Beingwonderly Podcast

Solving problems and looking for the most suitable solution is a daily task in an entrepreneur’s life. In this episode, Amber Christian speaks to Maiseng Thao, a youth from Minnesota’s Junior Achievement, who shows a lot of promise at such a young age with her product, My Illumination. Maiseng talks about how she used her personal experiences as an inspiration for her product. Not only is it practical, but it also takes into consideration the environment and how it can aid in the increasing use of plastic around the globe. She also shares the deciding factors that the entrepreneurial community showed that ultimately hooked her into being one.

Out with the old and in with the new. This has always been the way of life in terms of advancement and, sooner or later, the next generation of entrepreneurs will be taking the market by storm. In this episode, Amber Christian interviews Zaria Hill and Nou Vang - the creators of Little Buddy, a device for keeping children out of harm's way, designed and conceptualized by young entrepreneurs. The creators talk about the inspiration behind this product and what they hope its application will be. Experience what it’s like, to begin with an idea and start your own company through the eyes of children.

We have four girls from Roseville Area High School who are all part of a Junior Achievement class, Melanie Soe, Colleen Vaj, Jennifer Vo, and Uviusia Vang. Together, they came up with a company called Empower Heels that aims to create shoes with adjustable heels at the click of a button. In this episode, they share the reason why they wanted to be part of Junior Academy. They also talk about the things that surprised them the most when they decided to start their own company. It’s never easy to put up your own, but starting young builds a great foundation for future entrepreneurial endeavors.  Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Here’s How » Join the BeingWonderly Community today: wonderlysoftwaresolutions.com BeingWonderly Twitter BeingWonderly LinkedIn

Often times, it’s an adult’s responsibility and obligation to pave the path and guide the youth into a better future. Teaching the next generation of entrepreneurs who discovered their passion and calling at an early age can prove to be a simple yet successful approach. Amber Christian asks some students that can represent their generation with similar interests their experience so far as having been able to get a taste of the industry. They share their passion and thoughts on creating their own company while showcasing their ideas and insights into what they expect entrepreneurship to be. Listen to James Hill, Deliing Chen, and Isabela Kunc of Write Away in this episode. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Here’s How » Join the BeingWonderly Community today: wonderlysoftwaresolutions.com BeingWonderly Twitter BeingWonderly LinkedIn

Job seeking in itself is a stressful process. As a job seeker, you often lose the power to concentrate on looking for a job when you fear having your identity plastered for the world to see. With software like The Invisible Network, your job-seeking venture can be done in peace. Today, Amber Christian interviews The Invisible Network’s developer and founder Matt Decuir about why and how he came up with creating the software. Discussing its main features and how employers can easily achieve the skills they are looking for, Matt also talks about his learnings from his discovery journey, his barriers to success, and how his wife has influenced his company’s growth. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Here’s How » Join the BeingWonderly Community today: wonderlysoftwaresolutions.com BeingWonderly Twitter BeingWonderly LinkedIn

When we think of technology, so often do we overlook any human involvement in them, thinking more of them as machines. Contrary to that kind of thinking, Michelle Maryns founded We Sparkle, an AI-powered SaaS social enterprise that incorporates human-centered design into their work. Michelle brings up the importance of human-centered design to products and services as well as their relationship with the users. She also gives her insights on AI assistants, chatbots, websites, plugins, and more, as well as the beauty of social entrepreneurship, the entrepreneur roller coaster, and being bootstrap entrepreneurs. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Here’s How » Join the BeingWonderly Community today: wonderlysoftwaresolutions.com BeingWonderly Twitter BeingWonderly LinkedIn

Farming is entrepreneurship and big farmers are the definition of an entrepreneur because as a farmer,  it’s like starting a new business every single year. You take out a loan to buy the inputs, the seed, and chemicals and fertilizers that you need, and then you plant your crop and then harvest at the end of the year. You get your checks and pay all the bills and pay the operating note. Our guest Janie Hanson lives in family farms and is involved with managing farmland and farming operation. She’s homebasing her company right where their customers are for the Croptomize product that they’re launching. Today, Janie explains what Croptomize is all about and how it’s helping farmers manage their commodity price risk.   Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Here’s How » Join the BeingWonderly Community today: wonderlysoftwaresolutions.com BeingWonderly Twitter BeingWonderly LinkedIn

Starting something small will only lead to something big if you have the right plan, right people, and right funding. In this episode, Casey Allen, commonly referred to as an ecosystem builder, shares to us how you can accelerate your growth in your perceived industry. Using sales as a major fund generator, he explains to us how he leverages investors to be part of his funding mechanism. For Casey, the key to any startup success is talking to the right decision-maker and conversing with the right investors. Thereby, interaction will always equate to growth. Moreover, Casey may be known for many things, but today, he is becoming more popular through the Enterprise Rising Conference held every year in Minnesota. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Here’s How » Join the BeingWonderly Community today: wonderlysoftwaresolutions.com BeingWonderly Twitter BeingWonderly LinkedIn

