Podcasts about access group

It's another Q+A session with Ben Pearce and Ben Caird. Loads of different questions about building your skills to thrive in the tech world. How Do You Talk Value? How Do You Adapt? What is Command and Control Leadership vs Servant Leadership? Ben Caird is a seasoned industry pro and a Divisional Support Director at Access Group. He shares his insight and joins us for a great chat. The Tech World Human Skills Podcast is produced by people in the tech world for people in the tech world. Learn tips and best practices that help you thrive in your career. Show Links Ben Pearce LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/benpthoughts/ Tech World Human Skills Home - www.techworldhumanskills.com Ben Caird LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bcaird/ Takeaways Authentic leadership means being true to oneself and values. Self-awareness is crucial for effective leadership. Leaders must adapt their style to different situations. Talking value involves understanding what matters to others. Value can mean different things to different people. Effective communication is key in leadership roles. Command and control leadership is resurging in tough times. Servant leadership promotes collaboration and inclusion. Change management requires understanding human behavior. Building trust enhances team performance. You rarely get 100% of the people doing the thing. Command and control leadership can demotivate team members. Asking for input can be a powerful motivator. Adaptability is crucial in a changing environment. The BAT framework includes belief, attention, and technique. Resilience is built through routine and self-care. Sleep is essential for mental clarity and focus. Persistence is key in overcoming challenges. Life has its highs and lows, and that's normal. Being kind to yourself is important during tough times. Keywords leadership, authentic leadership, value, command and control, servant leadership, self-awareness, team dynamics, business communication, change management, tech industry, leadership, adaptability, resilience, personal growth, command and control, BAT framework, mental well-being, change management, motivation, teamwork

This episode of the Digitals and Accrual World Podcast is a rollercoaster ride through the latest, juiciest app news. From Rippling's 50-page lawsuit against Deel alleging corporate espionage (yes, we said SPY!) to groundbreaking updates from Xero, Access Group, Bright Pay, and FreeAgent, there's enough drama to rival a Hollywood thriller.   Plus, discover how MTD can now be done from SPACE and why accountants everywhere should be keeping a close eye on Apron's new expense card.   Join Ryan, Indi and John for a wild journey through the ever-accelerating world of accounting technology.   00:00 Coming Up 00:48 Intro   02:46 App News ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 02:51

Podcast host and reporter Jordan Sollof records live from day one of Rewired 2025 at the NEC in Birmingham. After taking in the atmosphere of the show, Sollof speaks to speakers, session chairs and exhibitors to find out about their hot topics for digital and data this year. Sollof catches up with Damian Pearce, chief commercial officer at Stalis to chat about the impact of AI on healthcare and some of the highlights on the AI and Data Stage. Next Alan Payne, group product and engineering director at Rewired 2025 co-sponsor, The Access Group, discusses the key takeaways from his earlier session on ‘Putting people at the heart of health and social care' on the Integrated Care Stage. Sollof asks Lee Rickles, chief information officer at Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust, about the government's disbandment of NHS England and the possible impact on the digital health sector. Rickles also discusses the sessions he is chairing on ‘Putting people at the heart of health and social care' and ‘Enhancing cross-sector partnerships: From primary to communities'. Finally, Sollof joins Paul Deffley, UK chief medical officer at Alcidion at the company's stand to discuss what will be coming up at his day two session on ‘Transforming clinical support with digital systems and platforms', which will take place on the Best Practice Showcase Stage. Guests: Lee Rickles, chief information officer at Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust Damian Pearce, chief commercial officer at Stalis Alan Payne, group product and engineering director at The Access Group Paul Deffley, UK chief medical officer at Alcidion  

David Boyar joins Imogen once again on Accountants Daily Insider to chat about all things AI strategy and thought leadership, why they are crucial, and upcoming projects in the pipeline for The Access Group. Tune in to find out more about: What is AI decision making and how should it be approached? What is Access Evo and what makes it different? How is The Access Group upskilling in AI to create an evolving product useful for the accounting industry? What is an AI strategy and why should it be implemented? “The answer is that at Access, we're not going to leave anybody behind. We make products for accountants … and we'll keep investing in Australian accountants.”

01:26: Green Party vote vs Libertarian Party vote in Presidential race;05:48: Green Party vote in Congressional races;07:22 Working Class Party vote in Congressional races;08:13: Green, Libertarian, independent vote in state legislative races;12:07: Presidential vote for Party of Socialism & Liberation;14:09: Libertarian Party leadership criticized for selling office;18:23: former LP chair Angela McArdle defends her leadership;25:56: Alan's commentary on McArdle interview;30:50: Libertarians losing voters to new parties;33:51: RFK supporters form group to improve ballot access laws.

Care homes can save time and money by digitalising their administration and, in future, having a better understanding of how artificial intelligence will change the care sector.In our latest podcast ‘Digital Top Tip for Care Homes in 2025' our experts discuss how care homes have reached different levels of maturity when it comes to digital transformation.James Maynard, director of product marketing at Access Group, says providers want more integration between the systems they buy and to use data more effectively.Iain Corrigan, commercial director at CoolCare, agrees that integration is essential to convince care homes to invest more in digital.Also on the panel is Kate Roberts, managing director of Neuven, who says there is still work to do to convince care homes of the full benefits of going digital.The podcast is hosted by Alan Rustad and kindly sponsored by leading soft skills training company Hendrix Training.Tune into all our industry-leading podcasts here. Support the showCare Home Management is the UK's leading media brand for care home providers and managers.

In this episode of 'Digi-Tools in Accrual World,' we dive into the latest news and trends while embracing the chaos! From monstrous acquisitions by Thomson Reuters, Simpro, Bright, and Access Group to the nostalgic nod to Excel's 40th birthday, this episode is packed with industry insights.   Don't miss our deep dive into the rise of Finfluencers and the FCA's crackdown, as well as tips on strengthening those accountant-bank relationships from special guest Sophie Hossak from Allica Bank.   00:00 Coming Up 01:26 Intro App News ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 02:42 Thompson Reuters acquire LLM company 04:44 Simpro Acquire Big Change 06:20 Bright Acquire Inform Direct 10:50 Access Group Acquire HireAra 12:23 Nexly Launch for Auditors 20:05 And in other news... Happy Birthday Excel   20:45 Allica Bank - Building Bridges between Accountants and Banks 31:27 Wuvvable Dogs 34:47 Florentina Sandu - Good Judges and Bad Influencers 39:40 Outro

Ahold Delhaize USA has started closing its underperforming Stop & Shop stores. Circle K will more than double its current store count in New York. And the Access Group is acquiring Paytronix.

Does success = happiness? He's back. It's another questions and answers episode with Ben Caird. Ben Caird, Divisional Support Director at The Access Group joins me on the mic shares his thoughts and wisdom (or lack of) on a variety of tech world human skills questions? The Tech World Human Skills Podcast is produced by people in the tech world for people in the tech world. Learn tips and best practices that help you thrive in your career. Show Links Ben Pearce LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/benpthoughts/ Tech World Human Skills Home - www.techworldhumanskills.com Ben Caird LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bcaird/

We love a multi-hyphenate on UNBiased podcast and our guest this week, Helen McGuire, is mum of 3, entrepreneur, exited founder, certified Reiki master and photographer. Helen's own lived experience in the corporate communications industry as a new mother in the workplace led her down a startup path to create a world first AI-driven DEI platform, Diversely.io with her co founder Hayley Bakker in January 2020, culminating with the acquisition of Diversely.io by world leading software company, The Access Group at the end of 2023. She now adds author to her list of titles, and her first book, “The Female Founder Formula” is coming soon. Her passion underpinning the book is driving profit with purpose, and that's just one of the topics that we get stuck into in our conversation. Helen's book will be out soon. Connect with Helen, find out more about launch date and her services here: https://helenmcguire.co.

Ryan Sparrow, a digital content specialist in the legal division of The Access Group joins podcast host David Opie to discuss a newly published report on the current state of conveyancing."The State of the UK Conveyancing Market", now in its third year, draws on data and expertise from a range of sources including HM Land Registry, technology and data providers, and industry commentators. The picture is mixed; transaction volumes are down 20% on last year, the number of active conveyancers in the market is down 9%. There are fewer firms dong more cases, and more firms doing fewer cases; the bottom 50% of active firms have completed on average 47 cases p/a... less than one a week. Over 1000 firms have done 10 cases or fewer; of which nearly 300 have completed just one case.There is some leeway in the exact numbers given delays at HMLR and some data, like new-build, being skewed, but there is a general trend.  "It raises the question of dabbling" says Ryan. "Do these firms have the appropriate expertise and risk management measures in place around things like anti-money laundering for example, which is a huge issue for conveyancers."At the other end of the scale, the largest conveyancer completed 11,000 purchase transactions last year; 2% of the market total. The numbers fall dramatically thereafter with the 4th largest conveyancer completed just 50% of that number, and once you get down to the 50th largest by transaction volume, the number of transactions is c.10% of the largest. The report itself also looks at the breakdown regionally.Other issues raised by the report include client complaints around communication and delays (a growing problem year on year identified by the Legal Ombudsman),  business development and referrals. The third edition of "The State of the UK Conveyancing Market" is available to download now.The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views.

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Nick Telson-Sillett, a renowned entrepreneur, angel investor, and public speaker based in London. He has an impressive track record in the startup ecosystem and has made significant contributions to the industry. Today, we will dive deep into Nick's journey as a startup founder, his role as an angel investor, and explore his latest project, trumpet. We'll discuss his strategies for evaluating investment opportunities, his advice for aspiring entrepreneurs, and gain his insights on the current startup landscape. KEY TAKEAWAYS If you just look at the reservation market you'd think you find an open table at a restaurant, reserve the table, etc. We drilled in a bit further and found the niche of bars which you couldn't book into in 2012. We went to the industry and pitched the idea of an app like Open Table that worked for bars, they and the customer base were positive about it and we went and built the software and signed up all of the best bars in the UK because there was no other app out there that was catering to them at the time. Because we'd built such a flexible booking system for bars, there was a boom in casual dining which didn't exist back in the day for experiential, different types of restaurants which needed the flexibility. We then made a play for that niche. Early start-ups: Don't get distracted. Focus is so important, everyone promises you the world, partnerships, sponsorships, all these things only add noise. Surround yourself with the work, 3 hours in front of my laptop is more worthwhile than going to a founders event. Becoming a founder has become a fashionable sport, people forget the being a founder is really hard work building your business and putting your head down. I love the start up world, I was mentoring founders so Angel Investing was an obvious route to go down because I can help financially as well as mentoring or helping the companies that I'm financially invested in. A lot of founders I've met aren't investor-ready, and the first thing I say to founders is have you thought what you want out of your business? If it's just you and you don't need to raise money, and if £3m is lifechanging to you, you can build a business worth £3m and you hold 100% of the equity and then you can sell it. BEST MOMENTS ‘You can't please everyone: If you build a product and you're at the whim of your customers you'll never have clarity or be able to build strategically, you'll aways be chasing your tail.' ‘We were the first app to introduce putting your card down or pay a deposit because we found no-shows was a big problem.' ‘Sales is going to be the new engineering, finding great sales people that know what they're doing is tough, determine your ICP (ideal customer profile) and go after them specifically.' ‘Learning to say no to people doesn't have to be rude, it's about preserving your time to drive your business forward.' ABOUT THE GUEST Sillett is a London-based entrepreneur, investor, and public speaker. He is known for co-founding DesignMyNight, a B2C platform that attracted over 8 million views per month and a B2B platform with over 5,000 clients. DesignMyNight was acquired by The Access Group in November 2017 for $30 million.  After DesignMyNight's successful exit, Nick Telson-Sillett continued his entrepreneurial journey and co-founded Trumpet, a buyer enablement software solution. He is also the founder of Horseplay Ventures, a venture arm that invests in startups, and has invested in over 55 startups as an angel investor. Nick Telson-Sillett is actively involved in the startup community and has hosted his own podcast called Pitch Deck, where startup founders pitch their businesses to him and guest angel investors/mentors. They discuss the pitch, the business itself, and the investment opportunity. LinkedIn YouTube ABOUT THE HOST Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner. Twitter LinkedIn Instagram Facebook  TikTok Email Website

Unlock the secrets to transforming your recruitment strategies with Helen McGuire, former CEO and co-founder of Diversely, as we uncover the hidden power of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) in the recruitment and staffing industry. With insights from the Access Group's eye-opening report, "Proving the Diversity Business Case," Helen reveals how well-executed DE&I initiatives can dramatically enhance business performance and talent pipelines. Please join our host, APSCo Australia MD, Lesley Horsburgh and thank you for listening to Recruitment Down Under.www.apscoau.org

Today, I'm excited to look at another of Access Group's products. This time, it's an automation platform called ELAY that was recently acquired by the Access Group based on its initial success in integrating well with Vincere and its customers. In this episode, I interviewed Mehdi Este, the founder and automation general manager, and Nick Beecroft, the head of new business for Access Recruitment. I've known Nick for a long time, but this is my first time meeting Mehdi. They are a really good duo. Mehdi tells us the back story of ELAY and explains how it automates processes within recruitment workflows, such as CRM automation, cold outreach emails, and chatbots.Nick talks more from a client and industry perspective as to why you would want to put this into your operating system. Why automation, both in your CRM and on LinkedIn, will benefit a recruitment business of all sizes and scalesAI and automation are huge industry buzzwords right now.. I've talked about this frequently, and it can be overwhelming and scary. In this conversation, we aim to break it down into logical steps in a way that Recruitment leaders can understand Key TakeawaysELAY integrates with CRM systems and offers features such as CRM automation, cold outreach emails, and chatbots.AI and automation can help recruiters save time, improve efficiency, and nurture their database.ELAY can be used by recruitment agencies of all sizes, from one-man bands to large enterprises.If you wish to learn more about AI and automation, then this episode is for you. Education and understanding are key to navigating the world of automation and AI in recruitment, and it's important to start with small steps and build from there.Chapters00:00 Introduction to the RAG podcast and ELAY09:20 Automating Recruitment Workflows with ELAY13:09 The Benefits of AI and Automation in Recruitment25:33 Maximising LinkedIn with ELAY27:25 Re-engaging with the Database and Remembering Ryan McCabe28:23 Integration with Access Recruitment29:17 Early Successes and Acquisition36:20 Impact of Vincere's Acquisition37:15 Partnership and Synergy40:06 Benefits of Integration43:30 Future of Automation48:34 Navigating Automation and AI__________________________________________Hoxo MessageReady to find 25+ warm leads within seven days on LinkedIn?As a recruiter, most of the working day is spent chasing people via cold outreach on LinkedIn.This method is super time-consuming, and most people don't reply because they simply don't know or trust you.But it can be different...If you follow the process in this document, you will hack the LinkedIn Algorithm in just 15 minutes per day and drive warm leads whenever you want them.A warm lead is a person who you can 100% guarantee knows who you are, and what you do and has shown interest in you and/or your services in the past 48 hours.Over 5000 recruiters around the globe follow this process daily, and the results have been amazing!You can have this, too!Access the Hoxo 20:10:5 guide here: https://bit.ly/3PLjaJYIf you'd prefer to consume this information directly from our Co-Founder and CEO, Sean Anderson (the creator of 20:10:5), you can join our free training course now!Get access to:4 bite-sized training videos that can immediately help you boost your business on...

Welcome back to the Digi-Tools in Accrual World podcast!   Join us as we throwback to Accountex, where Ryan decided to desert us for the peaceful woods.  Indy lost her voice, John was knackered - but thankfully we had some stellar help from the Systems Advisory Network.  As always, this episode covers the latest in app releases, raises and acquisitions Plus, we see which of us can delay mastication the longest. Special shoutouts to our Accountex saviours: Dayle, Julie, and Keaton.    00:00 Intro App News: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 02:09 Lightyear Acquired 03:19 Access Group's Acquisition Strategy and Ecosystem 05:00 Canopy + Practice Management AI Innovations 08:22 Layer's Ambitious Goal to Replace QuickBooks 10:21 FreeAgent's New Integrations and Updates 11:54 FYI Elite: A New Era in Practice Management? 13:03 Why iplicit are a great employer 14:06 Everyone's favourite Xero update… 14:51 Quickbooks Ledger 15:18 Valid8me… validated 15:51 Sage's CoPilot and AI Developments 18:01 AirWallex Bill Pay Solution Integrated with Xero 19:36 Mercia and Inflo's Partnership 21:15 Ember and HSBC UK's Embedded Finance Partnership 22:35 TaxCalc Expands with Group Reporting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 24:25 FreeAgent Tortoise or Hare? 29:42 Delayed Marshmallow Mastication System Advisory Network: Accountex Retrospective ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 32:58 Introduction 33:32 Insights from Dayle and Julie 34:42 Keaton's Experience and Reflections 35:39 Diverse Queries and Solutions 36:54 The Digital Disruptors Network 37:35 Conversations and Networking at Accountex 43:16 Exploring New Technologies and Vendors 51:27 Outsourcers As Far As The Eye Can See! 55:39 Final Thoughts and Future Plans ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 01:02:56 Rate the pod!!  

