important to have a support system and have people around you who see your abilities, so you can see them in yourself, too.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
About 10 years ago, in partnership with our human resources department and the full support of our CEO, I started a program at First American called Women in Leadership. I was the first female executive vice president in the company at the time, and from the overwhelmingly positive response to that, it became abundantly clear to me that we needed to become more purposeful in creating a path for others to follow.
From senior executives to mid-level employees, our Women in Leadership program provides leadership development and a network of mentors. Since its inception, nearly 100 women have graduated the program, and more than 40 percent of its alumnae have received promotions.
I’m especially proud to help inspire other women in the company. Our work through the program to date has helped First American earn recognition as a top place to work, and I believe a lot of that is due to the equity we are building in our workplace. My hope is that one day, we as a society won’t need these programs.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
Trust my gut instinct more. I didn’t always trust myself in the beginning of my career. I soon realized that it isn’t always easy to be out in front and leadership can be daunting. When introducing new strategies or new innovative technologies, like our ClarityFirst platform, which is unique to the industry, you have to take the time to build a coalition around the idea; create a strong foundation; sell the vision with a focus on communicating the “why” around the concept. Once you have that support, the team will help you carry the ball and celebrate with you as you cross the finish line because it’s their victory, too.
Take the leap, even if I don’t feel qualified. Some people are more likely to apply for a position or a promotion that they may not feel quite qualified for and, as a result, more often reap the rewards. I’ve learned along the way the benefits of putting your name in the hat for new opportunities and having the confidence to take the risk. Even if you don’t end up being selected, there is a benefit to going through the process.
Formal education vs. life education. I had the incredible fortune to go to college and probably have a better understanding now of what a gift it was. Obviously, so many others are not afforded that same opportunity. But I can say that I have worked alongside many talented and skilled individuals throughout my career who don’t happen to possess that “piece of paper” indicating a formal degree, but for whom I have deep respect and admiration. At my first job out of college, I worked for a real estate developer and was often surrounded by people with undergrad and graduate degrees, but I found our secretary, who had a high school education, to be the smartest person there. Life degrees are important and of equal value. Promote people based on contribution, not on resumes.
Your brand is your equity. You build your personal and professional brand over the length of your career. Your brand is what people say about you when you aren’t in the room, and it can build equity over time if it is a positive one. Protect it like your own personal credit. I’ve learned the value of understanding why brand matters, both in my own career and in watching others.
You don’t have to know everything. I often tell young leaders that they have to let go to grow when I see them making mistakes similar to the ones that I made earlier in my career. Part of the reason I couldn’t let go was because I thought I had to know everything about every aspect of our business in order to be responsible for it. It’s not possible. The reality is that you have to surround yourself with great people and trust your team and their respective areas of expertise to make good decisions.
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.
What we have done at First American with the Women in Leadership program is being replicated for broader diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. We’re at another inflection point for diversity at all levels and based on our success of elevating women in the workplace, we are going to emulate that same type of programming for more diversity initiatives.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“The shortest distance between two people is a smile.”
Both personally and professionally, success is intrinsically tied to connectivity and approachability. If you can succeed in those ways, you can overcome many challenges: you can solve problems, have difficult conversations and connect with people.
I have found that if people find you to be approachable and genuine, they feel your warmth. It doesn’t take much to smile and be genuine — and for me, that’s the easy part.
If you had 60 seconds to make a pitch of your solution/technology to a VC, what would you say?
We are transitioning commercial real estate transactions from the paper world to the digital world. We’re looking to make email a thing of the past by creating a streamlined closing process with greater efficiency, transparency and security for our employees and customers. If we can ensure they are happy and successful, we can create greater returns for both.
You give yourself permission to feel every emotion you experience: rage, hurt, confusion, powerlessness, humiliation, despair, and even numbness to the world. For many people, the end of a marriage is more than the end of a relationship. It’s also the end of an identity. This loss can feel disorienting and sometimes even terrifying.
After experiencing the frustration of the divorce process himself, Nate Zorich founded Avail Divorce in 2017 to offer tools, provide resources and build a community for the more than 1.5 million Americans who go through divorce every year.
Nate graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania where he played Division 1 hockey. Nate went on to achieve the classic “American dream” — secured a great job, got married, completed his MBA, had two beautiful children, and bought a house in Fort Collins, Colo. The marriage deteriorated, and Nate found himself at a crossroads with no resources BY divorced people FOR divorced people. Every online resource he was able to find within the multi-billion dollar divorce industry led to a sales pitch or was difficult to understand.
Leveraging his business background, Nate began developing a resource that made it easier to navigate the challenges of divorce. He wanted to provide people with the information they needed to make the right decisions, offer tools to make the process less stressful and create a community of support to make divorce less lonely. Through Avail Divorce, Nate has created practical, tangible resources that work to break the stigma of divorce, save people time and money, and help people come out on the other side of divorce happy and healthy. Nate is set to launch Avail Divorce in Spring 2021.
When he’s not leading and inspiring Avail Divorce’s vibrant community, Nate can be found strumming his guitar, playing ice hockey, co-parenting his children and playing with his rescue dog.
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 a small rural college town in Indiana, Pennsylvania. My mother was an entrepreneur who owned an audiology practice and my father was the dean of the library at the local university. My brother is four years older, entered college early, and now is a freelance journalist for Discoverer, Archeology and has worked with The New York Times. Our grandmother lived with us as well as our rescue dog Max. I drove to Johnstown PA each day for high school to attend a Catholic highs school that had a contending hockey program.
Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I saw an opportunity to help others avoid the trauma I had experienced in a healthy manner. There were so many 3 a.m. google sessions learning everything I could about the process and my rights. I couldn’t believe with the large number of people getting divorced everyday that there wasn’t an option for a trusted resource for the masses that help you avoid common pitfalls, put language to a situation and rebuild yourself from scratch.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?
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?
Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life or your work?
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?”
― Mary Oliver
My mother survived cancer in her late 30s and later my brother survived a large cancerous tumor on his brain. It made me realize that the life I was living was not the life I wanted to settle on. I am grateful for every day and realize how mortal I am. With that knowledge, I’m going to live fearless, curious, creative and continue to improve those lives that I am grateful to touch.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
There are several co-parenting apps out there, but there really is nothing out there with the functionality and the style of the Avail CoParenting App. A few of the main features are the child expense tracker, which provides reports, receipt attachments, delinquency notification and full transparency between parents. There’s also a shared calendar with assigned roles for pick up, drop off responsibilities and can be shared with kids, grandparents, and babysitters. The info bank which can include items like the parenting plan, the divorce decree, insurance cards, pediatrician information, ballet recital flyer, passports, etc. To learn more, visit our website at www.availdivorce.com
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?
Sharing your divorce story is an important part of Avail. Your story destigmatizes the experience and removes the shame and stigma attached with divorce. When you normalize the experience, others are more likely to reach out and seek help. I’m not against marriage, my parents and extended family are still very happily married, but I am against staying in a broken relationship at the expense of your mental health and your family’s well being. There is no shame in doing what’s right for you.
The biggest lesson was redefining myself and developing those skills to gut check what is true to me. Whether it was buying a new couch, or shedding toxic friendships. I became my biggest advocate and developed healthy boundaries to make space for my life I’d envisioned.
In your opinion, what are the most common mistakes people make after they go through a divorce? What can be done to avoid that?
The most common mistake after going through a divorce is not revisiting co parenting plans on a regular basis. Family dynamic, schedules, and income will change on both sides of the house. Scheduling an annual check in to accommodate your life as it adapts can prevent what might be seen as a threat if it comes out of the blue after years of neglect. Other issues are:
1. Parentification- of a kid to participate and manage the younger children.
2. Enmeshment- where the child has to check with the other parent before doing anything.
3. Parental Alienation- Excessive hate of the other parent.
4. Estrangement- When the child is aligned with one parent.
5. Gatekeeping- Limiting the other parents’ access to the children.
People generally label “divorce” as being “negative”. And yes, while there are downsides, there can also be a lot of positive that comes out of it as well. What would you say that they are? Can you share an example or share a story?
The flip side of the grief of losing your identity as a husband is creating your identity as a single person. Through trial and error, many dates and an unfortunate attempt at skinny jeans, I now know who I am, my style, my strengths and my intentions. This practice of staying in tune with yourself as you grow was the greatest gift of my divorce.
My time without the kids is now spent focusing on myself, mentally, physically, spiritually. I didn’t have this presence while I was married, as my sense of duty and being a martyr parent wouldn’t allow it. Now I’m modeling what self care and boundaries look like for my kids and I’m a better parent because of it.
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?
Know your limits, be smart, safe, and genuinely curious. If you’re not having fun, then have some prepared bailout lines ready to gracefully exit. You don’t have to be perfect to start dating. It’s okay to put yourself out there as is and know that there are people out there looking for someone just like you.
Apps can be an easy, low-risk way to get an idea of what’s out there. They can be a wonderful tool for connecting with new people and finding people with similar interests that you might not otherwise meet. Take action by choosing two or three apps that seem to match your dating goals and create some profiles and upload flattering, accurate pictures. If you’re already online, take the next step by making the first move and inviting someone you’ve been chatting with for a face-to-face meeting — after pre-screening them, of course.
Online dating is an efficient, and many times effective, way to meet new people, and prescreening your dates makes this process easier. Increase your chances of a match by being open and honest about yourself in your own profiles and doing your due diligence when it comes to theirs. Before you agree to a meetup:
Double-check that their pictures are an accurate representation of themselves.
Have a quick video chat to verify identity and get a first read on whether you two have chemistry.
Do a basic background check to identify any potential red flags and keep yourself safe.
Don’t share your own personal identifying information until you’ve met your date in person and feel safe with them. It’s okay if it takes a few dates before they know your last name or the street you live on. If they have a problem with this, they’re the problem.
Keep an open mind — dating post-divorce can be as fun as it can be nerve-wracking! I suggest remembering that the other person is probably nervous, too. And in the event that a date goes terribly, remember that you can probably turn it into an excellent story to share with your friends. Don’t take a terrible date too seriously.
What is the one thing people going through a divorce should be open to changing?
It’s surprising to see the number of couples who believe that they will be an exception to the rule and have an amicable divorce with little conflict. What starts with the best intentions, slowly deteriorates as the division of emotionally charged objects gets divided between the couple. The triggers that caused the divorce get amplified and often get an explosive reaction. Some people in the divorce industry make a career out of pinning people against each other to run up their billable hours so choose your team carefully.
The one thing people should be open to changing is to practice forgiveness. This removes the emotionally charged decisions to get revenge or try to show strength when all you are really doing is dragging out the process and spending more of your money. Take the high road and make your decisions from a place of dignity.
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?
Prioritizing Your Self Care
Health is the greatest possession.
-Lao Tzu
If you’ve ever grown a vegetable garden, adopted a pet, or owned a car, you know you get out what you put in. The amount of care you give your garden leads directly to the quality and quantity of your harvest. The attention, training and love you give your pet is directly linked to their happiness and health. The consistent maintenance you give your car drives its performance, both in the 0–60 and in the long-term.
2. You’re no different.
Yet sometimes we neglect to give ourselves that same mindful, consistent attention, also known as self-care. This can be especially true when you’re going through divorce. Everything else comes first. You are second.
The reality is, if you’re not feeling 100 percent, it’s far more difficult to take care of anybody or anything else. And the process of divorce can be a grueling one. This is no time to “let yourself slide.”
You need to stay as healthy as you can be for the everyday challenges you’re sure to encounter, and even more so for when the going gets tough. The more time you spend taking care of yourself, the better off you, and the people who depend on you, will be. Practicing good self-care is more than a cliché; it’s a must.
STORY
“Many people commented on how healthy I looked after my husband left — that I looked more relaxed, that my coloring was better. The source of a lot of stress was gone and I could spend some time taking care of myself. I was physically healthier than ever, kickboxing in the morning, smoothies for lunch and getting to bed before 10:00. I had started a lifestyle that felt great and one that I can continually build from. I’m now starting to meet people in these circles that share my passion, like cooking classes on Wednesday, and a hiking group meetup on Saturday mornings.” — Jeanette
3. Let’s get practical
Focusing on self-care contributes to your clarity and peace of mind, helping you to make better everyday and long-term decisions. Your healthier self will be more able to manage the negative effects of stress, avoid burnout, and leave you feeling more worthy, with confidence to face the future.
A healthier you will manifest in every aspect of your life, from your family and friend interactions to your work performance to your core feeling of self-worth and well-being.
Here are some simple ways to care for and rejuvenate yourself:
Get enough sleep.
Cat nap: close your eyes and give yourself a short rest when you need it.
Make healthy food choices, choose vegetables and nutrient-dense foods like salads, nuts, blueberries and avocados over empty calorie foods like chips, processed snacks, and sugary foods like soda and cookies..
Exercise! Even a short walk can make a big difference.
Block out some time in your schedule to meditate regularly. Even 5 minutes makes a difference.
Listen to your favorite music while walking out in nature.
Find a creative outlet and make no excuses to pursue it, even briefly, every single day.
4. Fight for yourself
Not everyone around you will understand your renewed efforts to take care of yourself. Some may see these healthy acts as selfish. Don’t be distracted. Those who love and respect you will get it. You may be accustomed to sacrificing your needs to meet those of family and friends, but during this trying period, it can be a recipe for burnout. Your mind, body, and spirit need — and deserve — your daily attention and care.
5. It’s a marathon, not a sprint
Sometimes it’s easier to meet the urgent needs of the person in front of you who is requesting — or demanding — your attention than it is to take care of yourself. You may face pressure to meet the expectations of the people around you at work, home, and in the community. This can be especially challenging if your role in your marriage was to be a caretaker or the one who is relied upon to give and do emotional labor for others at the expense of your own self-care and needs. These expectations of others can be unrealistic, especially when you are going through a divorce. Divorce is a great opportunity to break old habits of “running on empty.” Ultimately, the only one you’re accountable to is yourself. You are important, and so is your health and wellbeing. If you know your limitations, you can make the appropriate choices to stop and rest, or even retreat, whenever you need to. Give yourself the permission, power and space to do this.
Take the next step
Today, do one small thing just for you. Sleep late. Exercise. Read. Shop. Relax.
Make a plan to enact one self-care step on a daily basis; change up your routine so you don’t lapse.
When needed, clearly communicate the importance of your good health with family or friends.
6. Minimizing The Drama
Difficulty is inevitable. Drama is a choice.
-Anita Renfroe
Drama. Who needs it? Certainly not you at this point in your life. We define “drama” as a consistent overreaction or unwarranted exaggeration for the purpose of gaining attention. And during a divorce, you don’t have the time or energy for it. So, how can you effectively minimize it?
Rather than taking personal responsibility, those who engage in drama often antagonize others and are quick to point fingers. They spin small anxieties into giant disasters, display volatile mood swings, and seek to “one-up” your experiences and feelings with their own stories. While this might make for must-watch reality TV, it only causes more stress and pain when you’re facing the reality of divorce. Drama-free (or even low drama) divorce may seem like an oxymoron, but it is possible.
Story
“We got a divorce because my husband had an affair. When I discovered who she was, the first thing I wanted to do was call everyone I knew and ‘out’ her to the general public. Why not? She broke up our marriage! That’s how I felt about it at the time, anyway. I now realize our marriage ended for reasons that are much more complicated than that. But then I thought about our kids. I realized that, as much as I felt justified in my outrage and anger, turning our divorce into a public soap opera would make this difficult process even worse for them. So I kept my issues to myself and a few trusted friends and eventually realized keeping the drama as low as possible had made the divorce easier for me, as well.”
-Vanessa
Practical tools
Instituting a “No Drama” policy from the start will help you to steer clear of pointless emotional drain. This means making a decision not to create or participate in dramatic behavior with anyone involved in the divorce process, especially your ex. Set boundaries. Distance yourself if necessary. Take time away from communication or actively moving the divorce forward if needed. And perhaps most importantly, don’t reward dramatic behavior with the attention it craves.
Take the “No Drama” pledge:
I will not post anything negative about my ex on social media.
I will not gossip about my ex, complain, vent emotions, or make unfair accusations (except on occasion to a few select, trusted Power People. Let’s be honest, we all need to vent somewhere, sometimes. The idea is not to vent publicly in a way that fuels drama, or to allow for venting to consume our time and energy).
I will not overanalyze the intentions of others and choose to be offended.
I will not disparage my ex to our children or in front of our children.
I will not allow other people to say unkind things about my ex in front of our children.
I will encourage our children to love and respect their other parent.
I will apologize and take responsibility when I am at fault.
I will avoid bickering with my ex, instead, I will seek to communicate with civility.
I will not engage in inflammatory language.
When confronted with drama, negativity, or aggression, I will make peace.
Try on their shoes
There’s a joke that goes, “Try walking a mile in their shoes. Then you’ll be a mile away and you’ll have their shoes.” The real point: seek understanding. When communicating with your ex, seek not only to gather information but to understand where they’re coming from. Drama often gets its start in miscommunication. Listen first. If you don’t understand something, ask about it. Avoid accusations that may fuel future drama. It may feel good in the short term to lash out or recount your spouse’s record of wrongs, but it’s not wise in the long run.
If you do need to air your frustrations or constructively express your anger, seek out counseling or an unbiased mentor who can help you translate your negativity into productive actions. If your spouse is behaving badly while you are trying to remain calm, give it a rest for a few days. Also, mediation or couples’ therapy can allow a neutral third party to mitigate the drama.
Watch for the signs
You can only control yourself. Learn to recognize the signs of drama, refuse to take the bait, and if you can’t quickly end it, politely excuse yourself and walk away. Be thoughtful about how you communicate. Engage in honest and direct conversations, but use restraint. By taking the high road and modeling positive behavior, you can influence the people around you.
Sometimes, people rev up drama because it’s an extension of their grieving process. Creating drama can be a way of getting your ex’s attention, or making them respond to you, or looping them back into patterns of connection (no matter how broken or dysfunctional).
Don’t feed it
When you find yourself confronted by drama, take a moment to consider its cause. If your ex is the instigator, perhaps their dramatic tendencies are coming from a place in them that is grieving, afraid, and desperately missing you. You can set boundaries with compassion. Drama feeds on energy and attention. Denying those things helps reduce it. Think about stepping away from the situation or communication for a few hours or a few days. And always do so with compassion. You’ll never regret taking the high road.
Count to five
Or ten. Or twenty. You know yourself. When confronted by drama, count to whatever number it takes to calm yourself. Maybe give it 24 hours before responding. Or a week. Take deep breaths. Breathing deeply resets the autonomic nervous system from “fight or flight” to “everything is okay, we can relax.” It’s science. And it works.
Take the next step
Turn off notifications from your ex or any drama-instigator. Set aside one time of day to check in with texts you need to read; if you are receiving texts from people who you actually don’t need to engage with (i.e. your former sister-in-law) you can block or hide her messages. You can tell her now is not a healthy time for you to engage, and block her until you are ready, if and when you ever feel ready.
For kids, drama is trauma. Shield your kids from any adult drama that is happening. Don’t make your kids take sides. They need attention, safety, and permission to love and be loved by both their parents.
Make a mental plan about how you can deal positively and effectively with drama when it arises.
3. Dealing With Fear
“The only thing to fear is fear itself.” Franklin Roosevelt famously said that. Obviously, he hadn’t gone through a divorce. Fear of the unknown is a natural response to times of change when what was familiar is suddenly unfamiliar and the future is unclear. Facing your fears is an important part of both moving through and recovering from your divorce. Fear has a sneaky way of messing with even your most carefully laid plans. Uncertainty can surprise and overwhelm you. One of the most common fears divorcing people say they experience is the fear of being alone. You worry about being rejected, being alone in times of sickness or disability, or the possibility you won’t find love again. Being alone doesn’t mean you have to feel lonely. You may need to learn how to be alone and be content with yourself. One of the greatest gifts of divorce is the opportunity for self-rediscovery. Acknowledge the normal fear you feel during this time, then ask yourself what you want next. Taking control of your journey with deliberate intention can help you see your future and alleviate your fear of it. Alone time can be a good thing. A second common fear is a fear you’ll never be happy again. Dealing with the grief of divorce, it may be hard to imagine yourself smiling today, tomorrow, or even next month. Other common fears include worries about money, children, and an opaque, generalized fear of the future, that great unknown stretched out in front of you. No matter what you fear, know this: others have faced it, too, and have come through it to find new life on the other side. There is a way forward.
Story
“One day as I was getting ready to go out and thinking about the future, I was full of fear. Suddenly I remembered that everything is pretty much a mystery except for the next 24 hours. I was determined to live one day at a time. It helped a lot.”
-Linda
Fear-taming strategies:
Consider these strategies to help you move beyond fear to a more positive mindset. Facing fear head-on can lessen its sting and power. Identify: Knowing what makes you afraid can be the first step. Underlying fears can be sneaky, keeping you from moving forward. Know and name the roots of your fears. Sometimes, a good therapist can help. Then you can begin to look for a solution to overcoming them.Baby steps: Take a small step. Repeat. You’ll find small steps lead to bigger ones. The more you face the challenges that are in your way, the more you will gain confidence and power to move on. This is basic inertia. An object in motion stays in motion.
Tune out the chatter:
Mute the negative noise that feeds your fears. We all have that little voice in our head that tells us everything can and will go wrong. Author Anne Lamott suggests imagining that critical voice coming from an actual person — maybe an angry, critical person in your family or community. Visualize that person shrunken down to the size of a mouse. Then, pick them up, put them in a glass jar, and tighten the lid. They can be negative and critical all they want but you can’t hear them.
Breathe:
A proven way to replace the lens of fear with one of positivity and hope is simply to breathe. Deep, diaphragmatic breathing can activate your body’s relaxation response and help you slough off fear-based feelings. Spending time in nature can also reduce fear and anxiety, and increase pleasant feelings. Changing your outlook can help you change your reality.
Review your accomplishments:
No matter how great or small, think of all the things you’ve achieved and conquered in your life. Write them down in a gratitude journal, and don’t minimize them. If you’ve triumphed over all these things in the past, you can surely do it again in the future.
We all need somebody to lean on:
Having warm and empathetic people nearby, at least once a day, can help you feel calmer and more in control of your fear-based feelings. Support from others who understand and care about your struggles is essential to moving beyond fear. Who are your Power People? Lean on them.
Fear is normal, so is overcoming it:
Fear is a natural human reaction to the unknown. It’s key to our evolution and survival. Fear can keep you from making a bad decision, or from doing something dangerous. Not all fear is bad. But when fear becomes overwhelming or keeps you stuck in an unsafe or unhealthy place, it’s time to take charge and make changes. There is a new future out there waiting for you to discover.
You’re not alone:
Know that you are not the only one experiencing fear and anxiety because of divorce. Others have gone through the same gauntlet in which you find yourself. The only way you can put fear behind you is to move through it. Face it head-on, experience it entirely, lean on your family and friends, and use these tools. You’ll get through it, too.
Take the next step
Today, tell a caring friend or family member about a fear that is bothering you.
Share your fears with the Avail community in the Community Exchange. You’ll see you’re not alone.
Start a guided meditation practice where you learn to be with your fear, and learn that feelings of fear are normal and okay.
4. Forgiveness
“When you forgive, you in no way change the past — but you sure do change the future.”
– BERNARD MELTZER
Whether or not the dust has settled from your divorce, its effects aren’t over. While the conclusion of your divorce may bring legal closure, in many cases your emotional journey to healing has only begun. Forgiveness plays a vital role in this healing. You may not be there yet and that’s okay, but you can begin to prepare your heart to consider forgiveness. Forgiveness is more than a gift to yourself and your emotional well-being. It’s a choice to let yourself move out of the past and forward into the future.
Story:
“In the early days of the process, I desperately wanted to forgive him because I wanted to be free of all the resentment and anger that I felt. I even met with my pastor and begged him to give me some kind of magic prayer that would grant me forgiveness. He reminded me that forgiveness is a process, and that often there are several steps that need to happen before we get to it. So the best I could do was set the intention, feel my feelings, and trust that one day I would feel like I’d forgiven him. I can’t really say when it finally happened. All I know is, one day, years later, I woke up, and I wasn’t mad anymore. Instead, I felt gratitude that we had met, loved each other for a while, and brought a beautiful human being into the world.”
-Kendra
Make forgiveness a practice:
During or after your divorce, it’s important to forgive your ex and yourself. Forgiveness means letting go of negative thoughts and feelings so that you can begin healing. Forgiving doesn’t mean forgetting. It means refusing to allow the memory to have power over you. And it’s not “one and done.” Rather than being a single action, forgiveness is a perspective and practice. Take the following steps to move towards forgiving your ex.
Release your emotions:
Before you can reach a place of forgiveness, you must allow yourself to fully feel your hurt and anger. There’s no set timeline for grief and healing, but try to keep moving forward. Avoid getting mired in negative emotions. It may be helpful to set some time limits for yourself. For example, set an alarm and allow yourself to cry for 30 minutes. Or, if you feel yourself wallowing in anger, tell yourself, I’ll entertain my anger today but tomorrow, I’ll start fresh with a more positive approach. Writing a letter to your ex can be a cathartic exercise as well. Write down all your bitter feelings and tell your spouse how they hurt you. Then release them (and don’t send the letter — the letter is for you. Or create a ritual such as burning the letter in your fireplace to release it.)
