Podcast appearances and mentions of Linda Kaplan Thaler

Cynthia “Cynt” Marshall CEO of the Dallas Mavericks, President & CEO, Marshalling Resources Consulting, Retired AT&T Executive and Author   Cynt Marshall has been a dynamic force in business over a 36-year career at AT&T. As  the CEO of the Mavs the past five years, Cynt has been a champion for inclusion and diversity in the NBA. Prior to her joining the Mavs, Cynt founded Marshalling Resources, a consulting firm specializing in leadership development, culture transformation and optimization of people resources. As Senior Vice President – Human Resources & Chief Diversity, Cynt led the team that created a world class culture and also spearheaded the work that for the first time placed AT&T on Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For list in 2017, one of only two Fortune 50 companies. Cynt also served as President-AT&T North Carolina where she became the first African-American chair of the North Carolina State Chamber of Commerce. Widely recognized for her visionary leadership and ability to get things done, Cynt is the recipient of several honors and awards, including the 2022 Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum Hope for Humanity award. In 2021, Forbes named Cynt one of 15 of the world's most inspiring female leaders. A graduate of the University of California-Berkeley with degrees in Business Administration and Human Resources Management, Cynt is also the recipient of four honorary doctorate degrees. She serves on four corporate boards and on several non-profit boards, including Dallas CASA and the Dallas Regional Chamber where Cynt is the chair of the board. Cynt's first book, You've Been Chosen, was released in September 2022 and nominated for an NAACP Image award. She grew up in Richmond, California, and lives in Dallas, Texas. Cynt and her husband, Kenneth Marshall, have four adult children.   Social Media: X (formerly Twitter): @Cyntmarshall FB: Cynt Marshall IG: @cyntgm Book Recommendations: The Power of Nice: How to Conquer the Business World With Kindness , by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win, by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin You've Been Chosen: Thriving Through the Unexpected by Cynthia Marshall Own the Arena: Getting Ahead, Making a Difference, and Succeeding as the Only One, by Katrina M. Adams Podcast: How I Built This with Guy Raz

As we approach Halloween, I thought the topic of grit might be appropriate, and how we can gain a little more resilience, tenacity, and initiative in our lives. I discuss big ideas like learning grit, rejection and failure help us succeed, minding the gap between effort and success, developing a growth mindset (becoming more like bamboo), and helping others helps us stay gritty. If you liked this Zoo-notable, you can check out the book for yourself. Want to see how powerful grit can be? Check out Chris Beaven's website for his DAILY art (over 10 years without a missed day!). Like this book on Grit? You might like these other Zoo-notables as well: Shannon McKinney from GRAZE Wangari Maathai's Unbowed It Takes What It Takes by Trevor Mowad

Quelling anxiety and relaxing are common reasons people give for smoking or vaping. But is that really possible? Will nicotine help relieve anxiety or other mental health conditions? Robin Koval, CEO and President of Truth Initiative, discusses the nuances between vaping and smoking and their impact on mental health and anxiety. We also delve into some common beliefs about nicotine and answer the question “Is it true that vaping is safer than smoking?” Join us as the Truth Initiative tells us, you guessed it, the truth! To learn more -- or read the transcript -- please visit the official episode page. Our guest, Robin Koval, is CEO and President of Truth Initiative®, the national public health organization dedicated to achieving a culture where all young people reject smoking, vaping, and nicotine. Since joining Truth Initiative in 2013, Koval has transformed the national award-winning truth® youth tobacco prevention campaign and grown the organization's world-class research, youth activism, and digital cessation programs. Under her leadership, truth has prevented millions of young people from becoming smokers and helped drive the youth smoking rate to a historic low of less than 2%. As youth e-cigarette use skyrocketed, Koval expanded the organization's reach to be a leader in the fight against the youth e-cigarette crisis and all forms of youth nicotine addiction. Research now shows that truth campaign awareness is significantly associated with lower likelihood of vaping among young people ages 15–24. She has led the expansion of the truth brand to include innovative quitting tools and resources designed to protect and empower young people to live nicotine-free lives, including the first-of-its kind text message quit vaping program for teens and young adults, This is Quitting, which has enrolled over 570,000 since launch and a national youth e-cigarette prevention curriculum Vaping: Know the truth, now reaching almost 6,000 schools across the country. During her tenure, truth has been voted one of the most influential campaigns of the 21st century and named the most effective brand of the year by the American Marketing Association. Fast Company has recognized Truth Initiative as one of the World's Most Innovative Companies and a top ten nonprofit organization in 2022. Prior to joining Truth Initiative, Koval, a highly acclaimed leader in the advertising and marketing world, was co-founder and CEO of the Kaplan Thaler Group, which she grew from a fledgling start-up in 1997 to a billion-dollar agency working with leading brands such as Procter & Gamble, Pfizer, Wendy's, and Aflac. She was named CEO when her agency merged with Publicis to become Publicis Kaplan Thaler and led the 700-person agency to become the fifth largest in New York City. In addition, Koval is a New York Times best-selling author. She and co-author Linda Kaplan Thaler have written several books, including Grit to Great: How Perseverance, Passion and Pluck Take You from Ordinary to Extraordinary, The Power of Nice, and The Power of Small. Our host, Gabe Howard, is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, "Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations," available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from the author. Gabe makes his home in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. He lives with his supportive wife, Kendall, and a Miniature Schnauzer dog that he never wanted, but now can't imagine life without. To book Gabe for your next event or learn more about him, please visit gabehoward.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the relentless pursuit of a brighter future, tech leaders have emerged as crucial catalysts, igniting innovation and driving transformative change. These exceptional leaders possess the foresight to envision possibilities beyond the limitations of the present and the determination to turn those visions into reality. Through engaging discussions and thought-provoking insights, we will delve into Manu Puri's journey, exploring his unwavering commitment to leveraging the combined power of human potential and technology.Here's more about Manu Puri:Manu Puri is a seasoned Learning and Development executive who has dedicated his career to unraveling the key factors that drive success in individuals and organizations.Manu grew up in the technology and consulting industry. He has delivered major business impact for eminent and respected organizations like Microsoft and GE.Having developed the proprietary "BeZenDo" approach, Manu has offered valuable insights and strategic direction to executives, managers, and Fortune 100 organizations. He is adept at coaching various leadership levels, fostering innovative solutions, promoting growth, and enhancing individual and organizational performance. Manu is also skilled in leading and facilitating workshops and seminars that cover leadership skills, needs assessment, time management, group change dynamics, and long-term transformation initiatives, all aimed at fostering organizational cohesion and success.In his quest for knowledge and broader perspectives, Manu has had the opportunity to interview esteemed authors and thought leaders, including Dr. Marshall Goldsmith, David Allen, and Linda Kaplan Thaler.As a certified executive coach, Manu holds a BA in Economics, a Master's in Information Technology, and an MBA in Finance and International Business.

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Nation, for the 2nd week of this year's Legionella Awareness Month, I am bringing back Dr. Janet Stout to talk about what we, as Water Treaters, need to know about Legionella, what's new in Legionella risk management, ASSE-12080 Certification Training, and many more. Buckle your seatbelts because this is going to be one groundbreaking conversation! Dr. Janet E. Stout is the Executive Vice President and founder of Special Pathogens Laboratory, A Pace laboratory. She is also a research associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Dr. Stout is a globally-recognized infection disease microbiologist sought out for her seminal discoveries and pioneering research in Legionella. Her expertise includes prevention and control strategies for Legionnaires' Disease in building water systems. In more than 30 years that Dr. Stout has been doing research, her research has been published in peer-reviewed medical and scientific journals. She has also authored textbook chapters on Legionella and Legionnaires' Disease, one of which is the Legionella chapter in the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) Text. Dr. Stout also assisted in developing the first Legionella prevention guideline in the United States (published in 1993). It has continued to serve as a framework for future national and global health agencies and organizations.  Dr. Stout currently serves on the ASHRAE Legionella Standard Committee Guideline 12 and the Committee for ANSI/ ASHRAE Standard 188-2015, Legionellosis: Risk Management for Building Water Systems, which was the first US standard for Legionella risk management. Special Pathogens Laboratory, together with the American Society of Sanitary Engineers (ASSE) and the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) created the first certification for Legionella risk management, ASSE-12080, and Dr. Stout is the first certified instructor of the ASSE-12080 Legionella Water Safety and Management Specialist Certification Training. Bottom line: Dr. Janet E. Stout will share with us what water treaters need to know about Legionella.  Your roadside friend, as you travel from client to client.  -Trace    Timestamps:  Continuing the celebration of Legionella Awareness Month and other events in Water Treatment [01:29] Thinking On Water With James [06:02]  Welcoming back Legionella Expert, Dr. Janet E. Stout [07:40] Integrating ASHRAE 188 with Public Health Law and how to stay on top of Legislation [11:27] Helping Water Treaters know what they need to know about Legionella [17:03] What is the ASSE-12080 Certification process and who should take the class? [24:12] What is new in Legionella Testing? [27:43] What do we need to know about  Percent of Positivity and Legionnaires Disease? [32:05]] Legionella sterilization vs. disinfection  [34:00] What did we learn when buildings reopened after the COVID shutdown? [39:15] Helping Organizations through the Entrepreneurial Operating System, Masterminds, and by having an assistant  [41:24] Say “Hello” to Janet and her team at AWT! [50:30] Lightning round questions [52:35]   Thinking On Water With James: In this week's episode, we're thinking about corrosion coupons. Do you use corrosion coupons in all of your accounts? Why or why not? Do you use pretreated or pre-stressed coupons? Why or why not? Why should you avoid touching fresh, new coupons with your fingers when installing? Do you consider the orientation of the coupons when installing them? Do you install them so the flat side is vertical or horizontal or have you never thought of this? We've previously thought about the order of the coupons but now's another good time to think about that, too. How many days do you leave them in the system? What would be the impact of removing them sooner rather than later? What can be determined by visually observing the corrosion coupons upon removal? How do you communicate the results? Do you save the old ones for annual reviews, take a picture or scan, or dispose of them? Take this week to think about corrosion coupons and how to most effectively use them.    Quotes: “Everyone needs to be aware that ASHRAE Standard 188-2018 and Guideline 12-2020 are in continuous maintenance.” - Dr. Janet E. Stout “Standard 514P is a new proposed standard from ASHRAE.” - Dr. Janet E. Stout “There is a real need for input from people in Water Treatment to comment on Legionella standards.” - Dr. Janet E. Stout “If any facility should be testing for Legionella, it should be healthcare.” - Dr. Janet E. Stout “When it comes to Legionella, any gaps in knowledge need to be filled, so I worked to make education standards for Legionella.”  - Dr. Janet E. Stout “We (Special Pathogens Lab) stepped into the role of one of the first instructors to deliver training so people could sit for the certification exam and get the credential as a Certified Legionella Water Safety and Management Specialist.” - Dr. Janet E. Stout “When you are doing Water Management, you're using testing for Legionella to validate that the plan is working.” - Dr. Janet E. Stout “Percent of Positivity: If more than 3 out of 10 faucets or showers are positive for Legionella (in a hospital), we would see a Legionnaires Disease Case.” - Dr. Janet E. Stout “You can't completely eliminate Legionella, whether it's from a cooling tower or a potable water distribution system. You can knock it down, you can hold it down with water treatment, but you can't eliminate it.” - Dr. Janet E. Stout “Sterilization is impossible when it comes to Legionella. Disinfection will be dependent on the type of system you are treating.” - Dr. Janet E. Stout “We're not asking people to get to zero Legionella, we're asking people to get zero cases of Legionnaires Disease.  - Dr. Janet E. Stout “It's not happiness that brings gratitude, it's gratitude that brings happiness.” - Unknown   Connect with Dr. Janet E. Stout: Phone: 877-775-7284 Email: info@specialpathogenslab.com LinkedIn: company/special-pathogens-laboratory in/janet-e-stout-ph-d-32607612 Website: specialpathogenslab.com Become a Professional Certified Legionella Water Safety & Management Specialist Puzzled by Legionella Webinars Buy Special Pathogens Lab's ​​Puzzled by Legionella Guidebook   Visit our Scaling UP! H2O Legionella Resources Page: Legionella Resources   Links Mentioned:    Bill Pearson Sign up for ASHRAE Standards Actions Seinfeld (American Sitcom) Special Pathogens Lab - Legionella Water Safety & Management Specialist Certification Special Pathogens Lab - Puzzled by Legionella Webinars Submit a Show Idea The Rising Tide Mastermind   Check out all future water events on our Scaling UP! Events Calendar Go to scalinguph2o.com/events to see our 2022 water events calendar   Events Mentioned:  One Water Summit 2022 – September 12 to 15 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin  AWT Business Owners Meeting -  September 20, 2022, in Vancouver, Canada 2022 AWT's Annual Convention and Exposition – September 21 to 24 in Vancouver, Canada  International Desalination Association World Congress – October 9 to 13 in Sydney, Australia    Books Mentioned: Puzzled by Legionella Guidebook by Janet E. Stout The Power of Nice: How to Conquer the Business World With Kindness by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval

30 mins or 5mins? Pressing for time? We got your back. This is a 5min recap of our conversation on Ep2 Impact of Small Measures. Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval argue in their book, The Power of Small: Why Little Things Make all the Difference, that bigger is not always better. In fact, these authors challenge all of us that our smallest actions, words, and gestures often lead to our greatest long-term rewards and outcomes.In this episode 2, we had a conversation about the impact of small measures and how they impacted our lives. How we can adopt Pareto Principle of 80/20. For example, it is not uncommon to see people who appear to be busy all day long but seem to accomplish very little. This is almost always because they are busy working on tasks that are of low value while they are procrastinating on the one or two activities that could make a real difference to their companies and to their careers.When it comes to personal relationships, limiting beliefs can affect everything from culture to overall performance and efficiency. Limiting beliefs can lead us to be passive and to ignore or overlook small measures, small steps. A small change to your routine and habit can improve the way you look at things and well-being and staying healthy.Thank you so much everyone for listening, we would love to hear from you. What is your view on the smallest actions lead to long-term rewards? Have you ever taken such an approach?You can reach us at fandzreality@gmail com.

Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval argue in their book, The Power of Small: Why Little Things Make all the Difference, that bigger is not always better. In fact, these authors challenge all of us that our smallest actions, words, and gestures often lead to our greatest long-term rewards and outcomes.In this episode 2, we had a conversation about the impact of small measures and how they impacted our lives. How we can adopt Pareto Principle of 80/20. For example, it is not uncommon to see people who appear to be busy all day long but seem to accomplish very little. This is almost always because they are busy working on tasks that are of low value while they are procrastinating on the one or two activities that could make a real difference to their companies and to their careers.When it comes to personal relationships, limiting beliefs can affect everything from culture to overall performance and efficiency. Limiting beliefs can lead us to be passive and to ignore or overlook small measures, small steps. A small change to your routine and habit can improve the way you look at things and well-being and staying healthy. Thank you so much everyone for listening, we would love to hear from you. What is your view on the smallest actions lead to long-term rewards? Have you ever taken such an approach?You can reach us at fandzreality@gmail com.Music:Good Love by Vendredi https://soundcloud.com/vendrediduoCreative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/3unfdOwMusic promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/HVH3GJyejXYSong: Ikson - New Day (Vlog No Copyright Music)Music provided by Vlog No Copyright Music.Video Link: https://youtu.be/cVA-9JHwbFY

Kiera's got the goods: It's time for a book club episode! Check out the books below to find inspiration for your life, personally and professionally. The Road Less Stupid by Keith Cunningham Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn by John C. Maxwell The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni Why Your Marketing is Killing Your Business by Minal Sampat The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Anchor Who: The Method for Hiring by Geoff Smart Comparisonitis by Melissa Ambrosini 10% Happier by Dan Harris The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton The Power of Nice by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell Multipliers by Greg McKeown and Liz Wiseman Boundaries by Henry Cloud and John Townsend Your Next Five Moves by Greg Dinkin and Patrick Bet-David Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Dr. Joe Dispenza Have your own book recommendations for Kiera? Shoot her an email: hello@thedentalateam.com. Episode resources: Reach out to Kiera Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Listen to past book club episodes: 317: 8 Books to Unify Your Team in 2021 194: Kiera's Book Club, Part 2 118: A DAT Book Club of Inspiration Become Dental A-Team Platinum! Review the podcast on iTunes

Hot Topics Include: Marketing lessons from Warby Parker. Storytelling as a channel for marketing. Tips for an effective LinkedIn presence…Learn from Beth Comstock, Seth Godin, Debra Jasper, Linda Kaplan Thaler and others on how to leverage marketing to scale your business!

Welcome to Difficult Conversations with Dr. Anthony Orsini. Today, my guest is advertising Hall of Famer, Linda Kaplan Thaler, who is responsible for some of the most famous advertising campaigns such as the Aflac duck, the hilarious “Yes, Yes, Yes” commercial for Clairol Herbal Essence, “Kodak Moments,” and the longest running jingle, “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up, I’m a Toys ‘R’ Us Kid.” She has appeared on The Apprentice, Good Morning America, The Today Show, and CNN. Linda has won several awards, including the prestigious Matrix Award, Advertising Woman of the year and was named one of advertising Most Influential Woman in Advertising. She founded the Ad Agency Kaplan Thaler Group and currently, she is a renowned motivational speaker and a bestselling author of several books including Grit to Great and The Power of Nice. Linda tells us about herself, growing up in the Bronx, and a sweet story about her dad that impacted her life forever. She teaches us how being nice actually makes you succeed, and how her agency became the fastest growing agency in the U.S. and one of the Top 10 Nicest Places to Work in advertising. We learn how her little ad agency won the $200 million Wendy’s account, and an incredible story involving a man that was a guard for their building, and how he helped win a big account during a surprise visit from the CEO. Also, Linda tells us yet an amazing story behind the Aflac duck and how that came about, Linda tells us why doing improv is so good for people, and Dr. Orsini tells us how he uses improv in his training as well. We hear a personal story and some difficult conversations she had to endure when she found out she had cancer. We end with Linda giving us communication advice on how to be successful. Host: Dr. Anthony OrsiniGuest:Linda Kaplan ThalerFor More Information:The Orsini WayThe Orsini Way-FacebookThe Orsini Way-LinkedinThe Orsini Way-InstagramThe Orsini Way-TwitterIt’s All In The Delivery: Improving Healthcare Starting With A Single Conversation by Dr. Anthony OrsiniResources Mentioned:Linda Kaplan Thaler WebsiteKaplan Thaler Productions LinkedinLinda Thaler Twitterlindakaplanprod@gmail.comGrit to Great: How Perseverance, Passion, and Pluck Take You from Ordinary to Extraordinary by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin KovalThe Power of Nice: How to Conquer the Business World With Kindness by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin KovalThe Power of Small: Why Little Things Make All the Difference by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval

It takes a lot to get a career in the fire service. There is a gauntlet of elements in the process; turn in an application, take the written test, perform some kind of physical performance test, panel interview or TWO, then it’s onto the academy. Even then, an invitation to the academy isn’t a guaranteed spot on the truck. A full-time spot is conditional upon successful completion. It also sometimes takes a lot to stay engaged and focused on the mission when you’ve been on the job for a while. Staying engaged and focused on the reason why you got into this profession to begin with can take effort. Something that this profession definitely takes is GRIT! But what IS grit? If we don’t have it, what can we do about it? In today’s episode, I’m going to review what it is, how we can foster it, and how having grit is NOT a team sport even though some people might have you think that. -- IGNITEd Firefighter Podcast Facebook Community 28-Day Ignition Workout Program Grit to Great by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/ignitedff/message