What really happened to Volcanic and why they are making huge progress under The Access Group. On this week's show, I'm joined by Nick Thomson and Rachel Kirton from Access. Nick is the GM of Access Recruitment, and Rachel Kirton is Senior Product Manager for Volcanic. Volcanic is an iconic brand in our sector. Famous for SaaS recruitment websites, they were acquired by The Access Group in 2019. Similar to the situation with Vincere, post acquisition, there's been some noise in the market. It is no secret that the business has faced challenges, including team changes and the need to regain customer trust. On today's show, I wanted to find out what actually happened and the future of Volcanic under the Access Group. In the show we discuss: The reality of post-acquisitionThe vision to provide a complete end-to-end package of technology and services is crucial for recruitment websitesNew features including WhatApp and diversity and inclusion tracking and complianceTheir strategy for creating good-looking, high-converting recruitment websitesInside the Recruitment Operating System (RecOS) which integrates various recruitment products and provides a seamless experience for customers. Nick and Rachel are incredibly open, candid and forthcoming in their opinions and what they're trying to achieve. So, if you're a Volcanic customer or you're thinking about upgrading your digital marketing and using their platform in the future, then this one's for you.__________________________________________Hoxo MessageReady to find 25+ warm leads within seven days on LinkedIn?As a recruiter, most of the working day is spent chasing people via cold outreach on LinkedIn.This method is super time-consuming, and most people don't reply because they simply don't know or trust you.But it can be different...If you follow the process in this document, you will hack the LinkedIn Algorithm in just 15 minutes per day and drive warm leads whenever you want them.A warm lead is a person who you can 100% guarantee knows who you are, and what you do and has shown interest in you and/or your services in the past 48 hours.Over 5000 recruiters around the globe follow this process daily, and the results have been amazing!You can have this, too!Access the Hoxo 20:10:5 guide here: https://bit.ly/3PLjaJYIf you'd prefer to consume this information directly from our Co-Founder and CEO, Sean Anderson (the creator of 20:10:5), you can join our free training course now!Get access to:4 bite-sized training videos that can immediately help you boost your business on LinkedInExclusive access to Hoxo 20:10:5 warm leads tracking templateFree support from the Hoxo team to help you implement the process and get the resultsThis course is part of the hugely successful Personal Brand Bootcamp which has seen over 5000 recruiters graduate and drive millions of warm leads and £££ in revenue as a result!Get free access to the course once you've downloaded our guide.__________________________________________Episode Sponsor: VincereVincere's portals are a quick-win solution for agencies in need of a no-code candidate and client portal. It's your one-way ticket to attracting top-tier candidates and clients with everything they need in one place.Easily set...

Helen joined us three years ago to share how to attract 70% more diverse talent by leveraging DEI - diversity, equity and inclusion. This time, she returns as a special guest to share an amazing feat - the platform she co-founded, Diversely.io, has just been recently acquired. This means more sourcing and recruitment firms can now access the platform, meaning more recruiters and sourcing firms can embed DEI in their hiring process. What fascinates me more is Helen's strategies and lessons learned from exiting Diversely.io. She shared strategies and things she would have done differently, which I am sure many of us will also learn from. Overall, Helen believes that the key to success is following a purpose-driven business model. Helen McGuire is an exited founder, author, advisor, mother, podcast host and DEI changemaker.  Helen is a leading figure in DEI and business strategy and is renowned for her impactful initiatives. She founded Hopscotch. work, the first women's careers platform in the Middle East and Asia, and her journey led to the creation of Diversely.io, a groundbreaking AI platform acquired by The Access Group in 2023.   As the host of The D&Igest podcast and author of the upcoming book  'The Female Scale', Helen's expertise extends to coaching female founders and advocating for purposeful businesses globally.    Episode Outline and Highlights   [02:50] Helen shares updates on Diversely.io's acquisition by the Access Group. [08:54] What barriers do entrepreneurs with diverse backgrounds face when starting a business? [13:00] Encouraging more women to take the entrepreneurial leap. [17:33] Walkthrough on Diversely.io's exit process and how a purpose-driven business model made it happen. [30:00] Things that Helen would have done differently when undergoing acquisition. [38:31] Teaser on Helen's new book, The Female Scale.   Embedding DEI Into the Business Strategy   Diversity, equity, and inclusion are critical in the hiring process. This is essential because it is the right thing to do and a strategic business decision that can lead to more innovative and successful organizations.   I had Helen as a guest three years ago, and I am fascinated by her current position on championing DEI in the recruitment industry. She is a great example of an astounding business leader who advocates equity and opportunity for lesser-represented groups.  As a female founder, you will hear insightful perspectives on how underrepresentation affects certain groups and how to empower more women to launch their own businesses.   She is about to finish a new book, The Female Scale, which will provide insights on this issue. “It's not written specifically for women, but it's written with a very female lens. You know, the challenges that you encounter as a woman setting up a business, and there are, you know, so many female-led businesses, startups, smaller businesses out there.”   In this episode, Helen shared an astounding feat: They could exit Diversely.io, an end-to-end hiring platform that uses tech to reduce bias in businesses' hiring processes. By being acquired, she believes this platform will be more accessible to a much larger audience of sourcing and recruitment firms.   Learnings on Being Acquired and Exit Strategies   As a business owner, you may relate with me if you are also fascinated with stories of how exits and acquisitions work. I wanted Helen to walk me through what was involved in their acquisition process. She shared detailed stories of how it started, what was expected, and what happened. She also shared curve balls and how their expertise and networks played major roles in making the exit happen.   In hindsight, here are some learnings that Helen shared if you ever plan to exit or scale your business:   Be more prepared for the level of due diligence you must go through. Be well-organized: ensuring all relevant agreements and data sheets are in one place. Invest in good lawyers and accountants - they are absolute lifesavers.   What resonated with me the most was Helen's idea of the exit. It has always been purpose-driven.   “And you have to kind of, so when you're thinking about selling your business, it's not just about what I need from it as a dollar value. What can I also achieve off the back of that? What does that give me as a founder, as someone who's going on this journey?”   Building a Purpose-Driven Business Model   Building a business, especially focusing on recruiting and sourcing, is not always profit-focused. The vision and mission statements need to be clear, as the impact we can have on people can be life-changing.    This aligns with what Helen believes when creating a purpose-driven business model. This is how she described it:    “And it wasn't all about the dollar value. I think when you set up a purpose-driven business, it's very important to keep profit and profitability in mind because it's hard to create impact without that. It's not sustainable as a business or as an idea. But equally, you've got to balance it with, you know, what am I doing here to solve this problem, and how can I solve this problem? And we would have taken another god knows how many years to try and get to the scale that…”   When Helen co-founded Diversely.io, it was to solve her own frustrations as a female in a male-dominated industry. Her purpose was clear from the start - to help women and under-represented groups gain fair opportunities. This purpose-driven business model contributes well to her current successes and future aspirations.   Our Sponsor   This podcast is proudly sponsored by i-intro    i-intro® is an end-to-end retained recruitment platform. Their technology and methodology allow recruiters to differentiate themselves from the competition, win more retained business, bigger fees, and increase their billings. Their software combined with world-class training enables you to transition from transactional, contingency recruiter to consultative, retained recruiter. Instead of being perceived as a “me too” vendor, you'll be positioned as a “me only” solutions provider. Be sure to mention Mark Whitby or The Resilient Recruiter. Book your free, no-obligation consultation here: https://recruitmentcoach.com/retained   Helen McGuire Bio and Contact Info   Founded the first women's careers platform in the Middle East and Asia—Hopscotch.work—in  2015, Helen has won numerous industry awards for her work and led part of UN Women's efforts to increase gender representation in the UAE.    To scale the impact of her mission beyond gender, Helen joined the tech start-up accelerator Antler in January 2020 with a vision to conquer the issues around DEI in the workplace through the use of technology.  Diversely.io was that solution; a multi-awarded global AI-driven platform built alongside her co-founder,  Hayley Bakker, and with the support of industry investors over four years. One of the world's leading software companies, The Access Group, acquired the platform for an undisclosed amount in 2023 and continues to be integrated across its portfolio.    As host of The D&Igest podcast, Helen now utilises her formidable communications skills to give those who are making a difference in the global DEI space a voice. Professionally, she focuses on ensuring DEI is at the forefront of business strategy and coaches female founders on holistic business strategy. Her first book - ‘The Female Scale' - is due in 2024, and she speaks and advises globally on the topic of DEI and creating purposeful businesses.    A communications professional of twenty years, Helen began her career in London, achieving her dream  role at BBC Radio 1 in her early twenties, going on to produce, DJ and present for the music industry in over    Helen on LinkedIn The D&Igest Podcast link   People and Resources Mentioned   The Access Group website link  Justin McGuire on LinkedIn   Related Podcast You Might Enjoy   TRR#57 Diversity as a Differentiator – How Recruiters Can Attract 70% More Diverse Talent, with Helen McGuire   Connect with Mark Whitby Get your FREE 30-minute strategy call Mark on LinkedIn,  Mark on Twitter: @MarkWhitby Mark on Facebook Mark on Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach   Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter If you've been enjoying the podcast, please take two minutes to leave a review. Your review is greatly appreciated because it helps us attract a bigger audience and help more recruiters.  

On this week's show, I'm super excited to be joined by Helen McGuire. Helen is the exited founder of Diversely.io, a technology business acquired by Access Group in 2023. Entering the pandemic in 2020, Helen ran a recruitment business dedicated to helping return-to-work mothers find flexible jobs. Helen understood this cause well, as she'd previously been in this exact position herself. But she soon realised that her recruitment agency's business model limited the number of people she could actually help. There was so much more to be done!So, to solve the problem on a broader scale, she decided to pivot her recruitment company and become a technology business instead. She partnered with a co-founder from a tech background who was as passionate about the project as she was.Three years later, she successfully grew and exited the company.In this episode, we discuss the problems women face when returning to work and Helen's journey as a female founder. Whether you're a female founder yourself or a male founder who wants to understand the female perspective and how to balance your workforce, you're going to enjoy this episodeChapters00:00 Challenges faced by women returning to work04:15 The problem of Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace06:59 Helen's journey as a female founder15:10 The acquisition of Diversely and Helen's current work36:31 Solving the DEI problem in Recruitment40:19 Building networks and the importance of transparency 45:43 The acquisition by The Access Group50:27 Scaling the impact of Diversely57:21 Continuing the journey in the DEI space__________________________________________Hoxo MessageReady to find 25+ warm leads within seven days on LinkedIn?As a recruiter, most of the working day is spent chasing people via cold outreach on LinkedIn.This method is super time-consuming, and most people don't reply because they simply don't know or trust you.But it can be different...If you follow the process in this document, you will hack the LinkedIn Algorithm in just 15 minutes per day and drive warm leads whenever you want them.A warm lead is a person who you can 100% guarantee knows who you are, and what you do and has shown interest in you and/or your services in the past 48 hours.Over 5000 recruiters around the globe follow this process daily, and the results have been amazing!You can have this, too!Access the Hoxo 20:10:5 guide here: https://bit.ly/3PLjaJYIf you'd prefer to consume this information directly from our Co-Founder and CEO, Sean Anderson (the creator of 20:10:5), you can join our free training course now!Get access to:4 bite-sized training videos that can immediately help you boost your business on LinkedInExclusive access to Hoxo 20:10:5 warm leads tracking templateFree support from the Hoxo team to help you implement the process and get the resultsThis course is part of the hugely successful Personal Brand Bootcamp which has seen over 5000 recruiters graduate and drive millions of warm leads and £££ in revenue as a result!Get free access to the course once you've downloaded our guide.__________________________________________Episode Sponsor: VincereVincere's portals are a quick-win solution for agencies in need of a no-code candidate and client portal. It's your one-way ticket to attracting...

Today, I've something exciting to share with you. You know how you get excited when a lost Beatle or Nirvana track is found, well the extraordinary Alexi Boyd uncovered the audio of a panel discussion from Sydney Xerocon PreXerocon 2023. I honestly thought I'd never hear it again, and then mid March she sent me a copy - making me a very happy podcaster cause I get to share it with you. The panel discussion was held at the beautiful Hinchcliff House at Circular Quay. Unfortunately the room was a little noisy on the day of the event. However much to my surprise the audio quality is really quite good.     The topic for discussion was “Unravelling the future of AccounTech”.   If you are a regular listener you will know, I value bringing diversity to these tech conversations: The moderator Alexi Boyd ran a BAS and Bookkeeping business for 8 years. She is the Radio Show host of Small Biz Matters and now works in policy strategy and government relations. Her background led her to take the conversation in an interesting direction, consumer data rights and restrictions on data and innovation and the differences between data protection laws in Europe, UK, and Australia.   This event was the first time Sabby Gill, the new Dext formerly Receipt Bank CEO, had spoken in Australia. Sabby had literally just got off the plane. London based Sabby Gill brought an overseas perspective, as well as his 35 years in the UK technology sector. Aly Garrett is a modern, technology savvy accountant, from South Australia. She represented accountants, their small business clients, and living outside the major Australian cities, brought a regional perspective to the conversation.   Roger Gregg brought that unique energy that comes with being a Fintech founder, plus his expensive knowledge of the hospitality and brewing industry, which certainly flavoured the conversation.    I shall add in some recent relevant news, congratulations are in order, 10 months after recording this, it has been announced that the Access Group Has Entered Into an Agreement to Acquire Pioneering AP Automation Provider, Lightyear    Let me fill you in on a bit of a backstory. The Gregg brothers were one of the original App partners, with their solution InvitBox. I'm thinking within the first ten years? InvitBox won Xero emerging app partner in 2013. Then in May 2014 Intuit acquired InvitBox. The very blue boys turned green overnight. Several years later, in quite an unprecedented move, they bought InvitBox back from Intuit for a single dollar! And relaunched as LightYear.    Here we are ten years later, and they have sold again, this time to The Access Group.    Read more here: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7194623580830105601/  https://heathersmithsmallbusiness.com/2024/06/06/unravelling-the-future-of-accountech-sydney-xerocon-2023/ Contact details: Alexi Boyd https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexiboyd/  Small Biz Matters https://smallbizmatters.com.au/  Aly Garrett https://www.linkedin.com/in/alygarrett/  Sabby Gill https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabbygill/ Roger Gregg https://www.linkedin.com/in/rogergregg/  Accounting Apps newsletter: http://HeatherSmithAU.COM Accounting Apps Mastermind: https://www.facebook.com/groups/XeroMasterMind  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/HeatherSmithAU/  YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/ANISEConsulting  X: https://twitter.com/HeatherSmithAU

Heather Smith and Tyler Caskey discuss feature and functionality releases, new integrations, pricing adjustments, and acquisitions in the Accounting Apps space during March, April, May ‘24. Today I'm speaking with Tyler Caskey Partner at The Bean Counters. In this episode, we talk about . . . News and updates from Xero, QuickBooks & MYOB were discussed, including new features, integrations, pricing changes, and acquisitions Stories from the Inventory management space, including pain points and promising solutions explored Practice management tools for accounting firms featuring FYI Elite: Combined document, employee, and practice management solution. Apps recommended for both work and personal use, such as donate blood and seven rooms Lightyear acquisition by The Access Group analysed for hospitality industry benefits Synder & Cin7: Integration for seamless inventory and financial management. Fathom Reporting: Compare Actuals YTD + Budget against the Full Year Budget reporting. Calxa Features: Bulk Connections for multiple Xero organisations, and Sub-Accounts for detailed financial tracking. Finlert's SubSync: Integration between Stripe and Xero. A2X Accounting: New Settlements and Payouts page for e-commerce transaction reconciliation. BOMA Marketing AI: Content Assist for customising marketing content. Sharesight: Enhanced trade file upload functionality. Netgain: Automates repetitive back-office tasks, specialises in ERP software solutions. NetSuite Updates: Enhanced inventory transfer settings, batch payment approval workflows, and options to mask company bank account numbers in electronic payment files. New apps we've tried recently and a few personal favourites Follow up on stories from the last episode. WorkflowMax by Xero Retirement: Last day to access is 26 June 2024. Users need a migration plan now! Xero New Invoicing: Heather has switched to New Invoicing! But Tyler switched back to Classic invoicing.   Many thanks to the sponsors of todays episode: Employment Hero  Fathom Reporting XBert   Contact details: Tyler Caskey https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylercaskey/  Accounting Apps newsletter: http://HeatherSmithAU.COM Accounting Apps Mastermind: https://www.facebook.com/groups/XeroMasterMind  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/HeatherSmithAU/  YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/ANISEConsulting  X: https://twitter.com/HeatherSmithAU   

