Podcasts about aflac duck

Welcome to Voice Acting Stories! On this week's episode, we have Voice Actor Ted Evans. He is Los Angeles based actor. He has been in a few amazing projects like The Incredibles 2, The Addams Family 2, the Aflac Duck, Kong: Skull Island, Saban's Power Rangers, Virtual Virtual Reality, Final Fantasy XV, and so much more! Join me on this last awesome two part adventure for 2024. Listen as you do chores, commute to work, or any other way. https://www.tedevansvo.com/ https://navavoices.org/ Facebook Podcast Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/631972061329300  Facebook Podcast Page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082776574281 Instagram Podcast: @voiceactingstories If you want a The Voice Straw check out these affiliate links. Thanks! https://voicestraw.com/?ref=ctQaTgfR https://voicestraw.com/discount/VERONICABARRERA?ref=ctQaTgfR

Dan Amos is chairman, chief executive officer and president of Aflac Incorporated and the second longest-serving CEO in the FORTUNE 250. Under his leadership as CEO, Aflac Incorporated's total return to shareholders1 has exceeded 15,446%, compared with 3,075% for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, 2,812% for the S&P 500 Index and 1,471% for the S&P 500 Life & Health Insurance Index. In 2000, Dan launched the popular Aflac Duck advertising campaign, transforming Aflac from a successful supplemental insurance company to a top international brand. Under Dan's leadership, today, Aflac helps provide protection to millions of policyholders through subsidiaries in Japan and the U.S. by paying cash fast when policyholders get sick or injured. For nearly seven decades, insurance policies of Aflac Incorporated's subsidiaries have given policyholders the opportunity to focus on recovery, not financial stress. In Japan, Aflac is the leading provider of medical and cancer insurance. In the U.S., Aflac is the number one provider of supplemental health insurance products.2

Aflac is proving that a well-crafted philanthropic initiative can thrive by continuously adapting to the evolving needs of those it serves. Launched in 2018 as part of Aflac's Childhood Cancer Campaign, My Special Aflac Duck® is a soft and cuddly companion that was designed to support children undergoing cancer treatment by helping them prepare for medical procedures, express their emotions, and engage in distraction therapy. Created with input from child life specialists and psychologists, My Special Aflac Duck® offers a range of interactive features—from medical play accessories to calming Soundscapes—all aimed at making a child's journey through treatment more manageable.Aflac's commitment to My Special Aflac Duck® has not waned since the initiative's launch. Instead, Aflac has continued to distribute the medical companion to pediatric cancer patients (at no cost to them) and has evolved it to support children with sickle cell disease, another population facing long, difficult treatments.We invited two Aflac executives who worked on the duck's development to speak to the program's success and evolution: Jon Sullivan, Director of Corporate Communications, and Buffy Swinehart, Senior Manager of Corporate Social Responsibility. They share insights on how companies can sustain and grow their social impact efforts and remain true to their mission while making a real difference.Listen for insights on:How to pitch philanthropic opportunities to a CEODeveloping a public and philanthropic initiative that can stand up to scrutiny in public relationsThe importance of grounding philanthropic initiatives in data and researchResources + Links:Jon Sullivan's LinkedInBuffy Swinehart's LinkedInMy Special Aflac Duck®This robot duck eases children through cancer treatmentsParents and Caregivers Report a Reduction in Anxiety and Distress in Young Cancer Patients Using the My Special Aflac Duck® (00:00) - Welcome to Purpose 360 (00:13) - Aflac (01:09) - Meet Jon and Buffy (05:08) - MSAD's Origin Story (09:18) - Describing the Duck (14:35) - Initial Rollouts (19:00) - Sickle Cell Duck (20:29) - Other Innovations (21:50) - Research and Credibility (23:50) - Stories (26:57) - Advice for Authentic Ideas (32:30) - Purpose in an AI-Driven World (33:17) - Last Thoughts (35:11) - Wrap Up

On the 101st episode of the Long Relief podcast, Jordan and Josh react to the crazy news in football coaching as Pete Carroll, Nick Saban, and Bill Belichick all have left their teams. They then preview the NFL playoff matchups and give their picks before discussing Darko Rajakovic's referee tirade, Victor Wembanyama's rapid rise to dominance, Erik Spoelstra's new contract, the recent stretch of college basketball upsets, and more. Follow @longreliefcast on Twitter!

00:00 High Five.13:46 Avalanche season preview, and an NHL season preview in the form of the game: NHL Defenseman or Country Music Artist?29:37 Mak Johnson and the Aflac duck are going viral.40:15 Picks to click for Avalanche/Kings tonight.

All brands strive to become iconic. But what attributes of your brand can you leverage to achieve that coveted stature?  In this podcast, I survey some of the world's most iconic brands and discuss the product or service attributes they have consistently delivered that have elevated them to being recognized as truly iconic brands. Here are 14 examples of different ways that a brand can be iconic:1.   The Coca-Cola brand used the shape as an iconic element.2.   Marble cigarettes brand uses its layout as an iconic element.3.   Converse is an iconic brand known for its product's functionality.4.   Mickey Mouse is a brand that uses characters as an iconic element.5.   Las Vegas is a brand that uses brand experience as an iconic element.6.   Tiffany's is a brand that uses color leverage for their brand.7.    Mcdonald's is a brand that uses symbols to become iconic.8.    Kentucky Fried Chicken is a brand that uses packaging to make the brand iconic.9.    Volkswagen is a brand that becomes iconic because of innovation.10.  Harley Davidson is a brand that builds iconic stature around lifestyle.11.   Geico is an iconic brand for its personality.12.  The Aflac of the Aflac Duck is a brand that uses sound as a lever to make it iconic13.  Uber is an iconic brand that becomes a noun14.  Google is an iconic brand that has become a verb____________________________ Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode of the podcast, use the following links for more of my work and some valuable resources to get you started on your branding initiatives. Until the next episode!  WEBSITE:http://www.philipvandusen.com   THE BRAND•MUSE NEWSLETTER:  http://www.philipvandusen.com/muse   THE BRAND DESIGN MASTERS FACEBOOK GROUP:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/branddesignmasters/  YOUTUBE CHANNEL:http://www.youtube.com/c/PhilipVanDusen   TWITTER:https://twitter.com/philipvandusen   PINTEREST:https://www.pinterest.com/philipvandusen   FACEBOOK:https://www.facebook.com/verhaalbranddesign  BRAND STRATEGY 101 COURSE:https://philipvandusen.com/bs101 Affiliate Partners: Bring Your Own Laptop - Adobe Training with Daniel Scotthttps://www.byol.me/philip   InVideohttps://bdmpodcast.com/invideoDiscount Code: "PHILIP50" Tubebuddyhttps://wwwtubebuddy.com/philipvandusen   ____________________________ The Brand Design Masters Podcast targets entrepreneurs, designers, creative professionals and anyone interested in brand strategy, business planning, graphic design, personal branding, trends and marketing. Philip VanDusen is the owner of Verhaal Brand Design, a brand strategy and design agency based in New Jersey. Philip is a highly accomplished creative executive and expert in brand strategy, graphic design, marketing and creative management. Philip provides design, branding, marketing, career and business advice to creative professionals, entrepreneurs and companies on building successful brands for themselves and the clients and customers they serve.  

Tom Amico and Eric David only had “ears” for Gilbert Gottfried when they were choosing a spokes voice for the iconic Aflac duck. Take a listen to this fun episode with great commercial examples sprinkled throughout. For more on Tom and Eric's work, check out TomAndEric911.com.  For more on creating branded sound or for a sound strategist to help you navigate the sound space, go to www.dreamrproductions.com.  For more on the latest in sound marketing these days, go to www.soundinmarketing.com where you can take courses and read articles on the subject.  You can find the Sound In Marketing Podcast on all the major podcast channels like iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Pandora, and Stitcher so don't forget to share it with your friends, follow, and rate it.  For any further inquiries, you can find me at Dreamr Productions www.dreamrproductions.com, Sound In Marketing Learning www.soundinmarketing.com, Linkedin, Twitter, and Facebook. You can also email me at jeanna@dreamrproductions.com.  This episode was produced by Dreamr Productions and hosted, written, and edited by me, Jeanna Isham. Let's make this world of sound more intriguing, more unique, and more and more on brand.

Humor is pretty popular with insurance commercials these days. But back in 2000, there was only the duck. This week, I spoke with Tom Amico and Eric David, the creators of the Aflac duck. Check back next week for the conclusion to our interview. For more on Tom and Eric's work, check out TomAndEric911.com.  For more on creating branded sound or for a sound strategist to help you navigate the sound space, go to www.dreamrproductions.com.  For more on the latest in sound marketing these days, go to www.soundinmarketing.com where you can take courses and read articles on the subject.  You can find the Sound In Marketing Podcast on all the major podcast channels like iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Pandora, and Stitcher so don't forget to share it with your friends, follow, and rate it.  For any further inquiries, you can find me at Dreamr Productions www.dreamrproductions.com, Sound In Marketing Learning www.soundinmarketing.com, Linkedin, Twitter, and Facebook. You can also email me at jeanna@dreamrproductions.com.  This episode was produced by Dreamr Productions and hosted, written, and edited by me, Jeanna Isham. Let's make this world of sound more intriguing, more unique, and more and more on brand.