Extend empathy:
Forgiving yourself and others is a necessary part of healthy relationships. As you work through your emotions and release some of your pain and anger, extend empathy toward your ex. This doesn’t mean pretending they didn’t hurt you, but put yourself in their shoes. It may help you understand why they acted the way they did and give you more gracious feelings towards them. Most people have the same basic drives, and most of the time, people hurt others because of their own injury or blind spots or selfishness. By refusing to retaliate, you can break the cycle of hurt. Be vulnerable. Admit that you can be wounded. Gaining a better understanding of your ex’s motivations and remembering their humanity helps you release your desire for revenge.
Choose empowerment:
Being unwilling to forgive imprisons you as a victim. Break free by choosing not to hold a grudge and instead focus on learning from the past so you aren’t condemned to repeat it. Focus on what you can control, such as letting go of hurt feelings. Forgiveness is more for you than for your ex. Forgiveness is how you take charge of your life and move forward with peace.
Forgiveness doesn’t mean it didn’t happen:
Forgiveness is not about pretending the hurt never happened, condoning your ex’s behavior or actions, or giving up your claim to justice and a fair legal settlement. It is also not the same as reconciliation. The person who hurt you does not necessarily get the slate wiped clean, particularly if they have expressed no regret or have not taken steps to make amends and changed their behavior. But your choice to forgive is not dependent on the actions of your ex.
When you’re ready:
Although therapists often identify forgiveness as a critical part of divorce recovery, you may not yet be ready for it. You must be willing to forgive. If it’s too early because the pain is so deep or your ex so unrepentant, that’s okay. Work through expressing and releasing your anger and pain first. Until you can forgive genuinely, acceptance of the situation is an authentic choice while you treat your wound. Forgiveness is an ongoing process and it can take time. Don’t rush it. Remember, it’s for your healing, not for the person you’re forgiving. Forgiveness empowers you to make peace with the past so you’re free to move forward.
Take the next step
Identify where you are in the process of forgiveness (of your ex and yourself)
Write a letter to your ex or to yourself where you offer forgiveness (don’t send the letter! It’s just for you.)
When you feel you’ve moved towards forgiveness, even just a step, celebrate it. Forgiveness is a process.
5. Building Healthy Habits
“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.”
JIM RYUN
When going through a divorce, it can be easier to develop new negative patterns or fall into deeper dependence on old ones to numb the pain. Bad — or self-destructive — habits can be a coping mechanism to comfort you during troubled times. If they ultimately make you feel worse — drained, exhausted, and depressed — it’s important to choose true self-care over quick and easy bandaids.
Habits don’t just happen:
Every formed habit is a result of cognitive programming. The brain builds associations between actions and rewards, pleasure, fear, and pain. The time it takes to build a new habit varies, but, according to a 2009 study by health psychology researcher Phillippa Lally, it takes an average of 66 days to rewire the brain and form a new habit.
Story
“I drank a glass of wine at night when I started divorcing from my ex. Then it became two glasses, then three. At first, it wasn’t every night, but soon it was. I realized I had created a bad habit of depending on wine to soften my thoughts and numb myself from the difficult things I was feeling. Ultimately, it didn’t help me sleep. I fell asleep quicker, but then I would wake up around 2 or 3 am and just lie there. This never happened to me before I started drinking so much before bedtime. I realized I needed to change my habit. Fortunately for me, getting rid of all the wine from my house and deciding I would only drink a glass of wine when I was out with friends helped. It cut back my alcohol intake and made me start getting better sleep again. At the same time, I discussed my difficult time with my doctor and she prescribed me some antidepressants, which I ended up using throughout my divorce at a low dosage that really helped me. I was glad I stopped self-medicating and sought advice from my doctor.”
-Malia
Make an honest assessment:
The first step to reducing or eliminating unhealthy habits is to identify them. Excessive eating, drinking, using tobacco or cannabis, watching TV, and associating with people who ultimately bring you down are on many people’s lists. Start by making your own list. Plainly and unemotionally acknowledge exactly what your bad habits are and write them down.
Find your reason:
Before you tackle your unhealthy habits, start by asking yourself what your motivation is to change. Perhaps you want to get physically fit so you can be active with your kids. Maybe you want to cut out a vice because it’s affecting your family relationships. Having a specific, meaningful reason can help you be successful in changing your habits.
Identify your triggers:
The next step is to begin recognizing the signs that you may be on the verge of engaging in your bad habit. Sometimes we may not be aware that past behavioral patterns are subtly framing our present craving, regardless of our conscious level of desire for them. Even the most subtle behaviors usually have a key “indicator” leading up to them, whether it’s a feeling in the pit of your stomach or a certain pattern of reactive decision making. For example, perhaps mindlessly watching videos on the internet triggers an overeating binge, or interactions with a particular family member leads you to drink one glass of wine too many. Notice these things.
When you notice that you’re feeling or doing something that triggers your negative coping mechanism, take note of the time and place that it happened. Many people find journaling the signs helps them recognize a pattern. When you can see what you’re doing, it’s easier to change.
Trade a bad habit for good.
If you find yourself gripped with a desire to repeat a bad habit, try replacing the bad with the good. This is proven to work. Say you just ended a stressful phone call and your instinct tells you to grab a beer to relax. Instead, try taking a quick walk around the block. You may find that simply distancing yourself from the conversation by ten minutes was all you needed to reset your mood. For some people, a good way to cut back on drinking alcohol is having an alternative beverage handy that they enjoy — iced tea, kombucha, seltzer water, even something simple like ice water and lemon. Tempted to eat mindlessly in front of the TV? Try popcorn or freshly cut fruit. Portioning helps, too. If eating too many corn chips ultimately makes you feel bad, put them in a small bowl rather than eating them out of the bag. Try different things and go with what works for you. Interrupting your old patterns can help you create new, healthier ones.
Make a plan and get support:
When it comes to breaking bad habits, don’t rely solely on your own motivation and self-control. Set up strategies and schedules to make new habits more automatic and easier to do. Find someone to hold you accountable and remove temptations from your environment when possible. If you like, use an app to help you track your progress or remind you to practice your new habit.
Focus on progress, not perfection.
Breaking bad habits and building new ones takes time. Start slow and don’t try to change too much at once. It’s better to take small steps successfully than take large leaps and fail. Seek to make long-term, sustainable changes rather than quick fixes, and keep your expectations realistic. Don’t worry if you miss a day or two, just commit to sticking with it. The longer you practice it, the more natural the habit will become.
Take the next step
Identify a habit you want to eliminate
Make a plan to replace it with a new one
Identify your triggers
Ask someone close to you for help
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?
First, you breathe. In fact, you breathe deeply, signaling to your nervous system to calm down, telling it that everything will be alright. Because it will be. Then you take it one day — sometimes one minute — at a time.
You give yourself permission to feel every emotion you experience: rage, hurt, confusion, powerlessness, humiliation, despair, and even numbness to the world. For many people, the end of a marriage is more than the end of a relationship. It’s also the end of an identity. This loss can feel disorienting and sometimes even terrifying.
Now, some good news: No feeling lasts forever. “Time heals all wounds” is a familiar expression for good reason: because it’s true. You will move forward one step at a time. And you won’t be alone.
You’ll move into a new way of living in the world, evolving your identity as you have your entire life. You’ll discover new ways of showing up for yourself and others.
Even if divorce is far from what you wanted, you can remain in control of your life. You can continue to make healthy decisions for yourself and your family.
Go easy on yourself
In the first few months after a spouse leaves, you may feel incredibly vulnerable. It can help to imagine yourself as a small child. Give yourself the same unconditional love, kindness, support, and infinite compassion you would give to that child.
Get practical
It can help to set clear boundaries with your ex, their families, and mutual friends. They can drain your energy during this difficult time. Turn off phone notifications for these contacts and set aside a 30-minute window each day to respond to them as needed. Communicate on your terms — when you’re ready.
You may feel depleted from grief. That’s natural. Allow yourself time to rest. If you’re not up for going to family functions, work parties, or other social events, don’t go. Some people find comfort in going out dancing or casually dating. Some people don’t. Listen to yourself.
Find your power people
It’s important not to isolate yourself. Identify the people in your life who lift you up and seek them out! These are people who give you power, who give you positive energy, and who are always there for you. They will continue to be.
And just as they are kind to you, be kind to yourself. Decide what feels energizing and life-giving toyourself in this moment, and do it. It’s okay to binge-watch a mindless show on Netflix. It’s okay to sit in the bathtub and cry (we promise, you won’t stay there forever). It’s okay to go rock climbing with your friends from college. It’s okay to get on a dating app and meet a new person for coffee.
Treat yourself
Find one thing each day that makes you feel better. It may be taking a long walk with the dog, watching a movie with your kids, reading a novel, grabbing coffee with an old friend, or going dancing. Try to do one nice thing for yourself every day. And forgive yourself when you can’t. Have patience. Show yourself the same compassion you would a dear friend. It’s a new reality. Doing your best is all you can do.
Ride the roller coaster
Yesterday you felt okay. Today you can barely hold back your tears. Grief isn’t linear. Try to accept the natural unpredictability of your emotions. Welcome them like a roller coaster that you know will rise and fall. Or an afternoon thunderstorm that rolls in and then out. Notice what you’re feeling, embrace it and know that it will go just as it came.
Therapy works
When your body is injured or in pain, you see a doctor. Emotional pain should be treated no differently. Therapists help us deal with our feelings. In fact, deciding to see a therapist is often the most healthy, mature and wise choice you can make. The end of a marriage, especially if it is sudden, can feel as traumatic as a death. Don’t navigate it alone.
Reconnect with yourself
When your identity is tied to another person like a spouse, it can be difficult to remember that you are a whole, worthy person on your own. Single life can be bewildering, but it’s also a starting point for self-growth and discovery. It’s common for divorcing people to feel at once terrified and excitedly free. Fritz Perls, MD, psychiatrist, and founder of Gestalt Therapy believes “fear is just excitement without the breath.” When you reframe your misfortune as an opportunity to recreate your life exactly how you want it, you empower yourself to take control of your life. Use this time to rediscover old interests, hobbies, and friends you may have lost along the way. Spend your free time doing something thatyou love.
Reframe your divorce story
Although it’s changing, society too often equates divorce with failure. We challenge this outdated idea. Why measure the success of a marriage in longevity alone? What about the quality of the time you spent together? Think of your marriage not as a failure but as a success that had a beginning, a middle, and an end. What was successful about it? What wasn’t? How can you build on that moving forward? Frame your divorce story in a way that is both truthful and healthy for you. Don’t let your ex or others dictate it.
Rachel’s story
“When my husband told me he wanted a divorce, I was in shock. Soon after that came a deep sense of humiliation and shame. I’d been dumped. The levels of rejection would ripple across not only me personally but through my community and work. This label of “failure” was thrust upon me. I felt powerless, scared and angry. Over time, I learned to channel this energy into a way to approach this new life as an opportunity, one that I subconsciously desired but had always compromised while married. In that way, a scenario that made me feel like a victim at first became a way to empower myself and give me the strength to go after what I wanted out of life”.
– Rachel
The 90-second rule
It can come on suddenly. Heart racing, sinking sensation in your stomach, a tightening in your chest. You’re overcome by a powerful emotion. Follow the 90-second rule. First, take deep, cleansing breaths for at least 90 seconds. A million different feelings or fears may arise from financial to social to parental. This is a time to repeat a powerful mantra to yourself, such as “Every day, I’m learning how to take care of myself” or “I’m going to be OK.” Replace negative self-talk with positive. The more you practice, the easier it becomes.
Look forward
As much as you want to understand all the reasons your spouse left you, you may never feel satisfied by the answers. Digging into the past and replaying every argument will not bring your spouse back, nor will blaming yourself. One thing that can feel especially difficult when a marriage ends is the “how and why” the divorce happened at all. Whereas you and your ex might have shared a common narrative about how your relationship began and the course of your shared lives, it may feel especially disorienting to disagree on how you got to the point of divorce. Part of accepting the divorce is accepting that you will likely never agree about exactly what happened. And that’s okay. There can be more than one truth in a divorce, and more than one truth about how each of you experienced your marriage. Spend your energy building yourself up. Look forward instead of reliving the past.
Take the next step
Take 5 minutes and write down something you loved doing before your marriage that you stopped doing. What did you love about it? Why did you stop doing it? Do you want to do it now? How could you start?
Pick a new boundary or goal you want to set for yourself and practice it this week (example: I’ll turn off text notifications from my sister-in-law this week).
Create a mantra (borrow one you love or write your own) and post it on your bathroom mirror.
Do you have any favorite books, podcasts, or resources related to this topic that you would recommend to our readers?
I would recommend the Avail Divorce YouTube channel. There, you can watch or listen to many meaningful, topical conversations for divorced or divorcing people. I’ve been enjoying Yung Pueblos new book Clarity & Connection. I’ve been listening to “How I Built This” with Guy Rozz for many years. Other notable authors are Brene Brown, Mel Robbins, Cheryl Strayed and Ester Perelle.
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.
I would get all the world leaders to collaborate to mitigate and plan for climate change.
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
Richard Branson. He’s a brilliant entrepreneur who has never tired of trying to use his life to make the world a more interesting and better place. He’s infinitely curious and uses his dyslexia as a strength.
Thank you for these great insights and for the time you spent with this interview. We wish you only continued success!
The Future Is Now: Virgin Hyperloop CEO Josh Giegel On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up Zero Emission Transportation
…I’d like to flip that question by saying that there would be serious drawbacks without hyperloop technology, environmental collapse being perhaps the most critical. I know Black Mirror paints a dystopian picture of technology, but I would offer that the world is headed straight for a calamitous future if we can’t use technology to reverse pollution and carbon emissions. Hyperloop technology is a direct means of addressing the biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions — the transportation sector. And I’d like to add that hyperloop transports goods as well as people. Imagine what the environment would be like without so many cargo vehicles.
As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs. I had the pleasure of interviewing Josh Giegel.
Josh is the CEO and Co-Founder of Virgin Hyperloop, where he is leading a world-class team of engineers making the hyperloop a reality. Giegel founded the company in 2014, when hyperloop was an idea drawn on a whiteboard in a garage. Previously, at SpaceX, Josh developed the world’s first reusable rockets and led the successful testing of six different rocket engines. Josh received an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University where he was a Graduate Engineering Fellow. He holds a BSME from Penn State University where he graduated with honors and was first in his class.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I grew up in a family of engineers, so as a kid we would take these dorky vacations to the Space Museum. I was in awe of the rockets and the team that put the first man on the moon, and I dreamed that someday I could create my own rockets. Also, my dad was great at fixing things, and I’d watch him tinker with cars in the garage. From him, I learned a lot about problem-solving and perseverance. I guess it’s natural that I would end up an engineer myself.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
One of my favorite things to do to unwind is cycling. In the early days of Virgin Hyperloop, I was on a bike ride in the Santa Monica mountains here in Southern California. At one point I decided to take a break, and there on the road were a Model T and a Tesla Model S. In that moment, I came to the realization that two cars, almost a century apart in design and concept, could ride on the same road. The road wasn’t doing anything — it’s just a passive thoroughfare. In a similar way, the hyperloop pod — the vehicle that passengers ride in — can ride in the same tube for several decades, despite upgrades in the technology of the actual pod, its battery, etc. That’s when the concept of ‘smart car, dumb road’ was born, and it’s one of the threads in hyperloop’s ability to remain a viable mass mobility mode for 20, 50, 100 years. In this case, it’s ‘smart pod, dumb tube.’
Can you tell us about the cutting edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?
If we’ve learned anything from the pandemic, it’s that people enjoy being together. And the mission of hyperloop is to forever change the concept of distance and time through sustainable, high-speed travel. With our proprietary magnetic levitation and propulsion systems and our innovative vehicle architecture, we’ve found a way to make high-speed travel so smooth that you can move at speeds approaching 700 mph without spilling a drop of coffee. Hyperloop takes the best of all modes of travel, with none off the pain points. It’s fast like a plane, on-demand like a metro, and convenient like a car. So let’s say you have a friend or relative that lives someplace that’s too far to drive by car, and visiting them involves a plane or rail trip. With hyperloop, you could get from New York City to Washington, DC in the same amount of time it would take you to get from the East Side to Midtown Manhattan. People could live in more affordable, less crowded communities and work in a metropolitan center without distance being a barrier.
How do you think this might change the world?
The most important thing for me, and I’m sure for many of your audience, is ensuring that we leave the planet and environment a better place for the generations to come. Hyperloop has zero direct emissions, and it can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by billions of tons. Take for example a hypothetical route between Chicago, Columbus Ohio and my hometown of Pittsburgh. Hyperloop would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2.4 million tons. That’s enough to fill almost 1,500 hot air balloons. It’s about sustainability without sacrifice. The job of the engineer is to improve the lives of all through technology without destroying the planet around us.
Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
I’d like to flip that question by saying that there would be serious drawbacks without hyperloop technology, environmental collapse being perhaps the most critical. I know Black Mirror paints a dystopian picture of technology, but I would offer that the world is headed straight for a calamitous future if we can’t use technology to reverse pollution and carbon emissions. Hyperloop technology is a direct means of addressing the biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions — the transportation sector. And I’d like to add that hyperloop transports goods as well as people. Imagine what the environment would be like without so many cargo vehicles.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?
I started my career at SpaceX, and I had the opportunity to work with and learn from Elon Musk. When he open-sourced hyperloop technology in his 2013 whitepaper, I was intrigued. As I read the paper and began to realize the potential it had to address a critical gap in mass mobility — we haven’t had a new mode of mass transit in over 100 years — I was determined to find a mathematical way to make it work. Before too long it became an obsession, so much so that I quit my job at Virgin Galactic to devote my time to making hyperloop a reality. Now, seven years later, we are the first company in the world to put passengers on a hyperloop system, and we’re fast on our way to commercializing hyperloop by the end of the decade.
What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?
As humans, we tend to resist the unfamiliar. Sometimes things that we’ve never done before, something that the world has never seen, can seem suspicious or even scary. I can’t imagine what people thought when they saw the first commercial passenger plane. I think world leaders are well aware of the challenges and damage created by current modes of mass mobility. The European Union set an example when it identified hyperloop as a viable mode of mass transit in addressing the race to net zero emissions by 2050. Here in the U.S., our new administration put forth an ambitious infrastructure plan. Widespread adoption can only happen when our governments provide a regulatory framework that facilitates the development and deployment of new technologies. I’m confident that we’re on the right path.
What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?
We’re fortunate to have had such a great response from news media around the world from the start. There was great interest and coverage last November when we successfully put passengers on a hyperloop system at our Nevada test site. That vehicle my colleague Sara and I rode in will be on display at the Smithsonian Museum this fall, in the very same space that gave the world its first glimpse of Edison’s lightbulb, the first telephones and the Apollo rockets.
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?
One of the most formative experiences I’ve had was during my time leading the Research & Development group at Echogen Power Systems. The CEO of the company watched me give a presentation about our technology to a group of potential customers. At the end of the day he pulled me aside and said, “Josh, I need you to be better.” He noted that while I knew the technology, I wasn’t communicating it effectively to the customer. He wanted me to be able to explain what it was the company did to anyone on the planet, engineer or not, in 5 minutes, or 5 hours. He concluded with, “unless you can do that, you’re no good to us.” He knew the last part would stoke the competitive fire and that I’d see it as a challenge. So I began trying to explain complex pieces of technology to anyone, engineer or otherwise, in a way that they could understand. It was tough at first, but I slowly found my stride. That was such a profound lesson that it continues to help me today. How do you explain something no one has ever seen? That’s what I’ve been doing every day for the past 7 years — taking the vision in my head and communicating it to the world.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I am a huge proponent of STEM education, especially for women and girls. My mother, sister and wife are all engineers, and I’d like to see more equity and inclusion in this space. Virgin Hyperloop has a program called BLAST Scholars, in which we award an internship to Black engineering students. We’ve had some amazing students come through the program, some of which became employees after their internships ended.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
You’re going to experience a global pandemic — it would have been nice to know that the most critical moment in our company’s history — the first passenger test — would come to a halt because of a virus. It was a great lesson in contingency planning and in making the best of the worst possible circumstances.
Pay close attention to the things you observe in your non-work life — I was on vacation in southeast Asia and I saw two kids using a flashlight and a cellphone to watch a YouTube video on how to fix their scooter. This left a profound impact about the life-changing power of technology. It was both exciting and humbling. The image of those kids grounds me when things don’t go as planned.
Trust your instinct, no matter what — I’ve gotten much better at this. Listen to that little voice inside, even if in the moment it’s making no sense at all.
Disruption is not a bad thing — I’ve learned that the unconventional route is where the magic happens. It takes a lot of creativity and courage to try something no one has done before — I say go for it!
Persistence is your best friend — I’ve heard a lot of no’s and a lot of ‘it can’t be done’s’ since I started my company. I’ve learned that being persistent is not the same as being obnoxious — for each door that’s closed in your face, persistence is what fuels you to find another door. It’ll be harder than you think to start a company. You have to ask yourself if you have the courage to see it through, despite all the obstacles.
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. ?
Time is our most precious resource. We can’t change what we’ve done in the past and how we arrived at this place with regard to climate change. All we can do is change what we do going forward. There is awesome responsibility in that. The decisions we make and the technology we develop today will affect people who aren’t even alive yet. I ride on trains that were created before I was born. What are we going to create today that lives on for future generations? It’s about the power of the engineer to create the future we want. Let’s Terraform Earth!
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
When I was younger I had a poster of Muhammad Ali with his famous quote: “Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it.” Defying the impossible is what I do every day, and it’s what fuels my teams to do what they do best in order to make hyperloop a reality. Physics tells us the it takes energy to move and change things, the energy required to move is proportional to the size of the change you want. The world won’t change unless we change it, impossible will stay impossible and dreams will stay out of reach. The human brain and heart are limitless sources of energy to create change for good — if we each choose to follow our hearts and minds and believe in ourselves, we can create a better world.
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 world has moved forward as we’ve moved faster. Virgin Hyperloop is a new, sustainable mass mobility system that will upend the concept of distance and time. If you think it’s just a faster train, I am about to disappoint you — hyperloop is so much more than that. It combines the best of all modes of travel and none of the worst. We are the first company in the world to put passengers on a hyperloop system. We accomplished that in just 6 years. Imagine what we will do in the next 6 years. Some of the world’s most renowned businesspeople and investors are all in. I encourage you to join us as we launch the decade of hyperloop.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
They can connect with me on LinkedIn and follow me on Twitter: @JoshGiegel
Christina Lawrence of Barnum Financial Group: 5 Things To Look For When Hiring a Financial Planner or Financial Adviser
Everyone should have access to a financial advisor. A good advisor is there to help you navigate your finances for life and help you plan for milestone events like buying a car, your first house, starting a family or business. It is a roadmap for life and not a transactional event.
As part of our series about what one should look for when hiring a financial planner or adviser, I had the pleasure of interviewing, I had the pleasure to interview Christina Lawrence, Wealth Management Advisor at Barnum Financial Group.
Christina started her career in 2000 and has partnered with leading advisors, including her mother, Joan Constantikes, who was a financial advisor for over 30 years. Together, they built a multigenerational practice that provided sound financial guidance for hundreds of clients and their families.
When possible, Christina encourages all family members to participate in important decisions, including defining a purpose and mission for their family wealth, philanthropic grant-making, and coordinating each member’s role in the management of the family’s assets. Empowering her clients to grow their wealth and business interests, Christina and her resources at Barnum Financial Group offer financial planning that focuses on income, estate planning, and gifting strategies that both protect and provide for generations to come.
Christina offers financial literacy programs focusing on financial empowerment for women as well as “Next Gen” and beginner investors. Her popular “Roadmap to Financial Wellness” series educates her clients and their families on how to build a solid financial foundation. A strong advocate of ESG investment concepts (environmental, social, and governance), her process benefits from an open architecture platform that is company-agnostic and promotes sustainable giving across generations.
A graduate of The American University in Washington, D.C., with a B.A. in Spanish Studies and Psychology, she also earned her MBA at Thunderbird School of Global Management. After graduation, Christina lived in Madrid, Spain, where she co-owned and operated a translation and publishing company catering to Fortune 500 clients. She also spent several years in Silicon Valley at tech start-ups, learning important entrepreneurial values.
Christina is on the Planning Committee of “A Leg To Stand On” (ALTSO), a non-profit organization providing free orthopedic care to over 18,500 children with limb disabilities in the developing world. In October 2020, she celebrated her 15th year as a volunteer photographer for ALTSO’s annual event, “Hedge Fund Rocktoberfest.” She also serves on the Advisory Board of the Institute of Family Governance.
Christina and her husband, Piers Lawrence, a professional jazz guitarist, live in the East Village in New York City with their Burmese cat, Koko May.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! 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?
Always an entrepreneur at heart, I was offered a position at a dynamic tech start-up in Silicon Valley in the late 90s and jumped at the chance to move across the country. However, funding soon dried up and times got very tough and I experienced the first major “dot bomb” in 1999 when I was downsized from 3 start-ups in 2–½ years. My mom, who had been an advisor at that point for a dozen years on the East Coast suggested I pursue becoming my “Own Boss” and focus on working with people that I care about to help them with their financial planning. I was lucky to have been surrounded by strong mentors and partners who taught me how to be resilient so I could pivot into a new career where I could stay connected to the start-up community in a meaningful way.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
This is a very interesting time. The pandemic, besides being a health crisis, has also turned out to be a financial crisis, with market volatility and Americans losing their jobs. This has driven many of us to review and redesign our financial roadmap. Even before the crisis, I have been working with my clients on helping them create financial plans, but it has become even more of a priority since March 2020. As part of multigenerational planning, my colleague and I launched a “Roadmap To Financial Wellness” Series for teenagers and junior investors to help them develop a financial framework and good financial habits early in their life.
Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything differently? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from?
A catalyst for me was when my mother passed away in 2017 since she was my business partner for 18 years. It prompted me to reflect on my practice and clients. I decided to switch firms as I wanted to provide my clients with a more holistic approach to financial planning beyond solely accumulating assets. I’m a firm believer that as much as my clients need to save, they also need to be defensive in order to protect their assets and achieve their goals.
What three pieces of advice would you give to your colleagues in the finance field to thrive and avoid burnout? Can you give a story or example?
Don’t ignore your hobbies. 2) Volunteer for a cause that you are passionate about. 3) Always be mindful to establish personal and professional time and “own it” especially in this current environment. Personally, I have been volunteering as an event photographer for 15 years for a non-profit called A Leg To Stand On that provides prosthesis for children in developing countries. They celebrate with a big rock concert called “Rocktoberfest” every October in New York City and raise money and awareness for this one-of-a-kind mission. Rocktoberfest enables me to apply my personal passion of photography for a meaningful cause.
Ok. Thank you for all of that. Let’s now move to the core focus of our interview. As an “finance insider”, you know much more about the finance industry than most consumers. If your loved one wanted to hire a financial advisor (not you :-)), what are your top 5 tips to find out about before committing?
1. Make sure they respect your intentions and know that they act as your Fiduciary.
2. “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” ~ Theodore Roosevelt
3. Find someone who doesn’t see you as a number or dollar amount; yet is an essential advisor with whom you can work for many years.
4. Interview for the right fit. Not all advisors are alike. Research and consider several potential advisors to see who you have the best working relationship with.
5. Know the “why” — Why did they become a financial advisor? Find someone passionate and purposeful who wants to help you and your family long-term.
I think most people think that financial advisors are for very wealthy people. This is likely not actually true. Can you explain who would most benefit from hiring a financial advisor and why? Can you give an example?
Everyone should have access to a financial advisor. A good advisor is there to help you navigate your finances for life and help you plan for milestone events like buying a car, your first house, starting a family or business. It is a roadmap for life and not a transactional event.
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’m grateful to my family. My father was a trust and estates attorney and my mother was a financial advisor for 31 years. My maternal grandparents wrote books for women and finances in the 1970’s. Helping others navigate their lives is in my DNA.
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.
Equality and opportunity for financial independence is important to all of us. Our team feels that no matter when you start, and no matter what you start with; with proper planning, setting goals and ongoing follow through, you can achieve your lifetime financial goals. Everyone should have access to financial education and Financial Planning 101.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
You can find me on LinkedIN and my website.
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
Culture should be woven into the fabric of every business. Creating a culture that allows an organization to reach its peak potential — while also providing an environment where associates feel free to bring their best selves to work doesn’t happen by chance. It’s an evolving landscape, and the work is never done. If a company’s organizational structure, systems and processes make up its hardware, its culture and behaviors are the software. Both elements have to work together as a single system for the company to achieve its purpose.
As a part of our series about “How Diversity Can Increase a Company’s Bottom Line”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Vanessa Okwuraiwe.
Edward Jones Principal Vanessa Okwuraiwe is part of the strategic leadership team that helps the firm achieve its goal of being a place of belonging for all and to fulfill its purpose of making a meaningful impact in the lives of clients, associates and communities. She is responsible for helping the firm increase its representation of different groups and foster engagement and inclusion. Vanessa earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Edo State University in Nigeria, a master’s degree in development economics from the University of Kent,Canterbury and an executive MBA from Washington University in St. Louis, Olin Business School. An advocate for economic and educational development, she is active on the board of the St. Louis Community College Foundation and actively engaged in the Arts and Education Council of St. Louis.
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’m currently part of the Edward Jones strategic leadership team helping the firm increase its representation of different groups, fostering inclusion. Looking back, there are a number of reasons and experiences that got me to where I am today. I began my professional career in banking at the Halilfax in Reading, England in 1996. In 2001, I joined Edward Jones’ former United Kingdom affiliate, Edward Jones Limited, as an academic training leader and later took on the responsibility of leading academic training leaders within the Training department. In 2007, I transitioned to join Financial Advisor Recruiting and Hiring, overseeing the growth and retention of financial advisors in the United Kingdom. I was named an Edward Jones principal in 2008.
In February 2010, I relocated to the firm’s St. Louis headquarters to assume responsibility for the hiring and training support of the new branch office administrators. They are part of our branch teams and partner with our financial advisors to serve our 7 million clients. Five years later, I moved to lead Financial Advisor Career Development. That brings us to today where I’m part of the strategic leadership team that helps the firm achieve its goal of being a place of belonging for all and to fulfil the firm’s guiding purpose of making a meaningful impact in the lives of clients, associates and communities.
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 remember talking to one of my leaders early in my career about difficult performance conversations I needed to have with some members of the team. I was still a new leader and while these were crucial to do, I was concerned about how best to have them. The leader said to me “ Vanessa, when you have a tough conversation, always leave people with their dignity intact”. I absorbed this lesson because it aligned so well with my purpose. We know how valuable feedback is when done the right way. It helps people develop into their best selves which is not just good for them as individuals, it’s good for business. His wise counsel all those years ago has guided me in how I have led and enabled others to grow — being thoughtful, candid and respectful. This is also important for creating a place of belonging where people can engage authentically knowing that they will have the support and resources they need to effectively contribute to an organization.
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 have quite a few! One of my favorites was made famous by Nelson Mandela. “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.” “The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers fear.”
I have found these to be helpful when I embark upon something brand new — whether that was bringing my first child home from the hospital, taking on a new challenge at work, presenting to hundreds of people for the first time. It has always been important to “feel the fear or discomfort” that comes with trying because that’s how I’ll develop new skills and be a continuous learner.
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’ll always be grateful for my parents because they laid the right foundation for me. I have benefited from a village both personally and professionally. At Edward Jones, our culture has played such a great role in how we develop leaders and associates. I have had many opportunities to “sharpen the saw” and develop the right mindset to help others and ensure we always put our clients’ best interest first.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Edward Jones is a purpose-driven organization. Our purpose is to partner for positive impact — to improve the lives of our clients and colleagues, and together, better our communities and society. Our culture is an amalgamation of our purpose and values brought to life through our thoughts and our actions. Having that clear sense of purpose and a set of guiding principles allows for quick decision making — particularly in times of crisis like we’ve just been through with the pandemic — and helps us to clearly understand what is most important to us — taking care of our clients, working in partnership and valuing the contributions of every individual.
Edward Jones is a place of belonging for all, where our associates come together to live out our purpose and help clients achieve what matters most to them. Our firm has seen tremendous growth over time as we continue to commit to diversity, equity and inclusion. Our clients, colleagues and communities will all be better off because of what we do, together, right now and in the years ahead.
In June of last year, we announced our Five-Point Commitment to support diversity, equity and inclusion. We committed to real change and progress in diverse recruitment, hiring and advancement and to make a “meaningful increase” in the diversity of our home office leaders and financial advisors. Currently, our financial advisors are 8 percent people of color and 21 percent women. Our home office general partners are 10 percent people of color and 29 percent women. We’ve now defined what and by when we strive to achieve a meaningful increase in diversity among our financial advisors, home office general partners and home office leadership. Our commitment as a firm is that by the end of 2025:
We’ll achieve 20 percent people of color and maintain gender parity among our home office leaders of leaders and leaders of associates.
Home office General Partners will be 15 percent people of color and 40 percent women.
Financial advisors will be 15 percent people of color and 30 percent women.
Are you working on any new or exciting projects now? How do you think that might help people?
This is the one-year anniversary of our Five-point Commitment to address racism and positively impact opportunities for people of color. We are holding ourselves accountable for meaningful progress and are committed to creating a path to greater diversity and equity as well as economic opportunity for people of color in our communities.
As one of the first signatories of the CEO Action for Diversity pledge in 2017, we committed to engage associates in honest dialogue as a tool for creating change. Since June 2020, more than 11,500 of our associates have participated in these Courageous Conversations on topics like race, to build understanding and create empathy among our colleagues. When we issued our Five-point Commitment last year, we committed to taking these conversations into our communities and have done so in St. Louis and Kansas City, with two more in Raleigh-Durham and again in St. Louis this year.
We are currently conducting an analysis of pay in our home offices — equal pay for equal work — and will share results and take any necessary actions when data is available.
We’re continuing racial-equity training and anti-racism personnel policies. We enhanced our learning program, which is called Inclusion and Diversity 365 to provide training and development opportunities for all. And we’ve strengthened our array of racial-equity unconscious bias and allyship courses.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
There are a couple of recent initiatives that I’m particularly proud of. When we made our Five-point Commitment, we committed $1.2 million to continue fostering our 40-year partnership with the National Urban League and the St. Louis Urban League. This investment in the Save Our Sons program helped 300 African-American men find jobs and careers lost during the pandemic.
I’m also excited about expanding our Financial Fitness program, which provides financial literacy education and greater economic inclusion for 20,000 high school students in 575 schools — more than 50 percent in high-need schools.
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.)
In order to innovate and grow with impact, you need to bring diverse perspectives to the table. Along with this, increasing diversity brings unique experiences and creative ideas to a firm, ultimately, lending to its bottom line.
Creating a place of belonging for all, provides all employees the ability to bring their full selves to work each and every day.
For us at Edward Jones, purpose has always been a central component of what we do. When purpose authentically aligns with a company’s actions, the outcomes can be tremendous: clients engage; colleagues are inspired; and companies can make a deep impact in people’s lives.
Diverse leadership directly influences the composition of the rest of the firm and also mirrors it. This further contributes towards the happiness and retention of employees, increasing productivity and proactivity.
Transparently communicating your company’s diverse makeup along with its values and standing on topics such as equity and inclusion elevates the firm as a whole.
What advice would you give to other business leaders to help their employees to thrive?
Culture should be woven into the fabric of every business. Creating a culture that allows an organization to reach its peak potential — while also providing an environment where associates feel free to bring their best selves to work doesn’t happen by chance. It’s an evolving landscape, and the work is never done. If a company’s organizational structure, systems and processes make up its hardware, its culture and behaviors are the software. Both elements have to work together as a single system for the company to achieve its purpose.
Companies succeed when they have a people-focused strategy because it fosters a sense of belonging among employees. This involves more than a policy statement; it necessitates candid dialogues and true concern for employees’ needs.
Diverse mindsets are also essential for any organization that wishes to develop and succeed. If you want your firm to expand, you need to be innovative. Different points of view challenge the status quo, resulting in a greater forward-looking approach. Those points of view are usually packed into a variety of genders, races, interests, experiences, backgrounds, and other factors.
What advice would you give to other business leaders about how to manage a large team?
To successfully manage any large team, employees should feel included and informed. This boils down to having an open, inclusive culture. Firm culture manifests itself in the way we show up, think and act. In many ways, it’s like a tree. Our history, core values, and purpose are the roots of that tree; these elements are constant and position us for strength. Above ground is the way we work, think and act — and these things will evolve over time as we bring our purpose and value to life in service of our clients, colleagues and communities.
The purpose of an organization must be clear and clearly conveyed to all employees. Leaders must also be deliberate about inclusion and belonging in order to create an engaged and productive workforce that feels accountable and enthusiastic about the organization’s future, and motivated to achieve objectives. As a leader, be visible, demonstrate those ideals, make yourself available and celebrate small and big successes.
One example of how Edward Jones managed a large team of associates is at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. When the world changed, seemingly all at once, the leadership team had to make a series of big decisions with wide-ranging ramifications, and quickly. The firm also had to wade through information (and disinformation) that was evolving by the minute. We had to lead without a playbook, and without the luxury of time. Keeping our clients, associates and key stakeholders at the center of every decision helped us navigate this unforeseen situation.
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
David Oyelowo: A Nigerian British actor who has starred in many films such as Selma, A United Kingdom, Queen of Katwe. I admire his intentionality in the roles he has chosen to portray — powerful and purposeful characters. He started a company to have a voice and create an avenue for other voices to be heard. I would love to chat about his background as I think we have some similarities, the challenges he has overcome and why he is so intent on making a positive difference in our world.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Rising Through Resilience: Delasber Griffin Sanders of No Greater Love On The Five Things You Can Do To Become More Resilient
Protect Your Being: Take care of what you are allowing yourself to hear, read and watch. The mind is a terrible thing to waste and ultimately the major power in this struggle of resilience. Watch what goes into your mind. Keep your mind clear. I had to learn to meditate to clear my mind when trials come up against my daughter and she becomes ill.
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 Delasber Griffin Sanders.
Seeing a need for support for moms dealing with their insecurities about having a special needs child, Delasber dedicated her life to helping those moms make a difference. She founded No Greater Love, Inc dba Amoree’s Journey to support families touched by autism by becoming their Sunflower and their light teaching them the art of resilience. A wife, a mom, a teacher and special needs advocate, Delasber Griffin Sanders, who can be contacted at https://ngl-family.com, spends her days working to ensure that no mom is left behind.
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?
Hailing from the small city of Winnsboro, Louisiana, the adopted daughter of a minister/teacher and wife, I grew up being surrounded by education. So, it was no surprise when I became a teacher for fifteen years and church musician for thirty-one years. I thought my life was perfect UNTIL… It was turned upside down with the birth of my daughter and I became a stay-at-home wife and mother to who is now an amazing nine-year-old child diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, epilepsy and myasthenia gravis.
I am a #1 best selling author of No Greater Love: Parenting Through Multiple Diagnoses and No Greater Love: 21 Days of Resiliency. A Journey of Hope: A Medical Planner for Special Needs Families will be released in July 2021. I pray that this will be a blessing to families struggling to keep all the information needed for their child’s medical safety at their fingertips.
My life is centered around my daughter, and I founded a 501(c)3 nonprofit No Greater Love, Inc dba Amoree’s Journey which supports families touched by autism and other medical diagnoses in making soul connections through resilience training and soul connection art parties.
Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career?
I taught for fifteen years in what would be considered low-income areas with ‘at risk’ students. Even though I lived in a little country town and I was surrounded by hunting, fishing and mudhoggin’, , I was far from a country girl.
If you knew me, you would know that I have absolutely no interest in eating Bambi or his parents and I am not about to go and ride in the mud for the fun of it. Well, I taught children who did this type of thing every weekend for play.
I will never forget this day. I walked into my classroom one morning and there was a package on my desk. I opened the card, and it was from a student. Such a sweet card written very eloquently saying how much they appreciated me, and they had killed their first deer and wanted to share with me. I should have known better than to open the package at that point. Well, I did not, and I opened it. It was something fleshy. LOL
When the child came into my room, he asked me if I had received the package and I said yes and thank you so much but…. What it is…? He said PROUDLY… it is a deer heart, Miss Griffin. I gave you my first deer heart.
I must have had this look of terror on my face because another student spoke up and started to tell me that meant good luck and basically peace be upon you. I hugged the little boy and took the deer heart home to my father, and he placed it into the freezer.
I had forgotten about that deer heart until my father passed and we cleaned out the freezer and I found it. He had kept it for me for three years. My father knew the significance of what this little had done.
Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?
I learned many lessons from that experience. One may never know what another person is thinking about you and even if they are thinking of you. Treat everyone with respect, love, and joy. Never shun anyone because they do not have your personal values. I did not understand the heart of the deer but, I understood the heart of my student. The heart is the most important organ of any being. Take care of the heart and the rest will follow. That is my biggest take away from that day. From that moment on, I made sure to take care of the hearts of my students, my family, my friends, and most of all, myself.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
What do I think makes my company stand out? I believe it to be our personality and reachability. There are many companies that work with autism and the effects of autism on families. However, there are not many who use their reach to literally touch the families. We get to the know the families. We work one on one with the families to help promote connections within the family. When a family reaches out to No Greater Love, Inc Amoree’s Journey, that family gets Delasber or another board member. There is not a lot of paperwork to go through to get to talk to us. Our phone line goes straight to my cell phone and if I am not available at the time, it is forwarded to a board members’ phone.
Not long ago, during the pandemic, my phone rang, and it was a call for No Greater Love. The person on the other end of the phone literally broke down when I said, “No Greater Love, Amoree’s Journey, how may I help you?” This was a grandmother of a child on the spectrum, and she had just been evicted from her home. This grandmother was ill and having a hard time working to pay the rent. I took down all her information and asked her to give me five minutes to contact my board. It took me three minutes. My board approved getting her a week in a hotel so that she could find a place to live for she and her grandson. I called her back and I was able to get on the phone with the hotel and book the room and pay for it so that they could have a place to stay for a week. That was all the time that the grandmother told me she needed to get herself back on her feet. After that week, the grandmother had a new home and was settled. This is one thing that I believe makes us stand out. The ability to work immediately for families. Now, we cannot do this for everyone but, this time we were blessed to have been given the donations to make that happen for that family.
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?
This answer might seem a little strange but, if I were to thank a person who helped me to get where I am today, I would have to thank my biological mother. She gave birth to me but, she realized she could not take me where I was destined to go, and she left me. Now, it has taken me a while to be able to forgive her for how she did it. But I am incredibly grateful that she did. If she had not made the decision to walk away from my life, I would not have been adopted by (in my eyes) the greatest parents to ever walk the face the earth. My life took a forward trajectory when my biological mother walked away from me. I do not have many stories about her because I only met her three times. But, in my later years, I have learned to give honor to whom honor is due and she deserves this honor. This woman birthed me, but it was not until she walked away from me that she gave me life. And for that, I shall be eternally grateful.
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?
I define resilience as the power to rebound from adversity and or trauma with passion and fire to fight another day.
What do you believe are the characteristics or traits of resilient people?
Resilient people see reality as it is but, they give their reality a sense of purpose. Resilience shows up differently in different people, but all resilient people can bend and be flexible with the reality of their lives.
When you think of resilience, which person comes to mind?
When I think of resilience, my daughter, and other people like her come to mind. People who fight trial after trial after trial and never stop fighting.
Can you explain why you chose that person?
My daughter has many medical diagnoses, and she has been on life support (ventilator) eight times in the nine years she has been alive. But, this little girl, keeps coming back strong. Older people have a saying that I will use here. “I am so glad I don’t look like what I’ve been through”. That is my daughter. She is the one who taught me what true resilience is. I watched her with a friend named Maddie. Maddie’s issues can be seen to be a little worse than Amoree’s but, they both are the life and light of parties. It is that true grit that makes me get up in the morning because I feel if they can do it with all that they deal with… then who am I to complain about my little stresses in life.
Has there ever been a time that someone told you something was impossible, but you did it anyway?
I have had people tell me that things cannot be done or that I should not be doing them. Yes, that has happened to me. I laugh in the face of doubters. LOL
Can you share the story with us?
This question kind of made me chuckle to myself.
I think my greatest story about this would have to be when I first decided I wanted to be a teacher. It was my first year and I was working on my certification because I did not get my undergraduate degree in education. Thus, I was a transported teacher from the field of social sciences.
Well, this supervisor came to observe my class. This was a major event for a new teacher because it is stressful. I felt that I did an amazing job teaching these students and they were catching on to the concepts rather quickly. I was proud of myself and my students.
After the class was over, the supervisor stopped to talk to me. She informed me that I needed to find another profession. I was not educator material and I had not done a good job in her eyes. In fact, she was not even passing me on my observation. I was going to have to go through this again. I was so hurt even to the point of angry.
Let us just say that I took what she said, and I ran with it. Before I left the school system, I had been elevated to one of the top eight teachers in my state and was honored by the state department of education as such. That woman had to eat crow because the same way I taught when she observed me is the way I became Teacher of the Year for the largest region in my state.
It was not good to mess with Teacher Delasber.
I did what she said I should never and could never do…
I became a teacher!
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 believe that my greatest setback was the story that I just mentioned.
However, I did have a major setback in my self-esteem when I received the diagnosis of autism for my daughter. You know one does not want to admit that probably the first thing that runs through your mind when you find that you do not have a perfect child is why me? What did I do to deserve this? I am highly intelligent, and her father is smarter than I am. How did we get this child with issue?
Now, that is not to say that I feel I am better than anyone but, those thoughts ran through my mind. Autism and or developmental delays did not run in my family (or so I thought). So, I never imagined that my daughter would have any issues like this.
Autism rocked my world, and I did not know what to do with it. I had to learn. I had to pull myself up and realize that she was here and that I had to fight for her. I started fighting and I fought everyone. I fought the teachers. I fought the doctors. I fought everyone who was not willing to fight with me.
I am a much stronger woman because of my daughter’s diagnosis. It made me learn the true meaning of fight! I am a warrior mom now because I have a warrior princess for a daughter, and she is not ready to give up the fight. She taught me that fighting was a lifestyle when done correctly.
Now, I fight for other moms and children who do not have voices to speak for themselves or they do not yet know how to use the voice they have.
I am stronger now than I have ever been because of my daughter’s fight.
Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resiliency? Can you share a story?
I was abandoned at 1.5 years old by my biological mother. I grew up believing that I would be left by everyone who was supposed to love me. Thus, I never really trusted anyone. I learned to lean and depend upon myself instead of other people because other people may let me down.
I had no idea how it affected my life story until a few weeks ago when everything was brought into the open for me and I had to face my true demons.
Being left by your biological parents takes a toll on some that never gets repaired. I know that I had to be resilient to continue to live where I felt I was not loved truly. How can anyone love someone whose own Mother did not want them?
I was blessed to be cared for by my grandmother and then later adopted by my aunt and uncle but, I never really healed from the trauma of being left by the one person who was supposed to love me forever. That built my ability to overcome and stand amid adversity. She made me who I am by that one huge step.
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.
In order to truly be resilient, we must unlock the power within ourselves. I see the steps as keys that I use to open doors for myself every day.
Do you remember there was a game show that would ask the players if they wanted door number one or door number two? That is kind of my game plan for life resilience.
I have 5 keys which are used to unlock different doors I need to enter to regain my power.
Key 1: Protect Your Being: Take care of what you are allowing yourself to hear, read and watch. The mind is a terrible thing to waste and ultimately the major power in this struggle of resilience. Watch what goes into your mind. Keep your mind clear. I had to learn to meditate to clear my mind when trials come up against my daughter and she becomes ill.
Key 2: Own Your Ish: Know that there are parts of you that are not good and there are parts that are. Work on the not so good parts and know that many times in this life we blame things on other people and other environments and other circumstances that need to be rerouted to our internal issues. Own your fears and your insecurities. But also own your magic, your light and your love to make a change in the world.
Key 3: Work Your Goals: Make a goal for your life. After you decide upon the goal, plan three and four different ways to achieve your goal. Remember, your plan may have to change but, your goal does not. Make many plans. Change the plan and keep your goal. You can do it.
Key 4: Elevate Your Thoughts: This is huge. You cannot stand down in the dumps if you are going to build resilience. When stresses come upon you. Stop and think of good and happy things to bring your light into your heart and head. If you elevate your thoughts, your resilience meter will rise.
Key 5: Regain Your Dreams: Remember that you have dreams that you need to accomplish. There will be doubters. There will be turmoil. There will be distractions. BUT you must not give up on your dreams. Regain them!
If you use the 5 keys to unlocking your power of resilience interchangeably, you will reach heights you never imagined possible.
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.
There is a song that says what the world needs now is love sweet love. I believe that what the world needs now is hope.
If I could get just one person a day to have hope in a future that is bright for ALL that would be my goal. I try my best every day of my life to let one person know that whatever it is that they are going through is simply a bridge to something else.
I try to spread hope because without hope we are all lost. I would love for everyone to tell at least one person a day a hope that they see for that person. Find someone who needs a little hope. Give it to them. Tell them that you see a bright future ahead. If you dig deep enough, you can see that for everyone.
We do not all burn with the same brightness. But we all have a light.
Share your light!
Share your love!
Share your hope!
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 would LOVE to meet but, if I had to choose one, I believe I would want to meet Holly Robinson Peete. She is an icon who has done so much to help different communities all over the world.
My community of autism families need someone to help them.
We have people trying to help themselves by using the autism name but, there are very few major organizations and or people working to help the autism family make connections within themselves.
We need the research, do not get me wrong. BUT we need organizations and people of clout who are willing to stand and offer the support to help struggling families make connections within the family units.
Holly is doing that with the HollyRod Foundation. I want to do that with my No Greater Love, Inc Amoree’s Journey nonprofit.
I would love to sit down with her and discuss how we can combine forces to make life better for our families.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
I can be reached across all major social media networks. Most are simply Amoree’s Journey. I am currently working on a YouTube channel. Join us so that you can get information about our next moves. We would love to have you become part of our family and walk this journey with us.
Facebook: nglamoreesjourney
Instagram: amoreesjourney
Twitter: AmoreesJourney
Clubhouse: @Amoreesjourney
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Listen — When you talk with someone, don’t listen for your chance to talk. Listen to help the other person be understood. Listening is not about sending messages. It’s about learning from one another.
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 Chad E. Foster.
Chad E. Foster is a motivational keynote speaker, sales/finance leader, and inspirational change agent who works at Red Hat/IBM. He was the first blind executive to graduate from Harvard Business School’s Program for Leadership Development and has been featured with NBC, CBS, Forbes, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, USA Today, and Chief Executive Mag.
“People are often surprised at what I was able to achieve in spite of being blind but to the contrary, I feel I am successful because I am blind, not in spite of it,” says Chad.
