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For some practice owners, saying “I don't know” is about the most foreign and difficult thing to do. Turns out, it's a show of strength, not weakness. If you feel it shows weakness, maybe you just need some help on how to say it out loud. My guest today coaches leaders and organizations to create amazing workplace cultures, and he'll help us learn how to say those horrible words!Steve Salee is with Wildfire Strategies. Steve founded Wildfire Strategies in 2008 with a vision of creating healthy workplace cultures that catch on like wildfire. Steve and his team build cultures of shared purpose, respect and trust that dramatically improve our clients' performance. Using team and individual coaching, culture change programs and leadership retreats, they help clients develop the structures, behaviors and tools they need to succeed. Steve is a Professional Certified Coach and Certified Mentor Coach through the International Coach Federation (ICF). Steve is a member of the Forbes Coaches Council, a Fellow with the Institute of Coaching, and an Adjunct Lecturer at the Columbia University School of Social Work. He's a member of the ICF, American College of Healthcare Executives, National Association of Social Workers, and the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. Steve and his family live in Westchester NY. He sings, rows and writes whenever he gets the chance.In this episode Carl White and Steve Salee discuss:Why it's harder for leaders in healthcare vs. other industries to say “I don't know”Whether Steve sees this issue becoming bigger or smaller in healthcareThe ripple effects in a practice when the leaders avoid saying “I don't know”Want to be a guest on PracticeCare®?Have an experience with a business issue you think others will benefit from? Come on PracticeCare® and tell the world! Here's the link where you can get the process started.Connect with Steve Saleehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-salee-a58560/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/wildfire-strategies/mycompany/?viewAsMember=true https://www.instagram.com/wildfirestrategies/Connect with Carl WhiteWebsite: http://www.marketvisorygroup.comEmail:  whitec@marketvisorygroup.comFacebook:  https://www.facebook.com/marketvisorygroupYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD9BLCu_i2ezBj1ktUHVmigLinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/healthcaremktg

In this episode, Kat and Kim talk to Erik Rueter about design thinking in our projects.  What's design thinking, you may be thinking? Design thinking is a methodology that focuses on the end users of a system when we are problem solving. Erik will share 5 different design thinking methods for understanding user needs in a way that not only helps your project provide better deliverables but can also help build a better project team.   About our amazing guest, Erik Rueter Erik K. Rueter, PMP, PMI-ACP, has over 20 years of experience in diverse industries, including tech startups, academia, healthcare, and entertainment. Currently, he serves as a senior project manager at the American Marketing Association and has held multiple senior staff positions at various organizations. Erik holds a BA in neuroscience from Wesleyan University, with further education in digital design, Irish studies, and MicroMasters in Design Thinking and Project Management from the Rochester Institute of Technology. He is also certified in diversity and inclusion by Cornell. Erik's contributions to the field include co-authoring papers on health inequity, lecturing at Boston and Emerson Colleges, and advocating for diversity and inclusion with organizations like Medtronic, VSP, and the San Antonio Spurs. He has spoken, in person and virtually, at PMI Greece, PMI Michiana, and PMI Western Michigan, among others. He has appeared on podcasts such as “Confessions of a Higher Education CMO”; and “I Wanna Work There!” and contributed to “The Evolution of the PMO”, a key resource for project managers. He founded Human-Centered Success LLC to promote inclusive leadership which is National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce certified as an LGBTQIA+-owned business. Residing outside Pittsburgh with his husband and two dachshunds, Erik enjoys marathons, gaming, and sharing his insights. Contact: erik@humancenteredsuccess.com. To learn more about the amazing things Erik is up to:  Check out his website at: www.humancenteredsuccess.com Learn about solution delivery: Mastering Solution Delivery Erik's Upcoming Speaking Engagement: PMI Global Summit 2024 Rock Lobster Leadership: Lessons from The B-52s Resilience and Relatability: A New Paradigm for Project Leadership (With Jake McGaffin and Olivia Montgomery)   JOIN THE HAPPY HOUR! Get access to all podcasts, PDU certificates, bonus content, exclusive member Q&A webinars and more from our membership! https://pmhappyhour.com/membership STUMP THE PM'S! We love to hear about your tough PM issues, so please hit us up at podcast@pmhappyhour.com or on Linkedin and we'll see if we can help you. If we use your question, we'll send you a PM Happy Hour coaster you can enjoy at your next happy hour.  

Dr. Scholar Lee is family-oriented and a Spiritual Genius. Born and raised in New Haven, Connecticut, Dr. Scholar Lee currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Scholar Lee demonstrates legendary tenacity and persistence as an genderless Spirit-Being.    Dr. Scholar Lee is an educator, thought-leader, keynote speaker, creative and Spiritual Genius. Creator of the trademarked acronym T.R.A.N.S., Dr. Scholar Lee continues to Triumph over life's obstacles, exercise Resilience in the face of adversity, and is the epitome of an Authentic Noble Success. He is the Founder of the nonprofit, T.R.A.N.S. INC., and CEO of T.R.AN.S.parent Life Conversations, an LGBT-Business Enterprise with the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), and an award-winning Small Business of 2022. Dr. Scholar Lee is the Director of  the Transgender and Nonbinary documentary series, GENDERED., which is featured on the GENDERED. YouTube Channel. You may visit www.genderedpodcast.com to listen and support gender variant individuals. In addition visit www.drscholarlee.com to know more about Dr. Scholar Lee's services, upcoming podcast. Subscribe to @drscholarlee on all popular social media platforms.  ​ Educationally, Dr. Scholar Lee obtains a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Psychology, and Bachelor of Science (BS) in Justice and Law Administration with a concentration in Legal Studies. He also received a Master of Science in Management and Organizational Leadership (MSMOL) and a Master of Philosophy (MPHIL) in Human and Social Services. Dr. Scholar Lee obtained his PhD in Human and Social Services. Also, he obtained his professional Doctorate in Business Administration (D.B.A.). Professionally, he has 15+ years' experience in the human service field working with various underprivileged populations in various settings. Currently, Dr. Scholar Lee expresses his creativity in various forms and manages several businesses in various industries.  ​ Dr. Scholar Lee's purpose and mission is to passionately educate, enlighten, and empower people to evolve into a greater version of themselves. Moreover, he inspires his transgender and nonbinary community to lead an authentic life and to accept their differences. He encourages his community to develop an INNER-standing of self and to OVER-stand that their differences is what will make a difference in their life and in this world. In conclusion, Dr. Scholar Lee's personal, educational, and professional experiences has evolved him into a well-versed scholar, compassionate thought-leader, successful entrepreneur, eloquent communicator, and a maverick of his time. He encourages all to: Be Great. Be Bold. ALWAYS BE YOU!!!   Connect w/ Dr. Scholar Business Websites: https://www.drscholarlee.com/ (Spiritual Enlightenment Services)   https://www.transparentlifeconversations.com/  (Transgender and Nonbinary Services)   Social Media: TikTok:  https://www.tiktok.com/amp/tag/drscholarlee   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drscholarlee/  (Personal)   https://www.instagram.com/gendered_podcast/ (GENDERED.)   https://www.instagram.com/t.r.a.n.s._inc/ (T.R.A.N.S. Inc.)   YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT04THlgN1WP4mqa7lqoJKg (GENDERED.)   WILD GOOSE FESTIVAL! DISCOUNT CODE: A-MIDGE www.wildgoosefestival.org    

Joshua Driver is the Founder of Selflessly, an all-inclusive software platform designed to create, manage, and report on a company's philanthropy and corporate social responsibility (CSR) program. Selflessly was Indiana's first dual Certified B-Corp and Domestic Benefit Corporation and Certified LGBTQBE from the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. Connect with Joshua here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuadriver/ https://selflessly.io/ This episode is sponsored by: DirectSuggest: ⁠https://www.directsuggest.com/subscribe.php?id=6992⁠ Use Promo Code: HumanHR Namely: namely.com/humanhr CultureBot:⁠ https://getculturebot.com/humanhr ⁠ Connect with Traci here: https://linktr.ee/HRTraci Don't forget to rate this podcast 5 stars, leave a review, and subscribe!   Disclaimer: Thoughts, opinions, and statements made on this podcast are not a reflection of the thoughts, opinions, and statements of the Company Traci Chernoff is actively employed by. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/hrtraci/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/hrtraci/support

“When we break bread with others/strangers, we begin to cross boundaries, which in turn creates a bond that removes ‘Other' from our lexicon even if momentarily.”- Chef Kuukua YomekpeChef Kuukua Yomekpe is a the founder of Asempke Kitchen a catering, pop-up, and Culinary Experience company that specializes in providing great plant-based options to traditional West African cuisine. In this episode Chef Kuukua shares her entrepreneurial journey as a queer Black cis-woman living with an invisible disability. This episode we explore:

In this episode, we talk with a famous figure in the ecosystem of LGBTQ+ Tech industry. Patrick Driscoll started his career in international development working with entrepreneurs in Senegal for over 2 years, where homosexuality is illegal. He became there the diversity coordinator and found meaning underrepresented groups, including the LGBTQ+ community. Now he is the General Partner of "Chasing Rainbows" - a VC (Venture Capital) fund that only invests in LGBTQ+ founders. The episode delves into the challenges faced by LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs, such as discrimination and the need to remain closeted while raising capital. Patrick emphasizes the importance of creating an inclusive environment where individuals can feel safe and supported in expressing their identities. Patrick highlights how apps like Grindr and platforms like NGLCC (National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce) play a significant role in connecting LGBTQ+ individuals, fostering support, and facilitating business opportunities.

Today, Dina Proto shares their diverse family dynamics and how she empowers her kids to live authentically in a society full of expectations. 1. Dina and her wife's diverse experiences in parenthood and guardianship 2. Possible reasons why some parents find it difficult to support their child's gender identity 3. The value of intentional co-parenting 4. How one's race or gender identity impacts the medical care they receive 5. Why it's essential to empower your kids to advocate for themselves Resources mentioned in this episode We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle | Apple Podcast   Identity Impact: When Society's Expectations Collide with the Authentic Self by Dina Proto RN | PaperbackAbout Dina ProtoDina is an awarding-winning pioneer for equality, a published author, a nationally-recognized speaker, and a thought leader for her diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging advocacy. Dina is the Founder and CEO of Equality Healthcare Consulting, a DEIB Healthcare Consulting firm. With nearly 30 years of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) and healthcare experience, Dina understands the change management required to foster psychological safety and create a culture of inclusivity for healthcare organizations and patients. Dina works with leaders in the healthcare industry to create a sustainable infrastructure that improves both employee recruitment and retention while also improving patient outcomes and equitable healthcare to diverse patient populations.In her book, Identity Impact; When Society's Expectations Collide with the Authentic Self, Dina explores how celebrating and uplifting diversity is essential for our health, well-being, and economic success as a community – and as a nation. Dina writes with the authenticity and experience that has made her a trusted leader across LGBTQ+, healthcare, and business organizations.She is the Founder and President Emeritus of the Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce Nevada (GLCCNV) and the Inclusive Community for Breast Health (ICBH). Dina Co-Founded Teazled Greeting Cards, one of the nation's first LGBTQ+ Greeting Card Manufacturers to be available in mainstream grocery stores, and was a driving force in improving inclusive product availability within the Greeting Card Industry. This earned her a Certificate of Commendation for Providing Diverse Options for Consumers, a Certificate of Recognition for Contributions to the LGBTQ+ Community, and the title of “Pioneer in Pride” by the WNBA. Her historical work has been archived in the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) Special Collections and Archives. Dina has been featured in over 20 news media outlets over the past decade and actively speaks at professional conferences and universities.Connect with Dina Website: Equality Healthcare ConsultingSupport the show! Want to learn more about us? Visit our website at www.periodtopause.com or send an email to amanda@periodtopause.comFollow us on Instagram: @periodtopauseFollow our Facebook Page: Period to Pause

A Playing with Problems Segment: Future Fears and Worries with CPA and Broadway Investor Michael Markiewicz Michael Markiewicz is a CPA/CFP turned Executive Producer, Philanthropist, Artist, Musician, and International Traveler, having visited every continent except Antarctica. Michael's path to success has been one of learning from mistakes and failures and learning how to cultivate happiness in his life. Michael's challenge is something many of us can relate to, finding new ways for human resources to take over tasks freeing him up for other things, finding and hiring good people, dealing with future fears and worries, and trying to juggle it all while playing a big move to another country. With over 35 years of experience providing financial guidance to entertainment professionals, family offices, small businesses, and C-level executives, Michael Markiewicz is the founder and owner of Markiewicz Enterprises, LLC, a New York-based financial services company specializing in CPA services, consulting services, and asset protection. Outside his practice, Michael is a successful investor and speaker and is very involved with many philanthropic endeavors. As a CPA, PFS (Personal Financial Specialist), and CFP, he is a member of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and the Estate Planning Council of New York City, where he recently served as a Board Member. He is also the Finance Director of Marriage Equality USA and a member of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. In this episode, we discuss: -Four decades of success as a CPA -Investing in Entertainment and Broadway -Losing money and dealing with failure -Going from unhappy to happy -Lessons he learned from Holocaust Survivors -Being in the here and now -Recognizing what stressors are impacting you and finding ways to deal with those stressful areas -Getting feedback and making it a priority -The impact of a scarcity vs abundance mindset -The Value of becoming vulnerable You can connect with Briana Maurice here: www.michaelmarkiewicz.net https://www.facebook.com/michael.markiewicz.5/ https://www.instagram.com/michaelmar17/ LInkedin profile is: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-markiewicz-cpa-cfp-05644a3/ You can connect with Alex Terranova here: Instagram: @InspirationalAlex Website: www.TheDreamMason.com Email: Alex@TheDreamMason.com Alex Terranova, PCC, is one of the world's top and most sought-after Performance & Success Alchemists and Coaches. He's an Author, Men's Retreat Leader, & International Speaker who was dubbed "The Anti-Excuses Coach" by Yahoo Finance. As the Founder of DreamMason Inc., Co-Creator of The Alchemy of Men and Your Love Adventure, and the docile tones behind hundreds of podcasts, he's coached and transformed hundreds of lives into better relationships, financial abundance, and increased achievement with less stress, drama, and difficulty.  Since 2015 Alex has coached hundreds of successful and powerful individuals & businesses to thrive financially, enjoy better relationships, and achieve more, all with less stress, drama, and difficulty.  Alex is the author of Fictional Authenticity and the forthcoming book How Dreams Are Built. He has hosted & appeared in over 400 podcasts, including top-rated shows such as The University of Adversity, The Primal BluePrint, and Success Unleashed. He has been featured on NBC, FOX, Yahoo Finance, Disrupt Magazine, Thrive Global, and Elephant Journal. Alex has worked with athletes, entertainers, executives, & leaders in; MLB, LinkedIn, Million Dollar Sellers, Shutterfly, Godiva, Chase, and Coldwell Banker.  Alex supports people in creating real results, integrity, enjoyment, and peace so they can succeed in what deeply matters to them and build their legacy.

This episode, the last in Season II, features Darrell Schuurman, co-founder and CEO of the Canadian Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. The CGLCC is a coalition of LGBTQ2S+ businesses, government, corporate and community partners advocating for change to make a more inclusive Canadian economy possible. Darrell sheds some light on the evolution of the organization as it navigates its domestic role and its growing impact in other countries.

Learn how to make sure you have the correct advisors in your immediate vicinity. Learn how you can figure out how to best utilize the legislation and the laws as they currently stand to reduce the amount you will need to pay to the government, whether it be the federal or state.Remarkable Quotes:Michael: Many young people have dreams of performing on a stage, but they don't have the training. Michael: What happens in the books and records is how it gets transferred onto the tax return.Travis: Figure out what it is that you're good at and hire out the rest.Michael: If a nonprofit organization participates in an activity that generates nonrelated income, it's called the unrelated business tax. Highlights:{01:30} The journey of Michael Markiewicz{11:10} The Broadway Dreams Foundation{18:46} Things nonprofits may miss when they are preparing their taxes{23:00} The unrelated business taxMichael Markiewicz Bio: With over 35 years of experience in providing financial guidance to entertainment professionals, family offices, small businesses, and C-level executives, Michael Markiewicz is the founder and owner of Markiewicz Enterprises, LLC, a New York-based financial services company specializing in CPA services, consulting services and asset protection.​As a CPA and certified financial planner, Michael provides premium services, with particular expertise in providing production accounting services for films in all stages of development from pre-production through post-production. Included in those services is the application for pre-certification of film tax credits and the final application for credit funds to be received. Other focuses of his practice are outsourced family office administrative services and business management for sports and entertainment figures. Outside of his practice, Michael is a successful investor, speaker, and is very involved with many philanthropic endeavors. ​Michael graduated from Tufts University with BA in Economics and Sociology. He received his MBA and MS in Accounting from Northeastern University. As a CPA, PFS (Personal Financial Specialist), and CFP, he is a member of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and the Estate Planning Council of New York City where he recently served as a Board Member. He is also the Finance Director of Marriage Equality USA and a member of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.​​Outside of his professional life, Michael studies and plays guitar enjoys singing, artist in oil and other media, loves movies and the theatre (where he is also an occasional investor) and is a huge animal rights activist. Michael also serves on the board of Moving Windmills Project, Inc, and acts as treasurer, a non-profit organization where mission is rural economic development and education in Malawi, Africa. Michael lives in Chelsea (Manhattan) with his husband Mark and their beloved wire-haired dachshunds, Maggie and Lily.Connect with Michael: https://www.michaelmarkiewicz.netNonprofit Architect Podcast LinksMore Episodeshttp://nonprofitarchitect.org/blog Ultimate Podcast Guidehttps://nonprofitarchitect.org/ultimate-podcast-guide/ Ultimate Podcast Course fully WASC accreditedhttps://envisageconnect.com/education-training/partner-products/synergy-learning-institute/ Subscribe and Leave a Reviewhttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nonprofit-architect-podcast/id1481292481 Get Fully Funded by Sharing the Credithttps://mpro.sharingthecredit.com/appointly/appointments_public/form/DBF73E8A-7D93-438E-B42C-6683022EE380