Capital Access Group analyst Colin Smith shares critical insights on NextSource Materials Inc with Proactive's Stephen Gunnion, highlighting the company's unique position in the lithium-ion battery market. Focused on the Molo mine in Madagascar, which is set to produce processed graphite essential for EV batteries, NextSource stands out with its strategy to reduce reliance on Chinese supplies. Smith discussed the imminent operational start of a manufacturing plant in Mauritius, aiming to strengthen the global supply chain for critical battery components. He also pointed to legislation like the US Inflation Reduction Act as pivotal for companies like NextSource, offering substantial financial incentives for non-Chinese supply chains. He explained why he believes NextSource is trading below its net asset value and presents an exceptional investment opportunity as it gears up for significant expansions and operations." #ProactiveInvestors #invest #investing #investment #investor #stockmarket #stocks #stock #stockmarketnews #NextSourceMaterials #GraphiteMining #EVbatteryMaterials #EnergyTransitionInvestments #CapitalAccessGroup

In this episode, we dive deep into the world of talent, entrepreneurship, and the future of business with none other than Justin, the Co-Founder of MCG Talent, a prominent consultancy specialising in the MENA and APAC regionsJustin is a recognised figure in the regional MENA and APAC Talent sector since 2008.His journey has taken him across major world cities such as London, Dubai, Riyadh, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Justin also spent a year living in Honduras, Central America. Before making his mark in talent consultancy, Justin honed his craft in broadcast communications during a 7 year tenure at Markettiers in London, where he ascended to senior leadership.In 2010, Justin founded MCG Talent in Dubai with a singular vision: to bridge the gap between discerning businesses and top-tier talent across the vibrant MENA and APAC regions, focusing on communications, marketing, creative, and digital recruitment, with offices strategically located across these dynamic regions.His strategic investments have yielded remarkable successes, including the acquisition of Diversely.io by The Access Group in 2023, a groundbreaking platform revolutionizing diversity in hiring. Additionally, Justin's venture into the educational sphere with Ampersand culminated in a profitable exit, underscoring his entrepreneurial acumen and vision. In this episode, Justin shares His invaluable insights on navigating global markets,Strategies for launching and scaling a global business, The importance of hiring newcomers from their sector, The transformative impact of AI on marketing communications and agency operations.Connect with Justin here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jumcguire/------------The Recruiter's Recruitment Podcast is proudly sponsored by Paiger and partners to Needi and Inclusion Crowd.Our Sponsor: Paiger - Making Recruiters Smarter and Faster. Paiger helps recruiters build personal brands, identify new business opportunities, attract candidates, and have better conversations.Find out more details on Paiger here - https://paiger.co/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=sponsor&utm_campaign=recruiters-recruiterOur Partners: Needi is a concierge gift-matching service using psychology and AI, to pinpoint the perfect gifts and experiences for your recipient, from the best, local independent businesses. Their team of expert gift finders, save companies time and money, with their complimentary corporate gifting service . Find out more here -https://needi.co.uk/Inclusion Crowd works with organisations to create a credible and authentic DEI programme, they help clients attract & retain talent - as well as improve culture & engagement. Their vision is to make organisations reflective of the societies in which they operate. Find out more here https://inclusioncrowd.biz/Keybridge IT Solutions is a London-based Fully Managed IT Support and solutions Provider - Providing 24×7 Support to all Customers. Specialities include Microsoft Cloud, including Office 365, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Azure, Security, Internet Connectivity, VoIP, and much more.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

In this episode of Pints of View Gary Goldsmith talks to Nick Thomson about Nick's career journey from entrepreneur to intrapreneur. They discuss Nick's experience growing a payroll business which was later acquired, working for the acquiring company, and then moving into various leadership roles with other growing companies. Nick currently works for Access Group, one of Europe's largest software companies.   They cover topics like how Nick got his current role, Access Group's acquisition strategy and focus on growth, the challenges of integrating acquired companies, and Nick's perspectives on building high-performing teams.   In this episode you will hear:  Nick's background growing a payroll business and later working for the acquirer Access Group's strategy of acquiring and growing software companies Challenges of integrating acquired companies and managing data integration Examples from Nick's career of adapting to new roles and environments   For more information about this episode, Gary's advisory services or the RDLC please email us on POV@garys.world   Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pints_of_view_pod/   Pints Of View is the podcast hosted by socialite, in-demand Non-Exec Director, recruitment legend and all-around nice guy Gary Goldsmith. In this podcast, Gary opens up his eclectic Black Book of friends that ranges from international footballers, high street moguls, champion boxers, investment oracles, national team coaches, royal correspondents, business leaders, military special forces, sports club owners, scale-up experts and even conspiracy theorists with a sense of humour!  They're all interesting, they've all got different stories, they've all got different backgrounds and they have all got lessons that you will learn a great deal from, alongside a fair few belly laughs too.  Plus, as well as the amazing guests, you will also learn that there is a lot more to Gary Goldsmith than what the headlines might have had you believe! Far from just being a loveable rogue and famous royal Uncle, there are insights and wisdom shared that reveal why Gary has been integral to hundreds of millions of pounds of business growth over the years.   So, join us for some real, raw and interesting chats down at the pub - yes, this show is really shot on location at an actual, working West End boozer!

The biggest kept secret in the Australian accounting industry: The acquisition of Change GPS by Access Group. This episode is kindly sponsored by Employment Hero: The All in One HR, Payroll & Benefits Platform  https://employmenthero.com/ Translucent The Multi-Entity Accounting solution  https://www.translucent.io/  In this episode - David Boyar reflects on his upbringing in his father's accounting practice and early ambitions ( he was going to be CEO of Coca Cola!) - He discusses founding an association of CFOs and lessons learned from scaling advisory work   - Boyar shares how he joined Change GPS and their aligned values (with Timothy Munro) in transforming accounting firms - Insights are provided on data analytics in accounting tech companies and marketing approaches, including wearing a suit ! - Accountants take umbrage at people who've never had an accounting practice telling them what to do. - The acquisition of Change GPS by Access Group is explained as a strategic partnership - Client experience and standardised services are highlighted as priorities for the future Contact details: L: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidboyar/  L: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothymunro/ W: https://changegps.com.au/ Roadshow: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/o/changegps-2988249339    Accounting Apps newsletter: http://HeatherSmithAU.COM Accounting Apps Mastermind: https://www.facebook.com/groups/XeroMasterMind  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/HeatherSmithAU/  YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/ANISEConsulting  X: https://twitter.com/HeatherSmithAU

Episode 24 - Steve Sawyer is Managing Director of The Access Group's Health, Support and Care division, delivering solutions to support the health and social care sectors to deliver the best care for individuals. Disclaimer: Please note that all information and content on the UK Health Radio Network, all its radio broadcasts and podcasts are provided by the authors, producers, presenters and companies themselves and is only intended as additional information to your general knowledge. As a service to our listeners/readers our programs/content are for general information and entertainment only.  The UK Health Radio Network does not recommend, endorse, or object to the views, products or topics expressed or discussed by show hosts or their guests, authors and interviewees.  We suggest you always consult with your own professional – personal, medical, financial or legal advisor. So please do not delay or disregard any professional – personal, medical, financial or legal advice received due to something you have heard or read on the UK Health Radio Network.

This week Steve Roest, CEO of PocDoc (pocdoc.co) speaks to Steve Sawyer, Managing Director of The Access Group's Health, Support, and Care division, one of the largest providers of digital care to the NHS. In this episode, Steve and Steve (!) get into social prescribing, mental health, digital tech that helps vulnerable people and try to unpick the conundrum which is finding the truth about the state of the NHS at the moment vs the picture portrayed in the media.

Ben Caird is Divisional Support Director at the Access Group. He has spent many years in the tech sector as an engineer, team manager and now leads a large group of people focused on delivering an amazing support experience to customers. He's a seasoned pro when it comes to managing stakeholders effectively and in this episode we discuss who your stakeholders are, why it's important it is to manage them and how you do it. Follow BenP on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/benpthoughts/ Elevated You Home https://www.elevatedyou.live Follow Ben Caird on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/bcaird/

In this episode of the Internal Comms Podcast, host Katie Macaulay is joined by Access Group's Global Head of Communications and Engagement, Paul Downey. Paul caught Katie's attention on LinkedIn, where he was discussing his unique approach to internal communications for a global, largely remote audience. With over 6,500 colleagues to engage, Paul had to shake things up for the Access Group's annual global employee event. He shares his secrets to success in this episode. Katie and Paul also discuss his recipe for internal comms, which involves adopting a no-slides rule and creating content as opposed to the “death by PowerPoint” approach some of us will know all too well. He says content should be delivered Netflix-style: on-demand, snackable and story-led. Inspired, he created Access TV. This episode is a masterclass in both engaging and including those hard-to-reach employees. It's about telling stories and empowering leaders to go on a journey and try something different. And it's about having the tenacity to know you'll succeed. As always, share your thoughts of this or any other episode of the Internal Comms Podcast using the hashtag #TheICPodcast. Thanks for listening.

"Inclusion is not a formal prescription; it's about everyday acts of open-mindedness, empathy, and building micro-communities that bridge generations. Challenge the status quo, ask why, and strive for a workplace where everyone's uniqueness is valued."On this latest episode of FinTech's DEI Discussions, Nadia is joined by Rebecca Jones, Head of Customer Success at The Access Group.Rebecca delves into the challenges she encountered during her professional journey, particularly in the significant shift from a banking career to entering the dynamic field of technology.Emphasising the importance of allyship, she encourages more imaginative hiring approaches, advocating for intergenerational mentorship and a willingness to take risks on candidates with the right attitude for inclusive workplaces.

Mark delves into the fascinating world of business advisory and the Strategy 360 Program with our guest, Jenna van Nierop from Smith Thornton. Join us as we explore the journey of creating a Business Advisory division. We also discuss the key steps business owners should take to gain a deeper understanding of their business performance. Jenna is the Access Group's Young Gun of the Year for 2022 and has some valuable insights and behind-the-scenes stories you won't want to miss!

Running a care home with plenty of digital help, whether it be in the shape of the care given, the deployment of staff, or just bookkeeping tasks, has transformed the way homes operate over the past few years.Tune in to our latest industry-leading podcast where are expert panel discusses:Are home operators now fully on board with using digital technology to truly deliver better care?Turning digital ambition into actionHow much further can care homes can go with the introduction of digital?Opportunities from Artificial IntelligenceDo care homes have the right infrastructure to maximise what is on offer from digital technology? What does a multi-channel approach look like?Join our expert panel comprising Jon Anderton, managing partner, Cambridge Telecom; James Maynard, director of product marketing, The Access Group; and James Revell, director of contact solutions at Whistl.Podcast hosted by Alan Rustad. Podcast sponsored by Rotacloud.Support the showCare Home Management is the UK's leading media brand for care home providers and managers.

In this episode, Tara talks again to Access Elemental Managing Director and Co-Founder Jennifer Neff who is joined by Alan Payne, Group Product and Engineering Director at The Access Group. Tara picks up where she last left off with Jennifer, following the partnership of Elemental with The Access Group. For those who aren't familiar with their journey already, Access Elemental is a leading social prescribing platform used currently by over 70 different organisations - from Integrated Care Systems, to Primary Care Networks, local authorities, housing associations, prisons and higher education colleges - to seamlessly support and join up people within their own communities and to improve their connections locally. Within the podcast, the group discuss: Access Elemental's progress from start-up to partnership with The Access Group and what it's meant in terms of growth and development as a business. How Access Elemental as a solution can support organisations in removing friction within existing healthcare processes and in evidencing the acheivement of key milestones Extending visibility of the Access Elemental solution and how Alan is able to effectively manage a portfolio of systems and grow their customer base. How to sell to the NHS Navigating potential conflicts of "them and us" when working in partnership and other key lessons learned Supporting Primary Care in improving confidence in the value of social prescribing What the future looks like at Access Elemental and for social prescribing broadly How they manage their own health and wellbeing Finding out more: Connect with Alan and Jennifer via LinkedIn Jennifer is also active on Twitter/X Along with Tara and Team THC, you can also catch Access Elemental at Best Practice 2023 who we are proud to be partnering with as the event's official podcast! You can find out more about this year's show and register here. Gob for Good To register your #gobforgood and to join the stem cell registry - please click here to head straight to the website - you could become a life saver and help make a difference. Work with me I'm Tara Humphrey and I'm the founder of THC Primary Care, a leading healthcare consultancy. I provide project and network management to Primary Care Networks and consulting support to clinical leads. To date, I've worked with 11 Training Hubs and supported over 120 Primary Care Networks and 3 GP Federations. I understand and appreciate the complexity of healthcare and what it takes to deliver projects across multiple practices. I have over 20 years of project management and business development experience across the private and public sector and have an MBA in Leadership and Management in Healthcare. I'm also published in the London Journal of Primary Care and the author of over 250 blogs. For more weekly insights and advice sign up to my newsletter. Improving the Business of Healthcare – One Episode at a Time Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of the Business of Healthcare Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe; leave your honest review, and share your favourite episodes on social media. Find us on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn or visit our website – THC Primary Care.

On this week's show, I'm speaking directly to our partner, Vincere.Vincere has sponsored the RAG Podcast for the last three years, and I have a lot of love for the brand and a great relationship with the business. I'm really grateful for the support they've given me and our industry.However, about a year ago, they were acquired by The Access Group which is the fastest-growing and largest software company in Europe. After they were acquired, the two founders, Bernie Schiemer and Eloise Sutton-Kirkby, exited almost immediately. Since the acquisition by The Access Group, there has been murmurings across the industry, and their reputation has taken some damage. So I interviewed Nick Thomson, the Commercial Director for The Access Group's recruitment division. And Kristy Gilham, the Product Director at Vincere. She's been with Vincere pre and post-acquisition. We had a really candid, hard-hitting conversation on your behalf. I asked them what the hell they've been doing and why there's so much negative press regarding support and functionality - and what they are going to do about it.Are they actually going to make changes?In this episode, we break down

Let's face it. There are a lot of myths and misconceptions about the importance of pre-sales. Do we need it, or do we not? Is it important, or is it insignificant?What if we told you that companies with solid pre-sales capabilities consistently achieve 40-50% win rates in new business and 80-90% in renewal business?So, what's the secret to a solid pre-sales process? Our guest, Adam Freeman, Buyer Enablement Director at The Access Group, explores the misguided beliefs around pre-sales. Through the conversation, he reveals how pre-sales can be the deciding factor in turning indecisive prospects into enthusiastic customers. Additionally, Adam explores how he finessed the pre-sales process at The Access Group and how it led the company to success.Resources: LinkedIn

This week: Ceipal integrates ChatGPT, PowertoFly adds candidate search, Diversely's acquired by the Access Group, and more.

This week: Ceipal integrates ChatGPT, PowertoFly adds candidate search, Diversely's acquired by the Access Group, and more.

In this episode of Careers Unwrapped, host Mark Fawcett is joined by Nick Telson, entrepreneur, angel investor, podcaster, startup mentor, and public speaker. Together they discuss Nick's experience starting and selling DesignMyNight, his first startup. Exploring Nick's transition from corporate to co-founder, what the experience of selling a startup is like, and what mistakes he made that have shaped his newer ventures, this episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in entrepreneurial pursuits.