Welcome to the Velocity Chaos Podcast! This is the 58th Episode of the Velocity Chaos Podcast!!  Luke, Nick, and DJ Price Check talk about the Aflac Duck, Duels, and American Geese. They Ramble On About Westerns and Gun Fights, Dip into some wacky Clickbait Headlines, Tell Bob Iger "Don't Quote Me On This," and pitch a movie Based on a True Story. All that and more on this episode of Velocity Chaos Podcast! Thank you all so much!   Be sure to Like, Comment, Subscribe, and or leave a rating on all the platforms! Share it with your friends! Instagram Facebook YouTube www.VelocityChaos.Libsyn.com  Spotify Apple Podcast iheartRadio Episode Links Segment 1 Ramble On - Western Gunfights https://www.legendsofamerica.com/old-west-gunfights/  Segment 2 Don't Quote Me On This - Bob Iger “Long shots aren't usually as long as they seem.” “If something doesn't feel right to you, it won't be right for you.”  Segment 3 Clickbait Headlines https://www.livescience.com/loon-stabs-bald-eagle.html   https://www.ebaumsworld.com/articles/our-exclusive-interview-with-stephanie-matto-fart-jar-aficionado/87165146/  https://www.ebaumsworld.com/articles/senior-prank-goes-bad-at-texas-high-school/87171988/  Segment 4 Based on a True Story - Quacked the Case https://allthatsinteresting.com/mark-barnes-angela-wamsley  Aussie News Biking for Prostates https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-21/fraser-coast-best-dressed-bikers-ride-prostate-cancer-awareness/101085444  Recommendation Buy Off Brand, and Shop at Aldi. Songs are free YouTube songs:  Jason Farnham - World Map E's Jammy Jams - Soul and Mind Didgeridoo Royalty Free Music Infraction - Upbeat Funk Rock [No Copyright Music] _ Saturday  Send us an email about anything If you have any questions or topics you would like us to get into, please email VelocityChaosPodcast@gmail.com  We'll see if we can tackle your question in an upcoming episode! Timecodes are slightly off, because they are taken from the YouTube Video Timeline. 0:00 Intro 0:20 Welcome and Show Set up 2:27 Make the Connection - Hotdogs to Cathedral 4:02 Segment 1 - Ramble On - Western Showdowns 18:51 Ad Break 1 - Battery 20:10 Segment 2 - Don't Quote Me On This - Bob Iger 35:56 Segment 3 - Clickbait Headlines 48:26 Ad Break 2 - Teleblast 49:57 Segment 4 - Based On a True Story - Quacked the Case 1:05:46 Australian News - Biking for Prostate Cancer 1:08:42 Summation 1:10:13 Recommendation - Shop At Aldi, and/or buy Off-Brand Products 1:13:08 Outro

This Episode In The BreakRoom We Will Be Talking About One Of The Most Iconic Voices Of Our Generation... We're Talking Gilbert Gottfried... Gilbert Jeremy Gottfried was an American comedian and actor. His persona as a comedian featured an exaggerated shrill voice and emphasis on crude humor. His numerous roles in film and television include voicing the parrot Iago in the Aladdin animated films and series, Digit LeBoid in Cyberchase, Kraang Subprime in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the Aflac Duck. He appeared in the critically panned but commercially successful Problem Child in 1990. So Come And Join Us As We Take A Trip Down Memory Lane And Tell Us About Your Most Memorable Moments Hearing His Iconic Voice Growing Up... As Always If You Miss This Live Veiwing You Can Catch It In The Archives Wherever You Listen To Podcasts So Click The Link And Subscribe For Immediate Talking Junk, BreakRoom & TakeOver Updates Talkingjunknetwork@gmail.com #gilbertgottfried #aladdin #lindalarkin #ggacp #robinwilliams #disney #jonathanfreeman #douglasseale #gilbertgottfriedsamazingcolossalpodcast #frankwelker #scottweinger #johnmusker #ronclements #franksantopadre #gilbertgottfriedpodcast #jimcummings #disneymovie #karai #coreyfeldman #jasonbiggs #davidtennant #kellyhu #michelangelo #michaeldorn #markhamill #jasmine #ronperlman #pastasworld #joshpeck #thebreakroom

Gilbert Gottfried died last month. The standup comedian and actor was 67. To millennials of a certain age, he was an iconic voice actor: Iago in Aladdin, Kraang Subprime in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the voice of Aflac Duck commercials. We're taking a moment to remember Gilbert's life by revisiting our conversation from 2017. At the time, he joined us to talk about the documentary Gilbert, which profiled the life and work of the comic. In this conversation, Gilbert talked about what it was like to star in a documentary about his life, and why he struggled watching parts of the film. Plus, we dive into some of the Twitter jokes that got him into trouble over the years. This conversation also featured segments that were previously unaired including Gilbert's thoughts on his early career, and he expands on finding jokes from the worst possible situations.

This week we're paying tribute to the late great Gilbert Gottfried and watching 2017's GILBERT, the documentary all about Gottfried's life & career. John and Darin are joined by comedian Joe Fernandes of the new web series, I DON'T KNOW JOE. 9/11 jokes! Aflac Duck firings! Oddly NO mention of Gilbert's time as an SNL cast member! Plus, Natty Bumpercar (@NattyBumpercar) and Kevin Maher (@KevinGeeksOut) share their memories of Gilbert! All this and more on an All-New SNL Nerds! I DON'T KNOW JOE: https://www.youtube.com/joefernandes

It's really sad that Gilbert Gottfried, a great American stand-up comedian and actor, has recently passed away battling a long-time illness. I remember the first time meeting him, and talking to him on the podcast, I can feel his passion and love for comedy, and how he never gives up doing it!This is a re-release of the episode that I recorded with Gilbert where we talked about his passion for comedy, and how you can never please everybody in the world!-----------------------------------------------------Gilbert Gottfried started doing stand-up comedy when he was 15 years old. He dropped out of high school and within 10 years he was on Saturday Night Live. And he built his career up from there. But he's also been the center of a lot of controversies. People get upset at comedians for "going too far." But Gilbert does it for a reason... He said, "I remember, I did this show that was a tribute to Joan Rivers. It was right after there was that shooting at a gay nightclub. I started doing jokes about the shooting and the audience was laughing all the way through and you know, Joan Rivers has a large gay audience. One guy tweeted me and he said, ‘I never thought that I'd wake up crying and go to sleep laughing.'" It's easy to misunderstand people. And get upset. Whenever I'm made, I say to myself, "This means I'm not understanding something." So then I move that anger into curiosity. I kept asking Gilbert about his jokes. And we walked me through the humor. This episode will make you laugh and maybe uncomfortable but I promise the laughter makes it all worth it. The laughter is medicine for your day.-----------------------------------------------------Visit Notepd.com to read more idea lists, or sign up and create your own idea list!My new book Skip The Line is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever you get your new book!Join You Should Run For President 2.0 Facebook Group, and we discuss why should run for president.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast.Thanks so much for listening! If you like this episode, please subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” and rate and review wherever you get your podcasts:Apple PodcastsStitcheriHeart RadioSpotify Follow me on Social Media:YouTubeTwitterFacebook

Gilbert Jeremy Gottfried[1] (born February 28, 1955) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Gottfried's persona as a comedian features an exaggerated shrill voice and emphasis on crude humor. His numerous roles in film and television include voicing the parrot Iago in Disney's Aladdin animated films and TV show, Digit LeBoid in the PBS Kids Go! show Cyberchase, and Kraang Subprime in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Gottfried was the voice of the Aflac Duck until 2011. He appeared in the critically panned commercial hit Problem Child in 1990. Since 2014, Gottfried has hosted a podcast, Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast, which features new episodes each week featuring discussions of classic movies and celebrity interviews, most often with veteran actors, comedians, musicians and comedy writers.[2]Gilbert, a documentary film on Gottfried's life and career, was released in 2017.