How CX and Experience Marketing Create New Opportunities to Energize Brands and Delight Customers  This week's guest is Kevin Tydlaska-Dziedzic, founder and CEO of BKN Creative. As a practitioner of experience marketing who works in sync with customer experience throughout the customer life cycle, Kevin leads customer experience initiatives across the entire business. And he's not alone. According to the 7th State of Marketing Report from Salesforce, 80% of marketers maintain responsibility for customer experience.  Through branding, photography, web design, copywriting, marketing, and social media marketing, Kevin's agency helps clients develop better relationships with their customers before, during, and after the sale.   In this episode, we discuss how experience marketing has evolved to become an essential part of the overall customer experience, and how the ‘why' of a company's brand is essential to creating that experience. Plus, Kevin shares three examples that show how his approach to experience marketing builds on growth opportunities to enhance the customer experience through marketing efforts.  Finding His ‘Why' and Helping Clients Make the Most of Theirs  Kevin grew up in Colorado where he always gravitated towards creative outlets. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in photography and began working in the marketing industry when he moved to New York City and joined the marketing team at Whole Foods Market. Kevin and his husband eventually moved to Tampa where they worked at several marketing agencies that were full of creatives, strategies, and fantastic clients.   Although the marketing world fascinated and inspired him, he wanted to do more. He sought a culture that was inclusive, fun, and motivated by his ‘why' to focus on clients' passions and why they do what they do.   So, in 2018 Kevin founded BKN Creative. His mission was to grow the agency by helping clients find their ‘why' and to deliver on those findings. He also knew that he had to grow the agency in a way that reflected his passions.    A minority-owned business, BKN Creative is certified LGBTBE® by the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC). Agency headquarters is in Tampa, but they also collaborate with clients in Colorado, New York, and New Mexico. Kevin and his team of 11 help companies leverage their ‘why.' They also show them where they have opportunities to improve their relationships with customers and build brand loyalty through experience marketing.   What is Experience Marketing?  The original concept and practice of experience marketing was to create specific in-person marketing events where customers interacted with a brand's products or services. It was a separate department from customer experience. Each had its own budget and managers.   Over time, companies recognized that customer experience was the most important way to differentiate their brand. Since talented experience marketing professionals were already well versed at creating great experiences for customers, bringing them in to improve CX at all customer touchpoints made a lot of sense.   And that's what Kevin and his team at BKN Creative do—experience marketing at every touchpoint to build brand loyalty throughout the customer journey.   He approaches his brand of experience marketing in three phases.   1. Understand the ‘Why' Behind the Brand  The brand needs to reflect what's important to the business. Why was the business started? What motivates you? What are your passions? How do customers find you?  Answers to these (and other) questions are key to every visual design element. That includes color palette, typography, imagery, layout, and more. And from these elements a logo emerges that captures the spirit of the brand and sets it apart so it appeals to its customers. But that's just the beginning.  2. Delight Customers at Every Stage of Their Journey  Phase 2 is where customers meet products and services, one-on-one, throughout the customer journey. Those encounters can happen at retail (brick and mortar or online), at events, on the client's website, on social media, on search engines, and even on review websites or even how the company books appointments.  Any time people experience a company's brand—even if it's before they realize that their customer journey is about to begin—is an opportunity to create a great experience for them. And that needs to reflect who the company is, what they stand for, and why the customer should want to do business with them.  3. Extend the Experience Beyond the Sale  As Kevin points out, the experience doesn't stop at the sale. Instead, it's necessary to extend the elite experience the customer enjoys on their journey beyond the sale. Why? To encourage the customer to deepen their relationship with the company, to buy again, and to be an advocate for the brand.  3 Examples of Experience Marketing   Kevin says even companies that do a great job with most of their experience marketing efforts can still have gaps that leave them susceptible to customer complacency or customer churn. He explains that those gaps are not negatives, they are growth opportunities to improve the customer experience strategy and boost customer engagement. That always-positive perspective plays out in these examples.  Example 1: Changing Customer Perceptions on Social Media  A respected financial institution approached BKN Creative with a very specific need. For the most part, their marketing efforts were rocking. But customer feedback showed there was a gap in their social media activity.  That's a heavy lift for two reasons:  1. People are more uninhibited when commenting on social media as opposed to face-to-face or voice interactions.  2. Money is important to all of us, and people can get emotional about their money on social.  After analyzing touchpoints throughout the entire customer journey, Kevin and his team identified opportunities for the financial institution to grow the speed at which they harnessed social media to answer questions, route calls, route messages, and handle issues raised by customers.  Kevin's team put together a customer experience strategy that leveraged every social media platform they were on, as well as their review platforms. The goal was to further improve the positive perception of their customer service by being as helpful and responsive to customer needs as possible.   The strategy embodied the mindset that there are no stupid questions. There is no experience we can't solve, or help, or make delightful. Now, from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., all customer complaints and concerns expressed on social media are addressed.  Planning for effective social media monitoring support, training agents, and identifying and responding to trends yields significant positive impacts on the customer experience. As an example, iQor collaborates with a prepaid wireless service provider to deliver social media customer support, reducing response time on social media from 1 hour-plus to under 6 minutes.  BKN's client also expressed a desire for its customers to make better use of its mobile app. Kevin's team created an educational campaign using video to make learning the intricacies of the app easier.  These two experience marketing engagements seized opportunities to fill in the gaps and expand on the company's positive customer experience efforts to increase customer satisfaction.    Example 2: Extending Success and Opportunity for a Consulting Dynamo  When LaKendria Robinson approached BKN Creative with her idea for a new company, she was already a recognized diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) powerhouse in Tampa Bay. Running the NFL's Business Connect program for Super Bowl LV helped earn her that status.   BKN Creative collaborated with LaKendria to bring her vision of a DE&I consultancy to fruition. Their effort was top-to-bottom and end-to-end, including:  Name ideation  Branding  Color story  Typography  Mission statement Website Search engine optimization (SEO) Potential client booking process Growth opportunities  From their collaboration (and LaKendria's unstoppable commitment) The Orenda Collective was born to “. . . challenge organizations and individuals to view their community through a diverse, equitable and inclusive lens and deliver innovation solutions that live on in perpetuity.”   Once The Orenda Collective was on its feet, BKN Creative presented LaKendria with a growth opportunity—to start a nonprofit that provides microgrants to minorities so they can create their own small business. LaKendria embraced the opportunity, and BKN Creative provided the creative direction.   Example 3: Smile at iQor  iQor is excited to collaborate with Kevin and BKN Creative. As it did with the financial institution discussed in Example 1, Kevin's team analyzed iQor's experience marketing strategy and zeroed in on social media as a chance for growth opportunities.  But unlike the financial institution, iQor has two social media audiences:  1. iQor's current and future clients.  2. iQor's large and extraordinary audience of team members and future team members.   As Kevin noted, iQor has a robust culture that deserves celebrating. Now, not only do future team members learn about our culture, they also hear about it from current team members who celebrate it on social media.  By filling in the gaps, Kevin and his team have strengthened iQor's robust experience marketing efforts.   What Kevin Does for Fun  When he's not running a busy agency, Kevin loves to act in plays, films, and television. And while he can't mountain bike in Florida as he did in Colorado, he enjoys biking the many trails he's found in Florida with his husband and business partner, Brandon. Watch the video here. Read the blog post here.   

About Keith King and National Veteran Business Development Council: Keith King & Associates is a full service advertising agency with over 30 years of experience. We have a team of independent producers, creative directors, graphic artist, designers and media buyers to serve all of our client needs. Specialties: We are a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) and a GSA contract holder willing to sub-contract with large businesses. OUR VISION The National Veteran Business Development Council is the leading Veteran Owned Business Certification organization developed by Veterans, for Veterans. The purpose is to provide a credible and reliable certifying authority for all size businesses ensuring that valid documentation exists of a Veterans status, ownership and operational control. Many lucrative business opportunities are available to Veteran Owned Businesses through the Supplier Diversity programs offered at many corporations and government agencies. In fact, the total spend available from corporations to qualifying Veteran businesses is estimated to be in excess of $80 Billion annually. The existing Federal Government verification program (CVE) only recognizes small businesses. The NVBDC certifies all sizes of SD/VOBs using industry best practices and includes medium and large businesses. With the NVBDC's FASTRACK process, businesses that have already received existing Minority Status with the any of the following organizations can qualify for Veteran Owned Business Certification in as little as 30 days. * National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) * The Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) * National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) Businesses that do not qualify for FASTRACK, may still be able to get certified in as little as 60 days after their completed application and supporting documents are submitted for review.

On this episode, Ami Kassar interviews Rhett Buttle, Founder of Public Private Strategies, on the Biden Administrations' small business agenda: How things are going and what's next? Rhett Buttle is the Founder of Public Private Strategies (PPS). PPS creates opportunities where the public and private sectors meet bringing together diverse allies including foundations, associations, corporations, small businesses, and entrepreneurs to solve pressing societal challenges. By harnessing the power of the private sector, PPS build coalitions, activate campaigns, and create strategic partnerships to drive desired policy and market outcomes. Rhett is also a Senior Fellow at The Aspen Institute. In his role at Aspen, Rhett focuses his efforts on advancing the innovative Reconnecting Work and Wealth Initiative – a cutting edge effort at the Aspen Institute that engages several of the Institute's largest policy programs and their stakeholder networks in an ambitious re-visioning of the ways that 21st Century labor and financial markets can deliver inclusive growth and shared prosperity. Before founding Public Private Strategies, Rhett was the Business Engagement Director at Hillary for America serving as Secretary Clinton's liaison and private sector advisor during her run for President. Before joining the campaign, Rhett was President & Managing Director of a national business advocacy organization where he led an organization of over 25 people actively doing policy and advocacy work both nationally and in 10 states across the country. In 2014, Rhett was appointed by President Obama to The White House Business Council and served as the Director of Private Sector Engagement in the Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In this role, he was the main liaison between the department and the business community. He is an expert on healthcare policy issues as it relates to the employer community. He worked on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, public private partnerships for the Ebola response & the President's Precision Medicine Initiative. He was a key player in the Administration's effort to transform the healthcare system to one that is more focused on value and patient centered care. Buttle has also served in the Office of the President at George Washington University, in the Office of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and has worked on several presidential, state, and local campaigns. Rhett frequently engages with the media and has been featured in the New York Times, CNN, WSJ and several business publications. He has spoken on business issues at the Aspen Institute, the Harvard Institute of Politics, and the Center for American Progress. He also serves on the boards of several organizations. Rhett holds a bachelor's degree from the University of San Diego and a master's degree from The George Washington University. In addition, he is active in many volunteer & professional organizations including American Legion Boys State. Rhett was born and raised in Las Vegas, NV. In 2016, he was honored by the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce as their Business Advocate of the Year. Recorded 09/29/2021.

LezPod | Hosted by Alexandria Friedlander with Guest Lexi Goza Lexi Goza is a lesbian business owner in downtown Miami. She opened her State Farm Insurance agency in October of 2019, which she has successfully certified as an LGBTBE by the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. Lexi Goza State Farm is a member of the Miami Dade Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and prides itself on serving all people to help them manage the risks of everyday life, recover from the unexpected, and realize their dreams. Lexi has been a fierce supporter and advocate for the LGBTQ community for many years. She started her advocacy in Brevard County, where she raised her two children. Lexi was the Founder and President of PFLAG-Melbourne/Space Coast, where she assisted with the formation of “Rainbow Youth of Brevard,” and successfully lobbied the Brevard County School Board to add sexual orientation and gender identity to their non-discrimination policies for both students and employees. Lexi was the President of Space Coast Pride, where she accomplished the community goal of moving the festival to the centralized location of the Eau Gallie Arts District, expanding the annual event to multiple days with events like the parade and a 5K race and making the event free for all to attend. Lexi's current advocacy and support of the local LGBTQ community includes: • Chair of the Miami-Dade Gay and Lesbian Chamber Women's Empowerment Council • Proud mentor & board member for the AQUA Foundation for Women You can visit Lexi's website at www.specialagentlexi.com and connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Hey Everybody! Welcome to LezPod! You are here, my friends, because you believe in LGBTQ community and the importance of sharing our individuals stories to help impact one another. Our goal with the show is to introduce you to people and ideas that are going to motivate you to pursue your dreams and empower you to believe in yourself. My name is Alexandria Friedlander and I'm here to introduce you to remarkable people who have helped shift the world we live in today. Today's guest is Mike from GoGayMiami. Mike manages social media platforms for the MDGLCC (Miami Dade Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce) and the Miami Beach LGBT Visitor Center. Mike's aim is to help underrepresented people network in this ever changing digital world we live in! Be sure to tune in!

Tim Osborn is the Founder of The Osborn Group, LLC – a management consulting firm serving national clients helping them unlock the WOW in business by utilizing strategies backed by data to make better decisions, harness greater results, and build extraordinary teams delivering exceptional experiences.Mr. Osborn is also the Co-Founder of Great Dining Brands, LLC and the recent new franchisee owner of Zoup! Eatery located in Eastgate. The Osborn Group, LLC was one of the first certified LGBTBE companies in Cincinnati, Ohio by the NGLCC (the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce). Tim also serves as adjunct real estate instructor in the real estate program at Cincinnati State Technical & Community College and is the creator of The EMERGE DEI Scorecard™ and The DEI Index™ which certifies workplaces who demonstrate maturity in their diversity, equity, and inclusion best practices.Tim lives in West Chester, OH with his husband Shane McRoy (a licensed district store manager for Starbucks Company) and the two of them have a blended family of 5 and two beautiful granddaughters. Current areas of focus include: Promoting and cultivating DEI best practices for accountability in diversity, equity, and inclusion for workplaces across the country through the Certified Partner Network of The Osborn Group, LLC Creating opportunities for pathways to funding for Minority, Women and LGBTQ+ Founders and Startups through the Smartup Strategy Process™ and a blended incubator/accelerator hybrid program he founded at The Osborn Group,LLC. The program empowers entrepreneurs to success by developing a pathway to funding and providing mentor support through seasoned business advisors across the region. Creating jobs and opportunities through revitalization efforts for Zoup! Eatery and rebuilding the fast casual brand presence in the Cincinnati, OH region after the impact of the pandemic. Support the show (https://paypal.me/sidehustlecity)

Running a business is not the same as leading it. In this episode, Tony and Brian reflect on the lessons that Theresa Moulton (Editor-in-Chief of Change Management Review), Scott Mason (Principal of Scott Mason, LLC), TJ Chernick (Executive Director, National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, New York chapter), and Andy Presti (Managing Partner of Presti & Naegele, CPA) shared about their growth into truly being leaders of their organizations. As different as each of their businesses is, growing it and successfully moving it forward has required not “managing the business” but “leading the business.” The lessons in becoming a leader that are shared here are universal.

Today we are chatting with Darrell Schuurman,Co-Founder and CEO of the Canadian Gay and Lesbian Chamber of CommerceAs a Co-Founder and CEO of CGLCC, Darell Schuurman has been committed to CGLCC's mission since 2003. He is a former Managing Partner at DNA Marketing group and has a background in business, sales and marketing. He is the Co-Founder of Travel Gay Canada.In this podcast, we discussed the challenging obstacles for LGBT-owned businesses in Canada to overcome this pandemic, his thoughts on Diversity and inclusion, how to create a thriving and inclusive Canadian economy and also his key advice to LGBT+  entrepreneurs  during these challenging timesFor more information, please visit: www.cglcc.ca

Working in international human rights,  TJ Chernick' s career took him from Morocco to Finland, but it didn't prepare him for his role as Executive Director of the New York chapter of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. While the move from human rights to his first Chamber position in membership was challenging, even more difficult was the move from manager to his current leadership role. In this episode, TJ discusses the part those you serve can play in your professional growth when you have the courage to ask, and to listen.

In this episode of OutBüro Voices featuring LGBTQ professionals, entrepreneurs, and community leaders from around the world, host Dennis Velco chats with Ben Finzel, founder of RENEW PR. Ben Finzel, is not a typical business startup entrepreneur. He launched ReNew PR, a public relations firm that primarily focuses on renewable energy, sustainability, environmental, and LGBTQ topics. He is an out #gay business owner (LGBTQ entrepreneur) with over two decades of top PR agency experience in Washington, DC. With experience at prestigious firms such as Edelman, FleishmanHillard, and others. 00:50 Personal background - the beginning of a gay entrepreneur 05:00 Development of critical thinks core 05:30 Begining at Edelman 8:45 Changes in pitching to journalists/reporters 11:00 Delving into launching ReNew PR - transitioning from being an employee to an entrepreneur 13:00 A short clear explanation of your business is key 13:50 A benefit of starting a business after a long a rich career is the professional network of past coworkers, clients, and industry contacts. 15:00 He clarifies ReNew PR's scope is both specific and broad - energy efficiency, renewable energy, sustainability, climate change, clean transportation, natural resources, air/water/land use all broadly. A great client would be one who offers sustainable products, say that reuses, reduces, or upcycles as one example. 17:45 Honest discussion of transition into being an entrepreneur, the assumptions and adapting 19:20 As a business own leveraging technology tool to make the dreaded yet necessary tasks easier such as invoicing. 20:20 Shifting from big PR agencies to own small business, created new realizations, new opportunities, and new partnerships 21:15 It is not pie. There is enough for everyone. 24:00 Focus and differentiate your business. ReNew PR is a certified LGBTQ Owned Business by the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) 25:30 Formation of the Change Agencies a network of multicultural owned agencies 27:00 Networking with other LGBTQ communications PR professionals in Washington DC Connect with Ben Finzel on OutBüro at https://www.outburo.com/profile/benfinzel/ Join Ben on OutBüro, the LGBTQ professional and entrepreneur online community network for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, a.lies and our employers who support LGBTQ welcoming workplace equality focused benefits, policies, and business practices. https://www.OutBuro.com Would you like to be featured like this? Contact the host Dennis Velco. https://www.outburo.com/profile/dennisvelco/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/outburo/message

Kellen owns and operates My Spouti LLC, where he develops and markets innovative stand to pee devices and advocates in LGBTQ+ community spaces and events. Kellen presented his revolutionary STP device, Spouti™, and its 3D printer enabled prototyping process at Equality Virginia TIES. He also reported in Outwire 757 Magazine on the National Trans Visibility March On DC. He is active in LGBTQ+ business communities earning the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) business certification and participating in the Hampton Roads Business Outreach Program (HRBOR). Kellen previously worked in Information Technology for Gannett Digital and the USA Today Network and as an American Sign Language interpreter in Norfolk public schools. He enjoys RPG video games, singing when no one is looking, watching Star Trek re-runs, and spending time with his family.  Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/transcasterradio)

Guests: Tim Haughinberry, President, Nevada Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce

Guests: Tim Haughinberry, President, Nevada Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce

June is “Pride Month”! Today on Across the Aisle we speak with Tim Haughinberry, President of the Gay Lesbian Chamber Of Commerce and Backbar USA, to learn more about how this chamber differs from others . We also discuss the historic Supreme Court ruling that says LGBTQ+ Americans legally cannot be fired because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Pride Series day 8 we talk to Kellen Berry. Kellen owns and operates My Spouti LLC, where he develops and markets innovative stand to pee devices and advocates in LGBTQ+ community spaces and events.Kellen presented his revolutionary STP device, Spouti™, and its 3D printer enabled prototyping process at Equality Virginia TIES. He also reported in Outwire 757 Magazine on the National Trans Visibility March On DC. He is active in LGBTQ+ business communities earning the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) business certification and participating in the Hampton Roads Business Outreach Program (HRBOR).Kellen previously worked in Information Technology for Gannett Digital and the USA Today Network and as an American Sign Language interpreter in Norfolk public schools. He enjoys RPG video games, singing when no one is looking, watching Star Trek re-runs, and spending time with his family. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/transcasterradio)

It’s never been more important to help every Canadian through times like these – just ask Darrell Schuurman, CEO of the Canadian Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. Darrell is an advocate for affecting social change through the economic empowerment of LGBT+ entrepreneurs. Growing up... The post Empowering by Including with Darrell Schuurman – April 14th 2020 appeared first on Startup Canada.