Join us for a compelling panel discussion webinar featuring esteemed leaders in the accounting profession as they share their valuable insights and highlight essential practices they feel should be prioritised over the next 12 months. Gain exclusive access to expert perspectives and actionable recommendations to stay ahead in the evolving landscape of accounting. PRESENTED BY: Mark Holton + David Smith with David Francis, The Access Group; Petris Lapis, Artisan of Change; Matthew Feehan, Salt Financial and John Tsoulos, Global Business Camps + Indigo Financial

Manny Ezugwu is a Nigerian-British Entertainment manager who currently resides in LA. He is the Senior Vice President at FAE Group where he co-heads the Branding and Endorsements division with a diverse roster including musicians, models, actors and sports athletes. With a past in PR for brands such as Stella McCartney, Harrods and Arcadia Group. In 2014 he founded Muse Talent Group, a full service talent consultancy with special focus on creating access and nurturing those who the industry had previously overlooked.

Download your FREE Death of the LMS guide: https://hubs.la/Q01RWyMr0 See HowNow in action! Sign up for a live walkthrough: https://hubs.la/Q01RWzht0 In this conversation recorded at Learning Technologies 2023, Gary is joined by Sarah Mian, Head of Learning Content at The Access Group, to discuss how we can create more engaging learning content. From why it so often disconnects to how we take a more human-centered approach, these tips will take your content to the next level. Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-mian-32a39a42/ Learn more about The Access Group: https://www.theaccessgroup.com/en-gb/ Learn more about HowNow: https://gethownow.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gethownow/message

Steven Scott BCOM, CA, CPA, is the Chair and Chief Executive Officer of StorageVault Canada (TSXV: SVI) and of the Access Group of Companies.  Mr. Scott has over 20 years of experience in the ownership, acquisition, development and management of self storage, residential and Industrial real estate in Canada.  Mr. Scott is the Chair of Parkit (TSXV: PKT) and sits on the Boards of Park Lawn Corporation, (TSX: PLC), (Audit Chair), Timbercreek Financial Corporation (TSX: TF) and the Canadian Self Storage Association, (Treasurer).

Interview with Dean Forbes - hugely successful turnaround tech CEO who has led several companies to massively successful exits. But let's go back in time. Dean experienced hardship growing up and his family were made homeless twice but Dean always had big aspirations. His first goal was to make money doing what he loved which was football and whilst he did get to play for a Premiership, the experience was short-lived and he was soon ushered into a soulless call centre where he honed his sales skills.He then found himself at Primavera – an American software company where he grew the business to its sale to Oracle where he stayed on, making him the youngest vice president at Oracle for 30 years.From there, Dean joined Paris-based KDS a SaaS software company where as CEO, he led it to an acquisition by American Express – their largest tech acquisition at the time.Dean then went on to be CEO at CoreHR - a cloud-based HR solutions provider, where he led its growth and expansion up to acquisition by The Access Group in the UK's largest private to private Human Capital Management M&A deal. Then in 2021, Dean became CEO of Forterro which is home to a portfolio of specialised ERP (enterprise resource planning) software products (think the software that organizations use to manage day-to-day business activities such as accounting, procurement, project management, risk management etc). Having been hired to drive the company's growth in Europe - within a year, he led the business to a 1 BILLION Euro exit!If that wasn't enough, Dean is also the founder of Forbes Family Group where he coaches and mentors young leaders and entrepreneurs from underrepresented backgrounds. Like I said, this is a special episode where we focus on Dean's journey as CEO and how and why he makes the decisions he does in business – all of which have led him to so many hugely successful exits.Enjoy!-----------------Dean on Twitter / Instagram / Forterro / Forbes Family GroupDanielle on Twitter @daniellenewnham and  Instagram @daniellenewnham   / Newsletter 

Nick Telson is an exited founder from DesignMyNight in 2017 for $30-$40m and has since invested in over 55 startups across US, UK, Latam and Africa, through his investment arm, Horseplay Ventures.Nick's career started off in marketing at L'Oreal before starting DesignMyNight in 2010. DesignMyNight grew to 100+ employees, 15,000 SaaS customers and 8 million monthly uniques on the website with minimal angel funding. Nick and his co-founder exited to Access Group in 2017. Nick has been recognised as one of the UK's leading entrepreneurs by The Huffington Post and won startup awards from The Guardian and RealBusiness/Disrupt.He has a global top 3 business podcast around investing and pitching called Pitch Deck and is now co-founder of his second startup, in the sales operations space, called trumpet.Find out more about Nick Telson via: website, Instagram and LinkedIn.A new episode EVERY WEEK, showcasing the journeys of inspirational entrepreneurs, side hustlers and their mentors. We discuss their successes, challenges and how they overcame setbacks. Focusing mainly on what they wish they had known when starting out. The podcast aims to give aspiring entrepreneurs the confidence to START UP and START NOW by showcasing real and relatable entrepreneurs. After all, seeing is believing!Join the conversation using #startupstartnow and tagging us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Don't forget to leave a review as it really helps us reach those who need it and allows us to get the best guests for you!Connect with START UP. START NOW. and to nominate a guest please visit: www.startupstartnow.co.uk.  To connect with Sharena Shiv please visit: www.sharena.co.uk.

Kelli Richards is recognized as a leader and a trailblazer in the world of digital media and music/tech. Richards is considered a “super-connector” with unprecedented access, and was a long-time Apple exec in charge of music and entertainment. She's worked with creatives, thought leaders, and entrepreneurs to re-imagine content creation, monetization, and distribution; as well as served as a coach and trusted advisor. Richards was an early podcast host of her own show (“All Access Radio”), has published several books and articles, and has been honored as a “Top 100 Woman of Influence” by Silicon Valley Business Journal. https://www.kellirichards.com Laurel Mintz, founder and CEO of award-winning marketing agency Elevate My Brand, explores some of the most exciting new and growing brands in Los Angeles and the US at large. Each week, the Elevate Your Brand podcast features an entrepreneurial special guest to discuss the past, present and future of their brand.

Many teams struggle with burnout, belonging, and breakthrough innovation. Silos, matrix reporting and disconnection get in the way of results. What if we could navigate some of our most important collective challenges by accessing collective flow? I sat down with Dr. Keith Sawyer, author of Group Genius, who is a pre-eminent researcher on this topic and worked directly with the “father of flow”, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.Dr. Keith Sawyer, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is one of the country's leading scientific experts on creativity.  He has published 18 books and over 100 scientific articles. His research has been featured on CNN, Fox News, TIME Magazine, NPR, and other media.  A popular speaker, he lectures to corporations, associations, and universities around the world on creativity and innovation.  In this episode Keith discussed some of the most important activators of group flow based on his own experience playing in a jazz band as well as extensive study of improv actors and large teams and organizations that regularly create conditions for group flow. Some of the activators include meaningful shared goals and risks, close listening and attention, trust and connection among the members, blending of ego's and giving up personal agendas. We discussed both the benefits and the challenges of this in leadership teams. If this topic interests you, reach out as collective flow is the topic of my next book and I'm interested in working with leaders and teams who have high stakes challenges that need breakthrough thinking and alignment.“The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times . . . The best moments usually occur if a person's body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile”(Csikszentmihalyi, 1990)- Sign up for leadership tips to thrive in disruption - leave a review on Apple Podcasts - Follow podcast host on LinkedIn

On this episode we get a quick mid-year update on the options market from: Henry Schwartz, Head of Market Intelligence for the Data and Access Group, CBOE Global Markets - aka The Flowmaster  and Saad Hussain, CEO of Vesica Technologies

On this episode we get a quick mid-year update on the options market from: Henry Schwartz, Head of Market Intelligence for the Data and Access Group, CBOE Global Markets - aka The Flowmaster  and Saad Hussain, CEO of Vesica Technologies

This week we're on the road with our first ever in-person, live recording of Two Presales in a Pod coming from the very new and shiny Customer Experience Centre at The Access Group. Don, Mark and Adam are today joined by Garin Hess, CEO and Founder of Consensus and Rob Dean, newly joined Head of Presales at Access Group. We presented in person to over 150 people, but for some it'd been quite a while - so did we love it? Did we miss sitting behind a webcam? Join us in this 'micro-pod' shorter edition for some fantastic tips on how you can make hybrid meetings a success as we all get back to presenting in person. As always, do connect with us on LinkedIn, you'll find us easily in the search: Don Carmichael Winning Skills Adam Freeman Access Group Rob Dean Access Group Garin Hess Consensus Mark Green Consensus #buyerenablement --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/presalesinapod/message

In this week's app news bumper, find out more about... Futrli bought by Sage - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/futrli_today-marks-a-monumental-day-in-futrlis-activity-6930548428712067072-fojv?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=android_app Accountex insights IRIS elements released - https://www-accountingweb-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.accountingweb.co.uk/tech/practice-software/iris-elements-marks-final-push-into-the-cloud?amp BTC adds to cloud solution with self assessment - https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/tech/accounting-software/btcsoftware-boots-up-cloud-tax-solution Swoop opens accountant portal - https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/tech/accounting-software/exhibition-round-up-swoop-opens-accountant-portal Xero 2022 financial results blog - https://www.xero.com/blog/2022/05/full-year-2022-financial-results/ Intuit 3rd quarter financials - https://investors.intuit.com/news/news-details/2022/Intuit-Reports-Third-Quarter-Results-and-Raises-Full-Year-Revenue-and-Operating-Income-Guidance/default.aspx Square launches omnichannel commerce tools - https://www.pymnts.com/api/2022/square-launches-new-omnichannel-commerce-tools-cash-app-pay/ GoCardless announce first VRP customer - https://gocardless.com/blog/gocardless-announces-first-variable-recurring-payment-customer/ ICoconut lauches UK accountant advisory board to solver ITSA challenges - https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/community/industry-insights/coconut-enlists-top-uk-accountants-to-help-solve-itsa-challenges Tide and Sage tie-up to offer SMB tax and accounting tool - https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/tech/accounting-software/tide-and-sage-tie-up-to-offer-smb-tax-and-accounting-tool Ability to file CSO1s through Accoutnacy Manager - https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/community/industry-insights/new-file-cs01s-through-accountancymanager Fathom integrates to googlesheets for non-financial data - https://blog.fathomhq.com/google-sheets-integration?utm_source=App+Advisory+Plus+-+Newsletter+%26+Webinars&utm_campaign=5d9bf96f9a-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_01_24_10_01_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_16d43ed120-5d9bf96f9a-376197989&mc_cid=5d9bf96f9a&mc_eid=a80ecca862 Deputy launches employee onboarding - https://help.deputy.com/en/articles/6137537-how-to-onboard-team-members-uk-customers Crezco launches partner program  Xero update quotes with attachments - https://www.xero.com/blog/2022/05/win-business-with-beautiful-quotes/ Xero stripe app launch - https://www.xero.com/blog/2022/05/introducing-xero-stripe-app/  Auderli targets MTD with “life audit” tool - https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/tech/tech-pulse/auderli-targets-mtd-opportunity-with-life-audit-tool MTD ITSA Pilot via Freeagent - https://www.freeagent.com/blog/mtd-itsa-pilot-programme/ Freshboosk Appstore launch with 100 products - https://www.freshbooks.com/blog/appstore Digital grant failing - https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/tech/accounting-software/digital-grant-scheme-well-intentioned-but-poorly-targeted-experts-tell-mps Circit raise €6.5m to pioneer open banking for auditors - https://www.circit.io/post/circit-raises-6-5-million Atom Bank (UK fintech) may list on NYC via a SPAC merger - https://www.uktech.news/fintech/atom-bank-new-york-20220523 Fresho raises $14m to re-enter US - https://www.smartcompany.com.au/industries/hospitality/online-ordering-platform-fresho-us-covid/ Token.io raises $40m – account to account payments in Europe on open banking - https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/12/token-io-raises-40m-to-expand-open-banking-based-account-to-account-payments-in-europe/ Modulr secures $108m series C - https://www.openbankingexpo.com/news/modulr-secures-108m-in-series-c-fundraise/ Access Group purchase Reckon Accountants Division for $100m - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mattpaff_its-finally-done-clive-found-his-mark-activity-6932822139829911552-WTDI/?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=ios_app Nomisma is crowdfunding - https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/community/industry-insights/nomisma-is-crowdfunding

Brian Rogers is well known in the legal services sector as one of the founders of compliance software solution Riliance, and is now Regulatory Director at The Access Group.Having worked with law firms on a range of compliance issues for a number of years, Brian is well versed in the pitfalls and mistakes firms make, particularly when it comes to anti-money laundering. In this latest Today's Conveyancer podcast, Brian discusses the "don'ts" he has witnessed over the years, providing a useful reminder for law firm compliance leaders.Brian also looks into his crystal ball to consider what risks are coming down the line for law firms, including proper adoption of technology, the cost of compliance and property market volatility in 2022/23. Brian, and Access Legal, have created a comprehensive AML Guide for Law Firms. He is a regular commentator on LinkedIn, and also runs regular compliance updates for law firms.You can subscribe to the Today's Conveyancer podcast on your preferred podcast provider, and listen in at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk.

Mid-tier businesses play a fundamental role in global supply chains, yet many of them are running on legacy systems and processes, facing long-term underinvestment in skills and technologies and have a very strong case investment that is not being addressed.  In this podcast Clive Webb Head of Business Management at ACCA's Professional Insights, discusses the technology considerations for mid-tier organisations, with Adam Freeman, Director of Buyer Enablement at the Access Group and Tony Price, a Partner in PwC. 

Mid-tier businesses play a fundamental role in global supply chains, yet many of them are running on legacy systems and processes, facing long-term underinvestment in skills and technologies and have a very strong case investment that is not being addressed. In this podcast Clive Webb Head of Business Management at ACCA's Professional Insights, discusses the technology considerations for mid-tier organisations, with Adam Freeman, Director of Buyer Enablement at the Access Group and Tony Price, a Partner in PwC.

Mid-tier businesses play a fundamental role in global supply chains, yet many of them are running on legacy systems and processes, facing long-term underinvestment in skills and technologies and have a very strong case investment that is not being addressed.  In this podcast Clive Webb Head of Business Management at ACCA's Professional Insights, discusses the technology considerations for mid-tier organisations, with Adam Freeman, Director of Buyer Enablement at the Access Group and Tony Price, a Partner in PwC. 

Mid-tier businesses play a fundamental role in global supply chains, yet many of them are running on legacy systems and processes, facing long-term underinvestment in skills and technologies and have a very strong case investment that is not being addressed. In this podcast Clive Webb Head of Business Management at ACCA's Professional Insights, discusses the technology considerations for mid-tier organisations, with Adam Freeman, Director of Buyer Enablement at the Access Group and Tony Price, a Partner in PwC.

Dean Forbes is CEO of Forterro, which owns 11 ERP software product businesses and employs 1,200 people. Forterro is a partner to more than 10,000 mid-market manufacturing companies across the UK, Europe and worldwide. Dean is also the co-founder and Chairman of the Forbes Family Group, an organisation which provides investment and development support to businesses, entrepreneurs and social programmes designed to ‘do good and do more.' Dean boasts an extensive career in executive and senior leadership roles with software companies. Prior to Forterro, he was CEO of CoreHR. He led its transformative growth, expansion and sale to The Access Group. He also led the growth and sale of several other businesses: one was sold to software giant Oracle, and another to American Express. Dean has been named one of Britain's ‘Top 50 Business Leaders' according to Lloyds Bank and The Daily Telegraph. He's also currently, and for the second year running, one of the 100 most influential Black people in the UK on the Powerlist, in partnership with J.P. Morgan. In this in-depth conversation, Dean reflects on how his motivation to succeed was formed through challenges growing up - learning about the importance of hard work and staying positive; discusses his role at Forterro Group - setting strategies and working with people, as he believes they are the “primary value in most businesses;” and shares his future plans, expanding Forterro and continuing to positively impact people's lives with Forbes Family Group.