You may know Jerry the Bear as part of Beyond Type 1. But this learning and companion toy for children with type 1 diabetes got his start as a college project. Ten students from Northwestern University entered the first every DiabetesMine Design Challenge back in 2009 and won the most creative design. A few of those students continued on and – as you’ll hear – started a new company called Sproutel. In addition to Jerry the Bear, Sproutel makes My Special Aflac Duck for pediatric cancer patients and Purrble to help children self-soothe. This interview with Sproutel CEO Aaron Horowitz and Chief Creative Officer Hanna Chung first aired in November 2015. This podcast is not intended as medical advice. If you have those kinds of questions, please contact your health care provider. This podcast is not intended as medical advice. If you have those kinds of questions, please contact your health care provider. Check out Stacey's book: The World's Worst Diabetes Mom! Join the Diabetes Connections Facebook Group! Sign up for our newsletter here ----- Use this link to get one free download and one free month of Audible, available to Diabetes Connections listeners! ----- Get the App and listen to Diabetes Connections wherever you go! Click here for iPhone      Click here for Android Episode Transcription:  Stacey Simms  0:00 This episode of Diabetes Connections is brought to you by Inside the Breakthrough, a new history of science podcast full of Did You Know stuff.   Announcer  0:13 This is Diabetes Connections with Stacey Simms.   Stacey Simms  0:19 Welcome everybody. This is going to be a fun classic episode of the show. I'm really glad to have you along. It's been fun this year to take a look back at some of these interviews. These classic episodes, as you likely know by now are from the very first year or two of the podcast. Most of them are from the very first full year of lunch. And it's great to take a look back and revisit some of the cool people that we talked to a lot of you are newer to the show, or at least haven't been here for every single one of these. What are we 355 episodes. So I'm really happy to bring these classic episodes back out with an update. So hi, I'm your host, Stacey Simms, and my son was diagnosed with Type 1 14 years ago he is now 16 my husband lives with type two diabetes, I do not have diabetes, I have a background in broadcasting. That's how I came up with the podcast. And this episode is all about Jerry the bear a learning and companion toy for children with type 1 diabetes, you may be familiar with Jerry and I put some pictures in the Facebook group over Diabetes Connections of the group. But Jerry started out looking a little well a lot different and having different functionality. You may know Jerry has part of beyond type one. Now it's a program under them. They're helping with distribution and lots of other good stuff. But Jerry got his start as a college project. 10 students from Northwestern entered the very first diabetes mine design challenge back in 2009. And they won the most creative design back then a few of those students continued on and as you'll hear started a new company Sproutel that continues to this day. And in addition to Jerry, the bear Sproutel makes my special Aflac Duck for pediatric cancer and purple for finding calm. I will link both of those up at Diabetes connections.com you can get more information and check them out. They are they're adorable. They're really helping kids and families who need them. And as always, you know, episode homepage will have all the details. I did reach out to Aaron Horowitz. He is the CEO of Sproutel he's one of the people you'll hear from in this interview when I asked him for an update. And he says since this time, of course, they've added quite a few things. Most recently, they've added a continuous glucose monitor to Jerry. And they put in another software update that helps kids learn about washing their hands, and I guess washing Jerry's hands to about washing their hands more often that sort of thing. And he indicated that there is a big update coming later this year. So I will circle back with Aaron. And hopefully we'll do another interview and get some more info on Jerry. I will let Aaron explain much more about the history of the company in that classic interview in just a moment. But first, this episode of Diabetes Connections is brought to you by inside the breakthrough, a new history of science podcast. And the latest episode goes in a very interesting direction using the TV show friends to reveal how we really feel about scientists. I'm not sure that Ross is really the best example of this, but they they get it done. Marie Curie was an outsider in ways you never imagined sort of like Ross on the show. I really do love this podcast. It's historical wisdom mixed with modern insight with quite a few laughs along the way. Really great production value. Search for insight the breakthrough anywhere you listen to podcasts. And by the way, this podcast is not intended as medical advice. If you have those kinds of questions, please contact your health care provider. My guests in this classic interview are the CEO of sprout tell Aaron Horowitz. And Hannah Chung, who at the time was chief creative officer had a left Sproutel in the middle of 2020. I reached out to her I haven't heard back yet. So I will post an update in the show notes when I do hear from her and let you know where she is heading. Next is really fun to kind of go back in time and hear the story of Jerry, the team's appearance at the White House. And a lot more. Aaron and Hannah, welcome to Diabetes Connections. I am excited to talk to you both again.   Aaron and Hannah: Absolutely. As are we,   Stacey Simms  4:25 Hannah and Aaron. Let's start at the beginning. Let's start with the idea. How did you come up with the idea for a stuffed animal that kids could play with and learn from?   Aaron Horowiz  4:35 So it actually started by talking to families of kids with type 1 diabetes. We we went into the homes of bunch of these families and as we were playing with kids, we observed that they were taking care of their teddy bears of their stuffed animals as if they also had diabetes. So they were pretending to prick the the paws of of their teddy bears pretending to give them insulin injections. Some kids were even actually taking little pieces of cardboard and paper and drawing insulin pumps that they would then staple to their bears first. So it that was kind of really this this lightbulb moment for us of wow, you know, these, these kids are mirroring everything that's that's going on in their lives that they don't yet have control of. So can we bring that play experience to life? And can we do it in a way that is educational, that is comforting. But most importantly, that's really fun.   Stacey Simms  5:28 You know, it's funny, I hadn't thought about this in a long time, Aaron, but when you bring that up, my son had an Elmo doll, and Elmo from Sesame Street, and he was 23 months when he was diagnosed, and that Elmo got checked and got juice boxes, which made a mess, and got insets put on him. So it makes perfect sense that playing kind of helped these kids get through what they couldn't understand.   Unknown Speaker  5:50 Absolutely. You know, like, as kids, we roleplay so many things, you know, right, we roleplay tea parties, we roleplay you know, dressing our animals up and making weddings for them. And for kids with with conditions like diabetes, like, like Benny did with Elmo to roleplay diabetes,   Stacey Simms  6:07 when it was the idea of spread towel always to help medically and to help with play. And then you come up with the idea for type one, play? No, actually,   Hannah Chung  6:16 the reason why I started spread tell was we really wanted to work on Jared the bear so and our mission was to really bring Jerry into the hands of all kids. And from there, we realized incorporating company allows erinite to work with this full time and you know, bringing awesome mentors, investors on board to help us feel the business. And from there just talking to a lot of families talking to a lot of kids, you have realized that the application of play into health can be so many different can help a lot of people not only for kids, but also for adults and the elderly. So from there, you know, working under the beret type 1 diabetes really allowed us to see the potential into coming into, you know, like applying this to help all kids to be healthy. And you know, and have a long term vision of helping all people to use play to help them to come healthy and well. So yeah, a little little Jared type 1 diabetes really allowed us to have the vision for scratch help. That's great. Okay.   Stacey Simms  7:15 So Jerry has changed quite a bit. There is a new Jerry right now still loyal to that wonderful idea of learning through play. But tell me about the first Jerry, what, you know, what did Jerry look like? And what did he do Aaron?   Unknown Speaker  7:30 Yeah, so well, I'll say that there are, quote unquote there two first Jerry's. There's the first Jerry the bear prototype. And then there's the first bear that we shipped. And I have a real soft spot in my heart for the first jar, the bare prototype. So I'll just touch on that for a second. Our first bear that we ever made, was when Hannah and I were still in school, we had no idea how to solder how to make a circuit boards, even even how to sew a bear. And so we were learning everything as we went along. And what we created I'm staring at it now in our office is like a two foot hard chested like behemoth of a bear eyes that we cut out of a Furby so that it blinked its head was attached to its body with with actually with metal nails. It was it was quite creepy looking. And we had made so many mistakes about our understanding of type 1 diabetes, because at that point, we didn't have kind of the intrinsic knowledge from the community. So for example, when we tested with our first our first user, Gerry's blood glucose level was only two digits. In fact, his screen was only two digits big. And actually, this, this little boy said, I would be hypoglycemic and go into the hospital. That was my, like, face total facepalm you know, we had missed the mark. But it taught us so so much about one, just the immense amount of knowledge that we had to learn so that we can then create something that actually had an impact. But it also showed us that despite the fact that Jerry was big and clunky and looked super scary, this this child was still really excited by the fact that there was a bear that also had diabetes. So that's, that's our technical for our first Jerry,   Stacey Simms  9:08 I'm looking at the timeline you recently posted on Facebook, and I'll link this up at Diabetes connections.com if it's okay, is that the first Jerry the one that's really big and kind of light colored all the way on the left? It is He is creepy looking   Hannah Chung  9:22 at that photo, because the girl is so cute, it makes the photo look really cute. But the bear itself is just take out the little kid part is kind of not that cute.   Stacey Simms  9:32 But I it's fabulous to see where you're going. I mean, even then, you know, this is a toy. This is a really sweet idea. And then it's changed. It was um, it became a little smaller and a little bit more responsive, I guess is what I'm looking for at least it had three numbers for the blood glucose.   Unknown Speaker  9:50 Absolutely. Yeah. So it got a lot more responsive. The bear that we ended up shipping. Really we went we had gone through 29 different iterations of product Type and the real difference between some of our early prototypes. And what we actually ended up creating and sending out to families was that the existence of a storyline. So the jury that that kind of existed in the world for the past few years, it has this curriculum with I say curriculum, but I mean animated storybooks. It's got 21 animated storybooks, where you train Jerry for the all star games, which are kind of like the Olympics. But the sports are things like climbing trees and diving with sharks. And we teach about diabetes skills, because each of these storybooks jargon meets up with a new friend like love with a monkey or George the vegetarian shark. And they teach Jerry about both a sport and a diabetes skill. So what we ended up sending out had this kind of all of these storybooks and the way that you unlocked the storybooks was that you had to care for Jerry correctly. So there's kind of this game mechanic that's built in where children are not only caring for Jerry, who, by the way, has a blood glucose level has fingers that you can prick to check, check that foods that you could swipe over his mouth and insulin injection spots. They're not only doing justice, what they did with their stuffed animals or with their Elmos, where they're mirroring all of their all of their care procedures. But they're doing it to unlock these the storybooks, which for them are kind of the carrot and the incentive at the end of doing this. But for us, that's that's really the way that we can convey some of the really complex things that that you need to learn.   Stacey Simms  11:23 That's really interesting. So the new iteration of Jerry, you've expanded from just type one, as Hannah mentioned a few moments ago, you're really trying to work toward overall good health. Hannah, tell me what's new about Jerry this time? Yeah, it's   Hannah Chung  11:38 a new Jerry. A couple of things. He's cuter, smarter, and with a more affordable price point. So the biggest thing that has changed is around this curriculum. So one, so the new Jerry, his base curriculum is around general health. So he touches social emotional development, nutrition, exercise, sleep and mindfulness. And from there families can customize Jerry to have a condition like type 1 diabetes, or food allergies, and yours were modular. And and it kind of allows families to kind of customize Jerry to mesh their own child. So you know, we can't so that we can build a world where everyone can have a Jerry but not all, Jerry is the same, which is really cool. And the way the new drivers interaction wise, Jerry had a belly device called a portal is kind of like a window to see what's going on in Jerry's world. So using this portal, you can kind of scan Jerry's brain and different body parts like the mouth and his stomach to see what is going on inside. Similar to the first year of the bear, you can still feed him, you can see how he's feeling. But if having the portal be detachable from the body, it kind of allows more physical movement for a child to interact with Jerry, which is really nice. And New Jersey also washable, which is a huge feedback that we've gotten from especially for educators, you know, if you want it to be used in a hospital setting, and washability is a big part was but we're wipeable with Clorox and things like that. Now this new Jerry is washing machine washable, which is really exciting. And   Stacey Simms  13:09 yeah, that is because who would think of that, but but you absolutely if you have somebody who's using it in a in a healthcare setting in an office or a hospital, or you know that Elmo went in the washing machine a million times because they get kind of gross.   Hannah Chung  13:21 Yeah. And then lastly, some of the looks of Jerry has changed. So the previous year was really cute. But we knew that Jerry could be the first Jerry was more geared towards kids who are younger, like five year olds, and now the New Jersey we want to help our age, the target age we're looking after is between three and four and nine. And even though that might be only a five years difference, it's a huge difference in the kids role and what kids can understand what kids are interested. So what we've done is we design a character that could be more appealing for all kids in that age range. So Jerry looks more expressive. And Jerry kind of have this longer arms like a monkey arm which I really love because he's more huggable. And so all in all, from design to interaction to the modular aspect of the curriculum has been the biggest part for us for ended up in designing the new dairy that we have.   Stacey Simms  14:17 Aaron Talk to me a little bit about food allergies, there are so many health conditions, unfortunately that affect kids. Why? Why did you move to include allergies?   Unknown Speaker  14:28 Yeah, when we look at different conditions that that kind of might be able to be addressed or to be helped out with with Jerry, we look at kind of two factors. One is the emotional implications and the other is the educational implications. And so food allergies very similar to type 1 diabetes, there's there can be unfortunately a lot of stigma for example, things like the peanut free table we've heard a lot of horror stories from families of isolation cause from eating at school. or children not understanding or really believing that other children have food allergies. So there's this whole kind of emotional and emotional coping component, which we really feel that Jerry kind of provides some of the biggest impact there just because of the comfort, because of this mirrored care that they have something else that is someone else. That's, that's just like that. And then the second is, is the educational component. And that really boils down, you know, for kids with food allergies, it's things like reading nutrition labels, and also very similar to diabetes and knowing how to articulate how you feel, and knowing when to to go and ask for ask an adult for help. This is really kind of universal across a lot of conditions. But you know, particularly in food allergies, there's every label or every piece of food that you put into your mouth, you're going to want to read the label, you know, see if it has whatever your allergen might be. And there is kind of this also really interesting correlation with, you know, an action that's tied in with mealtime, right. So for diabetes, you might be checking your glucose level and, and taking insulin for food allergies, you're doing it around mealtime, you're reading these nutrition labels, you're making sure that you're sitting in a place that's allergen free, you're making sure that the people around you don't have allergies, you you need to have washed your hands to make sure that you didn't touch anything. So there's all of these just kind of procedural things that we see a real alignment in the value that that we've seen Jerry provide for children with type 1 diabetes already.   Stacey Simms  16:26 And so far, how has it been? I know you've just put it out there. And you've been part of the diabetes community for a few years, where you've been very well received, how have you been received in the allergy community?   Unknown Speaker  16:37 So we've certainly had parents that are incredibly excited. I'll say this, we're kind of stole almost as funny term, but like making a name for ourselves in the food allergy community. We haven't yet gone to a conference dressed as teddy bears.   Unknown Speaker  16:50 Yeah,   Unknown Speaker  16:51 wait, what we did things like children with diabetes and ADHD,   Stacey Simms  16:55 I should stop you and say, This is how I met Hannah and Aaron a few years back when they were dressed like Jerry, the bear at a conference, which was so much fun. And you definitely had to stop by and talk to them to find out what was going on. So yeah, you need to go to food allergy conference and do that.   Unknown Speaker  17:11 Absolutely. That's kind of I think that that's how I think about kind of putting a stake in the ground. Moving into moving into new territory, we got to Don the bear suits, we got to go to a conference and maybe have a dance off with another mascot.   Stacey Simms  17:25 But But have you have you had any feedback from parents of kids with food allergies yet?   