Today’s episode is a REWIND episode with Janice Bryant Howroyd, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The ACT-1 Group, the largest privately held, woman-owned workforce solutions company founded in the U.S. I love this episode because Janice exudes confidence, energy, and just makes you want to walk into a room and take up space.  As Auntie Janice (as I now refer to her in my head) likes to say, “knowledge married to experience breeds confidence.” When you have the experience and knowledge you must own that confidence. I listened to this episode twice as I was riding to the Today Show for my appearance in August 2018, and it really did give me confidence.  I often re-listen to this episode whenever I’m nervous about rising to a new level in my business.  I’m excited for you to hear Janice share how she became the first African American woman to operate a company that generates more than $1 billion in annual revenue. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher  This episode is brought to you by: Skillshare Skillshare is offering Side Hustle Pro listeners 2 months of unlimited Skillshare classes for FREE. To sign up, go to Skillshare.com/sidehustlepro. Gusto Gusto offers modern, easy payroll, benefits, and HR to small businesses across the country. Sign up and give it a try at gusto.com/shp.  Links mentioned in this episode Side Hustle Pro Newsletter Act-1 Group Project Upward Bound  Women Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO)  WEConnect International  National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale  As A Man Thinketh by James Allen  Click here to subscribe via RSS feed (non-iTunes feed): http://sidehustlepro.libsyn.com/rss Announcements Join our Facebook Community If you’re looking for a community of supportive side hustlers who are all working to take our businesses to the next level, join us here: http://sidehustlepro.co/facebook Send questions to “Ask Nicaila” You can now send questions for the new “Ask Nicaila” segment that’s coming to Side Hustle Pro. Once I get a critical mass of questions, I can start rolling out this segment. Just email hi@sidehustlepro.co and put hashtag #AskNicaila in the subject.  Social Media Info Janice Byrant Howard (Twitter) - @JBryantHowroyd Janice Bryrant Howard (Instagram) -  @jbryanthowroyd   Janice Bryrant Howard (Facebook) -@JaniceBryantHowroyd  

Gabrielle Claiborne is Co-founder and CEO of Transformation Journeys Worldwide, an inclusion training and consulting firm with a transgender focus. She travels extensively, helping corporations on the journey of transforming their work environments into fully trans-inclusive cultures. Gabrielle has been an out and active transwoman since 2010. She serves on the Executive Board of Atlanta Pride, on the Trans Task Force of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, on the City of Atlanta’s LGBTQ Mayoral Advisory Council, and on the Board of the Atlanta Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. In 2018, Gabrielle received the Georgia Small Business Administration’s LGBT Small Business Champion Award in recognition of her efforts in advancing LGBT business ownership. As well, Emory University recognized her as their 2018 PRIDE Alum of the Year for her work in the LGBTQ community. In 2015, Gabrielle was chosen as Atlanta’s Best Trans Activist, and her work was featured in Forbes in 2018. www.transformationjourneysww.com       Peeling Back the Layers of Your Life® Podcast Creator, Host, and Producer:  Loronda C. Giddens www.lorondacgiddens.com  

About the Show: On this episode of the podcast we get to sit down with Tracey Dean, President at the Utah Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. We get to find out her story. Tracey shares how she got involved with the Utah Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, how you can get involved with the Chamber, and the importance of having the Chamber in our city. We also find out what Tracey loves about living in Utah, her favorite local eating spots, and everything else in between.  Important Links: Utah Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce website https://www.utahgaychamber.com/ Utah Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce Facebook https://www.facebook.com/utahgaychamber/ Utah Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce instagram https://www.instagram.com/utah.gay.chamber/ Tracey Dean Financial website https://www.traceydeanfinancial.com/ Tracey Dean Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=585143858 This episode is sponsored by: Five Wives Vodka http://www.fivewivesvodka.com Market Source Real Estate http://www.thinksaltlakecity.com Connect more with I am Salt Lake: Email Us hello@iamsaltlake.com Connect With Our Facebook https://www.facebook.com/IAmSaltLake/ Connect With Our Twitter https://twitter.com/iamsaltlake Connect With Our Instagram https://www.instagram.com/iamsaltlake/ Join The Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/iamsaltlake/ Support our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/iamsaltlake Thank you for listening to this episode of I am Salt Lake podcast. We showcase local talent, businesses, and everyday people making Salt Lake City what it is today. Please consider making a one time donation through PayPal to help with the expenses of keeping this podcast running smoothly https://www.paypal.me/iamsaltlake

Harry Young, Executive Director of the Keystone Business Alliance, formerly known as Central PA's Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.Learning to turn hate and prejudice into understanding, acceptance and fiscalempowerment for all of our local communities.

Jonathan Lovitz, Senior Vice President of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), joins the PHL Diversity podcast series to discuss his role with the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce -- an organization dedicated to expanding economic opportunities and advancements for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community -- and its upcoming conference in Philadelphia. He discusses the economic impact of LGBT businesses and the importance of intersectionality between LGBT and other minority communities. He also shares details about the 2018 NGLCC International Business and Leadership Conference, which is the largest LGBT business event in the world. He highlights what drove NGLCC to choose Philadelphia, along with confirmed conference special guests and goals for the NGLCC conference overall.

After careers in teaching, training, IT consulting, and real estate, Jim Obergefell is now an LGBTQ activist, speaker, and author. Jim is also the co-founder of Equality Vines, the first cause-based wine label that supports organizations devoted to civil rights and equality for all. Jim is the named plaintiff in the landmark Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges, a decision that brought nationwide marriage equality to the United States on June 26, 2015. Jim and his husband John launched their legal battle with the State of Ohio to demand recognition of their lawful marriage on John’s impending death certificate. John died of ALS three months after their first court hearing, and Jim continued the fight along with more than thirty other plaintiffs from four states. Since the ruling, Jim has continued his work as an activist and as a speaker with Keppler Speakers. Jim co-authored the book Love Wins with Debbie Cenziper, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist with the Washington Post. Love Wins is about the lovers and lawyers in this historic Supreme Court case, and it was published by William Morrow/Harper Collins. Temple Hill Productions. Fox 2000 bought the movie rights to ‘Love Wins’ and will produce a feature film based on the book. Jim is a member of the Board of Directors for SAGE, the nation’s oldest and largest organization devoted to advocacy and services for elder LGBTQ Americans. Jim is also a member of the National Advisory Board for the GLBT Historical Society. Jim has been honored with awards from organizations such as Equality Florida, Equality North Carolina, the ACLU of Southern California, Cleveland Stonewall Democrats, Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland), the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, SAGE, the Ohio Democratic Party, the Santa Clara University School of Law, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, the City of Cincinnati, and more. Foreign Policy magazine named Jim one of its 2015 Global Thinkers, and Out magazine named Jim to its 2015 Out 100 list.

The need for long-term care insurance for LGBT people An alarming 36% of LGBT people say they’d rather spend for today than prepare for tomorrow. But what happens at the end of your life and you need medical or nursing-assistance, either in-home or in a nursing facility? The answer may be long-term care insurance for LGBT people. Ryan Taylor educates us on long-term care insurance for LGBT people According to AARP, the lifetime probability of becoming disabled and needing long-term care is a whopping 68% of people over the age of 65. The average cost of long-term care is currently about $6,000 per month. That’s a lot! Long-term care insurance for LGBT people provides the peace of mind that you’ll get the care you need to go out with the dignity you want. Ryan Taylor is the founder of LGBT Financial, the premier resource for LGBT financial services. After earning degrees in International Business, Finance, and Economics from Utah State University, Ryan lived and worked abroad for several years before settling in Salt Lake City. He’s been a financial advisor with MassMutual Intermountain West since July of 2015. Ryan founded LGBT Financial in February of 2016 to help individuals and families from all walks of life in a comfortable and safe environment navigate and plan for their most important financial decisions. Ryan is also the founder and host of Salt Lake City’s LGBT Show, and a member of the Utah Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. Today he explains the fundamentals of long-term care insurance for LGBT people, from the specifics of what a policy covers to the waiting period before coverage kicks in to the reimbursement process. Ryan addresses the best time to secure long-term care insurance for LGBT people and others, the percentage of people who qualify and a hybrid product that couples long-term care insurance with life insurance. Listen to today’s Queer Money™ to understand the benefits of having a financial advisor assist you in planning for the future, which likely includes long-term care for LGBT people if you’re LGBT - then it’s just long-term care insurance. Topics Covered about long-term care insurance for LGBT people The ABCs of LGBT Financial Based in Salt Lake City, Utah (diverse, liberal oasis) Designed as comfortable, safe space for financial planning Founded February 2016 Why Ryan created LGBT Financial ‘Natural fit’ Help from financial planner who can empathize Plan with partner/family in comfortable space The buying power of the LGBT community $971B in US alone So-called ‘pink money’ can be double-edged sword The fundamentals of long-term care insurance for LGBT people and others Typically need at end of life Covers in-home care or care in nursing facility Cost outpaces inflation LGBT couples raising children on decline Long-term care second only to taxes as wealth erosion factor in retirement Ryan’s advice around when to purchase long-term care insurance for LGBT people and others Wait too late, may be uninsurable Ideally between ages 45-55 Sooner the better (less cost, more likely to be insurable) The specifics of what long-term care insurance for LGBT people covers Activities of daily living Feed/transfer self, walk, use bathroom Dementia, Alzheimer’s In-home care, nursing home, or extended hospital stay (up to certain $ amount) The current costs of long-term care for LGBT people and others $6,000/month average cost Average claim between three and four years Some go on multiple claims in lifetime The waiting period before long-term care for LGBT people and others kicks in Depends on company, how policy structured Pay more for shorter wait period Longest is six months Most choose 60-90 days Some companies reimburse for waiting period How Medicaid fits into the picture of long-term care Use long-term care coverage first, then Medicaid spend down for eligibility Those without long-term care pay out-of-pocket until eligible for Medicaid An example of long-term care insurance premiums

Sabrina Kent, Special Asst. to the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce's President & CEO and the project director for Families Like Yours joins us to discuss how Families Like Yours came into existence and the impact it has been having on audiences not only in the U.S. but internationally as well.

On July 27, 2017 we invited some of Texas' most influential leaders to our HQ to discuss the future of corporate advocacy. This is part 2 of 2, check out the previous episode for the first half of the panel. Topics discussed: Does diversity training make a difference? Affect of Title IX beyond athletics Jerry Jones and the bathroom bill The panel was moderated by: Greg Barr, Managing Editor, Austin Business Journal Panelists include: Erik Day, Vice President & GM, North America Small Business, Dell Hugh Forrest, Chief Programming Officer, SXSW Edgar Gierbolini, President, Austin Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce Chris Plonsky, Director of Women's Athletics, University of Texas Mellie Price, Director of Diversity & Inclusion, Capital Factory Chris Wallace, President, Texas Association of Business

On July 27, 2017 we invited some of Texas' most influential leaders to our HQ to discuss the future of corporate advocacy. Our panel discusses if "diversity" is just a buzzword, and whether businesses can have a positive impact on our divisive national debate. Corporate and social responsibility, "bathroom bills," and state vs. state political warfare are discussed. Part 2 of this panel will be posted in EnviroMinded Episode 3. The panel was moderated by: Greg Barr, Managing Editor, Austin Business Journal Panelists include: Erik Day, Vice President & GM, North America Small Business, Dell Hugh Forrest, Chief Programming Officer, SXSW Edgar Gierbolini, President, Austin Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce Chris Plonsky, Director of Women's Athletics, University of Texas Mellie Price, Director of Diversity & Inclusion, Capital Factory Chris Wallace, President, Texas Association of Business

Edgar Gierbolini, President & CEO of Austin Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce joins us to discuss the LGBTQ business community, how businesses in Texas advocate, and the recent state government battle of Texas vs California.

June 11, 2017 Full Show 0:00-2:31 - Opening Chat 2:32-12:19 - Freshco's Mandy Rennehan talks tradeswomen, speaking to #LGBT entrepreneurs at the Canadian Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce Summit this month in Toronto & more 12:20-22:03 - Fashion designer Izzy Camilleri is here to help us feel beautiful on the inside with her new book 'Izzy's Eating Plan' 22:04-28:13 - Musicologist Eric Alper talks odd jobs musicians held down before they got big 28:14-34:22 - GIRL TALK Empowerment founder Katie Zeppieri recaps #GIRLTALKDay 2017 34:23 -44:04 - Boating Safety and Insurance tips with McLeish Orlando's Lindsay Charles 44:05-49:54 Toronto singer/songwriter Adam Mishan performs his debut single #Boomerang SUBSCRIBE to What She Said and watch interviews & more: http://www.youtube.com/WhatSheSaidTalk Miss a show? Stream & download full shows for free on iTunes: http://www.apple.co/1U700c0 Follow us on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram: @WhatSheSaidTalk Website: http://www.whatshesaidtalk.com What She Said! with Christine Bentley & Kate Wheeler airs Saturday and Sunday at 10-11PM ET on Jewel 88.5 Toronto. Listen LIVE on the APP: http://www.streamdb5web.securenetsystems.net/v5/CKDX

Emma Foulkes, Kyle Strahl, Bruce Logue, Tyler Ogburn Tyler Ogburn Photography and KEYLAY Design This week, co-hosts Emma Foulkes of Greenwood Wealth Management, and Bruce Logue, of Common Ground Real Estate, and members of Atlanta Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (AGLCC), were joined in the studio by Tyler Ogburn of Tyler Ogburn Photography and […] The post AGLCC Hosts Tyler Ogburn Photography and KEYLAY Design appeared first on Business RadioX ®.

After 31 years of working in the corporate America, Stan Kimer retired and started his "encore career" forming Total Engagement Consulting, a diversity and career development consultancy. In the diversity arena, Stan is conversant in all areas of diversity and inclusion, and has deep expertise in the LGBTQ marketplace and workplace. I had the pleasure of meeting Stan through the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), where we discussed many strategies to help workplaces build more inclusive and equitable cultures for LGBTQ employees, customers, and suppliers. Stan offers some excellent advice on this week's episode about building a business enterprise around your passions, skills, and your target market's needs.

Jonathan Lovitz is a Senior Vice President at the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), as well as the Director of the New York LGBT and Allied Business Network of NGLCC. I had the pleasure of connecting with Jonathan at the NGLCC leadership conference last year, and learned first hand how his work and the work of the NGLCC is helping nearly 1,000 LGBTQ-owned businesses thrive. In this special episode, Jonathan shares fresh findings from the ground breaking report, America's LGBT Economy, and offers several secrets as to why out bosses should consider getting their businesses certified with the NGLCC.

Joel Brown is the Chief Visionary Officer of Pneumos, a consulting firm that specializes in organizational sustainability, leadership development, conflict resolution, executive coaching, and cultural intelligence. I had the pleasure of meeting Joel at the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) Conference last year in Palm Springs, and learned first hand how his work is redefining the diversity & inclusion field. In this episode, Joel shares what it takes to be an authentic boss, role modeling how to create an inclusive workplace culture for his clients, and for those that work with him in his business. He also touches on how brining your whole self to work can also inspire fellow LGBTQ colleagues to stand up and be leaders in the workplace.

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS AGLCC Hosts Action Cycling Atlanta, Aniz Inc, and Pride School Atlanta We continue our series with Atlanta Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (AGLCC), with Emma Foulkes and Bruce Logue joining me as co-hosts. The focus of this week s episode centered on several non-profit organizations and the work they […] The post AGLCC Hosts Action Cycling Atlanta, Aniz Inc, and Pride School Atlanta appeared first on Business RadioX ®.

Christian Wasinger is a speaker, author, coach, and expert on the mind and how it generates the behavior patterns that lead to either success or failure. I had the pleasure of meeting Christian at the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce's conference in Palm Springs last August, and learned first hand how his business supports individuals, entrepreneurs, and other professionals in San Diego, California and beyond. In this episode, Christian shares the power of finding your “no” to make more room for your dream clients. He also touches on how being out of the closet in your business will lead to greater happiness and more rewarding work.

Christian Wasinger is a speaker, author, coach, and expert on the mind and how it generates the behavior patterns that lead to either success or failure. I had the pleasure of meeting Christian at the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce's conference in Palm Springs last August, and learned first hand how his business supports individuals, entrepreneurs, and other professionals in San Diego, California and beyond. In this episode, Christian shares the power of finding your “no” to make more room for your dream clients. He also touches on how being out of the closet in your business will lead to greater happiness and more rewarding work.