he phrase “yes, and…” isn’t just a pillar of improv theater, it should also form the foundation of your business according to today’s guest on All Business with Jeffrey Hayzlett. Linda Kaplan Thaler is the President of Kaplan Thaler Productions and there’s a good chance you know some of the brands she helped make famous -- the AFLAC duck, the Toys “R”Us theme song and the “YES! YES! YES” from Herbal Essences. They all came from Linda’s ad agency.  She started her career as an actress and comedian and continues to use some of the lessons she learned on stage in the business world. Linda offered listeners great advice on how to stay positive despite what’s going on in the economy. She also believes that little things ad up and it’s important to be grateful and think about how you can help others: even your competition. Linda also shared with Jeffrey why doubt is important and why you need to think laterally, not literally. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fear sells.  Anger motivates.  In "Fear Sells," episode one of the DeVito/Verdi podcast "Selling a President 2020," host Ellis Verdi and some of the most creative minds in advertising look at the marketing phenomenon that is Donald Trump. As he showed in 2016, candidate Trump appealed to voters with ads and speeches that more or less preyed on people’s fears and stoked their anger.  As he pushes for re-election, we discuss how his marketing is so on brand, how it has created such an intensely loyal following and why anger, fear and rage are so effective in the selling of a President, 2020. Transcript Episode One "Fear Sells" GREG [00:00:00] I think what people understand is how much Trump's behaviors are on brand. Right. So if he slept with your wife, that is completely on his brand in that it only supports him.  ELLIS [00:00:16] Forget the stump speech the whistle stops and the kissing of babies. A candidate gets elected today largely through his or her advertising. On November 3rd, America will go to the voting booths and select the next president of the United States. Tens of millions of dollars will have been spent on selling the candidates to the country. Advertising's outsized role in the packaging of a president is what this podcast is all about. I thought it would be a fun idea to gather, some of the creative minds of advertising, along with some younger creative directors and political pros to play judge and jury with today's presidential political advertising. I'm Ellis Verdi and this is Selling a President 2020. We're not concerned with Right or Left, urban or rural, deplorable or elitist. Our attention is on how the candidates are making their pitch to the American public. After all, Election Day is democracy's one day sale. As we say in advertising,  ELLIS [00:01:16] Fear sells, anger motivates.  This episode. we'll take a look at how the president's marketing is so on brand, how it has created such an intensely loyal following and why anger, fear and rage are so effective in the selling of a president in 2020. Donald Trump is not the first to employ fear mongering in his appeal to voters or distort facts to discredit opponents and burnish his own image. But it clearly feels different this time around. This is Season 1, episode 1. “Fear Sells.” STUART [00:01:50] It used to be that if you were running negative advertising, you would least mix in some positive advertising to dull the idea that you are a son of a bitch.  ELLIS [00:02:00] Famed New York Times advertising columnist Stuart Elliott.  STUART [00:02:05] Is that out the window now? Because Trump is just always on the attack. He's always angry and he's always attacking. And if there's nothing to attack, he'll make something up.  LEE [00:02:13] Now, I think that the scary thing for me now, is you would count on facts and statistics to sway people's opinions. Obviously, you have to present them in a way that's interesting.  ELLIS [00:02:25] Advertising legend Lee Garfinkel  LEE [00:02:27] But I think four years ago the idea of facts became less relevant or rational thinking became less relevant. And so there's a big question mark for me right now is how does any candidate go forward and try to break through and actually change people's opinions, knowing that facts may not be the thing that separates you from the other guy?  GREG [00:02:50] It's emotion. The biggest drivers in behavior are anger and fear in political circles. Chief Creative Officer, BBDO New York. Greg Hahn. So Trump's whole message is going to take something away from you or they're out to get you. And that's just a really powerful emotion. No matter what facts or policy underlying that or counter that, it doesn't matter because he's saying they're going to be something's going to be taken from me. So he really plays up the driving emotion where, you know, he gets that some of the other people are more rational, more fact based. It doesn't matter. Like you're not listening.  LINDA [00:03:28] I think that look, Trump rewrote the rules.  ELLIS [00:03:31] Advertising Hall of Famer and author Linda Kaplan Thaler, you know, it didn't really have much to do with these television commercials.  LINDA [00:03:38] It was just that, you know, he was such an outlier. Everybody discounted him.  LINDA [00:03:42] And he has sort of taken the reality TV platform and politicized it. And we have to factor that in, too. I think some of his advertising moving forward into the general election is going to be just for the hell of it kind of ads that are just going to be designed to make you laugh or make you freak out, make the other guys freak out.  STUART [00:04:10] And that's gonna be big.  STUART [00:04:15] That's gonna be one of his strategies. I think that it's gonna be unusual for political advertising.  JONATHAN [00:04:21] I do think in terms of Trump, the humor is less about humor for humor's sake or entertainment for entertainment sake.  ELLIS [00:04:27] Political consultant Jonathan Prince,.  JONATHAN [00:04:29] As it is another vehicle for him to tap into the undercurrent.  STUART [00:04:33] Oh, yeah, sure. Not hiring, you know, hiring a comedian to write him polished standup lines. He's doing humor within the context of his base.  STUART [00:04:42] And what they find funny,.  JONATHAN [00:04:43] You know, basically like an overlay of some legitimate economic insecurity on top of an enormous amount of horrible racial insecurity, anger and bitterness. And the humor is for people who are angry and fed up.  GREG [00:04:59] There's a victim in his humor. There's an interesting article recently in The Washington Post that talked about the way Conservatives and Liberals see humor differently. They have different mindsets when it comes to humor, like they brought the point, like you never really have seen a successful conservative late night talk show because that kind of humor is normally based on irony and a certains bit of filling in gaps. They don't close the loop. They allow the viewer to sort of fill in the gaps and understand some context. Whereas conservatives just generally this is a generalization and you know, but they're saying their humor is very surface. It's like it's a form of exaggeration. It's very easily what you see is what you get. It's just a bigger version of that kind of thing.  ELLIS [00:05:41] And what we've seen him accomplish would make any marketer envious. He's created a level of brand loyalty that is truly remarkable. Polarizing, yes. But that doesn't seem to matter. Knowing that half the country would never buy this brand doesn't change the messaging. He isn't fazed by it. He's found that amplifying people's rage and fear is a winning formula. Sacrilegious or not. Trump has positioned himself to be the savior for those he's targeted. And though it might not expand his brand, it's certainly cementing loyalty.  GREG [00:06:13] Yeah. Even they'll vote against their best interests in policy. In some ways, because he's enraged them so much. And you know, you're a victim. You're being your way of life is being threatened and he's entertained them. Yeah.  STUART [00:06:26] And I noticed that aspect, too. Apparently, there are a number of people that don't particularly like him or they don't like his tweets so they don't like how he speaks about women.  GREG [00:06:39] It's hard to ignore.  LEE [00:06:40] I mean, I wrote an editorial back in 2016 and I said, what can I possibly do to convince a Trump supporter not to vote for Trump? And I realized after a while, I don't think there's anything that I can do. And I ask people who were Trump's supporters. If you found out that Donald Trump had sex with your wife, would you still vote for him? You know, 99 percent of Trump supporters said, well, she probably had it coming or you probably you know, I wasn't paying attention to it. So, yeah, it's OK. And I realized I think targeting Trump supporters is probably a waste of money. And it's talk to the people that either haven't voted or aren't sure.  GREG [00:07:19] I think this election is so different because I have a hard time figuring out who's undecided at this point. Like you've had three and a half years of Donald Trump, if you don't know  if you like him or not,I don't know what's going to convince you, you know, where he stands, you know? You know what you're going to get.  ELLIS [00:07:34] Chief Creative Officer Tom Christmann,.  TOM [00:07:36] That is the key, is that as much as a lot of people hate him, he is himself and he's not going to change anything. He's out there being the same character every time.  STUART [00:07:46] So, you know, there's this theory about Trump and projection that everything Trump says, it's basically projecting back onto people what they've said about him.  GREG [00:07:56] I think what people understand is how much of Trump's behaviors on brand. Right. So if he slept with your wife, that is completely on his brand in that only supports him. It's only what you expect from him.  LINDA [00:08:08] I mean, you know, you talk to people with Trump supporters. There's absolutely nothing that man can say that they don't back him on. You know, they come up with all sorts of reasons. Well, I don't look at the Tweets. And I do think he does have a visionary thing, which is it's all  me. And I'm the one you know, I'm the messiah. Only I can fix it. And the people who voted for him, they know he's arrogant and that's what they like.  TOM [00:08:37] They will point at that and they will say. Kennedy philanderer. Mobbed up. Oh. Johnson, Vietnam War. Liar. You know, like all these things. And they will just, you know, because that is what has happened.  GREG [00:08:50] I think people vote based on who they identify with and who they feel is out. Yeah, right. Right. For them, even if all the issues aren't there, it's usually one driving issue or personality.  LEE [00:09:01] And I think what's scary is that almost every late-night comedian does anti-Trump jokes and it makes absolutely no impact. It's a Trump supporter. So they're making the jokes to the people that are already anti-Trump people. Now, how do we start if we want to get someone else in office, how do we start to convince people to think differently? And my concern is from most of the advertising that I looked at from the Democrats, except for maybe Bloomberg, it all feels like techniques and styles that were done in the last 10 years. And so you can't keep doing it the same way and expect a different outcome.  ELLIS [00:09:38] But can someone who relishes the role of showing his base that arrogance pays and that tact and decorum can go to hell because dammit, he's fighting for their every need to soften his message. After all, he fell short by more than 3 million votes in the last election.  LINDA [00:09:53] So he did the advertising that he's done. I have to say it is pretty good because all it is, is a lot of people cheering and just, you know, best economy in 50 years.  STUART [00:10:03] It's Morning in America revisited. Right. Let's also remember the famous Reagan reelection campaign.  JONATHAN [00:10:10] But the thing is, the ads, the ads that are doing totally different pieces of work. The Trump ad is not designed to persuade anybody. All right. The Trump ad is simply designed to flex in front of an audience of supporters that wants them to flex. I think if Trump can just even the field, then he's happy. If he can just kind of. Take that man.  TOM [00:10:28] Yes, just take it away by adding his own commercial, I think that's.  ELLIS [00:10:32] An incumbent might have a little more freedom to do more softer kind of work. And so Trump might have that luxury. Now you go because, you know, and with a few facts, you think that he's a genius, but you don't need much. And if you're out there and you kind of have a feeling and everybody else is fighting for, you're doing the wrong thing. You're doing the wrong thing.  STUART [00:10:53] Right. But Trump has changed the landscape, too. You can't have a message of hope against a Trump because it will not be perceived marketing wise as powerful enough to address the issue.  ELLIS [00:11:08] And I also think probably if somebody attacks him, that's the end of it. He's going to attack back. So you take his nicer ads right off and go right after that person back at him.  GREG [00:11:17] If you went after him, as he's actually not a winner, he's actually a loser. The only time I saw his numbers dipped in 2016 is when he lost one of the primaries. And suddenly people start looking at it differently. This guy's not really. And then, you know, he quickly recovered from that somehow. But I would position him as not the guy he really thinks he is. That's why I think Bloomberg ads did so well a couple weeks ago when he's like, you have no money. You know, he's one person. I can say I'’’ buy you out tonight if you want me to. You know? So if you expose him for what he is, I think. You think you could take him.  ELLIS [00:11:51] The Republicans, I think, always have an advantage because they say less and they show a more emotional side. And so the Democrats are struggling with how to better position the logic.  LINDA [00:12:01] And I think the Republicans are better. You know, I once saw an ad - maybe you did it. It was in the times they compared the signage and tome, of the Democrats versus the Republicans. That's interesting. And it was interesting because, you know, they say Democrats fall in love and Republicans fall in line. And, you know, they get the same words. When I worked with Clinton, it was with James Carville and he was the master at. “OK. But  here's the soundbite. And everybody's gonna use the soundbite.” And you don't see enough Democrats doing it. Republicans do whatever they say. It's a hoax.  ELLIS [00:12:37] Well, one thing we've learned from today's discussion is that the Trump marketing phenomena is definitely not a hoax. Love it or hate it. It's proven surprisingly effective in driving his voters to the polls. In the coming weeks, it will be fascinating to see how Trump, as one of today's guests, Jonathan Prince put it, flexes in his ads and what Bernie and Biden will have to do to combat each other and the marketing phenomenon that is Donald Trump. I want to thank everyone who helped kick off this series today. Hope you can join us for the next episode when we take a look at how the election has upended the traditional media landscape and what the candidates have been doing to package themselves to the American electorate. I'm Ellis Verdi. Thank you for listening.

Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval have moved to the top of the advertising industry by following a simple but powerful philosophy: it pays to be nice. Where so many companies encourage a dog eat dog mentality, the Kaplan Thaler Group has succeeded through chocolate and flowers. In The Power of Nice: How To Conquer The Business World With Kindness, through their own experiences and the stories of other people and businesses, they demonstrate why, contrary to conventional wisdom, nice people finish first. They are interviewed here by QRCA President Sharon Livingston, Ph.D.

Linda Kaplan-Thaler, co-author with Robin Koval, of Grit to Great: How Perseverance Passion and Pluck Take You From Ordinary to Extraordinary, explains what ‘grit’ is and why is it important to have it.  Today’s greats weren’t born great – Michael Jordan didn’t make his basketball team in high school; Steven Spielberg didn’t get into film school. Passion and tenacity are the reasons they made it big and it’s never too late to reinvent yourself and find your ‘grit.’ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tune in to hear Linda discuss: The importance of colors in marketing, How to spot talent, How to balance creativity with implementation and many more key marketing insights! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Positive Power of Negative Customer Feedback In this post I'm sharing negative customer feedback. It's all about how you can increase your business, and improve your customer satisfaction by attending to the customers who aren't satisfied! People are not used to nice. Let's just get that out there. They're used to being taken advantage of and automated responses where you click 1 if, and 2 if… and you never get to a real person. The Advantage of Small If you're a small or medium business (or a large one for that matter with a dedicated responder) you can win with this kind of customer service. Look, none of us is going to please all the people all the time. But you can learn from them and create an ally by handling sticky situations right.  I'm going to start sharing 3 steps to dealing with negative customer feedback. Then I'll give you 3 very practical ways to do it when you do so you are set up for success.  3 Response Requirements for Negative Customer Feedback Reach out to get it Instead of “no” here's our refund policy When someone quits, asks for a refund, or cancels a subscription – always a phone call. Listen without being defensive Explore the options Understand what you wanted when you purchased/registered Find an alternative that is a good fit Be transparent Look, I don't want to refund you, it hurts! Is there another way I can serve you that is a better fit? Let's look at that. And if not, I don't want you in the wrong place for you. What I'd like to learn what attracted you, what disappointed you, and where potentially we can do a better job messaging the membership program in the future. I'd really value your feedback, if you have a few minutes. Sometimes the things you want to avoid become the things you learn the most from. 3 Tips for Making These Kinds of Calls 1) Make sure your customer service front line people know how to positively – and quickly - respond. Give them scripts, and text snippets to use. Don't assume they know what you're thinking. If you have complaints, keep those emails, and transcribe those phone calls to use to create responses. One of my customer service team members recently responded with a “here's our refund policy” and it was a little cold. If I had been on the receiving end, I wouldn't have liked it either. You know the way to deliver a sandwich of constructive criticism. This is similar. =>Express empathy: I'm sorry that happened. Let's see if we can resolve this for you. =>Deliver the bad news/refund policy: Here's a reminder of our refund policy. =>End with a positive: However, every situation is unique and we want to understand what's happening for you and fix it. Debra would like to talk personally to you. What's the best phone to reach you and what days and times are good for you? 2) Do it at a time you're upbeat and ready. For me that's morning after coffee and maybe a dog walk! It's the first thing I do in the morning (or the second, right after something I know will be positive!) – if of course that fits with the individual's time. Even if it's not though, I will use something like Bombbomb to create a video response or a simple audio message to them via text or email … so if their schedule and mine aren't aligned for a direct connection right away, I still am reaching out. They hear my voice and or see my face so they know I'm authentically trying to understand them before anything else. In that message I don't allude to anything more than exploring options, desire to understand what's happening and request more feedback about her experience. It's less than a minute. But it gives hope for a neutral not negative conversation. 3) Set your mind: be willing to do the right thing. I will refund if someone is in the wrong seat on the bus. You don't want an unhappy customer. That can spoil the goodness you have going. It's draining for you. In the case of a program – say that's $200, it's just not worth it when there's 10 people who ARE right for it. It's a good opportunity to review: Your refund policy Where that refund policy lives and whether they see it right before they click to purchase What you say on your sales page and product pages about “who this is for” and “who this is not for” My Recent Brush with Negative Customer Feedback The customer I just talked to yesterday happens to be a Physical Therapist. She bought the program for herself. By creating a positive problem-solving experience for her, I may have increased the likelihood that she refers the women in my demographic she's working with in her practice to me. When you can exchange one for many? Yes. You can save a customer who gives negative feedback. You can often create a raving fan in them. Whether they buy or stay or not, they will be impressed if not shocked that you took time to listen.  My book recommendations if you're setting up a system for Negative Customer Feedback: The Power of Small The Power of Nice Both above by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval Raving Fans by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles Show notes at fitnessmarketingmastery.com/negative-feedback   

This week on The A-List Podcast, host and DiMassimo Goldstein CCO is joined by industry icon and Advertising Hall of Famer, Linda Kaplan Thaler. Over the course of her illustrious career, Kaplan Thaler created some of the world's most famous advertising campaigns, such as the Aflac duck. She also authored and composed two of the most globally recognized advertising jingles: “I Don't Wanna Grow Up, I'm a Toys ‘R' Us Kid,” and “Kodak Moments.” Kaplan Thaler's impressive resume extends well beyond advertising. She is a nationally acclaimed author with several best-selling books to her name; she has worked on two presidential campaigns; and she has become a familiar face on several television programs. In this interview, Kaplan Thaler talks about leading with kindness, how to write a good jingle, what it was like interviewing Warren Buffet and Jay Leno, and much, much more. Show notes below! Show notes: • [0:00 – 1:59] Intro • [2:00 – 13:30] Growing up in the Bronx, and how Kaplan Thaler first got into singing and writing both music and comedy • [13:31 – 16:38] The famous jingle she wrote for Toys ‘R' Us, and the worldwide reaction it received • [16:39 – 22:19] The secret to writing a good jingle, the story behind “Kodak Moments” and putting humor into advertising • [22:20 – 27:53] The moment she knew Robin Koval would be a perfect business partner, and the importance of leading with kindness • [27:54 – 33:57] Working on presidential campaigns, and the story behind her interviews with both Warren Buffet and Jay Leno • [33:48 – 38:10] Her latest book, Grit to Great, and what “grit” means to her • [38:11 – 42:30] The one big piece of advice she has for young creatives • [42:31 – 43:58] Outro “The A-List” is a podcast produced by DiMassimo Goldstein, an inspiring action agency, recorded at the Gramercy Post, and sponsored by the Adhouse Advertising School, New York's newest, smallest, and hippest ad school. You can subscribe and rate the show on iTunes or listen along on SoundCloud. For updates on upcoming episodes and guests, be sure to like the A-List Podcast on Facebook and follow host Tom Christmann on Twitter.