Our first episode of 2022 and what a cracker to be kicking off with! I was delighted to be joined by Alex Zoboli, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Cornerstone Recruitment Japan K.K. Alex and his business partner scaled their previous recruitment business in Japan from 20 to 200 people and opened their own business only 2 years ago.  Already 40 people and looking to grow again to 200 as fast as possible! It was super exciting to find out more about his story to date, secrets to success and plans moving forward. One thing I really respected about Alex was his conviction in the strategy behind HOW his team operates post pandemic. He has a team 100% in the office and will not allow remote working unless the government says otherwise.  He believes this is a huge opportunity to build culture and get ahead of the competition. You may choose to agree or disagree but I love the confidence and direction he displayed. If you would like to chat to Alex directly either to enquire about joining his team or to pick his brains on all things start up life then reach out via LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-zoboli-48282737/?originalSubdomain=jp (here). Please note in 2022 we will be live on LinkedIn each Wednesday NOT Thursdays like in 2021 - this will typically be at 12pm UK time but is subject to change! The RAG Episode 12 Sponsors: Vincere joins forces with Access Group. They're partners with the heavyweight who shares their vision of providing a single operating system for the front, middle and back office of recruitment firms, on a global scale. Vincere has the same people, same vision, but with way more firepower. Press Release https://www.vincere.io/post/vincere-joins-forces-with-access-group (here.)  You can visit http://www.vincere.io/rag (www.vincere.io/rag) to book a demo - RAG listeners will recieve an exclusive deal. District4 provide support for experienced recruiters to launch their own businesses. They offer an impressive start-up package which includes taking care of the back office, providing coaching and implementing a suite of technology products, meaning recruitment entrepreneurs can focus on what they do best: providing an excellent service to their clients and candidates. If you're thinking about starting your own recruitment agency, speak to District4 about the kind of support they can provide. Launching a business successfully takes a lot of hard work and preparation. Even if you aren't planning anything for a few months, get the support you need sooner and you'll stand the best chance of success when the time is right for you. Visit http://www.district4.io/hoxo (www.district4.io/hoxo) for more information.

Shahin Hoda chats with Joanne Schofield, Director of Marketing, ANZ at The Access Group, about how marketers can build a plan that generates a pipeline.  Joanne advises marketers to start with their organisation's business objectives. She then recommends working backwards from the company-wide revenue growth projections to develop a realistic target and a plan for the marketing team.  During the conversation, Joanne also talks about important considerations while building an effective marketing plan such as the role of SDRs, product marketing, historical conversion rates and handling marketing sourced versus marketing influenced revenue. Read the show notes: https://xgrowth.com.au/blogs/marketing-generates-pipeline/ Join the Slack channel: https://growthcolony.org/slack

What the heck is PreSales? You can think of it as the Mt. Everest of presentation environments. Jennifer and Scott are joined by Adam Freeman, PreSales leader at The Access Group and co-host of the Two PreSales In A Pod podcast, who explains what it takes to get to the PreSales presentation summit.

On this week's episode of The RAG Podcast Live, I was joined by Lewis Maleh, Founder and CEO of Bentley Lewis, an award-winning boutique executive search firm. Also the host of 2 x podcasts: “Don't take out your phone!" and “The Recruitment Show”. Lewis believes he and his team are building the best executive search team in the world. Lewis had no prior experience of exec search, but decided to back himself to make it work.12 years later, it's safe to say he delivered! The business was previously located in Central London offices. Since the pandemic, they've moved to a  remote model with a drop in location in London for anyone who needs or wants to use it! A super positive guy who is an inspiration for anyone looking to grow a great business with a focus on profit! --- A big thank you to today's sponsor Volcanic.com - the best in class recruitment website provider delivering websites that look good and perform even better.  Following the recent success of Volcanic's client Camino Partners winning Best New Website award at The NORAs, Camino have provided great insights on how they've used their website to elevate their brand messaging, celebrate their consultants, and position themselves as experts in their sector. You can read all about it on the Volcanic blog at https://www.volcanic.com/blog/2021/12/camino-partners-best-new-recruitment-website Finally, we are offering RAG listeners an MOT of their current site – landing page is here (and embedded on the above page) https://pages.theaccessgroup.com/FY22-P04-REC-WEB-BOF-Hoxo-Volcanic-Podcast-MOT-Partnership_LP.html (The Access Group) www.volcanic.com/hoxo This applies to any recruitment website. --- Thanks to our sponsor District 4 District4 supports experienced recruiters to launch their own recruitment businesses with an impressive start-up package, and take care of the back office and technology which allows them to focus on what they do best: providing an excellent service to their clients and candidates. District4 is a community of expert recruiters who are all business owners in their own right. As a community, they support each-other professionally and personally to hit their goals.  If you would like to start your own agency in 2022, then you really should be speaking to these guys! Visit http://www.district4.io (www.district4.io) for more information.

Maureen Mousdell has over 25 years working at companies such as Brambles Forklifts, Access Group & Source Machinery. During her career Maureen has had various roles including Parts Manager, Service Co-Ordinator, Hire Manager, Account Manager and Service Operations Manager. Maureen also gives back to the industry through her involvement in the Women in Equipment Hire Facebook Group & the HRIA Women in Hire Program.Women in Equipment Hire Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/womeninequipmenthire This podcast episode was sponsored by Arrow. Tired of manual data entry into your CRM? Does your current CRM slow you down? It's time to build and close deals from anywhere. Remove the manual data entry, create and send quotes in 3 clicks with Arrow. Finally, a powerful way to close deals on your phone.Learn more about Arrow @ http://try.rentalarrow.com/Get in contact with The Rental Journal PodcastWebsite: https://www.therentaljournal.com/contact-usEmail: mark.simonsen@therentaljournal.com

In this episode of The B2B Marketing Podcast, David Rowlands caught up with Gursaran Marjara, CMO of Access Group, to discuss the future of tech marketing and revenue performance, and what's impacting growth for 2022 and beyond. This podcast is one in a series of four, all of which have helped to inform our full report, sponsored by Twogether. You can download the full report by following the link below, and be sure to watch out for the next podcasts in the series in the coming weeks! https://www.b2bmarketing.net/en-gb/free-downloadable-guides/future-tech-marketing-and-revenue-performance-whats-impacting-growth-2022

On this week's episode of The RAG Podcast Live, on this week's episode of The RAG Podcast I am re-joined by James Johnson! James is the founder of District 4 and also a CEO coach. James works with ambitious founders, CEOs and VCs where the difference between success and failure is £m's James was previously the CEO of Nicoll Curtin and decided to change his lifestyle after he and his wife suffered from their second miscarriage. The stress of running a global business meant that he was under investing in other, more important areas of his life. Since then, he has changed almost every aspect of his life and now has the family he always wished for! In this episode we went deep into James' own story but also the reality of the stress and challenges faced both inside and outside of work for his many recruitment agency owner clients. ---- A big thank you to today's sponsor Volcanic.com - the best in class recruitment website provider delivering websites that look good and perform even better.  Volcanic were thrilled to see 14 of their clients receive nominations across 13 categories for the recent National Online Recruitment Awards, and special shoutout to their client Camino Partners for winning Best New Recruitment Website! They've also recently published a case study from leading recruitment agency Aspire, where they have reported cutting their website costs in half since switching to Volcanic, which delivered a staggering three websites in just three months! You can check out their website at http://weareaspire.com/ (weareaspire.com). Finally, we are offering RAG listeners an MOT of their current site – landing page is here (and embedded on the above page) https://pages.theaccessgroup.com/FY22-P04-REC-WEB-BOF-Hoxo-Volcanic-Podcast-MOT-Partnership_LP.html (The Access Group) www.volcanic.com/hoxo  This applies to any recruitment website. Thanks to our second sponsor District 4 District4 supports experienced recruiters to launch their own recruitment businesses with an impressive start-up package and take care of the back office and technology which allows them to focus on what they do best: providing an excellent service to their clients and candidates. District4 is a community of expert recruiters who are all business owners in their own right. As a community we support each-other professionally and personally to hit out goals.  On Monday 8th November they started an exciting 5-day challenge “So you want to start your own recruitment business?” Over 5 days you will explore your why, your vision, your financials, your market and put together a business plan. This challenge is for experienced recruiters who have thought about going it alone and want to explore it at a deeper level. At the end of the challenge you will either be raring to go and start your business or have decided that it is not for you.  It is running all of this week and there are replays available for anyone who has missed the sessions You can catch up either in the challenges closed facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/240028731327650 ((1) Start your Recruitment Business in 2022 Free Challenge | Facebook) or if they search in groups for "Start your recruitment busines in 2022 Free Challenge or by going to my LinkedIn profile and viewing the featured section. They have a new task going live everyday at 9.15 and then a daily Q&A answering all of their set up questions at 12 noon both live via my profile. The link to join the challenge is: https://growyourrecruitmentbusinessevent.vipmembervault.com/products/view/1110290 (https://growyourrecruitmentbusinessevent.vipmembervault.com/products/view/1110290)

On this week's episode of The RAG Podcast Live, I was joined by Nick Vaughan, Founder of Hamlyn Williams and now CEO & Founder of Talent Ticker an actionable market intelligence platform for the recruitment industry. Nick's life began as a 3rd generation farmer in Herefordshire who moved to London to work in the city. After learning his trade with S3 and JCW, he launched Hamlyn Williams in 2011, a specialised STEM focused Recruitment Agency with a HQ in Cardiff. Over the next 7 years Nick managed to scale the business to over 100 people across multiple global offices in 3 continents before deciding that his skills were no longer suitable to take the business forward. Today, the business is over 200 people and managed by a new CEO, Nick is fully focussed on the launch of his next venture and what a plan he has! In this episode he shared  Nicks start up and scale up story How he got to 30 staff with no infrastructure and led to 100% staff churn The decisions that enabled him to scale to 100+ recruiters His top 3 tips for aspiring high growth business owners His sacrifice at home and the solid partnership with his wife whilst scaling His daily morning routine for success What is Talent Ticker and why should agencies consider using this innovative tool An extremely inspiring entrepreneur, one you do not want to miss! If you wish to speak to Nick personally - feel free to message him on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-vaughan-125833a/ (here) --- A big thank you to today's sponsor Volcanic.com - the best in class recruitment website provider delivering websites that look good and perform even better.  If you would like to see some of the fantastic websites that Volcanic has delivered for clients globally, you can visit http://volcanic.com/our-work (volcanic.com/our-work) which showcases their best-in-class website designs across various locations and sectors, as well as a number of success stories for leading agencies such as Premier Group and Search Consultancy. Volcanic also recently ran a webinar along with Gordon Webb from Idibu and Janine Owen from The Talent Crowd on ‘Conquering the candidate conundrum'. This will soon be available to catch up on demand for insights on how to find those unicorn candidates in today's war for talent! Keep an eye out… Finally, we are offering RAG listeners an MOT of their current site – landing page is here (and embedded on the above page) https://pages.theaccessgroup.com/FY22-P04-REC-WEB-BOF-Hoxo-Volcanic-Podcast-MOT-Partnership_LP.html (The Access Group) www.volcanic.com/hoxo This applies to any recruitment website. ---- Thanks to our second sponsor District 4 District4 supports experienced recruiters to launch their own recruitment businesses with an impressive start-up package and take care of the back office and technology which allows them to focus on what they do best: providing an excellent service to their clients and candidates. District4 is a community of expert recruiters who are all business owners in their own right. As a community we support each-other professionally and personally to hit out goals.  On Monday 8th November they started an exciting 5-day challenge “So you want to start your own recruitment business?” Over 5 days you will explore your why, your vision, your financials, your market and put together a business plan. This challenge is for experienced recruiters who have thought about going it alone and want to explore it at a deeper level. At the end of the challenge you will either be raring to go and start your business or have decided that it is not for you.  It is running all of this week and there are replays available for anyone who has missed the sessions You can catch up either in the challenges closed facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/240028731327650 ((1) Start your Recruitment Business in 2022 Free Challenge | Facebook) or if they search in groups for "Start your recruitment...

On this weeks episode of The RAG Podcast Live, I was joined by David Spencer-Percival, Founder & CEO of Life Science People and serial recruitment entrepreneur. David was in the founding team of Huntress Group in 2000 and exited in 2009 for a life changing sum of money.  He then started Spencer Ogden in 2009 and repeated the process all over again! Growing to over 500 people and reaching over £100m in revenue, he then decided his work was done before leaving the company in 2020. He is now back with one of the fastest growing recruitment start-ups in the world, with over 65 people in the business inside 12 months. During his glittering career, David has adopted some really consistent habits and basic principles for success.   In this episode he shared  The start up stories of each business His formula to scale via graduate academies  Why he doesn't have a computer and runs his whole operation from an iPhone His take on why many do not scale  Why profit isn't the driver when scaling and how quick profit arrives when you slow down growth How he felt when he exited his businesses and why he knew he needed to get back in the game after 3 month breaks His life outside of work, happily married without children- he balances life in London with rural countryside and Ibiza to keep himself happy How turning 50 certainly affected his mental health and how he deals with this Finally his vision for the future and some wise words for budding recruitment entrepreneurs One of my all time favourite episodes, you do not want to miss this! If you wish to speak to David personally - feel free to email dsp@lifesciencepeople.co.uk --- A big thank you to today's sponsor Volcanic.com - the best in class recruitment website provider delivering websites that look good and perform even better. Over 1800 recruitment websites globally, they supply 30% of the top 100 UK recruiters and integrate with our partners for efficiency, including Access Recruitment CRM, Access Profile, Access RDB, Broadbean, Logic Melon, Bullhorn, Salesforce, Idibu and more   Perfect for start up, scale up and enterprise recruitment  businesses   We are offering RAG listeners an MOT of their current site – landing page is here (and embedded on the above page) https://pages.theaccessgroup.com/FY22-P04-REC-WEB-BOF-Hoxo-Volcanic-Podcast-MOT-Partnership_LP.html (The Access Group) www.volcanic.com/hoxo About the MOT: A visual inspection undertaken by one of our senior website professionals in the business of your current site, analyse performance and identify areas for improvement. Leverage Volcanic's many years' expertise in designing, developing, and delivering recruitment websites to identify how your current site can be improved. Request your FREE, personalised visual 'MOT' website health check including an overview of your: - candidate attractiveness - client engagement abilities - brand-building capabilities - and more. This applies to any recruitment website. http://www.volcanic.com/hoxo (www.volcanic.com/hoxo) -- Thanks to our second sponsor District 4 District4 support experienced recruiters to launch their own recruitment businesses with an impressive start-up package and take care of the back office and technology which allows them to focus on what they do best: providing an excellent service to their clients and candidates. District4 is a community of expert recruiters who are all business owners in their own right. As a community we support each-other professionally and personally to hit out goals.  Join the Recruitment Startup Experts at District4 for this exciting 5-day challenge “So you want to start your own recruitment business?” Over 5 days you will explore your why, your vision, your financials, your market and put together a business plan. This challenge is for experienced recruiters who have thought about going it alone and want to explore it at a deeper level. At the...

The life you have is often a reflection of the thoughts you think. What comes into your mind comes out in your life. You cannot have a positive life with a negative mind. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5  //  For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Neural Pathways The more you think a thought, the easier is to think. Cognitive Bias Mistake in reasoning based on personal experiences or preferences. It's not that the facts are different, it's the filter. Reframing Creating a different way of looking at a situation or relationship by changing its meaning. You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control how you frame it. Philippians 1:12-13 NWV  //  Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me really stinks. As a result of the hell I've been through, I'm quitting my Access Group and never going back to church. Philippians 1:12-14 NIV  //  Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. 13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14 And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear. REFRAMING YOUR STORY AND RELATIONSHIPS: Thank God for what didn't happen. Practice Pre-Framing. Look for God's goodness. I am not interpreting God through my circumstances. I am interpreting my circumstances through the goodness of God.

There are a lot of things challenging the construction sector – supply chain issue, cost increases, covid, skills shortages…to name a few…But there is also a need for the construction sector to challenge itself. To create a more diverse and inclusive environment, to become more digitally enable, to reduce costs, be more efficient, and so on. Could the solutions to the latter help solve the former? This podcast features an interview with Carol Massay - Head of Construction at The Access Group.

There are a lot of things challenging the construction sector – supply chain issue, cost increases, covid, skills shortages…to name a few…But there is also a need for the construction sector to challenge itself. To create a more diverse and inclusive environment, to become more digitally enable, to reduce costs, be more efficient, and so on. Could the solutions to the latter help solve the former? This podcast features an interview with Carol Massay - Head of Construction at The Access Group.

There are a lot of things challenging the construction sector – supply chain issue, cost increases, covid, skills shortages…to name a few…But there is also a need for the construction sector to challenge itself. To create a more diverse and inclusive environment, to become more digitally enable, to reduce costs, be more efficient, and so on. Could the solutions to the latter help solve the former? This podcast features an interview with Carol Massay - Head of Construction at The Access Group.