After losing his eyesight while attending college in his early twenties, Chad started at a top consulting firm, and has built a career in the technology industry where he has directed financial strategies and decisions resulting in more than $45 billion in contracts.
Determination, ambition, and resilience are the key drivers to his incredible journey. The Atlanta Opera has commissioned an opera inspired by his life story and his first book, Blind Ambition: How to Go from Victim to Visionary, is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple Books, Bookshop, Books-A-Million, Google Play, and other fine retailers.
Today, Chad speaks to corporate audiences and professional athletes to help them develop resilience in the face of uncertainty and show people how to overcome their own blind spots.
He lives with his wife and his 2 children in Atlanta, GA and is a daredevil of his own, enjoying snow skiing every winter.
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?
At 3-years-old I was taken to Duke University Medical Center where doctors told my parents “try to prepare for the day when Chad’s vision is gone. In the meantime, enjoy life while you can.”
It’s hard to imagine how difficult the long drive back home to Knoxville, Tennessee must have been for them. They cried the entire ride. Imagine hearing the news that your toddler will eventually go blind from an incurable retinal disease (retinitis pigmentosa “RP”).
Despite the grim prognosis, I was an active boy. Doctors advised my parents they should put me in a special school for the blind. Instead, they signed me up for soccer.
For the next fifteen years I lived as “normally” as I could. I played sports including soccer, basketball, football, and I even wrestled in high school. I began lifting weights in high school as well. When I visited a top retinal specialist at 14-years-old, he remarked that riding bikes, jet skis, motorcycles and learning how to water ski and drive cars are not things people with RP typically do. It’s possible I have something less severe than RP. It’s possible I would not go blind.
Hearing that news, my teenage ego swelled with pride as I continued my magical thinking. I would beat blindness. I would be the outlier. While enrolled at the University of Tennessee however, life took a fateful turn.
I was 21-years-old when darkness came knocking on my door. While reading a routine literature assignment, the evening quickly devolved into anything but ordinary. The text on the pages dissolved into a sea of bubbles. I squinted my eyes. I rested to refresh my eyes. I switched on a bright lamp to create more contrast on the reading pages. No matter what I did, nothing enabled me to see the words on the page in front of me.
The cold reality sliced through me like a knife through butter. This was it. The doctors’ predictions had come to fruition. I’d read my last page of print. Perhaps I’d watched my last football game. Seen my last sunset. Life as I had known it was coming to an end. I awoke to the morning of my new dark reality.
A Boa Constrictor of hopelessness wrapped itself around me and squeezed me tightly. It was hard to move. Hard to breathe. At university I’d entered the medical field because I wanted to help others and now I wasn’t even sure if I could help myself. I began to mourn the death of my imagined future self. We ask children all the time what they want to be when they grow up and none of them, and I mean none of them, say they want to be a blind person.
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?
While I’ve enjoyed many books over the course of my career, I’m compelled to mention the book I recently wrote that HarperCollins Leadership published — Blind Ambition: How to Go from Victim to Visionary.
I now know that I’ve been given a beautiful gift of blindness, disguised in some ugly wrapping paper. I’ve learned the keys to happiness, resilience, and success, and I’ve captured those lessons in my book.
I lost my vision to help others find theirs.
Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life or your work?
“We become the stories we tell ourselves” is my favorite quote. It’s a lesson I’ve learned throughout the course of my life and it’s so simple, yet so profound. If you tell yourself a story of “I’m a victim” then that’s who you’ll be. If you tell yourself a story of “I’ve got this and I’m going to make it look good” then that’s who you can be.
I could’ve told myself that I went blind because I have terrible luck. Instead, I told myself that I went blind because I’m one of the few people on the planet with the strength and toughness to deal with it and use it to help others. Technically, both stories could be true. I reframed my struggle (blindness) into a strength (mental strength), enabling me to take on all life’s twists and turns.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
Leadership is putting others before you. It’s caring about other people. It’s having the courage to make the right decisions, and taking the hard actions even when they’re not popular or easy.
I learned these lessons from my friend and mentor Ben Gieseman. While on his team my wife and I were going through marital problems and had separated. She wanted to move back to Atlanta to be near her family and at the time we were living in the Northern Virginia area. Not only did he approve a job transfer on the spot, he also offered his house just in case I needed a place to stay while we figured things out. How often does that happen in a multibillion dollar company? It doesn’t happen — not with anyone else.
Ben cared and that’s why those of us on his team would run through walls for Ben Gieseman.
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?
My friend and mentor mentioned above, Ben Gieseman, taught me many lessons in leadership in the time I worked for him. WE won billions of dollars in contracts and had an absolute blast doing it. Last year the final lesson Ben taught me is that our time on this earth is precious and it’s limited.
Ben Gieseman passed away last year at 53-years-old from an inoperable brain tumor. He left behind his lovely wife of 25 years and their three beautiful children. I had the honor of speaking at his celebration of life in June 2021 and it was fulfilling to see the hundreds of people in attendance who he had affected. Everyone had great stories about how he’d helped them.
Whatever you want to do with your life. Whomever you want to talk with. Whatever dreams you have. Goals you want to pursue. Help you want to giv. The time to act is now. Don’t delay. Our time is precious and it’s limited.
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?
Our ability to have meaningful dialogue with those who have diverging points of view. This resonates with me because I’ve faced similar challenges while going blind.
I thought I could imagine what others face before I went blind. I’ve lived over twenty years in the mainstream majority and another twenty-plus years as a disabled minority. The ignorance, assumptions, and behaviors were breathtaking.
The key to navigating complex dynamics like these starts with talking with one another.
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?
It started with consumers of information. Interestingly, the general public-including myself-are the chief culprits. When we collectively decided to stop paying for news, we forced the news and media industry to migrate to a different business model.
News and media went to the online advertising model to fund their reporting and news. For example, CraigsList crushed paid classifieds so the media had to rethink monetization. All roads for news and media led to advertising.
Advertising creates incentive for sensationalism. Will readers click on an article if it’s not catchy? Well, based on the evolution of the media, we’re a society subject to clickbait. The news became less neutral and more polarizing.
Next, social media followed the same trend. With advertising as the dominant business model for social media companies, consumers began being served content that was both polarizing and tailored to their beliefs. Social media giants quickly realized it’s easier to keep people reading if they’re being served content they agree with. The more they read, the more ad revenue social media companies earn. So, when people hear others that don’t believe what they believe, people astonishingly wonder “how can they think that?,” because they think everyone is reading the same content — but they’re not. Everyone is reading opposing content and borderline indignant when others disagree.
Finally, the pandemic caused everyone to communicate virtually, creating layers of abstraction between diverging points of view. We then saw a rise in “keyboard cowboys,” who found it easier to hide behind their computer screen and hurl insults/blame at those with opposing views instead of meeting others where they are. Technology is great, but it makes it easier to dehumanize those whom we don’t agree with.
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 had people ask me who feeds my dog for me. I’ve had people tell my wife “tell your friend his dog is very cute,” as if I’m not capable of speaking, hearing, or evidently, marriage — she was my “friend.” I’ve had people tell me that the reason I went blind is because I wouldn’t let people pet my service dog while in harness.
People are shocked when they learn I work. They must assume I’m jobless and living off of the government. I’ve faced so many assumptions it’s hard to put into a short article.
But here’s what I know to be true: anytime we think we can imagine what it’s like to walk in someone else’s shoes, we’re wrong. Full stop. None of us can imagine. I thought I could imagine. When I went blind, I quickly recognized that I had no clue.
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.
1 . Listen — When you talk with someone, don’t listen for your chance to talk. Listen to help the other person be understood. Listening is not about sending messages. It’s about learning from one another.
2 . Learn — Begin each conversation with a genuine sense of curiosity and just a dash of humility. Try to avoid the trap of knowing you’re right. Give the other person some credit in that they might have an experience you don’t.
Genetically, we’re 99.9% alike. It stands to reason that the differences among us must be due to the different experiences in our lives. We only know what our limited experiences have taught us.
When entering difficult conversations, it’s helpful to tell yourself, “I respect this person and their point of view. They believe what they believe due to the information they’ve collected. They must know something I don’t. I wonder what that is.” This short reset can create a learning mindset which makes us more capable of sharing, learning, and influencing others.
3. Empathize — Try to imagine facing what others face. Imagine going through their experiences. Really attempt to paint a picture of what they tell you. Listen to learn, and experience what they’ve experienced as much as you can. Don’t question it. Believe them and try to put yourself in that situation
This inevitably brings us closer together.
4. Use Less Technology — Technology is great when it’s the only option. For communication, especially those tough conversations about sensitive matters, do it in person. Be with the person and share the space with them. Feel the energy and human connection.
And if you have to use technology, ensure you’re not sending a communication electronically that you would not have the courage to send face-to-face.
5. Pay for News — We need to get back to paying for news! We need — desperately need-fact-based neutral reporting. We need to get away from the advertising model for information.
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?
Share this with your friends and encourage them to listen to diverging points of view in person. Help them understand how crucial it is to listen to learn and not send messages. Seek to understand first, then we can be understood. Urge them to pay for news and avoid ad-based news services.
We are going through a rough period now. Are you optimistic that this issue can eventually be resolved? Can you explain?
I’m an eternal optimist. We can-and must-resolve it. The world is headed for the creation of a new world order if we don’t. There are certain organizations out there that want to wage a disinformation war to fracture the unity amongst us to sow the seeds of chaos needed to rebalance power in the world. We can fix it, but it starts with you — the reader.
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?
You have one life to live. How do you want to live it? Our time is limited. Leave the earth better than you found it. Make a difference. Do it tomorrow may not come.
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.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson- because he has the social reach to impact the way millions of people think about making a difference in our world.
Brand Makeovers: Vincent Snijders of LogoSharp On The 5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image
…It’s important to build trust. When you’re starting a new business, it can be a challenge to get others — be it customers, vendors, or investors — to trust you. That’s why it helps to take the old-school advice of “dressing for the job you want.”
As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview Vincent Snijders.
Vincent Snijders is a 35 year old male from the Netherlands. He started his first company at the age of 20. Vincent is the owner of LogoSharp.com also based in the Netherlands. LogoSharp.com is his 6th successful company that he has started since 2013.
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?
We needed to create a lot of logo designs for marketing campaigns of our clients. We found that most online solutions do not provide a complete logo package with all the files/ formats that they might need, just low resolution images. A lot of clients came to us with low resolution logo images that we could not use for their marketing campaign. The result of this was that our clients needed to re-brand already in their startup phase, resulting in delays of the planned marketing campaigns.
We came up with LogoSharp.com. LogoSharp is an easy to use online logo making solution that is affordable and also provides all the logo files a startup would need, to run a successful marketing campaign.
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?
When I first launched logosharp I found out that the checkout was not working on the website for a couple of days. This happened after testing before the launch. However I needed to change a few things after the launch in the code and I did not re-test the checkout. Resulting in lost orders for a few days. I now double check everything!
Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?
The development of LogoSharp took about one year. We got a lot of positive feedback during the development. After a year of trial and error. I finally started to get clients and call LogoSharp a success.
I would suggest everyone to follow their dreams no matter how long it will take.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
Yes we are working on new design platforms for industries other than logos that is meant for end consumers. Unfortunately I cannot disclose any information about it yet!
What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?
Getting enough sleep is crucial to your health and happiness. Make sure you exercise rather than sitting behind the computer all day. Make sure you set a boundary between work and your private live.
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?
You need a brand to be able to promote your product. Without a brand you will not have a stable returning client base. It’s important that your clients can recognize not only the product but also your brand.
Product Marketing
Product marketing is just what it sounds like: it’s all about the product in your marketing message.
This may be product advantages, a special deal, or even a case study, but whatever strategy you use, the message should be focused on the product rather than the business.
Brand Marketing
Rather than focusing on a single product, this method of marketing focuses on the company’s principles, ideals, and speech.
It’s used to gain customer buy-in and loyalty, as well as promote the brand as one that consumers want to be associated with.
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?
It’s important to Build trust. When you’re starting a new business, it can be a challenge to get others — be it customers, vendors, or investors — to trust you. That’s why it helps to take the old-school advice of “dressing for the job you want.”
Before a person tries your product or service, they assess appearance. Think about if you visit a mediocre website or get handed a business card that looks dated. It doesn’t instill trust or confidence, does it? You’re probably not going to jump to purchase something or contact someone for more information.
In contrast, a strong brand can inspire someone who doesn’t know anything about your business to start to gain trust and interest in what you deliver. It can also help build loyalty over time, as your business grows and gains fans — you need only think of your favorite coffee shop logo and how seeing it on a someone’s cup in the morning makes you feel.
By designing a great logo and putting it on your website and other customer-facing materials, you can immediately convey that you mean business. And because 70% of companies say it’s cheaper to retain a customer than acquire a new one, the more you can do to build trust, the stronger your business will be.
Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?
To boost your brand in competitive marketing.
There are certain symbols that come to represent particular industries or products. For example, how many pizza places have you seen with a logo that features an Italian, mustachioed chef with a tall white hat and a wide grin? Maybe holding a ridiculously huge pizza? A good logo reflects who you are, but it should also distinguish you from everybody else. A good logo should dare to be different.
Facilitates brand loyalty
From time to time, a company will redesign their logo, perhaps to update their look or reflect some other corporate change. As a marketer, I get this. As a consumer, I hate it. When I’ve become accustomed to my favorite brands’ logo and they change it, I feel a little betrayed. Now I’ve got to retrain my brain to look for something new. Brand loyalty is huge and something every business needs to foster. A recognizable and familiar logo goes a long way toward building brand loyalty.
Be everywhere
Placing your logo on all of your marketing, packaging, products, social media, website, etc. is a way to advertise your brand and your message consistently, whether it’s in the store, in your customers’ homes, online, i.e., everywhere you want to be. If you’ve developed your brand message and successfully tied it to your logo, everything you do and create becomes associated with the logo and the brand.
Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?
Avoid Tropicana’s Famous Failure
Rebranding isn’t always a success.
Many multinational corporations have tried and failed to rebrand themselves in the past.
Perhaps the worst of these was the Tropicana rebrand in 2009.
Tropicana hired ad agency Arnell in 2008 and spent months (and $35 million) rebranding the business, only to lose $20 million in revenue in the first month.
They went back to their original design after just 30 days.
Their mistake is now a case study of one of the worst rebrands in history.
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.Design your logo
A logo is probably one of the first things that come to mind when you think about building a brand. And for good reason. It’s the face of your company after all, and could potentially be everywhere that your brand exists.
Ideally, you’ll want a logo that’s unique, identifiable, and that’s scalable to work at all sizes (which is often overlooked).
Consider all the places where your brand’s logo needs to exist, from your website to your Facebook Page’s profile picture to even the little “favicons” you see in your current browser tab.
If you have a text logo as your Instagram avatar, for example, it’ll be almost impossible to read. To make your life easier, get a square version of your logo that has an icon element that remains recognizable even at smaller sizes.
2.Research your target audience and your competitors.
Before you start making any decisions about your brand, you need to understand the current market: who your potential customers and current competitors are.
There are many ways to do this:
Google your product or service category and analyze direct and indirect competitors that come up.
Check subreddits that relate to your customers and eavesdrop on their conversations and product recommendations.
Talk to people who are part of your target market and ask them what brands they buy from in your space.
Look at the relevant social media accounts or pages your target audience follows and are receptive to.
Go shopping online or offline and get a feel for how your customers would browse and buy products.
3. Pick your brand’s colors
Choosing your colors.
Colors don’t just define the look of your brand; they also convey the feeling you want to communicate and help you make it consistent across your entire brand. You’ll want to choose colors that differentiate you from direct competitors to avoid confusing consumers.
4. Write a slogan
A catchy slogan is a nice-to-have asset — something brief and descriptive that you can put in your Twitter bio, website headline, business card, and anywhere else where you’ve got very few words to make a big impact.
5. Fonts
Choosing your fonts
It’s also good to look at fonts you might want to use on your website.
Pick two fonts at most to avoid unnecessarily confusing visitors: one for headings and one for body text (this doesn’t include the font you might use in your logo).
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?
McDonald’s revamped the menu to include healthy choices including salads and wraps, as well as the launch of McCafé concessions that offer luxury coffees and herbal teas.
McDonald’s has grown from strength to strength since then, with an annual average growth estimate of 4%.
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.
Covid is currently wreaking havoc on the hospitality industry.
I was considering how I could assist them.
You could raise funds by hosting a dinner party for your relatives or friends.
When you team up with a local restaurant, you can use a percentage of the night’s proceeds to help your cause and other struggling local businesses in the same way.
That way, we’ll all be able to support each other!
Can you please give us your favourite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Never give up, follow your dreams” In my 15 year career there where numerous people in my life that said “it will not work”. With all my projects I have proven them wrong. I never gave up with any of the projects I have started, even when it had no revenue the first year. All the projects I believed in turned out to be successful.
If you’re not spending 50% of your time as a founder on team building and recruitment, you’re doing it wrong.
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 Ron Gura.
Ron Gura is the Co-Founder & CEO of Empathy and a tech entrepreneur who has brought his love for developing empowering products to startups and major international corporations alike. As SVP at WeWork, Ron started and oversaw a global R&D center of 250 team members, responsible for the tools and systems that helped the company scale operationally. Previously, Ron served as Entrepreneur in Residence at Aleph, a $550M early-stage venture capital fund. Prior to that, Ron served as a Product Director and GM at eBay, leading a business incubation organization. Ron joined eBay as a result of the 2011 acquisition of The Gifts Project, a social-commerce startup where he served as Co-Founder & CEO.
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?
Entrepreneurship is not a career path for me, but rather a way of life that allows me to keep my personal and work identities aligned. I grew up in a household where entrepreneurship was the default and only choice. I saw firsthand the pros and cons of making your customers a priority, working long hours, and harnessing unlimited purpose and fulfillment. The focus was on finding a problem domain that is unanswered, and dedicating several years, if not your entire career, obsessing over a solution domain. This was my mindset when creating Empathy. I had seen the ways in which the loss of a loved one can be demanding not only emotionally but also logistically, and yet no system existed to walk bereaved families through the processes that come after they lose someone close. We needed a solution, and so I became determined to find one.
Can you please share with us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
A decade ago, together with close friends and family, I co-founded “The Gifts Project,” a small social-commerce startup focused on “group gifting.” A year in, we struck a major deal with eBay — they wanted us to make our platform available on their homepage just in time for the holiday season, so people could chip in together to purchase a bigger, better gift for Christmas. Needless to say, the increase in traffic to our service was immense. All of a sudden, a few 26-year-old kids in Tel Aviv were dealing with literally millions of users a day, sleeping in the office in shifts to make sure nothing broke. It was an exhilarating adventure, and it completely changed our business. eBay ended up acquiring the company a few months later.
Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?
Resilience and empathy are key principles for me.
When it comes to resilience, I view Roosevelt’s “The Man in the Arena” as perhaps the greatest rhetorical moment in history, as it distilled the understanding that taking action is what matters the most. While it’s important to hear the voice of the naysayer, we shouldn’t listen or accept the critics who don’t try to change reality themselves. Founders fight and push, day in and day out, to make sure they’re testing their thesis fully and trying to create a new reality.
Empathy is about putting yourself in someone else’s shoes; it has the potential to radically transform society. I try to personally follow that value and principle in everything I do, whether it’s product management, sales, talent acquisition, or everyday family life. The act of trying to feel or identify with someone else’s feelings changes your relationship with them entirely. It brings you to where they are; you are no longer asking someone “what can I do to help?” instead, you’re asking “what can we do so we can both overcome these challenges together?”
Ok thank you for that. Let’s now move to the main focus of our interview. Can you tell us about your “Big Idea That Might Change The World”?
My team and I developed a platform called Empathy that we are confident will change the world, or at the very least make grief just a little bit more manageable. It’s an app designed to help families navigate the journey they face after losing a loved one.
Loss doesn’t skip anyone. What most people don’t think about when discussing loss are the additional burdens that come with it: the logistics. On average, there are 500 hours of tasks, paperwork, and bureaucracy to manage in the days, months, and even years following a loss.
Due to the inherent optimism of human nature, there is a tendency to avoid uncomfortable topics like death, and as a result the industry has been left largely untouched by the kind of innovation that could immensely ease the burden placed on the shoulders of grieving families. Empathy is changing that; my co-founder and friend Yonatan Bergman and I decided to face the issue head-on and build an app that streamlines the logistics following loss, guiding families through all of these challenges, and taking on some of the burden for them.
How do you think this will change the world?
Death is undoubtedly a taboo subject, and utilizing technology to address such a sensitive topic compounds this effect. We utilize technology to minimize logistics, and so enable more family time, and more care and attention to the emotional side of grieving and coping. We don’t strive to replace human connection — we strive to make more room for it.
With that in mind, we know that Empathy can make a positive contribution to the larger conversation about loss in our society. It’s not just about grief, it’s also about the day-to-day, the coping, and the practical work. Wrapping up a loved one’s affairs and carrying out their final wishes will never be easy for those grieving a loss. 500+ hours of paperwork and practicalities are like another whole job, one that no one accounts for. Our friends and acquaintances, our colleagues and workplaces — expectations need to be adjusted in our society around what loss entails, so that we can all be better at supporting people coping with it. That includes bereavement leave (which currently is not mandated by law in the US) and resources from your workplace, it includes continuity of care from senior living and hospice care, and it includes updated expectations around what grief looks like and how we as individuals can better support each other.
Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this idea that people should think more deeply about?
One of the laws of unintended consequences includes unexpected benefits. The negative effects of the taboo around death are evident. When people don’t discuss death, they are left unprepared and vulnerable. The philosopher Martin Heidegger claimed that in order to lead a meaningful and authentic life, we need to overcome our inherent nature of avoiding thinking about death and face the idea that life is temporary. While there may be some hard truths to face when thinking about death, the potential benefits outweigh the potential drawbacks.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this idea? Can you tell us that story?
As an entrepreneur, I look for sectors that are ripe for disruption. The lack of tech available to help those dealing with end-of-life issues was a problem domain I had kept coming back to for years, and I decided to properly research it. It’s that research that ultimately led to Empathy.
I was no stranger to loss in my own life, and it’s also vividly present in some of my closest circles, but when I started actively learning about grief, loss, and bereavement, my eyes were opened. When you really look at families experiencing loss, the idea that what they need is “disruption” starts to seem too small, limited, even trivial.
What do you need to lead this idea to widespread adoption?
We have already launched Empathy across the US. We have brought in a team of leading experts in grief, software engineering, and estate law in order to ensure that the fruition of this idea is as all-encompassing as possible in order to ease as much of the burden on bereaved families as we can. In order to spread the idea widely, we aim to push for meaningful change in US policy, be that in bereavement leave, death care, or bereavement standards, with the goal of raising awareness about the issues brought on by death, and the extreme logistical burdens that come with the loss of a loved one.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
Schedule everything that matters to you. If it’s not on your calendar, you’ll never get to it..
If you’re not spending 50% of your time as a founder on team building and recruitment, you’re doing it wrong.
Be decisive in cutting toxicity. It will pay dividends.
Naivety can be your most powerful asset — embrace that naivety as the hidden blessing it is.
Don’t work on weekends.
Can you share with our readers what you think are the most important “success habits” or “success mindsets”?
Never stop being curious, and never fear asking the “stupid question.” You miss out on a lot of opportunities if you never ask questions.
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’ll keep it simple — my pitch or ask would be to keep up the amazing global momentum of mission-driven companies that are aiming to solve real, meaningful, complex problems for humanity.
Non-Fungible Tokens: Jonathan Rosen On The 5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry
Believe in your work. If you believe in it, others will too. This is a very new space, and everyone is trying to find their footing. Let your work be your guiding light.
Many have observed that we are at the cusp of an NFT boom. The thing is, it’s so cutting edge, that many people don’t know what it is. What exactly is an NFT and how can one create a lucrative career out of selling them? To address this, as a part of our interview series called “5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry”, we had the pleasure of interviewingJonathan Rosen.
Jonathan Rosen is a NYC-based language artist who works with mixed-media collage and interactive digital technologies through which he explores his interest in human possibilities. Rosen received a B.A. from University of Florida and a M.S. from VCU Brandcenter for advertising — launching the next 10 years of his career as an award-winning advertising creative and commercial film director. Since Rosen transitioned into visual art, he’s had exhibitions in NYC, Sydney, Taipei, Paris, Hong Kong and recently participated in museum shows in Shanghai, Chengdu, Florida and at the Smithsonian in DC. His work lives in collections around the world — including pieces in the permanent collections of The LiveStrong Foundation, Bloomingdales, Pandora Music, Colette in Paris.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory and how you grew up?
I grew up in suburban beach life in Long Beach, New York. I was a shy and scared kid, but always a big daydreamer. Going to Space Camp in Huntsville Alabama by myself at age 12 was transformative. I learned I didn’t want to be a scientist or air force pilot to be an astronaut, but it laid the groundwork for me to explore new worlds on this planet and the stories floating around in my head. Working in a sneaker store as a teenager led me to Nike which led me to a career as a creative in advertising. It was an exciting and creative career that led to me living in NYC, London, Amsterdam and Sydney. I eventually started directing commercials and short films, which led me to co-founding Lucky Branded Entertainment (one of the first hybrid agency/production companies).
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?
That’s a hard question as there are so many influences I could mention, but if I was being honest with the GenX dork inside me, it has to be Star Wars. I probably wouldn’t have gone to Space Camp, film school and lived around the world the way I did without that film.
Is there a particular story that inspired you to pursue a career in this new industry? We’d love to hear it.