Stephen is the CEO of Predictive ROI and the host of the Onward Nation podcast. He is the author of two bestselling books, speaker, trainer, and his digital marketing insights have been featured in SUCCESS, Entrepreneur, The Washington Post, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and other media. Good Morning Onward Nation — I’m Stephen Woessner. Have you ever noticed how most people only pay attention to the final product of a successful business owner? They say things like…“I can never be like them.” or “They got lucky.” What most people don’t see is what the business owner overcame on their path to becoming successful. All of the struggles. All of the daily rejections. The heartaches. The betrayals. The rumors. The criticism. Even the empty bank accounts. And all of those lonely nights while they worked hard to make their vision become a reality. You see, Onward Nation, the only difference between the one who quits, and the one who doesn’t, is that the successful owner showed up every day. The successful owner worked hard every day. They hustled every day. They learned from a proven mentor every day. They worked hard to improve every day. They did all this…even though they felt like quitting…every day. And eventually, they became who they are today…a successful business owner. All of this is a very powerful lesson that I learned from Patrick Bet-David, founder and host of the popular YouTube channel, ValueTainment. Onward Nation, if you haven’t already subscribed to Patrick’s YouTube channel, I highly recommend it. Patrick is exceptional at teaching success principles and lessons you can apply immediately in order to move your business onward to that next level. And during this solocast, we are going to dig deep into one of the fundamental – yet underlying principles that I just shared from Patrick. The principle is fundamental to success — but Onward Nation — it is also easy to miss, overlook, or to take for granted. The principle is that there is no such thing as an overnight success. There isn’t. No matter what industry — no matter what sector — the companies that have achieved sustainable success reached their pinnacle after years and years of perfecting their craft. Successful people think about long-term wins – not short-term wins. It is about the long-haul, it is about endurance, and outlasting the competition not just for today – but for years and years down the road. So I am going to share some examples to illustrate this powerful principle. Why? Because it is critically important to realize that success takes time. Your success requires your full attention. Your success requires failure, it requires making adjustments, repositioning, trying again, failing again, reintroducing products, and maybe even being on the brink of collapse as was the case with Apple, before you finally, truly “make it.” My hope for you is that you will celebrate the challenges and obstacles that are in your way right now. With the right perspective – you will see them as the gift that they are. Each challenge – each obstacle – each setback – is actually making you stronger — if you let them. Each embarrassing failure is forcing you to think differently — they are testing your commitment to your vital priorities, vital function, and your wherewithal. Will you push forward — or will you quit, Onward Nation? My hope is that you will always push forward and never quit. There is no such thing as an overnight success. Instead, it takes persistence and tenacity over the long haul. The path to success often winds and swerves – and then ultimately – you make it – after 15 to 20-years of grinding it out and remaining focused on your vital priorities that you are then seen as an “overnight success.” To that point, I encourage you to go back and re-listen to my interview with Verne Harnish in episode 205 and listen carefully to how Verne introduces himself to you, Onward Nation. Verne says this is his 34th year of doing just one thing — helping companies scale up. His organizations and companies are devoted to this “one thing”…his books are dedicated to this “one thing” and even his family and friends are dedicated to supporting him be successful with this “one thing.” The discussion with Verne is so compelling because he takes some time to dispel the overnight success myth by sharing some interesting data points and stories. One of those data points is that there are over 11,000 new companies launched every hour all over the world today. Just think of that, Onward Nation…11,000 new companies an hour. However, the vast majority of those companies will not be successful — they will lack the fortitude — the staying power to effectively scale their business. For example, Verne went on to share that of the 28 million businesses in the United States, about 24 million of the total are solopreneurs and will never scale up. Why? Most lack the resources — and I don’t mean just financial. Often times, as Verne shared, it is not a question of “how much do I need to scale?” but typically a question of who do I need to be in association with in order to scale up over the long haul. Verne cited Apple and how the company had slowly moved along with their 25-year timeline — nearly collapsed — until Steve Jobs came back. At the time Jobs returned, they had 9,800 employees and were nearly broke. And likely all of us know what happened following the iPod’s release in 2001 — but it didn’t succeed right away…in fact…the iPod floundered a bit for a couple of years. But in 2003, it got some traction and now Apple has scaled to over 110,000 employees during the last 13 years. It would be very easy to forget about those first 25 years of trial, error, struggle, losing millions of dollars, nearly going broke, and then focusing on just one thing and doing it with excellence in the iPod — and then traction takes hold. Success requires a disciplined effort over a long period of time. Some people look at Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of Vaynermedia in New York City, as this guy who came out of nowhere to leap in front of the social media space and is now super popular with a massive following. Couldn’t be further from the truth — and Gary would be the first one to tell you. His story is one of grit, tenacity, outworking the competition, and playing to win for the long term. When Gary launched Wine Library TV — his daily show — for about the first year, his audience was really small…almost discouragingly small…but Gary didn’t quit. Then year two…then year three…then year four…then year five, and then year six. Six years, Onward Nation! Six years of producing a high-quality show of 20 to 30-minutes of engaging video content — every day — that’s what it took for Gary Vee to win. Just think about that for a minute. The magnitude of content he produced. It is really easy to look at Vaynermedia today and become impressed with the success — heck — nearly 900 in NYC and five other locations across the United States — those are significant accomplishments. But to me, and I suppose it is because I’ve had the rare opportunity to be Gary’s guest at Vaynermedia, to go behind the green curtain to interview him and to learn from him, I know that one of the things he is most proud of — and he should be — is all of the hard work, the struggle, the determination to make something out of nothing. Gary truly enjoys the journey to success — and he would be another one to tell you there are no shortcuts to success. And just because someone gets paid over $50,000 to deliver a keynote today — like Gary does — there is precious backstory there and it’s the backstory that is much more interesting. Let’s take a look at the late Peter Drucker, arguably the godfather of modern day management. Verne Harnish shared with me during our interview that of Peter’s 39 groundbreaking books, only 13 of them were written before Peter’s 65th birthday. Peter wrote twice the number of books after he turned 65. What? It takes a long time, Onward Nation, to collect, curate, and share the wisdom that is deep and impactful enough to matter and add value to a lot of people, like Peter did. Or, how about Picasso? Of his top 10 paintings — six of them were painted after he had turned 50. And four of the of 10 paintings were completed when Picasso was 51. Again…it’s the long-term commitment to your vital priorities and vital functions…perfecting your craft with years, and years, and years of disciplined effort. I have mentioned vital priorities and vital functions a couple of times this morning — so if you want a refresher on terminology — just go back and listen to episode 203. I dedicated an entire solocast to the topic of the vitals in your business and the lessons I learned from one of my mentors, Darren Hardy. So let’s move onto another example of long-term success. It would be very easy to look at James Patterson, one of the most successful novelists in history, and think — wow — here’s a guy who has it made. How amazing to be that lucky — to just write all day — what a joy. Again, let’s go behind the green curtain. I had an opportunity to interview the incomparable Linda Kaplan Thaler — oh my word, Onward Nation — Linda is brilliant. She was the creator of the AFLAC duck and so many ad campaigns that I know you will recognize if you go back to listen to our interview. But during our conversation, Linda told me about how she used to work for James Patterson when James was the creative director of the agency where Linda worked. James and Linda worked together for 17-years and became great friends. As Linda shared with me, James did not become a great novelist by accident or luck. Instead, to perfect his craft, James would get up every morning at 4:00 and would write for four hours until 8:00 when he would leave his home for the agency. He would then put in a full day — go home — and be in bed by 8:30 every night. And he rinsed and repeated this process for 21 years, Onward Nation. Staggering. 21 years! Just think about how many times during those 21 years that he would have second guessed himself, called himself bat crazy, how much criticism he received from friends and family encouraging him to just quit and to give up on his dream, and so much more. But he didn’t. He remained committed to his vital priority — and after 21 years — he became the successful James Patterson we know today. Or, how about Henry Ford? He was 40 years old when he founded the Ford Motor Company with the help of friends, family, and several investors who collectively helped him raise $28,000 in capital in 1903. And if you look through Mr. Ford’s timeline, you will see trials, tribulations, blood, sweat, tears, heartache, success, followed by disappointment, followed by triumph, followed by obstacles. So, let’s put all of these stories and principles into context by remembering the excellent lesson taught to us by Cody Foster, founder of Advisors Excel, our exceptional guest on Episode 81 of Onward Nation. Cody said to me, “Stephen, don’t compare someone else’s front-of-stage with your back-of-stage.” If you only look at someone’s front-of-stage — what you see in the public eye — you miss all of the struggles, the obstacles, the pain, the suffering, the courage, and their zig-zagged journey to where they are now. For example…we could look at Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, one of Hollywood’s hottest and most in-demand actors today…and it would be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that his path to success was different…that it wasn’t full of struggle, grinding it out, working hard to be the best…and most importantly…that it took 20-years for Dwayne to reach the pinnacle of success that he now enjoys. An injury on the football field at the University of Miami that ended any hope of a professional football career that then he directed his attention toward professional wrestling. And then he worked tirelessly to perfect his craft…slowly…training…making mistakes…until he made it to the big show…22,000 people in New York City’s Madison Square Garden…and a pay-per-view television audience for his first big shot at a win back in 1996. And due to all of the excitement…he forgot to direct his attention toward the correct camera…so the huge at-home audience saw a lot of The Rock’s back. Did this send him spinning and worrying about the mistake? No! He got back to work…and ground it out for years until he won his first WWE championship. And then that success led to controversy and tension…which he battled through…and finally some smaller movie roles…then a movie series…then some larger roles…and in November 2016…a starring role in Disney’s Moana as the mythical, Maui, whose bigger than life personality is a perfect fit for The Rock. And if you want to see some awesome behind the scenes video for the recording of Moana – just check this out: But what if The Rock would have quit after football? What if he would have quit in his early WWE career and let the frustration of not getting an early break set him back? What if he approached the smaller movie roles with less than full enthusiasm and instead decided to hold out for the big one? What if, Onward Nation…The Rock had not been willing to invest the 20 years of blood, sweat, and tears to become an overnight success? What if? And what if you don’t? You will be robbing the world of your special gifts and talents. What if Napoleon Hill gave up and quit because he had not become an overnight success? But, most people don’t know the story behind the success of “Think & Grown Rich” — and how the first edition, per se, was a great book but not well-received by the American public. Why? Well, several factors. First, it was published in 1928 — just one year before the Great Depression. The American public was not looking for — or ready for — a success manuscript at that time. And second, the book was huge and it was under a different title. It was the 612-page “Law of Success” — wow. I own the book — it is sitting on my desk right now — and it is amazing. It is essentially a more comprehensive version of “Think & Grow Rich.” Smartly, Napoleon decided to revise and repackage the Laws of Success by trimming it down — making it more concise — and then publishing it as “Think & Grow Rich” in 1937, nearly 10 years later, following the Depression. “Think & Grow Rich” then went on to sell 70 million copies worldwide. Again, no such thing as an overnight success. So don’t give up, Onward Nation! I hope you realize that the struggles you are facing — perhaps the abyss you are staring into right now — is all part of the master plan. You are more talented, more wonderful, more gifted, more incredible than you can possibly imagine. You are a child of the highest God and were blessed with an abundance of talent — so don’t quit — don’t give in — don’t stop. Keeping moving forward — success is there for you — just not overnight. So with that…I want to thank you again for taking the time to be here with me today. It is an honor to have you here — thank you for tuning in — I am delighted you chose this episode to be what you listen to, study, and take with you on your morning run, or maybe Onward Nation has become part of your daily commute, or in some other way has become part of your morning routine. However our daily podcast fits into your daily routine — I want you to know how much I appreciate you sharing some of your invaluable 86,400 seconds you have in your day with me and the strategies we learn and share each day from today’s top business owners. And please continue to let me know what you think of Onward Nation…good or bad…I always want your feedback. My direct email address is stephen@onwardnation.com — and yes — that is my actual Inbox. No fancy filters or filing system and I read and reply to every single email. So please let me know how you think we are doing. I look forward to hearing from you. Until then, onward with gusto!