Re-posting our conversation with J.B. Bernstein, President and CEO of athlete management firm, Access Group, and CMO of sports marketing and athlete representation company, Seven Figures Management. His insane work ethic and incredible drive has led him to become one of the most respected marketing experts in the world of sports today. At a time when his sports agency company was on the verge of collapse, J.B. took a leap of faith, entering completely uncharted waters to find the world's next Yao Ming. He decided to host a baseball competition in of all places India, at a time when baseball was nearly unheard of in that part of the world. The competition attracted over 35,000 contestants, which eventually sprung into a groundbreaking opportunity to sign two of the first ever Indian pro-league baseball players, Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel to the Major Leagues. The story got on Disney's radar and was turned into a heart-warming biographical film, Million Dollar Arm, where J.B. was portrayed by Emmy Award winning actor, Jon Hamm. 

In the fifth episode of our Dealmaker Series, KPMG in the UK host Jo Sheerin is joined by Mick Crosthwaite, former Chairman of HAS Technology, a leading provider of technology solutions for health and social care, and Graham Pearce, TMT team lead in Corporate Finance who led on the sale of the business to The Access Group, a market leader of business solutions and software. We go behind the scenes of this fascinating deal where Mick, an experienced dealmaker, shares his experiences of the sale and offers some practical advice for future sellers.  As well as discussing the challenges he had to overcome, he talks about how he decided the timing was right to go to market and lessons he learnt along the way.  “For me, climbing Everest, crossing the Atlantic Ocean on a RIB or building businesses – it's all very similar.  It's about a defined vision and a team of highly motivated people working to achieve a common goal”