Unknown Speaker  17:29 So absolutely. So before we ever kind of decided to move into that into the food allergy realm, we actually interviewed, gosh, a range of families, a ton of families, and the people that we talked to were, you know, ecstatic that we were creating something for food allergies, and actually told very, very similar stories to the families that we had originally interviewed of kids with type one, that their children would pretend that their stuffed animals had a peanut allergy or a shellfish allergy. And they would pretend to have them go into anaphylaxis and give them an epi pen. And so we really saw this this need being presented and are excited by kind of the their excitement for for Jerry and and of course, it's jury's not out in in the world alive and kicking yet for kids with allergies. So we won't see kind of the rubber really hit the road until about june of 2016 when we're when we're shipping these bears, but the excitement is really good to see. And Hannah,   Stacey Simms  18:22 Aaron talked about the modules and the storybooks. To unlock the original Jerry Is this the same idea with the food allergies as well,   Hannah Chung  18:31 very similar. And so kind of similar to type 1 diabetes, you know, in the way we teach type 1 diabetes is around talking about your feelings and having a vocabulary, practicing the routines to help you you know, the daily routines you have to go through. And we also have different storybooks, I've touched upon social situation that you need to know to kind of apply the concepts that you have learned in the different social settings. It's the same framework, but that was more geared to the food allergies. So checking your blood sugar level and giving insulin might be around washing your hands, it also gives me an epi pen and you have the allergy reactions of seeing how your stomach is doing and how your body parts are having whether you have hives or not. that's similar to you know, seeing what is going on in Jerry's pancreas. And we still teach the same vocabulary. Similar vocabulary is to kind of explain how you're feeling what kind of symptoms you are having at that moment. And the same thing, storybooks around birthdays or Halloween trick or cheating and things like that, that touches upon the social emotional situation that kids need to know.   Stacey Simms  19:30 You know, I probably should have asked this at the beginning of our interview, but I want to make sure to bring this and you both have a personal connection to diabetes. And Hannah, could you talk a little bit about yours you have diabetes in your family?   Hannah Chung  19:42 Yes, I do. So both my father and my grandparents have type two diabetes and they were diagnosed in their 40s and 50s. Consider late onset. Both my grandparents passed away from the complications behind type two diabetes such as heart attack and hypoglycemia shot. To be honest, I was so young at the time. When my grandfather passed away, which I was in sixth grade, and I did not know anything about type two diabetes at that point until he, I saw he passed away, my dad a year after he was diagnosed, and he decided to change his whole lifestyle to exercise more and walk 15 miles without taking pills to really adjust his lifestyle to be healthy. And from the process. Of course, I saw him, you know, feeling frustrated and feeling isolated when he did everything possible, right. And his blood sugar level was not nice at the end of the day. Yeah. So from that, our whole family decided to change our diets too, because my dad had to support my dad emotionally to make sure he's getting the cheers that he needs to go power through the day. So two months after my dad lost about 40 pounds, and even 14 years today, he's still practicing the same routine, which is really amazing. Oh, yeah. And from the process. And you know, not only I learned so much what type two diabetes, but also the importance of having the community around you who can support you, and, you know, cheer for you regardless what the outcomes were. So from there, I just learned a ton about the people who are affected by this kind of cut credit conditions and want to help kids to help support them to   Stacey Simms  21:16 Wow, what a great story of family support that you were able to really rally around him and help out and proud to be still in that routine. All these years later is fantastic. That's great. And Aaron, your story's a little different. But you know what it's like to get injections. Tell us about that.   Unknown Speaker  21:31 Yeah, so when I was a child, I had another type of endocrine condition is called human growth hormone deficiency. And so basically, my, my body wasn't producing growth hormone, at least at the typical rate. And so for a period of time, my childhood, about five years or so i, i self administered injections every day to grow. So definitely, definitely taught me a lot and gave me a lot of empathy for kind of any type of chronic condition. And, you know, certainly, certainly a learning curve, I'm so inspired by kids with, with type 1 diabetes, because they were diabetes, like a badge of honor. And for me growing up, I felt so self conscious about this, it was something that I tried to hide from everybody. And in fact, I don't think I told anybody until I was writing our first grant application, or, you know, contributing to that for Jerry to bear. And so I'm continuously inspired by the kids that we meet with type 1 diabetes, and now with with food allergies, and kind of how much confidence and how empowered they are. And so I'm so excited about what we might be able to do with Jerry tea to enhance that even further.   Stacey Simms  22:39 You've mentioned a couple times that you were in college, and you were students together, when this all came up. How do you I mean, I was in college, I didn't have any big idea like this and change the world and help families. How do you do that? Where do you like 19 years old, and you're sitting around one night, everybody else is playing beer pong. And you're like, oh, we're gonna we're gonna make this huge thing. How did that happen? What are you both majoring in? And and how did the idea come about at that time,   Unknown Speaker  23:03 so I'll say, it started very, very small. Hannah actually co founded a nonprofit organization called design for America, which is all about using design thinking, to solve problems in your local community that have some type of a social impact with the potential to scale beyond. So lots of lots of boxes to check, but really, really exciting organization. And it's totally extracurricular. So there are teams, kind of interdisciplinary teams that are formed that go out in your free time after classes to go try to solve problems, everything from you know, sanity, sanitation, inside of a homeless shelter to things like type 1 diabetes education for kids. And Hannah and I kind of rallied around this problem while we were in school, and kind of through this through this extracurricular, these activities, we slowly but surely, pursued, pursued Jerry in it, you know, at first, we never had these grand intentions of starting a company, right? This was this was a passion project. It was, oh, let's make one prototype and see what happens. And it was like, oh, maybe we should make a second one. That second one looks kind of cool. And it reached a point at prototype number three, when I was like, Well, you know, like, all of our time is kind of going into making these bears and he's just classes aren't quite as interesting anymore. Why don't we Why don't we start to make these bears full time. And so it really, you know, is a was something that was just a passion of ours that spiraled out of control and into awesomeness.   Stacey Simms  24:36 That's great. And it sound right to you. But you both did graduate, right? You didn't just dump the dump the school and go off to do the bears.   Hannah Chung  24:43 We did graduate. We did. And we physically left a little bit early. And so Aaron and I both graduated in spring of 2012. And the last quarter, we moved to Providence. We've been displaying Northwestern in Chicago. So we are taking our classes over Skype, being in Providence working very full time. So there was a pretty awesome journey to do that. But it was cool because we have, you're very transparent about how you're billing Jerry and the type of mentors you're working with. So the school was very supportive to let us continue Jerry in a really unique method that any of our other students were doing. So I think having this approach was really great. And they did mention that we have to be highlighting us doing, you know, going through this route, we have to come back to graduation in person to get our diploma, which was not a bad deal at all. Um, but yeah, to your question about what we have studied, and I studied mechanical engineering with the emphasis on Human Centered Design, but I was a very, very weird engineer, where I was not too excited about bolts and nuts. And I loved illustrating and an animation. So in mechanical engineering, we do a lot of like computer aided design. And for me, that was just illustrating in 3d for a product, which is super fun. And I also have done some research around how to build products that is emotionally appealing for kids. So I was part of the research for for a little bit while I was a student, so I was a very a soft hearted, more, you know, I love people type of engineer in the group. So and Aaron, do you have Aaron, Aaron has a cooler major than I do. So we were both studying mechanical engineering, and then in our senior year, and, you know, throughout he and Jerry, Jerry, like Aaron really got excited about robotics. And he found that that's the area that he's really passionate about. So he ended up making up his own major called mechatronics, and user interaction design, which really helps people how to play with robots and different creating different robots that is really engaging with people. So that's a major dead air and creators. So. So that's our that's our backgrounds and what we have studied so far. Wow,   Stacey Simms  26:57 this story just gets cooler and cooler. And then, and then, in 2015, this year, you guys went to the White House? How did that happen? Aaron, tell me about meeting President Obama. And he's holding Jerry the bear.   Unknown Speaker  27:12 Oh, man. Yeah, I think not. Not in my wildest dreams. Did I ever think that was gonna happen?   Unknown Speaker  27:17 Same here.   Unknown Speaker  27:19 So we had, we had gotten a very mysterious email that they were putting together an event at the at the White House to honor it was called the first ever White House Demo Day. And it was to honor entrepreneurs from from diverse backgrounds, mainly companies with founded by either other women or people of color. And so we know the first step is a phone interview. And I was super nervous. And I was actually at the time on a on a bus, mega bus from New York to Providence. And so whispering into the phone, I delivered our little pitch and hung up and just like facepalm once again, because I was like, oh, man, like, that was probably the worst mistake I ever gave. I was like whispering on a Megabus. And about maybe a week before the event we were we were told that we were selected. And so had an eye or dancing around the office, we're so excited. And just a few days before the event, we got a call from from it from an unknown number. And the voice on the other end was somebody that was that was putting together the event and they said, Hey, we had this crazy idea. Can you can you program Jerry the bear? We were like, yeah, like, you know, that's that's what we do. And they're like, Can you can you make Jerry wish President Obama Happy birthday. And we were we looked at each other. We're like, yes, like, we can do it.   Hannah Chung  28:42 As a team, we're just a guess. Do we have to say yes to and we'll figure out the rest afterwards.   Unknown Speaker  28:47 And so we we they said they couldn't guarantee any anything would happen. We put together Hannah made an awesome little animation of President Obama dancing with Jerry. We had two different voice recordings. One is Jerry wishing. The President just happy birthday. The other was Marilyn Monroe singing Happy Birthday, Mr. President. We sent those to the communications team and they totally nixed Marilyn Monroe.   Unknown Speaker  29:11 And so   Unknown Speaker  29:13 they come to me and we go to the White House, and they were about 32 companies. We weren't sure, you know, up until a few minutes before that we would actually get to get to meet the president. But luckily, there were, I believe six companies that that have the 32 that that got him to meet him. And we were one of them. And we were just ecstatic. We're like looking at each other and they're sending out aids to us that are saying, Okay, give us your pitch. Like we're there, you know, making sure that it sounded good and that we weren't gonna say anything because it was televised. We're gonna say anything that was politically incorrect. And to be honest, I'll give I'll give my perspective on the actual meeting and I'll let Hannah share hers. Everything went by and like just such a surreal blur. And I think actually the most memorable thing for me was, you know, I we kind of split split up our presentation into Can I introduce what we're doing had a carried on and talked about the impact and give a demo of Jerry, and President Obama was standing in the middle of us. And so after I kind of finished talking to him, he was interacting with Jerry. And so his back was turned to me. And all I kept thinking is how close is too close to stand? So I was just like I was trying to lean in, and I was the entire time. I was like, the thought going through my mind and like, oh, man, how close is too close?   Unknown Speaker  30:31 tackle you.   Unknown Speaker  30:31 Exactly.   Stacey Simms  30:33 And what was your perspective?   Hannah Chung  30:35 I think for me, I remember I'm kind of going along with lo and Aaron's point, you know, up until we got the confirmation that we were meeting the President, we'd never really gotten the confirmation that we're meeting the President, it was more of a higher chance to meet the president. So an hour before when we were pitching it, I realized, you know, I never gave a picture president and Aaron, I have not practiced anything about this pitch. So it was either gonna go really authentically well, or we don't. But I realized, because I was holding Jerry, I felt less stressed because I was holding a teddy bear in public and Jerry was kind of absorbing all of my nervousness from my belly to tears comforting companion, so and I felt less nervous because I was holding a teddy bear. But uh, even the demo was really cool. And I was, like, part of me was, you know, speaking really well, explaining Jerry the bear, but also just making sure that the demo goes really, really well. And there's no mistakes. And but yeah, overall, it's similar to Aaron. Everything went by so quickly. And afterwards, it took me a couple of hours to really realize, Oh, yeah, like, we just met the president. And he really liked he was impressed with Joe the bear like that. That really happens. They took it took me like a good six hours to really digest that. Oh, that didn't really happen.   Stacey Simms  31:52 Did he wind up during the bear sing? Did you get him to sing the song?   Hannah Chung  31:56 He did? And the President? Really? Yeah. He was laughing. He was laughing and he really liked it. And but yeah, but the the aftermath is really cool, though. So you know, after the event, all this articles from a lot of different big press channels are coming out. And they actually used our photo with the president and with Jerry as a main photo for almost all the articles. And so from there, we had a huge exposure about the bear and, and that was really helpful for us. Because not only, you know, we got to represent our company as one of the startup companies pushing the diversity in tech force, but also got built a lot of awareness about kids health and what Jerry does in the community. So it was a it was a very awesome event.   Stacey Simms  32:41 That's amazing. I do love the picture. We'll link that up as well. So you can you can see it at Diabetes. connections.com. Hey, before I let you both go. I have to point out we did meet a couple of years ago at friends for life when you guys are dressed up like the bears. But it turns out Aaron and I have a crazy connection. We both went to the same high school. Different years as you heard him say he graduated college in 2012. You both   Unknown Speaker  33:05 both have the same teacher.   Stacey Simms  33:06 Yeah. We have the same favorite teacher from high school, our social studies teacher, Mr. Fagin. How crazy is that? Aaron?   Unknown Speaker  33:13 Oh my gosh, it is wild. I remember, the most of the fondest memory I have of Mr. Vega was that he would wear a different sweater to class every day of the year. That's so many sweaters.   Stacey Simms  33:28 And we grew up in New York. So he needed this sweater. So it was cold. But he was I mean such a great teacher and I took his AP history classes that would you took.   Unknown Speaker  33:35 That's exactly what I took. And it was what it was one of my favorites. My sister took it and she was that was, you know, the thing that she said was, you know, you got to take Mr. Fagles history class, I was like, Okay, yeah, I didn't know what I was getting myself into. But I knew it was gonna be good.   Stacey Simms  33:47 I love it. Thank you so much for joining me today for talking about Jerry the bear. Is there anything else that you wanted to make sure to mention before I let you go,   Unknown Speaker  33:55 we're so thrilled to have had for the past couple of years, just the immense support of the diabetes community in the diabetes online community. It's, it's really alarming not alarming. It's It's comforting. It's It's awesome to feel so welcomed as outsiders coming in so quickly. And I don't know if I can relate a similar experience any other time in my life. You know, the first time we went to friends for life, it was literally like we gained a new family. And so I think we're both so incredibly grateful for that and, and so excited to kind of keep all of those all of those relationships as we enter this next chapter of Jerry's life.   Stacey Simms  34:33 That's fantastic. Thank you so much for joining me, Hannah and Aaron. I appreciate it and I can't wait to see what's next. Thanks.   Announcer: You're listening to Diabetes Connections with Stacey Simms.   Stacey Simms  34:50 More info on Jerry and Sproutel and what's next for all of them at Diabetes connections.com. I will link up some articles that take a look back and others that do take a look. forward because as I mentioned, Sproutel has several other projects that they have been successful. And it's really remarkable when you think about the the start that these guys got when they were I can't call them kids anymore when they were in college and launching something like this. And now to have it not only succeed with one product, but others and really rolling along. It's a remarkable story and I'm really excited that I got to meet them in those bear suits way back when. All right, our next episode coming out on Tuesday of next week, I am scheduled to talk to tide pool very excited to get back on the technology news. We are doing a deep dive into technology all this year on the show and title has submitted loop to the FDA. So will this be the first Do It Yourself routed initiative to get FDA approval in the United States. We'll talk about it and that episode is coming up on Tuesday. Thanks as always to my editor John Bukenas from audio editing solutions. Thank you so much for listening. I'm Stacey Simms. I will see you back here on Tuesday. Until then, be kind to yourself.   Benny Diabetes Connections is a production of Stacey Simms Media. All rights reserved. All wrongs avenged