Linda Kaplan-Thaler shares how you can turn up your GRIT factor to better put in the hard work needed to achieve success.You'll Learn:Why hard work trumps geniusThe GRIT framework for reaching successThe research-based 30-minute rule that gritty winners followAbout LindaAdvertising Hall of Famer Linda Kaplan Thaler is responsible for some of America' s most famous and award-winning advertising campaigns, including the Aflac duck and the hilarious “Yes, Yes, Yes” commercials for Clairol Herbal Essences. She has composed jingles that are among the industry's gold standard, including “I Don't Wanna Grow Up, I'm a Toys ‘ R' Us Kid,” and “Kodak Moments.”Today, Linda is a renowned motivational speaker and is President of Kaplan Thaler Productions. Linda is also a nationally acclaimed author and, together with Robin Koval, their newest bestseller, “GRIT to GREAT,” was ranked one of the top business books for 2015.Items Mentioned in this Show:Share your feedback at AwesomeAtYourJob.com/chatWebsite: www.kaplanthalerproductions.comBook: Grit to Great by Linda Kaplan-Thaler and Robin KovalBook: The Power of Nice by Linda Kaplan-Thaler and Robin KovalBook: The Power of Small by Linda Kaplan-Thaler and Robin KovalBook: When Breath Becomes Air by Paul KalanithiApp: EvernoteView transcript, show notes, and links at https://awesomeatyourjob.com/ep119See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Linda Kaplan-Thaler shares how you can turn up your GRIT factor to better put in the hard work needed to achieve success. You'll Learn: Why hard work trumps genius The GRIT framework for reaching success The research-based 30-minute rule that gritty winners follow About Linda Advertising Hall of Famer Linda Kaplan Thaler is responsible for some of America’ s most famous and award-winning advertising campaigns, including the Aflac duck and the hilarious “Yes, Yes, Yes” commercials for Clairol Herbal Essences. She has composed jingles that are among the industry's gold standard, including “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up, I’m a Toys ‘ R’ Us Kid,” and “Kodak Moments."  Today, Linda is a renowne

Linda Kaplan-Thaler shares how you can turn up your GRIT factor to better put in the hard work needed to achieve success. You'll Learn: Why hard work trumps genius The GRIT framework for reaching success The research-based 30-minute rule that gritty winners follow About Linda Advertising Hall of Famer Linda Kaplan Thaler is responsible for some of America’ s most famous and award-winning advertising campaigns, including the Aflac duck and the hilarious “Yes, Yes, Yes” commercials for Clairol Herbal Essences. She has composed jingles that are among the industry's gold standard, including “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up, I’m a Toys ‘ R’ Us Kid,” and “Kodak Moments."  Today, Linda is a renowned motivational speaker and is President of Kaplan Thaler Productions. Linda is also a nationally acclaimed author and, together with Robin Koval, their newest bestseller, "GRIT to GREAT," was ranked one of the top business books for 2015. View transcript, show notes, and links at http://AwesomeAtYourJob.com/ep119

Joan McClendon is back from episode 25.  She is the Associate Director for the Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative at St. Mary’s College near Notre Dame University. She is actively involved in both the Downtown South Bend and an author (LIFE ON THE FRINGE) and speaker. She has owned her own business for eight years and has been married for 24 years to her college sweetheart and has two college-aged children. You can connect with Joan via Facebook.   Terry has a new book coming out in March 2017, The Self-Aware Leader: Discovering Your Blind Spots to Reach your Ministry Potential. He’s building his launch team and if you’d like to get on the inside of the book launch, you can apply at his website. You’ll get an advance PDF of the book and get to participate in a private Facebook group with Terry.   Show links Here are some Christmas gift ideas that you will want to consider if you’re stuck. We use all of these and have found them valuable!   Drift Away Coffee - Coffee for people who love coffee   Anker Astro Ultra High Capacity Power Bank   Verilux Happy Light   Echo Dot - “Alexa”   Bose Q35 Noise-cancelling headphones – a life-changing luxury for the regular traveler.   Nomad base station – charges all of your devices clutter free.   Elizabeth W. eau de parfum – an uncommon perfume that you will love.   Voluspa candle – French cade and lavender.  The smell and duration of these candles set them apart. Can be found cheaper elsewhere.   Here are some books that we loved this year for the leader within or that you know.   The Power of Nice: How to Conquer the Business World with Kindness - by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Kavel   From Grit to Great: How Perseverance, Passion, and Pluck Take You from Ordinary to Extraordinary - by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Kavel   The Naked Now: Learning to see as the Mystics See – Richard Rohr   Hacking Leadership: The 11 Gaps Every Business Needs to Close and the Secrets to Closing Them Quickly – Mike Myatt   The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to do About It – Michael Gerber   Sponsors   Terry Linhart’s latest book, TEACHING THE NEXT GENERATIONS, is atop the best-selling lists in Christian Ministry. . It will serve as a comprehensive resource guide and will help anyone learn more about how teaching and learning “work.”     If you’re looking to build an Email list for your blog, church, conference, or group, ConvertKit is the fastest growing service there is for those who want to build an Email list. And with good reason: It’s easy to use and it’s powerful. As your list grows, it’s cheaper than other options that get more and more expensive once you grow past 1000 subscribers. Check out ConvertKit to learn more about its amazing features.     We are so excited to have EXPERIENCE MISSION sponsor our entire Season 3. EM is one of the leading non-profit organizations for short-term mission trips and longer Immersion experiences throughout the U.S. and around the world. Right now, EM is offering some amazing cross-cultural training resources for FREE to listeners of 37 the Podcast. Check out their training sessions built around the ideas of Hope, Human Dignity, and Brokenness. EM believes that “living your mission” and serving others is incredibly important and these resources explore the importance of how we serve others in a cross-cultural setting. Don’t miss these and all of Experience Mission’s upcoming mission trip opportunities.   Links: Follow 37 the Podcast on Twitter Connect with Terry on his website – TerryLinhart.com Follow Terry Linhart on Twitter or Michael Yoder on Twitter. Thanks to J2 Marketing for providing studio space.   The opinions expressed on this episode are exclusively those of podcast participants.  

Episode 73 - Advertising great Linda Kaplan Thaler discusses The Power of Nice and ways to conquer the business world with kindness. Linda is one of today’s most successful marketers. She was the creator of the Aflac duck, composer of the ToysRUs theme song, and behind a bunch of iconic campaigns we all know. Her talents have earned her the Matrix Award, the Muse Award, and the Advertising Woman of the Year Award. Linda was inducted into the 2015 Advertising Hall of Fame. Stay tuned for five action items, plus some listener shout-out's in the second half. Host, Kevin Craine   Everyday-MBA.com  

This week Cut The Crap Podcast features the management book, 'Grit to Great: How Perseverance, Passion, and Pluck Take You from Ordinary to Extraordinary." In Grit to Great, Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval tackle a topic that is close to their hearts, one that they feel is the real secret to their own success in their careers--and in the careers of so many people they know and have met. And that is the incredible power of grit, perseverance, perspiration, determination, and sheer stick-to-it-tiveness.  There were 4 Golden Nuggets taken from 'Grit to Great: How Perseverance, Passion, and Pluck Take You from Ordinary to Extraordinary.' ----------- Cut the Crap Podcast Stakeholders SierraSil Health was founded in 2003 to market SierraSil®, a clinically tested and shown, safe and effective mineral supplement. The company is committed to providing exceptional customer service, to being ethical in all relationships, and to supporting all health claims with real science.  Go to http://www.sierrasil.com/ and enter the coupon code CUTTHECRAP for 15% off your order!   Modern Earth Web Design does much more than custom web design! No matter what your business - association - organization may need in terms of improving your online presence, Modern Earth Web Design can help by providing affordable marketing solutions. Go to http://www.ModernEarth.net to book a no obligation online marketing consultation for your business! ----------- Go to CutTheCrapPodcast.com and signup to receive a summary from each episode that will highlight all of the golden nuggets shared in the podcast. ----------- See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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

Linda Kaplan Thaler is responsible for some of America’s most famous, relevant, and touching advertising campaigns, including the Aflac duck and the daring “Yes, Yes, Yes” for Clairol Herbal Essences. She has authored and composed jingles that are among the industry’s gold standard, including “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up, I’m a Toys ‘R’ Us Kid,” and “Kodak Moments.” Linda served as Chairman of Publicis Kaplan Thaler, a fully integrated advertising agency that was the U.S. flagship within the Publicis Worldwide Network with a blue-chip client roster. Linda was also CEO and Chief Creative Officer of the Kaplan Thaler Group, founded in 1997 and grew from a fledgling startup to a company with over a billion dollars in billings. Linda has worked on several political campaigns, including the presidential runs for Clinton/Gore in 1992 and Hillary Clinton in 2008. Today, Linda is a world-renowned motivational speaker, author, and president of Kaplan Thaler Productions. Secret – timesaving technique Linda starts every day with at least an hour of really intense exercise -- do it at the same time every. ONWARD! Daily habit that contributes to success There is nothing more rewarding than checking something off a list -- Linda writes everything she has to do on a list. Most influential lesson learned from a mentor "The people who support you -- those are the people that you have to appreciate the most."   Final Round – “Breaking Down the Recipe for Success” How to exceed expectations and add the most value? An individual would be collaborative -- they never say no. What strategy would you recommend new business owners focus on to best ensure success? Even if you think it's perfect -- spend 30 more minutes on it Make small talk and make people feel comfortable How best to connect with Linda: Website: grittogreat.com Email: linda@thalerproductions.com Twitter: @lindathaler2 Facebook: www.facebook.com/LindaK.Thaler LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/linda-kaplan-4562821