The world of ecommerce is constantly changing — this last year being a prime example. How people shop in 2021 is radically different from how they shopped in early 2020, so forget about thinking about comparing today’s world to a decade ago. Although that is fun to see how much has changed. Now, it’s all about keeping up with your customers, which is why for our first official roundtable episode of Up Next in Commerce we wanted to bring on two people who have been on the cutting edge of the industry for years. Ashima Sehgal is a Software Development Manager at Amazon Music and Jon Feldman, a Senior Marketing Leader for Salesforce Commerce Cloud. These two go way back to their days working together on ecommerce implementation at Restoration Hardware, which was a journey in and of itself, and while they remain close friends, they sit on the opposite side of the fence when it comes to certain aspects of the future of ecommerce. We get into all of it in this episode, including discussing whether shopping at the edge is the future of the industry or just a passing fad, and how to get buy-in when selling a new implementation. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did!Main Takeaways:Make It Easy: When pitching or selling an implementation, the key is to tell the right story and make it hard for the business to say no. Highlight the pain points that their business is facing, and play up how you will solve those problems from beginning to end and be a great partner throughout the process. But one thing to remember, don’t try to tackle everything from the start and be upfront about what is prioritized and what is put on the backburner. Edgy Opinions: There is a lot of debate on the future of shopping at the edge and whether or not it is a fad. Regardless of whether it sticks, businesses should be harnessing the power of meeting customers where they are and selling to them in those places, but the base ecommerce platform should not have to suffer as a result of those efforts. It’s All A Simulation: In the last year especially, there has been a lot of talk about the death of retail and the rise of an ecommerce-only economy. That is a myth. While 2020 and early 2021 undeniably changed the way people shopped, it was more of a blip in the timeline and not a true indicator of the future, which will more likely be a blend of in-person and online experiences.For an in-depth look at this episode, check out the full transcript below. Quotes have been edited for clarity and length.---Up Next in Commerce is brought to you by Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Respond quickly to changing customer needs with flexible Ecommerce connected to marketing, sales, and service. Deliver intelligent commerce experiences your customers can trust, across every channel. Together, we’re ready for what’s next in commerce. Learn more at salesforce.com/commerce---Transcript:Stephanie:Welcome to Up Next In Commerce. I'm your host, Stephanie Postles, CEO at Mission.org. Today's episode is going to be a really fun one. It's our very first official Roundtable and we have the two perfect guests joining us. First up, we have Ashima Seghal, the software development manager for Amazon and Jon Feldman, a senior manager of Product Marketing at Salesforce. Ashima, Jon, how's it going?Ashima:AwesomeJon:How's it going? Stephanie:Good. I'm glad to have you here. So I heard you guys have a little background, you've worked together in the past and I wanted to start there so people can know your relationship, like how do you all know each other? And maybe, Ashima, I'll let you start with that.Ashima:Yeah, I feel like Jon and I have worked together forever now. 2008, I moved to the U.S. and I met Jon, the first company I joined. It was a consulting shop, we work together to help people build their ecommerce websites and features on it. And, he's mentored me through that period to help me understand better where my interest lies. And he's also helped me grow my management skills and given me opportunities as he grew in the ladder in those organizations, I saw some opportunities come my way as well. And then, we worked together recently in Restoration Hardware. As a director of engineering, he and I worked together in terms of prioritization of what should be done when and working closely with the business, in terms of understanding how to get to the customer, how to go get features quickly to market and so on and so forth. So, a lot of history there to explore.Stephanie:And that really talked Jon up. So Jon, is that your recollection as well?Jon:No doubt.Stephanie:And what was your favorite project that you all worked on together?Jon:My success in ecommerce is deeply intertwined with working with Ashima. I mean, we worked very closely, both at Access Group where we did a zillion implementations. And then, when we went to Restoration Hardware, we had a really beautiful relationship and so far, I had the crazy ideas and she had the practical skills to do those. And so, it worked really symbiotically. So I feel like we've seen a lot of stuff and built the systems so yeah, really delighted to be sharing this.Ashima:Yeah. One funny story, I can tell you was we work for Falabella in Chile, and it was a Spanish speaking Morgan, I didn't understand as much Spanish so I would speak my English louder thinking they would understand me and Jon would be like, why are you yelling at them? I'm like, I'm not yelling at them. They just don't understand me. I'm trying. So, that was some happy moments.Jon:I remember that. That's wonderful. That was back at the building of [inaudible] or whatever.Ashima:Exactly.Stephanie:My gosh, that's awesome. And Restoration Hardware, that seems like a really good company to work on, especially from an ecommerce perspective, because when I was looking through articles and whatnot, it was talking about how they were resisting moving to ecommerce for a while. So, were you guys working there when that was still undergoing, when they didn't really want to make that move or were you already past that hurdle, and already ready to start implementing things?Ashima:I can go first and then, Jon can add to that. But if Restoration Hardware wants, they don't want anything to do with digital, they would close their eyes and close that shop today. The reality for them is they want to be beautiful. They want customers to come and touch them and feel them. They want people to experience it and then, love it. And digital is a hindrance to that because digital is very removed. It's away from the customer, however beautiful an image you put on digital, the fabric is something you can't feel and that's what they're selling. They want you to experience it. Then, going into building restaurants in their business than going into hotels half that is an extension of that. But we were more of an idea shop. We were enablers for them, not that loved and given as much money but still help them run 90% of their business through auto management and so on. So, we were critical to their success, but didn't get as much love I would say. Jon?Jon:No, I totally echo that. I think that Restoration Hardware is at its core, a luxury business and they want that luxury, in person experience. And it's really interesting because it was fascinating to be there during a time when there was all this transition to digital and everybody's like, well of course you need these nine things and to have like a real hard no, the experience is fairly impersonal and manual. I think it was really frustrating at the time. But it's really impacted my thinking since that I challenged the ease shopping at the edge. It's definitely something we're seeing. There's huge growth in it, right? It's a big area, certainly, Salesforce can't stop talking about it. But, from a Restoration Hardware standpoint, it's growth, but is that the growth that's important for my brand, which really affected how I evaluate some of that stuff.Ashima:Right. Another important thing is that we were always asked to do one day in their store, and Jon did it and we did it like all of us employees did it. And it was fascinating, because you could see why that was important. You could see that they wanted customers to come every day, look at a cushion and buy that and keep the relationship going. That is what they thought the bread and butter was. I met this lady who comes in every two, three months and buys a new big thing for her house. She has lots of money.Ashima:And that's the 1% that they're targeting. And that's what's running their business. They don't care about the 99%. They don't want to be digital, because they don't want to be for the masses. They know who their customer is. And that's what I learned in Restoration Hardware, that they were so aware of who their customer was and they were very successful. Look at the stock price now, right? That's part because they understand their customer. And we were just like I said, enablers. So, we were a step removed from that painting and so embedded in engineering, but if you talk about business, they were geniuses, I would say.Jon:Yeah, no doubt. Gary, he has built an unbelievable business. Restoration Hardware was a very difficult place to be in IT but it is an unbelievable business.Stephanie:Were there any big projects that you remember that you felt really strongly about? You're like this could go through and you just got like, Nope, sorry. We are not doing that.Ashima:Many of those.Stephanie:Maybe your favorite memory?Ashima:Yeah, we brought in so many different awesome implementation options for [mobile] and people just didn't buy it. It's like my cat who knows I'm here but pretends I'm not here. It's like that. Restoration Hardware acknowledges mobile is important but just does not want to invest in our mobile experience. I still say our because I feel like I'm connected to the brand but it is still sucky. Right? So I feel like mobile was the big, big one and why it's painful is because we brought in so many different ways of getting it in, like let's do it incrementally. Let's get one page there. Let's just get on iOS like, no.Jon:One of the strongest members I have is one of the chief merchandising officers who I want to be really clear is a lovely person, I follow her on Instagram, we're still buddies, is super brave but sitting at one of those tables in the center of innovation and whatever it's like it's the big show building and Restoration Hardware is really designed, if you're a vendor to be like, yo, this is the place, holding up herself and being like, who's going to buy a couch on this? Right? And I was like, man, we got a long way to go. Technology is not the place these guys are hanging out so-Ashima:Right.Jon:Man. So, before I get into... I want to dive deep into implementation because I know you both had background in that. But before that, I would love it if Ashima, you can explain maybe your current role at Amazon and then, Jon will go over to you just so everyone knows who we're talking to.Ashima:Yeah. Like I said, I'm software development manager there. I manage teams that run the front page of music app. So my team is a full stack team, which translates into iOS, Android web engineers, as well as Silverstack engineers who come together to build features for browsing, how customers discover music more easily, and highlight the personalization capabilities that we have under the hood and make it more obvious for customer experience improvement.Stephanie:Pretty cool. All right and Jon.Jon:That's awesome, probably the highest performing team at Amazon Music, I assume.Stephanie:I would think so too.Jon:[crosstalk] Ashima took the technology path after leaving Restoration Hardware and I was like, I can't do another project or I'll be dead. So I went into marketing and now, I do event content and I do all the flashy video stuff for Salesforce. It's a ton of fun. Ashima, your worst nightmare, I am paid for thought leadership. People pay to listen to the crazy stuff I say.Stephanie:I do want to dive into the implementation piece. I want to hear a bit about, we haven't actually dove that deep into that side of things on the podcast. Usually, I have brands on big and small, but we don't go into the weeds there and because you both have seen a lot of implementations in your career, I was hoping you can go through what makes a successful ecommerce implementation, like what does that look like, any case studies, I want to know how someone can make sure to put their best foot forward when thinking about that?Ashima:Yeah, in my experience, the best way to sell an implementation to a business stakeholder is to highlight their top three pain points, what is it that you're struggling with the most like in case of Restoration Hardware, or even my current company, we would ask them, what are the features you wanted to get in in 2019 and still haven't been able to get out of the door? And how can we increase velocity? Velocity is a word business loves. They want their things out the door, in front of the customers as soon as possible. That's one. Two, I feel really strongly about instrumentation and collecting metrics. If you don't know where your customer is and how they're using your site and what they're thinking as they're using your site, it just is pointless in many ways, because you can't make progress in any specific area, if you don't know how well or bad it's doing.Ashima:So those two avenues of velocity and instrumentation connect with business a lot. And then, also giving our business a sense that we're not boiling the ocean, we're going to go slow, start at point A and take you through to point B and won't abandon you midway and here's how it's going to go and give them an early peek into what an implementation would look like, is again, something that just strikes under with business and I feel like they understand our side of the problem.Stephanie:Okay.Jon:I couldn't agree more with agreeing on a language from an IT standpoint with the business and how you can evaluate the success of it. So ahead of time, you know that the business values this and IT values this and is the project to achieving that yes or no, rather than some... because the worst situation is where people start pulling metrics that no one's ever measured out of the air. And it's like, in the last week, our average card size is down 82 cents, you can chase that rabbit pretty deep.Stephanie:I was just going to ask that about metrics. It seems like at least back in my Google days, everyone was always operating in different metrics. I worked with product teams and [inaudible] teams and they didn't really see eye to eye with what was important. So, how would you present that to leadership in a way that connects with everyone who's your manager or manager's manager, and not just presenting business metrics that don't make sense to an engineering team who's like, well, wait, this is actually the bigger infrastructure problem while business is like, but what about my average order size? How do you think about that good balance without overwhelming them with hundreds of metrics?Ashima:Right. I feel like I agree with Jon that metrics and exclusivity don't make sense but if you connect the funnel that, here's where the customer started, we can see that we have so much value in this detail page and this is the button they're clicking the most. And if I improve this experience and reduce the number of clicks, it's going to get us this much left in the final revenue number. I feel like starting and ending, creating a story out of it has the best impact.Ashima:If you throw out a caught value number from the middle, maybe that won't resonate as much but creating a story, creating here's where we start, here's where we see most value. And this is where it's going to end, might have a better-Jon:No, totally. And I can think of two reasons why that's important. One is that it provides a north star for the project as it's going. These projects are multi month projects with different stakeholders and a lot of movement in them. And so being able to touch back to here are the use cases that we all agreed on that we're doing I think, is really critical. The other is it's interesting because it's table stakes to the level you're talking about is to have a broad agreement with the business and IT about what it is you're building full stop and while you're building it. I can think of implementation we did in Emeryville, which was, super lovely people but they were ultimately trying to save the business by replacing their ecommerce engine and as the business degraded, the energy around like we're going to get this new site out and all of a sudden the boat's going to float again. It just doesn't bear out that way. If you don't know why you're building and how that's building your business, technology alone is not going to do it. [AD READ]Stephanie:Yeah. And I love the idea to around having to have a story for it. I don't think I've heard of many, especially, engineering managers speak that language before, which I think is awesome. But I mean, we talk about that in our company all the time about, every podcast needs to be told and the hero's journey type format, even our show notes, everything needs to be told in the story, it needs to open up loops. I'd be interested to hear how you structure that to connect with other people. How do you think about building a story in a way that's going to sell leadership and excite them for something that they might not be able to see like the changes that are happening after a year or so?Ashima:Yeah, and I might be preaching to the choir. You guys are much better than me in this business but I feel like you have to know your audience. If you're going into a VP discussion, your story is going to be totally different and if I'm selling it to my senior manager, he's going to look for what is my [inaudible] AWS. What story are you telling? So knowing your audience, and creating the story based on it is super important. We pay a lot of attention to documentation and story writing. That is why all engineering managers are, well, could have been all of them, rounded part of just knowing what will resonate with that particular team member is super important so that you can bring out just those facts in that conversation and sell that specific point. Jon, I don't know if you have any-Jon:In marketing, we call those personas.Ashima:Personas.Stephanie:Tell me one more thing, Jon, how do we approach that?Jon:How do we approach aligning the stories with a persona? Yeah, I totally agree with Ashima, you have to know your audience, you have to really be able to know what the people want... like any big project like this, it's only going to be successful when it's a mutual success. So understanding how you can talk to somebody and say, we're going to do this and it's going to help you this way, and we're going to need your involvement this way, right? Knowing how to have those conversations is the way to, I think, introduce people to these big projects and get them excited about it. But then, also really being focused on, here are the problems that this project solves for you, constituent of this project, because if people don't have any skin in the game and there's no clear connection between their participation and some better outcome, they're not going to want to do it.Jon:A lot of it is people have some sort of vision, we came in at the point where people already had a vision that they were going to do something at the ecommerce thing and we filled in the blanks of here's what your store would actually look like and here's how your use cases actually match into a finished product. And so, I think she's really right, that you really have to know what the people who are consuming the information about the project need to hear to feel great about it to feel like it's a solution to their problems.Ashima:The other important thing to remember is the the reviews that go well are the ones where you're not tackling 10 problems. I feel like you should look at your story again and find the two problems that you're trying to solve, don't talk about 20, 10. The ones that are successful are the ones that are saying, here are my two problems, working backwards from it, here's where we need to start and here are the big milestones we're going to touch as we work towards it. So working backwards, shortening your storyline to one to two problems that you will solve and never say you will solve everything because you will never be solving everything. There's just too many things that you could fix.Ashima:As an engineer, I could find 1001 things to fix on a particular implementation, on a system. But are you trying to save cost? If cost is your end goal, your story should be just focused on cost. If getting customers specific feature is your goal, that's what you should be focusing on. If you try to do too many things, the audience gets confused. And then, you don't get consensus with it. Because they're like you're asking too much of me. I can't make all these decisions today. So, you don't get good outcomes of this conversation.Jon:Totally. I think that that's a really good insight all the way around when you do an engineering project because it's... particularly one of the sides, right? You live and die on the success of it. And in a very real way, it sucks but a lot of it is also politics and the visioning or how the perception of your project is in the company, and projects that are incrementally spinning off benefits, even if they're not huge, but reliably doing it in my experience, get a lot more love and attention than the, there's going to be this unbelievable bang on Thursday and everything's going to change, right?Jon:Those big bang projects, I think, can be very traumatic for everybody involved. And so, I think the idea that you start with something that works, and then build on top of that, rather than, I got to get all 10 of these perfect at the same time, it's a much harder climb.Ashima:Yeah. The last thing I would say about this is, be honest and upfront about what the trade offs are because you're not going to make everybody happy out of an implementation. Never have I seen that in my career making everybody happy.Jon:Of course.Ashima:So, the prioritization is key to success, like I was saying, picking through problems and solving them. But even within that, you're not going to be able to fix everything, right? If you set the right expectation as a consultant, as an STM or whoever you are in that meeting, and say, this is what I'm going to be able to do in this timeline. And, this is what I'm not going to be able to deliver up front, that might make you lose some customers, but you'll probably gain more customers out of that and I feel like that's a more honest conversation, you earn trust.Stephanie:Yeah, I was thinking-Jon:Yeah, total radical transparency, being upfront. We had a mentor Ashima and I, who would say, hold your client's feet to the fire. Every time he'll be like, are you holding their feet to the fire? And that idea that all of these are partnerships and that a strong vendor relationship is not a vendor who is complacent and like, I'll do whatever you want but is actually holding your feet to the fire and being like, if you don't do these two things, these outcomes are going to happen. And I'm not going to be injured the same way you are, but you got to get on it.Stephanie:Now I know where you got that line from Jon, you pulled that on me last week.Jon:Some inside baseball, Stephanie is outstanding at holding her clients feet to the fire. It's really great, because long ago, I learned that people in business negotiations very rarely say stuff, just to say it, right? There's always something that happens. And I was like, this is the third time I've heard this. It's consistent every time.Stephanie:Yeah. So how has the landscape changed when it comes to maybe either re-platforming or moving to digital for the first time? What were the maybe the two to three biggest problems that were being solved back when you were at Restoration Hardware or before then to now where before maybe people were focused on costs or just simple things? What's the focus now that people are trying to achieve when going through any kind of digital transformation or re-platforming? What are they looking for now?Ashima:I feel like business and engineering are looking for different goals. Engineering is looking to break down the architecture. When Jon and I did initial projects, most of the systems were monolithic. And there was this one giant deployment doing everything and when it broke, everybody cried. We've moved on from that world into the new brave world of Azure and AWS, and every other small or big company trying to get into the buzzword cloud but what that really means is that the implementation goal from engineering side has changed. We've felt more empowered to make small changes. I don't want to boil the ocean. I don't want to switch all of my implementation but I'm going to change this part of this page and just live with it and then, see how it goes.Ashima:And that's a big empowerment factor because then, I'm not stressed about changing everything at once. Right? I can go make micro changes. From business point of view, I feel like the challenge is about understanding younger customers and that's a totally different challenge from engineering because you have to run more user surveys. When we were doing implementations, I barely saw anybody doing user surveys, and coming back to me with a product doc saying, here's what I found. This is what people want, and it's going to be awesome. It was like, I have some intuition. I want to implement incrementality and this is what we should try and do and we'll see what happens. I feel like business is smarter now. I see many more people doing user research, user deep dives, experience deep dives ahead of time to know why they're building something, what would resonate, how do I get that 12 year old into my service so they will stay with us until 40 and I have a continuous revenue stream. So, I feel like the business landscape is changing from that point of view. Jon?Jon:Yeah, it's really interesting that you say that. It reminds me of a million years ago, like 2000, 2001. I was at ATG, which became Oracle commerce. And we were at some crazy Swedish auction bidding site and in Stockholm, I remember the CTO comes in and he's like, are there any features of ATG we haven't turned on yet because we should turn them on and I was like, that's bananas. And so, I think that initial like, I just need to be online. I don't really care what it is because I just need to hold the hill like just to physically be there I think is less important than to Ashima's point. There's a lot more intentionality about like, I want to produce this experience for my customers, and it's tied into a larger journey rather than like, if I'm not selling online.Jon:Although, actually, you said two things I was really interested and the first is that, just to say it out loud, right? At Salesforce, it's not a monolithic, kind of is monolith, right? Like we have micro services or APIs but it's all behind the curtain. It's not pure micro services in the way that someone else would but provides it all API stuff. I hear what you're saying about engineering teams having more ability to make small changes and being able to just get in and do stuff, because stuff is more easily manipulated, because there are more places, I don't know, from access. But, I think that also comes with a lot more ownership. I mean, you need an engineering team that's capable of doing those things, or more maintenance in that scenario.Ashima:Yeah, absolutely. You can't microservice the heck out of the system. You have to be intentional about it. But I feel like in the last five years, our overall engineering pool of people have learned this and it's no longer an anomaly. More people are doing this, it doesn't matter what language you're using, you could be on C, C++, or you could be on Golang. I feel like there's lots of people who have experienced it, learnt it. The bigger companies are now doing it, the Walmarts are all microservice based so we're no longer in the world where people were just experimenting with this and created hundreds of them. I feel like we're more intentional now, we've learned from our experiences.Ashima:The pool of engineers we have now are more experienced. This is not a new thing for them so, I feel like I have seen... maturity is the word I was looking for, that people are becoming mature in their implementation and more intentional about it. It's no longer monkeying with this new concept like-Jon:No, totally. Not only their robust skills in the marketplace, but their design patterns as well that people can fall back on. It's not like I'm now writing the very first of these ever on the internet.Ashima:Right.Jon:Awesome. That's really interesting. I've already answered the question.Ashima:The other thing I would mention from business side, which I really appreciate is people are trying to do one thing and one thing really well. You could go to the play shoe store, and you see kids shoes, they do that awesome. I love those shoes or the furniture I recently bought. These companies who are doing small things less inventory, trying to make the business profitable but doing those really, really well. I feel like that's a huge switch from ecommerce that Jon and I are used to where I am this shop that is going to sell everything under the sun and tell me how to sell it and that was hard because every product is different and categorization is different. The search has complexity and those were really hard problems that we were solving. I feel like businesses are becoming smarter in deciding where they're good at and what they should be doing.Stephanie:Yeah. [crosstalk]Jon:Shopping at the edge is this big idea, right? That all of a sudden, you can't keep people within your website, that all of a sudden, those four walls of your website are gone and now people are going to be shopping in marketplaces or on Amazon Music or at the Hertz checkout thing, or you're renting your car, you can buy whatever, right? And I think it's a compelling idea and I think it really speaks, Ashima, to what you're talking about in terms of little engineering things to make it easier. Like all of a sudden, you're like, now I can really easily ingest orders from the Hertz kiosk. It's not a big lift to do something like that.Jon:And we're seeing crazy growth and I think it speaks a lot to that engineering crowd into the marketing idea that you'll have a lot of control agility to be able to do this stuff. So I mean, as a Salesforce employee legitimately, it is something that we're investing in making happening, but I don't know, it'll be interesting to see how brands navigate it. Because certainly, it's a different model than I'm used to putting on the internet, certainly different than I'm used to using personally, but then, Ashima's point was like, kids today, right? Stephanie:I was going to say exactly what you just said, Ashima about how now, it used to be kind of chaotic, because businesses were trying to do everything. But now to think about, it seems like businesses have to be everywhere to sell, consumers want to shop everywhere. I mean, I know Jon mentioned shopping on the edge, that term which we've brought up a few times in the show and I want to hear how you guys think about that. Because I talked to quite a few brands who say that consumers are on TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, they're over a walmart.com, they're on Amazon, how do we keep up? We need to be selling everywhere quickly. And maybe Jon, I'll let you start because I know you have a strong opinion that maybe doesn't go well with what Ashima thinks?Jon:I think Ashima and I naturally falls in different sides of this. I think in addition to brands now not necessarily needing to have a gigantic... you can have a very focused set of skus that are easy to merchandise and understand. You also don't need to own all the software and stuff that you once did. It's much easier for a brand to be like, I'm going to exist to sell beanies. They're going be the greatest beanies in the world and assemble, it's the software stack for the brand stack, getting back to that, assemble the software in a way that, frankly, a physical brand that has a lot of legacy stuff is going to have a much harder time following you along. Ashima:I'm not opposed, or I don't think it's something that's not happening, it is happening. Shopping on the edge is happening. My point is that, as an engineer, as an engineering team, it doesn't preclude me from building a strong ecommerce site that's going to be my core platform. I still have to do everything in my power to make that as a strong space, that it can be stable enough to take regular orders. So the engineering effort to chase 50 different places is hard. But I feel like all teams probably first need to focus on making their core platform strong, right? It has to be.Ashima:And the second point I would make is only small... only X5 of your customers are coming from the edge shopping and that is why it's harder to understand exactly how to show your features and what will work for them and that's where my point about user case studies might work. But the bigger bulk of customers still going to come back into your site to explore other things that you have. So if you have X number of dollars, where would you get the most value out of them? Would it be just a shiny poster on Instagram, and bringing them back to your site or putting in your engineering dollars and making that one click work from Instagram? So that's where I struggle what would give you the best bang for your buck? Jon.Jon:Yeah, no, it's, I think, a great point, right? When you're talking, I'm like, man, I definitely want that core platform that's like robust and could do anything.Ashima:Yeah.Jon:I think what you're saying about user stories is ultimately the right answer, though, because when we think about core platform, I think you and I, Ashima, generally, we think about big robust servers sitting in a box somewhere, able to handle any trade, but that's not what every brand's priority is particularly something you want so-Ashima:Yeah.Stephanie:Yeah. Essentially say, they didn't even know they needed a website. They were just like, if you... I am trying to think, who we had on who is... a more recent episode where they're like, well, if we're selling on Instagram or Facebook or wherever it may be, no, it was a bot within Facebook Messenger. And you go on there, it's a personalized bot and then, they can say, this shirt would fit you perfectly and you can buy within Facebook Messenger. And she was making the point of like, why would you even need a website, if you can sell within Messengers or through Dms which is where the world is moving right now? Who cares what your website looks like [crosstalk]Jon:I guess, right back to this Ashima's point about user stories, right? Which is that ultimately, it doesn't matter if you have... pure in the server box of ecommerce definition, if your users are all on TikTok and they're going to buy through some crazy thing, you'd be bananas to invest in the giant server solution or in a traditional ecommerce solution. You want something that can flexibly follow wherever your customers are and knowing that if you don't own the store they're in, that they're probably going to move around a lot, right? It's not going to be TikTok forever. And so, you need the ability to service that.Ashima:Yeah, I feel like I'm a little bit biased being in Amazon, just the pink hat makes me think that I'm not just selling to TikTok customers, I'm thinking big. I have my customers everywhere. So it might be that for your brand, that might work. But for the [inaudible] of the world, they have to have strong presence on their own platform, and TikTok might help. I recently made a big purchase of couches I bought from article.com and I didn't do the shopping on the edge but what was super helpful was to look at Instagram photos of people using that furniture in their house and how it's set up.Ashima:It enabled me to buy it. So again, I was thinking one of the investment people are making is an AI and augmented reality and so on and I don't know if it's worth it because you the Warby Parkers of the world which are sending you the thing at home or the Instagram approach where you're showing people how your product looks in someone else's home. I feel like that's so much more effective to me as a customer that, making this guess of where my dollars should be spent is a hard problem. And I just am not fully convinced that shopping at the edge should be your end goal if you're a big hump.Jon:No, I think even in the most robust Salesforce marketing, we're definitely not suggesting, turn off your channels, shopping at the edge is the only way. 104% [crosstalk]. don't even need it anymore. it's going to be really interesting Ashima because my kids have Amazon accounts, I think. I don't think they've ever bought anything but turns out, all this management of your kids accounts trying to keep them affiliated like Apple , not doing a great job, Amazon, not doing a great job. Anyway, that's not where they go to shop for stuff. It's all social. I'm like, I need a cable, I go immediately to Amazon. They will not do that.Ashima:That's a really great point because I feel like there's a generational gap that I am starting to understand better as my kids are growing up, living my life through them a little bit and that's a great educational experience for all of us learning, how are people adapting to these new things? What are they connecting with? What are they not connecting with? And so on and so forth. My kids don't even read books, it's all audible. I'm like, I'm going to listen to story that I pick so the life is very different than... why I call shopping at the edge, a fad is it's working really well for this generation but for how many years? The next thing is going to replace it is my opinion and that's why having a core strong platform will get you over this hump into the next one.Stephanie:What do you think could be the next thing now? It's piqued my interest of like, what do you see coming after shopping at the edge just dies? No one does that anymore. What are they going to be doing next then?Ashima:You know-Ashima:I have started to see people use Airbnb experiences and Amazon explorer experiences a lot. Just yesterday, a friend of mine said they've gifted their friend or their wife a Valentine's gift of our tour in [inaudible] somewhere in Korea. I'm not saying name right.Jon:Korea?Ashima:It was awesome. Yeah, it was awesome. Lik this person walked through the markets, who then, they could show them the product. It was a very personalized tour so, I thought that's like the next big thing. And even an ecommerce opportunity like if you're buying from here in a shop in Korea and they can ship it to you.How unique is that? I think there's lots of potential and then, doing online experiences. I'm going to do a cooking class with you and then, I'm going to buy all of these pots and pans and ice from you because it looks awesome. I feel like that could be the next big thing.Jon:No doubt because we've got this live shopping demo that we do which is that it's like we have... it's funny because I thought of you when I narrated. I was like Ashima is going to be like this is never going to happen but it's that, there's an Influencer, you can buy stuff on the side so it's interesting to hear the facts.Stephanie:I think that's the way to go. Yeah, I mean, I think about we had someone saying that they... Andrew from Ideoclick, he teaches or does something with Harvard Business School on ecommerce and stuff. And, she was mentioning they had an influencer from China come in and show what shopping looks like and what her fans do and it was within three minutes, she'd racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales of a Harvard sticker. And they're like, that's power.Jon:Totally.Stephanie:It was new to me. I mean, I get it. I buy shirts and clothes and all this stuff on Instagram just by seeing people I follow I'm like, they remind me of myself and that shirt's cute. So I guess maybe not top level.Ashima:Yeah. Well, I use Airbnb a lot. We go out a lot and one of the things that I really enjoy is that something that that person is using in their house, I sometimes come back and buy it because I've experienced it. I've worked with it for two, three days and I loved it and I'm like, I should have this fixture or I should have this knife or I should have this other thing that I've experienced now, lived with it and I feel like that's such an awesome way to promote product, where you can touch and feel it and experience at no extra cost, but then, also buy it if you really like it. So, if Airbnb uses it, they should give me some money. But-Stephanie:We've got affiliate Airbnb, come on.Jon:Right? I think you're really, right and I also think about Twitch because I do some deejaying stuff so I am on Twitch a lot and there's not only crosssection between product buying but also, in terms of rewarding the influencer directly with cash, that your experience where you're like, this is great. I love being here and they're also selling stuff.Stephanie:How are you guys thinking of retail then, you talked about touching, feeling things and experiencing that, obviously, retail hasn't been at the profile lately. How are you guys thinking about that?Jon:That's why all these predictions, they are really a little tricky because this physical digital thing is all screwed up, well, not screwed up but vastly affected by the pandemic and that's incredibly changed everybody shopping habits. I mean, I bought stuff online, I never buy again and so, if I'm really honest, I am not sure the Twitch DJ stream outlives clubs opening. I'll talk about how Twitch is going to change the world and it's all great but I don't know if people are going to hang out online all day if they can go out once a week.Stephanie:Yeah. [inaudible] I am ready to get out.Jon:Yeah. Like everybody-Stephanie:[crosstalk].Ashima:Absolutely.Jon:For me, in person is going to be a big trouble. The camera's not going to get it done anymore.Ashima:Yeah. I feel like this is a blip, I feel like retail and in person shopping is going to come back with vengeance once things open up, we all get vaccinated and be safe. I generally think this is a blip. I feel like retail's going nowhere. It's going to be back. Restoration Hardware is all ready for it, I'm sure.Jon:[crosstalk] Do you think that they'll shift...yeah, totally. Do you think it'll shift the market place, right because I agree, I think we are going back to in person something but the Best Buy down the street has evolved so many times. During the pandemic, they were a fulfillment center then, they were a store , then, they were like outside only and now... I just don't know that it makes sense for Best Buy to have that big retail store and not have a [inaudible]. I agree they'll come back but, I don't know if it's going to be the same.Ashima:Yeah. With Fry's stores closing last week which was a sad event in my household. My husband loves Fry's.Jon:That was really sad. Bad day.Ashima:Yeah. You are absolutely, right that it's going to look different. It's going to be more personalized as, I think, we discussed before, it will look different. There's also going to be a disparity, the big guys are going to have money, they're going to come back the same way, the Targets, the Walmarts, they are going to be the same. The little guy or the medium guy has to make some sense of what will get them through this hump and keep them going. I don't see a [inaudible] store coming up near me, even if they were planning to, I think those plans will be delayed but I feel like some of it is going to back the same way it was, earlier.Stephanie:Yeah. The one thing we keep hearing is more about curation when it comes to stores, that people want to go there for an experience, you go to a pottery ban, you go to West Elm, whatever it maybe and you're lik, this is my space, this is my style, I come here because I don't want to think but then, I also think about me and I'm like, I go to a T.J.Maxx and it's just, all over the place and I thrive there. I'm like, this is my spot. Find something fun and I don't know what to expect so, I think it just depends on the shopper.Ashima:I love that comment because it's very hard to create emotions online. Pe`ople don't have the patience of going through things and things online. This feeling of hunting and finding gold in that aisle, that's going to stay with us, again, there's a demographic that loves it and that demographic is waiting for being vaccinated to get out there.Jon:And you think that digital needle in haystack experience doesn't exist in the same way it does, I mean, like T.J.Maxx, I found this unbelievable bargain.Ashima:It does in some cases, where you guys talk about Instagram and finding something you didn't even know existed. Sure, it does but not in the same way. Finding the $5 t-shirt that you didn't know exist in T.J.Maxx is like, that's new.Stephanie:It's my day. Walking out of T.J.Maxx store snapping, maybe Jon, he looks very confused about our conversation.Ashima:Yeah.Jon:No, it's cool. There's a Ross up here. I know what's up.Stephanie:Ross-Jon:Ross is like the... you could get, Ross is a second store, right? It's just lost inventory so anything can be there.Stephanie:Extra lost. No one goes in and doesn't get lost. All right. Well, Ashima and Jon, this has been an amazing round table. So fun having you guys on. We definitely have to do it again, where can people maybe find out more about your work. Ashima, we'll start with you. Where can people find more about you?Ashima:You can find me on LinkedIn, a lot about me, things I write or things that are relevant to me so LinkedIn is the right place.Stephanie:LinkedIn. All right. Jon, what about you? Where can people find out more about your work?Jon:Yeah, totally. LinkedIn is a good place or just search for Salesforce and my name. I write a lot of Salesforce stuff, number one blog ever. Number one performing blog.Stephanie:Yup and you have an amazing stay conversation for it. Everyone should check it out, methodical trans in there. We've referenced it a few times in our newsletter and it is very helpful for anyone who's either trying to start an ecommerce shop or trying to transform into a big brand. So, thank you guys so much for doing this show and we will see you next time.Ashima:Thank you very muchJon:Thank you.Ashima:Take care, Stephanie.