We were close to selling 51% of Lucky to a big communications company and when that deal fell through at the 11th hour it made me reevaluate everything. Who I was as a creative person. My life’s purpose. My contributions to the world. While at the time it was agonizing to go through, it made me yearn to use my creativity and my voice to tell the stories I wanted to share through visual art. So, six months later, I left Lucky and became an artist. The rest is history.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this fascinating career?
When I first got it into art, I had a bit of imposter syndrome. I didn’t go to art school or have the same art-insider contacts. Then by pure luck I was seen in a small Australian fashion magazine by the owner of the concept store and gallery, Colette in Paris. She invited me to exhibit in November of 2015, which turned out to be a few days after the 2015 Paris attacks. I wanted to cancel or at least delay the exhibition, but she was adamant that the show must go on and that if we didn’t try to go back to a normal life the terrorists would win. It was a very important learning experience for me when it came to perseverance and “rolling with it.” With encouragement from Colette’s owner, I ended up making a new piece titled I WANT PEACE that I created in the middle of the gallery floor and the showcase piece, I WANT TO DREAM (A blackboard people can write their dreams on) had new meaning in light of the attacks. I had some very deep, emotional and powerful conversations with onlookers about how my art has the power to heal and create change. From then on, I was an imposter no longer and truly an artist. Also, Karl Lagerfeld’s tweet that he loved the show didn’t hurt.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I was preparing for one of my first solo exhibitions and I had canvases all over the floor in different states of progress. I just painted the canvas a bright red and while it was drying, I stepped out to get some food. When I returned there were paw prints all over it. My 3-year-old French Bulldog denied the accusation, but he was literally caught “red-handed.” What I learned from that is not to be attached to perfection because mistakes can be an opportunity for something new.
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 husband and fellow artist, Tom Smith, always knew I was an artist. I had bad handwriting and I couldn’t draw or paint, I had limiting beliefs and could not see the same possibility he saw in myself. After going on work trips to Art Basel with him, I started to be open to the breadth of art in its many forms. Conceptual and language-based art really spoke to me and my advertising roots. So, after one Art Basel trip I made my first piece; I WANT TO BE A ROCKSTAR, made from 800 concert tickets stubs I collected over the years. What I thought was a once-off “hobby” piece quickly got into a group show and sold. The rest is history. I wouldn’t have had the courage to make such a radical and unpredictable career shift without Tom’s encouragement and sounding board every step of the way.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
Yes. I’m debuting my new digital art NFTs out in very public art spaces. First a preview show with W1Curates on the 36-screen corner building facade in the heart of Oxford Street in London. Then displaying them on the 7-story Nasdaq Tower in Times Square NYC. After a year of being stuck inside, digital art was a natural evolution of my practice. Then in the early part of 2021 NFTs exploded, but now that world is vaccinated and getting back outside, I wanted to bring this new digital medium out in the world — and in a big way. My work is about human possibility. The good, the bad and everything in between, so I hope when people see my work out in public that they momentarily reflect on what they want and who they still want to be.
Ok super. Thank you for all that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. I’m sure you get this question all the time. But for the benefit of our readers, can you explain in your own words what an NFT is, and why people are spending so much money on them?
NFTs (or Non fungible Tokens) are digital artworks that are paired with a smart contract (digital certificate of ownership). The smart contract is “minted” using Ethereum’s blockchain technology which verifies its authenticity through hundreds of decentralized verification checks called nodes. The smart contract is like a certificate of authenticity that usually comes when you buy physical artworks. While there could be many copies of the NFT digital file, it’s the smart contract which verifies the ownership. For example, many people take photos of the Mona Lisa, but only the Louvre truly owns it. The token holder of that NFT is the only one who can resell it.
The NFT industry seems so exciting right now. What are the 3 things in particular that most excite you about the industry? If you can, please share a story or example for each.
“Gamification” — What I love about NFTs is that it pushes the boundaries of how people experience art and can continue long after it’s created. NFT Gamification comes in many innovative flavors: Coded into the smart contract, artists can create outcome based NFT’s that unlock additional rewards if certain measures are met (like collecting four NFTs from a collection gives you access to a secret NFT) or the artwork can be personalized by whoever is the current owner of the work.
My NFTs were born out of my interactive mirror series titled Dream Machines. The mirrors are “time-based” media sculptures, as the piece changes for a viewer over a period of time. NFTs can take this type of viewing experience to new levels with work that morphs, degrades and changes over time.
Like blue-chip art, high-priced and famous NFT pieces are starting to act as collateral in which people can borrow against. This is proving that this digital art form has staying power and a substantial commodity.
What are the 3 things that concern you about the industry? Can you explain? What can be done to address those concerns?
1. Predictions of market & over minting of editions — Current predictions of the market are mixed saying the bubble may have burst while other reports state in early May, over $102 million NFTs were sold in one day. During the peak of NFT hype, marketplaces and their artists were making hundreds of editions of the same NFT. To me creators need to preserve a form of rarity or uniqueness or they will not retain their original value. Personally, I would only collect 1-of-1 unique pieces.
2. Celebrities/Brands — There were a lot of brands and people of notoriety (who are not artists) who got on the NFT bandwagon (and did quite well for themselves). However, the NFTs they created were most often not very good, oversaturated the market and made it harder for underrepresented digital artists to break in.
3. Let the NFTs free! — Currently when an artist mints a NFT (and a collector buys it) on a particular marketplace it is stuck there, meaning it can’t be transferred or resold and put on another platform. So, moving forward there needs to be a solution where NFTs can move freely between marketplaces, while also allowing for artist royalties to go to their rightful place.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about NFTs? Can you explain what you mean?
A lot has already been written about the environmental impacts of NFTs (as well as mining cryptocurrency), so I’m not going to belabor the point. NFTs use a lot of energy, but so do our laptops, our streaming services, our cars, etc. What I do want to point out that in about 6 months, Ethereum (the blockchain technology that most NFTs live on) is moving to a new L2 ‘proof-of-stake’ verification system which will make the energy used to mint an NFT a fraction of what it previously cost and new NFT scaling protocols and ecosystems like Palm and Polygon will make it even more efficient. While this will solve NFTs impact on the environment, we still have a ton of work to do in other sectors if we’re going to solve our planet’s climate crisis.
What are the most common mistakes you have seen people make when they enter the NFT industry? What can be done to avoid that?
New NFT artists think they can mint a NFT and it will sell. Like any artform you need to give you and your work meaning. Then share that with a greater community until it’s embraced and thus valued.
NFT Artists should look beyond just the static image or video by pushing the medium and technology.
Coming from the traditional art world I was only on Instagram. I still have a steep hill to climb to build up my Twitter, Discord and Clubhouse know-how and followings — all of which is where NFT collectors and crypto peeps hang out.
How do you think NFTs have the potential to help society in the future?
Visual artists are not entitled to royalties when their work is resold and goes to auctions. Now with NFT smart contracts those royalties are built in and artists can be fairly compensated, especially when art appreciates over time. However, bigger than just the art world, NFTs have a chance to radically change the web, social media, content, streaming, music and the news. Art is just an early case study on how the world could be tokenized and creators in ALL spaces get paid fairly.
Ok, fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry?” (Please share a story or example for each.)
R&D — I took a good six months exploring the space before I minted my first NFT. Research the art. The collectors. The critics. The technology. Then I took more time to see how I could push my art, so it maximizes the medium. Don’t just drop a drop.
Your uniqueness is an opportunity — the reason it took me so long to make NFTs is because there were no other language-based NFT artists in the space and I couldn’t imagine how I would fit in. I would have saved myself a lot of time, if I could have transformed my perceived weakness into an opportunity to tell a new story to a new community of digital art aficionados.
Find collaborators — While I’m tech-able, I still need a coder. You may need a musician, a filmmaker, a 3D artist to bring your creation to life. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, as you will be helping others utilize their skills and hopefully some coin.
Promote it and then promote it some more — Find where the NFT community is and engage and share your work with them.
Believe in your work. If you believe in it, others will too. This is a very new space, and everyone is trying to find their footing. Let your work be your guiding light.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
A portion of every NFT sale and resale and resale after that, will be given to do something good in the world for perpetuity.
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
Going back to my earlier answer, I’d have to say Dave Filoni. I would love to pick his brain about galaxies far far away.
Thank you so much for these excellent stories and insights. We wish you continued success on your great work!
The Future Is Now: Eddie Ibanez of MKTSQ On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene
If you have a passion and an idea, go all in and pursue it. I love traveling, it’s a big part of my life, that’s why I decide to create MKTSQ in order to make people get excited about booking travel again. I finally found happiness in life when I decided to pursue what I am passionate about.
As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs I had the pleasure of interviewingEddie Ibanez.
Eddie Ibanez is a technology entrepreneur and pioneer in computer tech and data patterns. As a teenager, Ibanez successfully hacked AOL from his bedroom and pursued computer science until attending MIT where he was recruited out to work for a government agency in cyber security, developing software that reverse-engineers the location of known government and terrorist threats. Eddie contributed to the KNN method in mathematics and the collective experience helped pave the way for the launch of his first company, Zenabi. Zenabi is an AI and advanced analytics firm used to help companies unlock the potential in their user data. In 2016, Zenabi Analytics was acquired by Priceline to replace their marketing automation platform where Ibanez was appointed Chief Scientist before leaving to develop MKTSQ.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Thanks for having me! What brought me where I am today is a combination of my passion for travel and my purpose in life is to democratize and use the internet to help people navigate financial success. With MKTSQ, I want to properly reward great destinations, great products, and people who make great content.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
Where do I start, I have so many! One of it is probably jumping out of cell phone towers with my friends for work. But it’s all fun!
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 created a platform so that people can find interesting products/destinations to purchase through amazing content made by content creators instead of the usual mundane, static images you see when online shopping. We use data driven AI to understand people’s shopping patterns to give users a curated view of what to purchase as well as a a proprietary checkout system allowing for multiple brand purchases & experiences within a single cart for a seamless buying experience.
We also give people the opportunity to monetize the content they make and once we go further and rolled out, everyone will have the opportunity to become a creator on MTSQ.
How do you think this might change the world?
We’re changing the world because we think differently. We aim to change the way people travel and how people will experience purchasing products through experience and through video content.
Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
I wouldn’t say there are any drawbacks, if anything, there’s a drawback in our favor to the users. We represent the users and not MKTSQ, so we aim to always advocate for them first.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?
COVID was definitely the tipping point. Being home all the time made it possible for me to develop and grow the idea that had into a reality. With traveling being paused as a result of the pandemic, I wanted to build a platform that gets them excited to travel again once restrictions lift.
What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?
To communicate my voice and share my idea with influential people! Word of mouth amongst a group of th right people can go a long way.
What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?
We have been working with influencers as they are key for this product. I’m using patented algorithms I’ve developed over the years and emerge what people want, predict what they want and what I have in inventory for them and using that intelligence in order to get them to plant 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 wouldn’t be here without Christopher J. Buch, who has always believed in me when no one else did.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I love kids so I started a charity to help young unfortunate kids & show them how to gain success in life no matter what their backgrounds are.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
1. Always read the fine print of any business agreement, every tiny thing is very crucial. Review everything down to the appendix.
2. Don’t compare your opportunities with what other people have & focus on the opportunities that you own. When I stopped comparing myself to others, that’s when I grew, both personally and profesionally.
3. If you have a passion and an idea, go all in and pursue it. I love traveling, it’s a big part of my life, that’s why I decide to create MKTSQ in order to make people get excited about booking travel again. I finally found happiness in life when I decided to pursue what I am passionate about.
4. Fundraising for business is as important as developing the product, I had past instances where I had a great products but lack of funds which in turn slowed down they’re growth and maximum potential.
5. Marketing a great product is more important than stocking up on inventory. When you have a great product, then the demand for inventory will follow.
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 get the opportunity to support and help every single person to do what they love and be fairly paid for doing what they love.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Do what you love! If you have a passion, go all in.
Some very well known VCs read this column. If you had 60 seconds to make a pitch to a VC, what would you say? He or she might just see this if we tag them
My pitch varies from person to person so would have to actually do it in person!
Surround yourself with smart women. Build a circle of trust at work and in life. Build each other up and support each other. We do not need to be in competition, we need to work in collaboration.
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 interviewingNancy Beaton.
Nancy Beaton is the Vice-President of Strategy at Together Labs, the technology parent company behind the leading friend discovery metaverse and social app IMVU and VCOIN, an ERC-20 token, built on Ethereum. Nancy Beaton currently leads efforts to turn the economy of IMVU, one of the largest virtual 3D worlds, into the next generation of market exchange through blockchain technology and VCOIN, which lets all users hold, earn and exit the platform with real value.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory and how you grew up?
Nancy Beaton: I’m a “good” Midwesterner, born and raised most of my life in Kansas before moving to Colorado to help start a tech company in Boulder. While both my parents started as teachers, my dad eventually found his way to politics and ended up being one of the longest-serving Lt. Governors of the state. And, growing up it seemed like a lot of obligations at the time, but traveling the state with him and going to dinners, press conferences and even having my family be visible in the media really exposed me to a lot that my formal education did not.
On the more formal side of my upbringing I have three degrees (BA in Rhetoric, MS in Journalism and an MBA) as I need to be continuously learning which likely contributed to me typically jumping at new career opportunities that challenged me — which is also why I think I was so attracted to starting new businesses, especially in the ever-changing environment of tech.
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?
As I mentioned before I have an insatiable appetite to learn, there isn’t one touchstone book or podcast that had an impact on me…I listen to and read as many as I can. I can tell you that growing when getting in trouble, my dad would always say, “well, what did you think would happen?” This was a common phrase in my house and likely hit meet more than a single market strategy from an Olgivy book. It left me always thinking through scenarios, what would happen and a bit of strategic game play when it came to business.
Is there a particular story that inspired you to pursue a career in the X Reality industry? We’d love to hear it.
We have all seen the Ready Player One type movies, Westworlds and others that portray the idea of a unified experience across the Metaverse and I personally believe these are all a matter of “when” and not “if”. I have been fortunate enough to be on the forefront of some great tech plays and believe in the power of what X Reality, what it can bring to users and how it can shape the market.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I am a firm believer that we achieve our ultimate success with help from others. It is key to surround ourselves with friends, mentors, bosses and colleagues who make us better and stretch us to play at the top of our game. It is why I feel lucky to have had strong mentors and why I choose to be a mentor in programs such as TechStars.
Specifically, I am fortunate to have first, a strong group of women that I call friends, mentors, colleagues and part of my circle of trust that I can turn to for any part of my life — — professional and personal. For any woman, young or old, this is essential. Things are different for women and we need others who understand and can support us.
On the business side, I would say that I have been in business some way or another with John Burris, Chief Strategy Officer for Together Labs, for the past 20 years. He pushes me to recognize what I am capable of, even when I might not see it myself, is something for which I am grateful. And, while we challenge each other, the friendship, friendship of our families and his guidance has helped me reach where I am today.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
VCOIN. This is the first digital currency that can be earned in a virtual world and transferred off of the platform and converted to real cash for people to us in the real world. Based on Blockchain technology, this puts control in the hands of earners in virtual worlds, games and communities and enables users to turn the love of the game and the time they spend to real money.
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.b What in particular most excites you about the industry? Can you explain or give an example?
What excites me most is the immersive nature that VR, AR and MR deliver to users. I already see it with my eight year old son who dives deep into Minecraft on his Oculus because “it feels more real”. His expectations are already high when it comes to what you can do with technology and eventually AR,VR and MR will meet and exceed those expectations.
Secondly, I believe that when you combine these technologies with other new and exciting technologies such as blockchain, NFTs and other forms of user control and interaction the market will really begin to take off in a meaningful way.
What concerns you about the VR, AR and MR industries? Can you explain? What can be done to address those concerns?
Right now, the most proven business case is gaming with just a few standout examples. And, don’t get me wrong, gaming is a great industry in which to have success — it is bigger than Movies and North American sports combined. Obviously, we are huge fans of the game and social gaming industry.
But for the AR, VR and MR industries to really take hold we need to see proven business models in other industries as well. This will be a matter of time as the technology becomes more widely adopted with access in lower-priced devices and accessibility across devices in everyone’s hands. This is when it will turn from a “novel science” to a useful product.
Are there other ways that VR, AR and MR can improve our lives? Can you explain?
Definitely. VR, AR and MR have great capabilities in the areas of health care — which is front and center on everyone’s minds right now, construction proof of concepts, mapping with AR and arts and galleries creating more immersive experiences than listening to guided tours on headsets.
Let’s zoom out a bit and talk in broader terms. Are you currently satisfied with the status quo regarding women in STEM? If not, what specific changes do you think are needed to change the status quo?
I think there is always room for improvement — especially when it comes to women in STEM. I think we address this starting at the roots:
First, we need to highlight more women in STEM. As we discussed before, no one gets to the top of their game without mentors. It makes it even harder when you don’t see anyone like you as a successful leader, harder to find a mentor to help you navigate a sometimes difficult path, and harder to see yourself in the field at all.
Secondly, we need to share more of what STEM is — Amazon is STEM, Facebook is STEM, Google is STEM, Snap is STEM. We need to attract more young women to the field with the products, companies and interests they know and have today. It starts in school where it should be core to the curriculum and not an after-school offering to join STEM as it is in many classrooms today.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about working in your industry? Can you explain what you mean?
Virtual experiences are more than just fun games. These experiences truly connect users, create friendships and give users a means to make a living. Unlike just scrolling through curated social posts, true virtual experiences — like those we have at Together Labs — can create healthy social environments with new friends and give users a way to turn the time they spend in the game into a way to make real value.
For example, in IMVU, our users provide all of the virtual goods and services on the platform. Now, those that are wedding officiants, avatar editors, personal shoppers can provide services, earn a digital currency (VCOIN) and convert that VCOIN to real cash. When you hear from this Producers, as we call them, connect with users, provide a valuable service and earn real money. Very different from a traditional first-person shooter experience on a console.
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.)
Five leadership lessons…wow, after this many years in tech, I have learned a lot.
Both men and women are smart, many times only men believe they are smart enough. Too many anecdotes on this one to choose just one.
Both men and women are smart, many times only men believe they are smart enough. I am saying it twice because it is that important.
Walk into the room like you belong there…because you do. When I was younger in my career we went to Japan to research a new product offering and how to bring it to market. As was the custom at that time, they had two tables facing each other (one for our team and one for the partner’s team). Name tags were placed from center to the end based upon professional hierarchy. Being one of only two women my name tag was at the end — although I was second in seniority. Without causing embarrassment I picked up my name tag and moved it to the middle to sit across from my partner counterpart.
Always be learning, be watching, be listening. Unfortunately, oftentimes a weakness of women in tech is that we don’t feel we belong — or it has been so hard to be recognized, you sometimes question that. So we are always trying to improve, to listen to what people need and carefully watching. Use this as your superpower — and you will quickly surpass those that stagnantly rely on only what they possess today and ego.
Surround yourself with smart women. Build a circle of trust at work and in life. Build each other up and support each other. We do not need to be in competition, we need to work in collaboration.
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.
Free goodeducation to everyone. It is a great equalizer and can also be a great barrier. I have been fortunate to be born into a circumstance and environment where it was available, valued and made accessible. But not everyone has that opportunity and they should. It should be a basic right.
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
There are so many.
A living leader — likely Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx. I love her drive and grit, even when she got into an industry she didn’t know. And, even today she hasn’t lost that drive, nor the desire to change women’s lives.
The nerd in me — I have always been fascinated by the Algonquin Roundtable — the idea that smart, sassy and well-read people would get together and banter and collaborate every day at lunch is my cup of tea.To be part of that once would be amazing.
Thank you so much for these excellent stories and insights. We wish you continued success on your great work!
Erika Cramer of The Queen of Confidence: Rising Through Resilience; Five Things You Can Do To Become More Resilient
Get around mentors, coaches and others who are resilient — They have a different way of seeing the world, they are optimistic and most times will have a solution mindset and choose to focus on solutions rather than problems. Growing up I didn’t have this community and I noticed the difference.
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 Erika Cramer, The Queen of Confidence
Erika Cramer, The Queen of Confidence, is an award-winning international confidence coach and host of the 5 star-rated Confidence Chronicles Podcast. After surviving many traumatic experiences, Erika is a real example of how you can heal your personal story to transform trauma into triumph and now leads a global movement to empower women. She is also the author of the new book, Confidence Feels Like Sh!t.
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 a little town near Boston, Massachusetts. I was raised by a single mother who truly did the best she could, while struggling with bipolar. I was in and out of the foster care system, while she was in and out of mental hospitals. Growing up in the system there was a lot of sexual abuse, verbal abuse and physical abuse. It created this really angry child and in high school, I struggled with my worthiness and felt like I was damaged goods.
That led to me joining the military at 17, a stint that lasted 10 years. I fell in love with my high school sweetheart; he went to war and thankfully, he came back, but he wasn’t the same. We ended up in a terrible car accident. He walked away, and I broke my back. I had to learn how to walk again. It was a crazy tragedy. But it really woke me up to my life. The following year, unfortunately, my husband was drinking and driving on his own and he passed away in a car accident. I felt so trauma’d out by then that it was too much to handle. I numbed out for the next five years of my life.
This is the very short version! After this, I ended up moving to Australia where I went on a huge journey of self-development and discovery. I spent over $50k on courses, mentors, life coaches and retreats. I fully worked through my life and trauma and I got so obsessed with doing this work, I decided I would help women do the same thing. I also met my personal trainer Hamish, who later became my husband. We’re now married with two gorgeous sons.
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 had my second son in 2017. I was working for a corporate company and had been doing my side hustle for five years. I lacked so much confidence, but one morning I was in the shower (why does all the wisdom come in the shower?). I got a clear message: “You’re not here to do what you’re doing. You’re here to become a confidence coach. You’re here to help women.” I ran downstairs and told my husband. I wasn’t going to go back to my corporate career. I was going to become a confidence coach!
It was the scariest thing to do, because it was the worst timing. We were dead broke, in debt, and we just had a second baby. But this meant I didn’t have the luxury of doubting myself — I had to do what I had to do to make it work. I had to go all in. I started creating content, I started sharing, building a community on social media. I started a YouTube channel, I started my podcast. I had to step up and by “having to do it”, it made all of our dreams and business vision come true. My biggest takeaway from that experience is that no one’s going to come knocking at your door. If you want to do something, you need to just do it. You need to make your own noise instead of expecting other people to somehow discover you or find you.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
One of the biggest things that makes our company, The Queen Of Confidence, stand out is that we are about community and sisterhood. We’re about taking responsibility and we’re about integrity. During the COVID pandemic, we had 300-plus students in 18 countries in our program. Since the pandemic hit different parts of the world, affected different parts of the world differently, we emailed every single one of our members and asked them if they needed financial support, if they needed to pause payments, if there was anything we could do? We even ended up doing a fundraiser for the women who were really struggling.
Because we reached out and looked after them, we didn’t have any members drop off. We can say that not only do we have values, but we truly live our values in this business. We don’t just say we’re for women, but what we do is for women. We are a company that takes a stand for that. We are inclusive. We are supportive.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
I have to really give it up to my husband, Hamish. He was the first person I ever told my whole story to and instead of feeling ashamed or broken, he really honoured me. He made me feel seen and strong. He was very patient, and gently invited me to work on myself and to unpack my difficult experiences so that I could grow from them. He is still my greatest teacher and mentor.
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 of resilience as an ability to overcome difficulty and discomfort, without it destroying you. Meaning, when you’re able to overcome the difficulties life gives you and not allow it to ruin your existence. Instead resilient people let it make them, they let their hardest times create their inner strength. I feel it’s highly connected to resourcefulness and being someone who looks for solutions to the challenges they are faced with.
When you think of resilience, which person comes to mind? Can you explain why you chose that person?
Nicholas Vujicic. He was born with no arms and no legs, he could have easily felt sorry for himself and spent his life being angry at the world (something I read he did in his youth). Instead, he spends his life as a motivational speaker teaching children about the importance of accepting people’s differences and inspiring others with his story. He shows us that it’s not about what happens to us, it’s about what we make it mean and what we decide to do next. We can allow the tough times to destroy us or grow us. We get to choose.
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, when I broke my back at 23 years old, my doctor told me I would never touch my toes and that I would have back pain for most of my life, especially if I ever decided to get pregnant. He was wrong. Three months after surgery I was able to touch my toes. I had two children and no back pain and to this day, I still never have pain in my back, even though there is a titanium fusion. I have been able to deadlift 100kg by strengthening my back and core!
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?
To be honest I feel I have too many of those moments, but the one that stands out right now is the most recent one. In 2017, my husband and I found ourselves in the worst financial position ever. I was a contractor on unpaid maternity leave, my husband’s gym business was on the decline, we had just had our second child, moved into a large home rental and drained our savings account.
It was the most stressful time. We were looking for coins underneath the car seats to buy bread for our family. Just 11 months later, I had created an income of $160,000 in our coaching business. The tough time we experienced gave me such a desire to hustle and not only hustle but to actually go for my dreams.
Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resiliency? Can you share a story?
When I was 7, my mother took us on a family vacation to Puerto Rico and we got into a terrible car accident. Our car had flipped upside down multiple times, we were lucky to survive. My dad heard that I was in the country and what had happened (he’d left us when I was two). Just four days after our horrific car accident, I was kidnapped by my dad, who I’d never met. Suddenly, I wasn’t going back to America to be with my mother — I was staying in Puerto Rico, without her, with a whole new family and unfortunately I couldn’t speak the language.