Stephen is the CEO of Predictive ROI and the host of the Onward Nation podcast. He is the author of two bestselling books, speaker, trainer, and his digital marketing insights have been featured in SUCCESS, Entrepreneur, The Washington Post, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and other media. Good Morning Onward Nation — I’m Stephen Woessner. Just wanted to start off today’s solocast with a big thank you. I appreciate all of the feedback — thoughts — recommendations — and encouragement following last week’s solocast. I love hearing when our work is helping to make a difference for you — to create an impact for you, Onward Nation — and perhaps this may sound odd — but I also love hearing when we have missed the mark. If and when we underdeliver — because knowing that — helps us get better! All of your feedback helps us move onward to that next level. So thank you, Onward Nation. I appreciate you being here. I appreciate you sharing some of you invaluable time with me today. Please continue letting us know what you think. Thumbs up or thumbs down. We appreciate you so very much. So for today’s solocast…I am going to take one of the themes from last week and go an inch wide and a mile deep. You may recall, that last week’s solocast, I addressed the slippery slope — the mental trap — that is so easy for any business owner to fall into. It is the trap of thinking that becoming an overnight success is possible — and — comparing your back-of-stage with another company’s front-of-stage. It’s a tempting thought — it can be so intoxicating to hope for — or to do those comparisons — but there is no such thing as an overnight success, Onward Nation. The insights I learned directly from Verne Harnish, founder of EO and Gazelles — duringepisode 205 speak directly to this point. Verne took me behind the green curtain at Apple to discuss how they struggled for their first 25 years — 25 years, Onward Nation. And finally in 2001, they began to rapidly scale following the introduction of the iPod. But it took 25 years of struggle — and nearly going broke several times — in order to get there. Verne also shared the story of Peter Drucker, the godfather of modern day management…and how Peter reached his most creative and productive point in his career after the age of 65. Peter wrote twice the number of books after his 65th birthday than he did when he was younger. It takes a long time Onward Nation to curate that level of content and develop that depth of expertise. Verne then shared insights regarding Picasso and the number of masterpieces he produced after turning 50 years old. Picasso created the majority of his most famous works after he had turned 50! And then the insights I learned from Linda Kaplan Thaler — our guest in episode 226, which will air on Monday, May 2nd — and the story she shared about the acclaimed novelist, James Patterson. Thanks to Linda — we now know James had been hard at work perfecting his craft for 21 years before his first bestseller. Honing his skills, day in and day out. Every day — hours and hours — working on his craft from 4:00 in the morning until 8:00 — and then going off to his day job at one of New York City’s leading advertising agencies, where he worked with Linda for over 17 years. An amazing story of grit, tenacity, persistence, and never giving up. So for today’s solocast…I am going to share some additional perspective and lessons I began to share last week regarding what I have learned from spending time with Gary Vaynerchuk. I will share those lessons deeper — and then connect them to what I want to share with you today, which is how and why you should build a platform to grow revenue for your business. But again — this too, Onward Nation is a long term play. Building a platform is not an overnight thing as you will see with Gary’s story. There are no shortcuts. It takes hard work and disciplined effort. But your hard work will create distinction for you — because the majority of your competitors will not want to work that hard. And grounded in that reality, Onward Nation, is your major opportunity. IF — you are willing to seize it. Just like Gary Vee did. He recognized it and then capitalized by being willing to work his guts out to make his vision a reality. I have a lot of respect for Gary — and anyone — who is willing to do that. My guess is you are already familiar with Gary Vee — but just in case you’re not — Gary is the founder of Vaynermedia and one of today’s foremost social media experts. He is the bestselling author of four books. In my opinion, his social media book, “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook” is the best social media book ever written. It is outstanding. And it is just as relevant today as it was when it was released in November 2013. The consumer behavior and platform strategy Gary sets forth within the book is still spot on. But “Gary Vee” has not always been “Gary Vee.” In fact, just a mere 10 years ago, Gary was largely unknown on the social media scene. Gary was the director of operations at his family’s liquor store in New Jersey. He didn’t have 1.2 million Twitter followers then. Vaynermedia didn’t exist. YouTube was just getting underway, same with Twitter, and nearly zero companies were investing in building out video blogs or becoming their own “media channel”. But Gary was different. He could see that he needed to create a “platform” by sharing valuable content via the social Internet. And he decided to do just that. Before we go much further — let’s have a quick definition — what’s a “platform?” At its core — a platform is what you stand for — your ideals — your vision — your purpose inside your business or in your life. But, platform has also morphed into meaning your audience, or followers, your tribe, your community, or sometimes even the size of your audience. So from a business perspective, building a platform, depending on your industry, can make all of the difference. During episode 42 of Onward Nation, you will hear Gary and I talk about the early days of Wine Library and his strategy behind it. Gary said to me, “I started Wine Library TV because I was worried about the vulnerability of us and wineries selling direct to consumers. And I figured if I became influential, that me as a curator would protect me against wineries selling direct to consumers.” — Gary Vaynerchuk, episode 42 of Onward Nation. You can also find the video interview Gary and I did at Vaynermedia here:    Gary launched Wine Library TV on May 17, 2006. Very few businesses had a video blog — and no one in the wine industry did. Yet he did it anyway.   And for the first year or so — each episode reached more and more people — but slowly. Wine Library TV was not an overnight success. To Gary’s credit — and one of the things I admire most about him — he looks for opportunity in business — where are the untapped “wells” — and then he plants his flag — he puts up his drilling rig — and he drills and inch wide and a mile deep — and doesn’t stop. Now, truth be told, Gary might be the only person in the field drilling — and sometimes, Onward Nation — being the early adopter, can be a very lonely feeling. But when Gary is convinced the strategy will work — he commits the necessary resources to learn all that is necessary and then make it work. Does that mean Gary is successful 100 percent of the time? No, no one ever is. But success and failure are all part of the process — the ying and the yang to it all. But he was willing to stake his claim and then make improvements along the way. To illustrate my point…if you go to the show notes for this episode — we have embedded the videos for Gary’s Episode 1 and Episode 1,001 so you can see how the Wine Library TV evolved over time. Take some time to compare the on-screen graphics, Gary’s comfort level in front of the camera, the background, and the lighting between the two episodes. Both episodes are off-the-charts for content — and this may surprise you a bit — but I actually prefer Episode 1 over Episode 1,001. But it isn’t because Episode 1,001 under delivers — it doesn’t. I like Episode 1 so much because it is the start of something amazing, something inspiring. It is the first edition of something that went on to change the wine industry and to propel the success of Gary’s family business. Wine Library TV — and Gary’s talent of discerning opportunities from the clutter — thrust him into the social media spotlight. Episode 1:     Episode 1001:     I like Episode 1 because of the guts it took Gary to produce it — and then — the commitment to produce an excellent show fives times a week. That is how you build a platform, Onward Nation. Not overnight. Gary knew he could win over the long term if he was willing and disciplined enough to play for long term wins…and not to try and create an overnight success. So what was the resulting outcome of Wine Library TV? Gary and his family grew their business from $3 million to over $60 million a year in sales as a direct result of Wine Library TV. Wow, Onward Nation. 20x growth for their business. And they did it because of Gary’s unwavering long-term commitment to this philosophy. “Creating content for the social Internet is literally the cost of relevance in today’s society.” — Gary Vaynerchuk Well done, my friend. Now, if you are thinking about Gary’s success — his long-term commitment — and then thinking to yourself, “Yeah, but I could never do that.” And you are starting to feel some hesitation right now as you question yourself on whether you could follow in Gary’s footsteps and apply his recipe and strategy to your industry. The answer is yes you can…but…I want you to take a moment to consciously realize something here. I want you to realize that any hesitancy you may be feeling right now about building your platform is the Imposter Syndrome attempting to hold you back! That voice you may be hearing inside your head asking you the painful question of, “Who do you think you are? To launch a podcast — who would listen to you — what do you have to say that is worthy of sharing?” Those are tough questions to listen to, Onward Nation. Very tough. Aren’t they? And I will tell you that I hear the voices and those questions every day. And whoa…the voices really kick into overdrive every time I sit down at my desk to write out my thoughts for each and every weekly solocast. But…and this is really important…I push through the fears, the doubts, the struggles with myself because my conviction behind the purpose of Onward Nation is drilled deep into the Earth. My team and I are fully committed to being outstanding — delivering our best to you every day, no matter how long it takes us to build what we are focused on building. This is a long-term strategy for us just like Wine Library TV was as it has been for Gary. So, Onward Nation — for you to build a rockin’ awesome platform that creates distinction for you in your marketplace or industry, you need that same time of long-term commitment. No matter what the tech is — doesn’t matter if you create a podcast, an awesome YouTube channel, an insightful blog as a resource for your customers and prospects, or if your customers are on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter in droves — then be there with them to have a conversation. Or, if your customers are on Instagram — then be there. If they are on Snapchat — then be there. Or, if you have a decent connection with customers via email — then strengthen your relationships via email and provide deep, deep, deep value. To help guide you on this path — I outlined 5 key steps in a brief action plan that I think will be helpful as you consider the type of platform you want to build. But one final word of caution before I share the steps. And that is — in the wise words of Ty Bennett, “Just pick one platform — master it — go deep — and then maybe add a second. But first — master one.” Wise words that Ty shared during our recent encore interview…episode 212. So here are the action steps, Onward Nation. A business building — platform building recipe for you. My hope for you is that you will put these steps into practice with relentless action and execution: Find out where your customers hang out. Do they listen to podcasts? Are they on Twitter? Are they on LinkedIn? Are they on YouTube? Find out. How? Ask them. Take a survey. Send an email. Make some phone calls. Post on Facebook, post on Twitter…pick a path and create a conversation and ask your customers and prospects questions. Have the courage to ask and learn — even if the answers make you uncomfortable. Think of it this way…if the answers make you uncomfortable — wouldn’t you rather have that information sooner rather than later so you can make changes and deliver more value to your customers instead of them leaving and doing business with a competitor who they believe is more influential and delivers more value than you do? I know…ouch, right? But you can’t fix it if you ignore there’s a problem or an untapped opportunity, Onward Nation. Create a content strategy. And your strategy should accomplish two things: 1) deliver massive value to your customers and prospects. MASSIVE VALUE. Don’t skimp. And 2) ensure that what you are delivering will position you as a thought leader and influencer just like Gary Vee accomplished with Wine Library TV. And by doing so — you will create distinctiveness for your business — just like Scott McKain recommends, our guest duringepisodes 1 and 136 of Onward Nation. Ignore the Imposter Syndrome. Push past it and begin building your content, building your platform, and prepare for launch. Don’t let the questions in your head derail your success. I encourage you to go back and re-listen to episode 158 — which I dedicated toward defeating the Imposter Syndrome — it will be a great resource for you. Because Onward Nation…you are more talented, more wonderful, more gifted, more incredible than you can possibly imagine. You are a child of the highest God and were blessed with an abundance of talent — don’t give in — build the content and it will get easier over time. Execute your strategy — push the launch button! Will your podcast, videos, or blog be perfect on day 1? No! Will you be embarrassed at first? Maybe. But as Reid Hoffman the founder of LinkedIn said, “If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.” Does that mean you just launch something that is half-baked? No, it doesn’t. But it does mean that your podcast will never be perfect…you will learn along the path…your listeners will help you get better…and until you have the courage to put yourself out there…you will never receive that valuable feedback. So have the guts — build something great — realize that perfection is not attainable — and that part of the fun is to improve along the way. It’s the journey, Onward Nation — it is valuable to your growth and really fun for your listeners to watch how you evolve and change because of their comments and recommendations. Don’t stop. Never give up, Onward Nation. Keeping moving forward — success is there for you — just not overnight. It will take time — but it is funny how quality eventually rises to the top. It is a struggle — you will feel the pressure but pressure is a necessary force of nature — and pressure creates an astonishing result outcomes. For example…how is a diamond formed? By placing coal under intense pressure for a very long time. Or, how is oil formed? By placing organic material under extreme pressure and heat for a long period of time. Or, say you turn your garden hose on without any sort of nozzle at the end. What happens? Right, you get a steady stream of water coming out the end of the hose. But what happens when you place your thumb over the end of the hose and apply pressure to the water? The water shoots out the hose, doesn’t it? See? That is how pressure transforms and creates a fun and exciting result outcome. So don’t run from the pressure in your business or the pressure you might be feeling as you consider a podcast or some other platform building strategy. That pressure is your guiding force and it will direct you toward big result outcomes if you let it. So don’t ever give up — just remember — when you are feeling the pressure — you are likely to soon experience massive growth and your business is about to jettison forward into something amazing. Keep the faith, Onward Nation and never give up. So with that…I want to thank you again for taking the time to be here with me today. It is an honor to have you here — thank you for tuning in — I am delighted you chose this episode to be what you listen to, study, and take with you on your morning run, or maybe Onward Nation has become part of your daily commute, or in some other way has become part of your morning routine. However our daily podcast fits into your daily routine — I want you to know how much I appreciate you sharing some of your invaluable 86,400 seconds you have in your day with me and the strategies we learn and share each day from today’s top business owners. And please continue to let me know what you think of Onward Nation…good or bad…I always want your feedback. My direct email address is stephen@onwardnation.com — and yes — that is my actual Inbox. No fancy filters or filing system and I read and reply to every single email. So please let me know how you think we are doing. I look forward to hearing from you. We will be back tomorrow with an incredible encore interview with Morag Barrett, founder and CEO of leading HR consultancy SkyeTeam. You will love her message about the imposter syndrome and how she believes we are all making it up, every day. She’s amazing. You will not want to miss this discussion, Onward Nation! Until then, onward with gusto!