(This episode was developed in partnership with Aflac. I was compensated for this episode, but all opinions are entirely my own. #ad) In this episode, Katie Taylor, Certified Child Life Specialist talks about the importance of a community for caregivers. She interviews Nichole who shares what her son's experience with cancer has been like. Sara Stewart, Child Life Specialist at Lurie Children's Hospital discusses how she supports children and families during their cancer journey.  Nichole refers to My Special Aflac Duck as a “game changer” for her son during his second fight with cancer. My Special Aflac Duck gives kids with cancer the chance to find joy through play. From feeding and bathing the duck to singing with it and hearing its heartbeat, this interactive companion helps kids find a distraction from their diagnosis. Listen to more stories and find more resources for children, professionals and families at Child Life On Call. This podcast episode is featured in Aflac’s "Do Good" community newsletter, which spotlights insights, ideas and individuals making a difference in the pediatric cancer community. Visit Aflacchildhoodcancer.org to sign up for their newsletter and register for a My Special Aflac Duck. Authorized professionals at licensed health care facilities can order a duck free of charge to give to pediatric cancer patients, age 3+, to own forever, and use with them during their cancer care. Child Life On Call | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

Overview The Stevens Group is pleased to present the podcast series that salutes the masters of public relations and revels in their observations, insights and advice to PR professionals.  This series is part of the ongoing partnership between The Stevens Group and CommPRO to bring to PR, digital/interactive and marketing communications agencies the wisdom of those who have reached the top of the PR profession. Today's guest is Carol Cone, internationally recognized for her work in social purpose and CSR.     About Our Guest Carole Cone On Purpose, Founder & CEO Carol is internationally recognized for her work in social purpose and CSR. Carol Cone ON PURPOSE is her return to her entrepreneurial roots and life's passion: to educate, inspire and accelerate social purpose programs and impacts for organizations and nonprofits around the globe. For more than 25 years, Cone has embraced a steadfast commitment to building lasting partnerships between companies, brands and social issues for deep business and societal impact. She adamantly feels that today, companies and brands must have a deeper meaning beyond the bottom line. In her work, she continually brings breakthrough and lasting big ideas to clients to build their business and societal impacts. Early in her career, Cone launched the walking movement with Rockport as its leader, which grew the company three times over in the span of 4 years and led to its acquisition by Reebok. She created the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade, which grew to 50 countries around the globe and raised $1 billion. For PNC Financial Services, she identified early childhood education as a key aligned issue, which the company has supported nearly 15 years, uniting them with nonprofit partners including Head Start, Sesame, Donors Choose and tens of local grantees to advance this critical issue. Most recently, Cone conceptualized My Special Aflac Duck, a social robot developed from extensive child centered design to comfort children going through an average of 1,000 days of chemotherapy. The robot evolved Aflac's iconic mascot, the Aflac Duck, to deepen the company's engagement with society. With Aflac underwriting its development and donating the Ducks to all children newly diagnosed with pediatric cancer, this innovative idea has been heralded around the globe, from the Tech for a Better World Award and Most Unexpected Product at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show, to Time Magazine's list of Best Inventions of 2018.​ Other organizations Cone has worked with include: Action Against Hunger, Adobe, The American Lung Association, Bezos Family Foundation, ConAgra Foods, the Everglades Foundation, Girl Scouts of the USA, LG, Microsoft, P&G, Reebok, Southwest Airlines, Unilever (Dove, Vaseline, Dirt is Good) and Western Union, among others. She is also a recognized thought leader in purpose, having conducted the world's first research, then dozens of studies with business executives, citizens, employees and nonprofits, to gain critical insights to inspire organizations to engage with society as wise business strategy.  She is a sought-after speaker and media expert, sharing her insights on purpose branding, corporate citizenship, sustainability and CSR. She was the Founder, CEO and Chairman of Cone, Inc., recognized as the nation's leading Cause Branding consultancy. PRWeek called her "arguably the most powerful and visible figure in the world of Cause Branding." Overall, Cone's signature programs have raised more than $2.5 billion for various social causes. In 2009, she was one of two US judges for the first PR Lions Awards at the Cannes Festival of Creativity. Her book, Breakthrough NonProfit Branding, was published in 2010. Other career highlights include: creating and hosting Purpose 360,