#98: Finding Your Niche & Brand in Consulting With Rhodes Perry   Jenn T Grace:              You are listening to the Personal Branding for the LGBTQ Professional Podcast, episode 98.   Introduction:              Welcome to the Personal Branding for the LGBTQ Professional Podcast; the podcast dedicated to helping LGBTQ professionals and business owners grow their business and careers through the power of leveraging their LGBTQ identities in their personal brand. You'll learn how to market your products and services both broadly, and within the LGBTQ community. You'll hear from incredible guests who are leveraging the power of their identity for good, as well as those who haven't yet started, and everyone in between. And now your host. She teaches straight people how to market to gay people, and gay people how to market themselves. Your professional lesbian, Jenn - with two N's - T Grace.   Jenn T Grace:              Hello and welcome to episode 98 of the podcast. I am your host, Jenn Grace, and as this is airing we are right around Thanksgiving time here in the US. And we're at the end of November of 2016, and I'm shocked really at how fast this year has actually flown by. I feel like the first part of the year felt kind of slow and sloggish, and now- I don't know, since September it's just really whizzing by. So I'm excited to be in episode number 98, and it has been multiple years in the making to get here, so this podcast will be turning four at the I guess beginning of January in 2017, it'll be four years that I have been doing this which seems a little bit crazy, but all good nonetheless. I have been keeping up with the promise of having interview, after interview, after interview, and today is no different. And the interview I have today for you is with Rhodes Perry of Rhodes Perry Consulting, and we had just a really kind of awesome conversation about personal branding; shocking since that is indeed the title of the podcast. It was really just kind of being an LGBT advocate, and a change maker, and a change agent, and really how that can be something that you can utilize as a benefit to yourself as you grow a business, or continue to grow your career in whatever avenue that might look like.                                     So rather than blabber on unnecessarily, I'm just going to dive right into the interview with Rhodes. I really think you're going to love it, and if you would like an introduction to him personally, feel free to reach out to me via LinkedIn, on Facebook, Twitter, go to my website, contact me however it is easiest for you to just reach out and get in touch with me. That would be awesome and I would love to put you in touch with him. So without further ado, please enjoy this interview.                                     Okay so let's just start off with telling the listeners just a little bit about who you are, what you do, how you came to be in your business as it looks today.   Rhodes Perry:             Sure. So my name is Rhodes Perry and I'm an LGBT strategy assistance guru. Basically what that means is I'm a management consultant, coach and speaker, and I work largely with clients who are in executive, HR, or diversity positions. And I really help clients transform their organizations into ones where LGBTQ people know that they're valued, and they know that they belong in the workplace. And I work all across the country, most of my clients are based in New York City. I'm actually living on the west coast so I also have a number of clients in the Bay area. And I've been fortunate, and much of the work that I do is informed by my time working in the LGBTQ movement as an advocate and building alliances with other social justice leaders. And I center a lot of that work around improving the lives for LGBTQ people and really focusing on raising awareness around the specific needs of transgender and gender nonconforming people, and as an advocate I help secure a number of victories, most importantly allowing same sex couples to marry. I also helped increase the number of states that prohibit LGBT workplace discrimination. And one thing that I'm really, really proud of during my time in the LGBT movement was starting the conversations with the Department of Education and protecting transgender and gender nonconforming students, which now if your listeners are aware of, there's federal guidance that basically mandates that most schools- schools receiving public dollars protect transgender and gender nonconforming students while there's a number of states that are putting forth lawsuits to protest that. And that work really inspired me to take the jump to work for government in an executive type position to take policies that have been passed at the state and local level, and take a look at them and implement them. So I had the opportunity most recently to work for New York City. I helped the systems that focus on foster care and juvenile justice look at these policies and from soup to nuts really take the spirit of these policies and develop a plan to basically implement them, to bring them into life, and to really make sure that staff are set up for success in understanding how to respect their LGBTQ peers as employees, but also to deliver services that are respectful for LGBTQ people that are dependent on them. So that's just a little bit about kind of my background and how it led me to recognize that there's a huge need for supporting many of these systems that aren't necessarily Fortune 500 companies which are absolutely ahead of the curve, at least in terms of developing policies and having staff to drive and implement them. But in smaller businesses, a lot of startups, and especially in government settings there's- I would say that actually looking at policies but in particular laws in states that mandate protecting LGBTQ, both employees and then folks dependent on receiving government services. There's not a lot guidance and there's definitely not a lot of support in making sure that these systems are compliant with the law. And so my business really helps fill in these gaps, and it's a lot of fun to really inspire people that want to do the right thing, just aren't sure where to start. I'm getting them started but also making sure that these policies are being implemented and sustainable over the long term.   Jenn T Grace:              Okay I feel like you've said so much already, so in thinking about you as just kind of an individual contributor in so many ways to policy and advocacy, and just kind of your career, and now founding your business; do you think that some people are naturally born to play an advocacy type of role? Or do you think that it's something that you have to consciously recognize of 'this is something that I really want to pursue and I'm going to kind of dedicate myself to doing it.' Because I think that there might be a couple of schools of thought to that, so I'm just curious how your path kind of came about to recognizing that your voice is really an important voice to be heard to eventually get to the place now where you're kind of filling those gaps in the marketplace.   Rhodes Perry:             Yeah, I think that's a great question, and I don't know if it's being an advocate or just a change maker. Maybe those are one in the same, but really I think when I look back on my career, most of my work has been entrepreneurial in nature, and that seems to have been coupled with being an advocate, and just trying to- whether it was working for government and trying to improve either employees treating each other with respect, and letting each other know that they value one another, or looking at the service delivery side of things and just kind of saying, 'We could be doing better, especially when looking at serving LGBTQ populations.' I see a lot of opportunities. In the past I certainly tried to take advantage of those opportunities and help those systems. But I think part of myself is identifying as an advocate absolutely, but looking at my business now it's really taking some of those skills and thinking about people that want to do the right thing, they want to be able to retain discerning LGBTQ talent, they want to be able to develop products that will appeal to LGBTQ markets. It's looking at those folks who definitely want to be identifying as- or they don't identify as an advocate most likely, they definitely don't want to be seen as pushing an agenda, but they need help in making a business case, or they know it's the right thing to do and they need some support around how to approach their leadership to get buy-in and to both do the right thing, but also to help their businesses out in performing better and having a competitive edge. And so I don't know if that answered your question necessarily but that's kind of how I see my role right now, is that I absolutely gained some skills as an advocate and I'm trying to translate those for businesses that are interested in having that competitive edge.   Jenn T Grace:              And from a personal brand standpoint- so many of the things that you were talking about in your kind of opening introduction of who you are in terms of different types of- whether it's the Department of Education, or whether it's working with the city of New York, or wherever it might be; in those settings you were still yourself, right? So you're still Rhodes Perry and people know you as your name. Did you consciously think about the advocacy work or change making work, however we're calling it because I think it is all kind of the same as you alluded to, did you look at that as you were doing those individual things in thinking about like, 'Okay here's just another kind of notch in my belt of things that I can do and things that make me a strong leader and a strong thought leader in this particular space.' And then as you kind of created your company, and calling it Rhodes Perry Consulting, obviously you're putting a big stake in the ground of this consulting is based on you as an individual. Was that kind of a conscious thought process? Did you model it after others that you kind of saw in the marketplace? What was just kind of going through your mind? And the reason why I'm asking is just thinking about people who might be in similar situations right now where they're thinking, 'Really this whole personal branding thing here, there's something to it and I should probably be pursuing this.' And I'm just trying to give them some guidance from people like yourself who've already done it.   Rhodes Perry:             Yeah I think that that's a great question. I think that why I chose my business name to be my name in terms of personal branding is so much of my past work has been about building relationships, building coalition, and building trust. And I think that my work in the past speaks for itself, and the folks that I had the pleasure of working with really benefited from what they learned. In starting my business many of my clients are those folks that I have worked with in the past, and so that's just a huge benefit for me. Also as I was making the jump I knew I wanted to focus in on equity in diversity and inclusion work, and I wasn't quite sure that time- how that could continue to evolve. In just this past week I had my first business anniversary so I've been in business for a year, and even over that period of time a lot of things have changed, but my name and my brand have absolutely attracted my dream clients I guess to work with who were specifically looking for support on doing the right thing, and either wanting to develop a policy, more taking a policy and actually implementing it and sustaining it over time, that that's really where I see a niche in providing this kind of mentorship, and accountability even more so than delivering skills. Because a lot of the folks that I do work with I've known for some time, they have the skills to do this work, they really need that kind of support and role modeling, but especially just kind of knowing the work that they need to do, but basically being held accountable, and having those kind of frequent check-ins. So I think that [Inaudible 00:12:00] thinking about maybe starting their own businesses, I think it's always good to- if you're not sure on a killer name that will be super clear on what you do, starting out with your own name and you can always kind of build off and build a 'doing business as' name later on down the road when things become a little bit more clear with who your niche market is, and what specifically you are doing.   Jenn T Grace:              And your website URL is Rhodes Perry, so I think that there's a lot to be said about just having your name rather than having the consulting on it because if at any point in time you chose to pivot and go in a different direction, then the URL always remains the same, and for the most part our names don't change. For the most part.   Rhodes Perry:             Right, for the most part.   Jenn T Grace:              Of course there's exceptions.   Rhodes Perry:             For your viewers, I am transgender and that's something that I talk about openly with my clients because a lot of the work that we're focusing on right now is how to support transgender and gender diverse employees, or people that businesses might be serving. So that's something that I am open about, and so I have changed my name, but that was a long time ago. But yes, there are times where if you are someone who's transitioning, or maybe you're thinking about getting married, maybe before you buy your URL, if you are planning to change your name, maybe hold off on that before you do.   Jenn T Grace:              I ended up buying all- everything I could before I got married, and thought that I was going to change my name, and then I was like I wasn't sure, and then I was going to hyphenate, so I ended up with probably 25 URLs that all cost like $10 a piece, and then eventually over time I'm like, 'Alright I'm just going to stick with the one.' And then just as a random side note is that the reason why it's just not www.JennGrace.com is because there's a photographer I believe who has that- or a videographer who has that already. So I was like, 'Well I'm just going to have to put the T in there reluctantly.' But it is what it is and at least I know that I'm not changing my name anytime soon so it does allow for that kind of pivot as we were talking about, because you never know- especially as entrepreneurs and I think as the landscape- especially as it relates to LGBTQ, the landscape is always changing, and we really have no idea what- we could predict, but we really have no idea what's on the horizon and how that is going to impact what type of consulting we're doing, or coaching, or what topics we're speaking on, and I think that that's kind of a- to some degree a fool proof way of just kind of protecting your brand over the long haul.   Rhodes Perry:             Absolutely.   Jenn T Grace:              So in looking at just kind of the many facets of what you're doing. I was poking around on your website before, and I'm curious on a couple of things. Like the first thing I'm thinking of is how people find you, and then recognize that they need your help, especially as like the individual change maker. Because there are opportunities- like you were saying, the Fortune companies are definitely ahead of the game in so many ways, but at the same time they're so not ahead of anything in terms of just- kind of like the changing landscape of business. So it takes- they're like moving a Titanic versus I think entrepreneurship where you're kind of navigating a speed boat on a day-to-day basis. But how do you get in front of those individual people who really need your help, and they're really going to be that internal champion, and that internal voice that's really going to make change in their respective industry, or organization, or wherever it happens to be?   Rhodes Perry:             I think that that's a great question. A few ways. One, I've been fortunate, as I had mentioned just having a lot of rich relationships from previous jobs. So many of my clients come to me word of mouth, and looking at business models over the long term I'm looking at other ways to market as well. So I also get a lot of referrals through online advertising. I do basic Google Ads. But one of the main ways of actually reaching out to newer audiences is locally I go to a number of different chamber of commerces in the Portland metro area, and also in Seattle just to build my network here because I recently moved from New York City out to Portland as I was starting my business. And so that's a really important way of just connecting with a number of businesses, but especially smaller businesses that haven't necessarily been thinking about the culture of their organization, or just want to be more competitive in reaching out to discerning diversity candidates proudly. So those are some of the ways that I get my name out there. Also through collaboration. I've been working with a number of other diversity and inclusion leaders here in the Portland area, and just looking at different projects where we can collaborate. By doing that I've had the opportunity of establishing newer relationships, both with the county and city government here, but also with a number of larger businesses in the area. So that's been helpful. But I do work across the country, so I try as often as possible to go to conferences, and when there's an opportunity to speak just to share a little bit more about the work that I do. So those are just some of the few ways that I try to get out there.   Jenn T Grace:              Yeah and so I feel like on your website you have supplier diversity highlighted as something that you are educating around and helping people with. It is something that I have certainly brought up many, many, many times in the past on this podcast, but never- maybe actually it was probably episode six or something, and we're on- I think this is episode 98 probably. So it was a long time ago.   Rhodes Perry:             Congratulations.   Jenn T Grace:              Thank you, it's been many years in the making. But one of the things that I feel like is a missed opportunity, and I'm sure from a supplier diversity standpoint you might be coming from a different direction, but as a diverse supplier yourself. Somebody listening to this, who the majority of listeners are part of the LGBTQ community in some form or another, what are they missing by not really kind of having an understanding of what supplier diversity is, and what that can mean to them as a business, but also for just kind of the community at large?   Rhodes Perry:             Yeah I think- well one was supplier diversity, and one of the things that I do is educate my clients that I work with. So- and this is especially important for some of the county and local governments that I work with. So when folks are wanting to implement LGBT specific policies, they want to provide better services, one of the first questions that I ask is looking at contracts that they issue to diversity suppliers. So woman owned businesses, minority owned businesses, and sure enough with most government agencies they have set asides for those diverse suppliers. And so one of my first questions that I ask is encouraging them- well one, asking them if they know about the NGLCC, the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce certification that certifies LGBT owned businesses, and almost 100% of the time most people aren't aware of that, most of my clients are not aware of that certification so I do a little bit of education around that. And then I've had success in New York with some of the agencies there of doing set asides for LGBT certified businesses. So there's education happening on that side with my clients, I also work volunteering for the chamber of commerce here, and just supporting some of the LGBT certified businesses, and those businesses that are owned by LGBT people but aren't yet certified. And I explain a little bit about the work that I do largely with local and county government agencies around encouraging them to do these kind of set asides, also letting them know that many Fortune 500 companies have diverse supplier offices, staff that are looking specifically for LGBT owned businesses for a wide variety of services. Everything from printing, to professional services like I do, and just letting them know that one, the NGLCC is a great resource. They offer certification, they provide a ton of information to help you grow a business that's thriving, and I think with that- I've at least encouraged a few to go through the certification process because it does give LGBT owned businesses a competitive advantage, and if you're lucky enough to live in a state like Massachusetts and you do contracting work with state, there are set asides for those LGBT owned businesses, and I think that that's a trend thanks to the great work that the NGLCC is doing that I think more and more states will be trying to either pass executive orders through the governor's office, or legislation to actually provide the economic opportunities for LGBT owned businesses, which historically have been disadvantaged because of discrimination. So maybe that's a little bit more than you wanted, but I know that you talk about this a lot. So did that answer your question?   Jenn T Grace:              Yeah, yeah and it kind of leads into my next question a little bit. So we met through a mutual friend, and Jill Nelson has been a guest on this show as well, and I don't remember it but I will put it in the show notes of what episode that actually was. But we met at the NGLCC national conference in Palm Springs just a couple months ago, and one of the things that I wonder from your perspective is being an LGBT certified business, there's a lot of advantages to that from a business development standpoint. But in your perspective, how or how not do you feel like it maybe it is helping or not, just from a personal branding standpoint to be able to say that you are a- because you can say that you're an LGBTQ owned business, and that's got its benefits in and of itself for people who want to work within the community, but having that additional credibility of saying that you are a certified LGBTQ owned business. Where or how are you kind of using that, leveraging it? Is it part of your kind of daily conversation with people? I know that you're part of the local chamber so that kind of adds like another element to it. But just from a branding standpoint is it helping you in terms of attracting the right type of clients?   Rhodes Perry:             Yes, I think for the nature of the work that I do it absolutely helps me, it brings more credibility to the work that I do, it opens up a number of new doors that I wouldn't necessarily have had access to. Because of the work that the NGLCC is doing and continues to do, they're really expanding their reach, and I think for corporations that are aware of the certification, and for some of the government agencies that I work with, they're becoming more aware of it, maybe more because I'm constantly talking about it. But it is helpful. I would say though that if I were in a different industry- I grew up in the state of Florida, so if I was in a different industry and I still lived in the state of Florida, I think that there's still a long way to go. One in having this be an advantage, because stigma and discrimination still exist, there's a lot of education that professionals like myself have to continue doing to break down some of those barriers. And so I'm aware and I'm conscious that it's not always an advantage for every business owner, and that there could be challenges with that. One of the things that did give me hope and inspiration though is that when we were at the conference in Palm Springs, which was wonderful and it was great meeting you there, is- and I can't remember the business owners' names, but they are from Georgia and they were honored- I think they were the premier business at the conference, they're a pet store, right? And so they're in Georgia which as a state- it's a state that lacks a number of protections for LGBT folks. They're very out about who they are, it's a gay couple, and they're having a really positive and profound impact on the community just for holding that space, and they give back to the community, I think that they give back to a youth LGBT youth center there. So I digress a little bit but I do think that even when you are in a state or even a region of the country that might not be so LGBTQ friendly, there's still a power to certification, and being an LGBT owned business, and showing the possibilities for other emerging LGBT entrepreneurs that being out can be an advantage, and that there's strength in numbers. So I'm a huge proponent of the certification, but I do recognize that there can be or still are limitations to it as well.   Jenn T Grace:              Yeah, absolutely. So I was looking it up while you were talking, it's Tailspin and they are in Savannah, so they're even in a more conservative area than maybe Atlanta would be. So yeah, and they were awarded an SBA award for like the best small business owner or something like that. So I think that you bring up a good point of depending on where we are geographically. So I'm in a really progressive state being in Connecticut, you're in a complete- especially going from like New York to Portland, I feel like there's so much differences even though New York is fairly progressive I would say. But how do we make it attainable? Because I have listeners in all fifty states, I have listeners in many different countries; how do we make it something that feels attainable to the person who might be in Savannah, or might be in Little Rock, who maybe they feel like they're alone, or they don't have a chamber of commerce that's really kind of focused on business impact, but maybe they have a pride center that they can go and be involved in. Is there something that you would say as kind of a natural step that they could take to just kind of finding their community of people that are looking to build companies and businesses even if that formal structure doesn't exist?   Rhodes Perry:             Yeah I think that that's a great question, and the first thing that came to mind is an online organization. Though they are based in San Francisco you probably know of them StartOut. So they provide- they're in the process of launching a virtual space for LGBT entrepreneurs to connect, and that certainly isn't a silver bullet in solving the kind of actual face-to-face connections that folks in certain parts of the country may be desiring just because they feel isolated. But I do think that at least online it's an excellent resource to start and just kind of building connection, talking about some of the challenges that they may be experiencing because of where they live. And chances are they may be- I grew up in Palm Bay, Florida so they can be in Palm Bay, Florida and maybe they're connecting with someone in Missoula, Montana which is actually a pretty progressive place. But they're able to span the distance and just have the commonalities of talking about some of the challenges of being in a less progressive part of the country, and kind of weighing the benefits and the costs of whether it's getting certified as an LGBT owned business, or if they're providing a service, and it's a place where people are actually going to a physical brick and mortar location, do you put a rainbow flag on the front of your door? These are things that I think as LGBT owned business owners we have to consider, but I do think StartOut is a good place to start.   Jenn T Grace:              Yeah I feel like that's definitely some good feedback and tips there. So going back to kind of looking at the national landscape, since you do have experience kind of looking from a very high top down level, from a national perspective, in looking at the different fights for equality that are occurring kind of all over the place, I do find it shocking especially when I run into an LGBT person who isn't aware of just the level of discrimination that's just completely justified and fine by people in terms of workplace discriminations. So if we look at different states and different cities even within states. So you have Massachusetts where they're including LGBT suppliers in government contracting, which is the only state still, right? I think they're working on it in New York but it's not there yet. So that's happening in Massachusetts but then meanwhile you hear from people in Nashville who are still being fired because they came out, and this is somebody that I absolutely should have her on the show at some point, Lisa Howe who received an award at the NGLCC conference in August, and was commenting on how the second she came out after being an NCAA coach for like sixteen years, they fired her promptly thereafter. So- and that wasn't that long ago, that was only a couple of years ago. So if we're looking at the differences in each individual state, if somebody's just trying to figure out how can I make a name for myself because they want to grow their personal brand, they want to maybe establish a business, and make that kind of natural leap that seems very natural that you made in terms of like doing all this great work in different types of pockets and then you kind of created a company around it. Is there any kind of words of wisdom that you can provide them that would vary because if you're in California the fight there is way different than Tennessee versus Connecticut. Like I think of Connecticut being the second state with marriage equality in 2008, and I remember going to NGLCC conferences in 2009 and 2010 and talking to people who were in far less progressive areas thinking, 'Marriage equality is so not even on our radar. We are focused on economic opportunities because we don't have to focus on our basic rights to get married.' So what might be just a- I don't know, some advice or something that you might have learned along the way to kind of provide inspiration to people regardless of where in the US that they might fall, and how non-progressive or progressive that area might be.   Rhodes Perry:             Yeah I think that if folks are interested in starting a business, if they have the entrepreneurial spirit and they're LGBT, absolutely look into it and take action because by simply holding space, by creating your own business, you are creating economic opportunities for many people, and especially our own communities, our own LGBTQ communities. And I think that so many of us have had experiences of discrimination, or at least perhaps being treated differently as employees in the workplace, and knowing that if we had the opportunity of having our own businesses, or when we are creating our own businesses, or even for many of your listeners in our own businesses, that we have values that are embracing a spirit where we want everyone to bring their whole selves to work. And I think that because of the economic disparities that still exist for LGBTQ communities, one of the most powerful things we can do is if we have the ability to start our own businesses, and prioritize looking at folks within our own LGBTQ communities who have historically been disadvantaged and trying to prioritize ways of bringing job opportunities to folks in our own communities. I just think it's a real game changer for us to look at this aspect of the next era of the LGBT movement, and I think entrepreneurship should be a part of it. In my past I worked with a lot of LGBTQ youth, and so many young people that I had the pleasure of working with are entrepreneurial in spirit. Every day is a day of surviving and just to- we prioritize ways of translating those skills into skills where young people can at one point be their own bosses, I mean again I just think it's a real game changer and we should be examining aggressively ways to add this as a part of the work that the LGBT movement continues to do for the next era. Because I think just looking back over the past twenty years we have as a movement accomplished so much and so quickly, and yet I still look at the work that so many national and state and local LGBT groups are doing, and it's almost as looking at the young people who are protesting and resisting police at Stonewall, so many of those challenges still exist today when you look at family acceptance, or just trying to get an education in school, and dealing with things around bullying. We still have a long way to go and I think that the work that we do as business owners can help absolutely extend economic opportunities to more folks within the LGBT community.   Jenn T Grace:              So in looking at kind of a what's next, or what's on the horizon for you personally and for your business, like especially since you're just celebrating your first year which is so exciting. If you looked at what you were expecting to accomplish in your first year versus what you did accomplish and what you hope to accomplish in the next couple of years, how does that all kind of line up with what your vision was when you set out to do this?   Rhodes Perry:             Yeah I surprised myself in the first year. I've met many of my goals in terms of working with a number of clients that I didn't imagine working with, at least in my first year. So I'm happy with that. I really do over the next few years want to pivot more into offering services online, and so I'm starting to do that now with webinars, and I'm looking at next year having more of a master class available for executive HR diversity professionals that are doing the work but need additional support. And so I'm just looking at ways right now of creating more virtual communities, and I'm most excited about that just because there's only one of me and there's only so many hours of the day that I can make available for clients, and so I think this is another opportunity of just expanding my platform and really helping those folks that they already understand the importance of doing this work and they need that additional support. So I think that that's going to be- at least for my business, a real game changer and so I'm excited about that. And I also think making more time in my schedule to speak and go out to a number of different communities, especially- I'm really excited about going to more colleges and universities over the next year and talking more about entrepreneurship for LGBTQ folks, and I'm very, very excited about that.   Jenn T Grace:              That's awesome. I feel like the sky is the limit. I would love for you to reference back to this a year from now. Like throw it on your calendar and say a year from now to come back and listen to this, because my question is what do you perceive- and I don't want to deflate us at all, but in thinking about all of what you're setting out to accomplish, and I think that this is a question that the listeners are interested in, is what do you see as the potential kind of big hurdle, or some kind of road block that you feel like there's a chance that you're going to have to overcome in order to get to that next stage of what you're hoping to accomplish? Because I would imagine that there's probably a lot of similarity with what you think yours is and those who are listening. It makes us all human.   Rhodes Perry:             Yeah I think that a road block for me is I get excited by all of the opportunities, and I think as entrepreneurs we want to do all of the things all of the time. And so one just for me is finding my 'no' when it could be working with another great client, but to build in the time to- like I said, like really trying to expand more of my virtual presence. That takes time on the front end to do that, and so I think the biggest challenge is to kind of build in the time where I could be working with more clients right now doing that one-on-one engagement, but trying to just find my 'no' sometimes so that I can have that space to imagine and dream how to grow my business in a way that can help more people. And I think that having talked with other entrepreneurs early on in the journey, I know that that's a challenge for many of us, and so maybe offline we can talk more about how you kind of navigated that as well, because I know that you're doing such awesome work for so many folks trying to do a better job with marketing to LGBT people, and so I would love to chat with you about that.   Jenn T Grace:              Yeah I feel like it's an ever evolving thing that everyone goes through, and if I look at- go back and listen to the first episode of this podcast which was in January of 2013 I think, it is a very, very different animal. And they're all available for people to listen to and laugh because it just takes time to kind of refine your message, and really I think learning to say no is probably one of the hardest things, especially as very stereotypically ADHD type of entrepreneurs where we're all chasing shiny objects every day, and especially when we're all coming from a place of truly trying to serve and really trying to help as many people as we can. I think that's where it becomes difficult to say no, because if you're looking at it from a purely dollars and cents standpoint of 'I have a threshold that I need to make $10,000 to go speak here, and if they don't meet it, then I don't do it.' That is not how at least the people that are on my show, and myself included, that's not how we operate. It's a matter of like, 'How can we accommodate? How can we make sure they still hear our message? How can we-' and then it just- it's a struggle and I think that we all kind of go through it even if it does look more polished on the outside. I think most of us are still kind of struggling with that day-to-day behind the scenes. At least for me anyway.   Rhodes Perry:             Yeah absolutely.   Jenn T Grace:              Yeah and I think the audience kind of needs to hear these things and just kind of hear of the struggles that lie ahead as they're kind of figuring out what their voice is, and what platform they should be on, and how they should go about growing their personal brand because I think that personal branding, it's been around forever, but I feel like it just becomes more and more important in this day in age, even more so as an LGBTQ person because there's so much more at stake, and I think that all of us whether we want to or not, we're all kind of representing the community in our way. So if you do something stupid, or I do something stupid, suddenly it's the LGBTQ community that's stupid because of something ridiculous that you or I may have done. Even though that is so not what it should be, ultimately unfortunately that is just kind of the reality of it. So we all kind of have to navigate that tricky landscape as well.   Rhodes Perry:             Right, absolutely.   Jenn T Grace:              Oh good stuff. So if you could go back in time and maybe give yourself one piece of advice. Not necessarily the audience as a whole, but just really thinking of yourself. Is there kind of something that you would say or do that you think might have shortcutted some of the challenges that you've unnecessarily faced?   Rhodes Perry:             Yeah I think absolutely for me is- for my younger self to trust myself, to trust my entrepreneurial spirit. In looking back I'm glad that I had all of the experiences that I had leading up to the point of starting my own business, I think if I trusted myself and knew what was on the other side of having my own business, I probably would have done it maybe ten years earlier. You know? And it was really a fear of what the 'no' was, and I think going to college kind of slowed down the process of having my own business, because I actually- I had my own business before I went off to college, and then it just was the programming of getting a good job, and contributing to the workforce, and I didn't realize that I could be doing that as a business owner. So I don't know if that resonates with any of your listeners, but I definitely- I think for myself could have used that kind of pep talk maybe a decade ago.   Jenn T Grace:              Yeah I would imagine that hits home for many people.   Rhodes Perry:             Yeah.   Jenn T Grace:              So in kind of parting here, anything that you would like to share in terms of how people can get in touch with you, how they might work with you, just kind of any number of ways just to make sure that we get a good kind of plug here for people to contact you.   Rhodes Perry:             Yeah thank you. Well my website is www.RhodesPerry.com so there's the personal branding there. And on December 1st I'm offering a webinar for my target audience which is executive HR and diversity professionals on setting vision for- a diversity and inclusion vision that's inclusive of LGBT employees and folks that are served by businesses or government agencies. So that's December 1st and if you go to my website, on my blog there's more information on how to register for that, and you can also just contact me at Rhodes@rhodesperry.com and I can share more information that way. And I also offer a free quarterly newsletter that just kind of keeps people in the know of what I'm up to, I offer a ton of free information there on just strategies on how to engage LGBT employees, how to develop an LGBT policy, how to sustain change over time; all of that stuff is included in my quarterly newsletters. And I just love to hear from folks, so if people have questions I'm available to just provide value and help people kind of get started on that path of building more inclusive workplaces.   Jenn T Grace:              That is awesome. And so for anyone listening, this is episode 98. I'm pretty sure I screwed it up earlier when we were talking, so you can go to the website at www.JennTGrace.com/98 and that will get you a transcript for today's interview, and then all of the links that Rhodes was just talking about. And I feel like it might be important to note that Rhodes is spelled R-H-O-D-E-S, not like Roads like a road. Just because I feel like- I want to make sure it's clear and people can find you, so that's good. Awesome.   Rhodes Perry:             Thank you so much, thank you for having me on the show.   Jenn T Grace:              You are very welcome, it was a pleasure chatting with you. Thank you for listening to today's podcast. If there are any links from today's show that you are interested in finding, save yourself a step and head on over to www.JennTGrace.com/thepodcast. And there you will find a backlog of all of the past podcast episodes including transcripts, links to articles, reviews, books, you name it. It is all there on the website for your convenience. Additionally if you would like to get in touch with me for any reason, you can head on over to the website and click the contact form, send me a message, you can find me on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter all at JennTGrace. And as always I really appreciate you as a listener, and I highly encourage you to reach out to me whenever you can. Have a great one, and I will talk to you in the next episode.