When I was finally reunited with my mom 12 months later, we jumped back into the regular cycle I grew up with of my mom getting sick, me visiting her in mental hospitals and living in yet another foster home. By 16, I’d had enough. This experience was terrible at the time, but it showed me my strength, and my ability to persevere and keep going, even when I felt like I was cursed. In Puerto Rico I learned Spanish and ended up connecting to my roots. Twenty years later, I reunited with my dad and heard his side of the story and gained deep closure. Every single “bad” moment supported me, therefore I can’t think of them as bad. It’s because of all the hardship that I am who I am, and I have been able to create the life I live and leave the impact I have.
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.
Become aware of your stories and what meaning you’ve put behind them — We all have a story about our lives. I carried the story that I was damaged goods and unworthy of love. How that played out in my life was that I attracted toxic relationships into my life. The moment I started working on myself and realising that I can choose what things mean changed everything for me. I remember my first ever mentor telling me that I could choose how I wanted to see my past and my mind was blown. She taught me that I didn’t have to make meaning out of anything. Later I realised that if I don’t believe my crappy stories, they have no power over me. It was and still is such a huge realisation.
Commit to working on yourself — A growth mindset is needed if we’re going to become more resilient. When I started to read books, listen to podcasts, join programs and hire coaches I started to unravel my past and see the gifts in the difficulties. We can become more resilient if we’re willing to become more optimistic, which comes when you raise your consciousness and you start working on you.
Choose to see things happening FOR you rather than TO you — A lesson I learned from Tony Robbins. He would always say there is a gift in the struggle and although things seem hard in the moment, notice that everything you have ever experienced that has been difficult has created strength and resilience in you. We cannot become more resilient without the challenges, this is a part of the process. I wouldn’t be able to serve the women I do today and have the empathy for my clients who experienced trauma if I myself hadn’t felt similar feelings to them in my past.
Work on your self confidence — This was one of the biggest things that helped me become more resilient. I lacked so much confidence until I started to work through my life, gaining awareness and putting myself out there. I started doing things that scared me and proving to myself that I could overcome my fear and that I could do hard things. Little by little my inner confidence grew. Self-confidence is extremely important if you’re going to become resilient.
Get around mentors, coaches and others who are resilient — They have a different way of seeing the world, they are optimistic and most times will have a solution mindset and choose to focus on solutions rather than problems. Growing up I didn’t have this community and I noticed the difference. When I started to strengthen myself, take responsibility for my life and my results I would attract the same group of people. Those who wanted to grow and evolve and in this community I thrived, I was supported and I felt like things would get better and of course, they 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.
I would love to see more of us working on ourselves, I would like to normalise the expression of hard feelings and emotions without it feeling like “if I go speak to a professional coach or therapist something is wrong with me”. I would love to have more trauma informed humans in the education system, in the medical system, in government etc. So many people suffer in silence about their feelings of inadequacy or not feeling good enough and if it keeps going unspoken we think we’re the only ones. In reality, this is something everyone experiences; there is nothing wrong with us, we are not broken or damaged, we’ve experienced trauma and we should be able to openly discuss this in our communities and hold space for each other to transform.
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
Tony Robbins. I freaking love him so much. The fact that he is SO resilient and has lived SO much and the fact that he completely transformed his life. Then decided to serve others and still continues till this day to serve others. He could easily retire, he’s got the money, the love of his life, the family, the success, yet he will still stand up and speak for 50+ hours at his live events (events that he has been doing for years). Also I think we both have the same crazy amount of high energy and I love that about him.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
You can find me everywhere but i particularly hang out a lot on instagram so come say hi
Non-Fungible Tokens: Shani Merdler of Minute Media On The 5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry
Empathy is a strong weapon — when trying to think of what the other side has in mind, whether it’s seller or buyers, try to put yourself in their shoes to understand their perspective. If you approach situations with the mindset of what you would care about, what would move you to action and make you come back again, you are set up for a greater measure of success.
Many have observed that we are at the cusp of an NFT boom. The thing is, it’s so cutting edge, that many people don’t know what it is. What exactly is an NFT and how can one create a lucrative career out of selling them? To address this, as a part of our interview series called “5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Shani Merdler. Shani is the VP of Product at Minute Media, a leading global content and technology company and owner of The Players’ Tribune, FanSided, 90min, DBLTAP, Mental Floss and The Big Lead. SInce 2013, Shani has helped develope the publishing, video and content tools that help Minute Media and its publishing partners create, distribute and consumer digital content. Today Minute Media holds the #1 spot in Comscore’s U.S. sports video rankings and #3 in U.S. sports reach.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory and how you grew up?
I grew up in a small town in the center of Israel, the eldest of four children and granddaughter to immigrant grandparents from Romania and Iraq.
I was always very independent and after serving in a technology unit in the Israeli army, I took a different path from most freshly-released Israeli soldiers. I started working in the hitech industry. What was supposed to be a year of saving up money for a long, glorious trip was replaced by a career path that led me to where I am today.
Is there a particular book, film, or podcast that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz is a short book that lays out in a very structured and simple way sources for our suffering as humans that mostly come from our perception. It resonated with me as I saw how we are all used to being part of a situation or experience that we rarely look at ourselves from the outside. There is so much value in this new perspective of understanding that we have a choice in how people’s actions and words affect us. It can help us become more empathetic and compassionate towards others which I believe also leads to success in different aspects of life.
Is there a particular story that inspired you to pursue a career in this new industry? We’d love to hear it.
At Minute Media, I am responsible for product development to help our own media properties as well as our publishing partners reach more people, increase engagement, bring in more revenue and monetization opportunities. This includes everything from video tools, to content management systems, to ad tools. I am constantly thinking of both content creators and the end-user that is consuming the content. Minute Media has a large focus on sports (The Players’ Tribune, 90min, FanSided and others), and the sports world has been an early adopter of bringing NFTs more to the public.
The connection of NFTs to the creators and media world is very natural in my view. As the creator economy rises in popularity and more and more tools and services are being created to empower them and support their success and financial indepences, NFTs are a vehicle that can solve many of the challenges that are coming up for creators.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this fascinating career?
An interesting experience that I have had was participating in a Roblox concert. I’m usually not a user of the platform but I was intrigued by the experience. I have found it extremely weird to be walking in this virtual space as a character that I don’t feel a connection to. This is why the idea behind Meetbites resonated so much with me, similarly to how I choose what I wear in the physical world, I should be able to choose how I look when I’m in the virtual space. Especially with their new guide on how to convert your character into a metaverse avatar.
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’ve made was assuming that the same limitation of the physical world also applies for NFTs. I was thinking that there could be only one copy of what is also called an edition of a certain NFTs, like in the physical world there is only one copy of the Mona Lisa. This made me look at all of the marketplace platforms the wrong way.
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 great teachers in different forms along the way, many times the most unexpected ones. If I have to choose one person that helped me get where I am today, it’s my father.
My father had his own business in the ERP software industry most of his life, and from a young age he has shared with me stories and dilemmas from his work and the way he chose to deal with them. He was and is a great advisor that helped me look at things with the right perspective more than one time, stopping me from making mistakes by sharing his philosophy.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
At Minute Media we are working on exciting tools to help content creators grow their business through content creation, distribution and experiences. Our goal is to empower them to make the most out of their creation through their properties and through our ecosystem. This is powered by Voltax which features a CMS for written content, an OVP for video content and what we call Voltax Boost — a smart toolkit that helps enhance their revenue potential, content offerings, and audience development, enabling them to stay ahead of the ever-changing industry. For NFTs specifically, I believe that they are a great enabler for us to do great things for creators once NFTs will support new types of assets.
Ok super. Thank you for all that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. I’m sure you get this question all the time. But for the benefit of our readers, can you explain in your own words what an NFT is, and why people are spending so much money on them?
NFTs enable us to own and prove our ownership over digital assets. Similarly to how we acquire physical products from stores, offline or online, we are now able to own a beautiful digital art in the highest quality using NFTs. People that value art and unique objects value it regardless of it’s form of existence. Thanks to technology, digital experiences are no longer secondary to physical ones and that’s the key to why people are willing to spend money on them.
The NFT industry seems so exciting right now. What are the 3 things in particular that most excite you about the industry? If you can, please share a story or example for each.
What most excites me about the industry is the endless possibilities for it to evolve.
If we are getting specific, I’m moved by how NFTs are going to shape digital communities, how a true sense of community can emerge from models where all community members contribute to a certain cause but also be compensated for its success.
I’m also interested in how NFTs shift the power balance to the creators, allowing them to create the guardrails for the consumption of their work, allowing only their true followers, the ones that purchased their item or items before to be able to acquire their latest work.
What are the 3 things that concern you about the industry? Can you explain? What can be done to address those concerns?
The things that I’m most concerned about are around the utilization of NFTs for negative purposes such as racism, hate of speech, encouraging violence and more. While NFTs have had a beautiful (also visually) beginning, we have already witnessed things that started with good intentions but have been misused in a way that caused harm.
To address these concerns, I believe a really strong moderation tool is needed that will be able to scan assets and prevent the exchange of these types of assets.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about NFTs? Can you explain what you mean?
I believe that some of the myths that surround NFTs are that they are only relevant for a small group of geeks. However, this can easily be debunked as well-known, more mainstream entities start to use them, as we’ve seen with Taco Bell and others.
What are the most common mistakes you have seen people make when they enter the NFT industry. What can be done to avoid that?
A common mistake that I see broad;y, not just with NFTs, is that people tend to jump into things without understanding how they work. For NFTs specifically, this means that people are entering the industry without being knowledgeable enough about how things work, the different platforms that exist and the entire ecosystem. People have gotten used to consuming quick “how to” videos on everything they do in life and their attention span continues to shorten. My main recommendation is whatever you want to do, first learn the rules of the game, then play.
How do you think NFTs have the potential to help society in the future?
I believe that NFTs could have a great potential for charities looking to raise money using auctions of digital assets. This trend has shown it’s first signs with this auction for the cause of stopping Asian hate.
Ok, fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry?” (Please share a story or example for each.)
Knowledge is power — we are fortunate to have access to free information that helps us be more informed in our choices and untap our abilities and potential. You want to be successful? Master the way things are working.
Be nimble — don’t restrict yourself to what has been done or how it has been done, continue to try new things, new platforms and above all, experiment. Eventually you will find what works for you.
Get creative — when you think you have exhausted your options, remember that the number of opportunities is endless. New initiatives continue to emerge and since you know what you do best, think creatively about how it can connect to what is being done.
Don’t be a stranger — there is some loneliness and individualism around creation online but many good things are coming from collaborating with others. Whether it’s via a community, social media or any other form of communication, reach out to people that inspire you, you might be surprised by the outcome
Empathy is a strong weapon — when trying to think of what the other side has in mind, whether it’s seller or buyers, try to put yourself in their shoes to understand their perspective. If you approach situations with the mindset of what you would care about, what would move you to action and make you come back again, you are set up for a greater measure of success.
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 create a platform of NFTs for good, where people can create and donate assets to their favorite charities. The platform will enable the charities to easily create a public auction for the assets and maintain their community of donors.
If that triggers a movement, count me in and let me know
We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them
Yes, I would love to have a private breakfast with Elie Hassenfeld, the founder of GiveWell to speak about the opportunity NFTs could have for charities.
The challenges of raising funding! Before started Alkaline Fresh, I never had to raise funds for my previously companies as they were self-funded by myself, so I was unaware of the process of fundraising and how many different variables that came along with it.
As a part of my series about “Big Ideas That Might Change The World In The Next Few Years” I had the pleasure of interviewing Brandon Burrell CEO & Founder of Alkaline Certified & Alkaline Fresh.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you please tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I have always had a major passion for eating healthy foods but when I started my global recruiting firm and started providing culinary and food beverage applicants for the maritime industry my desire just went to another level. Being in the food culinary space, I learned a great deal about culinary arts from various countries around the world. In my travels, I learned about The Alkaline Diet and how alkaline foods had so many positive effects on the human body.
Can you please share with us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
When I started my global recruiting firm, I created partnerships in Ghana, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, South Africa and Vietnam where me and my team set up culinary and food hospitality schools to provide the necessary trainings for individuals who were seeking careers in the maritime and hotel industries.
Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career? The principles
Always set goals for whatever I want to achieve. If there is no set goal, there is nothing to strive towards. Everything must be sacrificed for the attainment of that goal, and one must persist through all adversity until the goal has been obtained. Another principle I live by is to always do the right thing because good will always follow.
Ok thank you for that. Let’s now move to the main focus of our interview. Can you tell us about your “Big Idea That Might Change The World”?
The creation of Alkaline Fresh and Alkaline Certified. Both projects are monumental and will create a paradigm shift to our current awareness regarding food, beverage and personal nutrition products. With Alkaline Fresh, it is the first company to provide the healthiest plant base ready- made alkaline meals to adults and children that will help fight adult and childhood obesity in America. Amongst environmental issues, such as consumption of animal products, preserving our oceans and natural ecosystems by helping decrease the demand in fishing which is affecting our planet. Alkaline Certified will help spread awareness of alkaline products by being the company that certifies alkaline food, beverage and personal nutrition products. We are committed to certifying and building sources of alkalinity products, educating consumers and providing certification. Alkaline Certified will give consumers to right know that their food is alkaline, or acid based. Both of the ideas will change the world in a positive way forever.
How do you think this will change the world? The world will now have the awareness along with the access to the healthiest meals on the planet that it did not have prior to Alkaline Fresh and Alkaline Certified being established.
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?
Currently, I do not foresee any potential drawbacks about this idea that people should think deeply about. Our products and services are aimed directly to help consumers easily be able to choose healthier options that they were previously unaware. Alkaline Fresh and Alkaline Certified will are extremely beneficial to consumers who are seeking to improve their wellness and have no ill effects.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this idea? Can you tell us that story?
The tipping point was the rise of COVID-19 and how Americans were losing their lives to this diseases mainly because of underlying health issues. Especially, minorities! It was just extremely sad to see people suffer and lose their lives because of obesity issues. I was just fed up and watching people die and decided I needed to put my dreams into motion no matter how difficult they may be to achieve. As a minority, I knew if people could see what I created I could impact millions of lives around the US and the world in a positive way. Therefore, I acted on my ideas and started to put them motion in the peak of the pandemic.
What do you need to lead this idea to widespread adoption? I need a positive public platform to lead this idea to widespread adoption. People are always seeking ways of having a healthier lifestyle and I believe with the right platforms widespread adoption will happen immediately.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
The challenges of raising funding! Before started Alkaline Fresh, I never had to raise funds for my previously companies as they were self-funded by myself, so I was unaware of the process of fundraising and how many different variables that came along with it.
The importance of having networking relationships with employees working in VC’s. I had no one in my circle who had prior experience on fund raising nor did I have relationships with people who worked for VC’s so I had to step outside of my comfort zone and network with various organizations and professionals who had experience in the VC space to educate me along the way.
The importance of having traction for startups. This was a question I was truly not expected to answer for a startup company that had not launched. I learned that I could create traction outside of revenue streams from other sources such as branding, product development, connecting with influencers and establishing valuable partnerships.
The importance of having positive people around you when starting a business. When starting a new business there are so many ups and downs along with all a lot of doubt, fear and anxiety. It is important to surround yourself around people who are supportive even if they cannot see the end goal. It makes the experience less worrisome when you have that support group. No one will be in harmony with the goal like you because it’s part of your consciousness!
Align yourself with partners that believe in you! During this process I have align myself with partners who believe in me, my brand and really are passionate about the products and services my companies are providing.
Can you share with our readers what you think are the most important “success habits” or “success mindsets”?
The importance of setting goals and the proper way to attain them.
Establish a daily gratitude practice. I learned from mentors the importance of having a daily gratitude practice and when faced with adversity to remember to express gratitude.
Always keep positive mental attitude.
Action must be taken in spite of doubt, fear and any other negative factors.
Trust your intuition when making decisions.
Act as if the goal is already completed and it will be.
Enjoy the journey and trust the process.
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
Perhaps you have a growing family and struggle to find convenient yet healthy meal options for every day of the week. Maybe you feel your constant battle with weight gain, brain fog, and food allergens deserve attention. Perhaps you are ready to help America diminish the obesity issue in children and adults. Introducing Alkaline Fresh! We help young adults, athletes, and families eat healthy foods. We do this by providing ready-made, plant-based foods for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Imagine arriving home from work to find your Alkaline Fresh box on your doorstep. That feeling of relief you get when you see the Alkaline Fresh box and know all you have to do is heat your meals and not worry about the millions of details necessary to cook a fresh, healthy meal.
Hello, I’m Brandon Burrell, Former Wall Street Investment Banker, Serial International Entrepreneur & Founder of Alkaline Fresh. I have partnerships and conduct business in over 8 countries in the culinary, maritime, hotel, and financial services.
After years of enjoying an alkaline diet, I realized that most consumers have limited options to purchase quick, healthy alkaline meals. Most market options use low protein, low fiber ingredients enriched with soy and other additives such as thickening agents or gluten, which is not suitable for anyone. Customers don’t have the option to purchase premium, ready-made plant-based alkaline meals.
The Future Is Now: Jenna Yim of ProtoPie On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene
Everybody Wants To Feel Important — We spend at least 8 hours a day at work with our team members. That’s ⅓ of the day! What we often don’t acknowledge is the influence that has on us and the influence we have on each other.
As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jenna Yim.
Jenna Yim is the president and chief strategy officer of ProtoPie, the codeless interactive design tool ProtoPie. Yim has spent 18 years diving deep into digital ecosystems, digital transformation and user experience strategy to bring large and complex digital projects to life. Her global perspective on user experience and digital strategy was forged by working across Asia and North America. In the latter, she spent over 12 years driving digital expertise for creative businesses such as Isobar, Publicis, and No Fixed Address by making her mark as VP, Solutions Strategy and Customer Experience at FCB/Six providing strategic partnership to C-level clients of global brands. Over the course of her career, she has played a pivotal role in creating successful digital & mobile foundations for global brands including LG, Samsung, BMO, WestJet, The Home Depot, and AXA Insurance. Now back in her native South Korea, she is defining the future of digital design as a global business leader and Chief Strategy Officer for ProtoPie.
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 speak Korean and English, but my first language is digital. I’ve spent the last 18 years deep-diving into digital ecosystems, from user experience to digital transformations, I’ve loved bringing complex and unique projects to life. I consider myself very fortunate in that I was able to develop a truly global perspective on UX and strategy by working in two very different continents — East Asia and North America.
I spent 15 years in North America working as VP of solutions, strategy, and customer experience, strategically partnering with C-level clients from global brands and guiding an extremely talented team to thrive and deliver results. From LG to Samsung, BMO to Home Depot, I have contributed to creating successful digital and mobile foundations for some of the most recognised brands.
Now back home in South Korea, I’m a global business leader, strategist, maximizer and chief strategy officer of Studio XID, a company that provides the code-less interactive design tool ProtoPi’. I’m responsible for the full operation of the Growth and Customer Success Division. It’s been a journey, but I am very much in love with what I do — the passion, curiosity and tenacity that stems from that really drives me to deliver the best solutions I can.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
This might not be the most interesting story, but it’s definitely the most challenging part of my life and career. In 2017, at the peak of my career, I got a severe concussion from a very unfortunate accident. Overnight I went from a high-functioning, intelligent woman to a person with a two-digit IQ who couldn’t even go outside without physical pain and emotional fear. Since then, it has been a long journey of recovery and adaptation of my “new” limited capabilities. It was a very difficult journey but as a result, I believe I became a better leader who understands the power of caring for others, values empathy at work, and knows how to motivate others and support them to overcome difficulties they encountered.
Can you tell us about the Cutting edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?
I work on the strategic direction of a product called ProtoPie. ProtoPie is a powerful software used to create interactive prototypes to communicate and demonstrate creative ideas with others. Imagine that you have a mobile app idea that you want to show to your potential investors. It used to take a lot of time and effort to find designers and engineers who could create a functional demo. With ProtoPie, you can create this functional prototype on your own. The tool lets you express your idea without coding. Instead of spending hours on coding, users can focus on articulating their ideas and exploring various options before finding the right solution. I’m currently working on expanding the capabilities of ProtoPie so that users can not only explore their idea but publish it as a final product. From the conception to creation of interactive digital products, ProtoPie will empower users to go through this journey as easy as pie.
How do you think this might change the world?
Just like YouTube influenced everybody to become a content creator, I believe ProtoPie can empower everybody to become creators. One doesn’t have to be a designer or engineer, but anybody with creative ideas can create digital products. Parents can create a mobile app for kids to learn math, an entrepreneur can create a concept product to find potential investors, and a student can create a tablet game he can play with his friends. By eliminating the obstacles of coding, we can change the world of interactive digital products.
Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
Just like the drawbacks of user-generated videos that could be created for abusive and harmful purposes, user-generated digital products could benefit or harm others based on the creator’s intentions. A tool like ProtoPie empowers people to create something, but proper guidance or education is required for all creators about harmful contents and utilities.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?
The most meaningful tipping point was actually at the beginning of our journey. Tony, our CEO and co-founder, was questioning how interactive ideas can be expressed without the core message being lost in translation. He was inspired by the simplicity of music notes where beautiful pieces of music can be expressed through a combination of simple symbols. He created a concept model of ProtoPie by defining basic elements of interactions as triggers & responses. By combining 25 triggers and 17 responses, you can pretty much express any interactive ideas. That’s pretty cool, huh?
What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?
The most challenging part of ProtoPie’s adoption is that people simply don’t know they can create something without code or coding experience. We recently released a voice prototyping feature where users can demonstrate a voice-activated experience, similar to Siri or Alexa, through the prototype. However, most people will assume that they will need an engineer’s help to create this experience. Breaking the current perception of technical limitations; that is our challenge.
What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?
Because ProtoPie is very innovative, we decided to use a more traditional method of marketing to break the perception. We created a beautiful 3D animation video to tell the story of a creator’s journey. We delivered the message very beautifully without an overwhelming use of technical jargon or flashy marketing copies. We just wanted to deliver the message that “an idea stuck in your head is just an idea. Free your idea with ProtoPie.”
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 way too many people who helped me in my journey, so I found this question particularly hard. If I really had to name one person, then I would have to say Lori Ralko, who was my psychotherapist. She helped me understand my inner strengths and made me believe I am much stronger than how I see myself. Especially during my recovery from the accident and concussion, there was a moment when I thought I would never be able to be back to who I was again. Then, with her help, I was able to realize that I don’t need to go back to who I was. I have power to create a “New Me” who will be even stronger and wiser than before.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I know there are many intelligent and great leaders (and potential leaders) out there. But I also know that even those who we think are the greatest, have their own doubts, insecurities and fears. I try to be very open and honest about the struggles I had along the way, rather than emphasizing the shiny and glamorous parts. Even if there are only one or two people who may be experiencing similar challenges, I think it is still worth letting them know that they are not alone.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
Everybody Wants To Feel Important — We spend at least 8 hours a day at work with our team members. That’s ⅓ of the day! What we often don’t acknowledge is the influence that has on us and the influence we have on each other. As a leader, you have to remember that one careless word can really ruin someone’s whole day. When we wake up in the morning and go to work, there isn’t a single person who thinks, “I want to have the most meaningless day.” Everybody wants to be recognized, appreciated, and believe that they contributed to something that matters. If we remember this then the way we treat each other will be better and we will all have a more meaningful ⅓ of a day, every day.
Your Energy Is Your Leadership — When I think of the great leaders I have met in my life, they always had a smile on their faces and positive energy shining through regardless of the time of day or mood they were in. Great leaders know how to bring positive energy to the room and deliver it to people around them.
Define Your Goals Based On Intrinsic Values, Not Extrinsic Values — When I see a team member’s career development plan, I often notice that their career goal is to be promoted or to get a salary raise. The thing is that promotions and salary increases are the outcomes of the evaluation. Basically, it is a KPI of your performance, not something you can decide or control. Create your career goals based on the capabilities you want to gain, skills you want to improve, and growth you want to achieve. Then, sooner than later, you’ll be able to achieve the outcome as a result.
Success Is Achieved By Developing Your Strengths, Not Eliminating Your Weaknesses — What are your top strengths? This is a simple question and so often asked during an interview. You may answer this well during the interview, but once you start the job, quickly you start feeling insecure and thinking about all the things you may not be good at. Be confident. Be aware of your own talents and strengths. Focus on excelling at what you are good at and find a partner who can compliment your weakness, rather than trying to be good at everything. You’ll soon realize that you are not only more successful but also happier in life.
Bring Solutions, Not Complaints — This is very simple but often gets forgotten. Many people easily can find something they don’t like or they have trouble with. However, not many people see it as an opportunity to come up with solutions to make the situation better. Just a simple attitude change will bring drastic improvements to your relationships, communications and performances at 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.
Respect for Diversity — We are all different human beings with different personalities, perspectives, lifestyles, languages, races, gender, and so on. We all need to stop expecting others to be the same as we are and learn how to respect and embrace differences. I believe the world will be a better place if we all try to understand these differences because they really are our biggest strength.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“I love who I’ve been, but I really love who I’m becoming.” — Dulce Ruby
Even when I thought I had rock bottom, when I was going through illnesses or difficulties, I was learning and growing. I truly believe that I became a better person as a result. This quote inspires me not to be afraid of the unknown future because I now know that the future me will always be the better version of me.
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
#Design #No-Code #Productivity #EnterpriseSaaS #Innovation ProtoPie has the full potential in this up-and-coming market and growing user demands. Contact us!