There is power in data and how it can be used. Having been in the data industry and in companies such as Google, data analytics expert Gauthier Vasseur could attest to that. Gauthier has an extensive background in all the different facets of data and where they can be applied. He joins us today to talk about the importance of data management and crafting your data strategy in being successful. He also touches on the common data challenges organizations run into, what data you need to collect along the way, and what to do with dirty data.   Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Here’s How » Join the BeingWonderly Community today: wonderlysoftwaresolutions.com BeingWonderly Twitter BeingWonderly LinkedIn

Finding your life’s purpose can be daunting especially when you are unclear about your goals. Mick White, the Founder of 100 Year Manifesto, talks about finding your purpose and building a life with intention in this episode. He explains what his boutique firm is all about and what they do to help guide people to become the better entrepreneurs that they ought to be. Having a framework geared towards achieving something for the greater good is always difficult at the beginning, but Mick says it all depends on your intention. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Here’s How » Join the BeingWonderly Community today: wonderlysoftwaresolutions.com BeingWonderly Twitter BeingWonderly LinkedIn

Privacy is a global issue and it becomes more complex to achieve especially in this digital age. We’re living in an era where our data is sold and we don’t really know what people are doing with it. However, there is a solution that has made it simpler for end-users to have the security they deserve. Amber Christian interviews Adam Stone, the VP of Consulting Services and Chief Privacy Officer of Secure Digital Solutions, on the subject concerning security and privacy. Adam introduces the term “privacy by design” which was created by Ann Cavoukian and how it was specifically made for users to have more trust and confidence in the products they are using. As Adam dives more into this topic, he also talks a little bit about his lecture on this creation, citing examples for each of the seven privacy by design principles.

After launching a new product, the new game then becomes gaining customer feedback. In this episode, host Amber Christian talks about how to gain powerful insights from customer testing. She outlines the 5 W’s – the who, what, where, when, and why are we doing this? -  she used to run a six-week alpha test process to prepare their first product, Bella Scena, for market. Bella Scena is a to-do, calendar, and meeting planning application helps you make sure your most important work is being done. Discover how Amber did this and what went into each step.

Launching new products involves a lot of tests and planning. Amber talks about setting the stage for her alpha launch and some of the upfront things that they did in order to get Bella Scena ready for the market. Using human-centered design processes to develop Bella, Amber shares how getting the customers involved and making sure they’re solving their pain points have been important in the overall process. As vital as the human-centered design is the service design which is how you’re supporting your customers. In this episode, she talk about four products that she uses and how she put together her support process.

With the number of new software circulating in the digital world, it has become quite challenging to make one in your niche that stands out and really captures a wider audience. The user experience or UX has grown as an industry as a reaction to the difficulties that people have experienced with software in general in the past. Mike Arney, the Founder of Halftone Digital, talks about their company’s work around UX and human-centered design and how it fits together as it relates to building their software and products. He says people don’t have the patience anymore to deal with poorly designed software, and the way to create good software is to put yourself in the shoes of your users.

Launching a business generates mixed emotions including nervousness and even loneliness. Amber shares how people nowadays are lonelier than ever and why coaching is the best solution to counter it. She also shares her journey into building her own startup and building units and groups that focused on varied topics. Amber says creating a network is another way of staving off loneliness. She has put up her own lunch buddy network and attends meetups where she learns life lessons from different people. Get more insights from Amber as she takes on how you can achieve a better sense of balance and meet people you can talk to regularly.

Brand naming is a crucial step in any company since it strongly dictates how consumers see products or services. Aaron Keller, the co-founder of Capsule, talks about his branding journey with Wonderly Software Solutions and shares the many lessons he learned. As branding has evolved through the years, branding has become more challenging. Aaron shares how to create brands that bring value to the end-user and how designs are a vital part of the brand creation process. He also highlights the importance of working with professionals with regards to creating logo and branding in general.

We all have a fear monster. If we're honest, we have a closet-full of monsters waiting to rear their ugly heads at the most inopportune time. Time and time again, a lot of women have expressed through asking, “Aren't you afraid? Isn't that scary? I couldn't possibly do that.” They have somehow written themselves off and have let entrepreneurship become some huge, hairy, impossible thing. It’s time to dismantle those fears as Amber talks about her fear monster and drop some insights that will help you face yours along the way. 

Welcome to being wonderly!  Hear why as a female tech founder I couldn't resist starting my podcast any longer.  Welcome to the wonderly family- I'm happy you are here!