Jonathan D. Lovitz, Sr. Vice President at The National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) says: “YES!” Jonathan joins The Focus Group to talk about the massive policy victories that have occurred in 2016 for LGBT business owners and he reiterates the importance of being an LGBT Certified Business through the NGLCC. But first, meet Jack Ryan, the inventor of the Barbie Doll, Hot Wheels, Chatty Cathy and Zsa Zsa’s 6th Husband. It’s Ok to eat the egg yolk, Happy Business Birthday to Charles Walgreen III, and now you can feel really old—Madonna’s Like a Virgin Album was released 32 years ago today! Tim and John share their views of the election and the importance of moving forward with eyes wide open. We’re all business. Except when we’re not. Hear this show, and others, at www.focusgroupradio.com and please subscribe, like, and rate The Focus Group on all your platforms of choice. iTunes: apple.co/1WwDBrC Tunein: bit.ly/1SE3NMb Stitcher: bit.ly/1N97Zqu Google Play: bit.ly/1pQTcVW YouTube: bit.ly/1spAF5a Also follow Tim and John on: Facebook: www.facebook.com/focusgroupradio Twitter: www.twitter.com/focusgroupradio Instagram: www.instagram.com/focusgroupradio

AGLCC Procurement Spotlight On July’s episode of Midtown Business Radio with Atlanta Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (AGLCC) co-hosts, Emma Foulkes, of Foulkes & Steele Wealth Management, and Bruce Logue, of Corbell Group–Keller Williams, hosted Sandy Mollett, of First Data, Dan Dunlop, of Dunlop Productions, and former AGLCC President, Sheila Merritt. One of the […] The post AGLCC Procurement Spotlight appeared first on Business RadioX ®.