Non-Fungible Tokens: Devesh Mamtani On The 5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry
KYR (Know your risk) — First and foremost, it is very important to understand the risks that come with this investment type. It is important to know about the risks involved.
Many have observed that we are at the cusp of an NFT boom. The thing is, it’s so cutting edge that many people don’t know what it is. What exactly is an NFT, and how can one create a lucrative career out of selling them? To address this, as a part of our interview series called “5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Devesh Mamtani, Chief Market Strategist at Century Financial
Devesh Mamtani joined Century Financial in January 2017. He is responsible for risk monitoring and evaluation and the supervision of the research and trading divisions at the firm. He also heads algo- trading for the organization.
Prior to joining Century Financial, Devesh was the Deputy Vice President for Global Wealth Management at the Edelweiss Group — India’s leading diversified financial services company.
Devesh’s illustrious career kicked off in 2007 when he joined Deloitte Consulting (India) as an Associate Analyst before joining Motilal Oswal Securities — India’s leading integrated financial services company a year later.
He later joined Asit C. Mehta as its Senior Vice President for Asset Management, then moved to Edelweiss Group.
Devesh holds a Bachelors’s Degree in Information Technology Engineering from Thadomal Shahani Engineering College in 2007 and is also a certified Financial Risk Manager.
Devesh is a regular speaker at Investment-related events in UAE and also writes articles for leading business and economical publications in UAE
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory and how you grew up?
I grew up in India, where I completed my engineering degree specializing in information technology. Mathematics has always been a passion for me, and I soon realized that I could make a career out of it. Hence, I cleared FRM in order to hone my risk management skills. I was fortunate enough to be a part of the team that led the algo trading space in India. My parents ran a business along with an NGO for animals. This helped me in developing business acumen along with empathy. In my free time, I enjoy a good game of tennis, football or cricket as sports have always helped me in decluttering my mind. I am a firm believer in forming win-win partnerships and growing together.
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?
There are a couple of books that I keep coming back to on a daily basis. “The 7 habits of highly effective people” by Stephen R. Covey is a book that I have learnt a lot from. I feel it has a holistic view of how to approach life in an efficient manner. The book resonated with me as I firmly believe in taking responsibility for your actions. I also draw immense inspiration from “Rafa: My Story”, the autobiography of my idol Rafael Nadal. It has time and again motivated me to constantly strive for excellence.
Is there a particular story that inspired you to pursue a career in this new industry? We’d love to hear it.
I enjoy taking up initiatives that satiate my curiosity. I constantly wonder about what could be the next big thing that changes the world. As a result of this, in the beginning of my career itself, I was a part of the pioneering algorithmic trading team when algo trading was a lesser-known term in India. Since then, I have witnessed the finance industry evolve from one form to another. Currently, I feel NFTs are one of the future forms the industry could evolve into, and hence I am trying my hands in them.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this fascinating career?
The beauty of the finance industry is that you have tons of anecdotes for the future generation. Recently, the way blockchain and cryptocurrencies have exploded onto the scene is incredible. From a handful of people knowing about them to it being discussed, accepted, and adapted by billions in a short span of time makes it one of the most interesting stories to tell. Talking about cryptos and not mention The Beeple auction price of 69 Million is unthinkable. A colleague of mine suggested that I should buy some cryptocurrency and later on said that he was joking. The joke made me 10K USD.
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?
As mentioned before, I had chanced upon an opportunity to be part of a then-upcoming field (more than a decade ago) called Algorithm trading. It was exciting to be one of the first people to do this in India. When we launched the first algo, it felt like it would be one of the biggest things in the industry. Once, a slight error in the code led to a sizeable financial loss which we were able to more than cover up eventually. This made me realize the flip side of high speed and high computational power. My colleagues and I still joke about it and call it tuition fee. This incident taught me that one needs to be careful in the world of technology.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I feel success is a very ambiguous and subjective word. I am grateful for what I am doing. I have been blessed to work with many great people. However, there are three who deserve a special mention — Mr. Bal Krishen Rathore, Mr. Nadeem Khan, and Mr. Vijay Valecha. I call them the holy trinity. They have been paramount in my career growth. In 2020, one fine evening, we happened to discuss the possibility of starting a fan engagement platform. Little did I know that with the support of these three, we would start Boomer11, UAE’s one of the first fan engagement platform. I also am indebted to my family for their constant support and love.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
I am part of a couple of projects which we hope would add huge value to people. One of them is a fan engagement platform which I hope every sports lover shall enjoy using. The other one would give people an opportunity to invest in real estate in a new and innovative way. We are hopeful that both of these projects should be useful to users.
Ok super. Thank you for all that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. I’m sure you get this question all the time. But for the benefit of our readers, can you explain in your own words what an NFT is, and why people are spending so much money on them?
A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unit of data stored on a digital ledger, called a blockchain, that certifies a digital asset to be unique and therefore not interchangeable. At this point, a good description of NFT would be a collectible. They are unique digital assets or what can be called as one of a kind assets in the digital world.
A lot of people are looking at NFTs as collecting art. The spending seen on Beeple auction, Grimes Video, Jack Dorsey tweet, and many others have made artists and people believe that there is a huge demand for NFTs. People are spending on these as they believe this a unique opportunity to have a claim on future royalties as well as the satisfaction of owning the asset.
The NFT industry seems so exciting right now. What are the 3 things in particular that most excite you about the industry? If you can, please share a story or example for each.
Value for Creators — It is an excellent way for creators to monetize their work.
Fan Value — An excellent way for fans to own collectibles of their favorite creators.
Acceptance — NFTs have seen a quicker acceptance than other use cases in the blockchain world. If the sustainability issue is solved, then we shall see many more accept NFTs. This space could explode, especially with interest from so many creators.
What are the 3 things that concern you about the industry? Can you explain? What can be done to address those concerns?
Power Consumption — With the electricity consumption of cryptocurrencies being more in several countries, the rush towards NFTs has further increased this issue. This is a very concerning issue as the carbon footprint is massive.
Hacking — The underlying assumption is that the security of a blockchain ecosystem is full-proof and un-hackable. However, history has shown that this is not the case.
Acceptance issue/Regulatory — Perhaps the biggest fear for crypto & NFT investors is any market downfall on account of an outright ban on the mining operations
Switching over to protocols like proof of stake is one of the many solutions to the problem. Another possible alternative would be for the developer community & miners to invest back some of their rewards in renewable assets space.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about NFTs? Can you explain what you mean?
The biggest myth probably is that the digital assets cannot be hacked. Some reports say that users of NFT marketplace Nifty Gateway said hackers stole digital artwork worth thousands of dollars from their accounts. Some people who were hacked also said their credit cards on file were used to purchase additional NFTs.
What are the most common mistakes you have seen people make when they enter the NFT industry. What can be done to avoid that?
People are getting carried away by investing in probably everything as there is a lot of buzz in the space. Investors need to understand the risks of this space. They should also know that there can be duplicates of the NFT they have invested in. To avoid this, the most important thing is learning more and having the satisfaction of owning the NFT without considering the value it may have in the future.
How do you think NFTs have the potential to help society in the future?
This could be the way collectibles and digital assets are sold in the future. It could generate fair and great value for artists. It may become very big in years to come as it is seeing interest already from big brands like NBA, Nike, etc.
Ok, fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry?” (Please share a story or example for each.)
KYR (Know your risk) — First and foremost, it is very important to understand the risks that come with this investment type. It is important to know about the risks involved.
Take a chance — If would don’t buy the lottery, then you won’t win the jackpot. The rally in the space is crazy. What better time than now. Invest or buy an asset that gives you the satisfaction of owning it
Creators — Add all the content that you have made; you really never know what would sell for how much. Ask Mike Winkelmann.
Selection — While selecting what could be a good digital asset to invest in or create, try to focus on it being the first of its kind. Like the first tweet, first 5000 days etc. This could be an excellent way to select from the many options available.
Be updated about this space — currently, Ethereum is being used, but you never know, a push towards sustainability could see a demand for Tezos.
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.
Education for all. I think education is essential for everyone. It is a fundamental right that every human being has. Education plus basic finance knowledge should be provided to everyone who cannot afford it. This shall help change the world to make it a better place.
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
Breakfast with Rafael Nadal. I would love to ask him, how he can be so humble even after achieving nearly everything in the sport of Tennis. I would like to speak to him about his never-give-up attitude. How does he go on and on and on!
Thank you so much for these excellent stories and insights. We wish you continued success on your great work!
Brand Makeovers: Sue Reninger of RMD Advertising On The 5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image
Stay connected to your consumers/market: In a world of social media, most brands have become more similar than different. Some have violated the essence of the brand to join the ever-growing category of “edgy brands” in the social space. But the best communities are those that attract brand lovers: consumers and category advocates that WANT to share their thoughts/opinions, and enjoy being a part of the creation or recreation of a brand.
As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview Sue Reninger.
Since founding RMD Advertising in 1992, Sue has been responsible for the complete strategy and direction of RMD’s Columbus-based flagship office. Sue knows what it takes to successfully market and grow an emerging food business. As Managing Partner of RMD, she works with clients such as Rudolph Foods, Barney Butter, Bil-Jac Dog Food, Little Caesars Fundraising, Graeter’s Ice Cream and ParmCrisps/THINSTERS to develop new strategies for their businesses and distinctive brands.
Her talent as a manager and leader has given rise to RMD’s employee and client-focused culture, which, at its core, has a creative and engaging environment. Sue is the past President of the American Marketing Association, where during her tenure as President, earned the prestigious honor of being named the International Chapter of the Year. She is also a past Advisory Board member of the International AMA’s Chapter Council, past member of the Board of Directors of Central Ohio’s Alzheimer’s Association, as well as past member of Communities In Schools and the Hunger Food Alliance.
She has also co-founded Wagons Ho Ho Ho, a 501c3 charity that serves children in dire need with HOPE. Each year in December, the charity buys, builds and stuffs red wagons with a Christmas dinner, and delivers them to the state’s neediest children and families. In all, 1,500 families and children are served by Wagons Ho Ho Ho, through the help of more than 700 volunteers who build the wagons in one day.
She has been honored with the prestigious NAWBO Visionary Award and Marketer of the Year from the American Marketing Association.
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 grew up on a strict diet of Bewitched and David Ogilvy. Bewitched cast a husband who was in the advertising agency business. In each episode, he struggled to come up with an appropriate campaign. I knew then, at the ripe age of 6, that I wanted to be in that industry. As I got older, I found myself greatly interested in David Ogilvy, the father of the advertising agency business.
After college, I joined an advertising agency, where I learned a lot. But I also had the distinct thought, “there must be a better way to strike a win/win between the agency’s profitability and the client’s needs”. That was the beginning of RMD Advertising. Still to this day, I can honestly say I was led to this career.
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, no mistake when you’re starting out feels funny at the time — they feel rather terrifying. However, one story revolves around a direct mail campaign we were creating for a client. It was to be a pre-show mailer for a major, national tradeshow. Everyone in the industry was attending, and our challenge was to design a pre-show mailer that would capture attendees’ attention — ensuring they came to our client’s booth.
We designed an amazingly creative piece. It showcased a duck, with a baby’s safety pin penetrating through the heavy card stock (this piece was for a neo-natal nurses show). The pins were glued, and we took the concept to a branch of the U.S. Post Office for approval. At the time, this was a VERY large spend for the client. Significantly large … as the database was large.
On the eve of the show, our client called, angrily, to inquire WHY her pre-show mailer was still at the post office. The post office general had called her directly to inform her the mailings violated their safety standards, and all 100,000 pieces needed retrieved immediately.
Looking back: of course they were disallowed. But at the time, creativity (not brand) was king to a young startup.
After a sleepless night of worrying, and quite a bit of brainstorming over how to get out of this dilemma, I woke up in the morning with the only solution possible: admit blame, take responsibility and provide a next best solution (which involved a custom post show mailer at our expense).
It was difficult, but I remember choking down the words as I asked the client after presenting the next best solution, “will you find a way to forgive us, and to continue working with us?” I’m forever grateful for her response, because it taught me grace, and the importance of extending it often. She remarked, “Yes, we will — mainly because we’re impressed with your willingness to solve the problem, not simply dump it at us, and to shoulder the financial responsibility accordingly. That shows character and integrity, something we don’t often find.”
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?
Most definitely.
After nearly a decade and a half in the agency business, we gained (and then loss after three years) the darling account of the agency, a food client. At the time, like most agencies, we focused on whatever work we could find — healthcare, technology and manufacturing, etc. EVERYONE wanted to play on this account, and when it was lost, we were heart-broken, all of us.
It was in that moment in our conference room, while I was breaking the news to the team, that one lone hand raised and inquired, “why don’t we just pitch ONLY food brands?” And that was the beginning of the new RMD — an agency that to this day focuses solely on food and beverage brands.
A brand strategy lesson: Brands ARE aided by sacrifice. This focus on the food/beverage category overall, and specifically on challenger brands, has allowed us to become EXPERT in serving these clients. And today, I can say humbly that we perform better in this category than any other agency.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
I’m always working on something exciting — doing so helps me to live two of my core principles: continuous learning and contribution.
Currently at the agency, we’re growing faster than we ever have in the 29 years we’ve been around. We’re using that growth as fuel to attract new talent and new clients that push us to grow and expand ongoing. Aside from the agency, I’m currently writing three books, based on life experiences and core philosophies (one is a children’s book), and this year, our charity (WagonsHoHoHo.org) will be expanding from one state to three.
What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?
Honestly, I believe burnout comes from NOT having enough to stimulate yourself. I also wholeheartedly believe it comes from not contributing enough. Many people think it comes from working too hard or doing too much. I’ve had periods of my life when I’ve worked very hard (which is my typical state), and I’ve had periods of my life when I’ve taken it easy. For me, always working and always contributing makes the difference. It’s when we lose touch with, or neglect, the reasons behind what we do (and no, money is not a strong enough motivator), that we become burned out.
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 my own words, product marketing is the art of bringing a product that is already needed by a group of individuals to market, and helping them to learn about that product.
Brand marketing, on the other hand, is about creating something much greater. Brand marketing is less about education and more about helping consumers feel something about that product or company. By connecting consumers to a sense of nostalgia, a reason to believe in the brand, or emotional experiences, brand love is eventually created. It cannot be created quickly, as it’s much like a relationship that must be nourished over time. When consumers are willing to select and purchase that brand over time, despite other options or the price of the product, brand love has been achieved.
Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?
A brand, once built, is long-lasting. It’s very difficult for a new product to come to market and take market share away from a product that’s already built a following of brand lovers. In fact, studies have shown that once a brand owns a place in consumers’ hearts, new competitors often must spend three times more to even penetrate a portion of market share.
Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?
Often, food brands especially, will embark on a “rebranding” venture. Many mistake a brand for a logo or a look/feel/label of a product. But if a brand is built in the heart of the consumer, and placed there through experiences, changing a logo or a look of a product technically isn’t a “rebrand”. Still, products will often change their look/feel to remain relevant to consumers and their expectations of what a product that is “current” should look like. In the food business, it’s really about shelf appeal — which is important.
Further, studies have demonstrated over and over the impact of a proper “brand” and how a refresh can dramatically increase sales and relevancy, if the new look/feel is directed by research and hits the mark with consumers.
Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?
If a “rebrand” is done based on “gut” or instinct, it can fail. If the purpose of enhancing the shelf presence or look and feel is to become more relevant to consumers, a founder can sometimes feel too close to the product and think they know what’s best for the consumer.
When this happens, there can be a “miss” and sales, brand and market share suffer. There are some brands who enjoy a nostalgic connection with consumers. It’s rare, but when the brand resides so deeply in the heart of those consumers, a brand refresh could actually be rejected by fans and brand lovers.
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.
Understand and define your core values: What does the brand stand for? What needs does it meet? What are you most known for?
When Graeter’s Ice Cream looks for innovation, it refuses to pivot from the core foundation that it was built on 150 years ago. Today, the brand is the ONLY craft ice cream brand still owned by a family and using the original French Pot process. This process is unsurpassed for making the best quality and the richest, creamiest ice cream. It always has and always will remain at the core of what it does.
Audit the brand: Are there any products in the line that do not “fit” or that violate the brand promise? What is the culture of the brand? Is the true essence of the brand being adequately communicated in a 360 fashion, such as with PR, social media, advertising, internal communications, etc.? Is the brand’s communication authentic?
Doing this important step is the fastest way to earn consumer trust. When Southern Recipe Small Batch reinvented the pork rind category, and turned the appeal to millennials, predominantly females, it did so in a way that everything that touched consumers made the brand more believable and relatable. Today, five years later, it remains the #1 pork rind in America, and single-handedly changed the way America thinks about this high protein, low carb, Keto-friendly snacks.
Continually grow and learn: Few curves are sharper than the marketing curve, especially now. Keeping up with competitive innovations, movements in dissimilar categories that can be adapted by your brand, how you communicate and more — all of this is important to the brand. An ever-growing brand must have an insatiable appetite to stay alert, learn and grow.
Stay connected to your consumers/market: In a world of social media, most brands have become more similar than different. Some have violated the essence of the brand to join the ever-growing category of “edgy brands” in the social space. But the best communities are those that attract brand lovers: consumers and category advocates that WANT to share their thoughts/opinions, and enjoy being a part of the creation or recreation of a brand.
Be true to the brand amidst fear: In a competitive, outspoken world, it’s often terrifying for a brand that receives negative reviews and polarizing posts as the public speaks. It’s important at this point to return to the core of the brand amidst troubling times and respond quickly in an appropriate, brand-centric way. Diplomacy is always important, but equally important is the 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?
There have been a lot of really great case studies of strong rebrands over time. Two of my favorites are Taco Bell, of recent, and Betty White. I’m impressed with Taco Bell’s ability to adapt to the ultra-instant gratification needs of their current consumer — in look, feel, product and delivery method. The pivot was admirable as well.
In a non-food arena, no one can argue against Betty White’s ability to remain relevant as a brand. She has stayed true to who she is throughout many decades, while adjusting her brand and herself to a changing package, a changing audience and changing times. As one of our most iconic brands today, although a bit unconventional, she optimizes what it means to remain relevant and find ways into the hearts and the minds of a very diverse group of “consumers”.
The lessons in both of these case studies are important: remain relevant and stay true to your core brand while understanding what makes the brand beloved. Repackage when needed and stay close to the wants/needs/desires of your audience.
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 start a movement that brings families, all families, back to the dinner table. I firmly believe that family time is essential to building healthy families, yes — but also healthy individuals.
During dinner time, when a family gathers around the table, discusses their days, their dreams and their heartaches, real conversations begin. It’s here that families learn to trust, to communicate and to solve problems. Every single problem in our world today could be solved if we all learned to trust and dialogue just a little more.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
My dad once told me, “remember, no matter what they take from you, they can never take the experience. Even if it’s just 5 minutes of experience, that’s something you’ll always have.”
My dad was my hero and my mentor. I’ve tried to keep everything he taught me with me, but this nugget specifically has guided me always to seek to learn, and more importantly, to experience every new adventure, no matter how small, in a long-lasting way. I truly do believe that there’s something to be found that can be carried with us as we move forward in life.
How can our readers follow you online?
RMD Advertising on Social @RMDAdvertising Sue Reninger on Social @SueReninger www.RMDAdvertising.com
Thank you so much for sharing your time and your excellent insights! We wish you continued success.
Non-Fungible Tokens: Robert Norton of Verisart On The 5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry
Keep up with the technology. NFTs are changing very fast, and just because you understand them today doesn’t mean you’ll remain in a knowledgeable position tomorrow.
Many have observed that we are at the cusp of an NFT boom. The thing is, it’s so cutting edge, that many people don’t know what it is. What exactly is an NFT and how can one create a lucrative career out of selling them? To address this, as a part of our interview series called “5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry”, we had the pleasure of interviewingRobert Norton.
Robert is an entrepreneur with a passion for art and technology. Before establishing Verisart, he was the co-founder and CEO of Saatchi Art and Sedition Art. Previously he worked on the executive management team at King.com and AOL Europe.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory and how you grew up?
I grew up in Hampstead in London, which is an area known for being the home to many artists and writers. The poet John Keats had a house not far from where we lived. It’s a pretty neighborhood known for its wide, open parkland called Hampstead Heath. I studied in London and Oxford, and then started life as a journalist for Reuters before moving on to AOL. I’ve been working with digital media and internet businesses ever since.
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 studied English literature and Modern History at Oxford University, and was a great admirer of the poetry of Sylvia Plath in my teenage years and the short stories and novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald in my 20s. “The Great Gatsby” remains one of my favorite books, because it manages to be both concise and lyrical and keeps you wondering and wanting more.
Is there a particular story that inspired you to pursue a career in this new industry? We’d love to hear it.
Having co-founded and led two other startups in the intersection of art and technology, Saatchi Art and Sedition Art, I was familiar with how artists used new technologies across their practises. However, I wasn’t too knowledgeable about blockchain and how this technology could be applied to the art market until the artist Casey Reas wrote to me about its possibilities in 2014. This started me thinking about how I could apply blockchain to the arts and collectibles market, and so began my idea for Verisart.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this fascinating career?
The first NFT we launched as part of the 10×10 series with SuperRare was a work by Neïl Beloufa, and was one of three NFTs that related to three large scale sculpture installations at a museum show at an exhibition called “Digital Mourning” at the Pirelli HangarBiccoca in Milan.
What was so interesting about this NFT is that the museum show itself had to be temporarily closed to the public due to a COVID resurgence in Milan. That meant that the only way for people to experience this show was through the NFT, which was aptly titled B, trying to reach out to its audience. That was a really intriguing moment in terms of how art finds new ways to connect us despite the occasional restrictions of the physical 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’m grateful to Shepard Fairey and his wife, Amanda Fairey, for seeing the potential in applying blockchain certification to the art market very early on, and for using the Verisart service for the registration of their works. I was also fortunate to learn from the incredible people in his studio, who helped us build a better product.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
We’re currently working on a range of initiatives, from better preservation standards for time-based media with museums, to AI algorithms that develop their own distinctive styles, to assisting galleries with strategies for entering the world of NFTs. All of these projects will lead to more art making its way into NFT marketplaces in a structured manner that empowers the artists and creators.
The NFT industry seems so exciting right now. What are the 3 things in particular that most excite you about the industry? If you can, please share a story or example for each.
NFTs are still very new. We’re comfortable working with evolving technologies, and there’s always the excitement of the new that comes along with them.
We also enjoy helping people navigate through new digital experiences, and NFTs certainly qualify in that regard.
Finally, we’re thrilled by the widespread consumer interest in owning digital assets, and intrigued to see how the collector proposition naturally evolves from where it is today.
What are the 3 things that concern you about the industry? Can you explain? What can be done to address those concerns?
Scams and fraud are a big problem. We’ve already seen instances where people believe they are buying from or supporting well-known artists but get fooled by fake accounts. It’s happened even on reputable platforms.
The other two concerns are related: people having their intellectual property rights breached, and NFTs that are minted on behalf of artists without their knowledge, depriving them of the revenue they should receive. There are numerous accounts on social media of artists who are surprised to see that NFTs are created based on their work.
These are issues that can be solved through education, by getting the word out to creators on how to protect their work and to buyers on how to know if what you’re buying is legitimate. We’re also actively advocating for clearer standards for verifying NFT art, including the additional information in the records of our own Verisart certification which can’t be found within the NFTs themselves.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about NFTs? Can you explain what you mean?
Because something’s online, it will be there forever. That’s a dangerous belief to hold, because history teaches (and will continue to teach us) that nothing is forever. Being sure you know what you’re buying when it comes to NFTs is crucial, because otherwise you may be at the mercy of a network or server that can be switched off and leave you with nothing,
An even bigger myth is that NFTs are a sure win and a quick way to make money. The reality is that the NFT market is very patchy. There are pockets of success, but also people who struggle to find their audience like in any creative industry.
What are the most common mistakes you have seen people make when they enter the NFT industry. What can be done to avoid that?
Entering the NFT market without a plan, and that goes for both individuals and companies. It’s easy to get seduced by the idea that this is a technology that you should be involved with simply because it’s receiving so much hype.
But FOMO is not a reason for participating. You should find the passions, artists and works that are meaningful to you.
How do you think NFTs have the potential to help society in the future?
NFTs have the potential to transcend borders in a more frictionless way, allowing for more creative collaboration. They’ll allow for a greater speed to market, thanks to a growing group of collectors who are willing and eager to engage with digital assets. The trading of NFT art will also speed up as a result.
Ok, fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry?” (Please share a story or example for each.)
1. Be in it for the long term. We’re just at the starting gate for consumer interest and adoption.
2. Learn by doing — don’t be afraid to dip your toe in the water. Like all emerging technologies, NFTs are a medium for iterative improvement, and each one doesn’t need to be a massive success.
3. Put out work that has meaning to you, as opposed to looking for quick market fits that may not have longevity.
4. Enter into dialogues with other people in the NFT industry. Since everyone is learning about this technology together, you’ll benefit from their experiences, and vice versa.
5. Keep up with the technology. NFTs are changing very fast, and just because you understand them today doesn’t mean you’ll remain in a knowledgeable position tomorrow.
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 really believe in the importance of our Fair Trade Art certificate, which allows people to immediately know when an artwork is doing something good in the world by generating proceeds for charitable causes. We’ve worked with Shepard Fairey and Amnesty International, as well as Rob Pruitt and the ACLU, and I hope to see other artists tackle the climate crisis with works that focus our attention on how we can do better to protect our Earth.