You probably know the Aflac Duck, but do you know the company behind it? Catherine Hernandez-Blades, Aflac’s SVP, Chief ESG and Communications Officer, joined Purpose 360 to share how Aflac deftly manages reputation in a volatile world and bestowed a new social purpose on its beloved mascot. As a cancer insurance pioneer, Aflac has a now 24-year, $131M commitment to childhood cancer. Two years ago (in partnership with Carol), the company evolved and deepened that commitment by creating My Special Aflac Duck, a social robot and comforting companion for children with cancer. That duck, designed through 18 months of child-centered research at a leading U.S. pediatric cancer center, is now in the arms of 4,000+ children in the U.S., is the recipient of nearly 20 awards, has 4 patents pending, and is soon set to debut in Japan. Listen to hear Catherine’s insights on the My Special Aflac Duck journey, as well as: Aflac’s shift from the “Four Ps” to the “Four Es” – environment, engagement, experience, and exchange Why doing good is no longer enough to connect with stakeholders and attract the best talent The key to keeping long-term cause commitments relevant, engaging, and impactful Resources + links Aflac Corporate Catherine Hernandez-Blades on LinkedIn Between a Cause and a Hard Place Aflac Childhood Cancer Campaign My Special Aflac Duck video Sproutel

Carol tagged along with her roving reporter — My Special Aflac Duck — to South by Southwest in Austin earlier this month. Together, they celebrated the success of the duck as a finalist for the best invention award. This week, we offer a special bonus episode in which you can learn more about My Special Aflac Duck and hear stories of impact as Aflac works to put the duck in the arms of more kids around the world. Links and Resources See My Special Aflac Duck in action at The Aflac Childhood Cancer Campaign™

Sean O’Connor (Late Late Show) joins Phil and Kenny to discuss Risa Bramon Garcia’s New Year’s Eve flick “200 Cigarettes” starring Paul Rudd, Nicole Ari Parker, Courtney Love, Dave Grohl, Krist Novaselic, Dave Chappelle, David LaChapelle, Martha Plimpton, Martha Plimpton’s friend, A Scottish Guy, Jay Mohr, Would Have Preferred Jay Less If You Know What I Mean, Kate Hudson, Ben Affleck, Casey Affleck, the Aflac Duck, Gabby Hoffman, Christina Ricci, Thora Birch, Ashleigh Aston Moore, Guillermo Diaz, Fuck you, Fuck you, Fuck you, You’re Cool, Angela Featherstone, Paula Poundstone, Jeanine Garofalo (duh), Elvis Costello’s Glasses and Seamus McNally as “Crazed Driver” (uncredited).