#86 - Insider PR Tips with Communications Expert, Jonathan Lovitz [Podcast] Jenn T Grace:              You are listening to the Personal Branding for the LGBTQ Professional Podcast, episode 86.   Introduction:              Welcome to the Personal Branding for the LGBTQ Professional Podcast; the podcast dedicated to helping LGBTQ professionals and business owners grow their business and careers through the power of leveraging their LGBTQ identities in their personal brand. You'll learn how to market your products and services both broadly, and within the LGBTQ community. You'll hear from incredible guests who are leveraging the power of their identity for good, as well as those who haven't yet started, and everyone in between. And now your host. She teaches straight people how to market to gay people, and gay people how to market themselves. Your professional lesbian, Jenn - with two N's - T Grace.   Jenn T Grace:              Well hello and welcome to episode 86 of the podcast. I am your host, Jenn (with two N's) T. Grace, and today I have another interview for you. So fortunately in the last episode, episode 85, we had a phenomenal interview with Jacob Tobia who taught us about all things genderqueer, nonbinary, non gender conforming, all kinds of just great information. So that was an awesome interview, but today I have an equally as awesome interview with Jonathan Lovitz who is the VP of External Affairs for the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. If you are a long time listener of this podcast you will know that there's certainly a theme with having a lot of folks from the NGLCC on this show. Today's interview is just fantastic because Jonathan's background is in communications and he has a ton of knowledge around personal branding. So for those of you who are listening to try to figure out how to improve, or start, or amplify your personal brand, the content that we talk about in this episode is just straight up tactical, as well as just really informative to be honest. So I'm so excited to bring today's interview with Jonathan Lovitz, and he has a lot of different ways to get in touch with him, but if you go to www.JonathanDLovitz.com, that's his personal page. And yeah I'm so excited about this interview so if you have any questions for me as a result of listening to this episode, or if you have any for him feel free to hit us up on pretty much any of the social media outlets. If you are interested in hearing more about what we talked, or looking for the links from today's episode, if you go to www.JennTGrace.com/86 for episode 86, that will give you a page with the transcript of the interview, as well as links mentioned in today's show. So without further ado, please enjoy this interview with Jonathan Lovitz.                                     So let's start off with having you just tell the audience and the listeners a little bit about yourself, and your background, and how you became to be doing what you're doing right now.   Jonathan Lovitz:         Sure, well hi Jenn, and to all your listeners. I'm thrilled to be here. I'm a big fan of your work, and of your podcast, and the incredible energy you put out in the community, and really exciting to be here with you.   Jenn T Grace:              Thank you.   Jonathan Lovitz:         So I'm Jonathan Lovitz and my official title is Vice President of External Affairs of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, which is based in Washington, but I live in New York City where I'm also the Director of our NGLCC NY affiliate because I'm a masochist. This organization is fantastic as you know, we reach every corner of the country and work with every conceivable type of LGBT and allied business, and I've known them for years. I now- actually next week celebrating one year with the organization after being a friend of NGLCC for at least the last five. My career got started in New York in a sort of bizarre twist. In my undergraduate I did what all the cool gay kids were doing and I majored in musical theatre, and also because I was a big nerd I got a dual degree in communications focusing on politics. And I'm also one of those really rare people that managed to get the job and feeder first. I graduated college and immediately booked a Broadway show that went on tour, and I went around the country for two years, and then settled in New York, and did some more theatre here, and eventually some TV work. And during that time I got picked up by LOGO, you might remember is an MTV network, it's for the LGBT community, and once upon a time it had gay news on Sundays, and I used to help anchor and do some reporting on the gay news, and then some other man on the street interview programs about LGBT issues, and that sort of thrust me into being a sort of professional homosexual in a really positive way. I would asked to come be a spokesperson at a fundraiser for great people like GLAAD, and Human Rights Campaign, and the Trevor Project, and what started off as a one month contract became a three month contract, then a nine month contract, and before I knew it, I was doing far more LGBT community engagement policy work than I was performing, and yet I never would have been able to do any of it if I hadn't been a performer first. The amount of times they threw me up in front of a teleprompter in front of a thousand people and said, "Go, raise us some money," I never would have been able to do it had I not been trained as a performer for almost a decade. And then they found out, "Oh you've also got this background in policy, and you love to write, and you want to talk about these issues to a much broader policy based audience," that's how things really get to flip into this full time professional work in advocacy, and communications, and awareness raising for LGBT issues, particularly around economics. I found it really fascinating when I would attend some of these conferences out on the street, and the NGLCC conference which I went to originally as a guest because at the time, LOGO I was hosting a dinner, and doing a live auction, sort of using the public persona to get my foot in the door. And I was really floored by the work that LGBT businesses and all the corporations were doing around the world to create equity for a community that was doing just fine building equality for themselves, and I thought that that notion was really powerful. So I was really, really thrilled when the first time I was asked to join StartOut, another LGBT organization that helps bring funding, and advice, and mentorship to brand new LGBT companies. I started off as their Communications Director, and shortly thereafter became their interim Executive Director and helped run the ship for a while. And that set me up well with all the skills that I needed to quickly learn about management, and organizational structure, and policy work that set me up well when the NGLCC came to me and said, "We'd like to build a position for you." They'd never really had a VP of External Affairs, and I think what I love most about my job is something that would probably kill most other people, that there are really no bullets underneath my title. It's a really big net that includes everything from public policy, to PR and communications, to affiliate affairs, and to engagement with the community of doing great public work like this, talking to you and your listeners about all the great ways to get involved in the community both personally and professionally. So it has been a wonderful, incredible, organic, and sometimes mind blown journey that's gotten me to where I am today, and I still can't believe I'm here this young, and it's incredible, I love every second of it. I'm really excited for everything that seems to be coming up next.   Jenn T Grace:              Yeah, and it's so awesome to be so young in so many ways, and to have made such a mark already because you still have your entire career ahead of you. So I feel like that's so exciting just to see what is on the horizon, especially given our political landscape these days, and all the things that are changing so rapidly, and sometimes for the positive, other times not so much, as we're experiencing right now, but I think that it seriously feels like the sky's the limit. I don't know if that's your impression these days.   Jonathan Lovitz:         It certainly does, and I'm actually floored, and it seems like every month something is happening where I'll speak to my mother and I'll just drop in, "Oh by the way I'm going to this meeting with so-and-so." "Wait, do you realize what you just said? You're my son that used to sing and dance, and now you're going to meetings at the White House, and making plans at the UN?" I don't entirely understand how it's all happening, but it is very much a powerful gesture and point of pride in my life that I've ended up here. I look at what I've gotten to do, and all the things that seem to be coming when people are asked to be a public servant. The work chose me, I never really sought out this career path, but when the opportunities came to speak for the community, and get involved, and raise awareness for all these issues, and still fulfill everything that I had always wanted to do about being in the public eye for things that I care about; it's really incredible that these opportunities have come my way. I'm so thankful for them, and now I'm really fortunate to be in the position to help others grow their own opportunities, and that's even more special.   Jenn T Grace:              Yeah it's interesting that you say that the work chose you. I find that that seems to be the case for a lot of people, myself included, where I remember when I first got involved which was back in 2006 - 2007, I didn't even know what a chamber of commerce was at that time. So and then fast forward, we all know the history. It's just insane sometimes when you're like, 'Okay I would never have predicted that this is where my life would end up,' but you know that you're there for a reason, and sometimes you have to shake yourself at the fact that, 'Oh yeah I have been in the White House.' Like it's not something that everybody gets to experience, and yet you're there on a pretty regular basis.   Jonathan Lovitz:         Absolutely. And a great Mark Twain quote; there are two days that stand out in your life, the day you're born and the day you realize why. And it's nice to know that it doesn't have to just be limited to one day of realization. I feel like every day helps us understand why, and a lot of it is the people, getting to know you, Jenn, and the people I get to know through this incredible network reminds me every day that we're all doing something bigger than ourselves, and that's really powerful, and it's something very exciting to know that everything we do has an impact on others, even when we don't realize it.   Jenn T Grace:              Yeah, absolutely. And so the podcast here is around personal branding, and I truly feel like you've done such an awesome job at personal branding from just kind of a big picture level, whether you were intentionally doing that or not. But we just saw each other in- I want to say it was the end of March, I don't even know, in Boston. And we- if you remember when we were sitting around I think having dinner, and you had said- you made some statement about pitching to the media, and just basically writing what you want to be written. Can you talk about that a little bit? Because I feel like that is such- and I don't know why, that was not my plan to discuss with you today, but it just popped in my head. Because when you said it I was like, that is so genius, why don't more people do that? Could you just kind of share a little bit about that conversation we were having and then maybe give some tips for folks who are just kind of starting out on this journey?   Jonathan Lovitz:         Sure. It's all about authenticity, right? It's all about knowing who you are, what you bring to the table, and what you want your legacy- whether it's a message, or whether it's your personal statement, or whatever it may be, what you want that to be, and giving people no excuses and no choice but to take that at its worth. So I think step one is really understanding who you are, what you stand for, what you care about, and what you want to do with your voice. And you don't have to be a celebrity to realize you have a voice that matters. I think that's one of the great things about something like Twitter; it's the great equalizer. A tweet from me, and a tweet from the White House, and a tweet from a Kardashian all show up with the same- the same time and the same place on your feed, it's what you choose to resonate with and amplify that helps decide whether or not that message continues out in the world. So when you and I were having that conversation about just putting out there exactly what you want, I think we were talking a little bit about press strategy and I think it's all related to knowing your voice and the value of your voice. If you're a business owner, you're a representative of an organization, you're either pitching the press, or pitching the PR company, and you want them to know what you care about. Leave as little wiggle room for interpretation as possible, give them what I always call show in a box. Which is the story, here's the headline, here's the quote I'd love you to use, here's the photo to go with it, here's the link to the video, here's all the citations of the research that go with it. I'm trying to make your life- the reporter, the PR company, whatever it may be, as easy as possible because I want you to return the favor sometime if I'm in a jam and I really need the help. It's all about relationships, and it's all about helping each other out. But reporters are busy. They're getting pitched hundreds of stories a day, and maybe only half of one percent are worth anything. And I can tell you from all the blind pitching in the world that you can do, it's the reporter that you've gotten to know by taking them out to coffee and talking to them as a human being, getting to know what matters to them as a person, that will help you when it comes time to extending sort of your personal brand to them, and saying, "I want to work with you as a partner, and help tell an important story. And sure there's a benefit to my employer, or the movement I'm working for, or whatever it may be, but it's about people helping people and telling a good story."   Jenn T Grace:              I feel like that applies to sales even.   Jonathan Lovitz:         Oh absolutely.   Jenn T Grace:              Just it's really- and I feel like it's becoming more and more obvious, at least in 2016, that is really is human to human interaction. One person to one person.   Jonathan Lovitz:         You couldn't be more right. I mean think when you're working with someone who's calling you on a sales call. They have an objective, and you in your own business, you have an objective to close that deal and meet that benchmark. You could provide all the fact sheets, and all the ROI in the world, but until you really hit a chord with someone on a truly personal level, you'll never really close that deal because it will just be transactional versus a human interaction. And if you want that sale to come back year after year, you want that relationship to continue growing, you have to have a validation that's based on human interaction, that's based on empathy, and sharing and understanding. And it may just be business development, but it's about how you as people are going to grow your respective sides of that business together.   Jenn T Grace:              So would you say that maybe for yourself, you have any type of- I don't know, weeding out mechanism or some way for you to understand that when you're building a relationship, whether it's with a prospective chamber member, or whether it's with a prospective reporter; do you have a way to- for lack of a better phrase, sniff out who would be the person that you should be focusing on building that relationship with? Because I think that a lot of people could spend each and every single day building relationships with the wrong people, and you want to make sure that there's a dual win to that scenario where both parties are getting something from it.   Jonathan Lovitz:         You know I'm a huge political nerd, so if any chance I can quote the West Wing, I will do it. And there's a great line in an episode about exactly this question. 'I need information but I'm getting the run around from all the secretaries, the agencies.' I said yeah, secretaries have agendas, policy wants to have information, and I look at that in the same way with a sales funnel or anything else. If you're dealing with a most senior person, they're accountable for a certain deliverable and a certain report. But they're not as active in the growth department and the actual interaction with other people, as likely a rowing account executive, or someone who's responsible for the day-to-day operation, because it's their job to make that person look good and that's when they help their own career. So the more we can be building relationships with people one or two rungs down the ladder to help bolster the goals and ideas of the person at the top, that's how we really build those in roads with someone who's going to be there and help us out for a long time. It's helping that junior assistant shine by helping to bring in some phenomenal new business that ultimately helps you, but helps them look like they're bringing so much value to the company. You've now got a friend for life on the inside, and that's entirely a human interaction. You've identified what it is you can do to make each other's lives better, both personally and in business. So do your research, it's incumbent upon you, do a little Googling, who's the Internet machine? Pull up the LinkedIn and find the connections of the senior people you want to be working with, and then look at their orbit, look at their Zeitgeist, odds are you're going to find someone, one or two steps removed who you share another mutual friend with, or a common interest, or a group you're both in, and use that as your point of entry. I get calls all the time from reporters saying, "We've got to get to Tim Cook, we want to talk to Tim Cook, he's the top gay CEO in the world, you've got to be able to know him." I said, "You know contrary to popular belief the gays don't all meet once a week for coffee and a handshake, we don't actually have a secret club." I guess that's what the NGLCC tries to be.   Jenn T Grace:              Yes.   Jonathan Lovitz:         What I do say is work your way up, talk to the people who have influence and pull, and get into the conversation not because you need something, but because this conversation means something to you, and that's how you have leverage to make an ask when the time is right.   Jenn T Grace:              It's about building internal champions. I find that the most successful client projects I work on, especially within corporations, it's always the person that's a couple of rungs down from maybe the VP who's signing off on the check. But your ultimate goal is to make that contact of yours look amazing. And the more you make them look amazing, the higher chance that that business is going to continue coming to you. Obviously if you're doing the job well to begin with, but understanding that that's an assumption that you're doing the job well. As long as you're making sure that your contact on the inside who put their neck on the line to say, 'Hey this person knows what they're doing, and they're going to do a good job,' then there's no way- at least in my opinion, that that could fail. It seems completely fool proof.   Jonathan Lovitz:         I think you're absolutely right. Looking at it from with my press hat on, which it's been a bulk of my day, there's a great website that a lot of us use to find out what reporters are looking for, what stories are they trying to find a lead on, and how can I help. It's called HARO, Help A Reporter Out. And I taught that to my team in DC, and I said, "As you're reading the paper, you're looking at the blog, and you're seeing a reporter talking about a really awesome issue, and even if it's not quite a fit for us, it's a fit for someone we know, and when we do a solid for somebody, that gets remembered. And we want to help the community out. There's no prize in being the most selfish in your industry. There is a big prize for being the most collaborative.   Jenn T Grace:              Absolutely. So going back to that particular tool- so that's definitely a tool that I've used myself, and helped clients of mine use. What would you say to somebody listening who's never heard of it for starters, what is it, www.HARO.com? It's really simple, right?   Jonathan Lovitz:         Yeah.   Jenn T Grace:              Okay so if somebody has no idea, they've never heard of this before, what would you say maybe a top one or top two tips might be for making that actually a usable or a viable tool for somebody who really just is just getting started?   Jonathan Lovitz:         Sure. Think of it as an eavesdropping tool. I know this may be a strange way to think of it, but think about sitting on the bus or the subway, or sitting at a restaurant and you overhear a conversation, and you know it's killing you that you could answer the question that you just heard someone at the next booth ask. 'Oh my God, I know the person that they're looking for, but I know an expert that could help them out,' and it's just killing you that you can't help. Well here's an opportunity to do that. You go to HARO, or you go to MuckRack or some of the other great places where you can connect with reporters, and they say, 'I'm looking for a personal branding expert to help me reach minority communities.' Sure I could do that. You know who could really do that is Jenn Grace. And now I recommended a friend, and they see not only am I willing to help this reporter out, I'm willing to help out colleagues of mine. And that matters, and that's something that resonates with people.   Jenn T Grace:              So using that example, how narrow niche do you feel somebody should try to define their brand around- their personal brand? So if we're thinking about all of the things- because I feel like there are more opportunities for me personally to take advantage of than I have time in the day. Like there's just so much opportunity these days. And I know that that's the case probably for even yourself because there are so many things that you hands down could completely and beautifully articulate some response or answer to, but it may not be directly in alignment with what you're doing. You might say, "You know what? Let me throw that to Jenn, or let me throw that to Sam, or let me throw that to somebody else." How have you been able to kind of I guess define the lane in which you like to travel in, and where those opportunities make sense to help a colleague out, so that way it does end up coming back at some point.   Jonathan Lovitz:         That's a great question. I think it's a matter again knowing exactly what you bring to the table, and doing your due diligence to know also what you can't bring, and what you can outsource to others. I mean it's the whole point of a supply chain, right? Is I may not be able to do it, but I know someone who can, and we can work together and build a team, and collaborate, and/or just pass off a great lead in the expectation that that's going to pay it forward the next time around. And that really starts with identifying your skillset, and in some cases being super explicit about it either on your website, or your capabilities deck, or whatever it may be and saying, "I do X, Y, Z." And you don't want to say that you are the next iteration- like Judy Garland said, "I don't need to be the second rate imitation of myself, there already is one." It's too early in the morning for a Judy Garland reference, I'm sorry, but it happens. But you don't need to say you're the Uber of community service, or I'm the seamless web of PR, whatever the comparative may be. Say, "I am the next thing. I am here to provide a unique service that you can only get from me, and if I can't do it I am connected to this massive network of-" and then list out all of the organizations you're a part of, or all the certifications you have, all of the awards you've won and say, "If I can't do it, trust me I'm a phone call away from someone who can and will get the job done."   Jenn T Grace:              You know what actually? An interesting thing happened to me a little bit along these lines. A couple of months ago, it was back actually in January so it was longer than I thought, I was on a sales call with a Fortune company that I won't mention their name, but we were talking about their Employee Resource Group, and how they just need to help figure out how to make their Employee Resource Group members better kind of sales advocates within the community- so within the LGBT community specifically. And she had reached out to me and I was like, "You know, I don't feel that I'm the qualified person to be having this conversation with. Employee Resource Groups are not my bailiwick but I know a couple of companies that would be perfectly suited to do this for you, but as the conversation kept going on, we were talking about exactly what they were looking for, and it ended up being exactly what I do, but I just have not specifically done it for an Employee Resource Group, but I've done it for a corporation, for a nonprofit, whatever it happens to be. But it was interesting that I started off that conversation saying, "You know what? This is totally not my thing, let me refer you to someone," and then I ended up getting the business anyway, and I think it really had to do with being very clear on what I was good at, and what I really thought my strength was, and it ended up being that it was in alignment anyway. But I feel like if I had gone into it being like, "Oh yeah I'm totally the expert on this particular subject," that I probably wouldn't have gotten the business. It was a really interesting kind of dynamic of what you were a little bit of just talking about.   Jonathan Lovitz:         I mean that's a great example and there's opportunity everywhere, right? And it may not be apparent in that first interaction, and that's what's the beauty of getting to know someone on a personal level first is all about. If you're constantly looking at someone with the 'what can you do for me' goggle, you'll never actually get to know them as a human being, and you'll never know what they care about, and what their broader network is, and what it is that make them tick. And then you've lost a huge opportunity to find layers of opportunity within. So start with the people, and then build the business on top of it.   Jenn T Grace:              Absolutely. Are you familiar with Gary Vaynerchuk to any degree?   Jonathan Lovitz:         No but I want you to educate me.   Jenn T Grace:              So he has a very confronting style I will call it, like he's just really brash, he's loud, he's in your face, straight up what you would imagine a New Yorker to be stereotyped as.   Jonathan Lovitz:         Hey.   Jenn T Grace:              You're so rough. And he has a huge online following and has for years, like millions and millions of people. And he has a book that he wrote, I think it's a couple of years old now, called 'Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook.' And his whole philosophy is you have to give, give, give, and then ask, and then keep on giving. So there has to be a far more likelihood of you giving before you're asking. Because if you just go into any scenario and you just start asking for the business, and you haven't built the relationship, people are going to be completely turned off or ignore you. But if you've been giving, and giving, and giving, when the right time to make that ask comes along they're going to be far more likely to want to do business with you because you've given them so much so far.   Jonathan Lovitz:         Right, absolutely right. And again, it's not that you're giving for that guaranteed return. It's that you're giving because that's in your nature and you want people to recognize that about you.   Jenn T Grace:              Yes and if you are coming off as like 'I'm only giving because I'm going to ask you for something in three days,' then I think anyone would see right through that.   Jonathan Lovitz:         We sure hope so.   Jenn T Grace:              Yeah, right? Okay you were talking about strengths a little bit ago. And for some reason Sally Hogshead popped in my mind in terms of really understanding your strengths. And I've been a Sally fan since 2011, and I only remember that because it's when one of her books came out, and having her at the NGLCC conference last year was legit like one of the highlights of my year because she was so amazing in person, on the stage, in the breakout, and then one-on-one. From a personal branding standpoint, I personally think that she’s truly amazing in terms of the framework that she provides to help people understand where their strengths naturally lie. What has your experience been, since I know you were at the conference obviously, what was your experience with that kind of new framework to really just understand what your brand as a person means and feels like?   Jonathan Lovitz:         For anyone who hasn't taken it, I highly recommend they go to her website and take the personality matrix test that she has, because it's really eye opening. And if you can, if you're a part of a team, I recommend doing it as a group. We recently did it at the NGLCC office and we now know who has what traits, and some were really shocking. There were a lot of people who possess these stealth characteristics that make them a great program manager, or even a great leader, and are sometimes so unspoken but it's nice to see it articulated in this really visual way, in a color coded way, that helps you understand where everyone fits. For me personally I was really impressed by the real clarity of the questions. It was not a super broad Myers Briggs conversation. It was really about what makes you tick, and what qualities about you make you a strong human being, whether it's for your persona life or your professional life. And the elements about who I was, as a leaders, as someone who likes to take charge, as someone who likes to be- they cleared me out, "You're a talker, you like to be the public face of what you're doing." It was nice because it's also backed up with an understanding of why; it doesn't just drop the bomb and say 'this is who you are.' It says 'because you got these five strengths behind you, that will help you succeed.' And it also outlines some of the pitfalls which is also I think a sign of a great leader and a great business person, is knowing where your shortcomings are and what you can do to actively work around them. I know I can sometimes miss the woods for the trees when I'm really down in a project I'm working on. I'm so mired in the details I forget this can be a little rough around the edges, the big picture is what matters here. And it's nice to be able to be reminded of that. And a trait of mine, and I should most importantly surround myself with great people who are my opposite so that they catch those mistakes, or that they help me execute correctly. I recently had been given some great help and some staff at the NGLCC to work on some projects, and we worked in completely opposite fashions, and it has made us stronger and more effective than we've ever been because we challenge each other. You're your own best yes man, no one needs another one. I can look in the mirror and tell myself what a great job I'm doing, I need the product to speak for it, and I need my relationships to reveal that. So as much as it's about discovering your own brand and your own skillset, allowing yourself to be self-aware enough of what you need to get the job done, the people you need to surround yourself with is just as or more so important.   Jenn T Grace:              Do you remember what your archetype was?   Jonathan Lovitz:         I knew you were going to ask. If you give me one second I can pull that up and tell you. Because I think it's such a great thing for everyone to know. Let's see, I do have that here.   Jenn T Grace:              I think the key is looking as she calls it the Double Trouble. So when your characteristics are doubled up on each other where you're actually acting at your worst. So something that should be making you your best, when you go to an extreme, it just makes it harder for people around you to either work with you, or take your direction, or operate. I feel like that was a really kind of eye-opening thing. Because when I was looking at mine, mine is the Maestro which is power and prestige, and it's kind of the ringleader in a lot of ways of like organizing things, and to me it's all about getting shit done. So it doesn't matter how, I will get it done. And I can see now how overbearing that could be to people on my team when they don't necessarily know what place I'm operating from. So it's a matter of being really cognisant of where your strength can actually become something that's hurtful to you.   Jonathan Lovitz:         I love that. So mine was the Avant Garde, and it's the person who likes to work quickly and come up with solutions, and be a leader, and if I don't like how the game is played, turn the table over and start a new game, that kind of thing. And I really do love that, but again one of my favorite parts was how it helped me identify what the opposites of that highest and best value may be, which are if I'm not perpetually challenged, I'm going to get bored and I'm going to want to walk away from a project. So being sure that everything I'm doing is new, and innovative, and that certainly served me well, and it's helped me develop unexpectedly I think in my career an entrepreneurial spirit that I didn't know I had. If you had told me ten years ago when I was first starting out as fortunately a solid working actor in New York in Broadway and television that that foundation I was laying, by building a social media platform, and building my own website, and all of those things that I thought were just helping me get a few more roles; that laid a foundation for the rest of my career because now I've converted everyone who ever knew me as a performer into someone who can help me amplify my policy work, and the LGBT stances that we take, and everything begets everything else. And so as it relates to your personal brand, making sure it's positive and flexible, it's all about you and what you want to put out there. And I think it's important for everyone to remember, and I try to teach this when I speak at a lot of universities and I try to remind young people these days you are what you tweet, far more than it used to be when it was your academic record, and your body of work. Now it's how the Internet sees you because people are going to Google you before they meet you, and you want that digital trail of breadcrumbs to lead to something positive that you're proud of, and it's never too late to course correct. So if you want to make that pivot and change your personal brand to be an expert on a certain subject, or a champion for a cause, start right now and get moving, and get help. There are lots of people who know how to do this and you can be that change you want to be.   Jenn T Grace:              Yeah and you have to start putting out content that reflects that, and I recently read- it was on LinkedIn and it was some ridiculous number like four out of five hiring managers, the first thing they do is Google your name or go to Facebook and look up your name. And if your profile picture is you with a beer can, chances are you're not getting the job. So it's that severe that I don't think people recognize it, and I actually was looking to hire somebody a couple of months ago, and a colleague of mine said, "My daughter is 22, she's graduating college, what you're working on I think would be in alignment with what she's interested in," and I go to her social media page and everything is her smoking pot with bongs. And it's like I'm not going to be a prude and say, "That's wrong, you can't do that," but for crying out loud, like your social image has to be more professional than that. You really can't be putting that out there, and once you put it out there, even though you think it's deleted or gone, it's still floating somewhere in the interwebs which is dangerous, especially when people are looking for- either looking for a job or just looking to grow their brand and grow their following of people.   Jonathan Lovitz:         I think that's absolutely right. And making yourself approachable for the things that you care about also matters. It's one thing to just drop the bomb and walk away. It's another thing to say, "I want to have a conversation." So if you're using Twitter, for example, to grow your brand, and you want to start a conversation, be prepared for there to be all sides of that conversation, and be prepared to have a- if you want people to reach you, use a Google voice number so it's anonymous. Or start a Google Hangout where you can keep yourself at an aesthetic distance. But be approachable and don't just throw a bunch of words out either and hope that it sticks. You've got to be able to back it up with passion, conviction, data when you've got it, whatever it may be, because that's also how you validate your brand. The world needs one more YouTube sensation flash in the pan like it needs a hole in the head. But what it does need is someone who's using their voice along with their fame to do something really great.   Jenn T Grace:              Absolutely, and I think it's important to be paying attention to sometimes maybe the more subtle cues of where your direction should be headed, because you might start off your personal brand and have- think that you have a really clear idea of what people are looking for, but once you start talking with the people you realize that, 'Oh wow, what I thought they were looking for isn't actually what they're looking for, they're actually looking for this,' and be able to make those short pivots, and not marry yourself to that original concept, of being open to different ideas and different directions.   Jonathan Lovitz:         Absolutely, and don't let others define your brand for you. It's your brand for a reason, and I certainly remember this well from back in my acting days. Something I don't miss is being told, "You're too this, you're too that," you're at the whim of every director and every casting person saying, "Grow your hair out, be thinner, work out more, do whatever it takes to be the next up and coming star and you're going to take over for this guy when he gets too old." I don't want to take over for him, I want to have my own path, I want to do my own thing, I don't need to replace anybody else, I want to just be Jonathan Lovitz out there. And finally I was able to find that by ironically enough just being myself. It's when I was given that opportunity to be on camera, and do the news, and interview celebrities and such as myself, and speak in my own voice, and talk about my own issues the way I cared about them, that's when I finally began to shine in the way that I didn't know I was destined to.   Jenn T Grace:              Yes I feel like that is probably the biggest piece of advice is to just be yourself, because when you're trying to fit the mold of what someone else is expecting of you, I feel like that's where you kind of go off the rails. And I can think back to probably 2011 maybe, and this was when I was actually running the Connecticut LGBT Chamber. For some reason I feel like I completely lost my way, and I felt like I had to be what was expected of me to be, and I completely went away from who I was. And if I look at pictures of me from 2010 and 2011, it shows how far from my original core I really was, and then in 2012 I just kind of had this epiphany one day of like, 'Screw this. I cannot continue to try to be something that I naturally don't feel like I am.' And then all throughout 2012 and 2013 I went on this whole weight loss kick, I got healthier again, and I completely re-changed everything that I was doing to just be very much in alignment with me because it's so much easier to just be you than try to be somebody that you're not.   Jonathan Lovitz:         I could not agree more; the best advice we could put out there in the world for people.   Jenn T Grace:              Yeah and especially with personal branding. So one of Sally's quotes, I'm trying to think- it's something of not trying to be others, just be more of who you are. So don't- I'm going to totally butcher it, it's like one of her best quotes. But yeah just be more of who you already are naturally rather than trying to add these characteristics or traits that are very unnatural to you.   Jonathan Lovitz:         I think that's absolutely right. And when you are most in tune with yourself, you're an instrument that's been primed, and ready, and destined for the spotlight. And that's when your message takes off. When you get given that microphone metaphorically or literally, and you're speaking from a place of groundedness and authenticity, that's when your message takes hold. That's definitely something Sally Hogshead before- it's messages that fail to fascinate become irrelevant, and I think that's right because what's fascinating about someone is their authenticity, not the facade.   Jenn T Grace:              Totally. And I feel like you are probably a living example of this as I feel like I am too. Is that I really pride myself on being the same Jenn. So whether you catch me when we're having dinner with a couple of people, whether it's at a conference, or whether we're having a one-on-one conversation or a conversation that thousands of people are listening to, I feel like I really pride myself on always being that same person, so there's never that jarring disconnect. And I feel like you are always the same person regardless of what interaction I have with you, and I would imagine that probably carries out through other people as well.   Jonathan Lovitz:         Well I really appreciate that, and I'll be the first to admit it wasn't always that way, and that was a major life lesson and journey for me was figuring out that's who I'm supposed to be, is myself all the time. And I definitely see this among a lot of young people, and people starting out in their careers, is trying too hard to please everybody by pivoting. That when you're in the office you're trying to please the boss, so you've got one persona versus who you are with your friends, or who you are with your family versus who you might be when you're networking with your eye on the next job, and that doesn't work.   Jenn T Grace:              It's exhausting.   Jonathan Lovitz:         It's just too exhausting, and for anyone who's ever been through the coming out experience in their professional life, they know about when you can bring your best self to your work by being who you are. Your work has never been better, in fact your whole life gets better because that lead vest comes off. So do yourself the favor and take off a couple extra layers of lead vest and just carry yourself around.   Jenn T Grace:              Yeah just being the same person. I just had an introduction from a colleague to a Fortune company, and it was a CMO and it's not typically a recommendation that I'd prefer written an email, but the introduction was, 'You need to meet Jenn, she's whip smart and she gets shit done.' Like that was exactly the line. And I'm like okay, this was to the CMO of a really large company, I'm not sure that that would be the natural way I would like to be introduced, but it actually is who I am, and when I had that first initial call with this particular company, it set the tone so beautifully because I- and I really even with sales calls and high people in larger companies, I'm still genuinely the same person, but it really kind of was very freeing to be like, 'You know what? This is how I was introduced, they still wanted a call with me, so I can really just kind of be who I am,' and it was just such a natural flowing conversation because of that. Even though I wouldn't necessarily want that to be the way I'm referred frequently, but it worked out so beautifully. So I think that it really kind of comes down to that authenticity, and for me having the moniker of the Professional Lesbian, that immediately weeds out people that would not even want to give me the time of day. And to me that's a great thing because I don't have to waste my time or someone else's for them to see if they even want to build a relationship with me.   Jonathan Lovitz:         Oh I think you're so, so right. We don't have time anymore to have to chip away and figure out what's behind the facade. Leading with yourself is the easiest way to make sure people get what they pay for, literally and figuratively. And I can't tell you the number of times in my career I thought I've gotten to know someone under a totally false pretense, and when the mask came off and I was so disappointed with the person that was really underneath, I wish I had known that from the beginning.   Jenn T Grace:              Yeah.   Jonathan Lovitz:         Because it's wasted a lot of time and energy and frustration, and I came out on the other side more aware of what I don't want in my life, which is potentially a great lesson, but again speaks to the value of your own brand and self-awareness. Be aware of what you're putting out in the world because that's what people are buying. And in a world where we all look to our Yelp reviews before we buy anything, word of mouth is your living Yelp review, and we want it to be a good one for you.   Jenn T Grace:              Absolutely. So I feel like we're getting already to almost 45 minutes, we've already been talking that long, and I feel like we could be talking for days because there's so much information to be had, and we both have communications degrees which is why I think it's kind of morphed into what we're talking about. But I want to ask you what is the best piece of advice that you've been given? And not even necessarily related to branding or anything like that, but just kind of in business or in life. What is it and who gave it to you?   Jonathan Lovitz:         Well you'll indulge me I'll have to say it's two.   Jenn T Grace:              Okay.   Jonathan Lovitz:         Because in my personal life it came from my parents when I was a teenager and really struggling with who I was personally, what I cared about versus what was expected of me as a teenage boy in the suburbs, and all the things that I was into when I was far more interested in being involved in theatre and school than I was sports and friends and all of that. And all my- and after all the time talking to school counselors, and all the stress of all of that in your teenage years; sitting down and having a good cry with my parents and them saying, "Yeah but do you like you? Good. Stick with that and that's all that matters."   Jenn T Grace:              That's beautiful.   Jonathan Lovitz:         And that has served me well in my personal life ever since. It's just thinking, 'If I'm unhappy with something, all I have to do is change it. I could sit here and rock back and forth and worry about it, or I could make it better.'   Jenn T Grace:              Yeah.   Jonathan Lovitz:         So that certainly served me in my personal life, and then in my professional life which I am so grateful as I said at the beginning of all this, very bizarrely and organically led me to such incredible experiences, it's all been because I never let a door that was closed dissuade me from a path. And anytime that there was a door, I have been told by so many friends, and colleagues and mentors, 'Build your own,' and that has always served me well. Between the idea of never letting a lack of an opportunity mean that there isn't one, just should inspire you to come up with a creative solution, and that usually leads you to lesson number two which is it's usually better to beg forgiveness than ask permission.   Jenn T Grace:              That's my favorite quote.   Jonathan Lovitz:         Yeah, get it done, wow people, and someone will help you get out of any kind if icky situation that arises with it. But it's better to have done it. Another great Sally Hogshead quote was something to the effect of the world was never changed by people who just kind of cared.   Jenn T Grace:              So true, especially in this work, right?   Jonathan Lovitz:         Yeah, exactly. And whether it's your personal business, or community service, or whatever it may be, care with all you have because you're only going to get one shot to make a difference.   Jenn T Grace:              I love that. I love that. I feel like we should end on that because it's so beautifully articulated. But before we actually end, how do people find you? So tell us all the different ways in which they can get a little bit of loving from you.   Jonathan Lovitz:         Well if they ever want to know about our professional work, and the great things we're doing to make the world a better place for LGBT people to live, and work, and thrive, get involved in www.NGLCC.org. But for me personally I have a website, www.JonathanDLovitz.com. It's a little bit under construction right now, so anyone out there with some great web skills, do feel free to get in touch. But there's my links to all my social media are there, I'm really active on Twitter, it's my favorite. @JDLovitz. I will always write back and get in touch with people if they use the email link on my website. There's no such thing as a relationship without value, so I hope to hear from everybody listening. I hope to always be a good friend and connection with you, Jenn, I think your work and energy you put out into the world is so inspiring and we need a lot more of you out there, but I'm pretty glad that there's just one Jenn Grace.   Jenn T Grace:              Thank you, I appreciate that. We should just start cloning ourselves and just have a little army. Wouldn't that be great?   Jonathan Lovitz:         Absolutely. I don't know the world needs another one of me, I think I'm- certainly my partner wouldn't want more.   Jenn T Grace:              I would say the same thing about my wife. Yeah I don't think she wants another one of me either.   Jonathan Lovitz:         Yeah.   Jenn T Grace:              They get the best of us, don't they?   Jonathan Lovitz:         They sure do, even at the worst.   Jenn T Grace:              For real. Alright this has been great, thank you so much for being a guest, I really appreciate it.   Jonathan Lovitz:         It was a real pleasure and an honor, and I hope to do it again. Thanks for all you do.   Jenn T Grace:              Thank you for listening to today's podcast. If there are any links from today's show that you are interested in finding, save yourself a step and head on over to www.JennTGrace.com/thepodcast. And there you will find a backlog of all of the past podcast episodes including transcripts, links to articles, reviews, books, you name it. It is all there on the website for your convenience. Additionally if you would like to get in touch with me for any reason, you can head on over to the website and click the contact form, send me a message, you can find me on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter all at JennTGrace. And as always I really appreciate you as a listener, and I highly encourage you to reach out to me whenever you can. Have a great one, and I will talk to you in the next episode.