We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them
I’ve had the good fortune to meet many great artists, but I’ve never met Jeff Koons. I’d love a private breakfast with him because he has been at the forefront of contemporary art, with works that continue to dazzle and push forward how we see art.
Thank you so much for these excellent stories and insights. We wish you continued success on your great work!
The Future Is Now: Joe Chamdani of TuringSense On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene
The route that makes it easiest for customers is usually the best route, even if it’s the harder one. For example, when we started TuringSense, the easier route for us was to do what everyone else was doing, such as depending on the user to affix the sensors onto their bodies and to rely on them to provide a stable magnetic field environment. With hindsight, we should have seen sooner that both issues would have huge usability problems for consumers.
As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Joe Chamdani.
Joe Chamdani is CEO of TuringSense. A serial entrepreneur, Joe has co-founded two other companies with successful exits and raised over $80M in venture capital. Joe got his BS degrees in EE and CS at Washington University St. Louis and PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Georgia Tech.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
A mentor of mine told me one day that I would be happiest working at the bleeding edge of technology, and he was right! In fact, I was so eager to get going that while getting my PhD I was moonlighting as a research engineer at a computer systems lab. And when my doctorate was finished, it led to two patents and a job straight away with Sun Microsystems.
Can you share the most interesting story that has happened to you since you began your career?
Well, I’m not sure if this is the most interesting story, but it’s certainly the most interesting car rental story. For one of my companies, we were due to present the next day at a conference in another part of the country, but the product wasn’t totally ready, and I didn’t want to hop on a plane and leave the engineering team behind and be potentially out of touch with such a big deadline looming. So, with only 24 hours left, I rented an RV and put the entire product and engineering team in it, and we drove cross country for 12 hours, coding the whole way there. We arrived at our lodgings with a completed product and nailed the demo in the morning.
Can you tell us about the cutting-edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on?
Before PIVOT Yoga, the only way you could get reliable wireless motion capture information in real time was to use cameras and lots of them, the way Hollywood studios do. Those systems cost millions to buy and even hundreds of thousands to rent, because you also need specialized studios, technicians, software, and hardware.
But with PIVOT Yoga, our system is completely digital, with no cameras, and it only requires a smart phone app and our smart, “sensorized” yoga clothes, which we sell for $99 plus $19/month for unlimited classes.
When you choose a class through the app, the instructor appears on screen and PIVOT Yoga digitally inserts a live avatar of your body into the video, allowing side-by-side practice with the teacher. There is no equipment to set up, no cameras to position, and no furniture to move out of the way.
It’s hard to think of another product with a pricing and ease-of-use breakthrough like this one. We have calibrated our clothes against those massive Hollywood-sized camera installations, and we have virtually the same accuracy. Technically speaking, some of the component breakthroughs here were in sensor fusion, wireless protocols, error filtering, and other firmware.
How do you think that will help people?
Movement activities, like yoga and tennis, can’t really be learned out of a book. And honestly, it’s a little difficult to learn it even with a video demonstration like YouTube. Can you imagine paying for a tennis lesson or yoga class where the teacher never gave you any feedback? That’s what learning yoga through YouTube is like. We believe real-time feedback on your form is vital to learning well and quickly. At the end of the day, that’s what we provide: instant form feedback, whether it’s from a teacher directly (as in our live classes) or indirectly (in our on-demand classes). We really do want to teach the world to move.
How do you think this might change the world?
The bar for online instruction is going to be permanently raised and that’s a good thing. But beyond that, for activities like yoga, fear of doing things incorrectly is a big problem for beginners and it’s one of the things holding them back from exercising. In the US and in many parts of the world, there’s rising awareness for physical fitness and activity and anything we can do to keep people motivated and exercising is going to be important.
Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
It’s true that any technology can be misused. With our product there is an opportunity to get too obsessed about your form, we do recognize that. That’s why all of our performance tracking metrics require a little digging from the yogi to discover. We do want people to be interested in proper postures, but it’s possible to miss the forest for the trees, and the yoga for the asana. We hope we’ve gotten that balance right.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?
There were actually two really important moments. The first was when we noticed just how tough proprioception — the ability for a human being to know at any point where their body is in space — really is. In early tests, we asked yogis to close their eyes and raise both arms until they were level with their shoulders. It surprised us that nobody could do it! So, we started thinking hard about how to help yogis in this respect, and that led us to the product we have today, which puts a live avatar of the yogi’s body on screen.
The second big moment happened when we demoed our app in a high-rise building. It simply wouldn’t work properly, and we finally figured out the problem: the flooring of the building had lots of electrical conduits in it, and they were putting out a magnetic field that was causing havoc with our system, which depended at the time, like most motion capture systems on a stable magnetic field environment. That pushed us to make our product immune to magnetic fluctuations, which are all too common in consumer households, and I’m happy to say we succeeded.
What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?
Honestly, we feel like most of what we need are more great teachers on our PIVOT Yoga Teacher platform. We are scouring the world for them now.
What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?
Our focus right now is mostly on the product side of the business. We’ll start worrying about the other P’s (in the famous four P’s marketing expression) shortly.
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 so many people I could name, but one stands out: my father, who helped not so much with what he told me, but by the example he set.
My father was a CPA, but hardly a traditional one. His passion was for helping his clients grow their businesses, and his clients loved him for his out-of-the-box yet practical thinking. He was very hands on and even ran boot camps and other entrepreneur education sessions out of his office. He made most of his money from side investments, eventually leading him to start other businesses of his own. As my siblings and I grew up, there was always some new product being made in the house — from a printing press to soy sauce and furniture carvings. I always enjoyed watching employees make the products and tried to jump in to participate in the making and sales of these products. Eventually my dad’s furniture business took off, though it weathered some hard times when my father kept the business running to make sure that his employees still had incomes. And most importantly, I remember to this day that his customers used to do every deal with my father on a handshake, since they knew his word was as good as law.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
Well, most of what I work on starts out as an idea on a napkin. So, I never get tired of seeing ideas come to fruition after an insane amount of work and then seeing a smile on the face of a customer. Those are great moments. And along the way of building these businesses, it usually means jobs get created and careers get built. I’m even old enough now that several of the people I recruited to former companies have gone on to start their own businesses.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
I can think of 4!
The route that makes it easiest for customers is usually the best route, even if it’s the harder one. For example, when we started TuringSense, the easier route for us was to do what everyone else was doing, such as depending on the user to affix the sensors onto their bodies and to rely on them to provide a stable magnetic field environment. With hindsight, we should have seen sooner that both issues would have huge usability problems for consumers. Eventually we did, and it’s been great, but we had a lot of resistance internally to breaking the mold. But if the mold is hard on end users, it needs to get broken, and the sooner the better.
A little research goes a long way. I’ve often been tempted like many entrepreneurs to build things in consumer or even hardware spaces that I know a lot about already. That can work, but not always. While consumers can’t always tell you the answer you need, you can certainly look at what they currently do — what they use, what they spend their free time on, and so on — and learn from that.
Get the key hires right from day one. Early hires are so critical, particularly along core dimensions of a business. In a consumer business, product talent is super important, and you should sweat that first hire if you don’t already have that DNA. In some of my businesses, I’ve been slow to recognize that and regretted it later.
Learn faster, and practice tough love. I always feel that a team can learn faster. But where my teams have made mistakes, it’s almost always been on the “learning” part of the build-measure-learn loop. Part of the learning here is that you have to be willing to let go of approaches that don’t work sooner, or more precisely aren’t working well enough in the amount of time that it’s prudent to give them to develop. Most technologies will eventually work if you give them a lot of time, but young companies are always short on time and capital. So you have to be a little ruthless in weeding technologies that are going to take too much of either of those.
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.
Well, we think that teaching the world to move — our cause at TuringSense — is a pretty good calling. The developed world in particular has huge problems with obesity — over a third of US adults fit that description — and we know extra weight has enormous health implications. So, removing the barriers to exercise, and meeting people where they are (which is at home!) is really important. And by making it easier to learn proper form correctly, we can not only keep people safer as they exercise but also help develop the motivation to keep their exercise going. We’ve only just gotten started here.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Somebody once told me that startups are roller coaster rides, not moon shots. That’s given me important perspective because all of my companies have experienced ups and downs. If you know in advance to expect a rollercoaster ride, then you’ll be a lot likelier to hang on to the end.
Some very well known VCs read this column. If you had 60 seconds to make a pitch to a VC, what would you say?
We have a proprietary product that’s cheaper, better, and easier to use, by orders of magnitude, in a trillion-dollar industry at the intersection of fashion, fitness, gaming, and even physical therapy.
Non-Fungible Tokens: Yura Lazebnikov of WePlay Esports On The 5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry
…What we saw in this new technology was a new way to present ourselves and deliver our thoughts, a certain amount of creativity associated with the content that we had created and will create to our audience, not just by sharing it all at once, but by sharing the joy of owning it. As pretentious as it may sound, this is a concrete step forward in interacting with your users, your consumers who love your product and want to spend more time enjoying it.
Many have observed that we are at the cusp of an NFT boom. The thing is, it’s so cutting edge, that many people don’t know what it is. What exactly is an NFT and how can one create a lucrative career out of selling them? To address this, as a part of our interview series called “5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Yura Lazebnikov.
Yura Lazebnikov is an expert in IT integration, software development, and the creation of data centers. He started his first business in 2003 in the field of esports. In 2006, Yura Lazebnikov, together with business partner Oleg Krot, founded WePlay Esports. His achievements include taking it to the multinational level, with offices and esports studios from Hong Kong to Los Angeles. Yura Lazebnikov’sfocus is WePlay Esports’ strategic goals, partner engagement, and creating new global media and IT products.
His goal is to increase the market share of the WePlay Esports media holding company up to 25%.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory and how you grew up?
If we talk about my background, it probably presents a classic example of an IT entrepreneur who was into all things related to computers, gadgets, and computer games since childhood. At some point, my hobby started bringing me money little by little, which produced a number of streams of income that helped me earn and grow in various industries related to IT, video games, software development, outsourcing, and the construction of these infrastructures. And over all this time, my love of gaming hasn’t gone anywhere, which in the end took us to what we have today in the company WePlay Esports.
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?
In fact, if I think about it, there are probably a lot. Here’s an interesting story related to video games. When I was a very young kid, I had a computer game. It was the first version of the game Dune. Not the one that was a strategy yet, but the one that was a first-person RPG quest. I was probably 9 or 10 at the time — I don’t remember for sure. So, anyway, I couldn’t complete the game, because I would get very much stuck after the first, like, 10–20 minutes, because the ideology was like an impenetrable wall to me, and I didn’t know where to go or what to do. So, it was basically this game that inspired me to do two things at a very early age. First, I read all the Frank Herbert novels at that age, which definitely helped me complete the game as it was quite accurate to the first Dune novel. Second, it encouraged me to start learning English at least at a level that would help me understand the dialogues between the characters. So, this was a story from my childhood that probably influenced my formation as a person to some extent.
Is there a particular story that inspired you to pursue a career in this new industry? We’d love to hear it.
I guess there is no particular story. It was a combination of numerous circumstances, facts, events, other people’s successes, their stories, books, hobbies — this whole mix, which is always present in the life of each individual and affects their decisions every day. Chance meetings, the convergence of interests — that’s how it all happened. If I had to single out one story, like when I was walking, saw the northern lights, and decided to perform a specific action, I couldn’t because this was not the case. Louis Pasteur once said: “Chance favors the prepared mind.” So, there must have been some uninterrupted chain of events that led to a number of correct decisions, which led to career development. There sure were mistakes, obstacles, and setbacks, but judging by the fact that in the long term, we are moving forward quite energetically, this inspiration probably isn’t waning yet — it just keeps accumulating and driving us forward.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this fascinating career?
I can tell you, but it’s probably not a very interesting one. However, what happened was part of what influenced the formation of some sort of entrepreneurial mindset, and my career, too. When you move from school to college, numerous opportunities open up; you get a lot of freedom, and also thoroughly different parameters for life that apply to you, in fact, as an adult, when you stop being a schoolboy. So, in my first exam week at the end of the first term, I failed all the possible exams and tests, my grades were even below the threshold required to get to sit them. And this gave me an understanding that a lot of freedom comes, of course, with quite a lot of responsibility, and in the end, you have to sort everything out yourself, because it’s unlikely that someone will come and solve everything for you. It was a great lesson, and in the end, I passed all my exams very well, at the end of February or in March. And it had a strong impact on my formation, my understanding of the world, and so on. It was a good wake-up call, which made it obvious that with great freedom comes a lot of responsibility, and, my friend, you have to learn to solve any problems fast and basically by yourself. That was the story.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
There is actually a series of such stories, and I would hardly call them mistakes — I’d rather call them experience. We analyze all mistakes and move forward — just as I told you in my previous answer. I can recall our experience with the green screen at a tournament in 2016, which has contributed to the fact that WePlay Esports has now one of the strongest production teams in the world, and we are making the coolest content on the market. But at the time, it was a funny enough story that allowed us to learn a lot. Such stories are small, and they happen weekly, if not daily. They are all part of the set of factors making up our experience and progress. So, yes, I know that it echoes the previous question, but we get a lot of experience every day.
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?
At different stages in my life, there were, of course, different people. Of course, there were my parents, who gave me some basic capabilities, who believed in me, helped me, sometimes they would give me a push, sometimes they would discipline me, and sometimes, they were cool about things and did not scold me. Sometimes they also passed on their experience. It was in my teenage years, some sort of anti-childhood — my formative years. Then, quickly, I met Oleg Krot, my partner. We influence each other, and it’s hard to put anybody else at the same rank — that’s why we are partners, we grow and move forward together.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
There are actually many projects, both in my head and in development. You can give people either a feeling of joy and happiness or a sense of earning and increased prosperity through the projects that we are doing, if we don’t consider the social and charity projects that we have. As for our business projects, we either create products that make life or the world better, or they are products deliberately intended for earning money, which in the end still make people happier. That’s the only way we do projects. That is, we don’t do those that can harm anyone or can be detrimental to any of the parties in advance. That’s why, same as any IT entrepreneur for that matter, we are looking for undiscovered areas of the market and trying to combine many things like a puzzle. And if this puzzle comes together, there is a huge BOOM — fireworks exploding, someone has a smile on their face, someone has got more money, someone has more happiness and joy. So, that’s it.
Ok super. Thank you for all that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. I’m sure you get this question all the time. But for the benefit of our readers, can you explain in your own words what an NFT is, and why people are spending so much money on them?
That’s an easy question, compared to all the other questions that come at us from the crypto world, cryptocurrency and blockchain industry, and so on. Because, in fact, an NFT is just a digital asset, which does not appear to be any different from the assets that people had in earlier years. And if a person actually has an original Dali or Van Gogh in the basement, they don’t see it every day anyway, but the mere knowledge that they have this painting is heart-warming. And an NFT is a digital treasure of the same order. In other words, it’s a unique item that exists in the digital world, belongs to a certain person, can’t be replicated, and whose value depends on many factors. Basically, people have long been accustomed to owning digital or semi-digital derivative assets, such as company stocks, gold and precious metal derivatives, futures contracts, and so on. And no one normally has any qualms about them. Since we live in the 21st century and everyone spends a huge amount of their free and working time on the World Wide Web, it’s only logical that civilization has produced a certain type of asset that exists in this digital world. Thanks to blockchain technology, it is practically indestructible, its ownership is easily confirmed, and, basically, the only question that arises is that of the price of these assets. And as we well-know, in today’s world, things are worth exactly as much as people believe they should be worth. And the market for digital items, digital game currency, skins, accounts, and everything else has been around for years, and for some above — even decades. NFTs are just a sort of new step forward, a step-up in the cultural and business development of asset ownership on the Internet at the moment. And if you look at the essence of things, there is nothing new in it compared to owning any other type of asset, be it rare cars, a diamond ring, a baseball cap with an autograph of an athlete — there is no difference. It’s just another transferable thing, or, yes, a digital thing. Yet another prized possession that increases in value over time, that’s nice to own, to know that you have it somewhere, let’s say, in a digital vault or a cold digital wallet or platform. And you know that no one else has it. That’s what an NFT is.
The NFT industry seems so exciting right now. What are the 3 things in particular that most excite you about the industry? If you can, please share a story or example for each.
NFTs are now peaking as a trend since the technology has been around for quite a long time — several years already. Now everyone is talking about it. Again, there are things that make people more excited about this industry. First comes the easy access to acquiring these assets. That is, in fact, unlike with any other asset that exists in the physical world, you spend your money, cryptocurrency, conventional currency, and instantly get in your possession a digital asset that you can just as easily sell, auction off. It’s stored with you; it’s much easier to transport than any other type of asset. And if you really love something you’ve bought — a painting by an artist, a photo, a music track, a digital autographed card, a highlight reel, digital figurines, characters, etc., you can wrap many things up as NFTs. It makes it much easier for you to own them, and you get as much pleasure from owning them as from anything you bought on the market. And that’s probably where their secret lies. Because we as human beings have already come to the understanding that we don’t quite distinguish between the pleasure of owning digital and physical objects, so the trend for NFTs will grow, the industry will develop. Perhaps hype will decrease a bit. But, same as with the pandemic that, I hope, is declining in many regions, the number of cases is now much higher than it was a year ago, but everyone is talking about it much less. It will be the same with NFTs — more and more people will own them each day, the market will stabilize, it will become understandable and accessible to millions, hundreds of billions of people, but the feeling of hype will decrease, although the engaged audience will grow by tens and hundreds of times.
What are the 3 things that concern you about the industry? Can you explain? What can be done to address those concerns?
There are actually no concerns about the industry, and if we talk about the cryptocurrency industry, then it has nothing to do with NFTs. If there can be concerns about cryptocurrencies, like that it’s digital money with nothing behind it, and so on, NFTs are just a new format of asset ownership, as we just mentioned. So, if we talk about the industry, there is no entirely new industry — it’s the same one that sells paintings worldwide for tens of millions of dollars on Sotheby’s, the black market that sells one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry, people queuing for new collections from their favorite artists, so they can put them in storage or hang them on the wall of a private museum. And NFTs are just another commodity added to that list — it’s not a new industry, it’s the enrichment of the old one with new types of items that exist in the digital world. Therefore, there are probably no three things to be concerned about — there is hardly even one. This industry is not connected in any way with cryptocurrency, cryptocurrency exchanges, the rise or fall of Bitcoin, Vitalik Buterin’s remarks about Ethereum, or Elon Musk’s tweets about Dogecoin. There is just one base, it’s used in many honest NFTs, and blockchain technologies are used for storage. Blockchain is a centralized, deregulated data storage system. It’s basically a type of database. So calling it an industry is a bit of an overstatement. We at WePlay Esports often get asked about the esports industry. Sure, it does exist as an industry. But more and more often, I try to explain to people that it’s not a separate industry. It’s the good old sports industry, to which new disciplines get added. And a person who watched a boxing match on Friday night, the same person aged 25, who is, for example, interested in neuroscience, who loves video games, and spends their free time with their girlfriend or boyfriend, on Saturday night will watch a Counter-Strike matchup. Just because they like to consume competitive content, be it Formula 1, boxing, or Dota 2 — for people who have grown up in the 21st century, it makes no difference. It’s the same with NFTs — it’s just a new kind of asset that people who have money will want to own, will maybe want to earn some money from speculative trade, from reselling it; there will be a black market, a gray market, a white market. So, I think we needn’t worry about NFTs — they’re not going anywhere.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about NFTs? Can you explain what you mean?
We’ve just talked about this — it’s about them being non-existent things. “They are non-existent things” is one of the main myths in general, which concern not only NFTs but all the digital assets existing in the world: how can you spend money on something you can’t put your finger on? Well, for one thing, people very often spend money on things that they can’t keep or touch, for example, on services. If people endow a certain object with value — one can talk for a long time about the value of modern-day money, gold and reserve assets, the gold peg, etc. We can talk about whether modern money is worth anything in the understanding of the 19th century, for example (a small spoiler — it’s not). So, the main myth that people believe in is that if a certain asset exists in the digital world, it has no right to have a value in U.S. dollars or euros, and this is a myth and nonsense. Because if humanity as an entity endows a certain object a certain value, then this object automatically acquires this value. It’s somehow been working like this for 50 thousand years, and we all live with it — starting from the times of digging sticks, berries, and mammoth meat, and ending now, with NFTs, digital works of art, some unique things that only exist on the Internet, which are physically impossible to transfer to the real world.
What are the most common mistakes you have seen people make when they enter the NFT industry. What can be done to avoid that?
If we talk about mistakes and recommendations, I would probably like to address the security of storage. People are often quite messy when it comes to storing some of their data, accessing digital wallets, and so on. Most of our company projects exist in the digital space, which is why we are careful when it comes to cybersecurity. Therefore, when we were preparing the launch of WePlay Collectibles NFT project, we approached the issue of choosing a marketplace carefully, and selected a safe, reliable partner with a solid reputation — the leading international exchange and blockchain ecosystem Binance. They are launching the Binance NFT marketplace, and we have decided to present our first tokens from the Storyline collection at the platform’s auction as part of the “100 Creators” campaign.
We need to understand that if the asset is digital, the number of attackers and scammers who will try to set up schemes to steal NFTs and then resell them on a black, underground market will grow with each passing day. So, the biggest mistake that people can make is to be messy about the safety of their digital assets, because the number of people who will want to steal them will grow exponentially every day. So, I do have a recommendation — if you want to start owning this type of asset, work on your technological literacy. This basically applies to the ownership of assets of any type, be it stocks, cryptocurrency, shares in enterprises. You should always meticulously observe security measures that will allow you to continue to own these assets, regardless of the desire of scammers and people who want to take them from you.
How do you think NFTs have the potential to help society in the future?
As a matter of fact, it is one of the ways people can apply their creative and entrepreneurial potential. It’s another tool for self-expression for which other people are potentially willing to pay money. How will it help society? It will make the world a richer place in terms of art, music, and sports achievements, which can also be represented as NFTs. This will give artists the opportunity to look for new ways to earn money, new ways to express themselves, and that’s cool, that’s the way to go. Many people are horrified about the 21st century wiping out professions through automation, and trade unions are fighting tooth and nail to save thousands of jobs at companies. Here are the jobs — take them! More routine work will be done by ever more advanced algorithms, machines, robotic technologies, while this is where the human potential can apply itself — create some things that algorithms, neural networks, etc. are not yet capable of creating. Although, of course, there will be a place for them, too. But as in any other industry, handcrafted things will always cost more than those created by algorithms and mechanisms. So, there is this huge field of possibility for new professions, for earning money, for applying your intelligence and your creative abilities. That’s why this all is so cool.
Ok, fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry?” (Please share a story or example for each.)
That’s easy enough to answer using our example and our reasons for deciding to enter the NFT market. I can tie all my previous answers to this question. What we saw in this new technology was a new way to present ourselves and deliver our thoughts, a certain amount of creativity associated with the content that we had created and will create to our audience, not just by sharing it all at once, but by sharing the joy of owning it. As pretentious as it may sound, this is a concrete step forward in interacting with your users, your consumers who love your product and want to spend more time enjoying it. What we are doing with NFTs is something that I think companies from all industries that are not entirely b2b-oriented but have at least some connection with b2c will come to eventually. If you have a live person as a client, you want to touch them and share with them some part of what you do. And, at the same time, baseball caps and T-shirts with the company logo are already a cliché everyone is sick and tired of. On top of all that, in industries such as media and competitive gaming, in which WePlay Esports works, we accumulate a lot of complex, beautiful, and cool material that you can start releasing to the audience. That’s what we will use NFTs for. This is not some random tool that we decided to mass-produce, like some sort of baseball card equivalent, and give it away for a bit of money. No, it will be a large set of what are, in fact, our history and our thoughts, ideas, events — assets that are ours, which we will distribute among our audience, giving them the opportunity to own it all together! That’s what NFT is for us and how we got there.
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 seems to me that this is a trick question. It’s like, “If you know the answer to this question, why haven’t you done it yet, and if you don’t, why try to come up with some stupid thought just to answer it?” So, my answer to this question is that I honestly don’t know, but I sincerely believe that every day, all the people on the team and I, we all try to do it. And so, “the most amount of good to the most number of people” is what we do every day. In some things, we do better, in other things, we do worse. But if at some point we do have an epiphany and suddenly understand how to make sure that everyone has enough of everything, we will probably take that chance. However, the probability of this happening tends to absolute zero. My answer is part romantic, part cynical, but my point is that if someone says they know the answer, they are most likely either a fool or a liar.
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
Can I just briefly answer “No” to this question? Actually, as an entrepreneur, I try to pursue the meetings and opportunities that help move the business and what we do forward. If we talk about what we do in esports, then, of course, I would like to be able to convey my thoughts in a deeper, more interesting way to the people who make decisions as leaders of the global industry — at Valve, Epic Games, even though I really like what they both do. I am no less awed by what Blizzard, Riot Games, and so many others do. This doesn’t mean that there is no chance to have these meetings, but if the question is who I would like to have breakfast, lunch, or dinner with, then the more breakfasts and dinners I have in my life with people who we can mutually enrich and find some common ground for of our potential projects, the more fun it will be for everyone, and no matter how selfish it may sound, for the world as a whole. So, you can tag Gabe Newell and Electronic Arts Inc., Blizzard Entertainment Inc., and Epic Games Inc. top managers.
Our brains filter information based on our cultural background, upbringing, values, and so on. This bias impacts our ability to attract diverse talent.