Stephen is the CEO of Predictive ROI and the host of the Onward Nation podcast. He is the author of two bestselling books, speaker, trainer, and his digital marketing insights have been featured in SUCCESS, Entrepreneur, The Washington Post, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and other media. Good Morning Onward Nation — I’m Stephen Woessner. Have you ever noticed how most people only pay attention to the final product of a successful business owner. They say things like…“I can never be like them.” or “They got lucky.” What most people don’t see is what the business owner overcame on their path to becoming successful. All of the struggles. All of the daily rejections. The heartaches. The betrayals. The rumors. The criticism. Even the empty bank accounts. And all of those lonely nights while they worked hard to make their vision become a reality. You see, Onward Nation, the only difference between the one who quits, and the one who doesn’t, is that the successful owner showed up every day. The successful owner worked hard every day. They hustled every day. They learned from a proven mentor every day. They worked hard to improve every day. They did all this even though they felt like quitting every day. And eventually, they became who they are today…a successful business owner, Onward Nation. All of this is a very powerful lesson that I learned from Patrick Bet-David, founder of PHP Agency, an insurance marketing organization, and is the host of the popular YouTube channel,ValueTainment. Onward Nation, if you haven’t already subscribed to Patrick’s YouTube channel, I highly recommend it. Patrick is exceptional at delivering impactful education, success principles, and business lessons any business owner can apply immediately in order to move onward to that next level. And during this solocast, we are going to dig deep into one of the fundamental – yet underlying principles that I just shared from Patrick. The principle is fundamental to success — but Onward Nation — it is also easy to miss, overlook, or to take for granted. The principle is that there is no such thing as an overnight success. There isn’t. No matter what industry — no matter what sector — the companies that have achieved sustainable success reached their pinnacle after years and years of perfecting their craft. So I am going to share some examples with you over the next several minutes to illustrate this powerful principle. Why? Because I think it is important to realize that success takes time. That success requires your full attention. That success requires failure, making adjustments, repositioning, trying again, failing again, reintroducing products, and maybe even being on the brink of collapse as was the case with Apple, before you finally “make it”. I want you to rest easy today — and to celebrate the challenges and obstacles that are in your way right now. They are a gift — they are making you stronger — if you let them — they are forcing you to think differently — they are testing your commitment to your vital priorities, vital function, and your wherewithal. Will you push forward — or will you quit, Onward Nation? My hope is that you will always push forward and never quit. Back when I was a sophomore in high school, I decided that I wanted to play football. Now, truth be told, I didn’t know the first thing about football…literally…I didn’t even know the positions on the field. I knew zero plays…nothing. And to make matters worse, I was 6 feet tall and about 150 pounds, slow, lanky, without any skill at all. In fact, I was so bad — and I am honestly not exaggerating at all — I was so bad, Onward Nation, that I actually sat on the bench during practice. As a young kid in high school, I thought my coaches were disrespecting me by not letting me practice. Now that I am older — I can only imagine the coaches meetings — they probably went something like this. “Ahem, okay gentlemen, we need to make some adjustments here in practice…has anyone seen that Woessner kid, yeah, he’s really bad. He has no talent on the field. Let’s let him stay on the team but we need to keep him busy on the sidelines because he is so bad that he will get destroyed even in practice.” Which was likely followed by lots of agreement and laughing. I distinctly remember talking with my dad one night when I felt like quitting because I was frustrating with my lack of opportunity — again — I didn’t realize the coaches were helping me, they weren’t trying to hold me back — they were actually ensuring I could move up just not in football — and my dad told me it would be okay if I quit. And that took me back a little bit. Quit? After the call, I thought long and hard about what he said — and I later decided that it was not okay if I quit. Quitting was not okay — and even if I never played another down on the team — I would not quit. I would attend every practice — every game — and root on the guys who were much better than me. But I would never quit. I wasn’t going to be successful in football but quitting to me felt like I would be given up on a lot more than just 10th grade football. So I finished the season no matter how embarrassed I was to be riding the pine bench. I think about those lessons often because they still fuel me today, Onward Nation, and my hope is that the lessons fuel you, too. Don’t ever give up. Remain committed to your vital priorities — and eventually — you will succeed. There is no overnight success — it takes persistence and tenacity over the long haul. To that point, I encourage you to go back and relisten to my interview with Verne Harnish in episode 205 and listen carefully to how Verne introduces himself to you, Onward Nation. Verne says this is his 34th year of doing just one thing — helpful companies scale up. His organizations and companies are devoted to this “one thing”…his books are dedicated to this “one thing” and even his family and friends are dedicated to supporting him be successful with this “one thing.” The discussion with Verne is so compelling because he takes some time to dispel the overnight success myth by sharing some interesting data points and stories. One of those data points is that there are over 11,000 new companies launched every hour all over the world today. Just think of that, Onward Nation…11,000 new companies an hour. However, the vast majority of those companies will not be successful — they will lack the fortitude — the staying power to effectively scale their business. For example, Verne went on to share that of the 28 million businesses in the United States, about 24 million of the total are solopreneurs and will never scale up. Why? Most lack the resources — and I don’t mean just financial. Often times, as Verne shared, it is not a question of “how much do I need to scale?” but typically a question of who do I need to be in association with in order to scale up over the long haul. Verne cited Apple and how the company had slowly moved along with their 25 year timeline — nearly collapsed — until Steve Jobs came back. At the time Jobs returned, they had 9,800 employees and were nearly broke. And likely all of us know what happened following the iPod’s release in 2001 — but it didn’t succeed right away…in fact…the iPod floundered a bit for a couple of years. But in 2003, it got some traction and now Apple has scaled to over 110,000 employees during the last 13 years. It would be very easy to forget about those first 25 years of trial, error, struggle, losing millions of dollars, nearly going broke, and then focusing on just one thing and doing it with excellence in the iPod — and then traction takes hold. Success requires a disciplined effort over a long period of time. Some people look at Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of Vaynermedia in New York City, as this guy who came out of nowhere to leap in front of the social media space and is now super popular with a massive following. Couldn’t be further from the truth — and Gary would be the first one to tell you. His story is one of grit, tenacity, outworking the competition, and playing to win for the long term. When Gary launched Wine Library TV — his daily show — for about the first year, his audience was really small…almost discouragingly small…but Gary didn’t quit. Then year two…then year three…then year four…then year five, and then year six. Six years, Onward Nation! Six years of producing a high-quality show of 20 to 30-minutes of engaging video content — every day — that’s what it took for Gary Vee to win. Just think about that for a minute. The magnitude of content he produced. It is really easy to look at Vaynermedia and get impressed with the success — heck — 500 employees on Park Avenue in NYC — and that is darn impressive. But, to me, because I have had an opportunity to be Gary’s guest at Vaynermedia, to go behind the green curtain to interview him, and to learn from him, I know that one of the things he is most proud of — and he should be — is all of the hard work, the struggle, the determination to make something out of nothing — he truly enjoys the journey to success — and he would be another one to tell you there are no shortcuts to success. And just because someone gets paid $50,000 to deliver a speech today — like Gary does — there is all kinds of back story there — and it’s the back story that is so interesting. Let’s take a look at the late Peter Drucker, arguably the godfather of modern day management…Verne Harnish shared with me during our interview that of Peter’s 39 groundbreaking books, only 13 of them were written before Peter’s 65th birthday. Peter wrote twice the number of books after he turned 65. What? It takes a long time, Onward Nation, to collect, curate, and share the wisdom that is deep and impactful enough to matter and add value to a lot of people, like Peter did. Or, how about Picasso? Of his top 10 paintings — six of them were painted after he had turned 50. And four of the of 10 paintings were completed when Picasso was 51. Again…it’s the long term commitment to your vital priorities and vital functions…perfecting your craft with years, and years, and years of disciplined effort. I have mentioned vital priorities and vital functions a couple of times this morning — so if you want a refresher on terminology — just go back and listen to episode 203. I dedicated an entire solocast to the topic of the vitals in your business and the lessons I learned from one of my mentors, Darren Hardy. So let’s move onto another example of long term success. It would be very easy to look at James Patterson, one of the most successful novelists in history, and think — wow — here’s a guy who has it made. How amazing to be that lucky — to just write all day — what a joy. Again, let’s go behind the green curtain. Last week, I had an opportunity to interview the incomparable Linda Kaplan Thaler — oh my word, Onward Nation — Linda is brilliant. She was the creator of the AFLAC duck and so many ad campaigns that I know you will recognize when you hear our interview. Cannot wait to share our discussion — we will air it as episode 226 on Monday, May 2nd — so stay tuned for that. But during our conversation, Linda told me about how she used to work for James Patterson when James was the creative director of the agency where Linda worked. James and Linda worked together for 17 years and became great friends. As Linda shared with me, James did not become a great novelist by accident or luck. Instead, to perfect his craft, James would get up every morning at 4:00 and would write for four hours until 8:00 when he would leave his home for the agency. He would then put in a full day — go home — and be in bed by 8:30 every night. And he rinsed and repeated this process for 21 years, Onward Nation. Staggering. 21 years! Just think about how many times during those 21 years that he would have second guessed himself, called himself bat crazy, how much criticism he received from friends and family encouraging him to just quit and to give up on his dream, and so much more. But he didn’t. He remained committed to his vital priority — and after 21 years — he became the successful James Patterson we know today. Or how about Henry Ford…he was 40 years old when he founded the Ford Motor Company with the help of friends, family, and several investors who collectively helped him raise $28,000 in capital in 1903. And if you look through Mr. Ford’s timeline…you will see trials, tribulations, blood, sweat, tears, heartache, success, followed by disappointment, followed by triumph, followed by obstacles. So, let’s put all of these stories and principles into context by remembering the excellent lesson taught to me by Cody Foster, founder of Advisors Excel and my guest on episode 81 of Onward Nation. Cody said to me, “Stephen, don’t compare someone else’s front-of-stage with your back-of-stage.” Meaning…if you only look at someone’s front of stage — what you see in the public eye — you miss all of the struggles, the obstacles, the pain, the suffering, the courage, and their zig-zagged journey to where they are are now. And the last example I want to leave you with is Napoleon Hill. If you have been listening to Onward Nation for a while now — you know I love Napoleon’s book, “Think & Grow Rich.” I have such high regard for this book — it is, in my opinion — the ultimate guide to achieving success. But, most people don’t know the story behind the book’s success — and how the first edition, per se, was a great book but not well-received by the American public. Why? Several factors. First, it was published in 1928 — just one year before the Great Depression. The American public was not looking for — or ready for — a success manuscript at that time. And second, the book was huge and it was under a different title. It was the 612-page “Law of Success” — wow. I own the book — it is sitting on my desk right now — and it is amazing. It is essentially a more comprehensive version of “Think & Grow Rich.” Smartly, Napoleon decided to revise and repackage the Laws of Success by trimming it down — making it more concise — and then publishing it as “Think & Grow Rich” in 1937, nearly 10 years later, following the Depression. “Think & Grow Rich” then went on to sell 70 million copies worldwide. Again, no such thing as an overnight success. So don’t give up, Onward Nation! I hope you realize that the struggles you are facing — perhaps the abyss you are staring into right now — is all part of the master plan. You are more talented, more wonderful, more gifted, more incredible than you can possibly imagine. You are a child of the highest God and were blessed with an abundance of talent — so don’t quit — don’t give in — don’t stop. Keeping moving forward — success is there for you — just not overnight. So with that…I want to thank you again for taking the time to be here with me today. It is an honor to have you here — thank you for tuning in — I am delighted you chose this episode to be what you listen to, study, and take with you on your morning run, or maybe Onward Nation has become part of your daily commute, or in some other way has become part of your morning routine. However our daily podcast fits into your daily routine — I want you to know how much I appreciate you sharing some of your invaluable 86,400 seconds you have in your day with me and the strategies we learn and share each day from today’s top business owners. And please continue to let me know what you think of Onward Nation…good or bad…I always want your feedback. My direct email address is stephen@onwardnation.com — and yes — that is my actual Inbox. No fancy filters or filing system and I read and reply to every single email. So please let me know how you think we are doing. I look forward to hearing from you. We will be back tomorrow with an incredible interview with Jordan Goodman, America’s Money Answers Man. You will not want to miss this discussion, Onward Nation! Until then, onward with gusto!