Storytelling with Matt Skallerud of Pink Banana Media New York City, New York Links mentioned in the show - Travel Gay Canada  California Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce  National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce International Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce  Out & Equal Workplace Advocates Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association  GayWired.com SheWired.com The New Rules of Marketing & PR: How to Use Social Media, Online Video, Mobile Applications, Blogs, News Releases, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly You can get in touch with Matt here - Pink Banana Media  Facebook.com/PinkBananaMedia LinkedIn Would you prefer to read the transcript than listen to the episode? No problem! Read the transcript below! AUDIO TITLE: 30 Days, 30 Voices: Matt Skallerud Welcome to 30 Days, 30 Voices: Stories from America's LGBT Business Leaders You are listening to a special edition of the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast. Tune in for the next thirty days as we interview one business leader per day each day in June to celebrate LGBT Pride Month. That's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride month. You'll learn insights around business and marketing from those who know it best. And now, your host. She's an entrepreneur, a marketing maven, and an advocate for the LGBT business community - Jenn, with two N's, T. Grace. Hello and welcome! Hello and welcome. Thank you for tuning in to this special Pride Month episode of the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast. Information about today's guest and links mentioned in the show will be available on the website at www.JennTGrace.com/30days-30voices. If you like what you hear in this interview, please be sure to tell a friend. And now, without further ado, let's dive into the interview. Jenn T. Grace: I am pleased to be talking with Matt Skallerud today, who is the president of Pink Banana Media. Matt began his online career in May of 1995 with the launch of the website www.GayWired.com. This website became one of the top three LGBT websites worldwide. He has been helping clients reach the LGBT community for more than eighteen years, and in addition to this he is a current board member for Travel Gay Canada and the interim Executive Director of the California Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. Also he is actively involved with many key national LGBT organizations, which include the International Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and Out & Equal Workplace Advocates just to name a few. So Matt, I've given the listeners a brief overview of who you are, but why don't you tell us a little bit more about yourself and what your path looked like that led you to where you are today. Matt Skallerud:  Yeah! I always try to simplify things. I've just been very lucky. I went to school, I got my degree in engineering, got really bored with it in about three years and thought to myself, 'I got a degree for this? I don't know if I want to do this for the rest of my life.' And- but I actually went into sales, I was in this kind of high-tech R&D world of lasers and then I went into sales of lasers and the reason I bring all that up is because it was that combination of kind of just being comfortable with technology, and it was a perfect time. It was when computers were just really starting to come out. I used to have a Commodore 64, and then I had some of the first Compaq 286 and all these fun computers but I had the opportunity to really utilize them first for more on the engineering side, but then as things developed more on the sales, and then also very much marketing of products I used to work on in the lab. I basically took all those skills,

Storytelling with Dawn Ackerman of Out Smart Office Solutions San Francisco, California/Seattle, Washington Links mentioned in the show: Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (LAGLCC) Golden Gate Business Association (GGBA) EcoToner Office Depot Tier One Supplier Diversity Partner 10th Annual NGLCC National Business & Leadership Conference Greater Seattle Business Association What is an LGBT Chamber of Commerce? But You Don’t Look Gay… book Empire of the Ants You can get in touch with Dawn here: Out Smart Office Solutions https://www.facebook.com/outsmartoffice https://twitter.com/outsmartoffice https://twitter.com/outsmartdawn Listen to the episode by clicking the play button below! Would you prefer to read the transcript than listen to the episode? No problem! Read the transcript below! AUDIO TITLE:  30 Days, 30 Voices – Dawn Ackerman Jenn T Grace: Welcome to 30 Days, 30 Voices: Stories from America's LGBT business leaders. Intro: You are listening to a special edition of the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast. Tune in for the next thirty days as we interview one business leader per day each day in June to celebrate LGBT Pride Month. That's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride month. You'll learn insights around business and marketing from those who know it best. And now, your host. She's an entrepreneur, a marketing maven, and an advocate for the LGBT business community - Jenn, with two N's, T. Grace. Jenn T Grace: Hello and welcome. Thank you for tuning in to this special Pride Month episode of the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast. Information about today's guest and links mentioned in the show will be available on the website at www.JennTGrace.com/30days-30voices. If you like what you hear in this interview, please be sure to tell a friend. And now, without further ado, let's dive into the interview. I am excited to be talking with Dawn Ackerman today. Dawn is the president and CFO of the west-coast based company Outsmart Office Solutions. Prior to this, she was the CEO and founder of EcoToner. In 2012 Dawn and her business partner George were awarded with the Supplier of the Year Award from the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. Additionally she has spent six years on the Board of Directors for the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, including two terms as the president. And she is currently serving as the vice president of the Golden Gate Business Association, which is San Francisco's LGBT Chamber of Commerce. Dawn, I have given the listeners a brief overview of who you are, but why don't you tell us a little bit more about yourself and your business, and what your path looked like that led you to where you are today. Dawn Ackerman: Thanks Jenn. Well that was a pretty good introduction. I have basically been a business owner and entrepreneur since I was about 24 years old. So my path has been every day just trying to build business and building a business that can really do something for the LGBT community. So Outsmart Office Solutions is an office furniture, office interior design and space planning company. We are also the first LGBT tier one partner of Office Depot, which allows us to be able to see office supplies as a certified LGBT company to any company with the support of a company the size of Office Depot. So we have a very large catalog of supplies and a distribution capability that is national because of our partnership with them. We also donate a large portion of our proceeds back to LGBT and environmental non-profits every year. So really Outsmart was formed because of our- my understanding of the LGBT certification. The first time I ever went to an NGLCC Conference, I realized that some opportunities were going to be out there for certified LGBT businesses,

Storytelling with Richard Oceguera of Richard Oceguera Coaching New York City, New York Links mentioned in the show: Convert your Community to Cash: Monetize your Connections National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce New York Merchant Mart USA Greater New York Steering Committee – Human Rights Campaign The Landmark Forum Relationship Building Requires a Strategy: How to get the LGBT community to know, like and trust you You can get in touch with Richard here: Sign up for your complimentary Business Breakthrough Call Richard Oceguera Coaching His Facebook Page Richard Oceguera Coaching Facebook Page  LinkedIn Twitter  Listen to the episode by clicking the play button below! Would you prefer to read the transcript than listen to the episode? No problem! Read the transcript below. AUDIO TITLE:  30 Days, 30 Voices – Richard Oceguera Jenn T Grace: Welcome to 30 Days, 30 Voices: Stories from America's LGBT business leaders. Intro: You are listening to a special edition of the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast. Tune in for the next thirty days as we interview one business leader per day each day in June to celebrate LGBT Pride Month. That's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride month. You'll learn insights around business and marketing from those who know it best. And now, your host. She's an entrepreneur, a marketing maven, and an advocate for the LGBT business community - Jenn, with two N's, T. Grace. Jenn T Grace: Hello and welcome. Thank you for tuning in to this special Pride Month episode of the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast. Information about today's guest and links mentioned in the show will be available on the website at www.JennTGrace.com/30days-30voices. If you like what you hear in this interview, please be sure to tell a friend. And now, without further ado, let's dive into the interview. Okay let's get started. I am pleased to be talking with Richard Oceguera of Richard Oceguera Coaching. He is a transformational business coach, a speaker, a thought leader, and a community advocate. In addition he is the author of a new book called 'Convert your Community to Cash, Monetize your Connection.' Richard has played a key role in the startup of several organizations, most notably as the founding president of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, New York. Richard, I have given the listeners a brief overview of who you are, but why don't you tell us a little bit more about yourself and what your path looked like that led you to where you are today. Richard Oceguera: Yes, well Jenn thank you. First I just want to say thank you for having me participate in this honor, it's really an honor to be able to spend some time with you talking about business and LGBT business. Yeah, so wow where to start. Well this is really great timing because I recently launched my new company, Richard Oceguera Coaching, as you mentioned, and it's exciting for me because it's an opportunity to bring together 29 years of experience in sales, marketing, business development and personal development, and really translate that to the clients that I'm working with. And specifically I work with entrepreneurs, business owners, as well as people who are in business development or sales capacities. And it's really wonderful to have the opportunity to take this experience and have it make a difference for other people as they're building out their businesses. So that's a little bit about what I'm doing now. But you asked about the path that led me to where I'm at today, and I think that's a very interesting question. And you know my path has not been clear cut. I've done many different things over the years and certainly if I mapped it out it would be quite a zigzag of different experiences.