Comedian Gilbert Gottfried is the subject of a new documentary called "Gilbert." He's been a stand-up comic since the Seventies, and has also been the voice of Iago the Parrot in "Aladdin" and the Aflac Duck. I talk to Gilbert backstage before a show in Blairstown, New Jersey.

I interviewed Jim Sweeney on February 13. I wonder if Jim's favorite beverage is apple cider? I look forward to a followup conversation with MikeRaffone in the near future. [Editor's note: Our conversation ended in an abrupt way, around the 50 min. mark, due to a technical issue.] Show notes: 00 PodcastGuests.com 01 Twitter profile @mikeonsports 02 Franz Beckenbauer 03 John Cox 04 World Radio Day 04 iRig Mic Cast [affiliate link] 04 Ringr [affiliate link] 07 Cox & Forkum 08 Aston microphones 10 Independent Republicrat 11 FIMBA Maxibasketball 13 Björn Borg 13 Brent Leary 14 Suoer Bowl LI 15 2 Cent Tuesday: New England Patriots’ Tom Brady NFL G.O.A.T. - theemike.com 17 "Born the Hard Way" - Budweiser's Super Bowl commercial 20 Mark Anderson - Andertoons 20 The Internet Is Made Of Cats - Rathergood.com 22 Mid-roll placement message: AudibleTrial.com/EgoNetCast [affiliate link] 22 If You’re in a Dogfight, Become a Cat: Differentiating Your Small Business - SmallBizTrends.com 22 If You're in a Dogfight, Become a Cat!: Strategies for Long-Term Growth [affiliate link] by Leonard Sherman 24 Jim Sweeney's author page on Amazon. 25  My First Book on Tea with Illustrations by John Cox - GoGetFunding 27 Super Bowl XXXVI 28 Trader Principle - AynRandLexicon.com 35 The GEICO Gecko Gecko, the Aflac Duck 36 [Editor's note: I mixed up MetLife's former mascot, Snoopy the dog, with Aflac's Duck.] 38 The BB&T Culture Book 39 @CLEATUSonFox 43 Elsie Escobar's newsletter 44 Lyceum Bulletin by Martin Lindeskog. 46 Free sports comic book, Soccer Comics: Jim @ theemike . com 50 "We will talk more about..."  

I interviewed Jim Sweeney on February 13. I wonder if Jim's favorite beverage is apple cider? I look forward to a followup conversation with MikeRaffone in the near future. [Editor's note: Our conversation ended in an abrupt way, around the 50 min. mark, due to a technical issue.] Show notes: 00 PodcastGuests.com 01 Twitter profile @mikeonsports 02 Franz Beckenbauer 03 John Cox 04 World Radio Day 04 iRig Mic Cast [affiliate link] 04 Ringr [affiliate link] 07 Cox & Forkum 08 Aston microphones 10 Independent Republicrat 11 FIMBA Maxibasketball 13 Björn Borg 13 Brent Leary 14 Suoer Bowl LI 15 2 Cent Tuesday: New England Patriots’ Tom Brady NFL G.O.A.T. - theemike.com 17 "Born the Hard Way" - Budweiser's Super Bowl commercial 20 Mark Anderson - Andertoons 20 The Internet Is Made Of Cats - Rathergood.com 22 Mid-roll placement message: AudibleTrial.com/EgoNetCast [affiliate link] 22 If You’re in a Dogfight, Become a Cat: Differentiating Your Small Business - SmallBizTrends.com 22 If You're in a Dogfight, Become a Cat!: Strategies for Long-Term Growth [affiliate link] by Leonard Sherman 24 Jim Sweeney's author page on Amazon. 25  My First Book on Tea with Illustrations by John Cox - GoGetFunding 27 Super Bowl XXXVI 28 Trader Principle - AynRandLexicon.com 35 The GEICO Gecko Gecko, the Aflac Duck 36 [Editor's note: I mixed up MetLife's former mascot, Snoopy the dog, with Aflac's Duck.] 38 The BB&T Culture Book 39 @CLEATUSonFox 43 Elsie Escobar's newsletter 44 Lyceum Bulletin by Martin Lindeskog. 46 Free sports comic book, Soccer Comics: Jim @ theemike . com 50 "We will talk more about..."  

Branding. It's the difference between exciting and bland. Memorable and forgettable. Alec, Brevin and Carter Mastovich talk Branding on part 2 of the 100th episode of the No BS Marketing Show.*LeBron or Steph: Who do they think has the better brand? Probably can guess their choice based on their picture with the NBA Championship Trophy.*College marketing and messaging: Alec and Brev have both been marketed to by schools. What caught your eye? What didn't work?*What works for music acts to market to young people? How do they get you to buy their music, shows, merchandise?*What is it like growing up around a marketing company like MASSolutions?*What do you think about the No BS Marketing Show?Alec, Brevin and Carter play Hit the Bulls Eye:Progressive's Flo or Jake from State Farm?Twitter or SnapChat?Aaron Rodgers or Cam Newton?Family Guy or The Simpsons?Drake or Future?Geico's Gecko or the AFLAC Duck?The No BS Show is brought to you by audible.com. Get a FREE audiobook download and 30 day free trial at www.audibletrial.com/NoBS. Try a book like :07 or less by Jack McCallum his season on the bench with the Runnin' and Gunnin' Phoenix Suns. You can download it for free today. Go to Audibletrial.com/NoBS. Again that's audibletrial.com/NoBS for your FREE audiobook. Over 180,000 titles to choose from for your iPhone, Android, Kindle or mp3 player.

WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA? Nick's Big Idea ties to the quote often attributed to John Wesley: “Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.” His work in regional healthcare speaks to this.Nick turned Windber Medical Center into a Planetree Facility. He stresses that you're not creating what people will like. You're creating what people will love.Nick recommends a number of books:Change or Die by Alan Deustchman The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell The Naked Ape by Desmond Morris HIT THE BULLS EYE.Geico's Gekko or the Aflac Duck? Nick chose the Gecko because he's funny and memorable.UPMC Life Changing Medicine or AHN Health for All? Nick went with AHN because he believes population medicine is necessary for our national healthcare system to survive and thrive.He also mentioned that we, in America are in a battle between Social Capitalism and Savage Capitalism.Progressive's Flo or Jake from State Farm Nick likes Jake and said he kind of looks like him and has been there.Mastercard Priceless or Visa Everywhere You Want to Be Nick chose Visa because he sayid it really is Everywhere You Want to BeContact Nick: Nick's LinkedIn page Check out Nick's book:  Taking the Hell Out of Healthcare on Amazon and AudibleThe No BS Show is brought to you by audible.com. Get a FREE audiobook download and 30 day free trial at www.audibletrial.com/NoBS. Over 180,000 titles to choose from for your iPhone, Android, Kindle or mp3 player.

Episode Summary Linda Kaplan has helped create fantastic advertising campaigns throughout the industry, including the Aflac Duck, and she has composed famous jingles such as “Kodak Moments” and “I'm a Toys 'R' Us Kid.” Linda is also the co-author of Grit to Great and discusses with John how any entrepreneur can become extraordinary with these four characteristics – Guts, Resilience, Initiative, and Tenacity. What Was Covered 04:10 - What lessons did Linda learn from growing up in the Bronx? 08:10 - Linda talks about James Patterson's grit. 09:45 - Why did Linda and Robin write Grit to Great? 10:20 - Only 2% of prodigies become somebody or do something with their lives. 11:55 - So many successful people grew up ordinary and did not have the “IT” factor. However, they did have the GRIT factor. 12:10 - GRIT stands for Guts, Resilience, Initiative, and Tenacity. 15:25 - None of you are special. 15:45 - The only reason why Linda made it was because she was resilient. 16:15 - How can somebody become resilient? 16:45 - It took James Dyson 15 years to create a better vacuum. 18:55 - Pivot, pivot, pivot until you find something that works. 20:35 - Linda shares a story on how her small advertising agency was able to win the Wendy's account. 26:00 - The most important thing you can do is make your bed in the morning. 26:50 - Break your problems into smaller problems and tackle the smaller pieces one by one.   Tweetables Fail forward. Finish what you start. None of you are special. Pivot, pivot, pivot until you find something that works. GRIT stands for Guts, Resilience, Initiative, and Tenacity.   Links Mentioned J Robinett Enterprises John Livesay Funding Strategist Grit to Great Website Linda Kaplan Thaler Twitter Want the Transcription?  Click Here to Download Crack The Funding Code! Register now for the free webinar Share The Show Did you enjoy the show? I'd love it if you subscribed today and left us a 5-star review! Click this link Click on the 'Subscribe' button below the artwork Go to the 'Ratings and Reviews' section Click on 'Write a Review'

Today's guest is Carter Mastovich, Dave's son. In today's episode the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, as Carter and Dave discuss the power of brand using The Geico Gecko and The Aflac Duck as examples.- Hit the Bullseye- NBA | Cavaliers- Kevin Durant | LeBron James- AAU | Basketball is my passion- Captain Obvious...pretty obvious- Do you know Flo?Watch for upcoming episodes featuring Lori Putzier of IntegraCare.