The Access Group have enabled thousands of not-for-profit organisations run more efficiently and raise more money. Whether you’re attracting supporters or members, fundraising, managing visitors, controlling finances, or dealing with staff, their integrated not-for-profit software makes it easy to do more.The process of digital transformation is a frequent topic of sector discussion. But there is sometimes a misunderstanding as to what this means and how it can be applied. When we discuss a digital future, sometimes people can overlook the human element. But a digital-first approach must also be a user-centred approach. In this podcast, we discuss the importance of developing user-centred solutions, rather than splurging on exciting new tech that may not be useful to your audience. In this episode, we are joined by Shaf Mansour, Product Manager at The Access Group, Jill Haines, Marketing and Communications Manager and Anna Pangbourne, Chief Exec at the Fashion & Textile Children’s Trust.

"If you are going to spend your life running anyway, you might as well be chasing your dreams." - J.B. BernsteinJ.B. Bernstein is a "Genetically Wired Entrepreneur." Bernstein has helped fund and successfully launched businesses in Packaged Goods, Trading Cards, Digital Content, Sports, TV, Supplements, Building Blocks, & New Tech.JB's most recent investment in AviSight, a leading drone based Industrial Inspection company, was so intriguing, he accepted the role of CEO and is ushering in a generational paradigm shift in the industry for Oil, Gas, & Power companies worldwide.As a 35+ year veteran of the sports marketing and packaged goods industries, Mr. Bernstein has been called an “Evolutionary Force Multiplier” in business, and is widely respected for his creative problem solving and positive results. Bernstein's early work includes positions with Grey Advertising, Procter & Gamble, Upper Deck, and Major League Soccer before starting his own sports agency.As founder of Access Group of Miami, LLC, he has represented some of the greatest athletes of all-time including Barry Bonds, Barry Sanders & Emmitt Smith. Bernstein was responsible for creating groundbreaking programs such as Smith's Run With History™ which is now the standard deal in NFL for milestone marketing. J.B. also helped orchestrate Barry Bonds' departure from the MLBPA licensing group, making him the first baseball player to successfully operate outside of their auspices.Most notably, JB co-created The Million Dollar Arm™ contest in India, which yielded the first 2 Indian men to ever sign pro sports contracts in the US. J.B.'s story was the subject of a Disney motion picture, released worldwide on May 16, 2014. The film starred Jon Hamm as Bernstein.J.B. serves as the chair of the Las Vegas Tiger 21 group, the premier peer membership organization for high-net-worth wealth creators and preservers, helping them navigate the challenges and opportunities that success creates. He also sits on the Board of Directors for Iqoniq and several other sports startups.Mr. Bernstein graduated the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and has also achieved graduate degrees from USC and LSE. Bernstein currently lives in Las Vegas with his wife and daughter.The Deep Wealth Experience has you learn the 9-steps of preparation in 90-days. At the end of the 90-days you have a launch plan and certainty that you capture the maximum value.SHOW NOTESJ.B.'s background and storyWhy hunger for success is the starting point of any journeyThe meteoric rise of J.B. at Proctor and GambleWhy mentors are key for success in life and business J.B. share stories about his mentor, Richard McWilliams who founded Upper Deck cardsLessons learned from J.B.s first liquidity event with Upper DeckThe importance of believing and betting on yourself instead of other peopleWhy you must find the buyer who has the cultural alignment with your businessHow every business owner must set expectations for the liquidity event itselfThe importance of planning for life after a liquidity eventWhy an unsolicited offer isn't usually the best offerWhy taking time off after a liquidity event is the most important action to takeJ.B. shares how he became a sports agent for Barry Sanders, Emmitt Smith, and Curtis MartinThe importance of knowing where your industry is heading so you can pivot as neededJ.B. shares the story of one interaction that forever changed his career as a sports agentHow J.B. found his X-Factor to skyrocket the value of his business and created a market disruptionThe power of creating your blue ocean where you have no competition and add massive valueWhat J.B. did to create his blue ocean in a unique way that changed

In episode 59, Simon talks to Nick Telson. Nick co-founded DesignMyNight 10 years ago. Coming from a marketing background at L'Oreal, where he launched 2 brands in the UK, he grew DesignMyNight into 8 million views a month website with three ground-breaking B2B hospitality systems with over 15,000 customers. DesignMyNight was acquired by The Access Group in November 2017. He now hosts a top 10 global business podcast, Pitch Deck and has founded a new spin on venture for startups; Horseplay Ventures - a Startup Playground, where he has already invested in 25 startups in the UK and US.

In episode 59, Simon talks to Nick Telson. Nick co-founded DesignMyNight 10 years ago. Coming from a marketing background at L'Oreal, where he launched 2 brands in the UK, he grew DesignMyNight into 8 million views a month website with three ground-breaking B2B hospitality systems with over 15,000 customers. DesignMyNight was acquired by The Access Group in November 2017. He now hosts a top 10 global business podcast, Pitch Deck and has founded a new spin on venture for startups; Horseplay Ventures - a Startup Playground, where he has already invested in 25 startups in the UK and US.

In episode 59, Simon talks to Nick Telson. Nick co-founded DesignMyNight 10 years ago. Coming from a marketing background at L'Oreal, where he launched 2 brands in the UK, he grew DesignMyNight into 8 million views a month website with three ground-breaking B2B hospitality systems with over 15,000 customers. DesignMyNight was acquired by The Access Group in November 2017. He now hosts a top 10 global business podcast, Pitch Deck and has founded a new spin on venture for startups; Horseplay Ventures - a Startup Playground, where he has already invested in 25 startups in the UK and US.

This is Episode 3 of This Is Islay, a community podcast celebrating the people, places, events and connections of Islay and Jura, hosted this month by Jolyon Thurgood and Tom O'Farrell, featuring: 1. Glen Roberts in conversation with Dr Pat McGrann of the Islay Community Access Group, 2. Greig Shaw with the Fraser Shaw Trust, music from the Islay Sessioneers: David Foley, Jack Smedley, Jenn Butterworth, and Maeve Mackinnon, and 3. This month's factoid. The goal of This Is Islay is to use podcasting to foster community involvement, education and training, providing resources and facilities to research, produce and promote content for a worldwide audience. We invite you to provide feedback, ideas, or even join our podcasting team. Find us at https://anchor.fm/thisisislay . Let us know what you enjoyed and what you would like to hear next month. Contact us by e-mail: thisisislay@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter @thisisislay, on Facebook @thisisislay and Instagram @thisisislaypodcast. More about this month's podcast: Islay Community Access Group: to provide your feedback on the public consultation, open until 7th December 2020, for the proposed dual-purpose pathway between Bowmore and Bridgend, go to https://islaypathways.com . Music featured this month was: Head East, by David Foley (flute) and Jack Smedley (fiddle), featuring Jenn Butterworth on guitar A' Mhic Doughaill ‘Ic Ruaraidh, by Maeve Mackinnon Our theme music is '£50 Cashback' from The Fraser Shaw Trust. Keep up to date on Islay Sessions and the work of the Trust in support of the relief of multiple sclerosis at https://frasershawtrust.com . .

Today’s guest is J.B. Bernstein, President and CEO of athlete management firm, Access Group, and CMO of sports marketing and athlete representation company, Seven Figures Management. His insane work ethic and incredible drive has led him to become one of the most respected marketing experts in the world of sports today. At a time when his sports agency company was on the verge of collapse, J.B. took a leap of faith, entering completely uncharted waters to find the world’s next Yao Ming. He decided to host a baseball competition in of all places India, at a time when baseball was nearly unheard of in that part of the world. The competition attracted over 35,000 contestants, which eventually sprung into a groundbreaking opportunity to sign two of the first ever Indian pro-league baseball players, Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel to the Major Leagues. The story got on Disney’s radar and was turned into a heart-warming biographical film, Million Dollar Arm, where J.B. was portrayed by Emmy Award winning actor, Jon Hamm. Without further ado, please enjoy today’s podcast featuring J.B. Bernstein. 

The 2020 global consumer is likely to change, and that change is likely unpredictable. And in a tumultuous environment of constant change it’s imperative to gain clarity on the emerging forces. While there are obvious trends arising there are also unpredictable behavioral shifts expected that will have meaningful impact on the online and offline retail market place.  Mark Teperson,  Chief Digital officer for Accent Group Limited (a regional leader in the retail and distribution of performance and lifestyle footwear, with over 420 stores across 10 different retail banners and exclusive distribution rights for 10 international brands across Australia and New Zealand such as The Athlete’s Foot, Skechers, Dr. Martens, Timberland, Sperry Top-Sider) joins Marc Raco for a discussion on the next wave of digital evolution and how to prepare. This 300th episode of Fashion Is Your Business was recorded on location in front of a live audience at Online Retailer in Sydney, Australia.

Sign up to our recruitment newsletter: http://bit.ly/RecruitNews On the Barclay Jones’ Recruitment Leaders’ Podcast I talk this week to Jason Martin from Safe Computing Safe Computing, part of the Access Group, specialises in delivering technology for global staffing organisations, both on a SaaS and in-house software delivery model. Lisa and Jason talked about: • How will the job of the recruitment consultant change in the next 5 years? How will automation change it? • Integration in recruitment systems – what does this really mean and how should it impact on recruiters? • Data is “the new oil”! Data economy is the new black. We talked about this “new” concept • What do recruitment businesses need to do NOW? We talked about GDPR – some nifty ideas and tips for recruitment leaders in this section of the chat! • Too much data, not enough information? • What is TempAGo? • What are Randstad and Adecco doing with data that may “cut out” the recruitment branch network and reduce their headcount? • Which KPI does Jason think is key for every recruiter next year? • We talked about the Relationship Economy – is it new? • How can a recruitment leader manage their staffing more effectively in 2018? • What does the average recruitment leader need to STOP doing - and what should they nail in 2018? • What is $2billion being spent on by ONE recruiter before 2020?

J.B. Bernstein (born February 5, 1968) is the CEO of Access Group, an athlete management firm and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Seven Figures Management, a sports marketing and athlete representation firm. Bernstein created the The Million Dollar Arm contest in India, which yielded the first two Indian men (Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel) to ever sign pro sports contracts in the US (with the Pittsburgh Pirates). Bernstein received his bachelor's degree in political economics in 1990 from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, obtaining his MBA at The London School of Economics. Bernstein started his career in brand management at Grey Advertising working exclusively with Procter & Gamble accounts. Bernstein started working in the sports industry during the early years of The Upper Deck Company and as Director of Development for their memorabilia division Upper Deck Authenticated. Bernstein's services were retained by Major League Soccer from 1995–97, where he acted as their head of licensing and created the league's merchandise program. MLS secured over 50 national partners and reached $50 million in MLS-licensed sales in just its second season. Bernstein became a partner in Pro Access Group in 1997 and created a platform of marketing campaigns to mark significant achievements in sports history. He went on to represent Barry Sanders, Emmitt Smith, and Barry Bonds. Bernstein's involvement with Singh and Patel is the basis for the film, Million Dollar Arm. Bernstein is portrayed by Jon Hamm.[1]

Note from the show's Producer, Mary Agnes Antonopoulos: Today, we are going to interview our host, one of my favorite people of all time, Kelli Richards.  Kelli has been a catalyst and change agent in the music industry for her entire career - coaching innovators and leaders in music, entertainment and technology and helping to create amazing projects to better our world. She’s also a certified coach, and as a coach, every single day helps artists, celebrities and even everyday people, accelerate their vision of what’s possible and blow past personal and professional roadblocks.  Kelli also mentors artists and musicians to navigate what they have already created into the hands of the right people – the key players that the rest of us only wish were in our realm. Kelli Richards is creative and compelling, AND she’s connecting the dots for other people all day, every day.  This should be a GREAT show.  

Kelli Richards shares the HOW of creating great things. Tune in to learn how great projects come about and how great teams get built. Kelli has worked with some amazing recording artists, like Paul McCartney and Todd Rundgren, she has been part of the digital music revolution, and has participated in the production of some amazing events over her career, including the Grammy Awards.

Kelli Richards shares her journey to become a top executive at Apple, the CEO of The All Access Group (a leading digital music consultancy) and a noted producer and the author of "The Art of Digital Music,” recently named a Best Books Award Winner by USABookNews.com.

Members of Manchester Disabled People's Access Group meet ocasionally on Saturday morning for a "Crippucino's" event - a coffee, chat and look at access issues wherever they meet. This time they looked at Beech Road in Chorlton, Manchester

Manchester Disabled People's Access Group meets on Saturday mornings for a coffee, chat and look at access issues wherever they meet. This time they look at Beech Road, Chorlton, Manchester

Tim Daly is the founder and CEO of The Access Group and author of “Ramping Up for Profits”, a book full of facts, perspectives and anecdotes that will support your company's efforts to build a disability-friendly culture. Tim, an individual with a disability, would like to help remove negative attitudes that cause barriers and poor service to people with disabilities. Join Joyce and Tim as they discuss the mission of The ACCESS Group Inc., a Columbia, Maryland based motivational speaking and consulting firm, which addresses the stigma of hiring individuals with disabilities.