Linda is the co-author of the newly released book, Grit to Great. She has appeared on many TV Shows, including Donald Trump's The Apprentice, CNN, The Today’s Show, and Good Morning America.   Linda has an incredible past -- she is responsible for some of the most popular advertising campaigns, like the Aflac duck, and the “Yes! Yes! Yes!” Herbal Essences campaign. She wrote the “I’m a Toys’R’Us Kid” jingle, Kodak Moments, and worked on two Clinton presidential campaigns. Linda is the former Chairman of Publicis Kaplan Thaler, and her clients included Proctor and Gamble, Citi, L’Oréal, Pfizer, and Wendy’s. She is now the president of Kaplan Thaler Productions. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/1ZFnh7S

Do you remember the Herbal Essences commercial where the woman in the shower is going “Yes! Yes!”?  Well, I don’t have the woman in the shower (she’s a model) but I have with me the woman who wrote that ad campaign and made it famous. My guest today is Linda Kaplan Thaler and she is responsible for some of America’s most famous advertising campaigns including the Aflac duck quack and the yes, yes, yes Herbal Essences campaign. She has won 13 Clio awards (which is like the Oscar for advertising) and two were for best original music and lyrics. If you’ve ever heard “I don’t want to grow up, I’m a Toys R Us kid” and Kodak moments that is her. She runs a billion dollar advertising agency in New York City called Publicis Kaplan Thaler. Her latest book Grit to Great (co-written with Robin Koval, who is also the co-founder of the company the Kaplan Thaler Group) is a national best seller that teaches us how to be a better story (other books include The Power of Nice, Bang! Getting Your Message Heard in a Noisy World, and The Power of Small.)  If there was ever somebody who could boil down a brand’s story and tell it in 30 seconds in a way that turns it into a cultural piece of shorthand this is the person who really gets how to do it.  The Grit factor: You don’t have to be born with unbelievable talent. 98% of really great people have, not the It factor, but the Grit factor. Anybody can develop grit; you don’t have to be born with it. That is what the book Grit to Great is about.  Most important factor: Linda and Robin couldn’t figure out why they were so successful and winning almost everything they were pitching. They knew it wasn’t because they were geniuses. Then they realized when they started doing post interviews with clients such as Wendy’s or Proctor and Gamble and would ask “why did you award this to us?” they would always get the same answer which was “Your work was great, everybody else’s work was great too but we didn’t think anybody could work harder than you did.”   Famous examples: They started looking at famous people who have done extraordinary things but were completely ordinary growing up. Colin Powell was a C- student in college until he discovered the ROTC and decided he wanted to devote his life to service in our country.  Steven Spielberg was rejected from film school three times. Michael Jordan couldn’t even make his high school varsity basketball team. Walt Disney got fired from his first job because he lacked imagination. What did these people have? They weren’t brilliant, they weren’t particularly talented, they had the Grit factor.  G.R.I.T:  Guts, Resilience, Initiative, Tenacity Your 90 year old self:  Jeff Bezos of Amazon tells a great story about how everybody told him he should stay at his comfortable Wall Street job instead of starting amazon.com. He had a conversation with his 90 year old self who said “Of course you’ve got to do this. Do you want to turn out being this age and never even tried something that you really really want to do? “Have a conversation with your 90 year old self (in the privacy of your own home of course) and you will know exactly what you should be doing.  Advice that took Linda out of the baby pool and into the ocean: Every time you do something for somebody you are throwing out a positive imprint or a seed. That seed will blossom and grow in ways you can’t even imagine. Do not expect anything when you do something nice for somebody. In some way, shape or form the universe is going to pay you back and it’s going to be unbelievable.  Grit Quiz: On Linda’s website grittogreat.com you can take the Grit Quiz to access your Grit level and to see where you have potential to develop it even more.  Grit to Great: You can buy the book on grittogreat.com or on Amazon or anywhere else there are books. An audio version is also available.  Linda is on twitter @lindathaler2 and Facebook as Linda K Thaler. Share with Linda a habit you’ve developed that’s moving you forward towards your goals. She often posts people’s stories of where their Grit took them. Or if you have any tips to share they send them out almost daily.  I love hearing from you. I’m @lifewithgeeta on Twitter. If you want a peek into my personal life follow me on Instagram where my handle is Baby Got Booked. You can reach out to me via email or via my website contact form at geetanadkarni.com Write headlines no journalist can resist, with the 58-headline template pack

Linda Kaplan Thaler is an Advertising Hall of Fame luminary, and creator of many of the industry’s most iconic campaigns, including Kodak Moments, and the hilarious Aflac duck. Linda was the CEO of the Kaplan Thaler group, which quickly became one of America’s fastest growing ad agencies. She is the former Chairman of Publicis Kaplan Thaler New York, and the ... Read More

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shep Hyken talks to advertising genius and best-selling author, Linda Kaplan Thaler, on her book, “Grit to Great,” in which she shares how grit has led to her success. She is responsible for such advertising campaigns as the Aflac duck, “I don’t wanna grow up I’m a Toys ‘R’ Us Kid” Slogan, Kodak Moments, and the provocative Clairol’s “Yes, Yes, Yes,” just to name a few. She attributes her and her companies’ successes to their grit. This show, and Linda’s book, will empower you to believe you can achieve more than you thought you could. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we talk with Linda Kaplan Thaler in New York, NY. Linda is responsible for some of America's most famous advertising campaigns in the industry, including the Aflac duck, and the daring "Yes, Yes, Yes" campaign for Herbal Essences. Much of her work has become part of America's pop-culture landscape and she has composed renowned jingles such as, "I'm a Toys 'R' Us Kid," and "Kodak Moments." Linda is the Chairman of Publicis New York with a client roster that includes: P and G, Citi, L'Oreal, Pfizer, and Wendy's. Linda's talents have earned her the prestigious Matrix Award, the Muse Award, Advertising Woman of the Year Award, and she was named one of Advertising Age's "Most Influential Women in Advertising." Most recently, Linda was inducted into the 2015 Advertising Hall of Fame. Along with Robin Koval, she co-authored the national bestselling book "Grit to Great: How Perseverance Passion and Pluck Take You From Ordinary to Extraordinary." On today's episode, Linda shares what it is that makes the most successful people great, why boredom is important, and the truth about happiness. Listen and learn more! If you've enjoyed the program today, be sure to subscribe to the Copeland Coaching Podcast on iTunes or Stitcher to ensure you never miss an episode. To learn more about Linda and her book, visit her website at grittogreat.com.

Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval, co-founders of ad giant (Publicis) Kaplan Thaler, talk about the state of advertising and their national bestseller GRIT to Great. Available on NPR One, iTunes, Stitcher and SoundCloud.

Robin Koval (MBA '83) and co-author Linda Kaplan Thaler discusses their recent book Grit to Great.

Robin Koval (MBA '83) and co-author Linda Kaplan Thaler discusses their recent book Grit to Great.

Episode 065: Linda Kaplan Thaler – GRIT = Guts, Resilience, Initiative, & Tenacity Linda Kaplan Thaler is an incredibly interesting person.  She truly understands the importance of an intense focus on continuous improvement.  Linda and her team have some massive achievements from a Marketing perspective as well as the work Linda has down as a bestselling author and keynote speaker. We are extremely fortunate to have Linda share her knowledge with us, the loyal listeners of The Learning Leader Show.  Linda Kaplan Thaler is the CEO of Publicis New York and a bestselling author. She has written and composed advertising jingles such as: “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up, I’m a Toys ‘R’ Us Kid” (Toys "R" Us); “Kodak Moments” (Eastman Kodak) and “The Heart of Communication” (Bell Atlantic). She is responsible for the “Yes, Yes, Yes” Herbal Essences campaign, and her agency created the well-known Aflac duck advertising.  Her most recent book (she wrote along with Robin Koval is titled, “Grit To Great” How perseverance passion, and pluck take you from ordinary to extraordinary.” Episode 065: Linda Kaplan Thaler – GRIT = Guts, Resilience, Initiative, & Tenacity Subscribe on iTunes  or Stitcher Radio The Learning Leader Show “I never dreamed about success.  I worked for it.” – Estee Lauder Some Questions I Ask: What are the common characteristics of high achievers? What are your thoughts on David McCullough’s famous commencement speech titled, “You’re nothing special” Why should we retire the word retirement? How can someone use their “grit for good?” Why do you coach people to “ditch the dream?” How can a leader build up GRIT in their organization?  What specific steps need to be taken in order to do that? What does being a learning leader mean to you? In This Episode, You Will Learn: GRIT = Guts, Resilience, Initiative, & Tenacity  “Playing Up” and the power of playing against great competition The importance of being over prepared How Linda helped Aflac become so well known The definition of happiness The detailed process showing how Linda’s small agency (at the time) earned the over $200m Wendy’s account (incredible story) The story behind James Patterson waking up extremely early every morning to write for 21 years straight GRIT builders that we can all implement – Exercises and action tips “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” – Harry Truman Continue Learning: Read more about Linda: Linda Kaplan Thaler Read: GRIT TO GREAT Read: The Power Of Nice Follow Linda on Twitter: @lindathaler2 You may also like these episodes: Episode 001: How To Become A Master Connector With Jayson Gaignard From MasterMind Talks Episode 034: Jimmy Hatch – Shot While Searching For Bowe Bergdahl And Sky Diving With Gabby Giffords Episode 004: How Todd Wagner (and Mark Cuban) Sold Broadcast.com To Yahoo! For $5.7 Billion Episode 010: Shane Snow – How To Accelerate Success Using Smart Cuts Did you enjoy the podcast? This was a jam packed episode full of great content.  Linda Kaplan Thaler is leader who is constantly learning in order to help us all live a better life. Who do you know that needs to hear this?  Send them to The Learning Leader Show! Episode edited by the great J Scott Donnell  Bio Linda Kaplan Thaler (is the CEO of Publicis New York and a bestselling author. She has written and composed advertising jingles such as: “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up, I’m a Toys ‘R’ Us Kid” (Toys "R" Us); “Kodak Moments” (Eastman Kodak) and “The Heart of Communication” (Bell Atlantic). She is responsible for the “Yes, Yes, Yes” Herbal Essences campaign, and her agency created the well-known Aflac duck advertising.  Her most recent book (she wrote along with Robin Koval is titled, “Grit To Great” How perseverance passion, and pluck take you from ordinary to extraordinary.”

Robin Koval (MBA ’83) and co-author Linda Kaplan Thaler discusses their recent book Grit to Great.

Robin Koval (MBA ’83) and co-author Linda Kaplan Thaler discusses their recent book Grit to Great.

Robin Koval (MBA '83) and co-author Linda Kaplan Thaler discusses their recent book Grit to Great.

Linda Kaplan Thaler is an advertising luminary and author who is also the cofounder of the Kaplan Thaler Group and chairman of Publicis New York. She has created many iconic advertising campaigns such as Kodak Moments and the Aflac duck. She is a native New Yorker who has co-authored three bestselling books: Bang!: Getting Your Message Heard in a Noisy World, The Power of Nice, and The Power of Small. Her newest book is called Grit to Great, which she also co-authored with her business partner Robin Koval. The book takes readers back to the old-fashioned concept of it taking grit to make you successful, rather than relying on your talent, luck, or ability. Linda joins Charlie on the show to talk about that and much more.   Key Takeaways: 02:02 – How Linda met Robin Koval. 03:57 – The idea of having grit and getting the idea to write a book about it. 07:42 – Grit never expires and the idea of retirement. 12:34 – The “lure” of retirement and how retirement should really be doing a job that you love. 16:26 – The self-esteem movement. 20:06 – Grit can be found in anybody no matter the age. 22:58 – Learn to accept failure. 25:32 – “Comfort addiction” and how we are a culture that doesn’t know how to be bored. 28:50 – Which grit builder practice Linda feels is the hardest for her at this stage in her life. 32:02 – The power of habit. 38:50 – The most unanticipated challenge Linda is currently facing. 40:12 – Everybody can get to where they want to go. Grit is the formula that gets you there.     Mentioned in This Episode: Kaplan Thaler Group Publicis New York Bang!: Getting Your Message Heard in a Noisy World The Power of Nice The Power of Small Robin Koval Grit to Great Michael Bloomberg Colin Powell Steven Spielberg Michael Jordan Jack Ma, Alibaba Sherry Lansing, Paramount Pictures James Henry, In a Fisherman’s Language James Dyson Neil Postman, We’re Amusing Ourselves to Death Todd Kashdan and Robert Biswas-Diener, The Upside of Your Dark Side Paula Radcliffe James Patterson Stephen King  

Episode 30 - Linda Kaplan Thaler discusses her book "Grit to Great" and success tips from the world of advertising. Linda was the inspiration behind great ad campaigns like the Aflac duck, Toys R Us Kids, and many more. She's won many prestigious awards including Advertising Woman of the Year and the Matrix Award. Linda was recently inducted into the 2015 Advertisting Hall of Fame. Stay tuned after the interview for five action items to take advantage of the ideas and advice in this interview, and hear some bonus comments from Linda as well. Host - Kevin Craine @Everyday_MBA

Linda Kaplan Thaler joins host of Bizcast Kevin Craine to discuss her book "Grit to Great." She explains what exactly "grit" means and how to become great.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

Why do some people continue to succeed and thrive over the long-term while others falter? Linda Kaplan Thaler argues that there's one main contributing trait - grit. As the founder of a remarkably successful advertising firm, she has proven over the course of many years that grit bears results, and she explains why in her new book Grit To Great.

This week Maria speaks with Bonnie McCarthy, chief-cook-and-bottlewasher, and founder of Bologna Soup Gourmet Clothing Co.  Next, Linda Kaplan Thaler, co-author of “The Power of Nice?, How to Conquer the Business World with Kindness joins Maria and then Denise Roy, author of  “MOMFULNESS?, Mothering with Mindfulness, Compassion and Grace.