The conclusion to John Putzier's interview. Putzier is CEO of the Greater Pittsburgh Automobile Dealers Association, the author of three books, an international speaker and the former president of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the National Speakers Association.SHOW NOTESTool/TipL.A.C.E. - Listen. Ask questions. Confirm understanding. EducateHit the BullseyeGeico's Gecko or The Aflac Duck?Toyota. I love what you do for me or BMW The Ultimate Driving Machine?Glassdoor or Indeed?Good Fellas or The Godfather?Finger Lickin' Good or Think Outside the Bun?Dale Earnhardt or Jimmie Johnson?Progressive's Flo or Jake from State Farm?Don't Leave Home Without It or Priceless?The Marlboro Man or The Most Interesting Man in the World?YouGottaRegatta or Pittsburgh's Vintage Grand Prix?Sights & Sounds (The Middle by Jimmy Eat World from the year 2001)Other Sights and Sounds of the year 2001 include:The iPod is introduced, changing how we listen to and buy music.Wikipedia goes online and becomes the world's most popular encyclopedia.Two computer animated films Shrek and Monsters, Inc. are released.The Book “Get Weird” is published focusing on how we can lighten up, have some fun and make our companies great places to work.Gladiator won Best Picture and leads to an increased interest in Roman and classical history in the United States dubbed the "Gladiator Effect". Strength and honor.Enron becomes known for the greatest company scandal in the history of our economy.

The conclusion to Justin Mastrangelo's interview. Mastrangelo is president of JA Interactive and founder of JATxt.SHOW NOTESHit the Bullseye:Budweiser's Frogs or the Aflac Duck?Nirvana or Pearl Jam?Got Milk or Can You Hear Me Now?Mark Cuban or Mark Zuckerburg?Finger Lickin Good or Think Outside the Bun?Peyton Manning or Tom Brady?Scandal or House of Cards?Progressive's Flo or Jake from State Farm?Email or Texting?Sights & Sounds (All Mixed Up by 311 from the year 1996):All Mixed Up came out in 1996. Other memorable messages from that year were:Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig's Consecutive Games Played streak - Ripken didn't miss a game for 16 seasonsOprah started her famous book club. Once she talks about a book, it sellsThe Macarena becomes a wedding staple and hits #7 on the charts and was later ranked the "#1 Greatest One-Hit Wonder of all Time" by VH1Netscape was the top internet browser with 38 million users and 86% market shareFox News debuts as a cable network changing the political game forever

The conclusion to Dave Nelsen's interview. Dave Nelsen is the President of Dialog Consulting Group. Dave has been named Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year and also Speaker of the Year by Vistage International. He's a successful CEO, entrepreneur, professional speaker, radio personality, author and Social Media thought leader. Show NotesOne of us is not as smart as all of usSemRush.comHit the BullseyeKaty Perry or Taylor Swift?Reach Out and Touch Someone or Can You Hear Me Now?Twitter or LinkedIn?Cheers or Friends?Bill Gates or Steve Jobs?Progressive's Flo or Jake from State Farm?Spider Man or Batman?Geico's Gecko or the Aflac Duck?The Joshua Tree or Achtung Baby?Sights and Sounds (Stuck in a Moment by U2 from the year 2000):Despite dire Y2K predictions, not much happened when the New Year arrivedReality TV show Survivor premieres and 51 million watch the finaleBudweiser's Wassup Super Bowl ad becomes part of our vernacularGoogle launches AdWords with 350 customersBluetooth was introduced so people can walk around looking like they're talking to themselves.We learned what a hanging chad was.

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 103, in which I interview Linda Kaplan Thaler.  Linda and I wrote a bunch of songs in the late 1960s, including "Not Yet Ready to Say Goodbye," which appears on my 1972 Twice Upon a Rhyme album, mentioned from time to time on this podcast. Linda went on to write the world-famous, iconic "Toys R Us" jingle in 1983 ("I Don't Wanna Grow Up, I'm a Toys R US Kid"), mastermind the Aflac Duck campaign nearly two decades later, and work on the political campaigns of both Bill and Hillary Clinton.  She has also co-written four books, including The Power of Nice, and the recently published Grit to Great.  We discuss all of this and more on the podcast. You can get Grit to Great here.    Other helpful links - Linda Kaplan Thaler on Wikipedia Linda sings Skyscraper Tony DeSanto sings "Not Yet Ready to Say Goodbye" video of my 15 August 2015 concert with Peter Rosenthal in Ronkonkoma, NY my 2006 interview by Patrick Rands on WZBC Radio, in which I talk about Linda Kaplan and my discography, which Patrick plays my Transfer of Power science fiction story, about what really happened when JFK shook Bill Clinton's hand Lyrics to songs in the podcast -   SKYSCRAPER words by Paul Levinson music by Linda Kaplan 1968   Skyscraper nestled in the quiet vapor of the clouds above the crowds that teem and dream below you   Skyscraper set against the pastel paper of the sky I wish that I could see those colors glow too   (bridge) Wonder what you see Looking down at me Wonder who I am Wonder what I'll be?   Skyscraper dressed up in the sparkling drapery of night, it's always bright outside for you always new   (bridge)   NOT YET READY TO SAY GOODBYE Words by Paul Levinson Music by Linda Kaplan 1968   Things been getting’ worse, lately Been lovin’ in reverse, lately Almost time to say we’ve had our fill Seems from here the road is all downhill Don’t you believe it girl, we’ve something still   (chorus) Hey, we’re not yet ready to say goodbye “Sure gonna miss you” just won’t get by Goodbye don’t make it We can’t forsake it We’re not yet ready to say goodbye   Life’s been down on us, lately Been causin’ quite a fuss, lately Breakin’ up would be the simple cure But the treatment would be mighty poor Long empty evenings never feelin’ quite sure   (chorus)   (bridge) Can’t say so long – it’s been so long Can’t say that’s all – ‘cause that’s all wrong   (chorus)   A PIECE OF THE RAINBOW Words by Paul Levinson Music by Linda Kaplan 1968   A piece of the rainbow fell to the ground and burst into colors   And I picked up a piece of the rainbow A pretty little star I put you in a jar so I could watch you grow   And I brought home the piece of the rainbow Enchanted little elf I put you on my shelf And hoped that you would glow   And I watched you every day And you slowly turned to gray   And I picked up my piece of the rainbow And tossed you back to the sky And waved a last goodbye I had to let you go      CLOUDY SUNDAY Words by Paul Levinson Music by Peter Rosenthal 1968   Cloudy Sunday I wake to find you gone Cloudy Sunday The bed I sleep upon is strangely smooth and white Touched only by me and the empty night   Cloudy Sunday A fog upon my brain Cloudy Sunday condenses into rain and tears begin to swell but you couldn't tell that I loved you well   So we loved each other in passing But I'll keep searching for something more lasting Like the poet looking for the once in a lifetime rhyme   Cloudy Sunday I glimpse a distant form Cloudy Sunday I sense that she is warm but question what I feel – reflection of me or something more real?   Cloudy Sunday

Find out why a Golf Channel Star is Teaming up with the World Famous Aflac Duck at the Valspar Championship This REAL TALK SPORTS interview. provides the best of Sports and Beauty. Meet Holly Sonders, the Golf Channel host who is renowned as not only being one of the most beautiful women in sports, but as an accomplished golfer, golf analyst and a fitness expert.  Holly will explain the importance of being prepared as she shares health, fitness and golfing tips LIVE from the Valspar Championship Golf Tournament.  Also, the world famous Aflac Duck will be making a rare LIVE appearance as Holly tries to cure his proclivity for “duck hooks” and water.  Sonders joined Golf Channel in 2011. The Ohio native is a Michigan State grad who helped the Spartan women's golf team win the 2007 Big Ten Championship.  She previously reported for the Big 10 Sports Network.

Voice Talent Dan McKeague shares his story with Terry and Trish on winning this nationally publicized commercial role for the Aflac duck.  Terry finds something interesting in his lava lamp.  Also Totally True Tales with Tom, Legal Minute with Rob, and more!   The post The Voice Over Cafe Episode 9 – Voice of the Aflac Duck – Dan McKeague appeared first on voice over cafe.

David Yow is the intense and legendary front man for the band Jesus Lizard and other groups like Scratch Acid. After a lifelong adoration, Matt Dwyer sits down with an idol of his and we learn about Yow's art, brief stint in stand up comedy and hear a rare commercial audition Yow did as the Aflac Duck. Visit DavidYow.net to see his incredible visual art and to learn more about 'Get Faced.' See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Gilbert Gottfried's career has been long and varied. But to hear him talk about it, it's always on the verge of ending. But whatever he's being fired from, be it Saturday Night Live or the Aflac Duck commercials, he's always got stand-up comedy and dirty jokes. Of course, that gets him in trouble, too. On this episode, he talks about all that and throws in a few impressions for good measure.