Storytelling with Sam McClure of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce Washington D.C. Links mentioned in the show: National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) NGLCC National Business & Leadership Conference But You Don’t Look Gay… Green Eggs & Ham Oh, the Places You’ll Go! https://twitter.com/SamNGLCC For more information on Supplier Diversity: #008: Expert Interview with Heather Cox of Certify My Company [Podcast] #011: Diversity & Inclusion and Business Opportunities, Oh My! [Podcast] Are there small business resources for LGBT business owners? Want to see who else is being interviewed for this Pride month project? Check it out here – 30 days – 30 voices – Stories from America’s LGBT Business Leaders Listen to the episode by clicking the play button below! Would you prefer to read the transcript than listen to the episode? No problem! Read the transcript below! AUDIO TITLE:  30 Days, 30 Voices – Sam McClure Jenn T Grace: Welcome to 30 Days, 30 Voices: Stories from America's LGBT business leaders. Intro: You are listening to a special edition of the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast. Tune in for the next thirty days as we interview one business leader per day, each day in June to celebrate LGBT Pride Month. That's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride month. You'll learn insights around business and marketing from those who know it best. And now your host. She's an entrepreneur, a marketing maven and an advocate for the LGBT business community. Jenn, with two N's, T Grace. Jenn T Grace: Hello and welcome. Thank you for tuning into this special Pride Month episode of the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast. Information about today's guest and links mentioned in the show will be available on the website at www.JennTGrace.com/30days30voices. If you like what you hear in this interview, please be sure to tell a friend. And now, without further ado, let's dive into the interview. I am pleased to be talking with Sam McClure. She is the Director of Affiliate Relations and External Affairs for the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. Prior to this she was the Executive Director of Quorum, which is the Minneapolis, Saint Paul LGBT and Allied Chamber of Commerce. And in addition to these roles she has previous experience owning several small businesses. So Sam, I've given the listeners a brief overview of who you are, but why don't you tell us a little bit more about yourself and what your path looked like that led you to where you are today. Sam McClure: Well thanks Jenn, and I just want to say thanks again for having me on your show, it's really a pleasure and looking forward to our interview. So a little more about me. I'm here in Washington D.C. at the headquarters of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, and I just moved to D.C. and joined the team here internally almost two years ago. But I've actually been with the NGLCC since really the very beginning. You know the organization just celebrated our tenth anniversary, and I was part of the earliest days when our co-founders created the NGLCC and came to one of the earliest conferences as a volunteer board member for a local chamber, Quorum, that you mentioned in the beginning. And you know I was quite taken with this whole concept of business equality as a movement and intentional inclusion of LGBT-owned businesses in the economy and the network of other LGBT chambers around the country. And also the corporate partners that were coming into the space to be part of this movement to leverage economic development opportunities specifically for people who are LGBT. I got really excited about the movement right away, I became a volunteer leader in the chamber council at that conference, and I served as the chair of the Midwest region and then after a few y...

Below are the items mentioned in this episode of the podcast. Where's the Beef in Burger King's 'Proud Whopper' Campaign? How Burger King Recently Brought Out The Intolerance Of Facebook Christians (Video) Three (3) critical mistakes you don't want to say in a crowd of LGBT people... Listen to the episode by clicking the play button below. One of the plenary sessions featured a prominent business man who was amazing and brilliant in his business advice and acumen! However, during his speech he hit three (of the many) critical mistakes in mis-communicating with the LGBT community. When he said them I cringed a little on his behalf. He was so passionate, so genuine and so authentic with his care for the community, but he wasn’t armed with the right way to effectively communicate. All three things he said have been the subject of previous blog posts or material in my new book. What was so fascinating is that I had many people come up to me and say ‘hey, can you believe he said that?’ or ‘I’ve read that on your blog before.’ My response to all of the conversations I had were ‘I’ve addressed this topic on my blog and/or book, I’m so happy you are reading my materials. Ultimately he seems like a genuine man so we should give him the benefit that he just doesn’t know the right language to use.’ Everyone I said this to, had a collective, ‘yeah, that makes sense’ kind of response. It was great to have people come up to me and say they took notice, but also that people were understanding of his faux pas. Now you may be curious as to the three faux pas. Drumroll please… He referred to the LGBT community as having a ‘lifestyle’ – read more on this topic here. He referred to being LGBT as a ‘preference’ – read more on this topic here. He used the phrase ‘Those people have style’ – read more on this topic here. Would you prefer to read the transcript than listen to the episode? No problem! Read the transcript below. AUDIO TITLE:  Episode #39 – NGLCC Recap and Burger King Case Study Jenn T Grace: You are listening to the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast, Episode 39. Intro: Welcome to the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast where you'll learn how to do business with and market to the LGBT community in an authentic and transparent way. We're talking about the $790 billion lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender community. We'll help you grow your business, gain market share and impact your bottom line. And now your host - she's an entrepreneur, a marketing maven and an advocate for the LGBT business community. Jenn, with two N's, T. Grace Jenn T Grace: Hello and welcome episode number 39 of the podcast. I am your host, Jenn T. Grace. And today I have a couple of things that I want to talk to you about. And then I want to talk about two specific topics, and those are my experience just recently at the NGLCC conference which is the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. And I've been talking about their annual conference for a couple of episodes, and certainly I've interviewed many people who have ties to the NGLCC in past episodes. So I know I’ve been encouraging a lot of you to attend this year, and what's great is that I'm actually shocked and almost at a loss of words how many of you I was able to meet for the first time this year who came because you are listeners of this podcast. So I am beyond excited with that type of success. So I'm really fortunate to have met a lot of you, so I want to talk about the conference experience and then a couple of faux pas that unravelled right before my eyes which are so worth talking about here. So that's going to be one, and then two, while this is somewhat probably about a month overdue at this point, I do want to talk about the ad campaign that Burger King did for Pride, and there was one hell of a kerfuffle that occurred from it towards the- I would...

In this new podcast, I had the pleasure of interviewing a close friend and colleague on the show. I lovingly refer to her as an operational genius, but you can just call her Stacy (Morataya-Pilkington). This interview covers many topics and her retail experience as an LGBT shopper will teach you a thing or two about how to effectively market to the community. Don't miss this episode! Below are the items mentioned in this episode of the podcast. 'No Wait, You Do Look Gay' Book Preview  Greater Connecticut Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (CTGLC) Listen to the episode by clicking the play button below! Would you prefer to read the transcript than listen to the episode? No problem! Read the transcript below. AUDIO TITLE:  Episode #38 - Stacy Morataya-Pilkington Intro: Welcome to the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast where you'll learn how to do business with and market to the LGBT community in an authentic and transparent way. We're talking about the $790 billion lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender community. We'll help you grow your business, gain market share and impact your bottom line. And now your host - she's an entrepreneur, a marketing maven and an advocate for the LGBT business community. Jenn, with two N's, T. Grace. Jenn T. Grace: Hello and welcome to episode number 38 of the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast. I am your host, Jenn Grace, and today I am absolutely delighted to bring you an interview that I did with a very dear close friend of mine, Stacy Morataya-Pilkington, and she is the Director of Hotel Operations for Foxwoods Resort Casino which is based here in southeastern Connecticut. And she and I have been friends for several years now, and she's very near and dear to me, and she also happens to be the President of the greater Connecticut Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce in which I am the Vice President of. So it was really awesome to be able to sit down with her in a more formal capacity and just kind of pick her brain, and ask her some questions about her life's story, and what's brought her from Las Vegas out here to Connecticut, and then just really talk about what it means to be an advocate in the workplace. We talked about how to be effective in your LGBT marketing outreach, that there are a couple of things that you need to do such as be authentic; which I think by now you know that I preach a great deal about. But then also to be vulnerable and ask questions. So today's episode is going to be fantastic. She had just tons of inspirational advice, and she's just great, I'm certain that you will enjoy today's interview. However before we hop over to the interview, I just want to make a couple of announcements just because it is indeed July 24th and the launch of my new book, 'No Wait, You do Look Gay: The Seven Mistakes Preventing You from Selling to the LGBT Market,' is just days away from launching. So if you are listening to this, and you are listening to it live, hooray, I love you, you're awesome. I encourage you to head over to www.NoWaitYouDoLookGay.com and check things out. And if you happen to be listening to this in the very, very distant future, maybe it's a year from now, maybe it's two, three years away, if you go to that same link, www.NoWaitYouDoLookGay.com it will be redirecting you over to Amazon where you can purchase the printed copy, the audio copy, or the Kindle version, or some sort of mobile version. I'm really excited about the book coming live. We kind of talk about it a little bit in the interview towards the end because while it may seem like I paid Stacy to talk about some of the things that she talked about, I did not actually do that. Although now that I think of it, it's probably not a bad idea to pay my guests to do some plugging. But I would never do that because I love you guys, and I preach about authenticity, and transparency,

This podcast interview is with Dina & Dom, founders of Teazled Greeting Cards, which is a company that focuses exclusively on creating cards for LGBT people and families. We talk about our families, how they came to founding their company and many tips on effective marketing to the LGBT market. Have a listen and let me know what you think in the comments below! To listen to this audio podcast please click the play button on the left above. Or subscribe to the free podcast in iTunes today!     Below are the items mentioned in this episode of the podcast. NGLCC Conference But you Don't Look Gay Liberty Print Co. Fusion Print & Web Design jenntgrace.com/webinars Gay Marketing Insider mailing list 30 Day, 30 Voices - Stories from America's LGBT Business Leaders Are you listening to this podcast from your computer? Would you like to be listening while walking, jogging or driving in the car? You can subscribe in iTunes by going here; Jenntgrace.com/iTunes Teazled Check out the sponsors of this podcast, the Human Performance Academy’s, new podcast at Mentalcompass.com You can get in touch with Dina & Dom here: www.teazled.com 855-4-Tell-Them Online Training Course - www.authenticgaymarketing.com   Would you prefer to read the transcript than listen to the episode? No problem! Read the transcript below. AUDIO TITLE: Episode #36 – Teazled Interview AUDIO START: [0:00:00]   Jenn T Grace: You are listening to the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast, episode 36. Intro: Welcome to the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast where you'll learn how to do business with and market to the LGBT community in an authentic and transparent way. We're talking about the $790 billion lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender community. We'll help you grow your business, gain market share and impact your bottom line. And now your host - she's an entrepreneur, a marketing maven and an advocate for the LGBT business community. Jenn, with two N's, T. Grace Jenn T Grace: Well hello and welcome to episode number 36 of the podcast. I am your host, Jenn Grace, and today I have an interview with you from a couple of folks that you have probably heard of, because you are listeners of this podcast, so you've probably heard the commercial for Teazled Greeting Cards in the past, or possibly seen them on my website. But I am interviewing the co-owners Dina and Dina of Teazled on today's show, so I'm pretty excited to bring that to you. However, I do have a list of announcements. I actually have a handful of things, moreso than usual today to just kind of bring you up to speed on before we get into the meat of the episode. So why don't I just dive in, I don't want to take up more time than necessary for you today, so let me just kind of hop right into it. So my first really exciting piece of news is the fact that my second book is almost complete. I am within just a couple of days of sending it over to an editor who is going to clean it up, make sure everything flows properly looks great, sounds how I want it to, et cetera. So I've been on a pretty tight timeline in getting that done, because I have wanted to make sure that I have the new book ready for me for when I go to the NGLCC conference at the end of July. So the NGLCC being the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. It is hands down my favorite event to attend yearly, and this year it happens to be in sunny Las Vegas, hot and sunny Las Vegas at the end of July. So that should be an interesting time for my pale skin to be scorched undoubtedly. But I'm sure there will be many, many business opportunities, networking opportunities, and I wanted to make sure that I have my new book available when I go to this. So I'm really excited about that, I just actually started really,

  Storytelling with Dan Nilsen of Bishop-McCann Kansas City, Missouri Links mentioned in the show: Bishop McCann Mid-America Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce – Kansas City Area The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t You can get in touch with Dan here: Email: dnilsen@bishopmccann.com Bishopmccann.com MAGLCC.org Listen to the podcast by clicking the play button below! Would you rather read the transcript than listen to the podcast? No problem! Read the transcription below! AUDIO TITLE:  30 Days, 30 Voices – Dan Nilsen Jenn T Grace: Welcome to 30 Days, 30 Voices: Stories from America's LGBT business leaders. Intro: You are listening to a special edition of the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast. Tune in for the next thirty days as we interview one business leader per day each day in June to celebrate LGBT Pride Month. That's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride month. You'll learn insights around business and marketing from those who know it best. And now, your host. She's an entrepreneur, a marketing maven, and an advocate for the LGBT business community - Jenn, with two N's, T. Grace. Jenn T Grace: Hello and welcome. Thank you for tuning in to this special Pride Month episode of the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast. Information about today's guest and links mentioned in the show will be available on the website at www.JennTGrace.com/30days-30voices. If you like what you hear in this interview, please be sure to tell a friend. And now, without further ado, let's dive into the interview.I am delighted to be talking with Dan Nilsen today. Dan is the CEO of Bishop McCann which is a brand experience agency with six locations in the United States. In 2010, Dan was awarded with the NGLCC Wells Fargo Business Owner of the Year Award. And this recognition spawned Dan to found the Mid-America Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, recognizing that there was a need to have one in the Kansas City area. So Dan, I've given the listeners a really brief overview of who you are and a little bit about your company; but why don't you tell us a little bit more about yourself, your story, and what your path looked like that led you to where you are today. Dan Nilsen: Hi Jenn, thanks for having me on today. You know I actually was asked about a year ago to be the topic of a reality series because my life- where I got to today is just so interesting because it involves so many pieces, some quite entertaining actually. I was born and raised in California and went to Long Beach State, and grew up and actually married my college sweetheart, Julie, out of that. And we had three children together. I have three daughters actually, they are- my first just graduated from college, my second just turned 21. So I can't believe that it's been so long. I started actually in Big Pharma out of college, so I was a pharmaceutical sales rep for a company like- called Marion Laboratories back in '85, and left school to work for them and ran sort of the LA market for that. I was 24 at the time and the average age of my district at the time was about 32. So that was quite a challenge to kind of move in, try to quickly learn all the things that you didn't know about managing people. I remember one of my first sort of a ride-along where you ride with one of your reps, she was talking about getting a divorce and I didn't know the first thing about what I could say that could possibly give her any advice. But I learned at that point I was supposed to be a good listener, and just share as much as I could about my reps with each other and I think was one of the ways that I certainly got to in terms of working with people and understanding the differences in people.

Expert Interview with Victoria Fulkerson of National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce Washington D.C.   To listen to this audio podcast please click the play button on the left above. Or subscribe to the free podcast in iTunes today!   Want to see who else is being interviewed for this Pride month project? Check it out here – 30 days – 30 voices – Stories from America’s LGBT Business Leaders   If you liked Victoria's interview don't miss Episode 10 of my podcast (not part of "30 days - 30 voices" series) when I interviewed Justin Nelson, Co-Founder & President of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) [Podcast]     Links mentioned in the show -  National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce Out for Work NGLCC Supplier Diversity Initiative  NGLCC Conference   Books Mentioned -  Predictable Success: Getting Your Organization On the Growth Track–and Keeping It There   You can get in touch with Victoria here -  nglcc.org facebook.com/NGLCC twitter.com/NGLCC #LGBTBIZ #NGLCC13     The post Victoria Fulkerson Interview for “30 Days – 30 Voices – Stories from America’s LGBT Business Leaders” [Podcast] appeared first on Jenn T. Grace.

Listen to Justin Nelson, co-founder of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), share valuable insights on business and equality. I had a chance to talk with him and get his inspiring answers to the set of questions below. Listen to this podcast to hear it all. To listen to this audio podcast please click the play button on the left above. Or subscribe to the free podcast in iTunes today! So Justin, you co-founded the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce over 10 years ago in 2002. And in that time you have been extremely active in the LGBT business movement both in the United States and abroad. Could you expand on your background for the listeners and tell us a little more about your business and what your path looked like that lead you to where you are today? So before I get into the more serious questions, I like to ask my guests for something random or a fun fact about themselves to get us started. So, what is one thing about you that few people know or would expect? What was your “aha” moment when you realized this is what you should be doing in life? What inspires you and keeps you motivated to do what you do each and every day? What is the best piece of business advice you were ever given? For listeners who are looking to market themselves to the LGBT community, what advice would you give them to be successful? As an LGBT person, how you have you been able to leverage that status as a business owner? What is one business book, program or tool that has transformed the way you do business? As we are speaking right now you are in Dallas, Texas, at the site where the 2013 NGLCC National Business & Leadership Conference will be held. Could you tell the listeners more about the conference and why they should consider attending? Other than the conference, what is one thing in your business right now that is really exciting?